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Your new movie Bent - in a
few words, what is it about?
Bent is about police officer Brenda Hoggins, who gets herself into trouble
with internal affairs after a shooting gone wrong.
With Bent being
essentially a cop movie, is this a genre at all dear to you, and some of
your genre favourites? And how did you approach the genre as such in your
script? Well, gritty crime dramas have always been a
favorite of mine along with noir. I’m a big fan of the noir films
from the 30’s and 40’s. Though having said that, I approached Writing
Bent as a modern day western. Which is essentially what cop films almost
are. The story is almost the same with westerns, the lawmen vs the
outlaws, we just updated the scenery from dirt roads to concrete and
horses to cars. We’ve all seen the white hats try to take down the bad
guys but my approach to writing the script was more along the lines of
making the lawmen into outlaws and blurring that line between right and
wrong.
(Other) sources of inspiration when writing Bent? A
huge inspiration for the films besides cop movies of the 70’s such as
Serpico and The 7 Ups and The French Connection
and noir films such
as Detective Story and Double Indemnity was a documentary on
corrupt New
York City police officers during the 80’s and 90’s called The 75.
Watching that documentary planted the seed in my head to tell a story
similar to the story shown in that documentary. I also researched a lot
into true crime books and books on the lawmen of the west Such as Wyatt
Earp and Bat Masterson. In a way too, I just drew on what I saw growing up
concerning police officers. There were a few run-ins with the law back in
my teens that were cemented into my head. What were
the challenges of bringing Bent
to life from a producer's point of view?
Well the challenge to bring Bent
to life was the director first and
foremost and the cast. I had a rough draft laying around and I floated
it to different directors who, although they were great directors, they
had their own idea of what the film should be and I just wasn’t on
board with what they were trying to put in the oven, so to speak. They
had my recipe but they wanted to make something different with it. So
finding Chris Esper
[Chris Esper interview - click here]
was like finding water in the desert. He was
on board
with the gritty and grounded version I had in mind. At the time, there
was a certain bullshit label Esper was pinned with, and that was more
along the lines of Esper being a “comedy director”, whatever the hell
that means. I knew as soon as I sat down with him, that he was the right
guy but most importantly, he was excited about the project.
What can you tell us about Bent's
director Chris Esper [Chris Esper
interview - click here], and what was your collaboration like?
Like I said, Esper was the right guy for the job. I think in a way,
Esper wanted to challenge himself with moving to different genres and
I think this script may have come along at the right time. We worked
together on another film called Deja Vuers after we had met to discuss
Bent. So I had a pretty good idea of what he was like as a director and
Esper took the film and the script very seriously and wanted to be as
accurate with it as possible. Me and him met a couple of times and drove
around to all the high crime rate spots of where I live, just to get a
feel of the scenery and mood that we wanted for the film.
Even though it was my script, I wasn’t married to it and allowed Esper
to do his own thing and run with it. He made it his own once we got to
principal photography. He drowned himself in films of the genre along
with some westerns. He would send us films to watch as homework and told
each actor to write out a backstory for our character. Esper when he’s
behind the camera is like a torando who just sucks up all the knowledge
you throw at him for a film of this caliber or any film for that matter.
You also appear in front of the camera in Bent
- so what can you tell us about your character, what did you draw upon to
bring him to life, and did you write him with yourself in mind from the
get-go? Well the character that I play, Earl Duke is a
little bit of a loose cannon with a virtuoso aspect to him. Almost like he
considers his job an art form of some sort. Earl is a cop chasing and
arresting other cops. That makes him a bit of a wild card, I wrote him in
a way so you wouldn’t really expect what he would do next. I didn’t
write him with me in mind at all. I had another great actor lined up to
play him and we met and discussed the character for hours but we had some
creative differences when it came to how the character should be
portrayed. So in terms of time and just connivence, I decided to play the
character and research as much as I could. I talked to a former internal
affairs officer just to get the style of dress down and speech pattern and
walk. It was very useful. I also talked to another retired police chief
who was a cop in New York during the late 70’s and 80’s. He really
helped me tie the entire character together with his stories of the
internal affairs division. I also again drew on memories of neighborhood
cops and what was in the news at the time when it came to the current
state of law enforcement. I also slept with the police scanner on and kept
that going almost entirely throughout the day. I also decided to try and
show up at crime scenes just as a spectator. I wanted Earl to also be
someone who chips cocaine, which explains his behavior, but we decided not
to show that, so that his character’s behavior would be more
unpredictable, if that makes sense.
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Do talk about the
rest of Bent's
cast, and as a producer, to what extent were you involved with casting?
