Yesterday, TV Tango took part in an interview session with Sean Patrick Flanery, star of MONGOLIAN DEATH WORM, which premieres on Syfy on Saturday, May 8, 2010 at 9pm ET/PT. Sean answered more than 40 questions about his acting career, his Jujitsu training, SAW 7 in 3D, and this new Syfy TV movie.

 

Check out the entire interview as well as pictures and a video preview of the movie.

 

 

 

Question: How did you prepare for this role?

 

Sean Patrick Flanery:  To be perfectly honest, my preparation -- kind of in everything -- I keep completely to the script. I’m not a big method actor or anything like that. I think pretty much every bit of information that you need to go in and make a movie is contained in the script itself.

So it was just a product of myself and Steven reading the script and coming up with what we thought really worked. I definitely wanted to add an aspect of humor to the guy because I think it’s a very fine line. When I read the script, I thought this could be kind of tongue in cheek and yet kind of scary at the same time. And I think we’ve pulled it off.

So, really there is no great secret. I don’t go to the farthest corner of Malibu and meditate or anything like that. It’s really all script based.  My research for every film I’ve ever done starts on Page 1 and ends at fadeout. It really does. And then a series of questions directed at all the collaborators -- the director, the writer -- and we come up with something that we want to shoot for.

And in some movies you pull it off, some you don’t. And I really think we hit it on this one.

Question: What did you find the most challenging about playing this role?

 

Sean Patrick Flanery:  The Texas heat. [Sean was raised in Texas.] That was a joke. Really the most challenging aspect of this is a technical issue, and literally every piece of recorded dialogue in the film you watch had to be looped.

 

The audio was completely useless. So I’ll tell you this. It’s an actor’s nightmare whenever he has to go in and he has to loop lines and he has to re-record lines. Just because the emotional tone -- whether it is comedy, theater, anger, or any of that -- it’s really hard to replicate on a sound stage when you’re not physically going through the motions.

 

And in this film literally every line had to be looped. So I was petrified at that. I didn’t know if we could even come close to replicating what we did on the day. So that was the most challenging aspect. Without question it was on the soundstage trying to replicate this audio.

 

I don’t know if it was a technical thing or if it was a frequency thing. I don’t know. But we had to redo absolutely everything, which was difficult. It really was.

 

In the end, I’m proud of the project, but I think it would have been much easier and we would have stayed to the authentic original if we used what we captured on the day. It would have been much, much easier.  But I think we still got there it just took a lot more effort you know, in post production.

Question: There is a scene with a power plant worker where you take his gun away from him and confuse him. That seemed improvised. Can you talk about that?

 

Sean Patrick Flanery:  I pretty much made that all up on the day. Those are the moments where I really felt like we had to add some humor there. And to be honest, I’d love to do a project that was nothing but that.

 

And this is a great opportunity to do some of that. To interject some humor. The shows that I really liked were Raiders of the Lost Ark where it was deadly serious but he was funny as well. And you could see that this guy really, really enjoyed what he did. He just relished every moment of the day.

 

I wanted to try my best - obviously not to compare this to Harrison Ford by any stretch of the imagination -- to sort of bring some of that joie de vivre to him.  He just loved every moment. Everything was exciting. He was following his dream chasing these artifacts. There was a moment for humor in everything. He didn’t take himself seriously, and there was a element of this character being a little self deprecating which I always find disarming in a certain way.

 

And I’ve always wanted to do a film like that, and I certainly liked to do one from start to finish like that.

 

But yes, we made that up on the day. There were a couple other moments whenever he breaks character when he is turning the valves on and off. And then it completely breaks character and he goes, no, no, seriously because I tried it one time and it didn’t work.

 

And working with Steven was a great opportunity because he was open to that. You know, he really was. If we found something that worked, we kind of latched on to it. And it was really cool. It really was. I had a wonderful time.

Question: Did your friend Andrew Stevens from BOONDOCK SAINTS sit you down and say "Listen, Steve McQueen had THE BLOB. This is your BLOB"?

