ACTOR GEOFFREY GOULD
Thank you very much, Geoffrey, for being my guest for this interview. I’m excited to have you as my guest, as now the tables are about to be turned and I'm the one asking the questions... Are you excited?
Geoffrey - I love interviews; thank you thank you. I've been a guest on some online radio shows before (and even during my time co-hosting The Paranormal View), and I always have fun.
Robbie - Are you sweating yet? LOL... Don't get me wrong, I really enjoyed myself on your show, The Paranormal View. I have always had a great time when you drag me on there. A first class radio program that I have to ask, when the heck you having me back? LOL
Geoffrey - Still waiting on the check from the last time... oh wait... I've dropped your name right and left to have you back as a guest, as you were great last time. http://ow.ly/piIPE I'll see whether Just Adding you to an open slot on the calendar has them go, "Oh, I guess he's booked now..."
Ok, now for the fun …
Q. When was it that you realized you wanted to do what you do now? The work in the industry of film, theatre and television?
A. My parents both did community theatre, and when I was eight they enrolled me in a summer drama workshop. The first play I ever did I played Tom Sawyer's brother Sid. I've done countless stage plays for both adult audiences and children audiences from then to the 1990s when I realized I could background work in movies and TV, and in New York I worked on I'm Not Rappaport and got to watch Walter Matthau perform live right near me, the comedy feature In & Out with Kevin Kline, and Bob Newhart doing a scene, with most of the other principals about such as Debbie Reynolds, Tom Selleck, Wilford Brimley, and the film's director being Muppeteer Frank Oz. I also got to watch the late Gregory Hines play sax in a little known film on which I worked called The Tic Code.
By then I'd acquired a girlfriend who declared if I wanted to be an actor (as though I wasn't), I "had to" be in Los Angeles, so without any real research or game plan she moved me out here in late 1999 or '98 (strangely I actually can't quite recall precisely which of those two years).
Fortunately I got a commercial agent relatively quickly, did a few pre-SAG commercials, then got Taft-Hartley into a SAG commercial the finished product from which I was cut, then when I booked another commercial making me a SAG Must Join, and I've been SAG since 2000.
Fortunately when I work background on a film, my face is quirky enough that I am often selected to be Featured Background, meaning some good screen time, as you indicated for Argo, Dude Where's My Car?, etc.
Q. You always hear actors talk about that first big time, or the time where it really took them to a different level. What was your big break?
A. Still working on the official "Big Break," as it were. I have done a few gigs that were really high visibility but didn't really have anyone knocking on my door, including but not limited to a short made for Amazon dot com called Careful What You Wish For, in which I was the male lead who confesses to his longtime wife (played by the lovely and talented Patty Lotz), that a necklace he'd acquired for her when they were just starting out had turned out to be fake (the sleazy pawnbroker from whom my flashback self [played by Kent Winfrey] buys the necklace is the awesome character actor Raymond O'Connor, whose work I've admired for years). That project got some good press; Amazon had made five such shorts (called Amazon Theater), that technically were interactive, at least during the end credits. At the end of the short during the credit roll, not only were the performers' names there, but also listed were physical items one could buy from Amazon that are visible in the films. If one clicked on an item it'd take you to the item at Amazon; if you clicked on my name it'd take you to my entry at the Internet Movie Database, often called the IMDb.
I also booked a highly visible gig with a 2009 Super Bowl commercial for Pedigree called Crazy Pets.
One thing for which I still get recognized is the 2005 feature documentary titled Strictly Background. Winning awards at a few film festivals, and shown internationally, when I worked on it I'd expected it to be Okay. When I finally saw it I was surprised and impressed at its heart-felt warmth, humour, and occasional pathos. One can see it via Netflix, or buy it (currently for $8.18) at Amazon: http://ow.ly/phthK My only qualm with the documentary was two aspects to which I generally refer as "mean-spirited editing:" we were each asked our favourite film. I made the error of referring to films I like enough I could see over and over and I listed about four titles, mistakenly listing my actual favourite film The Wizard of Oz by accident after having mentioned the South Park Movie. In the shot one can see me starting to count off titles, but it cuts away from me after saying South Park, not having me say The Wizard of Oz (which recently I happily enjoyed seeing in IMAX 3D); later when it cuts back to me speaking about my being able to recite every word from The Wizard of Oz, due to the mean-spirited editing (not having my mentioning the title even when clearly speaking about it), the bit comes across as though I'm "still" talking about the South Park Movie. The other surprise was, at the time of the recorded interviews, I had a roommate who fixed computers; he also had a habit of letting the sink fill with his dirty dishes and pots and pans and clean them in a single go (whilst I always clean my cookware as I'm cooking). In the DVD's Bonus Features they had deleted scenes, one of which being a segment about performers' apartments, and for mine they focused on my roommate's messes without my knowledge or consent, showing footage of my roommate's disassembled computers and high-stacked pots and pans in the sink, as though they were my messes. Not cool. Apart from that, the movie is excellent.. Many times on set people will ask me if I "worked on that documentary," to the point that a week or so ago when I was having headshots done, my photographer Tom Trinh ( ttrinhphoto@gmail.com ) and I were moving to another location for a different background, and this super cute girl walks up to me and slightly hesitantly begins asking me something. Tom and I both thought she was going to say she recognized me from something, but ironically she was a student film maker and Loved My Look and asked if I could sit for a moment to be an insert shot for her project.As it was only a couple of minutes I obliged, and she'll either actually contact me about it or not (generally student films' "pay" to actors is a copy of the finished product and a meal). I was just glad to help out (and her being drop-dead beautiful didn't hurt).
