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Your new movie The
Alpha Test - what is it about, and what can you tell us about your
character in it?
The movie centers around a robot, a “Home Assistant,” that my son JD
(Brad Belemjian) has brought home. I play the Dad. My son,
this super, wiz-tech, brings home the Robot (worth $30,000 USD). As
I said, I play the Dad. I’m basically excited by this new shiny object
in my house, what it can do, and how I can show it off by the neat tricks
I teach it to do. What did you draw upon to bring your
character to life, and how much Wynn Reichert can we find in Rob?
Making this movie was a lot of fun. Well, except for my (SPOILER ALERT)
death scene. Yes, sadly, I do not make it to the end of the film. I’ve
played a lot dads over the years. This one is a selfish yet fun loving
father. He likes his beer (a bit too much), and he likes his new play toy,
the robot. As for how much of me is in the Dad character? So, I’m a dad,
technically a step-dad, in the real world, so I have had some experience
in that capacity. Also, a part of me is in every character I play, in some
more than others. Painting the broad strokes, this one has good and bad
qualities. He’s a good loving father. But he also drinks a lot of beer,
can be a bit verbally abusive to his kids, and to round out his
personality, he kowtows to his wife (Deborah Seidel). Just
wondering, when acting, do you react differently to a person playing a
robot, and in what way does that inform your performance?
So, as actor, I play off, work off, react to, what I’m given from the
other actor, as well as using how I feel about them etc. It’s a moment
to moment thing that differs with every character I play, every scene
I’m in, and each and every
actor I have the opportunity to work with. As in anything, some scenes are
easy to play and some are hard. Working off a robot is not as hard as one
might think. It’s a robot. Sure, there’s a living, breathing, human
inside the thing, playing the robot, but in the end, it’s still a robot.
In this instance, I treat it as such. And with this particular robot, it
soaks up everything it hears and uses that information much like a child
growing up. Learning the good, the bad, and the not so good. Rae Hunt, who
plays Alpha, was great to work with. Willing to go wherever I would
steer her. Or so I thought. Little do I know at the time that everything
I’m teaching her is going to come back to haunt me.
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Quite
honestly, if somebody brought a service robot to your place in real life,
how would you react? Honestly, I don’t know. I do know, that if I live long enough, I will
see the day where we have robots in our homes. We’re already headed that
way with all the technology we have, which continues to grow exponentially
at a rapid rate. Personally, I’d rather count on myself than an
inanimate object to do anything. Does that make me a control freak? Ask me
again when I have a robot in my house. But at some point I may not have
that choice, and I will have to adapt to it in this crazy, ever changing
world we live in.
How did you get involved with the
project in the first place? Like so many roles and projects I have had the good fortune to do, it all
starts with the casting. I was lucky enough to work with the
writer/director, Aaron Mirtes, once before on another project. And when
this film came about Aaron asked me if this was something I’d be
interested in. I was like, of course. I like to act, I like to work.
Besides, I’d enjoyed my experience with Aaron the first time, and wanted
to do it again. He had me tape a scene from the screenplay to get an idea
of where I was going with the character. Then a couple of weeks later,
while working on the set of another project, I got a call from Aaron
offering me the part. What can you tell us about The
Alpha Test's director Aaron Mirtes, and what was your
collaboration like? As I mentioned, I had worked with Aaron once before on another of his
films. Aaron, who has yet to hit the age of 30, knows how to perform just
about every job required to make a movie, and can do them all quite well.
As a director, he is very passionate about the work, knows exactly what he
wants, and gets it done at a rapid pace. He was also open to
improvisation. Having worked with Aaron once before, he would occasionally
let me run on a take once he had what he wanted. Ask him to show you the
blooper reel. It’s pretty funny. And entertaining. A few words about the shoot as such,
and the on-set atmosphere? The entire cast and crew were so easy to work with, and so much fun. We
all liked each other and truly had fun making the film. No egos, no BS.
Just people, coming together to have fun, and to put their best foot
forward. And I think that shows on screen. Also in the film is Bella
Martin, who plays my daughter Lily, along with veteran character actors
Alice Raver (Mimi the maid) and David Ditmore (liquor store snob),
and as the young neighbor, Mack Bayda. Any future projects you'd
like to share?
I was just recently in the feature film Dark Waters, directed by Todd
Haynes and starring Mark Ruffalo, which came out late last fall and is now
available on DVD and online streaming. It’s true story, a powerful
drama, and with the ways things are in the world right now, one that
everyone should see. Very topical for the times we are living in.
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As for my other projects, I have a few films I’ve shot over the last
year or so that have either not finished their post production, or are
waiting for the world to get back in working order before setting a
release date. There are a lot
of films out there that have had their release dates postponed. And no one
knows when this will all end. And what the landscape will look like once
it does. Hopefully things will work themselves out when that time comes.
For now, we are all living day to day, doing what we can to stay healthy,
to keep the wolf away from the door, and be creative in one way or another
while observing social distancing and staying indoors.
Your website, Facebook, whatever else?
You can find photos, videos, my resume, etc on my IMDb page:
www.imdb.me/wynnreichert.
I’m also on Facebook and Twitter. Anything
else you're dying to mention and I have merely forgotten to ask?
I really like what I do. I really do. I’d do it every day if they let
me. I’m also a screenwriter with about 15 screenplays under my belt, and
a former touring stand-up comedian. Folks needing a laugh can check some
of my comedy:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TXcu70IkF1w
And if more laughs are needed, and you like your comedy on the silly
side, check out my short lived career as a rapper. This video, was made
when Vanilla Ice was huge, and inspired my rap persona, Strawberry Slurpy:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DNX-HmGq6cQ
Thanks
for the interview!
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