When I visited the set of FROM DUSK TILL DAWN THE SERIES awhile back, I had the pleasure of interviewing ALEJANDRO BRUGUES (JUAN OF THE DEAD) who was reprising directorial duties for a few episodes of season 3. As you can tell from the get go, Brugues was only a wee bit disappointed that Quint the crusty seaman couldn't be there, but since I've known the Cuban director since his JUAN OF THE DEAD days at Fantastic Fest, he happily obliged to chat with me instead. I hope you enjoy!
AB: I love Harry. I love him so much. But Eric is muerto.
RE: He did throw this interview my way, so I can't speak to ill of him. (both laugh) So, you've done both feature films and television. Can you talk about the difference.
AB: TV is so good right now that there's not really a difference. Certainly not in the way you shoot or the quality and all that. Maybe I'd say that in film, from the director sometimes you get to make bolder choices. In TV, its seems like its not going to be my final cut. Like if I want to shoot a certain scene I have to make sure that everyone is on board. Other than that, it's pretty similar. I was talking to some other directors who are also doing their first episodes last season, like Ti West and others, and I had fun because you're not the ultimate guy deciding the stuff. You get to shoot, you have fun, and then at night you get to sleep. So, you have a lot of the fun, and it takes out a lot of the pressure.
RE: So with a feature, it's all on your shoulders.
AB: Oh yeah. It's killing you, where here is like, no no- this is different because two episodes from now other things are gonna happen. So, its awesome. I love doing TV.
RE: What is it like stepping into a well-established franchise vs telling your own story? What is it like bringing someone else's story to life?
AB: Well, first of all this is FROM DUSK TILL DAWN. When you get the call from Robert, it's very exciting. I do it as a geek! I wanted to take a picture (pulls out phone). I mean, I had to get a picture in front of the Titty Twister. I get to wear Sex Machine's cock gun- all that cool stuff! So, I'm geeking out the whole time. I told Robert last year how grateful I was that he gave me the opportunity to play in his playground, and I love it. I love it.
RE: Is there an obligation to stick to a certain style, or are you able to put your stamp on your episode? How does that work?
AB: Oh, you're so kind. You're assuming I have a stamp! (both laugh) We never talked about, like, "This is the style." I mean, you've seen the film by Robert. You kind of like know the cool things...like I remember last year ( on his previous episode) there were some shots that I did that I knew were very Robert. You can see when you're doing it, like....
RE: Like your homage.
AB: Yeah, and just go with it. I don't know, like I said, you're assuming I have a style (laughs again). We never really questioned that. I guess the tone is very clear with the seriousness and all that.
RE: So basically maintain that tone and bring a little bit of your own style into it?
AB: Yeah, I do have a lot of fun with bringing a little bit of my own style into it. I find the fun everywhere, and sometimes you have to hold me down a little bit. For instance, this time I can tell you that we changed a couple of things from the screenplay that were very me- taking it to the fun side. There were a couple of things that we like, ok maybe that's too much.
RE: Right, because you're known for more horror/comedy and the overall tone of FDTD is pretty dark.
AB: It is pretty serious, but you find those fun moments. Also, in this episode it was also about finding the heart in some of the characters. And I guess that's a combination of doing some comedy but also finding some heart in there. So, yeah, there was a lot of stuff that they wouldn't let me do because it was a bit too much. I didn't get to have as many dildos as I wanted.
RE: But cock holsters are just fine in this universe.
AB: We didn't get to use it this time. We had it, but we didn't get to use it.
AB: We didn't get to use it this time. We had it, but we didn't get to use it.
RE: Oh well, maybe next season.
AB: I got to wear it again, though.
RE: You got to wear it?
AB: Yeah. Every time I see it, I'm like...
RE: Strap it on!
AB: Oh yeah.
RE: You've obviously worked with lots of visual fx before. What are the challenges directing with practical effects or even challenges when the effects are added later in post?
AB: We do both, and I'm gonna tell you that the challenge is tonight. The big effects that we have begins tonight, but it's KNB so it's so cool. We have a combination of both. We try to do everything practical. Sometimes you just have to go with digital, but we definitely do more practical.
RE: So I guess that's pretty fun to orchestrate.
AB: I love it. I love to play with all that stuff. Every time they bring me something its like goofing around with a new toy.
RE: So, of course I have to ask what's coming up next for you?
AB: There's a bunch of stuff. Some stuff that I was supposed to be doing last year that got pushed, and now apparently it's finally coming back together. I have a couple of movies. One was announced last year- it's called COLLARED, and we're shooting in Vancouver. The other one is going to be a movie shot in Cuba, and it's produced by Nicholas Winding Refn. So there's that.