 

Sean Patrick Flanery:  You know what, he didn’t, but that would have been a great line. That would have been an excellent line. You know, it’s funny every time people are like "MONGOLIAN DEATH WORM, what is that?" I’m like "No, no, no, no you got to check it out. You got to check it out. Because of the title, you have to know that it’s not taking itself too seriously to call itself MONGOLIAN DEATH WORM." And in that I think we really made a neat little film.

Question: Based on how the movie ends, can we expect to see a sequel?

 

Sean Patrick Flanery:  No, no, there wasn’t on the day, but I questioned it. I’m like "Wait a minute. This guy is in the middle of Senegal and he leaves all of these objects in the middle of the desert and he just drives away? Come on man, come on." But we really didn’t talk any further we just really had a wonderful time shooting this one.

Question: Do you miss Captain Benny’s? Are you just heartsick with what is going on with the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico?

 

Sean Patrick Flanery:  Yes, and I grew up surfing there at the Surfside Pier, Matagorda, the Flagship and Galveston. All of that. That’s where I grew up...the Louisiana Coast. I’m a bayou person from the Louisiana Gulf. So it’s just all my area. You never know what is going to happen, but I grew up amongst a lot of oil spills and I was there for a lot of the oil spills.

 

And whenever I would be paddling in on my surfboard, the news would be isolating one little tar puddle and saying the beaches are uninhabitable. Right when I paddled in.

 

I'm holding out hope that it’s not going to be nearly as apocalyptic as they are suggesting. Obviously, it’s tragic. I’m not trying to downplay it all, it is tragic. But I’m hoping for the best. I’m hoping that this dome -- that they’re dropping as we speak -- works.

And we move on to the next thing. I’m hoping everybody gets their shrimp, I’m hoping the fisherman [can get back to work]. I’m hoping everything goes right back to where it was. So I’m keeping my fingers crossed.

Question: What is it about these low budget, seat-of-your-pants movies like MONGOLIAN DEATH WORM that get so much cool energy from you?

 

Sean Patrick Flanery:  I’ll tell you very concisely it’s the freedom to do what you want. With the bigger budget stuff, there are 15 cooks in the kitchen and everybody wants something done incredibly specifically and precisely. There is no freedom to improvise just like what we were talking about. Some of the favorite scenes are completely made up on the day.

 

There are no egos. The writer is not going to go, "Well, I didn’t write that so don’t do it. Somebody on the set is going, "Wait a minute, that works lets do it." It’s just more collaborative. Completely collaborative. You have to improvise with a lot of things -- not just in the acting, but you have to improvise with the way you like things. Sometimes you got to move an indoor set to outdoor.

 

I completely agree with your assessment. For some of the smaller budget stuff, you end up being the most creative because everybody really has to dig deep and pull something out. And if something works, everybody agrees and latches on to it as opposed to 19 executives saying "Well, we need to get that approved and we need five signed agreements before you make a decision."

 

It breeds creativity. It really just does. If there are any problems and if a script is not 100% perfect, then I think everybody needs to have the freedom to be able to approach the director and the upper management to say, "What if this..." without being shut down.

 

I also think for smaller budget stuff, they do that because people are there because they love it. People aren’t there because they are getting a paycheck. People are there because they really thought, "Wow, this could be kind of cool."

 

Because on a project like this, you know, obviously, nobody got rich. People did it because we read it, and we were like "That could be kind of fun." People that are there for that reason are usually really ready to work, and they really are hoping to make something really good in quality.

Question: What is about playing the scoundrel - particularly the good scoundrel -- that speaks to you?

 

Sean Patrick Flanery:  I don’t know. I’m not really sure. But like I said earlier, I like there to be some redeeming quality in the character. For some reason this guy is only out for himself, but there is for some reason you kind of like him. And I enjoy that. I enjoy that mischievous nature of boyhood, and the fact that some adults can retain it. A lot like Harrison in Raiders.

