Meeting Mark Borkowski

Mark Borkowski is the star and writer of The Perfect Witness (starring Wes Bentley: The Last Word, P2, Dolan's Cadillac, American Beauty) and writer of numerous plays: Box of Nails, Within the Skins of Saints, The Kids are Awake, etc. Prior to this interview, I had no idea this very established playwright I was recommeded to interview was the same guy who gave me nightmares when I watched him in his believable perfomance. The Perfect Witness is a movie you can never forget. Maybe because he was so charming and calm I didn't put two and two together....

Chris Kerson and Mark Borkowski interviewed in the Star to promote
"Cost of a Soul" written and directed by Sean Kirkpatrick



    



Meeting Mark Borkowski



When did you start writing?

I began writing as a child when I was 11 or 12 years old. I wrote a lot of short stories…usually horror…as a kid, I identified with monsters. Especially the more sympathetic ones. I was a weird, lonely kid who felt like an outcast so they really helped me, I don’t know …I worked out a lot of stuff.



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=39EKw2pAFdA
Click on above link to view trailer for "A Perfect Witness"

Your first play was produced when you were quite young.

Yeah, when I was about 18 years old I took a nervous breakdown… it was a manifestation of drug addiction and trauma I went through as a child. I was hearing voices and a doctor told me to write the voices down as part of my therapy. They came out in the form of dialogue—as voices would-- and after a while I realized I had a play. I had already been involved in theatre as an actor so I was more than familiar with the form. I called the play Saturday Mourn. I showed it to a friend of mine shortly after that and he gave it to the late great Albert Benzwie (artistic director of the legendary Theatre Center Philadelphia back in the 80s). The play went on to win his one-act play festival.

That’s an amazing story.


And when I went to see it something opened inside me and I realized I could help others. From there, I continued to write play after play because I realized I could work out my demons and give them a platform to maybe help others.

What was the response?

After that play people came up to me and said they were not only touched by it but felt comforted because they too felt so alone and really related to my characters. At a young age I realized I could be of service through my work by expelling and sharing my demons.

How long did it take after that to write your next play?


Oh I immediately went into my next play. I was driving a cab when I wrote, Suicide, Inc. It was a full length play, produced at the Walnut Street Theatre in Philadelphia.

How were the reviews?

The Philadelphia Daily News called it “a multi level masterpiece”.

Did you get paid well for your initial plays?


No, you’re lucky if you break even. It’s only in the past few years that I’ve done more than break even. People, especially in New York, know who I am.


Mark as "Jake" in Cost of a Soul

What is your genre? Has it stayed the same or changed throughout the years?


Psychological drama seasoned with black comedy. My stuff can be pretty brutal. I push the envelope in order to get my point across. I tried to conform to the mainstream, writing “commercial” type stuff but I usually end up losing interest and shelving it. I have to really feel a direct, even soulful connection to my characters in order to live with them and tell their story. In reference to form, I started out writing realistic plays, then I took the reality into the absurd. I like to place characters in hardcore reality and then challenge them with ultimately absurd circumstances which shake and transform their reality or reality as we know it. Then I found myself slipping into hyper-realism. And now, while always keeping my work rooted in reality (so people can identify), I incorporate mystical, even spiritual layers. Metaphors and symbols. Shakespeare wrote on different levels; he had witches, dreams, ghosts… He had all kinds of stuff…you know? My writing has become much more of an exploration of not just reality but dreams, mysticism and spirituality…

Can you explain hyper realism, I’m not familiar.

It’s hysterical realism… much like what we find in dreams or in madhouses. Or, less dramatically, the average hysteria we might experience when we’re being tormented in, say, the throes of addiction or the loss of a lover… For a while there I loved writing about hysteria, you know?

Give me an example.

Well in one of my plays, Within the Skins of Saints, a girl is getting ready to jump off a subway platform and a guy enters and has until the subway comes to stop her. By the end, she almost succeeds in convincing him to jump with her. She shares her dreams of saintly mutilation and the hysteria that caused her to be institutionalized and medicated. She decided to stop taking the meds and escaped the madhouse and is now ready to die and be with her lover, God (a notion that many female Saints also shared at martyrdom). I know it sounds like a dark journey but there is a tinge of hope the end. A branch for the audience to grab onto. I feel it’s kinda my responsibility, after having taken an audience into a dark tunnel, to give them a tinge of light at the end. Or at least furnish road signs so they can get themselves out.




http://www.costofasoul.com/

Wow, tell me about another play of this type.


Another dark play I recently wrote is called Painting Corpses. It’s about a painter who’s bottoming out on drugs and alcohol. He gets a call from an aristocrat who asks him to paint a picture of his dead wife. The money is too good to be true (100 grand) and he accepts the commission. The aristocrat delivers the body to the artist’s loft. When the artist begins to paint her…as the days pass…he starts to fall in love with her…

Whoa!

…and one night he’s very drunk and he’s imagining her lips saying beautiful things to him, her eyes looking at him, her ears listening… he imagines her the woman of his dreams. And…eventually…he makes love to her…

Oh My God!

