Today I have the immense pleasure of welcoming a very special guest, actor Wesley Eure, to CINEMATIC REVELATIONS for an interview. Wesley has acted in several movies such as JENNIFER, THE TOOLBOX MURDERS, C.H.O.M.P.S. [my review of the movie can be found here] GEOGRAPHY CLUB, THE LAST PAGE OF SUMMER, and SINS OF OUR YOUTH. Wesley has also assisted many charities and organizations over the years with his time, with the Variety Club among these. In this interview Wesley will be discussing his part in C.H.O.M.P.S, acting, cinema versus television, being involved in charity work, his creative pursuits in television, and receiving a Golden Palm Star dedication on the California Walk of Stars.
Welcome to CINEMATIC REVELATIONS Wesley!
Athan: When did you first realize that you wanted to be an actor?
Wesley: I first realized I wanted to be an actor when I was in elementary school in Hattiesburg, Mississippi, and I played an oak tree in a school play. And I knew from that moment on, I needed the attention. My dad had left when I was two, and I think I was just craving somebody to notice me. But I come from a family of educators down the deep south, and when I announced, standing on a coffee table at around six or seven that I wanted to be an actor, my family looked at me like I was an alien from another planet.
*
Athan: Where did you study acting?
Wesley: I never really did study acting. My first job, in which I went on an open call in New York City when I was 19, was for the American Shakespeare Festival at Stratford, Connecticut. And lo and behold, I got the job, and I didn't realize that it was the number one acting school company in the United States at the time. It was run by the heads of the Julliard School of Music. Michael Kahn was directing that year. I got to understudy Ariel in the Tempest and I said to him, ‘Michael, why did you hire me?’ and he said, ‘Wesley, you came into the audition. You blew your audition at Shakespeare.’ I did two sonnets. And he said, ‘but you made us laugh so hard. We said, you know what? We have to spend this summer with that guy.’
*
Athan: Your performance in C.H.O.M.P.S, as Brian Foster, the enterprising, charismatic inventor of the robotic dog, was excellent. What it is that drew you to the part of Brian in C.H.O.M.P.S.?
Wesley: When I was presented with the script for C.H.O.M.P.S., I was so excited. First of all, the cast was unbelievable. And I actually knew Valerie Bertinelli at the time, and I was so excited to be her boyfriend because I had a huge crush on Valerie. Also, it was Hanna Barbera’s first live action movie. And the honor of being a part of that journey was just too hard to pass up, but I had to get permission from Days of our Lives to take off for those few weeks. And fortunately, they let me out of my obligations.
*
Athan: C.H.O.M.P.S. had a fine cast with yourself, Valerie Bertinelli, and Conrad Bain in leading roles, and Hermoine Baddeley, Jim Backus, Chuck McCann, and Red Buttons in supporting parts. What was it like working with these performers?
Wesley: Well, like I said before, I mean the cast was amazing. Hermoine Baddeley, you're right, Jim Backus. These were icons, I mean, Red Buttons for goodness sakes, and to watch Red Buttons and Chuck McCann act as the two sort of buffoons was a masterclass in comedy. To me, there's nothing more exciting than being on the set of a movie, especially a movie with a great budget. Every day was just miraculous.
*
Athan: What did you find most exciting about filming C.H.O.M.P.S?
Wesley: And again, I couldn't believe that this little kid from Hattiesburg, Mississippi, was working with these icons in the industry. It truly was an honor. One of my greatest joys is, like I said, was working with Valerie Bertinelli, and I was the lucky fellow who got to give Valerie her first big screen kiss. And yes, I beat Eddie Van Halen.
*
Athan: For you, what was the most demanding, but emotionally satisfying segment of making C.H.O.M.P.S?
Wesley: The most demanding part was working with the dogs because we had a dog trainer on the set, and we had two dogs that looked alike. One played the robot dog, and one played the real dog. So when I was doing one love scene or very quiet scene with Valerie, the two dogs were there. One was supposed to be the real pup, and the other was the robot. So that one dog had to stand still. So they're yelling, ‘stay, stay, stay, stay, act.’ And they were screaming and it was a very quiet scene. And so they were screaming ‘stay, stay, stay, act, act, act.’ And then I had to be very quiet and talk to Valerie. It was fun. And Valerie and I laughed a lot after it was over.
*
Athan: Have you kept in contact with any cast members and crew from C.H.O.M.P.S?
Wesley: Unfortunately, most of the cast has passed away, but I did see Valerie Bertinelli a few years ago. She was doing a play in the Palm Springs, California area, and I live in Palm Springs now, and I stopped by and gave her a big hug and a kiss.
*
Athan: C.H.O.M.P.S was directed by Don Chaffey, who presided over many other motion pictures such as THE PRINCE AND THE PAUPER, JASON AND THE ARGONAUTS, ONE MILLION YEARS B.C., RIDE A WILD PONY, and THE MAGIC OF LASSIE, to name but a few. What was the experience of being directed by Mr Chaffey in C.H.O.M.P.S?
Wesley: It was an honor to work with Don Chaffey. His credits were amazing. And again, I felt like a fish out of water. Here I was with this enormously talented cast and very, very famous actors. I just kept looking around and going, ‘how the hell did I get here?’
*
Athan: You had a long-running role as Mike Horton, member of the core Horton medical family in classic daytime serial Days of our Lives from the mid-1970s, until the early 1980s. In comparing both mediums, what was the main striking difference for you between film, and television?