 

I thought this guy is a boy. Although he is a 40-year-old man chasing artifacts, he is a boy. And he is just really appealing. He’s disarming. He just has a way of getting what he wants without really offending anybody. And I really enjoy playing that. I enjoy exploring that. I think a lot of characters take themselves way too seriously, and in respect of that, I just really find that appealing and enjoyable to portray.

Question: How did you get the part? Did you audition or were you asked to do it?

 

Sean Patrick Flanery:  Steven [Monroe, the movie's writer and director] called me and said, "Hey, I was thinking about you for this role, would you give it a read?" And I did, and I said, "Let’s go and do it, this would be really, really cool."

 

It’s a different kind of Sci-Fi Movie and realistically that’s the kind of Sci-Fi Movie that I could do over and over again. I’d do a series like that. To play a character like that chasing stuff like that,  I just find it really, really appealing. It’s not dead serious, where we're at DEFCON 5 and the space blizzards are going to attack in 13 seconds. It’s not that. It just had a real magical feel about it.

 

I immediately called Steven after reading it and I said, "You know, I see it this way, a little funny and tongue and cheek." And he is like, "Absolutely, absolutely." So we saw eye to eye on it and went on and made it, that was it.

Question: Can you talk about working with a green screen?

 

Sean Patrick Flanery:  The real Worm was obviously never there, so it was all green screen which is something that I’m not that foreign to. Because THE YOUNG INDIANA JONES in the early 90s, we did pretty much the first green -- well, it was the blue screen back then -- on television period. You know, ILM [Industrial Light & Magic] developed all that technology.

 

So you talk about where the Worm is, what the Worm is going to do, and you let your imagination run wild. Somebody is going to say this is what the worm is going to do, it’s going to reach in, that is where it’s going to be, you’re going to point the gun, you’re going to fire at it. You have to just shut your eyes, believe it and then hope when the post-production artist and special effects guys get in there, they make a neat looking worm. And I was pleasantly surprised with the worms. I thought a lot of that stuff -- where the worm was hanging on the ceiling and yanked the character from the ground up -- I thought that looked amazing. I really did.

 

You're always kind of rolling the dice whenever you don’t know if somebody’s interpretation of the worm is going to be hokey or what not. But this looked killer, I was really happy with that.

 

But it’s not nearly as difficult as people say. Let's be honest, acting is pretend. It is, When somebody says well I can’t really do it because the person is not here, it’s like "Honey, when the person is really there, it’s not really the person. It’s an actor. And so let’s not act like you really have to speak to the president. It’s not really the president."

 

I think you all just have to pretend and be kids again. And on the day I pretended that there were worms there, and it was fun. That’s pretty much it. It’s not difficult at all. It’s fun.

Question: What is your ultimate dream role? Is there somebody you want to work with?

 

Sean Patrick Flanery:  Not really. My specific dream role is good material and a character that I really like. That’s really it.

 

I like this character. I think it’d be killer to do a series with a character like that to really explore adventures on a weekly basis. I think that would be wonderful.

 

Having said that, I can think of a thousand things that’d be great to do, but that’s certainly one of them.

 

Just good material. I want to do stuff that when I read the script I’m like "Wow that would be fun." There has got to be a handful of scenes in the script and I think "Wow, I can’t wait to shoot that" or "Wow, I can add this to that, or this would be neat, or this be funny." Things like that.

Question: How much of Daniel is drawn from YOUNG INDIANA JONES? Did you go back to that material and use any of it?

 

Sean Patrick Flanery:  Realistically, it is what I wished I could have done with Young Indie. But Young Indie was from 16 to 20 and he hadn’t developed into the mischievous character that Harrison Ford was when he did Indiana Jones.

 

Don’t get me wrong. I loved YOUNG INDIANA JONES. I loved doing it, but it was a very horrific eye opening and naïve point in his life where every experience was his first -- his first time he fell in love, the first time he saw death. They were all character building moments in his life that ultimately would result in the Harrison Ford character or something similar to the character that I brought as Daniel.

