Interview With Curt Clendenin From "Bloody Bobby"
Rudolph Meltzer: Thank you for taking the time for this interview Curt. When we talked a few weeks back about doing this interview who would have thought on how much things would have changed. How are you handling all the new found fame?
Curt Clendenin: Iam grateful for everything. My mission has been to follow the route of creating my own projects and/or work with those who have ambition to make their own. Its because of this, I think is why Iam being asked to be a part of more. It enthralls me and excites me and I love working with passionate artists.
RM: So you are the lead in Bloody Bobby, tell me a little about the role you play.
CC: I play two roles. Reggie and his Brother Alex, Griffin. The movie is based on an urban legend. Ryan (McGonagle) found the story searching through microfiche in a library. Some of the names were changed, but its the same story. Reggie witnessed a tragic event on Halloween as a little boy and told the truth. The other witnesses there deny it happened. The town finds no evidence for the event. He's a troublemaker, so its kind of like crying wolf. They turn against him and his family has to move away. The movie takes place on the 20 year anniversary of the event. It was a lot of fun playing a character from an urban legend! Also, Robert Miano from Donnie Brasco plays a part in it. The cosmic thing is, I was an extra in a film called Mysteria where I played a cop and had to put the bad guy into the police car. That bad guy is Robert Miano! I brought it up to him and he said "Before, I was the lead in a movie where you had a smaller part, now you are the lead in a movie and I have the smaller part." The universe really lined it all up.
RM: I interviewed writer and producer of Bloody Bobby, Ryan McGonagle (posted next week). He mentioned that you were attached to the project even before there was a finished script. Tell us how you how you started working on the project.
CC: I met Ryan at director John Garside's Halloween party. He mentioned he'd like to make a horror movie and invited me to be a part of it. We thought it would be great if we could find an actual horrific event that happened on Halloween. We did our research and found stories of Mary Bell, Jesse Pomeroy, and some others, but Ryan really got the gold when he came back with the story of Robert "Bloody Bobby" Maxwell from Fall Creek Valley!
RM: Now Ryan already has another film in the works getting a lot of people talking, called Gambit’s Game you are attached to already. Tell us a little about this film.
CC: This one takes place on Christmas in Los Angeles. I like to call it a longform Twilight Zone episode. Its a home invasion horror. Richard Elfman will direct it and his brother Danny is going to make the opening theme song. My cousins introduced me to the music of Danny Elfman and Oingo Boingo when I was very little and I started buying all of his soundtracks ever since I saw Batman. This whole experience is going to get me levitating before we know it! We also now have Robb Wilson King, production designer of Breaking Bad, Hostel 2, and Scary Movie helping out. The momentum just keeps building!
RM: You have lived in Hollywood for a few years now, but you grew up in Illinois. Tell us about your childhood and how you broke into acting.
CC: Yes, I grew up in Carol Stream, Illinois. Its a suburb about a half an hour outside of Chicago. My parents got me into modeling and acting when I was 5. My Mom would take me on auditions for tv, commercials and movies. The most fun for me was getting out of school early. I landed the role of an Orphan in The Blues Brothers. My Mom and Dad were big SNL watchers at the time, so as you can guess, their minds exploded. I think it really hit home for her the day we were standing on the beach of Lake Michigan and John Belushi approached us and started teaching us how to make beartracks in the sand. He said "If you make a bunch of these all over the beach one night, in the morning, people will think a bear escaped from the Lincoln Park Zoo." One day, my Mom and I were talking with the wardrobe guy at his truck. He let me try on various hats. One of them was Henry Gibson's Nazi hat. In 2005, I did stand-in work for Boston Legal. One of those days, Henry Gibson arrived on set and I realized I was standing in for his character, a judge. I was able to tell him the story about how I wore his hat and we reminisced about our times on The Blues Brothers set!
RM: So as an actor who are some of the people or films you grew up watching and admiring?
CC: The original Star Wars trilogy is my favorite movie. The idea of connecting with The Force has resonated with me ever since. Time Bandits gave me my first glimpse into time travel, so for that, Iam forever grateful.
RM: You played a super hero type character in the science fiction short Max Neptune and the Menacing Squid. Now as of last week, there are some interesting rumors about you playing Silver Surfer in Avengers 3 & 4. Care to comment on that?
CC: When I auditioned for Max Neptune and the Menacing Squid, John Garside and Colin Fleming had the cockpit of the X-1 built. When they asked me to fly the ship I already knew how to. Growing up, I'd watch Star Wars and pretend I was flying the X Wing Fighter. Apparently I trained for the role without even realizing it! Garside recently asked my brother Josh and I to act in a historical reinactment, a forgotten tale about how Turnbull Canyon got its name. This is an example of how powerful it is to collaborate with those we have a great rapport with, who are passionate about making the projects that excite them the most. Another great example of course is what's currently happening with Ryan, which Iam also grateful for. It all stems from authenticity. My younger self would tell you that I didn't think I'd ever play a super hero in a film. Yes, I've imagined it happening, but for it to become a reality is outstanding! I grew up reading comics and drawing pictures of my favorite superheroes. My favorites were Wolverine, Silver Surfer and Batman. What's unique about Silver Surfer is his ability to surf through the cosmos. This is something I've been doing my whole life.
RM: Thank you Curt. I look forward to seeing your projects on the Tinseltown Silverscreen.