…the next morning he wakes up and he comes to…he’s very hung over and… she’s sitting there. She’s alive! He thinks. He doesn’t know if she’s a supernatural phenomena or a psychotic delusion. One thing leads to another, and she tells him that she doesn’t want to be painted. She didn’t want it in life and she certainly doesn’t want it in death! BUT she’ll make a deal with him… He needs five primary colors to paint her… she says she will grant him the five colors if he does five favors for her. He finds himself bargaining with the dead. These five favors take him on a journey that ends up changing his life forever.




One of just many of Mark Borkowski's Plays

Wow! What happens in the end?

People have to see it to find out. We workshopped it at the Actor’s Studio and right now we’re trying to find finance for the production. The play is like a Charles Bukowski meets Sleeping Beauty… it’s actually a very beautiful play. One of the biggest qualms people, and some producers, have with this is the necrophilia. They don’t think he should molest the corpse. That the audience won’t forgive him. I think its bullshit. I mean, look at mythology—especially the Egyptians. Isis and Osiris. I mean, necrophilia takes on a whole different meaning when you look at it through those fucking glasses! So, okay, now I’m modifying, maybe… with extreme reluctance.




Any big actors in it?

Yeah… Elias Koteus played the lead and it was directed by Richard Masur.

How many of your plays have been on stage?


One acts, short plays, they’ve been done all over the world…too many to count. I also write screenplays.



"I’m a carpenter...survival job. I was very poor as a young man…"

Oh?

I wrote a film called The Perfect Witness.

I remember that movie, oh my god…that was you!?

With Wes Bentley (Ghost Rider, American Beauty). It was originally called “The Ungodly”. It’s still called that everywhere else except America. It’s being distributed in England this September.

That movie was so scary!

Oh you’re a chicken shit.




view his work: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nmxrbsUtBns

Tell them what it’s about.


It’s about a down and out film maker, he’s a newly recovered drug addict…he lives with his mom and he’s obsessed with a serial killer. Through months of research, he figures out where the killer might strike and, low and behold, he tracks him down.

You played the killer. You were great!


…. So he catches me murdering—or rather, he catches the killer murdering someone and videotapes it. He then blackmails him into being his documentary subject.



On the set of "Don't Listen to What it Sounds Like" Written by Mark Borkowski

And he agrees to it.

… and as he gets to know the killer, the killer gets to know him and… well, again, I would rather our readers rent it. You can get it at Blockbuster or Netflix. It’s also on Showtime and The Movie Channel. It’s a film about addiction (to drugs or murder) and ambition. Also, personal accountability. Ultimately, it’s about a person taking responsibly for their part in something. His ambiton leads him to look the other way and allow haenous crimes to occur, similar to Nazi Germany. People do it all the time and it’s fucked.

That movie was intense. I can’t believe that was you and that you wrote it. Was that your first movie?

First major feature length movie...I’ve had a lot of short films produced. I’ve sold screenplays but they haven’t been made yet.



Movie still from Film Production

How long did that take to write?

About a year and a half and it took twenty four (or so) days to shoot. Editing took a while.

What? It only took twenty four days to shoot it? That’s so fast!

Yeah, well that’s independent filmmaking. It comes down to making it as quickly as possible because everyday costs thousands of dollars…. The editing took several months though.

What inspired you to write The Perfect Witness?


It started out as a play. I had a few scenes but it didn’t go anywhere. Wasn’t working. Tom Dunn, the director, and I had been wanting to write something together but we couldn’t figure out what. One day I told him about this play I couldn’t finish. He was amazed by the story and told me I couldn’t finish it as a play because the damn thing is a film! We locked ourselves up and wrote the screenplay. Within a year or two he made it into a film and cast me as the killer.

Bet it got all sorts of awards!


Cost of a Soul (2010)

Yeah, I got best actor at the Portugal Film festival… We got into the Austin Film Festival. Brussels, Amsterdam, Sitges (Spain, it’s right on the coast), and a few others. Then First Look Studios swept it up, changed its name from The Ungodly to The Perfect Witness and… distributed it.




Mark with director Sean Kirkpatrick in the making of Cost of a Soul (2010)

Do you consider that your biggest accomplishment so far?

Yeah, it’s one of them….it even got picked up by Showtime and—oh, I think I said that already.

Wow! If you could do something else? I mean, if you weren’t an actor or writer?


Oh I’m a carpenter. That’s sorta my survival job. I was very poor as a young man…




Click on link to view Chris Kerson and Judy Jerome star in Mark's play, 4 Adults Only http://www.blip.tv/file/1321737

And now?

I get commissions to write screenplays…for example these Russians came to me with a short story called The Animals, and I adapted it into a screenplay. After I’m done, they translate it back and shoot it as a Russian language film. The money is okay. I also get royalties for my plays… right now three of my plays are being done…

Oh, where?

In Philadelphia TheWalking Fish Theatre is doing my play The Kids Are Awake. My two one acts, Don’t Listen to What it Sounds Like and I like to Watch ‘em Beg Ma are running at The Producers Club here in New York.