 

It would have been wonderful to do a series where he was already like that, but he didn’t have that reflection on life with a mischievous grin yet. Young Indie was all of those moments that created that "Uh-huh, I completely understand that look in somebody’s eyes." if that makes sense.

Question: What did you know about the creature before doing the film?

 

Sean Patrick Flanery:  Absolutely nothing. I thought it was made up. I did. I was like, "Oh my God. Wow. That’s kind of cool." There really is this story about the Mongolian Death Worm - yes. But no, I never had.

Question: What was it like to work opposite Victoria Pratt?

 

Sean Patrick Flanery:  She was killer. She was great. A wonderful girl. We became friends on the set. I think she is a solid human being. I had a great time.

 

Shooting a film like that, it’s just so much more lax. We would shoot out in the desert in Dallas so we go grab some lunch into town, come back, shoot some more desert stuff. She is a good human.

 

Ultimately, I don’t care how creative somebody is and how good of an actor they are. If they are not pleasant to work with, I really can’t be bothered because life is too short. She is, she is just a wonderful, wonderful person.

Question: Can you tell us about your awards for Jujitsu? What’s your favorite kick?

 

Sean Patrick Flanery:  I’ve won a few national championships in Brazilian Jujitsu. Taekwondo same thing. And I own my own academy here in LA.

 

I teach most days. I am an actor -- obviously, that is bread and butter -- but I’m there everyday teaching class. It’s my passion. I’ve been in martial arts since I was 9 so it’s something I really, really love.

 

Well a little Thai-Kick is the most effective. The prettiest is a spinning hook kick, obviously. It’s just going to piss somebody off. It is definitely the most beautiful, but it's not really the most functionally effective.

Question: Do you have any favorite martial arts movies? Or do you think of doing one?

Sean Patrick Flanery:  Yes, obviously, all of them, but oddly enough it’s kind of a well kept secret. There are a lot actors in Hollywood that people think are martial artists, but they’ve never really competed. But they have this reputation. Oddly enough, I’m actually one that actually does compete, but nobody knows I do martial arts. It’s a little different like that.

 

But yes, I’d love to. I mean everybody would.

 

And do I have favorites? You know, what got me into it really was Bruce Lee movies. And even things like Patrick Swayze, like Road House and stuff like that.

 

When I was kid, I loved Bruce Lee films. Loved those. I wanted that magic that everybody thought martial arts had so I went through all of them, searching for that magic. And ultimately I found it with Brazilian Jujitsu.

Question: Does martial arts training help you concentrate while filming?

 

Sean Patrick Flanery:  Well I’ll put it to you this way. I think being physically fit helps absolutely everything. It helps you if you have a desk job and you drop your pencil and you bend over to pick it up. It helps absolutely everything. And it’s those incremental little benefits that at the end of the day you’re not tired at all. I mean you have gas for days, you have energy everything.

 

In Dallas I was training at Guy Mezger’s Gym. Everyday when we wrap, I’d go train. The Brazilian Jujitsu community is really tiny so I know somebody in every city. I know them from tournaments, from the world championships, from the Pan America Games everything. So I was training everyday out there, and I wake up in the morning, I feel good. By the end of the day I still have energy. It helps absolutely everything. It is something I cannot recommend more highly.

Question: Of the characters you've played in BOONDOCK SAINTS and MONGOLIAN DEATH WORM, which was most over the top?

 

Sean Patrick Flanery:  The most over the top: Connor in BOONDOCK II. Then, Daniel in MONGOLIAN DEATH WORM. And the least over the top, Connor in BOONDOCK I.

Question: Can you tell us about your next project?

 

Sean Patrick Flanery: On Halloween I have SAW 7 coming out. It’s going to be in 3D. So, I’m in that, that’s going to be coming out.

