The Music and Movies of Courtney Gains: Part Two

0:00 All right, we are back, Courtney. Are you ready? It's about to shift to a music by Courtney games, not a film by podcast. Yes, that's right. It wouldn't have it any other way. Courtney. H Courtney. Can we can we talk a couple of questions about the about your film career if you have time. Oh, let's let's do it.

0:46 Absolutely. I appreciate all the music talk, but by all means, you know, you're a movie thing. Let's talk movies. Let's talk about this. My first question would have to be of all the incredible characters that you've played, if you had the opportunity, which one would you want to play again? Oh? God, the one's ever asked that quite, Like, what's your favorite? What we're going to play again? Yeah? I maybe would have to go with this Benny Bliss. Guy. I know it's not a big movie. The know, you guys haven't seen it yet, but I think when you see it you'll see why because it was just a ton of fun. It was like ninety BROV. So it was like you were just a couple of these crazy scenarios and do them and and then we got to play. I got to play rock music, you know, like with like a killer ass band in the movie, So it was like there was a lot of good reasons to have fun. I would say, I have to. I probably did play Benny Bliss again. That would probably be I was hoping it was gonna spawn off a couple of sequels. I really did because I thought it'd be so fun to just keep going with this this character with his anti technology message. You know, we're definitely gonna check this one out because it sounds wonderful, and I recommend seeing the trailer too, But the trailers might be better than the movie though. All right, fair enough?

2:02 Uh, Courney, is there a is there a role that you passed on that maybe looking back now you're like, I should have I should have done that one. Now, that's not really ever happened. I've never was really in the position to pass on something so great that it turned out to be great and going I should have done that. I think there's certainly projects I didn't get or didn't think that we're gonna be great that turned out to be great, though. You just never know what's gonna hit and what's not, you know, or even projects I've been in there I maybe not thought we're gonna turn out so good. That did our projects I thought were going to be great that then stunk. Like you just never know. There's no way you can try to hedge your bets as much as you can. But like you know, my theory is you can just put a monkey as the head of the studios to pick movies and they do just as well as these guys. Yeah, yep, this is so true. So Courtney, I've got a question for you. Yeah, Jeff and I are like huge and I mean huge burb fans love We love the Burbs very very much. And we'll talk about more about that a little bit. But towards the end of The Birds, when Hans is running from the ambulance and Runsfield played by the wonderful Bruce Dern, a great line, Hey, Pinocchio, where do you think you're going? And he chases after you, but his feet slip out from underneath him and he slides into you, knocking you, knocking you down?

3:19 Was that intentional or was that by accident? It has been driving me crazy, that's how easy was so well? First off, the line was an improv. Bruce is a master of observation and improv. He's he's watched him work is something else and uh I'm a big fan. So uh so that line is a great line, just came out of his observation looking at him with the freaking hat and the leader is obvious, right right, because I was never dressed like that fully at the other time you saw me, if you think, yeah, right, so, but the the that is a stunt. That whole thing he saw the stunt are those are two stunts? That's not okay, fair enough? I think, I know, I know my parts is stunt. Maybe he did the maybe he did the other part, but that wasn't me. They got clopp or dang. Well we're we I mean because every time we've seen it, we always we always have that talk and we're like, that's just amazing that they caught that on camera, Like and I hope yeah, hoop, uh hoope Corny didn't get hurt.

4:17 I hope Bruce turned didn't it get Bruce. I can't remember. I know that was a stunt guy doing for me. I remember that far. Well. It's good to know. Finally, So thank you, Corte. I appreciate that. What o your burbs guy, what else you got? You know, you gotta talk burbs yeah, well before we get more into the burbs. Uh, And I apologize. I hope we're not getting too obscure with some of your films. But no, no, no, no, no, no, no no no. I was just I was just like, you have a list, you're ready, You're very prepared. I got to ask you because this is one novel. Was like, I was like, you know, if I ever get to talk to this guy, I'd love to ask him this question. You did a you did a film called Hard Bodies. Yeah, and at the end, you know, you're in this really animated moment and they're like, what is he doing? And you know, they're like, he is flipping you off in forty different languages?

5:05 Like was that? Is there any truth to that? Is it was that just you pantomiming? Or is like or can Courtney Gains really flip us off in forty different languages? So what happened was so the director was a guy named Mark Griffiths, and I used to take a class and hit with him and the guy who casted Geno Havens. And Mark was one of the first people to like become a fan and was like, I'm gonna put this kid to work, right, So I was supposed to do a movie for him called Lucky thirteen with Stuart Margolan that they actually wrote for me and I was underage and I went to do a commercial and they panicked and then gave it to Eric Stilts. That's a whole story to itself. But so the follow up movie, well that he got was a Roger Carman movie called Hard Bodies and his he he did a lot of low budget features, but his requirements were that he can do a rewrite on the scripts, which I think is a good idea for a right you're gonna do a low budget film, right, would get it the way you want it. And then he also prepared. If he's running behind, he tear pages out. He's like, he knows what he has to do to get a B movie done right.