What’s that about?

Watch them all and find out.

Ok, I will and I'm going to tell my sisters I met that scary guy in A Perfect Witness, I can't believe it, that's one of my favorite movies!



Brittany Alexis Palmer

Brittany Alexis Palmer has done everything from Head and Shoulders ads, to major soap opera roles (Guiding Light), to small roles in major movies (GI Joe, Blond Ambition) and big roles in indies (Spy Games) AND she has even been approached to appear in an extremely impressive photography book by Patrick Ecclesine, a book that led him to become a co-recipient of the SCIBA ART & DESIGN BOOK AWARD of 2009 http://www.facesofsunset.com/ ...the other http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qZSHzx5mmpM recipient? Annie Leibovitz's At Work! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZEjho8I8XBY In this book, she was photographed as a 'Merry-maker,' and dressed as Dorothy from The Wizard of Oz, she was even quoted in his book! And this is what she said, "I see people with lots of dreams walking along the yellow brick road (Sunset Boulevard). It's a strange feeling. It's exciting, there's so many possibilities, and everyone looks really beautiful, there's a shimmer to it all, but you don't ever know what's real or tangible. And there's a lot of witches and monkeys. It's really easy to lose yourself on the Yellow Brick Road." Did I already mention…Brittany’s done it all?

Click link to get clips of her work: @ http://www.brittanypalmer.com/reel.html 

Is there another Brittany Palmer?

There is! (laughing)

Okay, I was wondering about that actually. When I was researching, one of the pictures that came up of you looked a little different.

Yeah, it can get confusing sometimes with two actresses with the same first and last name! I know one time I gave my email to someone with my website and they told me to clarify it. I think she’s some kind of…oh, I have no idea. I heard we look a little similar so it’s sort of a little scary…she’s very sexy. All I know is we both have dark hair and dark eyes!

She’s a pretty well known actress I believe. So I read you were ‘Kerry’ in All My Children?

That’s correct. I also did some reoccurring work on Guiding Light; I was Darlene….

You were on both soaps? I didn’t know that…that’s so cool.

Yeah, Kerry was super fun. I just loved all the people so much, everyone from the casting director, Judy Blye Wilson, to all the people on set! It was my very first time on camera though so I was a little nervous.

I bet.

My second day was my make out day, it’s like you’re waiting back stage in your robe and people were like, ‘Ahhh, you got that scene today….’

The last thing I was looking for on the way here was what you did in the upcoming GI Joe movie...did it come out yet?

It did, I was a swing dancer in that movie, I haven’t seen it yet…I’ve been dancing since I was two, it’s my first love I would say. I did get a chance to see myself in the LeAnn Rimes video though…

http://www.slack-time.com/music-video-9367-LeAnn-Rimes-Swingin

I saw that…I’m linking that. Your dancing was amazing, you totally stood out too.

Thank you.

Did you get to talk to her?

For a bit…she was really cool; she’s worked very hard to learn the West Coast Swing…

And you?

I already knew how to do it, there’s probably twenty styles, maybe not that many but definitely a lot!

Did you audition for the video?

Not really, they just called me and said, ‘we need you…’ the dance community is very small…I actually did audition but it was a very brief process, they were basically like, “here’s a camera, here’s some really fast music, Go!”

How many commercials have you been in?

I’ve been in four different ones; I did one for Ford with Toby Keith, the country star, like four or five Head and Shoulders commercials, Dr. Pepper, print ads for Finesse…

And what about the Depression.com one?

Oh yeah, there was that one too (Laughing). When my friends saw it they were like, ‘Wow, that’s very funny because you are definitely not a depressed person!!’

Your acting was great in it though, I think like the LeAnn video, you stood out the most in this. So, what’s the next big project for Brittany Alexis Palmer?

When I get back to LA I might be doing a James Van Alden shoot…he’s been making some of his own films which have been really interesting…he’s a big photographer who does mostly cinematic photos.
http://www.jamesvanalden.com/frames/master.htm

I want to check him out…and what’s your NYC job you’re here for now?

I also own a business called Merrymakers which involves mostly entertaining. I’ll be hiring actor friends to put on musicals… last year we had a children’s’ event and we did Jack and the Soy Bean Stock…

Oh, that’s hysterical!

It was… it was an environmentally friendly show. Over the years I’ve made friends with all these musicians, actors, artists… I just love working with all of these friends. It’s sort of like having many lives. When I do this kind of work, I get to be in charge and I really love that. So this week we were looking at the space to transform a set and next I’ll just have to see what my team can do.

I love it, sounds very creative.

I started it right when I moved to the city; I was a dancer, singer, and actress but I wanted to work with my friends and be in charge of a production…so Merrymakers has been around since 2003. My business partner is Angelica Greuner. I’m the creative one…I kind of come up with a plan and create for it and she’s in charge of the other half…decides the numbers, the budget. What’s nice is that this year we decided to go bi-coastal; it’s always just been here in NY….

