Turning George McFly Upside-Down: Actor Jeffrey Weissman Goes Back to the Future
Turning George McFly Upside-Down:
Actor Jeffrey Weissman Goes Back to the Future
By Rich Handley
In 1989, Robert Zemeckis and Bob Gale
created the first of two sequels to their 1985 masterpiece, Back to the Future. The second film, picking up right where the first left off, featured
most of the main cast from BTTF, with
a couple notable exceptions. One of them, of course, was Crispin Glover, who'd
breathed life into the much-loved George McFly. Due to disagreements with
producers that eventually avalanched into a lawsuit, Glover opted not to return
for the sequels, leaving Universal with a grim choice: replace him or remove
George from the films entirely.
Thankfully, the studio went with choice
A, and brought in talented actor Jeffrey Weissman to assume the role of
George. Weissman recently chatted with Hasslein Books
about his experiences working on BTTF
Parts II and III, as well as his work outside of Back to the Future. The actor offered frank, honest
recollections of how it felt to step into such an iconic role amidst mixed feelings on set.
On Back to the Future Part II, Jeffrey Weissman got to hang around the set... just not in the usual way. |
HASSLEIN BOOKS: I believe you were working at
Universal Studios as an impressionist when you were called in to replace
Crispin Glover as George McFly. Is that correct?
JEFFREY WEISSMAN: I had been working in TV and film, and
was "in between" gigs, when a friend who had played Stan Laurel
called me up and asked me if I had ever considered doing lookalike work. His "Oliver
Hardy" partner had lost his "Stan" at Universal, where they had
been playing the classic comedy team, and I needed work, so I auditioned, and
got the job... at first, I thought it very strange, for people treat you as if
you are the real Laurel and Hardy (example: one day an elderly female guest
said "I always wanted to meet you two before I died").
Shortly after getting
Stanley Laurel down, I expanded my horizons and started playing Chaplin's Tramp
character and Groucho Marx (I wanted to get more hours, but mainly because I
thought the talents Universal had as their "first-stringers" weren't
doing justice to the comic genius of the originals). I wanted to raise the bar
and give those guys a run for their money, and it worked—they bettered their
costumes, make-up and performances greatly.
HASSLEIN: Can you recall what led to your
getting the gig on Back to the Future Part
II?
WEISSMAN: I got a call one day from the friend
who originally asked me if I could play Stan (he had a "lookalike"
booking company), and he asked if I knew who Crispin Glover was. I said, "Yes,
I had worked with him on a film at AFI back in '83," and he asked if I
thought I was about the same height and weight as him. I told him, "No, Crispin
was taller and heavier than I, but I thought I might be close." I asked if
this inquiry was to be a stand-in for him for the sequel to Back to the Future…? And he said that he wasn't at liberty to say.
I said, "Get me a meeting." And he did.
I next went through a
series of meetings, auditions and screen tests. I met with assistant director
David McGiffert, and next went to read (along with other actors), the "George
and Marty hanging the clothes in the backyard" scene from the first film for
casting director Judy Taylor. Co-casting director Mike Fenton (along with
associate Marci Liroff) had cast me in Twilight
Zone: The Movie, so he may have vouched for me. I then met with make-up
designer (from the first BTTF film) Ken
Chase, and sat for make-up sessions in his backyard workshop, to fit
prosthetics to play 17-year-old George for screen tests with Robert Zemeckis and
Dean Cundey. The prosthetics made me look like Crispin, but not exactly. Robert asked Dean what he thought of my performance, and I heard Dean
say, "I think we have Crispin without the trouble." This was the
first time I had an inkling that I was possibly being more than just a stand-in
or photo-double.
HASSLEIN: Your portrayal of George McFly was so
dead-on that even now, some fans still haven't figured out that it's not
Crispin Glover hanging upside-down.
WEISSMAN: Yes, when I tell people that I played
the role in the sequels, they often tell me, "No, that wasn't you." And
I often have to point them to IMDb or show them photos of me on the set. I
heard from a crew member that Bob and Robert had purposely written George
hanging upside-down because they wanted to torture Crispin during the shoot, as
payback for the headaches he caused on the filming of the first installment.
