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You've recently written a script called Killbilly -
in a few words, what is it about?
KillBilly is The Battle of Evil Versus The Lesser of
Evils... We wanted to make a movie that dealt with feuds from the
civil war time that crossed over into modern time with supernatural
creatures that have been walking our planet forever. Maybe a cross between
Blade and Next Of Kin. Very much like Underworld
but more wild and with our special monsters so to speak. Can't give the
rest away. Nobody has dealt with our particular heroes in a movie or
script before. How did the project
come together in the first place, and what inspired you to write the thing? I
got the idea to write the script many moons ago but was pushed my writer/producer Stephen Niver
[Stephen Niver interview
- click here] to
co-write with him on the project when he said he
loved the idea. I didn't think I could do it but he walked me through the
process and after about 6 months we had a script.
What can
you tell us about your writing partner Stephen Niver, and what was your
collaboration like?
Stephen is a talented writer who has
written many movies and produced many horror- related projects like
Chromeskull and Sharktopus and
The Sitter, with 20 other writing and
producing credits. Currently has a company called The Monster Machine
where he writes horror and monster related movies for folks. Very easy to
work with because he is a fan of the genre. To
what stage has Killbilly blossomed so far, and any idea when and where
it will be released onto the general public, tentatively (and I do realize
this is probably waaaay too early to ask)?
Our script we wrote together is one of those deals where it will cost
more than 3 million to make, so some production companies are afraid, and
yet won't cost 20 million so kinda in a grey state. But only a few
people have read the script and we are waiting for the right person to
say yes. No need to rush greatness in our opinion. And it's so fresh and
set up for sequels we can wait for the right folks.
As far as I know, you started out as a pro-wrestler. So what got you into acting
eventually?
As a kid I would watch Twilight Zone and
Night
Gallery and any horror movies I could get on TV. So I grew up with this
fascination of the genre and I eventually knew I wanted to be an actor when
I got into my 20's and act in the entertainment world. I wanted to be a
horror movie actor and it took me many years before I got a gig on Angel
the TV-series to finally get a start at that genre. Up until then I played
cops or bad guys or the redneck killer/towtruck driver. But got some
lucky breaks and got to work with Robert Hall, owner of Almost Human
Special Effects on Buffy and
Angel and eventually on The Crazies, where Robert's makeup along with Toby Sells got me the cover of
Fangoria. Now
talk about being stoked out of my mind when Rob called me and said you're
getting the cover of Fangoria..
Did
you receive any formal training as an actor?
I got started the
hard way in acting at 21 years old taking classes in Hollywood. I didn't
have an uncle who worked in the business and really just had to learn from
trial and error. Audition after audition and getting turned down over and
over again makes you strong. You eventually will get it unless you quit
beforehand. I'm a bullshitter so I had to stay the course. I would
audition during the day and throw people out of bars and night clubs at
night. I eventually got some breaks on the reality side of TV and made a
decent living working on Monster Garage with Jesse James as the voice of
show and fill in host which led to getting my own hosting gig on Speed
Channel on a drag racing show called Pass Time, which I filmed the last 5
year and 160 episodes. So I have a pretty good blue collar following on
the automotive and bike scene across Canada and the US. But still my
passion is the horror movie business. Any past movies of yours you want to
talk about?
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I also besides working with Rob Hall got to
work with Don Coscarelli on John Dies At The End.. Don is one of those
folks that scared me as a kid with his move Phantasm, so was a honor to
work with him. Getting to work alongside Gerard Butler in Machine Gun
Preacher was awesome as well. So being a actor I get to try all sorts of
genres from drama to horror to comedies and I wouldn't have it any other
way. Of course one movie that I got a big gig on Texas Chainsaw Massacre
in 2002 with Jessica Biel as Leatherface was a huge deal for me. But I got
hurt a week into shooting and got replaced by Andrew. Most people would
have put a gun to their heads right then and there in that hotel room when
they said I was going home and getting replaced. But you suck it up and
keep moving forward to the next project. Any future projects
beyond Killbilly you'd like to share? Whats next???
Not sure... Stephen and myself are always coming up with new story ideas
for TV and film and of course we will eventually get KillBilly to the big
screen, but until then you just grind away until it's your time again. Check
me out at BrettWagner.org
or on Facebook. And check out The Monster Machine on Facebook as well. Thanks
for the interview!
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