6:02 But so he wrote that role. He rewrote that role with me in mine. So as soon as I got back from Trot to the Corner, I had to go to Concord Studios, which is like a parking lot down in Venice Beach. Just like at least the studio you've ever seen. It's Roger Carman, right, mean and mean right. So I had to go in there in one of the little trailers and audition. But it was basically it was mine to like lose at that point, right, I would have had to just like choke, you know. So I got the gig and and one of the first things he told me was like, so I wrote this part you know where you gotta write flip people out in forty languages, figure it out. So that gave me like a month, you know, which was a good a good heads up. So I just started asking everybody and anybody I knew, like, you know, what are the different like how do you flip people off in different ways? Like blah blah blah. What a time. It's like good because I started writing you all these things down and kind of like a song, I looked at him and put him in an order. I'm like, so for here, where do we go from here? Oh we can go here right, like you know, I started to choreograph this thing, and and then you know, when I did it place, you know, it is like holy shit. Still get asked this day, right, can you flip me off for forty languages? And I'm like, no, you pay me enough, it'll come to me. Yeah, I'll tell you right now. I remember like when we were when we were younger, like me and my buddies, we we would wear that VHS tape out because we would try to slow it down and watch it and learn.

7:21 Also, that's awesome the power of movies. Man, you can just can't underestimate, like the influence like this. You would take the time, you and your buddy would take the time, like we're gonna figure this thing out. This is hilarious. I love it, absolutely love it. Yeah, my great uncle was a tail gunner in World War Two, so I've always had a fascination with you know, history, but you know, World War Two. What was it like working on Memphis Bell that started at McVeigh well, Memphis Bell for all all the guys, at least all the guys I ever see when I run into them. I think it sort of was one of the pinnacles of our career We've been chasing in an amazing experience like that again, because it was just top not you know, on every level, you know what I mean. We got to go to the UK and you know, be there for three months, you know, hanging out in London. We got to work at famous Pinewood studios, you know what I mean. You know, for the people that were in production had oscars, you know, the producer, the cinematographer, the production designer and the editor.

8:20 I mean, that's never happened since that I'm anything I've been involved in that. I'm aware that that level of I mean, some of the best people in England, you know, we're in we're working on that movie, you know. And then not to mention, some of the best young actors of that generation were in the movie too. It was the it was the movie to get that year for a young actor, like everybody wanted it, and they basically were like, well, we can't afford to have all stars and the things, we'll pick our four or five top guys that we think our money makers won't pick, a mid level and a lower level. Got me in on the lower level, and I kind of got kind of two things happened to help me get that job. One was I was you know, I was smart to like, go, okay, what are the if I'm coming in here, what do these guys want? They want some team players, they want some ensemble players. Right, That's I'm not you know, I'm not. I'm working, but I'm not you know, I'm not champagne. Right, So you wanted in on it too, right, So it's like, Okay, they're looking for some team players on my level.

9:15 So I happen to be part of a really, really good theater company called the Friends and Artists Theater Ensemble in la that was like the best, one of the best theater companies in town. And so I walked and we were doing Bomb and Gilly, which is a very Landford Willis is a very tough play if you know the play. But the dialogue there'll be it's like all these people like on the street and in this in this cafe, like in the middle of the night the Needle Park in New York, and there's like conversations going on here, and there's conversations going on here that you have to time your dialogue against other people's conversations. And when you do it right, there's a conversation in the conversation. If the audience is listening, you hit it right. It took months and months to prepare and we ended up we ended up winning Best Ensemble the Drama LOGU Awards that year and all that stuff.

9:58 The guy named sal Romeo is that the the director and he's one of my mantors. I studied with him for a long time, Stella out of their technique and stuff. He's like, you know, Statslavsky, He's like the man in LA. So when I walked in and he said, how you doing, I said, ensemble is my forte. I am one of the best ensemble theater companies in town. Right now. We're doing Bomb and Gilead, one of the toughest plays you could do. And he was like The director was like, wow, that's really refreshing. He's like, he's like in New York, all they want to know about is like, what's the script. In LA they want to know what's the part for me. So so my audition was all right, but that left a really good impression on him. And then something lucky happened, and that was Patrick Dempsey was a little hotter at that point already his tape went in for audition for the for auditioning and my scene you know you shot on my house scene was in it. Oh wow, which was great for me. And he's and he sawd me there when he cast me. He said, that's what I did.

10:56 He said, seeing see seeing you and Patrick Dempsey's tape, I was like, thank you Patrick, Thank you? Yeah. Nice. So so it was just an amazing, amazing experience. I mean, uh, you know, just just like I said, top notch on on every level. You know, that's all I can really say. It's a great film. I love it. I'm proud of it. I'm that's for sure. Ye it is. You mentioned you mentioned Sean Penn wanting in on it. Now obviously obviously he does get in on Colors. Can you tell us a little bit about a big way? Yeah, in a big way. How was how was your experience working on on the on the set of Colors interesting?