 

And as far as anything else. I’m an actor so I’m unemployed until the next gig, and I’ll be sure to let you know about that whenever it comes.

 

But other than that, you know, I’m at my academy everyday Hollywood Brazilian Jujitsu. HollywoodBJJ.com. And I’m there everyday. I own it, I operate it and I’m there every single day.

Question: Was MONGOLIAN DEATH WORM made specifically for Syfy? Or did you do it for another company that later sold it to Syfy?

 

Sean Patrick Flanery:  I’m pretty sure -- I could be wrong -- but I’m pretty sure it was for the Syfy Channel. I’m pretty sure, I’m not 100%. But I’m pretty sure it was specifically for that.

 

I’ll be honest, I do a lot of these and you know, and sometimes I kind of dodge questions. But this I really think it’s good, I really do man. And I hope you do like it, I really do. I like to tell everybody, "If you don’t like this movie, you take yourself way too seriously. And you need to check for pulse because you’re dead inside."

Question: What is one of the most memorable on-site moments that you had?

 

Sean Patrick Flanery:  I would say probably fracturing my nose at the Jujitsu Academy while I was there. That was probably what sticks out in my head. It wasn’t bad. It didn’t prohibit filming or anything like that.

 

But otherwise there was nothing. I guess really driving the International Scout through the desert. Because during that chase scene, I did it all myself. I was letting the back end hang out, fishtailing everywhere and then I’d drive it to lunch and do doughnuts. I had a ball in that International Scout. We were on a ranch with nothing out there, so it was a lot of fun.

Question: What advice would you share with aspiring actors?

 

Sean Patrick Flanery: First -- this is going to sound absurd -- be good. And what I mean by that is, have somebody other than your mom tell you that you’re good before you decide to pursue it. I think just like anything else you have to properly access your ability to succeed in any given area. If you want to trade stocks, you got to be good with numbers. You have to. So if you’re going to pursue acting, first be good, have a number of people tell you that you’re good, and then be in LA if you want to be in film. If you want to do stage be in New York.

 

But I have a lot of people that are like "What should I do?" and they are in Milwaukee. I’m like, "Well first, get in LA." Back when they only thought it was Texas, if you wanted to be a lawman man you got to move to Texas. So just do it.

 

The way that I did it was pretty standard theory. I moved out here, I got my headshots, I bought a mailing list of all the agencies at a place called Samuel French Book Store and I mailed them out with a nice pleasant head letter. I said "I’m seeking representation in this area." And I just kept inundating them until I got a call back from an agency.

 

But the first piece of advice is be good. And the second thing is: have an extra curricular passion. Because you are going to be a bitter and resentful actor if the only thing you have is acting, and you’re sitting at home waiting for the phone to ring.

 

The most wonderful thing about my life being an actor is I don’t watch TV and get angry because I didn’t get the job. Why? Because I’m in a tournament somewhere. I’m at the academy. I really don’t know of all the things that I missed. I’m sure if I did see them, it’ll piss me off if I read for that and I didn’t get it. But I have something else that occupies my thought train, my desires, my focus. So I don’t let it build up inside you because it’s tough on your ego in this business. It really is.

 

So you have to be resilient and you have to have something else to focus a lot of time an effort on so you don’t get tunnel vision and get bitter about it.

Question: Can you tell us a bit about the process of filming SAW 7 in 3D?

 

Sean Patrick Flanery:  It was a long shoot. Technically, they had to recalibrate the cameras every time they moved the camera. So that was one detriment to doing it in 3D.

 

I haven’t said that that’s the first time that they’ve ever used these cameras in a horror film. So it’s pretty neat. It looks pretty ridiculously cool.

 

I’ll say that I’ve never done anything in 3D and I’ve never seen myself in 3D so that was a wonderful experience.

 

But it's a new digital age. When everybody used to shoot film in celluloid, they took a lot more time preparing the scene and the angles and the composition before they actually turned the camera on. And in digital, they just shoot the rehearsal, then they change the thing, shoot it again, shoot it again, shoot it again. So the ratio of amount of footage that you shoot to the closing film went way up with the digital age.

