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| Ralph Garman as 'Caleb', image courtesy of xcellentcreations.com. Click to enlarge |
For those of you who read my article about Red State and the reaction from Sundance last week, you'll remember I said over the coming weeks I would be reaching out to members of the cast for interviews. This is the first in what I hope will become a series of interviews with the cast about their time on Red State. If you want to see Red State before the 10/19 release date go check out www.coopersdell.com for a list of all the dates the flick will be hitting cities across the country on the great Red State U.S.A Tour. Each date will include a viewing of the movie followed by a Q & A with Kevin Smith, Michael Parks and more special guests.
Many of you will know Ralph Garman from the Hollywood Babble-On pod cast he co-hosts with Kevin Smith or from the Kevin and Bean Show on Los Angeles radio station KROQ. In Red State he plays Caleb a member of Abin Cooper's flock and the husband of Sarah (Melissa Leo). I was recently privileged enough to converse with Ralph via e-mail and get his thoughts on the whole Red State experience.
In Red State you play Caleb, a member of the Five Points Trinity Church, how was the overall experience for you?
I’ve been lucky to do a lot of different things in my career .. Voice-over work, radio, TV, stage, film … But, RED STATE was one of the best working experiences I’ve ever had. Weirdly, I think a lot of it was due to its small budget. Because when you’re not paying people much, you know they’re there because they really want to be. It becomes all about the project. And, a small budget means you gotta work fast, and that cuts down on a lot of the “waiting around” time which is the worst part of being on any set. You wanna be in there working, and we were.
You're a good friend of Kevin Smith's and work with him every week on the Hollywood Babble On show, what was it like to work with Kevin the director as opposed to Kevin the comedian?
I’d never seen Kevin direct before, which is one of the reasons I really wanted to do the film. I wanted to see him in his element and watch him do his thing. He’s a very different cat when he’s on the set, but, that’s out of necessity. He’s so focused, because he’s dealing with so many different elements and constantly being asked to solve a gripload of problems. I had to change my relationship with Smith when we were on the set, too, because we’re straight-up partners when we do HB-O, but on the set, he needs to be totally in charge. So, I had to catch myself and realize that he was the boss and I needed to just shut up and do what he said. I’m a creative guy, so, sometimes I have an unfortunate tendency to volunteer unsolicited advice or ideas. On RED STATE I had to remind myself to shut up, stay out of the way, and let the man do his job.
I'm a listener of your HB-O podcast and ever since you guys said that Caleb originally had lines in the script but you requested they be taken out I've wondered, what were the lines?
To tell you the truth, I don’t really remember. I know one of them was Caleb spewing some anti-gay hatred. I really thought that was already covered, and better delivered, by other characters, so I didn’t feel it helped my character, or the story. I was sort of this silent “blunt instrument of God’s vengeance” in other parts of the script and so I really wanted to carry that throughout the whole movie. I just suggested to Kevin that those lines be cut, and he agreed.
Did you just get a better feeling for Caleb as the menacing silent type or was it because Kev was like here's your line but you have to do it as Jerry Lewis motherfucker!
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| Caleb, silent and menacing, from the Red State teaser |
That would’ve been awesome!!! No, Caleb was just most interesting to me as this “attack dog” that Abin (Michael Parks) had on a chain and would unleash when it was time to kill in “God’s name”. I started to think of Caleb as Abin’s pet animal that could turn vicious, so the silence worked in that regard. And then, I thought it would be extra creepy if it wasn’t just that Caleb didn’t talk, but couldn’t. I wanted to make him a mute. So, I asked Smith if we could have the make-up team put a really awful looking scar on my throat to visually tell the story of the fact that Caleb was a mute. Like “something bad happened to this dude” and that’s why he wasn’t talking.
I only ask because it's obvious from your previous body of work you’re a fan of talking.
Yes. To say the least. In fact, it was a real challenge for me to give a performance and not have any words to lean on. But, on the other hand, it was great to walk onto a set and not have to worry about forgetting my lines!