RE: Very cool.
AB: And we also have the TV series with Eduardo Sanchez and Gregg Hale, also to be made in Cuba about Santeria-a horror TV series.
RE: Sweet! Will we get to see it here in the United States?
AB: Yes, it's with Starz. It was announced a while back, but we are still developing that. So, those are like the three main things that I have going on after this.
RE: So you're staying busy.
AB: Yeah, super busy. It's very exciting.
RE: Is there anything else you'd like to talk about that I haven't asked, other than hating Eric Vespe?
AB: Fuck Eric! Fuck, fuck him! (both laugh hysterically- you know we really love you Quint!)
I also got to speak for a little bit with Jesse Garcia who plays the Texas Ranger who has been dragged into the FROM DUSK TILL DAWN underworld. Here's our chat.
Rebecca Elliott: Season 3! How does it feel to be going into the 3rd season of the show?
Jesse Garcia: It's great, man. We love the show, so as soon as we got the green light we were like, "Yay! We get to play again!" Working with these guys is so much fun- they're a bunch of clowns, and we're always laughing on set and getting in trouble for ruining takes because we're always giggling. Last night, well actually this morning at like 6:30 in the morning we were doing our last thing. I had to kick in this door, and I just destroyed this door. I boot the shit out of this door and just destroy it. It was just me, DJ, and Zane and we're were all looking away from camera because we're all giggling. Like, fuck- get it together, pull it together. And of course we had to redo it.
RE: I'm sure the crew was loving that at 6:30 in the morning.
JG: They (Holtz and Catrona) got to take a nap from 1:00am until 5:30 or something, and I was up all night working from 1:00 until then, so...
RE: You were delirious.
JG: I'm still delirious. I went to bed at 8:00am, and I'm up now.
RE: And you have to talk to people.
JG: Sure, 5 hours of sleep is all good.
RE: Can you talk about working as an actor on such an effects-driven project.
JG: Of course, on this show we have to imagine culebras emanating and disappearing into ash and stuff like that, but a lot of the stuff we do is practical. We do guacamole guns for blood splatters and this and that. But the way Robert works, if it's not safe enough to actually fire off a round of blanks, he'll just add a flare in post, and its like easy as that. It's so much easier to do stuff like that than even 5 years ago.
RE: So it's great to be able to use a combination.
JG: Yeah, there safety issues and time issues. But it's fun. Luckily, I haven't had to do any prosthetics, and hopefully I won't have to.
RE: Ah come on! You don't want to have to show up 3 hours early for make up? You totally just jinxed yourself by the way.
JG: No way!
RE: Soon, you're gonna be covered in latex head to toe.
JG: No I'm not! I'll fight it. (both laugh) I literally go in with 5 minutes and do this to my hair (slicks back hair) and put on my hat, do my makeup thing and in 5 minutes I'm done.
RE: Do you have any input with your character now that you're into season 3?
JG: They've allowed us to have writer's meetings where we sit down with the writers- before season 2 and 3. This year I had more things I wanted to do with the character, they took that into consideration, and I feel like they're doing a lot of what I wanted to do. And I think the other guys too. We have a good grasp of what we'd like to see, and once they (the writers) have a good grasp on what they need to do, it's a good marriage of ideas. So, yeah, we have a lot of input. Even on a day when the episodes come out and we get to read them, we're like, " What about this?"
RE: Obviously you've lived this character for awhile now.
JG: Yeah, when you do a movie, you try to figure this character out for however much time you have from when you book it until 3, 4 weeks or however long until you're shooting. Now we have 3 years to figure it out.
RE: With an episodic, how is it working with different directors?
JG: It's been great so far. We've liked most of the directors. Some are just a little bit clashy and it didn't really feel like it worked, but the episodes still came out great. Robert has the magic touch to make everything look good. They do a really good job of picking directors. Everyone's got a good grasp of the characters, and the producers are on set all the time in case we have questions.There's ways of ironing things out if we have any issues or problems. But we also have repeat directors like Alejandro- this is his third?
RE: Second, I believe.
JG: Second? Right, right second. Dwight Little, he's been on like 3 or 4, and Eduardo Sanchez has been on 3 or 4.
RE: So you do start to build a rapport with some of the directors.
JG: Yeah, yeah. There's a shorthand, and then they know how we work. They know our quirks, so it's fun. I enjoy working with new people. I got to work with Eagle Egilsson almost 10 years ago on CSI Miami, and I saw him at the studio the other day and was like, "Ah, cool! We get to work together again." He is such a good guy, so I am really excited to work with him on an episode.