 

Well, we reverted back to kind of the celluloid feel in SAW 7 because it took so long to set it up. So we had to make sure we got it right. So it technically was a very different shoot because the set up for the next scene took so long and it was so involved that we had to make sure we got it right the first time. We didn’t have a lot of time to do 19 - 20 takes. So for that reason it was different.

 

But other than that it was a regular movie. We had a great time and I think it’ll be really horrific.

Question: Can you tell us about the Pat Benatar concert that you mentioned on your Twitter feed? Were you always a fan?

 

Sean Patrick Flanery:  Of course. How can you be my age and not be a fan? I don’t know if you saw what I posted of her? That little acoustic version. Killer acoustic version. And I mean I was close - I could have made out with her I was that close - seriously.

 

I mean I was leaning on the stage. And it was funny because it was at a Hollywood function so everybody is to cool for school. Nobody gets up out of their chairs so I could bum rush the stage. Me and my girlfriend were like literally on the stage. It was excellent. From now on I’m going to go to all of those Hollywood concerts because everybody stays in their seats.

Question: How is your dog? What is the most adventurous thing you’ve ever done?

 

Sean Patrick Flanery:  Donut? She was on the set for this movie. You know, so far she has had a cameo in four films. She has done four movies.

 

Wow, adventurous. I’ve done some pretty wacky things.

 

Probably the most adventurous thing that I ever did when I was in a place on the Coast of Africa shooting Young Indie. I rented a Mini Moke which would look like an old school Mini Cooper from the 60’s. I rented it and I went driving, and I got about two hours out away and I ran it out of gas. And I mean when I think back the fact that I’m still alive now, it floors me. Because I had to walk through townships and it was a harrowing experience. I was pretty retarded to have ever even attempted that.

 

But you know, it’s a Jeep. It doesn’t have doors, doesn’t have windows. And I drove it all down the beach, there is no roads. And you know, the sun went down and there is lions, there is crocs and somehow or another the next day I made it back within you know, about 18 hours.

 

Well it was two hours in a car. So to walk back I had to sleep. I slept under a plastic thing that they wrap tires in. It was kind of cylindrical so I climbed in that and slept and it was pretty crazy actually.

Question: Do you use your past characters when playing a new character? Which of your characters would you like people to remember most?

 

Sean Patrick Flanery:  Everybody has a little bit of them in something because if somebody can’t personally identify with something, then they can’t bring it to the table. And to personally identify it has to be in your past.

 

So, yes the BOONDOCK - the whole relationship with me and Norm - that is kind of our normal relationship. You know, I’m the older brother. He is kind of the more misguided kind of. Like I’m the big brother that slaps him in the head and says, "Dude, don’t do that you know." So, you know, and we’re constantly cutting up and playing tricks on each other.

 

Yes, you bring what your own little personal flare to every film or every role. And sometimes it works, and sometimes it doesn’t. But I think every actor does.

 

Well, I get the question "What was your favorite film that you’ve done?" a lot. And it’s really mutliple parts. Do you want me to tell you my favorite film that I’m proud of the end product? Or do you want me to tell you my favorite film creatively? Or do you me to tell you my favorite film on set where I had the most fun shooting it? Because they are very, very different.

 

You know as far as an actor, and turning in a performance I think it’s pretty obvious that it would be Powder as for a performance aspect and creating a character. As far as having fun on a set? BOONDOCK. BOONDOCK without question. Because this guy is having a ball.

 

Creatively, it was an ensemble cast, a film called THE GRASS HARP, because I got to work with Jack Lemmon, Walter Matthau, Sissy Spacek, Piper Laurie, Roddy McDowall. You know, those names.