I really love how as the CEO of your company you were commissioned to be photographed for the famous photography book, Faces of Sunset Boulevard: A Portrait of Los Angeles by Patrick Ecclesine! This book really reminds me of Veronique Vial’s Woman Before Ten and Jacqueline Hassink’s Car Girls!

That was such a fun shoot. It was freezing…

In LA (laughing)?

Well, we took the shot at night… we had to walk across Sunset Boulevard so many times (laughing)…we had to wait for the light…and there was this homeless guy who insisted on giving me a rose and then he started to freak out and began to attack the lights! He was chasing me and I was in these heels!

Oh no!

Finally, the assistant had to just pull him out off the street and put him in a cab…it was so funny but Patrick did not find it funny at all! It was in all the book stores, it came out at Christmas and it sold out right away! I had a bunch of family members who wanted to get it BUT they had to wait a long time….

That’s so awesome. And it also got nominated for a major art award!

Oh my gosh…I didn’t know that! Wow!

Yeah girl, you’re in one of the most famous photography books of 2009 and if I hadn’t interviewed you, you would have never known! (Laughing). It was up against Anne Leibovitz’s http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mO4pjdVseEs (A Photographer's Life 1990-2005, American Music, Stardust: 1970-1999, Olympic Portrait, The Dancers, Shooting Stars) latest book on photography, At Work! They were both the co-recipients for the SCIBA ART & DESIGN Book Award! I mean Anne Leibovitz…only the most famous photographer in the world right now. I would love to interview that guy…can you make it happen?

Maybe…I’ll try, he’s super busy but, he may be interested…he’s very talented. They spelled my name in that book the same way the other Brittany spells it…I also didn’t know when they had an exhibition of the photos at the Arc Light Movie theater, there was this huge picture of me there…my friend took a picture of it and sent it to me…I never knew it got chosen to be displayed.

Did you get to meet anyone else in book?

No, each shoot was an entirely different part; I really like Patrick’s stuff…

Any one picture stood out to you?

I was impressed by Henry Winkler ('the Fonze' from Happy Days) and his son Max and of course, Arnold Schwarzenegger….it was really great he (Patrick) was able to get all these famous people to be in it…I bet he had to snap them pretty quickly…probably didn’t get a lot of time with those guys.

I was impressed to see Pamela Des Barres! What was your role in that Jessica Simpson movie, Blond Ambition?

Oh, it wasn’t major… (Laughing) I just stole a cab from her in one scene…

That is major!

It was pretty funny…

What was she like?

She just seems sweet…she posed for a lot for pictures, the paparazzi were all over her…I’ve NEVER seen such an explosion like that in New York. They also shot in New Orleans…

Any indie films?

A few… I did this Russian Film called Spy Games in English…I might be doing that again in September. I played Agent Susan. That was fun….

Did you have to go to Russia?

No, we shot in New York for my part. It was mostly ADR so they had to shoot separately and then we sat and spoke our parts again and had to remember how we did it and do it all again. I’ve done some great Indies…another was Fire Cracker Flower, really interesting and artistic, it’s been in tons of festivals, it’s in black in white also. And Jason’s Big Problem… it was so silly…kind of raunchy comedy, very fun to do. I’m a little conservative, and not sexy like…I’m more comfortable in the swinging dance world.

I also read you were even a straight ‘A’ student in school and got involved in EVERYTHING! (She was named Miss Teen Glendale Arizona at the age of 16, studied Classical Acting, Opera, Dance and Musical Theater at the Shakespeare Sedona Institute and University of Northern Colorado, won the Sandra Day O'Connor Award from the National Society of Christians & Jews, graduated early Magna Cum Laude, was a cheerleader, member of the cross country team, dance theater, choir, honor society, flute player in marching band, and Student Body President of Greenway High School.)

It was sort of expected in my family. Everyone worked really hard. I got dropped off the whole day at school; I always just had to have a million things going. I’d get bored if I didn’t have a bunch of things to do. My dad was in the military and my mother was principal.

That’s really impressive.

At first she ran a day care from our house, and then she became an art teacher, then taught everything…and then became a principal. My father was an army master sergeant, and then he became a business teacher. I got all my business savvy from him and I think that’s why I don’t like being dependent on anyone. I think it’s always better to be in charge and my business is so fun.

Once we even created a scene from Narnia…we have a huge team so it’s really whatever you’re looking for. We work with whatever they want; ballroom dancing, a play, a singing gig, there’s just a huge variety...

Can you compare NY to LA?

When I first got to LA I felt like the pace just stopped. But I really like having the bi coastal attitude, I really feel lucky that I get to work in both places, it’s tricky though because sometimes right when I’m landing in LA, New York calls me and says, ‘Ok, there’s a commercial to shoot.’ So now I spend a few months a year in both places.

And the lifestyle…

LA: there’s the dog, house, beach…in New York…you get musicians on the street, art everywhere, I love it….

Any celebrity you particularly admire?