I daily went through three
to four hours of make-up as George at ages 17, 47 and 77, and then was hung
upside-down for all of the McFly household 2015 scenes. It was hard on my face and
back. Lea, Tom, Michael and Elizabeth, we all had to be put into old-age
prosthetics during the shoot. I was just the lucky one that got the bonus
torture of being hung upside-down for often 20-plus hour days.
There was also a body
cast that we used in the kitchen (during the pizza serving), that I was cinched
into, then the costume over it. It had a pole going from the back that went
through the set that had a wheel on the other side, so that on cue, a teamster
could turn it, causing me to rotate… Loraine said, "George, rotate your
axis for dinner," and I as George said, "Okay, four!" as on the
golf course, and added the iconic guttural laugh that Crispin used in the first
film. It wasn't included in the final cut, but it made it to the outtake/bonus
material on the DVDs.
Weissman as old George, with Elizabeth "Jennifer Parker" Shue, who shared his experience of replacing a Back to the Future actor for the sequels |
HASSLEIN: Was George a difficult character to
step into?
WEISSMAN: It wasn't hard for me to "get"
the young George McFly character, because Crispin had done such a fine job
fleshing out his pacing and quirkiness. His behavior, walk, speak and
mannerisms were brilliant, very idiosyncratic and fun to find. As you know, we
re-created scenes from the first film from different angles, what had been done
already, similar to doing lookalike work.
When I first stepped
on set, there was awkwardness. Because they didn't have the original George,
yet they had to have him, people were stand-offish or even were in denial of
not having him. I had an awkward time often being called "Crispin" by
director Bob Z. (Robert Zemekis) and others. The first time Michael J. Fox met
me on set in the make-up of young George, he said, "Crispin isn't going to
like this." I had heard also from Billy Zane that he and others were sure
that Lea had grown to be very fond of Crispin, perhaps in a romantic way, and
thus, when she had to kiss me, et al.,
in the prosthetics, she was very uncomfortable. And I was uncomfortable because
there was the feeling of being a "scab," with all of the response I
was getting.
To make matters
worse, Spielberg came up to me during the shoot and said sarcastically, "So,
Crispin, I see you got your million dollars after all." Which is a rude
thing to say to your actor whom you are paying a few thousand a week (at that
moment, I saw that I was saving production about $975,000). How would that make
you feel…?
HASSLEIN: Did you find it intimidating to take
on a role for which your predecessor was so widely acclaimed?
WEISSMAN: Yes, of course. When make-up designer
Ken Chase had me in for some final "fittings," he told me that
Crispin was "out" and that I was going to play George. I couldn't
fathom that, because I was told, all down the line, I was to be his
photo-double. (I had actually called Crispin when I was up for this position,
reminded him of our work together on an AFI film five years before, and asked
him to say a good word for me, since my wife was expecting our second child,
and I needed the work to get medical coverage.)
Furthermore, the
original George was such an important part of the puzzle. He really played his
part well, and brought to life a now classic iconic character. I wasn't
included in cast meetings or script readings, so I was a bit handicapped. I
knew I was filling big shoes, and somewhat stymied by the circumstances. I thought
I could perhaps bring more to the 2015 George at least, and there is some
improvising I did on set, which can be seen in the bonus material outtakes, as
I mentioned. There was also a very funny bit I came up with when Marty Jr.
gives upside-down George a banana to eat from the fruit tree that extends from
the ceiling. The peel kept flapping back in my face and it was silly fun, but
it didn't make the cut.
Many folks don't know
that the original Paradox script had
Crispin playing Seamus McFly in Part III.
When he didn't return, they moved Michael into the role (as if he didn't have
enough to do), and I suppose to have me play the role without the heavy make-up
would've been foreign to the audience. "Who is this guy?" they would
have said, though I don't doubt that I would have stepped up to the challenge. At
one point, Bob Gale said that he'd give me a role in Part III without all the make-up. Unfortunately, that did not
happen. I had one day as George, age 47, on the porch of the McFly house after
Marty returns from the Old West, but it isn't anything without a prosthetic
mask.
HASSLEIN: How was the "upside-down George"
effect achieved, and how unnerving was the suspension experience?