The cast was extremely important. I was very much involved with the
casting of the film with Esper. We did not move on anyone unless we both
agreed that actor was right for the part. We both wanted Audrey Noone [Audrey
Noone interview - click here].
There was no way in hell, this project was going to get off the ground
without Audrey. We both saw her as the character of Brenda. Audrey in my
mind, was always the character of Brenda. Audrey was the first and
foremost on our list. She had everything going in her favor, Not just
her being a great actress but she was the right age and had the right
look. Not to mention, Audrey is a hell of a woman. A kind and thoughtful
person, very professional. She can do a scene with a blink, she had
these piercing and intense eyes that command presence when she’s on
the screen. Another crucial part of casting was finding her morally
corrupt partner Michael Brooks. I wrote the role specifically for actor
Justin Thibault. Justin is a good buddy of mine, he has been since
acting class in college. I don’t write or do a film without him.
He’s my partner in crime, and in this film I needed him to literally
be a partner in crime. He’s extremely gifted as an actor. A full blown
natural. Esper agreed with the majority of casting ideas I threw out as
suggestions but like I said, we didn’t make a move unless we were
fully set on casting. Chris Fisher was another actor who we felt could
command a strong presence as a liuetant who wants to protect Brenda.
Casting was very precise and we needed not just all young faces in the
film. Marc Powers as inspector John Camp was one actor in particular who
we both felt added realism to the film. He’s a sort of boss character.
I saw him as a military general who sends his soldier Earl Duke out to
investigate. Marc, again, was a friend of mine and a great actor who
could put all the focus on him when he’s on the screen. He’s a great
scene partner and I enjoy working with him. Fisher as well, Fisher has
this way about him where you don’t know what he’s thinking. He’s
mysterious and that was crucial. Esper was the one pushing for these
characters to be as realistic and authentic as possible.
What can you tell us about the shoot as such, and the
on-set atmosphere?
The set mood I felt was a little on off again. We were doing something
dramatic and telling a very character driven tale so there was not that
much room for full blown laughter, and I think each actor had to go to a
dark place. I of course, being the idiot that I am probably cracked a
few stupid jokes just to keep it light but overall, the mood was
tense but we all knew each other and there was a comfortableness in the
air. I tried to stay in within my character as much as possible but I
feel that everybody knew we were trying to make something real and
current.
The $64 question of course, where can Bent
be seen?
The premiere for Bent can be seen on September 9th at the
Route One
Cinema Pub. It will be a part of Chris Esper’s film list for his
Stories In Motion Screening And Fundraiser. I suggest as many people
come to it. They won’t just see Bent, they’ll see many other great
films that Esper has directed, such as his other recent film Imposter.
It’s sure to be fun.
Anything you can tell us about audience and critical
reception of Bent yet? The
reviews have been somewhat positive. I think people are mostly
understanding with what we were trying to do with this genre. Throw away
the action and the blood and the sex and just make a character-driven
gritty tale of moral corruption. With a film like this, you’re always
kind of expecting mixed reviews. You’re halfway expecting someone to say
“hey where’s the car chase?” “Where’s the gunfight?” It’s
not that kind of movie. It’s almost everyday that we are faced with the
notion of right and wrong. Trying to be a good person. “Who is a good
person?” A question I feel we still don’t have an answer to. Whose to
say there is one though. Especially in a environment such as the one
depicted in Bent. Any future projects you'd like to
share? My future projects right now are kinda up in the air
when it comes to acting. I sort of took a sabbatical for a while and
became kinda choosy on what projects I wanted to work on. I am in talks
with a few things on the horizon. I just finished another film I wrote and
acted in called I Am A Raindog with Christopher Di Nunzio [Christopher
Di Nunzio interview - click here], who is also a
great filmmaker. I’m also part of the cast for a web series called
Hearts Of New England with Justin Fortin. I play a mob boss in that.
That’s been a lot of fun, I never did a web series before. Also doing
another semi sequel to a film I did back in 2016 called 86 with John Papp,
who is also a brilliant filmmaker. I also finished directing a short film
with Dustin Teuber and Samantha Webb called Mr Blue, about an alcoholic
detective who is hunting a serial killer. I filmed that back in June and
that should be available online soon. I’m always writing and seeing what
I can come up with and always searching for the next role that might
challenge me but we’ll see how it goes. How did you
enter the filmworld to begin with? Oh God, how did I get
involved with the filmmaking circuit or indie scene or movies in general?