Well by just being in LA doing various things, I got to meet Julia Roberts! She’s just really sweet. But I really love Kate Winslet…she’s made some great choices and is very versatile…and Meryl Streep, she’s everyone’s favorite, Judy Garland, and Audrey Hepburn; they’re dancers, singers, and actors… and Audrey was such a big humanitarian…

What is your ultimate goal?

Do I have to have one? I don’t think I have just one!

The ultimate goals?

I’d like to do a lead in a film that is truly inspirational, learn to fly a plane, totally random, um…I don’t know…buy a big house with lots of land and horses, have a family…

Finish this sentence, ‘Do….

Live, laugh, love…’

‘Don’t…

Have regrets…’

Is there any question I forgot to ask and should?

You didn’t ask about the Children of our Villages…

Oh, that’s right…what is your involvement in that?

It was started by Erin Buckley. We’re both all about empowering youth. She did a peace core in Nibia, Africa and came back and had this idea that if we could get the kids to learn in a creative way; have them write a story, and create their own short film…we could bring awareness over there. She just got back from there again and we had a huge benefit in LA where we had entertainers and raised a lot of money for it. She got to show them their film over there. These kids were learning how to fend for themselves, find work…

Sounds amazing!

I kind of function as the ambassador… I don’t have all the time, but, it’s Erin’s baby…that’s a film you should really see…

I would like to.

I can’t pronounce it, it means “I am giving…” they came up with this story where there’s the first child president…the story goes: a little girl is told she can’t be president, she’s too young but then she wins the election…

That’s so cute... the kids came up with it?

Yeah. It’s really quite powerful. I mean these are kids who are told that they’re orphans and they’re not treated very good… but if you give them just a simple task, it’s brilliant…they were even editing the film! I’ve been researching about bringing this to India next…

Oh, I think you should, it’s supposed to be so spiritual there. I’d love to go. So of all these things: dancer, actor, singer, entrepreneur…which one relates to you the most?

Well, I’m an artist I guess, I’m just an artist. All those things relate… they all contribute to each other in some way, you know?

What is something that you’d like to see changed?

Health Care. My nephew was hit by an oncoming car and it cost my sister a fortune! She’s just a teacher! I mean I know a lot of people are against national health care but something does have to happen! There are good and bad sides to both but something needs to happen and quickly. It was really hard to watch what was happening for my own family. I set up a MySpace and got some donations from people for her.

Must have turned your whole world upside down!

My other sister is a lawyer, she got involved and they finally got a settlement…thank god for that otherwise they’d still be in this huge mess! The medical bills were atrocious! I just did a trip to Vermont. There people have chickens hatching eggs, they are growing their own food…it’s just so different…

What about plays?

I did operas and musicals…the last opera I did was Oedipus, it had like 20th century music… To transfer from theater to film took a little adjusting…

Really? Why?

On film you have to be more subtle…and on stage it’s a little bit of a different feeling…the last film festival I attended in March…was for Jason’s Big Problem…the role is just so far from me, the whole process of it was really fun though.

How long did it take to shoot?

Several weeks or something…..

Do you see yourself ever directing?

Yeah and possibly writing or co-writing….

Well, thank you so much for sharing your adventures with me. Your work as an actress, business owner and model impress me and I’m really in awe of all your humanitarian efforts, it motivates me to get more involved, thank you Brittany!

You’re welcome!

Chris Kerson

Chris Kerson is the star of the new hit indie, Cost of a Soul directed by Sean Kilpatrick. His past acting credits include several NYC plays both off and off off. His films Flesh Suitcase and Angel Jellyfish are two of many that are always quite captivating. In Mark Borkowski's NYC play, Don't Listen to What it Sounds Like, Chris brought the house down. He has done everything from Arrested Development to Tennessee Williams and now, his depiction of a man who leaves one war only to return to one at home is truly remarkable.

Thanks for coming and for what you said.

How was the rest of the big night? How do you feel after the sold out show at the Brooklyn Film Festival?

Tired just took a nap...out till 3am and just got back from Brooklyn.

Yeah, I didn't get home until 2 am. You weren't kidding about this film...it's just incredible.

I feel such a close connection to this one and really care what happens to it...

I do too....Everyone in it was amazing...even the little parts were majors like your daughter in the film who only spoke a little but was just as important as everyone else!

True. Maddie Jones is one of the emotionally intelligent children you’ll ever meet. She asked me on set what nationalities I was – I told her Irish and Russian. She said to me you have the Irish temper after seeing an emotional scene for “Tommy”. She said great for acting but could be troublesome in life. She’s 9 and we have had some of the most meaningful conversations while filming and after. Made me think a lot about having my own kids.. She’ll be there next Saturday.

I think definitely the stars of this film are going to go very far.

We’re always looking for people to promote it. Promotion can be tough when you are working with such a small budget. Sean used all 150,000 to get the film finished in a short time. Seasoned directors couldn’t believe how cinematic it was and the production value he got for the money.

Well, I’ll promote the film as much as I can... love it. Also, I feel this movie will sell and do well on its own.

That’s cool. From your mouth to God’s ears…

Your wife must be over the moon about his film...

