E92 - Actor W. Earl Brown: Scream, Deadwood and More - Pt 1

(EDITS IN PROGRESS):

Actor W. Earl Brown: Scream, Deadwood and More - Pt 1

00:00:00 - 00:05:03

<intro> Hello, welcome to Mouse and Weens! We are here together in San Diego. I'm Joelle. I'm Mouse. I'm the mom one. I'm Julianne. I'm the single one up in LA and we are here bringing a very important human being and great actor and producer and writer and musician W Earl Brown! He goes by Earl, but you might know him as Warren from Something About Mary and is Dan Dority in Deadwood. He was also in Scream with me. That's right! With Julianne. I was a mere background person. That's where they met. And he was Kenny the the news.... He got killed. ...the news cameraman. Spoiler alert from nineteen-ninety....two?  I'm very sorry about that. Anyway, he's an amazing actor. He's a good guy. He's got a good heart and a good soul. We just had a great interview with him. We enjoyed it so much and we appreciate him being with us. And we want you to hear that right away. That's right. He's got tons of stories. We're probably going to cut this into two episodes for you because there's so many great stories. I don't want to cut anything out! They're so good! It was so much fun. It's great. So sit back and relax and enjoy this wonderful interview with W. Earl Brown. Woohoo.

Am I late? There you are! How are you are you doing? I'm doing all right. Oh, it's so good to see you. Hanging in there, huh? It's been a little long. What, like 4 years? A little long. I know! What have you been up to? Well, let's introduce us.... or do you want to do any little pre-chat? Let's make sure we have good audio and everything. You got good audio? I've got I've got a Shure mic attached to this. I'm on an iPad. So okay. Everything sound all right? Yeah, it sounds pretty good. There was a little bit of bleep-bloop but it might be because we're all talking over each other off. So we'll just stay super quiet in between. All right. There we go.

What is in the back of you? What's that photo? I know! That's a drawing of that's Lemmy Kilmister. Oh. A painting of Lemmy of Motorhead. The band Motorhead? Lemmy was a friend of mine. He was a musician who kind of lived life on his own terms. And he died a couple of years ago. I remember. Wasn't he a regular at the Rainbow Room? Oh all the time, sitting at the video poker machine at the end of the end of the bar. Yeah. I've heard so many stories about how he was such a instrumental figure in so many ways. What was he to you? Well, I was a Motorhead kid - a fan as a kid. Well, I was twenty when I when I first heard the band and then I really got into him. They were always an underground heavy metal slash punk band. They kind of appealed to both both crowds. And then I met him in 2000. A friend of mine he had hired to play a gig with him. He was doing a a cable TV show.  And so he had this aura about himself. He was an incredibly bright man. He read read voraciously; read history, collected Nazi memorabilia, which is a story in and of itself. As I got to know him I asked, "What's with all the fucking Nazi stuff?" And he said, "Well, I'm not a Nazi. I've never been a fucking Nazi. I know what the rumors are. But my earliest memories in London as a small child were that those were the motherfukers who were trying to kill me. Well, they're all dead and I own their shit so I win." But anyway, the day the day that I met him, I was invited to come down to their rehearsals. And it was a Sunday morning. So I get there like 10:30 or so and Lem is shirtless in his jeans wearing his white leather cowboy boots. Just exactly like you imagined him being. And Zack goes, "Lem this is Earl." "It's nice to meet you." "Nice meeting you Earl. Do you want a drink?' God this is a Sunday morning. But it's Lemmy. So sure! So he had a Maker's Mark. He had two two cases. They only had one with him at a time. One was for a Maker's Mark and one was for a Jack Daniels bottle and it was a Halliburton case, cut out for a bottle and two glasses.

00:05:03 - 00:10:14

So he pours me a Jack Daniels. We had a few. So we start we start singing songs and we had a guitar pull and I knew he loved the Beatles. He absolutely... He used to follow The Beatles And he was Jimi Hendrix's roadie when they started the Jimi Hendrix Experience with Lemmy was their original roadie in London. So anyways, he's a Beatles freak. So we sing like a dozen Beatles songs and Lem turns to me. He goes, "Oh do you like Abba?" Well, I think he's pulling my chain. The heavy metal god likes Abba?! "No!" He said, "Well you missed out on the greatest sense of pop melody outside of Lennon and McCartney. Zach, you know, you know any Abba?" And Zach starts singing Fernando. I'm drunk. It's Sunday morning. My thought was, ""You know, I should be in church. I thought, "I am! The Church of why not." That was how it was with him. Yeah. Well, he was a profound guy. I've seen video of him spewing lots of knowledge. He was... he was interesting. Well, he turns to me.... This is the the.... Well he asks me because we start... His son Paul that just moved over from London and Paul had had this... He this on-and-off relationship with his father growing up 'cause when was, you know, gone off in... He was never married including Paul's mother. And so he would see him, you know every six months or so. Dad would show up. They would go do something. And Lemmy had lost his dad in World War II. So he never had a father. So that was all of his Nazis are the fuckers that killed his dad or caused his dad to die. So anyway Paul was there and they're talking about this, that, and the other in London. And he brings up some guy, you know, Liam. Liam Heights. There's Liam. He hates me. No dad, I don't think he hates you. He does, you know. He's, he's odd, you know, since he had the accident. No because earlier he hated me before he had a steel plate and he hates me after he's got a steel plate. He turns to me and he goes, "I screwed his pet and he never got over it." Well being an American I thought, "Oh my God, that's an unusual thing. One of your friend's pets? Umm.." And I went, "Oh his girlfriend! You... His girlfriend!" "Beautiful, ah, but her nipples. Have you ever had a woman with inverted nipples?" "No." He said, "Well, it's a tasty treat if you're willing to put in the work." So, ahhhh, that was Lemmy! Lemmy! See he could write a little essay on nursing for new mothers that suffer from that. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. He has some tips. That's good. Oh my God. Yeah. I've never met anybody like him that was that bright and just... He.. He was a drug addict, you know. He lived on speed and whiskey, you know. Anyway he was a friend of mine. He was a individual and I was gifted that drawing by an artist who found out that I was a fan. That's awesome. That's, yeah, and this is just audio we're not...we're not showing this video or anything right? You know, it's up to you. We always have a backup video. I mean we do put it on our YouTube. But if you don't want to, then we could just do audio. I don't care. Whatever. You don't care? Okay.