I honestly have no clue, I think it was all by accident. I’m kind of
like that employee at a job where he doesn’t belong and for some reason
they keep him. I’m just waiting for someone to tap me on the shoulder
and go “You don’t work here, right?” I try my best to sound like I
know what I’m talking aboutor doing but I don’t think I do. I’m just
kinda here, doing whatever I can to feed the creative beast that lives
inside me. Working both as a writer and an actor, how
does one influence the other, and what do you prefer, actually? Writing
and acting are sort of like siblings that fight constantly and at the end
of the day, you do love each other even if that love shows itself in fist
fights and swears being tossed at one another. It’s hard to write for
yourself as an actor. I usually write for someone else before I even
consider myself for a part. Both are very lonely and solitary habits. You
need privacy as a writer, you need privacy as an actor to develop the
character. I’m not sure if they are mutually exclusive, they both kinda
go their own direction. Acting I feel though is that one lone wolf who
strays off from the pack and as a writer you have to keep the pack in
line. I guess the best way to describe it is like two boats set adrift in
the water. The only difference is with writing, the captain is drunk and
forgot where they are. They just sort of let the sea take them to wherever
they need to go. That’s sort of what I do, I just let the story take me
to where it needs to go. I’m not sure if there is one that I prefer more
than the other. Both involve creating and building. I started as a writer
and kinda drifted over to acting. I feel my personality is maybe that of a
writer and less of an actor. I see things and I go “oh that would be
great to put in a story” but I also do the same thing as an actor. I see
real life people and go “Oh I would love to play them” both draw on
emotion and feeling. I’m just an emotional construction worker. I wrote
the blueprints for the house and build the house. Sometimes the house
leans a little too far to the left and sometimes the house ends up blowing
in the wind and sometimes the house collapses in on itself and kills
everyone inside and sometimes, the house stands up just right.
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What
can you tell us about your filmwork prior to Bent,
in whatever position? Before Bent
I’ve acted in plenty of
films and wrote a few films. The majority of my writing though is still
dormant, waiting to be put on the screen or on the stage. A few number of
my scripts have been made into films. Some with me and some without me, but mostly my participation in the indie film world has been that of a
writer and actor and sometimes a director. Not a very good one but one
none the less, I guess. Actors, writers, filmmakers
who inspire you? Al Pacino and Robert De Niro of course have
always been inspirations to me. James Dean being another huge inspiration
as an actor. Marlon Brando of course had a very precise view on acting and
his style and craft can never be copied by anyone, even if they try, so
Brando always is in the back of my head as a guide. Not trying to be like
him, but how he approached acting. Robert Mitchum as well, the king of
cool who made acting look easy and in a way it is, if you know what you
are doing. I don’t yet, but I hope to one day. Nicholas Cage as well is
someone who I often turn to for inspiration. Along with Claude Rains and
Bogart. Bogart was one guy who gave it his all and you couldn’t even
tell on screen. It was magic. Cagney as well along with Edward G Robinson.
Peter Sellers, Peter Falk. too many to name. Writers are a vast number as
well. I’m influenced by a lot of musician writers. Tom Waits, Bob Dylan.
Great lyricists. I’m also a fan of Neil Simon, John Cassavetes, Jack London, Hemingway, Tarantino, William Monahan. A lot of those
guys inspire me to write or have inspired me to write. They guide me as
much as they can. Your favourite movies? Some
of my favorite films include Goodfellas, Bonnie and Clyde, Friends
of
Eddie Coyle, Rebel Without a Cause, Closer, The
Invisible Man, Coffee and Cigarettes, Gun Crazy, Knock
on Any Door, Key Largo, Casino, Who's That
Knocking on My Door, Bad Lieutenant, Heat, Dinner
Rush, Dark Blue, Narc,
Down By Law, Masked and Anonymous, Rumble Fish, The
Killing, Killing of a Chinese Bookie. God, the noir films of the past as well.
Double Indemnity,
They Drive by Night, Out of the Past, Night
of the Hunter,
Point Blank, Dr Strangelove. Too many honestly, too many. ...
and of course, films you really deplore?
Films I deplore. Hmm, I try to find the good in all films. I’m not too
big of fan of anything Adam Sandler has been putting out in the last ten
years. I’m not a big fan of Superbad even though everyone loves it. I
hated Sausage Party, didn’t like Suicide
Squad. Batman Vs Superman was
a full and tireless effort. I dunno, I can’t really think of ones
where I say “That’s a bad movie” I try to block them out honestly.
Your/your movie's website, Facebook, whatever else?
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Here’s
a link to my actor Facebook in case anyone find what I said in this
interview interesting and wants to reach out:
https://www.facebook.com/Kris-Salvi-954399751317266/
Anything
else you're dying to mention and I have merely forgotten to ask?
Thanks For The chance for me to spill whatever I had to say on the film.
Also the crew of
Bent who did a tireless job, they were awesome. Always
try to think of the crew who work so hard. Thanks for your time, have a
good day.
Thanks
for the interview!
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