 

So these are very different. The simple matter is I don’t really get to do big films at all so what I will be known for is BOONDOCK -- those roles which I could do all day long -- and things like MONGOLIAN DEATH WORM. I could do a character like that all day long. Because those are sustainable characters. To do an eight-part mini series on Powder? You end up blowing your head off. It’s just not something you want to hang out in for a long time. But Boondock or a fun character like Daniel in MONGOLIAN DEATH WORM, you could do that all day long. I mean having a wonderful time doing it.

Question: Can you see yourself doing more of a drama type movie?

 

Sean Patrick Flanery:  Yes, of course. Like right now. I’ve done plenty of those. That is really what started my career what I was known for. So yes, of course.

Question: Can you tell me about working with George Cheung who is the sheriff in MONGOLIAN DEATH WORM?

 

Sean Patrick Flanery:  There was a big UFC a fight event so me and George took everybody to see the fights at a place called Wild Wings in Dallas, Texas. He is super cool. He is this odd character actor. But he is a lad, you know. We went into this place Wild Wings and watched the fight and hung out and he was pointing out hot chicks. And he was funny as hell man, he really is. He was like, "Sean look over there." He’s a great dude. I could hang with that guy all day long.

Question: Have you ever been approached to be part of DEADLIEST WARRIOR?

 

Sean Patrick Flanery:  No, I’ve never been approached with that at all. But that would be epic. That would be killer. I watch that network all the time, so I see the ads, but I’ve never watched it. But I’ll hit it on TiVo and check it out.

Question: Can you tell us about being on STARGATE?

 

Sean Patrick Flanery:  I was in it for a hot flash of a second. It’s been on for, wow, how many years? But I only did one episode and my characters name was Orlin. And I loved playing that character. There was always talk about bringing him back, but never really materialized.

 

But I had a great time. I had a great time shooting it and it was wonderful.

Question: In MONGOLIAN DEATH WORM, is there any scene that was cut that you wished they left in? Or maybe a scene you wish they left out?

 

Sean Patrick Flanery:  There is a lot of stuff that we improvised that I’m sure for editorial purposes that didn’t make the grade because of time constraints or what not. But we shot a lot of funny stuff - we did man. I mean, we shot a lot. It could have been more tongue in cheeky and more funny. But I’m really happy with the finished product - I am. But there is all kind of stuff. There is some quality stuff on the cutting room floor that there always is. But yes, I’m happy with the way it ended up.

Question: Would you be interested in writing your own show?

Sean Patrick Flanery:  Yes, yes absolutely. I have a thing right now that I’m trying to get set up that I wrote. I had a published article in a magazine that a number of companies tried to get the rights too. Subsequently, I scripted it myself. I’m trying to set that up as we speak.

Question: Can you tell us more about how you got started in acting? Was there something specific that made you want to be an actor?

 

Sean Patrick Flanery:  I mean it’s pretty simple. If you want a job, you print out your resume and you go mail it out. That’s pretty much it.

 

I moved to LA, I had already studied -- I hate the word, but if you want to say -- the “craft” of acting, which realistically it’s the only industry I know where you don’t need any training. You get headshots made and a resume. You mail them to agencies and you try and get an agent to submit for you auditions. That’s it. There is nothing more technical about it. That’s pretty much it.

 

Acting classes in LA are by in large a joke. But they are a great way to meet girls, so I suggest it highly. You’re better off joining a theatre company really if you want to learn acting.

 

And that’s it. You’re off to the races. You do some theatre in the meantime and get a night job to where your days are free to go on auditions. That’s it.

 

Yes it [the specific thing] was me just not wanting to work. I didn’t want to work, you know. That’s pretty much it. They were like "Wow, they pay your for this?" Okay, that’s definitely something I want to do. It’s something I love doing. I had a ball doing it.

 

I rented a little theatre and I produced a piece of children’s theatre. I thought if I can get some acting work that’ll supplement my income. And then, lo and behold, the acting worked more and more and then that took over, that became my career really.

Question: Are you a fan of Sci-Fi movies? What's your favorite, besides your own?

