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By GustavoLeao / 11:39, 6 November 2012 / General Genre/SciFi
Sorbo Writer's Blog posted a new interview with Hercules and Gene Roddenberry's Andromeda star Kevin Sorbo, whose book, True Strength, is now on sale on paperback. Here are excerpts.
SW: What do you bring to the table producing and directing? Why would people want to invest in what you have to offer?
KS: Well, I’ve always believed there are always
exceptions to the rules, but I’ve always believed very good directors
come from people that were actors as well, that understand that part of
the world. I’m still learning all the time on sets the technical side of
it and asking questions of the camera crew and the editing department
and whatever. There’re so many different parts of this business that can
help make a movie a hit or a failure, and you just have to tap into
those things at the right time and the right places in every script that
you read and I understand what it’s like being on a set.
I don’t know everything. I don’t pretend to know everything. I know what I want as a director. I know what I want and I walk up to each department head and say, “This is what I want the outs to look like. This is what I want the lens to be able to do. What lens is that?” “Well, it’s this.” “Well, fine. Put it in.” I know what I want. And when I read, I’ve a very, very vivid imagination and I see the pictures as I read the pages. I see the vistas or the close-ups or if I want to be right tight, tight on the lips as a drop of blood comes out of the corners. I can see that and I know what I want visually.
*SW: Do you approach reading scripts differently between acting and producing?
*KS: The question’s a good question. When I look at a script, do I look at it, if I am producing, do I look at it from a producer’s eye, or if I’m acting or directing, do I look at it through those eyes? I actually look at everything from an actor’s point of view right away, but I think I always have that in the back of my mind as a director. I think you all read books, how many times have you gone to the movies and you said, “The book is so much better”? Because as good as Hollywood can be, we’ve got the best camera; the best editing is in our own brain. There’s always going to be a difference. Everybody could read the same script and come up with a completely different movie, but a completely different looking type of movie. And I always look at it through the actor. I think, “Do I want to play this part? Am I interested in the script?” That’s the way I look at it. It’s really as simple as that. It’s got to catch me by the first… I’ll give it 20 pages max. If I’ve lost my interest in only 20 pages I’ll throw it away.
I started my own production company about two and a half years ago, and it’s been a good learning experience for me because right now the toughest thing is distribution and money. That’s the toughest thing because the economy is hurting everybody. And I get it; I understand it. I’ve got so many scripts. I’ve got, I think, 87 scripts now that I like. I’ve probably liked 500 in the past two years, and I’ve got 87 on my bank, and I’ve got about 10 that have some kind of funding going. And most of the movies I’ve done in the last two, two and a half years, I’ve done on my own. I’m not even paying my agents and managers any more. I said, “You guys, this is a wake-up call because I’m getting a lot of work by doing my own work.” And I get tired of them not doing their work because they’re lazy (laughs). They’re lazy. If you watch “Entourage,” that’s what they’re all like. They’re like Jeremy Pivens’ character. That’s what they’re like, and I just found that I would rather do it on my own. I’ve made a lot of connections in the business and I’ve been doing it for long. But, I’ve got some good movies if anybody knows some investors. I have some goooood movies. Good stuff out there.
Much more on the full interview here
The actor was wrapping up work on the final season of Hercules when he began looking for another series. “One day, along came Andromeda from Majel Roddenberry and company,” he recalls. “I’m a big Star Trek fan, especially the original series, so I was definitely interested. Three months prior to the end of Hercules I began having extensive talks with all those involved [with Andromeda] about the show. I was sent copies of the notes Gene Roddenberry had made when he first came up with the idea for the series in 1970. Finally, I said, ‘OK, let’s do it!’ I was guaranteed 44 episodes and made an executive producer. They were willing to trust me and listen to what I had to say, which meant a lot. I actually signed the contracts for the show before Hercules had even ended.”
Even though Hercules and Dylan Hunt are both good guys, they are as different from each other as night and day. This is what Sorbo was hoping for. “If you think of Dylan in modern-day terms, he’s a Navy SEAL,” says the actor. “He’s a tough guy, a survivor, a leader, someone who’s strong-willed but also fair. Dylan’s a hero in every sense of the word, and I like those types of roles. Most of us want to see Good triumph over Evil; at least I hope that’s still true. I think that’s one of the things that made and continues to make Gene Roddenberry’s shows so successful. He painted a future that, while not perfect, is at least one of hope. That’s what’s so great about Sci-Fi. It’s a fun, fascinating and, at times, comforting place for the mind to go..."
The full interview can be found on Issue 139 of TV Zone magazine.