The film is bitter sweet for my wife.

Oh, why was it bitter sweet?

She loves my work but knows what I went through when I was preparing for it. I was so focused and internally something very different was going on...

When everyone sees this film they’re going to know exactly what you mean...your character was really raw...

...and the Judy relationship was so real for her though she is now accepting that it's a strange thing to see the one you love with another woman..

Yeah, come to think of it...that would be tough for anyone to see. Even though it’s just a movie, it all looks so real! The director and you impressed me the most...he's very good!

What’s most amazing...it’s his first film or feature!

He's a genius!

And a great guy.

Yeah, that scene blew everyone away...everyone's mouth just dropped to the floor...people were covering their mouth, trying not to laugh because of the sheer intensity.

Which scene?

The one with you and Judy where she’s slapped your face a couple of times and then you guys rip each other’s clothes off!

Oh yeah, that was one take too...Sean was like, ‘We got it on the first take!’ we never shot another.

Damn! That's pretty amazing!

Judy gets up on the high wire with me and so does Mark.

Nice!

They were great to work with and made me so much better...

Whatever it was... it worked!

It’s something special to work with close friends in a movie... we grew a lot closer too...I learned a lot about Mark being in his neighborhoods.

Must have been cool to see where the famous playwright was raised and how he grew up. Was it a slum?

Real working class... the guys he's friends with would give you the shirt off their backs. Mark is such an amazing and beautiful soul... he's the best to spend time with.

Everyone always says that about him. When I heard you recommended him to get cast in this film I was keeping my fingers crossed. The fact that he's cast both you and Judy as lovers in two of his plays Don't Listen to What it Sounds Like  AND Within the Skins of Saints and now you're lovers in this film and he's trying to interfere with your lives in the film is ironic.

Both of those plays were also directed by Robert Haufrecht http://www.oobr.com/top/volSix/five/basis.html
It's true thougth and Judy's just easy to work with...

I love Judy’s character...it's edgy, mean and nice at the same time...I felt like your character made the film because in the end, he's like ‘fuck all of you for fucking with my sick daughter you punks!’

Judy really transformed to create that edge. Sean was hesitant to cast her because she is the absolute opposite of that character in life... Tommy lived and died for his daughter and faith and I get emotional saying that.

...and even though he didn't live in the end, the daughter did and that's what counts...why didn't he write to his wife when he was away? Was it just too painful being in the war zone...was he just too shell shocked?

Yes

Oh.

He did horrible things...became a machine and animal so to speak hence the first scene with the interrogation. When Tommy perpetrated such violence Sean called him at such time "the Machine."

Yeah. It's going to go very far!

...and being a father is something he doesn't know how to do... scares him most of all... he comes from a bad home life or none at all...

I can’t wait for it to blow up.

I hope honestly for the films sake, it does... it has a great message and thanks again for everything you said...
glad to know you like it so much and you got our backs... you were so supportive before and now you get to see it - I’m glad.

You’re very welcome...thanks for making a great film. Did you hear how it's doing in Hollywood?

Lion’s Gate is looking at the film ... I should have been at that screening in L.A but was too poor to be at both with short notice and Sean wanted me in NYC. But more industry was there and Sean, the film, and all the acting got a lot of praise.

That's wonderful. That doesn’t surprise me. So many of your films have made it to the festivals and are still making it...

Three for this one as I already mentioned. Flesh Suitcase made it to Slamdance/Sundance, Berlin, Seattle, and World Fest, the film Modern Romance was shown at the Greenwich Film Festival and Insult to Injury played at the Cannes Film Festival.

Wow!
I heard people were shocked that no one knew him (director of Cost of a Soul) and he made this amazing film...that’s what Will said. Sean is very humble and I think Will was worried how far understated humility goes in Hollywood. Sean said people were very inquisitive about who I was too..

But even the old guy in it, you, Judy, Will, his mom in the film all especially stood out as people that were so recognizable and yet you've never seen them before!

Sean has a gift for casting and an eye.

Seriously...when people see it...they’re going to be like ‘I've seen you in a lot of movies, right?’



Chris Kerson-NYC Actor: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_S2bKZAIGqk

Honestly Sean said they were comparing me to James Dean... I heard Brando too... Forgive me for repeating that this character was compared to those two icons… and of course James Franco - but Franco might be a troubling comparison...



" they were comparing me to... James Franco..."

Why?

He’s a little younger and he works all the time and people think we look alike – a well known independent film director said it could hurt or help me ...it doesn't matter...

The plant was cool use of symbolism and I noticed the part where you were bending down but with great difficulty because you'd just been shot...it was all very real...every last detail!

Thanks. Teacher of mine, Charlie Laughton, once said “God is in the details.”

You’re very welcome. Can’t wait for it to hit theaters all over New York!!