 

Sean Patrick Flanery:  To be honest, I’m not a fan specifically of Sci-Fi. Just like I’m not really a fan specifically of actions or westerns.

 

I’m a fan of good. Every channel, every network. I’m a fan of good love stories, but I’m not really a fan of love stories in general. War movies, you know, the good ones. There is really not a genre of film that I don’t dig if it’s executed properly and it’s engaging.

Question: On what TV series would you like to be a guest star or recurring role? What TV series do you Tivo?

 

Sean Patrick Flanery:  Oh man, that’s a good question. I don’t know, I don’t know, but it would be a character like Daniel. That would be a ball, man. That would really be a ball to do that all the time and to get arcs and something where there is room for a little humor. Something that doesn’t take itself too seriously.

 

I don’t know if I could stomach potentially ten years of walking into a room, marking this state Exhibit B. I don’t know if I could. There is a myriad of wonderful roles out there.

 

I watch a lot of fights because I’m a Jujitsu guy, and a lot of those fighters I train on the ground. So, you know, a lot of fight stuff.

 

But as far as television, the BBC OFFICE I think is one of the best things ever put on television. EASTBOUND & DOWN, the HBO Show - did you see that? I thought that was excellent.

 

Let’s see, yes EASTBOUND & DOWN I love THE SOPRANOS, the original OFFICE - haven’t said that I love the American OFFICE. I think there is a lot of good TV, I really do. I tried out the show COMMUNITY when it first came out, but I really didn’t find it funny. But I’m going to revisit it because one of my students actually told me, "Oh my God it’s hysterical now." So I’m going to try that out.

 

There are things in GREY'S ANATOMY that are wonderful actors to play. I think TV is really good medium right now, and there is a lot of juicy roles out there.

Question: What do you think about Jackie Chan?

 

Sean Patrick Flanery:  I think he is a wonderful gymnast. I do.

 

You know, he is a Wushu guy. And that’s a specific Chinese Martial Art. And it’s very beautiful, it’s very gymnastic, it’s not necessarily very effective at fighting. But he really started all of those fight scenes with wire work and flipping and spinning and doing all that. I mean everybody is a Jackie Chan fan.

 

Some of the best stuff of his in the credits. Whenever you see him doing take, after take, after take of stunts and doing it over and over again, then you realize, "Holy shit!" this guy did that without a harness.

Question: Is there any word on a Boon Dock Saints III?

 

Sean Patrick Flanery:  There are murmurs out there, yes.

Question: Can you talk about your character on THE DEAD ZONE?

 

Sean Patrick Flanery:  I had a wonderful time doing that. More specifically, early onit got to where they really didn’t know where to take him. And because he was reaching you know, such high political office he couldn’t really take place - take part in as much debauchery I would have liked him too.

 

Because I really loved the early, early episodes where he was a bible salesman and all of that. I love playing characters like that. It’s my favorite stuff. And I had a wonderful experience doing it.

 

Towards the end I thought they were kind of reaching a bit where to go with it. I think there were a lot of questions that were left unanswered. But I had a great time with that guy, I really did.

Question: Do you watch yourself act?

 

Sean Patrick Flanery:  Let me tell you this, the actors that tell you that they never watch themselves because they just can’t emotionally. They’re liars. They are all liars. They don’t do it in front of people, but they watch it. They watch it with a specific eye. They all do, absolutely all of them.

Question: Do you prefer acting in TV or movies?

 

Sean Patrick Flanery:  I just enjoy doing good and fun things.

 

There are certainly movies that I enjoyed a lot less than THE DEAD ZONE which is TV. And the biggest film I ever did was a film that really came out direct to video, it was called WHITEOUT with Sylvester Stallone. And there is a smaller film, like BOONDOCK, where I had fun.

 

So, it just totally depends, it’s really not about the medium.

 

I did an episode of CRIMINAL MINDS last year and had a wonderful time shooting that. So it really depends. It depends all on material, the character, and the people I’m working with.