Oh, by the way, I'm Joelle. I'm Mouse. And that's Julianne. You remember that! That's Weens. We're so glad and honored to have you here today. Thank you for joining us. We're very happy to see you and we feel like we've seen a lot of you. We've done some deep dives into your background - your research. And I was just going to ask you what you've been up to during all this time as a busy actor? What.. Yeah quarantine! What happened?  Yeah, the hiatus just pulled the plug out of everything, you know. I have done... About a month or six weeks ago the wheels started turning and I did a little independent film with Elijah Wood that we shot here in Los Angeles. And so that's done and then I start back on again. I'm not allowed to talk about it because of my NDA but I start work on a thing back here in December that takes me through the next spring that I'm awfully excited about and I wish I could share it but the NDA is 7 pages long so I can't leak it. So it sounds like a big deal. Do you have a heavy shooting schedule and like is it started up or just coming? Well, it's.... Let me just it's a very popular show that's first season is an enormous hit and the second season is is coming up soon. And I did some work on that and then I don't even know what the schedule is.

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It's a heavy effects, makeup stuff so they booked me for three months. So I do have that coming up and I wish... I want to talk about it, but I can't. That's okay. Oh my gosh, that's exciting though. Good for you. That's great! And Elijah Woods is awesome. How is it working with him? I managed.... He was... I had gone on the road shooting video for Gogol Bordello and he was dating one of the the singer dancers with Gogol Bordello the fact, you know that music band yeah there and and he would stay up all night. He was really into music and I'm sure you guys connected on I'm guessing that horrible. Yeah, we talked a lot about it. It's awesome. Yeah, how fun. What is the name of that project? Can you talk about that one that's coming out. You know what? I'm not sure. Okay. So I'm talking about about it don't talk about it on it ridiculous now is is it's not on the internet like the information about this film I've done with him. So I'm hesitant thought too much about it because it hasn't been officially announced. Yeah, and now it's being what it is, you know, and and the Rabid fans, you know, everyone is so I don't get a phone number. That doesn't have my name embossed on it, you know through email because they want to find the leak. Somebody leaks the material out. So I'm not sure how much of that that I can talk about. Just say I've done with him. That's all you need to say. We won't go and I know it's scary. Yeah. All right, then we'll talk about stuff that is already out. Okay you and I met on scream I scream and how is this that was one of your first Big Break Out movies did you write that was the first that was the first movie that I had billing on that was a big huge hit. Yeah. Yeah, except that. They'll know. I mean I I read the script. I had done two movies with Wes Wes was Wes Craven. He was the first like Hollywood name took me under her wing and you know that that was just a twist of fate I'd came out here from I'd kind of Hit the glass ceiling in Chicago. And I was with an agency then that were in Chicago in here. It was sisters that ran two offices and every year they would send out five or six people that were doing well in Chicago. So I came out here in the fall or I'm sorry, February of 1993 and I I got a TV pilot right off the bat. So I go to New Orleans to shoot it and then I came back pilot didn't get picked up but I got back and I got a TV movie and I called my wife and I said we gotta move out here cuz this is low-hanging fruit. So we pulled up stakes from Chicago and moved here that summer and then it was nothing nothing seven months of nothing scary. And which was the longest I had gone without working since I'd gotten out of school that you know, not getting some kind of a patient off. So the casting director who did that pilot was doing I got a call they said Wes Craven Gary zuckerbrod is casting this new Wes Craven film and he'd like to bring you in a great Wes Craven cuz I love Nightmare on Elm Streets. One of my all-time favorite films still is one of my all-time favorites. And so I I hated the sequels. I didn't know that West did not have anything to do outside of Dream Warriors, which is actually all right, but he he had no voice whatsoever. No say-so in what became a Freddy Krueger. So anyway, they said well, it's it's a new Wes Craven film. They're not releasing a script because they're real secretive about this but you can go and read the script at the office. So I thought well, I'll just go in an hour early and I'll read the script of the audition. So I get there and it says nightmare 7 on the door and, I don't want to be in a damn night. I don't want to be in one of those and then I start reading the script and it was the first like meta horror film. It was incredibly smart, you know, it was I don't know if you ever saw it Wes Craven's New Nightmare. Yeah. The idea was it was a tenth anniversary of them had worked on the film going to have dreams of Freddy people had worked on the film. We're starting to suffer and die. So West played himself in the movie. So it was a movie about itself off. It was quite clever. Anyway, I got cast in it and is one seen a decent scene. We shot this this abandoned hospital here in Los Angeles and I was wrapped at about 3 or 4 in the morning and I'm in I'm in the little the Honey Wagon, you know the small dressing rooms the trailers that I have a Honey Wagon, so I'm in there changing to go home and there's a knock on my door open.