Daveed Ramsay

Daveed Ramsay is just one of the many up-and-coming stars cast for the new Indie favorite, Cost of A Soul. He played the character Maliq in the hit show "Ugly Betty, " made his appearance on HBO's The Sopranos, played a small role in Moe n' Joe and got to meet his hero, 50 Cent when he was cast as one of the kids in Get Rich or Die Tyin.' I was very impressed by how effortlessly he played the role of a younger brother to one of the main characters of the film. His perforance in this movie left quite an impressoin on me. Today we spoke about this film and what he's planning to do next....

Where you from?

I was born and raised in Brooklyn.

Really? I LOVE Brooklyn!

Yeah… my mom was only 13 when she had me. Everyone discouraged her but she didn’t listen and chose to keep me and said I would be special…she’s pretty much the foundation of my life.

That’s pretty powerful Daveed.

She planted the seed obviously. She’s always installed in me to not be dependent on anyone and not to let anyone tell me what I can’t do…

Wow, I love that…she sounds like quite an amazing woman!

She just remarried and now I have a responsibility for my little siblings. My little sister was at the film.

I saw her…she was so spellbound…very adorable!

She said to me, ‘you never came back in the movie…’ and I had to explain it to her. I really care deeply for them. I’m very big on being a role model.

Good! We need more of them in this world. You are very young and very talented you are on the right track to being a role model.

Like a leader of New School…I’m a rapper as well…

Leader of the New School?

You know, like the new generation?

Oh, I see what you’re saying. So like where it used to be considered Old School….

It’s just about me living my life right… you know of course I’m going to make mistakes…but you know I have power and with this power comes responsibility.

Very true. Whenever people become well known in the acting business…people become very curious about them and what they’re doing: what they’re wearing, saying…who they’re dating…

But you know it is what it is. You know my mother had me young and we struggled a little bit but now, 19 years later…here I am! So you know I’m just really into acting, music…I just opened up my own club and as far as acting goes, I was about 12 when I got into acting which was my first…the 50 cent movie…

Wow! That’s a great start. I heard he’s supposed to be a very open kind of guy. He really tries to be a positive role model for young people…would you agree with that?

Yes, most definitely. I seen the commercial and I told my mom I’d love to be in that movie and the very next day I got cast.

What was that like?

I got to meet him and I knew from that day on what I wanted to do with my life you know acting and everything that goes with! He really changed me.

I saw you taking a picture with your grandma after the film and she seemed so ecstatic…what did she have to say about this film? Did she think it was a little violent?

Well she doesn’t really watch movies but she really loved it for the most part…I mean everyone was just so excited to be a part of it…such a good cast! The director did something very good.

Seriously. Was this your first feature film?

Basically yes but I was in a bunch of stuff…most recently I was in Ugly Beauty and was supposed to come back for the second season but then they canceled the show. I’ve been in Sopranos and… I’m very humble. I’m young and like I said it’s just wonderful right now… I’m in a space where I’m very creative with whatever it may be…don’t be surprised if you don’t always see me in roles like that….

I thought you were amazing in it!

What I mean is I don’t want to become type cast. I do movies like that but I also do other roles…my next step would be horror or comedy or drama. I’m not saying I wouldn’t do that again you know I’m trying to get a Grammy here… I want to make movies that have purpose and meaning in all areas of life.

I see. Does this depict real life then or is it stereotypical?

Well yes and no. I mean in places like Philly it can sadly be a reality but also I feel that there are many more entrepreneurs that are young and black like myself…I mean I understood…that time in Philadelphia that’s just what it was. I just don’t want to be doing too many of these roles…

You want to be well rounded…I understand that. I think that’s what most actors want. I’ve heard a lot of female actresses say they will only do serious roles but sometimes getting them is a different story.

I want to be like Will Smith; he’s done so many different roles, not just this black gangster role. I love everything new you know I’m still young…for future reference people will see me a lot after this film…

That’s good to know. Now, you said you’re also a rapper too?

The album should be out hopefully by September you know it’s just a work in progress...

Who was your favorite actress?

Do you mean in the film?

Yeah…well, actually wait…maybe I shouldn’t ask that question because there was really only two come to think of it (laughing)…

Well, with Judy Jerome she was just amazing… it was really something special. I mean a lot of the times you just don’t see that.

I agree…I was very impressed with her depiction of that character also…and then to meet her in person was a bit strange because she spoke differently…

She’s a very talented actress, very, very, talented. And like Sean was saying when we were being interviewed after the festival afterwards you know that movie had a very low budget but the money isn’t everything to me.

I think this movie will make a lot of money. This happens with a lot of indie films and it’ll happen with this one.

That’s why I didn’t hesitate…when I see something that moves me in a way…just being there with the cast members was amazing…

It must have…what was the set like? It must have been very exciting.

Being there was just great…I liked to make people laugh on set but I could not make Will laugh…he’s very serious and was always in character.

His hard work must have paid off then because this film is going to get him a lot of recognition.

Yeah, he’d never laugh, but that wasn’t till we said ‘cut’ then he was back to himself. He just brought the best out of me… you know you got to feed off of the others’ energy…especially the scene where we were shooting at the store…

What an intense scene…there were so many scenes like that throughout the film…I found myself holding my breathe through most of it…

…I just snapped into it for that scene...I would LOVE to work with anyone on that film again.