Q. What would you consider to be your finest work of art that you have done in the film industry?
A. I'm not sure that I've done it yet, but I suspect almost any actor might say that. Since moving to Los Angeles I've done about 150 student film projects for USC, LA Film School, NY Film Academy (which is next to Universal Studios out here), UCLA, etc., and a most of those have turned out very cool. I enjoy attending local film festivals in which such shorts have been accepted.
Q. It's almost like, back to school with Geoffrey Gould. Hey that has a ring to it, doesn't it?
A. Works for me. Most of those I've done have been for USC as they know how best to post audition listings, but also as when other students see films in which I've worked, often they think, "Whoa, this guy would be perfect for my script," and they get my contact information and just call me. At one audition two of the three students had worked with me before and liked me, conveying that I "have a reputation" at USC amonst film students as the Go-To Actor to call when they need someone reliable, fun, and gives his all for a role (with double irony I did not get that specific project, considering it was to be discussing personal paranormal experiences...).
Q. What commercial would you consider being the most fun that you have done?
A. Most likely the 2009 Super Bowl commercial for Pedigree called Crazy Pets, in which I played a postman chased off a property by its pet ostrich. Interestingly enough, the lines I speak in that spot are all mine, from the earliest audition. I was told to say good morning to the elderly woman who lives there, and then flee from the bird. I called her Mrs. Lawrence which was an in-joke, as my birth given name is Geoffrey Lawrence, and Lawrence is the surname of another aspect of my mother's side of the family. On the day, I started adding another line that stayed in: on seeing the ostrich Bruno, I'd gasp, "Oh no, not again," as I began my turn to run. A lot of people ask about whether I was concerned about the ostrich chasing me. Considering ostrich brains are smaller than their eyeballs, it was more a trick getting it to run in the same direction as I was (and the bird's actual name was Ira, btw).
We also filmed some "fake" Behind The Scenes, which was viewable on the Pedigree website for a year. Technically I'll only get a residual of the spot airs again in a "Best of Super Bowl Commercials" special, if they ever do a proper such special one again (they've shifted more to "The Best Super Bowl Commercials of Companies That Gave Us The Most Money"), but both the Crazy Pets spot and Behind the Scenes videos are viral.I also did a principal gig for an AT&T spot where I got to be part of special effects, blinking into existence on a gym treadmill (along with about fifteen others), when the lead woman refers to us.
Q. In 10 words or less, describe Geoffrey Gould?
A. Fun, reliable, loyal, punster, word-play'er, MSTie riff-master, (single) sensual double Taurus.
Q. What part or role in a movie would you like to play, if you had that chance?
A. I'd love to be part of a long running TV series in which I acquire enough of a following I start getting more acting work job offers, and/or a film franchise of several films as they're doing with the Marvel Universe movies. As I'm a character actor, I have a wide range. I've played dorky silly sort of comedy, to dry comedy, to the other end of the spectrum, playing super dark roles. In one short film done by LA Film School graduates with whom I'd worked, who just called me up and asked if I'd like to play a Mad Scientist for a cool short called The Champ, it's unclear as to my character's motives until the end, which is actually quite moving. A clip from that mostly black-and-white short is viewable on my previous demo reel which has a lot of student film clips. In the LA Film School short written and directed by Glenn Thomas, The Immigrants (which is viewable in its entirety http://ow.ly/phtzp at its IMDb entry), I play Jasper Cuthbert, who's rather brutal in his methods, getting a great come uppance.
I enjoy playing darker roles, as do many actors whose perchance for comedy is strong. For the upcoming feature film Everything http://ow.ly/phx5s I was asked to redo a screen-test as the first had been 18 months before. Generally such screen-tests are done live but this production is being films mostly in Missouri, so I had to do the video myself and email it. With a live screen-test, the director, casting director and producer/s can provide insights with which the actor can make adjustments for another take. With my first I just did it as I'd read it; with the second my director, J. Allen Williams, gave me some pointers as to how he saw the role he'd written. My job is to have the director's vision be what's on the screen, so I did it a bit more "Godfather"y, as it were. Later I realized I sounded like I was trying to do some sort of Robert Loggia impression, which they actually loved (the director even heard some Joe Peschi floating about in my voice, which I also was not seeking to do). I've also had to learn to smoke a cigar for the role.