WEISSMAN: I was on wires, which were erased in
post. Production didn't want to take me down in between takes, so ILM
constructed a special ladder with a board on a high rung that I could lay back
on to rest for a minute before the next take.
HASSLEIN: How does this sort of thing compare
and contrast with your theatrical work?
WEISSMAN: Well, I haven't "flown,"
like in Peter Pan, as I was flown on
the 2015 set. Nor have I ever made as much money in theater as I did on the films. In theater, you get a rehearsal period, whereas I only had brief
rehearsals on set in this film, but generally in film (especially indies),
rehearsal before shooting on set is a real luxury and not common.
HASSLEIN: Are you frequently recognized as
George by Back to the Future fans,
since you look so different without the age make-up?
WEISSMAN: No, not too often. Usually, it's by
fans who are paying attention. The make-up made me look so completely different
from myself. I have had students in my classes and fans at cons get very
excited when they get to meet me, or figure out who I am, knowing my work from
the films.
With Dick van Dyke on Diagnosis Murder, impersonating Stan Laurel |
HASSLEIN: Are there other roles for which you're typically more recognized?
WEISSMAN: Sure, I am sometimes recognized from
the "Teddy Conway" role I played in Clint Eastwood's return to Westerns in
1985's Pale Rider. Some fans loved my
"High Geek" role as Skreech's guru on Saved By the Bell (but I wore thick glasses and buck teeth in that).
I have been recognized from the guest-star stints I did on Scarecrow and Mrs. King, Diagnosis
Murder, The Man Show, Diagnosis
Murder, Dallas, etc., as well as some commercials (PIP, Ameritech, Flap 'n
Chicken, Jack in the Box, Cherry Coke, Mitsubishi Trucks, et al.), but most of the time, I am the unknown celebrity... which
is fine with me. I like attention, but I also enjoy anonymity and my privacy.
I want to mention one ironic thing that happened in '85: I was cast as a 1950s "greaser" in a Cherry Coke commercial directed by film director Stan Dragoti, and it had a Back to the Future theme, with a Marty McFly lookalike taking the cherry flavor in his coke back to the '80s.
Out... rageous!
I want to mention one ironic thing that happened in '85: I was cast as a 1950s "greaser" in a Cherry Coke commercial directed by film director Stan Dragoti, and it had a Back to the Future theme, with a Marty McFly lookalike taking the cherry flavor in his coke back to the '80s.
Out... rageous!
HASSLEIN: Did Crispin Glover seem to hold any
ill will toward you regarding your replacing him in the role? And what did you
think of him?
WEISSMAN: We worked together on a film at AFI in
the early '80s, and I thought him interesting and quirky as an actor. I tried
to stay in touch and kept up with his career. In fact, I was really proud of
his work in the first Back to the Future
film when I saw it in the theater.
When Crispin decided
he wanted to sue Universal, the cast and the production team, he contacted me
and was very whiney about how badly they treated him on the first film. The
producers belittled him and made him cry in front of extras on the first shoot,
cut his hair without his approval, and how much he had been "done wrong"
because they were going to pay him twice scale for the use of the short clips
they used of him from the first film, inserted into my work on the second.
I did see that he was
being cheated, especially because they used his likeness (Universal's argument
was that they were using "George's likeness"), and after Crispin got
his $760,000 out-of-court settlement (before it went to trial), using much of
our conversation as fuel for his case, Universal blacklisted me and never used
me on a TV show or film again, and Crispin has never taken my calls nor spoken
to me since.
I took it very hard
that production tried to keep my work a secret, kept me from promoting my work
on the films publicly, and I had a nervous breakdown when I heard of the blacklisting
by Universal. To top it all, hardcore Back
to the Future and Crispin fans have written "hate Jeffrey Weissman"
postings in public forums, which are pretty painful. Ahh, showbiz.
"The prosthetics made me look like Crispin, but not exactly." —Weissman |
HASSLEIN: Tom Wilson, in a song performed at one of his standup gigs, described Glover as "…unusual." Would you agree?
WEISSMAN: He definitely moves to the beat of a
different drummer. His performance art, as demonstrated by the infamous Letterman appearance when he was kicked off the show just after almost kicking
Dave in the face, his morbid singing and Rat Catching books, the tours with his
edgy experimental films, etc., make him the darling of fans that feel they don't
fit into the mold of "'regular" society. And I think Crispin is happy
to be an eccentric artist that still gets to work in mainstream productions.