00:15:06 - 00:20:20

It's West and he just said I I have to I gotta thank you. I Gary really pushed for me to hire you and he has very how would you in high regard? I'm very glad we we're going to do something else together down the road. So a year passes so and no Vampire in Brooklyn was happening and I was my agent at the time they they could get me in the door and I kept pushing I said look he told me he told me oh, so finally at the last minute it was a one-line part like literally one line so long I'll do it cuz it's Wes Craven. So I I got there and it was at Paramount in the Roddenberry building and a conference room. And I remember I opened the door. He sitting he and Marianne is producer and Lisa Harrison Assistance or sitting at the other end of the room and as I'm closing the door behind me. I hear him say to Marianne. Oh my God why we have him here earlier. So I got that he and he goes he goes, I'm embarrassed month that you're even brought in on something like this. I well what happened is an actor got sick. Unfortunately that had been hired so then I got bumped up into that role that the other actor was supposed to play and it's still you know, the movie was me and he when we finished West gave me his number his home number. Wow. Oh, he's stay in touch with me. The next film. We're going to find something and that film was screen. What was called scary movie? You know, when we first started I still have the script here somewhere. Yeah, I have that original scripture. I had onset but yeah, so so that was how that one came about and then read that we met Jamie Kennedy had a crush on you. In fact, we were in the video store and I drove down there cuz I wasn't working that day. So I drove down to have lunch on the set. Jamie ghost. Hey, have you seen that girl that she's working in the background. Have you found that went over there her that one it was you and then you want a crew came out we added we cuz we always had a party every night and y'all showed up at the hotel. Do you remember that? I don't want I called him and I want you need to come down here to the party. Dude him watching the ball game. I said, you need to come down here to the party. I'm in I don't want to I said you really don't want to come down here. So basically you pimped her out you are you deserve some fees and We just had a crush on her. So you know, what I remember too is he sent you over to go say Hey you walked over to me and I think it was in the video script. And you said yeah. Hey girl friend over there. He kind of like see when he kind of wants to get your phone number and I was like and I was all sassy back then and I said, well you could tell him to come over and ask me himself and then I guess he did later. I thought I had forgot that. It's like Elementary School. Was it one step away from chick yes or no and then he came over later and they happened to be in the dirty video section and I was looking at some long dongs and it came up and it was like, oh that's a good one. And it was like the rest is history. But well do tell the history did anything happen or you guys just stayed fact, we don't that'll be the the B side album. We did end up hanging out a few times Jamie. That's a story for another time though scream was my first experience of birth. What was the primary cuz it became huge, you know, and we we had I had done a couple of movies in in Chicago. So I kind of got the thing, you know movies are like summer camp home. Everybody goes away and you you meet this group of interesting strangers and you guys have a shared experience for you know, a couple of months and you friendships form and romance just warm and and then everybody goes home and they go back to the next project. Yeah. So I I realized even in Chicago cuz people I was like close with from I'd call it like hey Bruce. Hey, man, o'hea, you know, so to already gotten used to that part of it, but with screen when we had the premiere here cuz they'd already tested it. They knew they had an enormous it on their hands and I'm excited about going to the premiere party cuz I'm like, okay you get to hang out with my buddies, you know, just like we did cuz we hung out every single night on the on shooting that month. Being you know, and and all of our hangout places burned down in the fire the Round Barn that was up on the hill the hotel that we all live stayed at home in Santa Rosa a couple of years ago. Anyway going to that screen Premier. It was the penultimate Hollywood see-and-be-seen crowd like everybody, you know, like there's all the Heat and I couldn't even get to to say hello to to David or court near cuz they were surrounded by and that was when that was a real disappointment for me in that I realized what you know of what Hollywood the red carpets are what the premier what that scene is.

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It's about publicity. It's not about celebrating and hanging out with your buddies and then you know thinks catapulted for so many people involved with that film including Jamie and then you know, and he was younger than me and like he came over to my house and I think he was weird still the house. I live in now, I just bought Back then and he was kind of weirded out by the fact that I had a quasi normal life. So so yeah, I haven't seen him in a long long time. That's a weird. I think some people that's why I love you so much. I've always felt such a good vibe from you that you've always had this nice grounding Spirit to you and there's very few people in Hollywood that have bad who are just good people and yeah, I found I ran into a few people cuz I worked on Nash Bridges and Matthew Lillard came in was on a episode of that and I talked to him and you know, you never want to talk about anybody but definitely the, you know egos blew up I think from that film and then I think people were humbled later, you know by like that was a huge hit and then and then it was hard. It's always hard to get work. I would imagine depending on I mean did you ever have periods of just where something was huge and then it was a couple of years of not being able to get roles after? Is it ever gone that long the way I I mean two years after scream with the success of screen cuz it was the first movie that I had billing on now. That was a ghost rated. That's the first and only time I've ever had front of movie. You know, my name that West put up course the the opening credits are at the end of that movie but I didn't naively didn't even know that that matter as far as your career where your billing is and all the shit. So that was the first movie. I had billing on and then two years later Something About Mary hit and that's the one where I'm like, all right, baby. Here we go and nothing nothing and it was that was a a sobering experience and I was ignored or cut out of all the celebratory Awards seasons and everything. I wasn't invited to anything what? Yeah and that really Bob. Me cuz it's not like I had a great experience making that movie and I was frozen out of the success of that movie and then but I still thought well, there'll be a fucking sequel because you know, what movie made two hundred billion dollars made a billion dollars in the year with all the ancillary stuff, but I'm still doing all right. Well, at least there's the sequel and and I'll get some Payday on the edge. No signal. It's so weird. Yeah. So the I mean when been made Ben Stiller made Tropic Thunder there's that whole speech that Robert Downey Junior has to him about happy jack, you know never go full retard. Yeah, never go the whole you always gotta know the audience. Got you and you should I email ban and I went well that explains my career, but no, yeah that but but the two things with that I think everybody actually dead. What the character Meg believed it and I knew instinctively that was the only way to to make it funny was to play it honestly because if you goofed it up or made a joke of the character, it's not going to be funny be the audience is going to hate you and I don't flip Italy use that are word that I just used. Yeah, because Warren himself the real Warren weren't Asian place faith in the movie and he at that point when we shot the film it was written for him to play warrant, but they were afraid that it was a little too much for for for him to pull off so they created not ready for him. And he was the president of the national National Association of retarded citizens is the name of the group and more and he was the past president of the group at that point, but the the the blessings of that or twofold one personally, it was a few years after Movie but I was out at the Roxy here and this girl came up to me and the crowd her. Hey are you and she told me the story of that movie? She said that her brother has Down syndrome and she took my mom was wanting to see it. He said I had to be Chad the tape and and she goes I wasn't sure how my mom and how they would take it and she but she was at home.