11:39 And that's that's what I would have to say to that. So let's see where do I begin. So Gerardo me he and I worked on three movies in a row together, a movie called Winner and Take All. Then we worked on Count by Me Love, and then we do Colors, right, like, literally three movies in a row. So when we were shooting in Arizona doing Count Count by Me Love, at this point we got to know each other quite a bit. You know, he started out as a pop locker, you know, from from the hood. You know, worked as a dancer and worked his way up and he knew that I was, you know, I grew up in tough neighborhoods in La you know. And he knew that. So when he got the script, he's like, Cordia Cardi, you're not gona believe man, there's a white boy in the gang. I'm going to for this character. You gotta get it on this. And I knew there were white boys in the gangs, but I didn't think anybody would ever ever ever put that in a movie, you know. So I called my manager, Virgil, and it's just my Virgil Fry. He actually had a long standing relationship with Dennis Opper helped him make Easy Writer. That's how far they went back. So he called him and said, hey, I hear you know you're looking for a guy. They're like, yeah, we're having a lot of trouble finding the guy. He goes like, this is my best actor, best trained dude. You like, you know, you gott to see him when he gets back in town. So when I got seen, when I got back in town, I went and took At this point, I was taking like general meetings. When you're on at a certain level, you don't have audition anymore, and you know that's coming gone.

12:48 Sometimes but at that point I was kind of hot and they were having trouble, so I just came in with a penalton on and stuff and they're like, so you know this stuff, and I'm like, yeah, I grew up in this stuff. Blah blah blah blah. Five and at ten minutes later they gave me the job. So that was that now, getting so that was getting the job was the easiest part. Jennis Opera is a genius man, like he really is, and like he was the one who was like, make this about He lived in a part of Venice Beach that was called ghost Town. That's a really rough it's not even there anymore. It was like a really really rough part of LA like don't go there at night kind of stuff. So he knew about the Bloods and the crypts. He said, make this cop movie about the La gangs and I'll do it. So that was his genius, you know that he tapped that whole thing that was going on in La that the world didn't know about, but it was, you know, everybody about the Bloods, the crips in LA, like that was a real thing. And but he's kind of crazy, like you know, Dennis opera's kind of crazy and when in a way Virgil put a target on my back a little bit that you know, that was his guy. And nobody pushed my buttons more in Jennis Opera. But nobody got more out of me than Jennis Opera. Like, my character is eighty sixth on the credit sheet. Okay, eighty six you know what I mean.

13:58 That's like, I'm not most movies I'm in don't have eighty six people, right, act it's the eighty sixth character on the call sheet. It's not a it's not a you know, it's not the guy in this thing. But I also was was was very confident at my work at that point. I've been working steady. He he would direct very loose, uh the wides like, but then if you didn't do what he liked, he fucking yell at you. Right. So, but I would play the moment that you're letting, you're leaving it open. I'm playing. I'm not trying to steal scenes or anything, because I'm not into that. I'm an ensemble guy, but I'm playing the moment. But he had the other actors, so some of the younger actors so scared they wouldn't do anything. They would just stay there and try to stay out of trouble. So I tell I always tell this is because this is so. The first scene we shot was at the at the the the power plant that you know, when Gerardo me he has seen you know me me metalist, you know Numero Uno, Holmes and all that, right, his first day on set, and he has his fucking monologue. That's a tough thing, right, But so Dennis Hopper, So Dennis Opper calls us into the room. We're all there, excited to meet Denis Opper. I'm gonna have a little fake cigar here. And we're all sitting there already to go off, excited meeting this hop and He's like, this fucking scene means a lot to me, man, because they think I'm making a fucking cop movie, but I'm making a movie about the gangs, you understand. And I mean he's fucking everybody's like shit in their pants, right right. And and then we shoot the scene and we get to the parts where it's where it's Gerardo's monologue and it's not going well, and it's

15:28 just like it's just you know, it's just and and no Is it's not going well, but Dennis Oper's not saying nothing. He's like, just do it again, do it again, do it again. And fucking Gerardo starts to fucking crumble a little bit, you know what I mean. I mean, first day, Dennis Hopper, it's going not going, and he's not giving him anything, and he's, you know, he's my butt at this point, right, So he starts looking at me like, Corty, what the fuck should I do? So I walk over him and I start talking. I give him, I give him a fucking good I don't remember what I said, but you know, I've been I've been teaching acting at this point some and been studying for like, you know, a long time. And and he Tennis Hopper sees me and he just came in by my character's name. He goes, why get the fuck away from my actor. I'm like, oh, I walk away, and then fucking Gerardo nails it.

16:15 He's like and he just looks at me like what the fuck did you tell him? Like he is a good job or he's like like, what the fuck t you are? Oh man? He would fucking throw shit at me like he's right before the scene on the PCP I'm in the back and he called me. Why do he get get the fuck over here? He goes, O, hey stand right there, the spoozer, if you're on PCP, let's go. I'm like, what the fuck right? Like, no, prep, no, nothing right. I had like fucking ten seconds tous fucking gangsters and fucking cops, like what's PCP like? And then I just do that moment and I just happened to fucking flip. You know, I was relaxed, and I just you know, relac and he comes out, good fucking job. Why ain't and then storm. That's how he was the whole time, you know, like he was crazy. I'm telling you, he saw me playing. He went to go to the bathroom one time.