RE: What is it like stepping into a franchise that has been around for 20 year now?
JG: I do feel some responsibility to put out a good product, but because my character is brand new I didn't really have anything to live up to. I had to create it from the ground up, and little by little the fans started to embrace me. Last year was a little bit more, and hopefully this year they'll start to see the different things that I do and they'll like me even more. Of course there's the fan favorites like Santanico and the brothers- you can't compete with that! There's just way too much pretty there and those guys are way too talented. (both laugh) I'm just trying to keep up. But yeah, I do feel some responsibility. At the end of the day you go in there and do your best job, and I like to feel good about what I did and the characters I do. I've turned down a few jobs that I probably could've made a little money off of, but by the time you take out taxes and commissions and all that...am I gonna feel good about myself playing another criminal or a stereotypical thing that I'm trying to get away from. Things that I'm trying to actively do as an artist is to try and stamp out some of these stereotypes and not make us all the same thing, you know what I mean? I don't feel good about that. Not that I couldn't use the money, I could always use the money. I've done those jobs, but when I'm there I'm like, fuck, I'm kinda phoning this in because I don't care about this job. I shouldn't do that. I should care about everything that I do as should all artists. So, this has been my favorite project so far. I've done a lot of really, really cool ones, but this is one that I got to grow into for 3 years.
RE: I'm getting the signal to wrap it up, so what's next for you?
JG: I have a movie coming out called HOSTILE BORDER that I was an executive producer on and an actor in it as well. It will be in a handful of theaters and VOD, so I hope people will watch it.
RE: Congratulations. You're wearing a bunch of hats then these days.
JG: Yeah, I have a couple more projects that I'm trying to produce and get off the ground, and I'm trying to get these guys to let me direct something.
RE: That would be super cool.
JG: I would love to direct an episode. I'd like to do more of that. More directing. I want to tell my own stories. I think if an artist wants to do anything, they have to tell their own stories and they have to be proactive. Which I've always done in my career. The first movie I did, QUINCEANERA, I met the casting director in Atlanta when I was living there ages ago, and when I moved to LA like a year later I was just online searching for castings. I didn't have a agent yet, but I saw the casting director who remembered me, and I ended up booking the movie and it went to Sundance and everything. So, you just have to put yourself out there.
RE: Get your foot in the door and wave at everyone in the room.
JG: Exactly.But wait! There's more! I also got to sit down with Sex Machine himself, Jake Busey. Our talk went a little longer than I expected, so I hope you dig all he had to say about the show and other thoughts about the entertainment industry and the process.
Rebecca Elliott: As an actor, what are the advantages of working on a episodic versus working on a film?
Jake Busey: Financial stability. That would be the first thing that comes to mind. The next thing that comes to mind is you most likely have a well oiled machine for a crew. So things move rather quickly. You get to know the crew and you become very much a family because you're working together not just 28 days, you're working together for a year. And then coming back the next year and being like,"Hey, how ya doin'? You're kids are getting so big!" So it's very cool in that respect.
RE: And as far as character development, your character has had a pretty big arc.
JB: Yeah, yeah. As far as character development, it happens in the two days that you have to prepare for your audition. And you have to do all the heavy lifting, and you and your friend at home or your family or acting coach or whomever it is- you have got to come up with an amazing character in just two days time, go in and offer it to them, and if they like it they hire you. And then all you gotta worry about is your dialogue. As far as developing the arc, that's up to the writers, so we don't have to worry about it. We're just, "Oh, he's doing this now. Oh, he's doing that now." And doing serial narrative as opposed to situation comedy...I was once fortunate enough to be on a sitcom, for only a year. And it was great, but it got frustrating. I was used to doing film and with a situational comedy, the situation changes, but you don't. It's just how does this particular character deal with all this shit that's been thrown at them. With this type of thing, it really is watching the journey of how this person changes with all the situations that they've gone through. And that is what's fulfilling to me.
RE: It must be really cool to be able to stick with a character, but see it really evolve.
JB: Uh huh. And to have the writers come to you and say, "Oh and by the way, ya know this season you're gonna be doing this, that, and the other. But they're so secretive now, it's really limited to this (upcoming) episode. "This episode you're evolving toward X,Y,Z..."
RE: So you only get scripts episode to episode instead of seeing the whole picture?