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So she says take the tape over there. I'm watching it at my mom's house. She goes Warren came on the screen. He said my brother didn't stay in the he stood up. He walked with the TV and he goes. They special he's like me you like me. Yeah and said he went and sat down and goes then we laughed her ass off for an hour and half so that hit me off of like that rep. We talked about representation. Everybody deserves to see their experience and their life reflected back to them, you know, they deserve to have to bring their life experience to a strong. So I'm greatly honored by the fact that that family, you know, had that hour and half of pure laughter and and that her brother got that connection. And then career-wise with that this was after Deadwood had happened Deadwood was the one that knocked me for a loop because that show was I invested my heart and soul in that. Yeah, and I worked on the ride off. So I was working on it constantly. Yeah. I'm sitting here this desk. So when it got cancelled I said that showed it man that show stopped and there's a big difference. Oh, that was so infuriating. Yeah it threw me into a funk a big one and I was I had not worked in a while and the money was low wage and my wife cuz she when we had our daughter and right after Something About Mary, she stopped working full-time to be full-time mom, which we were all worked out. Umm, but I'm bitching and griping about something because somebody I used to audition for was getting paid five million dollars to do a film and and and I'm getting close to broke off and carry just out of the blue. She goes what are you proudest of I said what she goes career-wise. What are you proudest of having been a part of Deadwood? She goes? Yeah. When was that? 2002 was the pilot series 04 she goes. Yeah if things had catapulted for you because of something about Mary you'd be the fat goofing off. I am broad comedies. They never would have cast you in that part and you never would have taken a supporting part. That's a good woman, right? That's a good woman. I like that. Can I ask a quick question took me too. I've just came up to I love the fact that you guys are high school sweethearts. Is that right? And you get together since forever, right? You've been like our first date was in October of nineteen eighty-two. I love that and well she was still in high school. I was in college. I knew her before but we were well it was a group of her friends were going to she said has some friends are going to the movies. Why don't you come and meet us at the movies? And I said, well I she's really cute and I said look what movie should Halloween three and I'd already seen it and I hated that movie. Hey did that movie but she was really cute. So I went to see Halloween three a second time. So yeah, we started dating right after that and then we broke up when I moved to Chicago. For a year about a year and half and got back together and been together ever since but the great thing for her. That's why I my friend Clark Middleton who just passed away a couple of weeks ago Park. He said my daddy taught me you put you give the world your best the best will come back to you and my wife bought her dream is a kid that done. Well, you can't see it but there's a roll top desk sitting over there. That was for grandfather's an antique roll top and she used to sit and play office and we come from blue-collar family from rural Kentucky both of us and she said her dream was to to work at some big company someday now how the fuck she thought she was going to do that living in Murray, Kentucky. I don't know but off-screen. So she when we had our daughter she wanted to be a mom. So her dreams were set aside and during an a second year of college wage. Volunteered for everything she volunteered for the she was the chairman of the Arts for all Council which was funded Arts education funding here in Burbank. And then she was acquired mom competitive show choir as a big deal at Burroughs High. They shot. The Glee pilot was actually shot at their high school and my daughter was part of that and carry was acquired mom. So through her volunteer. She got to know each one of the other volunteer mom's worked at Disney. Anyway, long story short in a second year of school carry got a call from HR Disney. So we'd like to speak to you about a job opportunity. So she got hired by Disney. She is she is an exact at Disney then they're two years now. So her Dream came to her, you know, she put thier people first she put her daughter first and then volunteering and giving of herself to the community and and she is one of these people that she gets a job done to the boss.

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And she's quite bright. So anyway, yeah that that was another dream deferred that circled back around the world. David's best back to her. Sounds great. It's nice. You see that. Mm. Yeah. This is kind of my life. Although I'm married to a lawyer that sits at a desk. So it's a little bit different than an actor a whirlwind actor going on locations and shoots. Did she hold up pretty well, does she come with you with your daughter or when when Anna was small we wouldn't go more than two weeks that was are given either you come and visit or I come home. Luckily for me Deadwood happened when Anna was was three years old or four right when she turned four when I did the pilot and it was here in Los Angeles so that took me from 02 to 06. So I moved here. I went away a couple of times and did films but it's rare. It's only been since Anna was in high school that I've had relocation Jobs dead. Like I spent five months in Austin, Texas in 2014. I spent five months in Albuquerque, New Mexico in 2016. And then last year I was in Wilmington or five months so that but again, that's only been since Anna is born now when I was in Austin they would they came to visit but by the time Albuquerque, they couldn't that was wage of show season and and it was her senior year. So there was so much going on. I'm going to can I go back to we have so many questions and we have them in order of and you tell us when you need to wrap up, but we've got I love it. I love that you're available. This is so cool. This is a Kentucky my husband's from Kentucky too. And and oh things just roll Lexington. His dad was a professor there. So he spent from zero Seventeen years old there and then moved. Where did you go to school away? Obviously at Seventeen. Yeah, then he came here finished high school in Delmar and then went on to University of UC Riverside. So yeah right around here, but but his heart still on Kentucky and we have yet to go back so but he's got that same mellow just like roll with it. It's all totally guys are all you're just grounded. I love it. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah, but then who you like Mitch McConnell and and ran fall on my graph. Yeah, Amy McGrath and there everybody who's listening. Please help campaign for that donate to her fun. We gotta get much out of there. Yeah. Yay, very good. All right. So let's hear some of these questions. We have some fans and we also have something Podcast Pals that wrote in and wanted to know certain questions. So I I did have an order of scream Something About Mary a couple general questions and then Deadwood. So the first one on the screen is what was it like being on one of the biggest Blockbuster films, so young you kind of answered that though I would say. Do you have any it was when nobody knew it was going to be a blockbuster films. You know, that was the thing with screaming Mary both were Studio or Studio adjacent film so they had enough money that we didn't have to cut every corner but we didn't have a huge budget either which meant there was a lot of Studio oversight because when the the bigger the budget gets the tighter the Reigns get so both of those films were just they weren't expected to do anything in both of them came out of nowhere and we're huge. So with screen again, I had no clue it was until I saw it all cut together that I realized like oh shit. This is dead. The energy was really I talked to West that day in the video store and and had a chance to and it was just a real mellow Vibe and he was really mellow and he talked about he was joking around about Johnny thought he goes I said so, how's it going he goes? Well, it would be going a lot better. If Johnny Depp called me back. I did launched his career and he was just like chatting with everybody. It felt like just a fun day out at clubs or something. Well that we didn't find out till toward the end the first thing he cut was and ironically just yesterday sitting in here. I did a thing for Drew Barrymore show. She's got a new talk show. So there she's doing a screen thing. So I did a zoom with them that's going to be used as part of that. So it's just thinking about all this screen stuff. But that opening segment with her birth was the first thing you shot. He almost got fired like the Bob Weinstein Harvey's brother. That was his, you know, Dimension was his label and this was the first film and Ed. They're looking at the dailies and I don't see a film here. I don't see a film so West convince them.