A lot of people have raved about the performance of Michael Parks and I have to say just hearing him deliver the 'I fear god' line in the trailer gives me chills. What was it like to work with him and what did you think of his performance?
Parks is remarkable in this role. The guy’s been doing it for 50 years, you know, and it’s like he’s brought all that experience to bear on this one performance. He’s charming, chilling, funny, terrifying, and scary as fuck. We all hope he gets some attention when award season rolls around, but even if he doesn’t, it’s a brilliant piece of acting. Off the set, Parks is one of the funniest guys in the world. He would tell me jokes and stories all day long. He, his son, James Parks (“Mordachai” in the film) and me were the “three musketeers” hanging out in our trailers, and I think I laughed more with those guys than I have on any other set. Plus, Parks is so “old school” when it comes to the work. He shows up prepared, and just gets to work. No frills, no drama. He’s a true pro.
The rest of the cast obviously did a fine job too as half of them have been cast in 'Hit Somebody' including yourself, any character details you can share yet?
I would, but, I don’t even know who I’m playing! Smith hasn’t told me yet. Not that it matters. I love the guy, and love working with him. If he thinks I can help the movie by playing a mute Zamboni driver, I’m in.
I read online that you couldn't make it out to Sundance with everyone, were you aware of the distribution plan beforehand and what do you think of it?
Nope. Smith kept it all a secret. I was as surprised as everyone else. But, I’m glad I found out before all the internet stuff was written. My manager was at Sundance and went to the first RED STATE screening, and he texted me right afterwards that he loved the movie. I wrote back, “Who bought it?” and he told me the whole story, so I knew right after it happened. I laughed out loud! I think it’s awesome! Smith has worked so hard for almost 20 years to cultivate this amazing fan base, why not take the movie right to them? I think this tour will make a much bigger impact than another fucking movie ad on the side of a bus would. He’s cutting through the noise. I think it’s a really smart move.
How does it feel to not only be a part of the movie that is blazing the trail so to speak but to also be friends with the guy trying to make it work?
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| Caleb's best side is from your knees cowering for your life |
Obviously you have heard some of the crap being said online, it's what motivated me to reach out for an interview and share more honest information about the flick and everything involved. As someone who works in and around Hollywood do you have an opinion you would like to share?
The internet’s a great thing, but you can’t take a lot of it too seriously. It’s such a massive outlet of endless, unfiltered information, so that anybody can write anything, and they may or may not know what the fuck they’re talking about. You gotta just do your thing, and not pay too much attention to what anybody says, good, or bad. I think it’s cool of you to try and get information from people actually involved, rather than just write another “opinion” piece.
Are you planning on attending on of the screening on the Red State USA tour? Would you participate in the Q&A's if you did?
I’m only going to be able to attend the kick-off of the tour in NYC at the Radio City Music Hall, and the one here in Los Angeles at the Wiltern in April. I wish I could do more, but I’ve got the day job on the radio, and I’ll be carrying on with the HB-O show while Smith’s out there hustling. I’ll be there for the Q & A’s in NYC and LA, and I’ll be happy to answer questions, if anybody has any. Honestly, my role isn’t that big, but I sure am proud to be a part of RED STATE and the amazing cast that Smith was able to put together.
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I just want to say a massive thank you to Ralph for taking the time out to answer my questions and for giving us some excellent insight into Red State, he's a true Hollywood helper in his own right. For anyone who hasn't already you should check out www.babbleonralph.com and have a listen to the Hollywood Babble-On show or if you're in LA do yourself a favor and go watch the guys at The Jon Lovitz Comedy Club up at Universal City Walk.
Poster image courtesy of www.xcellentcreations.com
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Screencaps taken from the Red State teaser trailer, the trailer can be seen in full at www.coopersdell.com
Interview copyrighted by www.thegeektank.org 2010
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