JB: (shaking head) I have no idea what's gonna happen to me the next episode I'm in. Social media has ruined the ability for us to have the luxury of preparing and knowing where our characters are gonna go because everyone is so worried that it's going to leak. And this millennial generation of kids have been raised with social media and the internet. The have a different outlook. They like spoiler alerts. I dated a girl who was a few years younger than me, and it was really interesting to see. All my friends who I grew up with, we didn't want spoiler alerts-we wanted to be surprised. And this generation has been raised on instant gratification and the road less traveled has been lost on them. They never read The Road Less Traveled. They don't know about delayed gratification. If you just sit back and have some patience, you'll enjoy the journey, and then there's gonna be a great surprise. My sister is 21. They want the spoiler alert, the want to know everything before they see it. So, we have to be very secretive with our scripts because it's very likely that someone will want to publish it.
RE: Yep, there's many clicks to be had with a good spoiler unfortunately.
JB: Can you imagine how much better developed our characters could be if we were prepared and knew what was coming?
RE: A beginning, middle, and end.
JB: Yeah. To get to work on it ahead of time?
RE: That's a really great perspective-I'm glad I asked.
JB: That's some bold print you have to work with there.
RE: Have you had a favorite episode thus far?
JB: This past one was a pretty good one. I was surrounded by girls in bikinis.
RE: There ya go!
JB: I'm not a chauvinist, I just appreciate women. I mean, I think the episode where my father came out and he was in season 2. He played my great great great great grandfather. That was a highlight. That was a lot of fun as far as favorite episodes go. I think also episode 107 which was- in the movie where Selma Hayak does the dance, and she pours the tequila into Quentin Tarantino's mouth with her toe. So when we replicated that, I got to watch and I was like...that was the part where you get to experience what few people get to experience. It's like you've already watched the movie and now you get to be in it, and it was as if I was in the original movie because it was all being redone.
RE: A definite geek out moment for you.
JB: Totally my geek moment. It was incredible. 107. That was a good one. Robert directed that one too.
RE: How is it working with various directors on an episodic?
JB: You develop a rapport with each one, just like you would your fellow actors. TV is always that way because since you're shooting from week to week to week, the directors have to have time off to prepare. Maybe one director has three episodes per season because he's gotta have his prep time, post time and all of that. I think that Alejandro Brugues and Jesse and I have a good little triumvirate there. There's a good triad, a good vibe that the three of us have working together.
RE: Three amigos.
JB: Three amigos. We've made some cool shit out of okay stuff. We've taken some moments that weren't really necessarily designed to be outstanding and really turned them into interesting moments, ya know?
RE: Are there any movies or roles aside from the original FDTD that you draw inspiration from?
JB: For this? There's a lot. I don't really think there's anything specific in using as a role model. While I'm in my hotel room, I've found a TV station that is all old westerns.
RE: Sweet.
JB: So I've been watching all the old westerns from the 50's and 60's. Series, like the James Arness series like Bonanza and the early ones like Cimmarron Trail. I've been watching all these old westerns and looking at- not like John Wayne westerns, but the ones with all the different guys. How they carry themselves and what it meant to be a man in old Hollywood. I've always been a wacky, herky jerky, all of the place character actor or just insane. So with Sex Machine, I'm really trying to keep him, one of those villains from the 1950's western that you liked. The villain that you wanted to see get away with the train robbery.
RE: That's a pretty cool comparison, because although FDTD is considered horror, it definitely has a western kind of vibe as well.
JB: Yeah. You know, I really draw from everyone. As strange as it seems, the character (Sex Machine) is really inspired by Indiana Jones. He's an archaeologist who's looking for these relics. Yet, he's more like Indiana Jones adversary Belloq, the Nazi who was wanting the power of the arc and taken over by it. Fortunately Sex Machine hasn't taken over the arc and killed himself yet.
RE: Hasn't melted his face off.
JB: It's been close. So yeah, what male actor wouldn't look to Harrison Ford for some tips and hints. And then I look at some of my contemporaries, the ones who are doing well like from the top rated series of all time, Walking Dead. I look at Norman Reedus- there's a simplicity...so I look at all those old westerns, I look at Ford, I look at what Reedus is doing.
RE: So you've tried to reign it in a bit for this role.
JB: Reined it in a bit, but Sex Machine is kind of a wild guy.
RE: Well, they're giving me the signal to wrap it up, so I do what I'm told. (both laugh)
JB: And it's time for me to get dressed up and get to work!
RE: Thanks so much for your time.
JB: Thanks.That wraps up part 2 of my interviews from my visit to the set of FROM DUSK TILL DAWN THE SERIES. Be sure to tune in on Sept. 6 to the El Rey network to see the two-episode season 3 premiere.
Rebecca Elliott,
aka Annette Kellerman