00:35:02 - 00:40:03

Let me let me cut this together. It's their trust me. So for that first two weeks you shooting all night and then editing all day. He had his editors there. So he's working with him to get that opening segment cut the Casey Becker segment home know it's it's one of the all-time classic horror scenes of all time. And and yeah, and then he sent in the rough cut of that and that's when Weinstein goes out what I know about horror. I know nothing about making horror. This is great good. So yeah, he almost got fired. He almost got fired for shooting. What was you know, the classic scene. So yeah, but he was odd but he was still just he was like your favorite college professor. That was his demeanor. Yeah, you know talk to him. Yeah super mellow. That was another question from someone was what was your favorite kill off? And that movie your yours. Yeah, this is from Kelly boobies and newbies. Just giving her a shout-out. Yeah. Yeah in that film well because I did it was mine. But oh gosh what I'm trying to think of the character name. In the garage door, so it's yeah Rose McGowan seen. I can't remember a character named either her character named not case Casey Becker was was was Drew Prescott was never of Gale weathers what we know who we're talking about. Yeah, that was a wickedly inventive way to off someone in a slasher film love it. Yes. That was pretty quintessential. Yeah. Okay. So next we're going to move on to something about Mary. Okay, the classic question you've been asked a million times did warn find his baseball from Brett Peterson said it was underneath the couch. We actually did a shot that the camera was underneath the couch with the ball and the foreground. We actually set up and shocked that and they decided. Oh, it's better to leave it a mystery. There you go couch. Yeah. So all these years later people are still asking that question. That's great answered here. You heard it here first and then dead. So you talked about the mentally challenged character in that you pulled from other characters like Rainman and and who did you bring two at the most. I I just I used to do stuff like that just to keep myself amused like I would put some kind little inside joke in in in a movie in one of my phone's performance is like in the meatloaf move after the movie about meatloaf or VH1 and there's a scene where he got signed when he sang for the Columbia record Executives and I had to make name tags that said Bobby Flash and all from spinal tap 11 character vinyl record executive name. So I just did little crap like that just so it would amuse me as I watched a movie. That's the only one in Something About Mary cuz I had a plethora of you know, I had Of Mice and Men I had rain man Gilbert Grape Gilbert Grape I had well the one job Bobby and I didn't tell anybody that I was doing this I just did it and I had the only joke that got nullified was I had props after I feed up bandwidth and I'm in the chair. Hey almost got fired from that movie. I'll finish that story. It was this scene where I'm sitting in the chair and she bring I said well because he's so big he eats a lot. So bring me food. I said, can you bring me biscuits with mustard on them spring me biscuits of Swing Blake or swing by myself your old that point. Well, Bobby walks over Bobby Farrelly goes what's what's with the biscuits of mustard gas a little inside joke and he goes, yeah, but that's kind of a Zucker Brothers joke not a fairly then he caught it, find my biscuits with mustard. That's hilarious. But back to that was one of the early things that we shot. The studio had wanted for something about Mary. They wanted the name in that role now again on the page. There wasn't a lot to it off. But they were still they they were they had their name their list of known names and the ferries were adamant. They said the audience has to believe this character. They have to believe his condition if it's a known actor playing this role no matter how good they might be the audience is going to know this is an actor pretending and the humor won't work off. So they won their argument. I was the guy and then as we were shooting I found this out afterwards and there's a studio exec who's made his entire reputation on him over saw that film and that's the son of a bitch that wanted to fire me. He saw the dailies like it's uncomfortable.

00:40:03 - 00:45:10

It's too real. It's it's it's like painful to watch it's uncomfortable. Well, that's kind of the point in certain things. Otherwise, it's a parody. Yeah. It was that scene where the fighting where I'm on the chair where he's so upset. That was the one that triggered wage. So yeah, but the Fairly that you know, I didn't get fired. Yeah, but but yeah, I sort of the movie. I know all that guy in the trades and I'd seen a main climbing the ranks in everything it listed Something About Mary for Fox. Yeah, how was work on the Cresselia by the way, who I just love I didn't really wage didn't have anything with him. So I never even I never even met him. We never overlapped. So interesting how that happens. He was probably only brought in for a couple of days or separate weeks. Yeah, you would think everybody would meet each other but often they don't well. Yeah unless you're on a film, you know, if you're there for the whole schedule and most people even when they do if they have the money held they're flying them votes or they it's already negotiated. Most people don't stay on location for the entire. How are the Farrelly brothers where they pretty open to improve or did they want you to stick to their right? No, they were dead. He was masturbating was the complete wrong. Oh, really? Yeah next Franks and Beans and have you seen my baseball? That's the third most fax line. And that was the one in the it was in the scene where he zipped himself up in his in his pants course ambulance is bringing him out and I'm following him and I'm I'm yelling. He was masturbating and that was a big draw. Oh my God for the longest time. I would not do it wouldn't do the voice at all cuz people would want me as a party trick and and it it felt uncomfortable to me of you know, again, it's a broad comedy and in in today's just woke world. Would that even get made but you know, I've had comments made about me playing that role that's in recent years, but I I never wanted to feel like I was dead. Making fun of orientation, right? You know the real Warren and I didn't want that to become a party trick and and I was offered there was one in particular the movie ended up bombing, but it was off playing this mentally handicapped guy in a comedy and I wouldn't do it. I know I'm not interested cuz I didn't want to repeat myself but it want to get stuck in doing that and I didn't wanted to become a partner either so, you know, oh God ten years or so ago, I sort of loosened up a little bit on that but I am fine. I am I signed up I avoided it at first but I have so many friends that are doing it about three or four months ago. I got on Cameo cuz what the fuck else am I doing with my time? But that's the one thing I will not do it as a character. I still have the earmuffs to run over there. I love it here marks and do I'll do Franks and Beans or something like that. But but now it's just no parody. That's good. And that was the other thing we were talking about is how you have not been Typecast at all. Yeah. Well part of that is I mean, the only Power that you have is an actor dead and and everybody everyone has it. The only Power you have is to say no, you know and and so many people get so desperate that they will do absolutely anything to anything to get their toe in the door and I just you know, I it's a double-sided sword and I naively thought when I started this, you know thirty years ago, I thought well you do special work if it does well then special things come your way. That's the way it works. And then the first time I got billing was due the goodness of West Cobb. And you know, oh, that's nice. And as I said, I'm not under any Illusions. It didn't take a live E A to do what I did in Scream. A lot of people could do what I did in Scream not a lot of people what I did in Something About Mary, you know, so when Mary hits and I'm like, all right, baby, here we go buckle in and then it was crickets. Yeah, that was you know, taught me taught me a lesson. What is the lesson because it's just that happens a lot to people and what do you what did you learn from that is it too is it humility and Faith you don't get anything that's not negotiated for you don't expect, you know out of the goodness of their hearts that you're going to get anything so that the importance of your representation the importance of your billing the importance of all of that stuff. That I used to didn't care about I mean, yeah, I cared you know, it's it's it's nice to see your face in a magazine or something like that.

