02nd May2013

UK Exclusive: Interview with ‘The Iceman’ star Jay Giannone

by Phil Wheat

Who wouldn’t want to work with 2 Oscar Noms, an Avenger and the Great and Powerful Oz? Jay Giannone got his shot and co-stars as a mob hit man in the new film The Iceman which stars Michael Shannon, Chris Evans, Wynona Ryder, James Franco and Ray Liotta.

No stranger to blockbuster Hollywood films, Giannone who previously worked on The Departed and Gone Baby Gone and who has just wrapped on David O’Russell’s new film American Hustle, where he shares the screen with Christian Bale, Amy Adams, Jennifer Lawrence, Bradley Cooper, Robert De Niro and Jeremy Renner, sat down with us to talk about his latest role as ATF Agent Dominick Provenzano (pictured below with Michael Shannon) in director Ariel Vromen’s The Iceman.

Iceman

How did you prepare for the role of Dominick Provenzano?

When I found out that I booked the role I immediately did my research and watched the documentary on The Iceman Richard Kuklinsky. I saw that my character the real life Dominic was actually talking about how he wore a wire on The Iceman and set him up posing as a hit man for the mafia. I called the ATF (Alcohol Tobacco Firearms) and asked for him but he was not easy to get a hold of. Apparently he didn’t make too many friends on the other side of the law so a guy like that is careful of whom he deals with. This is the guy that took out many mobsters with his team at the D.A’s office. After leaving numerous messages and him doing his diligence he finally contacted me at the end of that week. It was wonderful to talk to him. He was so helpful. He told me great stories about his undercover operation and how everything worked. He told me it took almost 2 years just to get a meeting with Kuklinski. He told me he wore a wire every time and that his life was at stake in every situation he was in. I felt that it was an honor to play a guy like this. Both of us being Italian made it real easy for me to play as I have a slight resemblance to him. He told me that I did a great job and to see that he was proud of my performance made me feel great.

How was it working with the director Ariel Vromen?

I met Ariel with Danny A who plays Richie, The Iceman’s best friend. I was filming SAFE at the time with Jason Statham. Ariel asked me if I was Italian and I said yes and proud. He said well I am making an Italian mob movie and would love for you to audition. I was extremely eager to do so and very excited. Not long after I got a call to audition and an hour after the audition I got the call from Ariel himself inviting me to play Dominic. I had to pull my car over cause I was driving and I got a little excited.

Working with Ariel was an amazing experience. He is a great guy, and very down to earth. He takes pride in what he does. He also wrote The Iceman with Morgan Land who is another cool guy. Ariel is the type of guy who gives you freedom and lets you make the character yours while directing and guiding. He is also the type of guy to take a camera and get on his hands and knees or lie on the ground, or sit in the back of a police car just to make sure he has perfection. The Iceman was done brilliantly to perfection. By far the best mob movie since Good Fellas.

How was it working with Michael Shannon?

Working with Michael Shannon was a dream come true. He is a true artist and actor. He is extraordinary. He made it fun for me as we got together and watched the documentary. We came up with a couple ideas to weave some of the dialogue between The Iceman and Dominic that was captured on off a wiretap back in the early 1980s. Ariel Michael and myself got together and discussed a few key words and I am happy to say that they made the movie. That was fun. Mike was in character the whole time as I was. We were all business. We did manage to go to dinner and talk a bit and he is a genuine guy from what I gather. It was a privilege to have worked with him and an amazing cast.

How did you get your start in acting?

I got my start in acting through my friend Jacky who was friends with the executive producer of a show back in the 1990s called Pacific Blue. Jacky along with his Dad Jack Sr. got me an audition, and I booked the show. Not long after that I was asked to audition for a film called Southie by the writer producer Jimmy Cummings and landed a role in that. That’s how I got my start. The business chose me. I am truly blessed because I am in love with acting. I was a rap artist and in the music business before I got in to acting. My mom is a theatrical actress so I basically grew up in the theater watching her perform and rehearse day in and day out, guess I learned something. My mom coaches me and always works with me on the characters I portray.

What has been your most memorable roles? And Why?