HASSLEIN: Michael J. Fox, Christopher Lloyd and
Lea Thompson all have reputations as being very nice people.
WEISSMAN: Well, they are very nice people. Michael
was welcoming when he got to know me off set and out of make-up. I gave him my
opinion on the property he was considering buying in New England, that may have
helped him decide to buy his home, when he was considering it during the shoot.
Also Tom, Michael and I all had wives having babies during the shoot, all within
two weeks of each other; I recall this was a nice bonding thing.
Lea was nice to work
with, even if the first few times I met her off set, she would introduce me to
her mother or others as "the actor that played Crispin." In more
recent years, she's learned my name, and she even has complimented me on my
performance in writing on a personally inscribed photo.
HASSLEIN: Are you still in touch with any of the Back to the Future cast?
WEISSMAN: Yes. I usually see cast and crew at
fan cons and BTTF-themed charity
fundraising events. I helped get about 20 cast and crew members out for the
first big reunion at the Hollywood Show three years ago. I have gotten be close
friends with Claudia Wells, even though we never appeared together in the films.
We started doing benefits, such as the late Wendy Jo Sperber's WeSpark Cancer
Support Center's Celebrity Golf Tournament, the Exotic Car Show in Celebration,
Florida, for the Make-a-Wish Foundation and other charities, and I've emceed and
been a guest at the DeLorean Owners Conventions for many years. (They are like
family, and have been very good to me, even joined forces and raised money to
help when my wife and I were in need to help cover her medical costs for her
brain cancer).
Weissman at a 2012 DeLorean car show in Orlando, with (left to right) Terry Holler, Donald "Goldie Wilson" Fullilove, Claudia "Jennifer Parker" Wells, BTTF.com's Stephen Clark and Oliver Holler. |
I have appeared at fan
cons and film festivals around the U.S. and the world. I went to Collectormania
and then London Comic Con with cast members James Tolkan, Chris Lloyd, Lea
Thompson and Ricky Dean Logan, and have appeared with other cast members JJ
Cohen, Don Fullilove, etc., at poker tournaments and events, like Chiller in New
Jersey, and with Billy Zane at Comic Con in San Diego.
Last year, I found
out that Christopher likes exotic meat-eating plants, and gave him a rare Venus
Fly Trap, a "Red Bomber," and when the seller found out who it was for,
he said he was going to make a hybrid with long white hairs and name it after
Chris. From the production team and crew, I've appeared at events with Bob
Gale, Andrew Probert, Kevin Pike, Rick Carter, Michael Klastorian and others.
HASSLEIN: Did you form any other lasting
friendships due to your involvement with those films?
WEISSMAN: I've made friends with many fans, and
the owners of DeLoreans who have brought me in to their events. I even put some
of them into an improv show which we performed at one of the conventions to
great applause. Folks like Oliver and Terry Holler, who made their own Time
Machine DeLoreans and travel the world raising money for the Michael J. Fox
Parkinson's / Team Fox Foundation have become dear to me.
I'm friends with Paul
"Doc" Nigh, Video Bob Mosley, J Ryan, Ken Kapowalski, et al., who have been big fans and supporters
of the films for years, many of whom have made their own DMC time machines and raised monies for the charities associated with Back
to the Future cast members. I've also formed a friendship with Stephen Clark of the BTTF Fan Club.
HASSLEIN: Do you have any crazy, hilarious or
bizarre tales to share from the BTTF
sets?
WEISSMAN: The 2015 McFly home was art-directed
within an inch of its life, as was the 2015 Hill Valley set. Many of the
amazing details on the props never got seen onscreen, and the things like the
pizza that was "hydroginzed"
in four seconds come to mind. Behind the set, there were a half-dozen women
cooking perfect-looking pizzas for Pizza Hut, so that there was a perfect
steaming pizza ready for each take. Product placement was fairly new, and I'm
sure production was getting a good chunk of the $50 million budget from Nike,
Pepsi, Texaco, et al.