17:04 He sees me playing my guitar and a trailer scene at the end, why do he get your fucking guitar? You know, like, oh, nothing got past that dude, you know what I mean? Yeah, yeah, nothing, I mean he got I mean he saw everything. You know, he saw me play guitar, once filed it away, saw a spot for it. I mean, how cool a fucking solo playing guitar in a fucking movie Like that's just so like not what you're supposed to do and it's so cool. People still to this day track try to track me down to where they get that song. I'm like, I didn't write that song. The girl did. It's got love guaranteed. I don't know ask her, but but that that just just he added an artistic flavor, even to clos you know, and like if you look at the movie, he gets every good mural in Los Angeles. He he has the car crash into a fake watch towers and you know, one of the most famous art installations in Los Angeles.

17:51 He yeah, but man, he's not easy to brothers that there's like that, Dennis apparant I thought you'd like I did. I loved it. Uh, definitely love the Hopper impersonation. You know that that speaks that speaks to your craft though, because you know, you might have been eighty six on the call sheet here, but you're one of the You're one of the more rememberable moments from that film because it's just there's not how many white guys are in gangs. That's why I want to represent because I knew there was I grew up with. I always tell people there was a guy I went to grammar school with it was a gang banger high school named Billy Red. He was the redheaded gang banger. I was always like that dude must have flipped out when he saw that movie because he's like, yeah, well recording man, that's there's still still my ship. I'm like, yead, damn right, I still have your ship. That's right. That's what it was like. I'm when you're watching it, you're thinking, Okay, these are some these are some really badass people. But how badass does this guy have to be to be the one white guy in the group? You know, my pages, I saw that it was showed like for like, you know, white dudes in gang banger movies, like why is the white guy?

18:59 I always got to be just a little bit crazier. Yep. Absolutely, I was to represent because, like I said, I knew, I knew that was real stuff. I knew that Dennis Oppera was going to do the first real movie about that culture because all the movies I ever saw before that were all crap. And you know, he really did. He really caught and it broke out. West Coast rap. West coast rap was not a thing before then, yep. And he was, you know, significant in a lot of ways. Very influential, There's no doubt about that. Yeah, So I've got to say, I want to go back because there goes the goddamn Brownies, and I want to I want to talk about your experience on the Burbs. What was it like working with Joe Dante? Because I love all of his work, I'm a big fan of his. What was Number one? Joe's a nice you know, really nice guy and encouraging.

19:48 And number two, he knew, he knew what he wanted from me. Like again, that was we just took a meeting and I don't know what I said or why he picked me out of everybody he could pick. I have no idea. Uh, we just talked. I gave him I guess a little bit of an interpretation, and then he cast me, which was awesome. But he knew a lot of what he wanted. So it was like more than like say like hard bodies. You know, I had an idea of what I wanted to do with the wardrobe. The wardrobe woman lived in Hermosa beach, which is like not not like more like a Venice beach. You're like more you know, upper class white. She's like, no, this is the way my kid the kids dress. I'm like, I ain't doing that, Like I I'm wearing the cut off ops and the and the cut off hang ten shirts and like these kind of skate more like skate rat than surfer guy. And we know, and we butted heads, but then the director went my way because you know, he liked what I was doing. And so there are times were I'll butt heads with people about things, but it was it wasn't there was nothing to butt heads about with him.

20:44 He just knew. He's like, Okay, go to this person. They're gonna make your teeth. And then when you're done, come see me. Go to this person. They're gonna cut your hair like this. And go to this person they're gonna make it. They're gonna make you custom clothes. Here's here's the here's the swath I picked. I like, take it to him, you know, and and and then and I come back like you days where they make it tea a week later with the teeth on or put the haircut by then, and he just started laughing and he'd be like, you're never gonna work again. And he go like, okay, I want you to come up with this like like Norwegian like language. But I don't want to be any one like don't do it like it's like it has to be like underscript like, so they don't know exactly what it is. So I'm like, okay, so that I would like go get tapes and kind of learn a couple of different things and kind of come up with my own thing. But he was very specific like that. He built the characters, and by the time I came on the set as far as physically what I look like and all those things, it already was very much uh, you know, presented. The biggest credit I take for the character is is, uh, sometimes people actor, especially like someone like Dustin Hoffman almost always does the works. Was they call it animal essence, and he played like ratso Rizzo. He's a fucking a rat. Right. If you look, you can see it, you know what I mean, He's like, hey, but an analysts can really inform your rhythm, your you know. So I chose with that particular character to be a you know, a deer in the headlights, because yeah, he's a stranger in a strange land, right, and when you look at it, it's there, you can really you can really see it. It really plays th that's the you know, the

22:17 unspoken subtext or whatever of that character. And I think it it really informs most of everything that happens to him or how he reacts to people, interacting with them and stuff like that. And it worked, you know, it worked. That's uh, it absolutely does. Because I'm thinking right now, like, uh, you know how how gentle Bonnie is with Hans and you know that must have been very hard. He's so skittish, you know, You're right, it's the deer in headlight. Yeah, and that wasn't something I don't even think that was written that I reacted like that or whatever. It was just that was just where he's coming from. And you know, so work with Joe's great. I've got to work with him a few times, and I'd work with him again anywhere anytime if he wants to, you know, he makes a call, I'd be there. I like him a lot, so, and you know, the cast, I mean, it was obviously the biggest challenge for me was was trying to not know who these people were as is the character, because they were all people that was like, you know, grew up with right and and and and and admired and and and and you know, certainly Tom Hanks fan, he's like the greatest, obviously Tom X, he's the great. He's the most down the earth a list actor you're ever going to be, period. That's what it is.