All the roles I do are memorable to me. None are any more or less memorable. They are all wonderful experiences. I play a lot of law enforcement officials and bad guys. I would like to broaden my career though and am currently doing that. I play a son in an up and coming film that I co wrote with Eric Watson, I am also producing the film. I am getting more involved in writing and producing as my career continues to blossom.

Who would you want to work with in the future?

I would love to work with Barry Levinson in the future. Sleepers is one of my favorite films and I hear Barry is getting ready to direct a South Boston based mob film. I am a Southie boy to the core and am excited for an opportunity to work with him. I would also love to work with Stephen Spielberg, Clint Eastwood, Ed Swick, Ang Lee and any other film maker that shares the passion and love for filmmaking as I do.

I also always wanted to work with Robert DeNiro and I can finally say that I am indirectly working with him as we are currently filming the same movie with the amazing David O. Russell. DeNiro and I don’t have any scenes together but I pray that one day we will. That is a dream of mine. I am happy to be working with him on American Hustle. I can’t say too much about the film as it is under wraps and still in production but the cast is amazing. Bradley Cooper, Christian Bale, Jennifer Lawrence, who is my celebrity crush so its two times amazing for me, oh and Jeremy Renner and Amy Adams are also in the film. I am excited about this film too and the other 6 that I have coming out. It’s been a great year and I am blessed.
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The Iceman is on limited release across the US from tomorrow. The film hits UK cinemas on June 7th.

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20th Mar2013

Exclusive: ‘The Man With the Iron Fists’ RZA Interview

by Phil Wheat

RZA

How did you find the experience of directing your first film?

I love cameras. I love operating them actually. It’s fun. I think all good directors should take some time to understand camera movement. I’m still a student and I’m going to keep practicing until I become a master. I’m a director that got behind the lens. You’ll notice a few tricks in there (the film) that I’ve done with the camera. You’ll notice a few things that they were telling me not to do. You know my DP got mad at me a few times.

Where did you get your inspiration for the different scenes in the film?

I used different styles for all the scenes from my own imagination. From being a comic book reader, a Japanese animation watcher… to me, that helps our film.

What inspired you to make a martial arts film?

Martial Art films have been influencing me probably since the tender age of nine when I saw my first Kung Fu movies or karate flicks on Stanton Island, a theater called Saint George. When I actually joined Wu-Tang Clan in 1993, it was the martial art films and genre that gave me this brilliant idea of how to express myself. I combined a few ideas together from different martial art movies that I’ve watched, and I kind of developed my own idea I would think…to pay homage to a few great directors, you know give homage to Lau Kar Leung, as they call him. And we’re also giving homage to one of the great masters who I like to consider a minor prophet, Bruce Lee.

What advice would you give other budding directors?

I want to say whoever wants to take this endeavor directing a movie, please make sure you have a good story board artist. Your storyboard’s your ideas. It really helps the cameras. It helps the crew. It helps second unit, third unit, etc. My producer’s advice was, he said, ‘you need twelve weeks to prep this thing.’ I was like, ‘no I can do it in eight weeks. I know this movie like the back of my hand. It’s going to be eight weeks, and I’m ready to go.’ He’s like, ‘no, twelve weeks.’

And, he couldn’t have been more right. Twelve weeks even fourteen weeks of prepping is what it takes to get a whole group of people with a whole bunch of ideas in a format that makes it work for everybody. With the storyboards, we know what’s gonna happen here. And so we set the positions of the camera, and we go for it.

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The Man With the Iron Fists is released on DVD, Blu-ray and Blu-ray Steelbook in the UK on April 1st courtesy of Universal Pictures UK.

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17th Mar2013

Exclusive: Morning Glories’ Joe Eisma Interview

by Jack Kirby

Over the last year or so I’ve been slowly ingratiating myself into the wonderful and geek-tastic world of comics. Recently, I was lent the first volume of Morning Glories, a twisty, turny and thrilling series about a group of teens who have been inducted into the mysterious and sinister Morning Glory Academy and the strange goings-on that ensue. It’s one of the many wonderful titles published by Image Comics, is frequently described as ‘Runaways meets Lost’ and is written by Nick Spencer and illustrated by Joe Eisma. Eisma was kind enough to grant me an interview which I submit below for your reading pleasure…

mg_promos

1) Morning Glories will have its 25th issue out this month – looking back to when the series first started, did you have any idea how popular it would be and to what do you attribute its success?