00:45:10 - 00:50:11

Although magazines are a dying thing now off, but I I never could afford like hell I only made 16 Grand to do that movie. They paid me scale plus ten. So I couldn't have afforded, you know home at that point twenty years ago published. This was two grand a month. So if I'd had my own publicist able to take and every dime that I made to pay a publicist so but it wasn't that important to me. I've never had a publicist I had for 3 months David milchard somebody on this thing for Deadwood that over that I worked with but I've never hired a publicist. Well. So I'm saying the double edged sword the more famous. You are the more known you are the easier it is to get work. The easier it is to get things funded. You know, I have things that I want to make I have I did make a movie that I produce. And I wrote we watched a Bloodworth. Yeah, it's great. It was it was? Oh that that just took so much out of me, but we got to make the movie that we wanted to make and I'm proud of it off, but the more better known you are the easier it is because money comes your way. Now the flip side of that is the more you are known as a personality the more difficult it is to disappear into the roles that you play off, you know, and I can think of very few actors, you know, Phil Hoffman being the prime example, that guy was he was a character actor this guy who completely, you know changed who he was in his chair meet him in the master. No, no, I was only done Master for a couple of days and I never crossed paths with fill in early in my career. There was a film was called Joey Coyle that starred John Cusack and Cusack was with that agency that I was with in Chicago. It's where he started he was still with them and there was a supporting role the movie ended up getting released called money for nothing. It's it's it's not that great a film but it was a supporting role that was pretty significant and they put me on tape for it in Chicago and I was told they're going to fly you out when they want to meet you off. So I'm I'm you know, I've only been doing that for a couple of years and like they're going to fly me to Los Angeles like they're going to pay for it. Yeah, they want to you know want you to meet with the so I'm also excited but then two days later they found this guy in New York that they loved they're going to cast him. Sorry, and it was filled. And that was the first time when I saw the movie and then I started seeing him and other things like that. I recognized who it was but that was one of the early points in my career that way, you know, you know him and Farley, you know, Second City. I thought I had that was my dream and then fart was down to me in Farley and then Chris and ironically Chris was on the short list that box to play Warren and something about Mary kidding. No and he passed away while we were doing it. I got I got the news that night in my hotel room and in Miami. Oh wow. Now is that your first true love was comedy or do you have one genre that you like better than the other? Well, I mean that was I know I'm Not The Lone Ranger in this but I Come From A Dysfunctional Family Home and the Man in the family, especially my mother's side the ones I felt more kintu were very comfortable in beating the shove each other and being angry and comedy was a great mask, you know, telling a joke and and I was the the insecure fat kid, you know growing up and that was my that was my way I was the fat funny guy wage. So it was always a mask and that we didn't even have a theater Department we had in high school. We had a very successful high school speech and debate team which now I met my wife cuz she was on it a kid. I know we had this incredible teacher Larry England who who said? Yeah. Look you're rural Farm kids and that there's nothing wrong with doing that. However, there's nothing that's impossible in dog. If if you're willing to work for it then so that was his philosophy. We were state champions three of our four years and speech and debate certainly not football cuz we sucked and put off but it was I I was the first of my family to go to college and I went to Murray State which is the local school to school like ten twelve thousand students. So it's a big college but it was there, you know in the county where I grew up I didn't I had no clue what I was going to do and and I thought I can't I took an acting class on a whim and then it was like a fish to water home so early on it was it was all comedy I've been talking about when I was young when I was a teenager and then I started doing drama in school and it was the stage was a safe place because that wasn't me.

00:50:11 - 00:55:06

That's not me. It's a character that I'm playing that's you know, so it I wasn't aware of the Mask but know if it's genuine if you're finding truth ads. Absolutely is you you know Warren is me as as much as Dan dority from Deadwood is me. Yeah, so it took me several years to really recognize off of where where that well was and how deep it ran. So yeah comedy was my first thing and I always think I had a sense of timing I you know, I was blessed with that skill, but but it was the the drama part that really changed my life that changed me fundamentally. Yeah. I want to Circle back to that too. And we talked about movie Bloodworth because a lot of the characters. I was wondering if there was some relation to your own family with that, but I want to go to Deadwood before we get to your thoughts. Are you are you good on time still? I'm not I'm not doing anything. Okay, perfect. If I run out of water, I may have to go get some more water. Yeah. We had a lot of questions about Dad would obviously it is a brilliant show you were amazing in it and rabid fans. There's oh my gosh so many fans that were asking such detailed and it's one of those series that people have watched two or three like The Sopranos. I mean, it's got that sort of depth and following. Yeah and you I mean I still cuz I worked on the writing staff sees this need three. So I was there for Ninety-Nine percent of everything that's in it. I was there at its creation and I was there when most of it was shot even if I wasn't in the scene, but I can still watch it again and still pick up things still pick up some Nuance that I'd miss before it's it's not good and it holds up all these years later. Yes. So anyway Deadwood, I'm I'm very proud of it ask away and I'm here. My my damn dority pillow from the movie. Oh my God, that's amazing. Wait. Was that the real guy? That's him know, that's me. Who oh my God. A huge party and they they printed up all these character throw pillows in the lounge bonded with two of them. It doesn't look like maybe maybe their noses got a wrinkle in it. Yeah. Yep, you've aged in that film that is so how is this? Okay, so first the series and then we'll see about the movie. But what was your favorite part of the film was your big famous fight scene in that with Captain? I mean, that's one of them there. There are so many highlights in that whole thing. That's that's one of them. Yes, and then again to try to pinpoint just one is nearly impossible because things would happen just this park. We all knew that we had something unique we knew we had something no one had ever really seen before we had an enormously talented group of people and we believed in the story that we were telling and we completely gave over to it and you couldn't and now thought it was not all hugs and Butterfly Kisses there were days that people were each other's throats. And and you know, David could be a prickly pear David milch. Oh, I've heard the genius behind. Yeah, but we were all committed to it with one hundred percent of our souls so I couldn't wait to get to work cuz you never knew what the hell was going to happen. And sometimes just the smallest little thing small dog. we'll see but just explode and Bloom into something that you weren't weren't expecting. And and now that was when you didn't you followed the punctuation it was so precise in its language, you know, David wrote meter. Um, so you had to follow every every syllable as it was written. You mean I am Vic pentameter meter like this song or something it is. Oh wow examiner. Yeah. That's how did you were you guys trained on how to do that or do most people know pretty much everybody on the show with the exception of Tim Tim background was as an artist fine art as a painter, but pretty much everybody else had been had had formal theater training and Shakespeare and classical stuff off. So being comfortable with, you know words falling trippingly off the tongue certainly certainly helped, but but yeah it was Again, it's just a long Litany of incredible moments of moments that would happen and then afterwards you would just you know, yeah and psychologically wage.