In the 2015 McFly
kitchen, we had to set our movements around the dinner table very precisely
when working with the Tondreau computer-run Vistaglide camera, so that Michael
could play multiple roles (Marlene, Marty Jr. and Marty Sr.). It was explained to
us that the film was spliced in the camera to allow this, and once blocking was
set, no one could vary from it (this is a few years before digital technology
came into film production), and we'd lock down the set and camera at the end of
each day's shoot. Being in southern California, of course we had an earthquake
one night after the shoot, and the fear was that things had moved, the camera
had shifted, and that we'd have to start over again. Luckily it was not the
case, and we carried on.
We had many days that
went 20 hours or more, and one 22-hour shoot day pushed Robert Zemeckis'
problem-solving talents to the test. When Loraine goes over to the "fake
window" in the living room, and she lifts the shade to reveal a brick
wall, the projector creating the "outdoors" scene through the window
would flicker and thus reveal the special effect. Bob Z. spent a long time
trying to figure out how to avoid ruining the illusion; he sent everyone to a
second dinner, and when we came back, Bob Z. had Lea just buy a little time by
pulling the cord out from the window, and lifting the shade slower while the
flicker of the projection was lost by her covering it. It was a simple fix, but
it took hours to figure out.
Robert Zemeckis is an
amazing director who hires very competent folks, and he just sits back and
keeps an eye on everything, steps up when problems arise and fixes them. If you
look at the credits, there must have been over 100 special-effects and camera
specialists on Part II. There was
great care taken in making sure that scenes from Part I lined up that were being re-shot from different angles for Part II... costumes, hair, make-up,
props all had challenges in this, being four or five years since the initial
film being shot. And it mostly works. There are some fans who have found discrepancies
in continuity, which is amusing.
During the shoot, I
asked Michael, "When do you sleep?" (he was shooting the last season
of Family Ties during the day, and
with us on BTTF Part II all night),
and he said he usually would get a few minutes' sleep in the limo ride between
studios. His driver was a nice gentleman, Sam, who he named his son after.
HASSLEIN: Would you mind sharing some anecdotes
about your work on Pale Rider?
WEISSMAN: On Pale
Rider, I spent four weeks on location in Ketchum/Sun Valley, Idaho. The
cast was very talented: Richard Dyshart, Michael Moriarty, Carrie Snodgrass,
Sydney Penny, Chris Penn, all of the great character actors playing the
deputies and miners. As on most sets, you become a family, especially when on
location for any long period of time away from home, and actors and crew on per diem can behave like children let loose
in a candy store. So like in Vegas, what happens on location should stay on
location. Some of the stories get pretty wild.
I recall on set that
when Michael Moriarty, as Hull Barrett, goes into town the first time in the
film and gets beat up by the "bad guys," one of the actors was
messing around and didn't stick to the blocking, and Michael broke a few
fingers. Michael had been writing music, and I think he had been commissioned,
and he was furious that he could no longer play piano, so he left the film. It
took Clint a few days to get him back on set, and if you look closely when Hull
is returning in the buckboard from town, he wears a cast on that hand. I think
Clint also got him a harmonium, so he could still compose with his one good
hand wherever he was.
Another fun scene to
watch for continuity is the very dramatic scene where my character Teddy's
father, Spider, gets drunk in town and calls out the deputies, and they proceed
to shoot him down, inspiring Clint's avenging-angel character to start his
payback. It took us three days to shoot the entire scene, and on the first day,
we had snow everywhere from a recent storm, and by the second day, there was no
snow due to the sun coming out and melting it. So production had to make fake
snow, which is very slippery, and I recall, when running to Daddy's "dead
body," I slipped and nearly kicked Doug McGrath in the head... if you look
closely, Chuck LaFont, who plays my brother Eddy, and I are in a blizzard on
the porch of the mercantile, and Doug is in the sun just a moment earlier
before the shooting starts, then as Blankenship (played by Richard Hamilton)
comes out to get the boys, large chunks of the fake snow go floating by.
Clint had the town
set built on the top of a mountain, so cinematographer Bruce Surtees had
breathtaking views wherever he put his camera; the Sawtooth, Salmon River and
White Cloud Mountains were behind each shot. It was really beautiful, but cold
as a witch's tit. Actors were constantly huddled around gas heater-blowers, and
not wanting to go on set when called because the cold wind would rip right
though you.