23:22 He's just he's just god buying the hype, you know what I mean. He just loves the work and he does the work. And that when you have that guy as the top guy in the show, keeps everybody else grounded, you know what I mean. You can't get weany if he isn't, you know what I mean. So it's like great, but my guy was one guy was Bruce Druse right, like I I grew you know, Bruce Darren plays the best son of a bitch you're ever gonna sing, right, He's he's a master of the son of a bitch. Right And and uh so the trash Cans scene after No No, No, No, the scene, the scene when we came out. The first time I see him, I go to the mailbox. After that, he came up to me and he and he's like time started to me under his wing and he just he just likes he's like I like because he called me hot Himes. That was good. To work, Hans and but he really opened up, you know, and he really and it meant the world to me that he him recognizing my work and liking where I was going, gave me all the confidence in the world that I was onto something, because you know, if Bruce Durn's catching it, it's got to be it's got to be great and the biggest, the coolest thing he ever he said some cooler what I I was so ridiculous. I don't want to say it. They was so cool, but I'll say this one. So I was talking about you. I don't know if I was fully in the moment, blah blah blah. And he lived at me late He's like, I'm lucky if I'm in the moment about twenty percent of the time. And he goes and uh, and he started talking about the woman in Tripped the Bountiful who's like one of the greatest actresses, Geraldine Page. He goes, I studied with Geraldine Page, you know,

24:53 I mean, like with the students, you know, he goes, you know, she's the greatest actor. She's baby, I'm like fifty sixty said the time. And I was like, oh my god, Like I don't have to be like any I don't have to judge, like I should be one hundred percent great all the time. If these guys can't do it, I don't have to do it. And it like freed me up so much. And now, as an actor's been at it, like, you know, forty years, if I have one good moment in a scene, I'm thankful, you know what I mean. Like I'm like, oh, I found something, you know what i mean. Like in the beginning, I was like, I have to be oh great all the time, you know, But when Bruce Dern's like, give it a rest, kid, that just that just gave me. You know, that just made me feel so much better about myself and my work. But I got to work with him again on a movie called Held Lizers that came out a couple years ago, and it was so great to see him again and to be able to actually tell him how much it meant to me when he took me laying on the verbs. You know, it was a really And he's still in the scene. We have some scenes and he just kicks my ass. Man.

25:52 He's seven years old, and he's just like I can't keep up with him. You know, he's improv in his observa, he just kicks my ass, and I'm just the same time, I'm going, look at buce D kicking my ass. I don't normally get my ass kicked, you know what I mean, I just don't. And yeah, he if it was if I always tell people, like, you know, if you're fucking acting was boxing, you don't want to get in the ring with me, I would not want to get in the ring with him. Okay, yeah, absolutely, as I have to imagine that being on set on a film like this has got a lot of fun times. I mean, you know, I mean aside and I'm talking about like just people's good nature, Like you know, you're you're working with Brick Dukeman, you got Tom Hanks, you got Corey Feldman. I got it. There's gotta be a lot of laughter on the set, right Well, it was. It was kind of and I don't say camps, but it kind of was. It was kind of like because Dukeman and Hanks and then they're kind of their own little group, right there were the actual so they were they were doing a lot of scenes together, hanging with themselves. Corey hung up by himself a lot. He really hang out and I hang out with like I hung up with Brother Theodore a lot, Yes, and which was you know, Larry Bretherm is the one of the producers. It was also a big time manager for act comedic actors like Robin Williams and like that. He's the one who got got He was a big Brother Theodore fan, you know from his his his stage show in New York that he did for years called The Brother the Theater or a few and he's like, I don't know if you're gonna get along with this guy.

27:19 He's like, so, do you have any problems? He's let me know. He's not that guy. He comes off like that's that's his act. You know. He's this actually very intelligent guy who came from some sort of level of royalty from where became Romania or whatever. So he's very cultured and he used that character as a platform to talk about his political angst issues. It's very brilliant really, and like the guy I said, the slough he was, he'd like, we played chess and he'd like he would spot you a queen. You're like, oh he did that, and then he whip your ass every time, you know, like he'd be like, okay, I guess I do. I can't even beat you without a queen, you know. But he would just tell these wonderful stories and stuff. And I think the thing that worked for him him on films, and he hadn't done films at that point. He's getting a little older, he was harder, getting a little harder hearing. M That's why every day is that's loud work perfect for the character. It was one of the things I filed away like one you know, the one day I'm gonna have a I'm gonna do a character that I'm gonna make that choice that you know, especially as they get older, right, they can't hear, so everything's like that's dam I know. I know. We have talked about this over the years multiple times.