Q. The industry itself is a hard institution into which to break for some. What advice could you give to those who are just starting out looking for fame in the Hollywood world?
A. Make sure you have some sort of backup career that has a continuing stream of earnings, such as described at http://isqforyou.com (should anyone find the information there compelling, they can reach me for more information).
Normally most actors' answer to that question would be "get a job" or "don't quit your day job." I wouldn't go seeking fame, as it were. The so-called "A-List" really only has a handful of performers as it is, I'm told. I would prefer to keep getting character work, as such one would be needed for a day or three, paid well, and be able to do several such "quick-work" projects in a month.
I would love to have the sort of career that character actor Richard Riehle has. You might not know his name, but it's like he's been in like every other movie and TV show, often playing a judge or retired police detective (he actually played the judge in Rob Schneider's Big Stan on which I worked, wherein I play a juror sitting next to Sally Kirkland). I just checked his IMDb entry: at the time of this interview Richard has 290 credits, the top 17 of which are either currently filming or in post production. I just came across him on as a mall Santa on a Christmas episode of the FX series The League: (at least for me), there's no mistaking his voice.
Q. Besides the movies, commercials etc. What other passions does Geoffrey Gould have?
A. Well, you've mentioned my being a Doctor Who fan; I became a lifelong fan of Daleks when I was nine and my family visited Europe, and while in England the second Peter Cushing Dalek feature film was being released. Thankfully my folks both loved science fiction and as we didn't know if the film would come to America, we saw it in a cinema there. We were thrilled to the Daleks: their design and voices, etc. It was 1966 and Dalekmania was at its height, so we brought home Dalek toys, books, etc. Years later I learned Doctor Who was a British TV series and eventually the Tom Baker episodes came over in the late 1970s, and I was hooked. The reason it worked so well, as amusingly low-budget as it was, was it being so very very British. The same thing would not have flown were it made in America: it might have barely made it through its first season.
I've also had a lifelong fascination with the paranormal, and I've done some investigating, but so many places now want to charge through the nose. I've gone on some investigation where pretty much nothing seems to happen, but others have caught EVPs. One pair have a webisode series of sorts, and I've gone on two investigations, one at Linda Vista where his and my hand-held digital recorders got nothing, but EVPs later showed up on the video soundtrack. Another time we investigated beneath Colorado Street Bridge in Pasadena, and we got an EVP we still can't explain; it sounded like a very audible child making vocal "pew pew pew" noise like using his voice to shoot a laser gun toy. The big EVP I've captured myself was a Class-A voice on the Queen Mary http://ow.ly/phxVr but I had a big experience on the Queen Mary when (of course), we had no recorders going, involving an invisible dog barking in my face, and a large crash at the cabin door as though someone was falling to the deck outside our cabin as I stood there, yanking open the door to find the long, very empty corridor...
I also love Mystery Science Theatre 3000 (aka MST3K), having most of their episodes on DVD (all of them taped off-air on VHS). When I was first introduced to it, I was astonished to find a show that is how my mind thinks All The Time. Years ago I met a girl with equally high-level riff abilities, so we challenged each other to see how good In Real Time we were (I loved real-time riffing the action series 24, which, due to its being such MST3K fodder, I consider being one of the most hilarious shows ever). For the challenge we were to find a bad movie neither of us had seen, and see what we could do. My then-girlfriend at the time admitted working background on a pretty bad movie called The Skateboard Kid, of which neither my friend and I had ever heard. I looked it up on IMDb, the inane premise was compelling (Dom DeLouis voicing a talking skateboard), but the top user comment for the IMDb entry was the hook, titled "Makes Lidsville Look Like High Art." Clearly it was a Must Have. I found the thing online for $5 and snagged it, removing the shrink wrap at my friends' place where she and I entertained our respective significant others riffing on the wonderfully dreadful nonsense that was this film.
I've always enjoyed movies so bad they're good, as well as surrealist and/or satire films, such as the recent films Rubber and Wrong; those are Musts for anyone who likes the truly hilariously bizarre.
Q. Down time… Yes, we all have down time. What do you do on your down time, when you're not acting or looking for that next role?
A. Internet surfing, going to movies, watching TV, reading books.
I consider time not paid-working to be time for work-looking, and I submit online to numerous projects to which I am rarely called if it's beyond being a student film project. I also love real-time MSTie riffing the prime-time competition shows I watch.