00:55:06 - 01:00:28

I remember one moment. It's it's at the end of season one where it's juxtaposed Indus sheer Brilliance of David milk. When we murder the captain are we murder the the preacher? Yes a mercy killing and then we murder Claggett up in Dallas office. Let's two murders and and we were the cutting back and forth as the preacher. It's cutting back and forth to Doc who's had this prayer to God. Yes, you know about did you need to see them suffer wage you need so all this building up to this Crescendo and I can remember being in in sales office where it comes in before we kill Claggett and there's a scene where I'm sitting behind Al's desk and could I get sat right behind us across the desk for me and then Adams and Hawkeye are standing there behind him. You think they're his henchmen before they've come over start working for us. And Alison the scene and there was just this primal. I mean, I know it's all pretend and so all acting there was a primal malevolence in that room that you really felt like we could kill this month or so and it was until it was over that. I really felt this. Oh my God, you know it felt and I wasn't the only one you could feel it in the fucking room like the devil was with us. Yeah. I was just going to say like a Spirit came in the room or something people really evil. And again, I know it's Pretend We're actors but but it was so that that is a a high Watermark not necessarily a feeling good. Yeah, because you suck. Do you think you want to go bathe in? Holy water? Once you've done that? Yeah, I would did it ever psychologically mess with you cuz you're doing all those killings. Did you get to a point where you started question? And yourself or have to do a little method acting on the side know and I think that was part of what made this stage safe for me, I'm very much in touch with my own darkness my own dark side and and learning that was the only way I learned to beat depression and anxiety, you know life is to 2 and that goes back to Wes Craven and it goes back to fucking line in screen movies don't make monsters they make monsters more creative or Killers or whatever, you know, and that was wage his whole thing of movies and art as a catharsis for the darkness. That's within you. I just re-watched and hadn't seen it in years. I just re-watched the last house on the left. Oh my God. What a brutal Twisted movie. I haven't seen how somebody that was that kind and sweet natured as as Wes was like, how did that man even concerns? C or something that depraved that was a remake to didn't he write the original in the seventies and then redid wrote he wrote and directed the original in 1972. Yeah. I was I mean he oversaw he just got paid. I'm not sure how actively involved he was in the remake. Okay, in which Derek Garret dillahunt from Deadwood played Kruk in in the remake. I saw the original one. Anyway with that was Wes's thing and and I agreed with it cuz I loved as a kid. I loved dark dark meat. Well Motorhead, I love dark Heavy Music, you know and and I love dark scary stories. And that's I think that's the way we deal with our fears and and going to see a scary movie. Especially one of the appeal is the office managers because you're just coming to terms with your own mortality. You're just you know puberty brings you the point of oh, I'm going to die someday, so, you know same Be watching these stories at a distance allows us to better deal with with our own fears. And you know, I somewhere down the line I I became comfortable with with the the on my own ugliness the Channel Side. Well this kind of it plays into the podcast Community too. Cuz there's so many True Crime podcasts and shows but I did wonder why is it so saturated and that does make sense, you know, and I tend to go the other way. I like the light and happy and the comedy and I've got the dark well and then I picked up three kids and to my kids really like creepy dolls and the scary things and they're going down that route and so as a mom I'm going whoa, but maybe it's healthy to let him explore that and it is because wage it's a safe way to confront your own Primal fears, and and it certainly was that for me now, you know, he'll I was going to a Hellfire and brimstone Church The KO me kiss was sent me to help you know, and so again, the stage was a place for me to come to terms with a lot of the stuff stuff that had been labeled upon me in in where and how I grew up.

01:00:28 - 01:05:10

So so, yeah, the the only way I it's the only way I found happiness in my life was to be able to acknowledge the darkness Within Myself and that way the darkness doesn't have power over you but that's that is Freddy Krueger, you know, when they you confront your fears when you're when you confront it face-to-face it no longer has power on you. Yeah true. I always felt like acting in general you have to repeat yourself and I only did a little bit of it and then I went behind the scenes but it was it feels like you have to face your fear just stepping out in front of people and being vulnerable in the yard. Is that yeah. Yep. As an actor, you know, your body is your instrument. So you you don't have that remove of you know, when you paint something on a canvas and then you put the canvas out there while the canvas is what's showing the reflection it's not you, you know, when you're doing Live Theater, it's just you in the audience and there is an immense vulnerability to that but I think you know, the only true art comes from vulnerability no matter how it expresses itself whether it's on a canvas or whether it's an investment way. So I think it all comes from the same place but being able like you're talking about playing Dan dority being able to also control it like letting it come out and getting really into it and but then also there's Earl Brown who's able to not go that far that you can I mean some people go too far with their acting whether you hurt themselves or others. There have been there have been a few performances a few films that really kind of got me that affected me. Once you know, I was off camera took me a while to to shed Deadwood was so I don't know just the whole environment. I was able to to take it off and put it on, you know within in that show, but I'm fact I worked on the damn thing again 7 days a week. I was always trying to dream up some story or something and and then you know going working with Dave so it kind of was my immersive life. How did you write that frickin? It's so many storylines. How did they you taken on and figure it out the process for me it all started with in the pilot. I improvised the line which is a huge fucking no, no with David milch box in the pilot when when's Bullock and star pull up on the wagon and that's like $5 a week payable to Mr. Swearingen Jim and he and Bullock says, where's that and I'm just supposed to say you'll find jobs and turn and walk away and in one Tech I go you'll find it. Everybody does. And cut milk comes walking over to me. He goes well way guess I'm going to have to call wga what he goes get an adjudication over who wrote This Book think me or you what the fuck did you say? And I'm thinking oh, you'll find it. Everybody does seem kind of Ponder's thesis. Scrip he brings a script supervisor over he was tell her what you said write this down never quote me on it cuz I'll deny it but that that turn of phrase works that that works. He walks off. So way later in the season he comes up to me and and I'd realized early if something wasn't quite falling Lee trippingly off the tongue. He would be open to you know, discussions if sometimes he was in a dark place and you just avoided him, but you could go to Dave and go. Hey, how about we and he would listen and sometimes make adjustments sometimes not but I don't know what particular thing. I had said or done was the impetus for this, but he come up to me off he goes do you write, you know, he said actually I have something I want you to read come with me to the trailer. So he takes me and he he had done a five hour lecture at Yale Club. To be the chair of the English Department at Yale, but he had done a long lecture about his theory of writing and it was transcribed exactly the way he speaks with all the the vocalized pauses and the odds of the arms and it was about that thick and he gave it to me and I read it here in this room.