28:34 But the idea of of of seeing the Hans character, you know, come back, come back and follow up where he's like the head of the household. Now, okay, I got the craziest idea. All right, let's hear this. So Hans gets out of prison and now he's on his own, and see he moves to the suburbs. He moves into a black suburbs and it's called the blurbs. Oh my god, ya, oh my lord. But it's like all the same ship, right, Like they're all going, who's this dude? Like this freaks, all the same stuff, but it's just black folk. Oh my gosh, that would be great.

29:22 It would be I think he at least do a short of them. Yeah, it would be for those who are Burbs fans, it would be absolutely hilarious. Yeah. Can you imagine like a sort of a black parad the Booster character or the Oh my lord, you know we we recently we talked with ozrod Riguez, you know, he you know, had a great stint on front of your die. This sounds like what you're what you're suggesting, sounds like a great skit for fun of your die, Like I gotta, I gotta, I gotta hit him up and say, hey, listen, I was talking to Courtney. I think it would be the most funnier. It would be the most hilarious. I think that would be hilarious. I don't know, you know, I don't know how other people would nowadays everybody's so sensitive, right, I don't know, but I think it would take.

30:07 I think it would take if you could get an actor, a big enough actor to play the Hanks character, Like, who would be who's like that guy? Uh? You know that that's sort of that safe you know black you stand a comedy guy, right that would play that role? That anything have real role with it? Then you know, if you could get that guy whoever that would be, I don't know, I don't want to get involved guys. Yeah, who's that skeptic that was? Because that would be hilarious if you had the right one, Yeah, the right guys doing it, It would be insanely funny. Actually, I think it would be so at this point, is there a filmmaker, uh be it a writer or a director that you haven't worked with that you would enjoy collaborating with?

30:52 That's that's an easy one. Yeah, Tarantino, of course, you know, nice choice. Yeah, I've heard like you should do a Tarrant you know movie, You're in a Tarantino movie. But I mean yeah, right, yeah, uh, and you know he's aware, I mean he I mean obviously a film like Encyclopedia. I mean I went to some and I knew I know one of his. I knew one of his, his producer, Lawrence Bender before he got huge. Not going like come on, Lawrence like where's the love bro. You're like, you know, throw the dog a bone man hopefully one day before because you know he's not gonna you know, he only does he doesn't do a lot of movies. Do you think about it, like, you know, like I've been like in a hundred things, you can maybe name seven. You know, he's only done eight movies. That movies is you can name everyone? Right, Everyone's good?

31:38 Yeah, I think that would be. I just think you know, he chances are he would stretch me in an interesting and warped ass direction. I would like to do something with him nice. Well, one more one more question about about the movies. And I know I'm sure some of the listeners like what they weren't going to ask, And we specifically wanted to try and stay away from Children the Corn because we know someone in your position you've heard a billion questions a billion times. But you know, just for our listeners, my question about Children the Corn would be, after all the after forty years, did you ever did you ever expect that a character like Malachi would would have such a pop culture impact. I wouldn't have expected from the year it came out. Yeah, it's been one of those things that from the jump has just been crazy, you know, even though culturally at that time, you know, horror movies were looked down as being movies. Critics panned it, you know, but that was what they were saying on the streets.

32:43 You know, kids are running to their mothers crying. I mean it was like it was like, what is happening? You know, like it was really really overwhelming the impact it had, you know, and all of a sudden, all these eyeballs on me and the reactions those eyeballs were having, I was like, whoa. And that was when I two things, you know. I made. One was I realized the power of cinema at that point, Like I really realized, like, wow, the power of cinema. I think about the project, you're doing what you want to do. And the other thing was like I realized that character had such an impact so fast that I could easily get pigeonholed. You know. I was like, I was aware of that. So I really made a conscious choice in my eighties run to not play the same character twice. You never did, I know? It worked out. I mean I made the conscious choice and I was actually able to pull it off. And and what I was eyeing at that point, was you know, a long term career beyond a childhood actor, right I was. I was looking at the long term prize, and I said, if I if I can have a body of work, you know, over like a ten year period or like that, or you know in the eighties run was like five six really good year run that well, that's what's going to help me transition to my adulthood work because I'm going to have I'm They're gonna say, well, and shit, he can't do this, can do this, and you can do this, and you can do this. And I ended up being lucky that I had you know, a hit in almost every genre you know in that run and that and and they were all very different characters. So I really feel like I had proven

34:14 my point as where that I was I was a character actor that you know, to be reckoned to it, that I had some skills, you know, that I could do comedy, that I could do drama, that I could do horror, you know, And I think I think that that did help me. I think that did help me transition. And then I think, you know the other thing that long term transitions was just looking at being realistic about who you are and what you can do, and what you look like, what age are and what you look like. You know, like, what's what's the market in the nineties I made. I made a pretty conscious decision when I started. I just started getting a lot of guest stars. I said, there was no twenty something roles, but I couldn't play teenagers anymore. But I thirty was the roles thirty thirty five. So I was just like, what can I do this about? Grow the hair back out, gro go t play mad dogs. You can play that and pull it off as a little bit older. And then I just went on a big run in the nineties doing a lot of really good guest stars and some mean some incredible roles. I mean roll and diagnosis murderers. Like I'm saying my characters paralyzed on one side, has cerebral polesy on the other side.