Q. Tell us of one place in this world that you would love to go? Just Geoffrey with no phones, T.V. no distractions whatsoever. What would be your ideal place to escape?
A. With a circle of friends I used to go camping annually for a weekend, Friday through Sunday, up in the Angeles Mountains (Bandito Campground and Horse Flats), but half of those friends have moved away so I've not been able to do that anymore, but I love hiking, and thankfully as of late my health has tremendously improved, I sometimes just hike about Hollywood. I'd love to be in England for the 50th Anniversary episode of Doctor Who November 23rd.
Q. Is there anything you would change about your life, such as career, who you are, anything at all?
A. I can't think of anything off hand; generally all the choices we make throughout our life lead us up to This Precise Moment in our lives. There's a Bill Nighy film coming out soon titled About Time, where he shares with his son that the males in their line can travel through time to different points in their own time-stream In the trailer we see him shyly avoid kissing a girl on New Year's Eve, but as he learns to shift through his time-stream, he takes the risk and kisses her, that sort of thing. Time travel is one of my favourite aspects of science fiction, particularly when it's done well. But if I could time travel it's unlikely I'd try to edit my own history. I would love having my own TARDIS, not only for travel but in which I could store all my Stuff...
Q. I mentioned in the beginning of our interview that you are a huge Doctor Who fan. What other shows are you a fan of from now and what shows were your favorite from long ago?
A. I grew up with classic Star Trek and such, most of the classic sitcoms like Dick Van Dyke Show, etc. Generally I've watched the Doctor Who spin-offs, Torchwood and Sarah Jane Adventures, but shows I try not to miss include but is not limited to The Amazing Race, Community, Game of Thrones, Hell's Kitchen (and, as of the past two seasons, Master Chef), Survivor, Modern Family, Big Bang Theory, New Girl as well as darker, more mature comedies like The League and Archer. Of new shows just starting, so far I like Trophy Wife, Blacklist and Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.
I watch a few of the paranormal shows, but not all of them, such as Paranormal Witness and My Ghost Story: Caught on Camera, etc.
Q. We have come to the end of our mini interview here. Tell us, what's in store for Geoffrey Gould in the near future? Are there any projects you can tell us about?
A. While I had a principal role in an indie horror film Live-In Fear, which finally may be released sometime in 2014, it is probable my "big break" could be as the lead in the feature film fantasy/thriller Everything, which goes before the cameras in November and/or December (2013), in which I play a former (or possibly still current) mobster whose losing battle with cancer forces him to make a deal with a mysterious, cryptic supernatural character for immortality. I'm even being flown to London for a few days for some location shots; we will be trying to be allowed to get video footage at the awesome Highgate Cemetery.
Robbie - Geoffrey, thank you for being patient with me and hopefully I haven't inundated you with crazy questions. I have really enjoyed sitting with you discussing Geoffrey Gould and for this you will forever have that star on my walk of fame, the Robbie Thomas Blog. You have been a great spot bud and once again, you ROCK! On a final note, let us know where people can keep up with your work and career and such!
Geoffrey - Thank you thank you; glad to be of service...! I'll keep putting in a good word in for you for the show, keep your fingers crossed...
Robbie - You're a pal! Thanks Geoffrey...
Geoffrey - People can Join my on Facebook "fan club" of sorts called the Geoffrey Gould Career Progress Group at http://ow.ly/phuov
My IMDb entry can be found here: http://imdb.com/name/nm0332380
The production for the feature film Everything actually started a Wikipedia entry on me: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geoffrey_Gould
My own website is here: http://geoffgould.net at which one can see in what projects I've worked, as well as each-edition reports of The Paranormal View shows at http://geoffgould.net/2011pnv.htm
At my http://geoffgould.net/paranormal.htm page are listed what personal paranormal experiences I've had.
Again, for anyone seeking a backup career that has a continuing stream of earnings (and which won't even interfere with what you're doing currently), check out the http://isqforyou.com page, after which contact me through Facebook, either at http://facebook.com/geoffrey.gould and/or http://facebook.com/qivana.geoffrey.gould
Thanks again, Robbie!
Robbie - Well, folks, there you have it. Geoffrey Gould, good friend, comedian, actor extraordinaire, and just a great guy! I hope you all enjoyed this interview with Geoffrey as I have and we'll be back at it again in the series of Robbie Thomas Interviews very soon! Please check out Geoffrey at all the links above and if you get the chance you must tune into The Paranormal View as I highly recommend this radio show that Geoffrey co-hosts. It airs live Saturdays from 8-10pm Eastern Time, 5-7pm Pacific Time at http://para-x.com with a live, fun and friendly interactive chat-room.
Thank you again, Geoffrey, for putting up with me and till next time everyone... Peace!
GEOFFREY GOULD IN ARGO
THE ACADEMY AWARD WINNING MOVIE
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