01:05:12 - 01:10:04

So I go to work. I read it over the weekend I go back to work and go see you read that thing off. I gave you. You read it. Yeah, fukin ready? Yes, and he said, all right. Well, it's my turn. I want to see something you've done so I gave him a short story. First. The next day comes up to me. I thought he read it. He said that it's got promise. You've written a script and I had just written the first draft of what became Bloodworth. It's an adaptation of a book provinces of night and I had just bought dissected the book and and put it in in three-act form and whatnot. And I did kind of want his feedback on it. And I said, yeah just it's a first draft of this adaptation. But yeah, he goes. Let me see it off. So I give it to him about three or four days later. It comes back with my script hands it to him and he goes it's obvious. You can write next season. I want you to come to the writers trigger. I want you to join us. I just got choice for you. Well, well, I was honestly I was intimidated like David David's a genius. I've never met anybody like it. I've met a few people that have the level of intellect does but it's almost invariably that there's this this disconnect the emotional disconnect, you know, like an Asperger's or something because that part of your brain is so dominant the intellect is that the emotional and Dave's emotional intellect is as gargantuan as his intellect David has this innate ability to talk to to just understand the person like you can see through you and he sees all the cracks, you know and Dave being Dave he wants to fix those cracks in your soul off. Now and I said this before don't don't fall into the illusion of him as some sort of sandals and be wearing Guru cuz Dave was you know, he was a heroin addict for many years an alcoholic who lived life. He had a he had a danger streak in him a mile wide and and a lot of people got burned by it. So I thought it was a very very complicated man and it wasn't till it was Steve her all the singer-songwriter who we all had breakfast and I knew those two guys are so much alike that they would either repel each other or Bond cuz they were both heroin addicts four years. Both genius Minds, you know, Steve is a high school dropout in David has the finest education anyone could ever get off but within five minutes, they're sharing junkie stories, you know, and they hit it off and it was Steve. We were in my pickup truck leaving that breakfast and he goes didn't you say he gave She has to write because you're going to do it and I said well, I'm assuming in high and he goes, well, you don't you're a fucking idiot cuz that's a writer's writer man. You don't meet people like that very often in this world. I met Townes Van Zandt when I was seventeen years old and I knew that man can teach me that man can teach you if you get off your goddamn horse and do it. So that was the product that I thought. Wow that was enough to go and and walk in the door hat and hand and go. All right. I'm here. So the process that's a very long answer to tell you what the process was. You would come up with story ideas either from history or from your imagination and go to David going Dave. I got this idea. Lay it out. All right, what else? Do you have? All that has promised. Yeah. Go ahead go out and ride a narc. I mean and see where that story could go and and write three scenes. Let's see see wise dramatically how it would so you'd go away and not do that. Then you give it back today and my favorite. I remember this very well standing right outside the main soundstage. I had three things that I'd written each stapled together and printed here and headed up to over the first one picks it up. That's absolute shit Legos UCS. Promise. This is Gabriella. So now that was Dave, you know, but you kept going you didn't take that as an insult. You just kept working with them. Yeah. I mean, it's it's like I said, I felt like I got paid to sit at the feet of Aristotle, you know, and and he and Wes Craven have been like two of my life's great teachers and the two that I've met in in my career in Show Business just these very bright men that are just spiritually in tune with some higher frequency month. So yeah, those have been my my two greatest. I was just, you know, thinking about West recently I wrote something that was heavily influenced by by him.

01:10:05 - 01:12:54

And then Dave I had lunch with Dave right before covid-19 it he's he has Alzheimer's and he's living in an assisted facility and I went to have lunch with him and he said to me we sat down to table. There's a restaurant in the it's it's it's for retired people and then the top floor people with cognizant Decline and home. So he was having a good day when I was there but we sit down in the restaurant and you know people in in the the later stages of life and Dave leaves in between he says they have to tell you Earl the indignities of decrepitude are boundless, you know, he means to pull that out the indignities of decrepitude boundless. So anyway that that's yeah. I would not take anything for those four years spent or three seasons, but four years total that wage. creating that story So why did they cancel it? Okay, so there we go the first half of our interview with W Earl Brown so cool. We love this guy. He's just great. We learned a lot of Something About Mary scream and a little bit of dead wood, which is a teaser to come on over to part to you're going to hear more about Deadwood David milch what it was like working behind the scenes getting into character. I'm going to hear a lot more about his country music and his his film Bloodworth. Yeah his film Bloodworth and a lot of music talk about that because the people that he was able to pull in off Kris Kristofferson. He talked about the soundtrack and and that whole scene plus like Val Kilmer was in the movie. Yeah, so we hear about that a bit as well as his new project dead band, which is hilarious and great. You guys should go find that on YouTube right now real quick. Go. Look look up Dad band while you're on YouTube. You can look up Mouse and wings as well. And all of our social media at my house and means we would love you guys to find us over on patreon to patreon.com Mouse and wings for $5 a month. You can show us your support that really keeps us motivated to Keep On Truckin and getting a good stuff going for you guys here on keeping on equipment and all the all the costs of this this does cost. So, all right. We love you and we appreciate you listening to take care of we'll see I'm part 2 by by by getting so why am I stuck here? Well, I was seventeen but came back when you smile your total of a million jails. What big girl now so am I stuck here.