35:15 And this was before the Internet where I couldn't just go look out, so he has cerebral poles, you know what I mean? So I mean some and where you had like a very short time to pull this character together and make it happen. So there was some some wonderful challenges on that level. And then now like you know, you're talking about the Beard, like I knew after the pandemic, I'm like, grow the beard. The proud boy type roles are going to come. There's no doubt those roles are coming. Oh yeah, well you and you got one, yes, Ratha Becky, Yeah, Ratha Becky, where you We played this character named Nobleman, which is a you know, obviously take off on on you know, on on the on the on the Nobleman out of the Proud Boys, and and and you know, and and and the movie. You know, it's it's you know, somewhat tongue in cheek in that like you know, it's it's it's it's designed for people to you want to see those guys be destroyed and have a good time doing it, right, And that's its function, and people will have a good time. But my job is not that. My job is to bring is really is a human being to that character as I can and the character has this incredible twitch turn. Right. Have you seen the movie? Yeah? Yeah, I kind of caught it, you know, because I had seen Becky. And then we see like, oh we got we got a sequel with to Becky. And then you show up and it's like, whoa Courtney Gaines is in this? And then immediately I'm like, I'm pulling more now, you know, it's like, Okay, well, I love Courtney Gaines, but I'm probably not supposed to love him in this right, But I'm still all in. Yeah. But but the point is my job is to try to make that guy, you know, four dimensional, you know, at three dimensional for dimensional and because he has such a

36:46 good turn and it really allows me to do that. But then again, at the end, the end is such a ridiculous payoff. You know, it's like, what's your kid's name? I don't want to say, the payoff is ridiculous. After he gives this heartfelt speech, you know, you're like, yeah, I killed that. So I loved I loved you know, the opportunity. And I think the movie came out really good. It's one of it's one of the better things I've been in a while. And they're already doing another one. It's it's it's done well, they're doing they're doing the trilogy now. So I'm going to be part of this pretty crazy trilogy that I think is just a sign of our times. Since we're talking about stuff that was done lately. Might as well pivot to the other cool thing I did last year was was uh, I got hired by Rock started to do a video game, and they wouldn't tell me what it was because they keep things really secret. People are like, it might be GTA.

37:37 I'm like, no, really, They're like, it might be we don't know. So it turned out to be it's called you know, Grand Theft Auto those Santo's drug Wars. They're online game, yep, okay, And it ended up being two parts. None of these things they told me. It's like. The first part came out in December, the second part came out, I think in February March. But I played this character named lab Rat, who's the guy who makes all the acid and stuff for them. And the reason I'm telling you all this other you can go look at the uncut scenes online. They're really funny. Is the reason I'm telling you this because that's my ode to Dnis opera right there. Watch it and you kind of know it's not I'm fully imitating them, But to me, that's who I thought about what I got this role. I said, oh, this is this is my Dentis Opera. Moment right here. So it's a really fun character and it really came out. I didn't even know the guy looked like, you know, they tell me nothing, you know, But but it was a really lot of fun. You know, they put you in those bubble suits and then but nowadays they've evolved and now where they have these helmets with the cameras right here, so they're getting you're capturing your face images.

38:37 When I worked for those guys, uh back in the day for La Noir, they had to do those two things separately, and it was really difficult and arduous. They've they've come a long way, so it was much more freed up to just to just to really go. It was great. They would just throw things at you like you do this. You just had to just dive in and be loose and have a good time. And it was a fun challenge and it was a fun character and it was a fun process. So really last year a two really good projects that came out. So I'm really happy with the stuff that's come out this year. Yeah, you should be well. As as we wrap up, Corney, you mentioned uh getting getting some touring days together for next year. We talked about some of the conventions are you. Are you currently writing any new music? Yeah?

39:17 More more. Yes, I have been writing some new music, but it's really more about getting the next phases tracked, right. So, like the cool thing about the two cool things one is I'm you know, I'm an independent musician, so I can do whatever the hell I want. Nobody's like you wrote that hit, Make me ten more of those and we'll give you a million dollars, you know, Like it's a whole different game, right, Yeah, you know somebody did, and maybe I play that game, but that's not what I'm doing, right, So I like kind of like acting I write. I write all kinds of stuff I don't write, like in one thing, like if you think the acoustic gains versus this record, say, heyman, they're pretty different, right they are? Yeah. So the next couple of things I want to do are and what's cool is nowadays you don't have to do a full album. You can either do singles if you want, or now you can do like EPs, and people are kind of more open to that concept because a lot of material I have is like, ah, it's like six good songs or five good songs in that genre. So the next two things that I do is two instrumental projects.