The reaction to the book took me completely by surprise.  I knew we had something special on our hands, to be sure, but I figured it would just turn a few heads, if anything.  It was fantastic what it turned out to be in the end, though.  I think the success really comes down to the characters.  We may tend to keep our readers in the dark on some aspects of the plot, but through and through, people seem to care about these characters.  I’ve never worked on anything like this where there’s that much passion regarding the book’s cast.  It’s gratifying!

2) How did you begin your creative partnership with Nick?

We joke about this a lot, but he and I both were posters on Brian Michael Bendis’ message board.  I initially found him kind of annoying!  He eventually won me over, though.  He sent me a message there around summer 2009 after he’d seen some of my art and asked me if I’d like to read his pitch, which he said was ‘Runaways meets Lost.’  Of course I said yes!

3) Your artwork for the series is really wonderful to take in; who or what inspires your illustrative style?

Thank you!  To kind of piggy back on your previous question–looking back I see my style has definitely changed–hopefully for the better!  I think my early influences were pretty apparent on the page–Adrian Alphona and to an extent Frank Cho.  As time has gone by, I’ve really been influenced by Naoki Urasawa, and I hope that translates into my art!

4) As a big Lost fan, I was delighted to see Hurley’s chicken shop turn up in the Hunter issue. Has Jorge Garcia acknowledged your depiction of him and can we expect any further Lost nods in the future?

He has not, as yet!  I know he’s a comics fan, so hopefully one day.  We obviously meant it with the greatest affection, since Nick and I are huge fans of Lost.  And yes, you can most definitely expect more Lost Easter eggs.  In fact, readers missed one (it was kind of small) in issue #24!

5) Morning Glories has been keeping people guessing where it’s heading for a while, without spoiling anything, would you be able to tease any future developments we can look forward to?

Hmm… Well, I can say #25 is our season ender, and you can expect an ending and a new beginning.  I know that’s so obtuse, but if I spill more, Nick might send a hit squad to my house.  I will also add that #26 will feature answers to subplots hinted at in the second arc!

6) Correct me if I’m wrong, but as I understand it, comic writers provide artists with a panel by panel script that they then illustrate. Is this how you and Nick work or do you have a different process? How much back and forth is there in the creative process – to what extent does your work feed into the narrative and vice versa?

It’s a pretty standard process.  Nick’s scripts are generally very detailed and at times quite specific.  I’ll get batches of pages–rarely an entire script all at once.  They are formatted almost screenplay style, with each ‘shot’ on a page broken down as panels.  With certain things, like fight scenes, he’s a bit looser and leaves the specifics up to me.  A lot of the time, the dialogue isn’t final when I start drawing, so I think Nick finalises that when he sees the finished page and gauge the acting of the characters.  

7) Looking at a typical page of Morning Glories, it’s far from heavy on text – do you feel like you have lots of space to play with to tell the story visually?

To be fair, there are some moments that are text heavy–our characters are prone to monologues at times!  To answer your question, though–yes, we have lots of text-free stretches and it’s always fun for an artist to be able to stretch their wings with that.  To not have to worry about leaving enough space for dialogue balloons is very liberating, and lets me get more cinematic with my framing choices.

8) Are you working on any other projects you can tell us about?

I’m doing a couple of covers for folks that I can’t talk about yet, as well as a short story in an upcoming anthology.  I’ve got a pitch called Art Monster that I did with a writer named Jeremy Holt that’s currently looking for a home.  It’s a mini-series, and there are other writers I’m talking to about doing mini-series with.  It’s about the only other kind of gig I can fit into my crazy schedule!

9) Finally, which character do you most enjoying drawing and why?

It changes so often!  Initially, Jade, because I loved drawing all her caked on eye makeup and extreme emotions.  Then, Ike, because he’s such a jerk and bad guys are always fun to draw.  My current fave would have to be Ian, of the recently introduced Truants.  He’s such a doof.  He’s not pretty and looks like a gangly, bitter teenage dork–quite unlike most of the rest of the cast!

Morning Glories #25 is on sale March 27th and is published by Image Comics. Follow Joe on Twitter @Supajoe.

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