How long did this actually take?

18 days…and I was only on set for like four days BUT they were long…I mean usually when you have a major film you know you work for a few hours…that scene that I just mentioned took many long hours. And it was so cold! My hands were so numb… it was freezing…we did like 18 hours a day. I commend him (director) for that…it was really something else!

Now, this question will be tough, who was the best actor in the film…aside from yourself (laughing)?

Will all the way...that guy is so talented it’s ridiculous…he’s a good guy too. Whenever we got a chance to chop it up there was always something.

Have you been to every festival for this film?

Brooklyn, San Jose California …I won’t be making the one in Hollywood…

So how does any film get chosen for a festival? Is it really an almost impossible feat like everyone says?

Well, basically they send the film in and they watch the film and then I guess a certain number of people have to vote for it…I mean like the director said last night even for Brooklyn it was chosen from 4,000 films…that’s a lot of freaking movies…

Incredible! When was the first time you saw it?

Last night was the first time I watched it in its entirety...because when I was in California…. I actually missed the first part of the movie (laughing) there was just a lot going on that day.

I could imagine…all the excitement. I would have been so nervous if I was you. So you didn’t get to see it until it was shown to an audience? That’s a little scary.

You don’t actually get to see the film until it hits the film premiere and this adds to the excitement…

What do you see happening for this movie?

I mean you want to say you want the movie to be here and here but sometimes you just want things just the way it is….of course I want this to be played everywhere as a major film but there’s a lot of politics behind that.

What were some Hollywood films you were in besides Get Rich or Die Trying?

I was in another movie with Luke Wilson called Tenure….about a school teacher, it’s a comedy…I have a speaking role but it’s not major one…everything I’ve done has been good…a football commercial and one for Dominos…for some that’s a lot for others it’s not and you know for me I want to do so much more…I want to be like Will Smith…that’s the plan.

That’s very ambitious…let’s get back to 50 Cent, he’s had some life!

When you think about it…the man got shot 9 times and survived and made something out of nothing and you know his story is so incredible and he’s only 33!

Really? That’s so young!

You know mostly men don’t become men until they’re 40! I am his biggest fan and when I met him I was like, ‘Yo 50 let me rap for you’ and he was like, ‘okay, sure!’ and he let me rap for him and it was very big.

If you were going to attend the Academy Awards for one of you future films who would you bring and what would you wear?

My girlfriend… but if I didn’t have a girlfriend it would be between Megan fox and who else? I’ll just say her and the designer outfit would be by Louie Vouton….and my girl would probably wear YSL .

Nice choices. Now, let’s talk a little bit about your mother in the film. She was brilliant.

That was her first acting part and you wouldn’t be able to tell though… it was just so natural….

I can’t believe that!

Well, Sean (director) is by far is one of the most talented directors I have ever worked with…he sees things others just don’t see…he brought this movie to life and in 18 days….I mean a film can’t even get made in 18 days…he’s very talented….

Were you always acting?

Well up until I was seventeen I was in drama class. I graduated two year ago but I have since been represented by Abrams Artists.

It’s really impossible to get representation. How did you do it?

I just got lucky. My mom sent a head shot and normally when someone sends a head shot no one ever looks at it, but,…it just so happened to land on the bosses desk…he called me in and I did this little coke audition…I’m also very well known musically.

Really?

Little Mama was there last night to see me!

Really? I love her on that MTV series, America’s Next Dancer!

She’s HUGE…she did that album, Voice to the young people…she’s recorded with T-Pain and Chris Brown and myself…

What did she think of the film? Was she impressed with your performance?

She loved the film….

Maybe she can do a little promoting for it?

Oh, I don’t know if she’d do that…I’d love that but I don’t know….

So, what was it like preparing for the role for this film or any film rather, what’s the process?

During the film I was...the normal typical process doesn’t involve me studying the script all day….I’ll look at it, skim it, and then I’ll put it away…I did this for the last film I auditioned for recently, Lord of the Bad Axes…and that script was long and when I auditioned…I had only looked at it for maybe an hour and the next day I got on the hour long train ride and the funniest thing happened…I guess because I’m a musician/ rapper so I got used to memorizing things quickly…I just don’t do anything until it’s time. I just read a little of the dialogue and by the time I got there I had already memorized all 12 pages of the film…

That’s very cool.

…and while I was waiting I was looking in the mirror and getting into character and I think I got this but we just have to wait and see…everything I go for is major…see in Hollywood…they just want to go for people that are already out there, like a familiar face… like for instance when I did uh…Big Mama’s House I did an amazing job but they just wanted Branden C. Jackson who was in a bunch of movies. He’s wonderful but a lot of times that’s just what Hollywood does or people are friends with the directors but I don’t let this discourage me because everything happens when it happens…I’m progressing with the acting and you now everything else is just falling into place.

It certainly has already…this film was one of my favorite movies. I’m looking forward to now checking out some of your albums as well…thanks for chatting with me today!

You’re welcome, anytime.