40:12 One is an instrumental project that is, you know more, you know, full on instruments, you know, electric stuff that I have some stuff I've been sitting on for a while and that's what I'm thinking I'm working on next. But I also have one more that I really want to do, and it's it's it's technically the most challenging for me. It's it's a six song five six songs acoustic, just acoustic instrumental. And I've had that for a long time. I've had this. I've had this set of songs for a long time. When I was U my I was married back in the UH in the nineties. My wife was a choreographer and we actually did that performance live where I played these five songs and she choreographed to all of them. That was super cool, man, to see your music interpreted in dance.

40:54 I'm sure we have it somewhere, it's been filmed, uh. But but I want to I want to also a track all those songs. It's just sometimes I feel like my skill set is up to nailing them. It's they're you know, they're instrumental, and it's like you know it's tough, but I'm gonna do it. It's like I gotta do it. So those are like the two next things around my mind. But the sky Wall Picher that we're working with now, he's a he's a he's very good songwriter himself and very good like he has he has studio skills, and so I think he and I are gonna do some co writing stuff as well. And I've done a lot of co writing and I'm all for because I think that it takes you in different directions somebody else's skills or like if I you know, if I write music with a female voice, that takes you in a different direction.

41:36 So I like, I like, and either you care or you can't. Like in Ripple Street, I wrote with my bass player, and a bass player writing songs is very different. Like it's like you I just I just I just like guitar players. We've done a ton of dialogue, you know, chord and like four thousand words, you know Dylan, But this with bass risks you had to like make everything simple, so it kind of forced me to write differently. So I'm gonna do some writing with him as well. So I think that's that those are things definitely in the works. Uh soon we're gonna start working on track and some stuff. But I've been really concentrating on getting this record out. That's been like the real push for the last a month and a half or so, and it's gone really well, and we've got some really good write ups, gotten some really nice reviews, which really surprised the hell out. I mean, I feel like people and like you guys took the time to listen to it and got something out of it. So I'm really I couldn't be happy. That's all. That's all I can ask is take a listen, right, Yeah, Oh that dude, he writes some music. Let's listen. It's not good, you know, having like one song. I'm over the moon. So so I can't wait to hear what you come out later with. I cannot wait.

42:35 Well, some of this other stuff that could be soundtrack stuff, the stuff I'm better right next, So you never know, maybe we're gonna give you some soundtrack material, man, you never know. I love that. Gosh. I would be beside myself with that. Courtney. Not so many projects to do already, it's crazy. So Fake Fangs Records, they're they're shipping out the CDs. Now you were, you were very kind enough for the lucky ones myself included. You know that pre ordered we get an auto have copy correct. Yes, yes, so yeah we did. We signed. He came up with a good idea, which is to do a pre order and for that pre order people will get personally signed CDs. Now worked, well, we sold a bunch of CDs and that's and that's great. I love it so and then of course doting conventions that's the only other way people will be it again. But just to be clear, yeah, the only way to get this record is to go to fakefangs dot com. It's not on Spotify, so I don't know iTunes been there, done all that.

43:22 They ain't done nothing for me. So we're going directly this time. And uh so, yeah, you got to go to fakefangs dot com and you can. You can listen to the record three times and if you like it, you can down You can either just download the downloadable for seven bucks or you can get a CD limited run CDs got five hundred for eight bucks and uh you know, get a CDs so and I think you get the digit downloaded with that, So that's a pretty good deal. So yeah, that's that's that's the one I got. I got, you know, I got the digit download, I got the autograph one on the way. We just get a CD. I know you haven't gotten the CDs yet. They took a while to get ordered. We finally signed them and they're shitting shipped now. But I'll tell you they came out nice. They they that was all you know, Uh, give Jim and his designer all the credit. But it wasn't unsil I had it in my hands, I can open it.

44:06 I was like, this looks cool, awesome, So I think you'll hope you'll enjoy it. Yeah, well, Courtney, h As far as information on you, like your tour dates, your appearances, is there a specific is there a website we can we can go to to find out more about you and where you're going to be. It's just man, it's just my Facebook. You know, you can find me on you know, you can find me Courtney Gaines on Facebook and I don't have any and I can find me on Instagram. I'll have any official stuff, but you'll know it's me Becaus who could be posting the pictures on post right. But then for the bar. There's also Courtney, you know, Courtney Gaines Group, and that's where all the information will be on touring stuff as it as it unfolds in this next year. So yeah, and that's maybe eventually we'll get a website together. I don't know, we'll see, we'll see. We have been listening to Safe Haven and we've been talking with Courtney Gaines. Courtney, it has been a tremendous pleasure, Yes, having this conversation with you. We can't cannot thank you enough. This has been a this has been a blast man. You have absolute, absolute honor. It's been fun though, it's been fun too. I mean, thank you for your name. But like you know, I feel like we're dudes now, Like we gotta get to got to have a beer now. So that's right, we're gonna do that.

45:14 We're gonna do that absolutely. When uh listeners, we will. We'll catch you next time. Good time, going on, good time, going on, good