Wesley: On Days of our Lives, I'd get a script in the evening, memorize it, and come in and block the scene and then film. I was out of the studio by late afternoon, and we did a whole hour show. Of course, working on a film you can count on maybe doing one or two pages a day, so there's a lot of sitting around and doing nothing. It is much easier to do a television show because it's quick, it's fast, you're finished, and you're home. Movies take a long time because there's so much set up with lighting and sound. And of course, being on location, like I've said before, I've had a very blessed life, and I don't take it for granted one moment.
*
Athan: Philanthropy is something close to your heart, and you have been involved in many charities and groups over the years such as Project Angel Food, Variety Club, Special Olympics, and March of Dimes, and the LalaPOOLooza HIV/AIDS fundraising charity. What is it that you love most about helping others, and assisting valuable causes in this way?
Wesley: I've been very lucky in my life, and the contacts and the resources and the fun that I've had, so to give back to the community is very important to me. I started producing fundraisers and raising money for lots and lots of charities, especially HIV Aids and Shelter from the Storm for battered women and Breast Cancer. And it was the most profound joy that I think I've ever had to be able to share my life, my contacts, and my ability to raise money with these amazing organizations.
In fact, we raised so much money the first year I did LalaPOOLooza, that a portion of that money helped create an organization called Desert Women for Equality. About five months later, I got a call from the organization saying that they had just saved two women's lives. They had provided free mobile mammograms for these two women who would not have otherwise been able to afford it. And they discovered breast cancer in its early stages, and they were able to remove the cancer and these women were gonna survive. Needless to say, it spurred me on to continue raising money.
*
Athan: You were dedicated a Golden Palm Star on the Palm Springs, California Walk of Stars in 2007. How did it feel to be honored in this manner?
Wesley: I was truly honored when the city presented a star on the Walk of Fame for me in Palm Springs. It was an amazing day, and Kaye Ballard showed up. We had about 300 people sitting on the street, and I arrived in the back of a convertible with two blow-up dinosaurs, and two guys dressed like Sleestack, which were the green lizards from my TV series, Land of the Lost. And the theme song of Land of the Lost was blaring in this convertible down the main street in Palm Springs, which is the song that I sang in the series.
It was, again, an unbelievable day. And I looked around the crowd and my mom was there and my sister was there, but my mom at the party at the end of the star ceremony pulled me aside and said, ‘Wesley, I didn't know people loved you this much.’ I started to laugh.
*
Athan: Writing is another passion for you, and you have penned novels for children, and several humor books. In addition to this, you have also contributed as a producer, actor, and screenwriter in television show Totally Hidden Video, and co-created the children’s animated series Dragon Tales. What is it about the creative process that you find so fulfilling?
Wesley: I love telling stories. My first novel, the Red Wings of Christmas, which told the story of a little orphan boy in Dickensian England, washed overboard in the ship, and what happens in his journey one night when he falls into Father Christmas's Toy Sack, was optioned by Disney for an animated feature. I also wrote the screenplay and songs for Disney. Unfortunately, at the moment, it's sitting on the shelf at Disney, but writing shows and creating from the imagination Is one of the hardest things to do, but also one of the most rewarding. As most people know, being a writer is a very lonely occupation, but to watch a show like Dragon Tails, which ran on PBS for nine seasons, was so thrilling. One year I was watching the Macy's Day Thanksgiving parade, I think it was the 75th anniversary. Suddenly flying high above New York was a balloon of one of the characters from Dragon Tails, Cassie, the Pink Dragon.
I didn't know she was gonna be there, and that moment was extraordinary. In fact, a fan just found a snow globe from that Macy's Day parade at a thrift store. In the Snow Globe, one of the balloons is Cassie, and he sent it to me as the present. It's moments like that, that there are really no words to express the magic and gratitude.
In the last few years, I've been doing a lot of the comic cons, the autograph shows around the world with my cohorts from Land of the Lost, Kathy Coleman, who played Holly and Phillip Payley, who played Cha-ka the Monkey Creature. And we meet hundreds and hundreds of people. We sing the theme song, and I actually bring a blow-up yellow raft with light jackets and oars, because in the opening credits of Land of the Lost, we go over a waterfall in a yellow raft. So we put this yellow raft on the floor and fans get in with us and we dress 'em up, and we all scream going over water over the waterfall. It's really extraordinary. We love doing these comic cons around the world. In fact, I would love to come to Australia and do a Supernova. That would be a dream for me.
*
Athan: Do you have any upcoming projects of which you would like to tell readers?
Wesley: Recently, I had a documentary called ParaSense: The Naked Experiments air on Netflix in a whole bunch of different streaming services. It's a documentary that combines a ghost hunter, and a scientist creating new technologies to see if you can prove touch. It's been winning a lot of awards, in fact, it just got accepted in Lisbon at their major film festival.
So, we're hopefully all going to Lisbon to watch it. But the journey continues and each day I wake up, and wonder what can we create today that would bring joy? I know I sound kind of Pollyannish, but I truly live in gratitude. I also live in Mexico half the year, six months out of the year, in Puerto Vallarta, and fly back and forth, and do conventions, work, and shows. And then the other six months I'm here in Palm Springs.
Athan, thank you so much for having me as a guest, and thank you so very much for your kind words in your review of C.H.O.M.P.S. I really appreciate it, and it means the world to me. Thank you.
*
You’re very welcome Wesley. Thank you so much today for your time today, and for the insight you have shone onto the art of acting, C.H.O.M.P.S, cinema, television, writing, creating, and charities. It has been wonderful having you on CINEMATIC REVELATIONS. You are welcome to return whenever you wish.
*
Wesley Eure links
+Wesley Eure official homepage
No comments:
Post a Comment
Thank you for your comment.