I had made my
character pretty simple-minded. If you look at the first time you see him, he's
fishing with no bait in about a half-inch of water. I also had his feet go out
from under him at excitable moments, and would do pratfalls, which Clint seemed
to like, though none remain in the film.
HASSLEIN: How about Twilight Zone: The Movie?
WEISSMAN: John Lithgow is a really great spirit.
And George Miller is a lovely director. The audition for him was to tell a
joke. I had recently completed an indie film (Savior of None), co-starring with Vernon George Wells, who co-starred
as "Wez" in George's Road
Warrior (part two of the Mad Max
trilogy), and he told me that George had him tell a joke as his audition, too.
Few people know that
Larry Ceder (from Deadwood) played
the creature on the wing of the plane. There were many fine talents on the
film; the lovelies, Abbey Lane and Donna Dixon (whom I adored) and J D Johnson
(who is also in Pale Rider) were
great folks to work with, as were the crew and cinematographer Alan Daviau, who
shot ET. it was one of the first
films Garrett Brown brought his Steadicam to work on... it was a big 60- or 90-pound
monster back then, that he ran up and down the aisles with. George Miller was
also elated, because on the shoot, it was the first time that a video could tap
the camera and show what he was shooting on video playback—which has been
common for a long time now, but in 1982, it was a revelation. George would let
us come up with bits and lines, and often we'd shoot and it'd stay in the film.
George Miller is a really great director to work with.
HASSLEIN: Max
Headroom?
WEISSMAN: I enjoyed being on that fun set. Matt
Frewer was all the rage, and Amanda Pays was pretty as can be. I was a big fan
of George Coe from his Du Duva short
burlesque of Bergman films that he made with Madeline Kahn. I had known about
Jeffrey Tambor, since we both came out of SFSU, and had the same professor in
theater, and I worked with Sharon Barr years later at Universal.
HASSLEIN: And Saved By the Bell, which you mentioned earlier?
WEISSMAN: I went in and nailed the High Geek
role. I had gotten called back on many films in the '80s: Revenge of the Nerds, My
Science Project, etc., and never got the nerd role, but I was always in the
running. So I used some buck/crooked teeth I had made, stiff-spritzed my hair
straight up and wore thick glasses, and goofed all out, which seemed to fit the
signature of the show—heavy-handed.
I liked the cast and
enjoyed my time on the set, although I ran into a cultural obstacle from Mr. Casey
Kasem, who was also guest-starring on that episode. He complained to the
producer because I was wearing a fez, and my plan was to take it off in the
scene revealing the high hair and remove the magic retainer from the fez. Because
Casey is Muslim, he felt this was an inappropriate use of the sacred hat. It
did ruin my reveal of the high hair, killing a laugh, and I made the retainer
appear by zapping magic in a cauldron.
HASSLEIN: How heavily did you interact with the
main casts of those shows and films?
WEISSMAN: I was working, so it was not necessarily
a social-mixing time, but I got along well with most casts. I've found,
sometimes, celebrities like Kate Jackson can be very standoffish, like when I
guest-starred on Scarecrow and Mrs. King,
but by the third day of shooting, she warmed up to me. I only regret not
staying in touch with many of the stars that I got along with well, because I
figured I'd always be working, but when my great agent moved on in 1988, I was
hard-pressed to find a good replacement, and my career went south.
Those of you reading
this who are in the biz, stay in touch with those you work well with that you
see growing in their craft. I helped Catherine Hardwicke, John Schwartzman, Gregg
Araki and Lawrence Bender on projects early in their careers, and didn't stay
in touch or get personal numbers, which is a mistake, because we got along
well.
HASSLEIN: Please tell us about your current
theater work. Where might fans see you in action these days?
WEISSMAN: I am in rehearsals for a production of
Mel Brooks' musical of Young Frankenstein
in Northern California, opening in May. I play Igor... it's been 30 years since
I've tap-danced and about 22 since I've sung in a musical, and I'm working my
tail off and loving it.
[ED. NOTE: Folks in the Bay Area interested in obtaining information about Young Frankenstein can click here or here.]
I also have a lead role in a very dramatic indie feature, Savior of None, coming out on Aug. 22nd at the AOF Film Fest, in Monrovia, playing a handicapped avenging-angel for an abused 16-year-old girl caught in the foster-care system.
[ED. NOTE: Folks in the Bay Area interested in obtaining information about Young Frankenstein can click here or here.]
I also have a lead role in a very dramatic indie feature, Savior of None, coming out on Aug. 22nd at the AOF Film Fest, in Monrovia, playing a handicapped avenging-angel for an abused 16-year-old girl caught in the foster-care system.
I've several projects
in development that I either have leads or supporting roles in, and that I now
also have a role as co-producer, helping to put the projects' puzzle pieces
together.
I have played in
several of my film students' shorts and features, and I am patiently waiting
for a docu-dramatization of Mark Twain's visit to the Holy Land to come of TV. I
play Twain in it, and I play Twain in live environmental theater in Old Town
Sacramento's History Museum's "Time Travel Weekends," this coming
summer.
Mark Twain visiting the Holy Land |
HASSLEIN: Are theater and improv your first loves,
or do you prefer working in the film and TV arena—and why?
WEISSMAN: I love improv. There is nothing more
exciting (or scary) than going over the edge without a net, hoping that you
land on your feet in the world of instant storytelling. I helped get Los
Angeles Theater Sports going 24 years ago, and out of those great fun shows
came many top television writers (Friends,
Boy Meets World, Joey, et al.), and many cast members of Who's Line Is It Anyway? and other
comedy shows... in fact, that group continue to play brilliant shows as "Impro"
Theater, doing a whole night of Jane Austin, Shakespeare, Sondheim, Twilight Zone and Tennessee Williams
shows completely unscripted, with great success.
I also love scripted
theater. I have appeared in everything from Shakespeare to Kushner, in comedy and
magic revues, and many other shows in recent years all over, from touring the
South China Sea on cruise ships, to community theater, college campuses and
legit houses. I also have a passion for educational environmental theater.
HASSLEIN: What's in store for you down the line?
WEISSMAN: I have been, for the past four years, a
caregiver for my wife during her health crisis with brain lymphoma, and when
she is back in the working world (her five tumors are gone), I will likely
return to my passions: deejaying on radio, teaching, films and more shows.
HASSLEIN: You've also been coaching and teaching
actors for years, right?
WEISSMAN: Yes, I have taught at universities,
vocational schools and privately for a long time. I help talent develop their
characters, one-man/womam shows and film scripts, and give actors building
blocks for their business sense.
HASSLEIN: How is that going, and what sorts of
skills and advice do you impress upon your students?
WEISSMAN: I use anecdotes from my career experiences,
along with common sense and teachings of others to students for bettering
themselves in their craft. It's often very entertaining and informative. Currently,
I am looking for more opportunities. In this economy, it is hard for me to be
hired by universities because I do not hold a degree, and the adjunct work is
hard to come by. I am optimistic that students will come to wherever I teach.
I also speak at expos
and film festivals, too.
I teach improv,
theater games, Commedia dell'Arte,
character development, film technique, the business of acting, comedy, writing
and directing. A workshop I created at the San Francisco School of Digital Filmmaking
took off, because it became a lab where writers could safely see their works-in-progress come to life using great acting talents and working directors, and
they could get feedback if they chose to.
HASSLEIN: How might those interested in working
with you get in contact?
WEISSMAN: I am available via e-mail through my
website, www.jeffreyweissman.com, and on my Facebook fan page, www.facebook.com/pages/Jeffrey-Weissman/177601048951104. (My personal page is at the 5,000-pals
limit, but I post my doings on my fan page regularly.)
HASSLEIN: Are you still raising money for
charities?
WEISSMAN: Yes. When I'm not caregiving and I can
afford to give time and money, I help dozens of charities. Now that I've spent
everything while taking care of my honey, I am mainly supporting as I can,
emceeing, donating a portion of proceeds from appearances, etc.
I have a plan in the
works to do something very big for the Parkinson's Foundation for the Back to the Future 2015 anniversary,
that I hope to announce publicly at the end of this year.
HASSLEIN: How has the acting world changed since
you first embarked on your career?
WEISSMAN: It has always been a struggle to break
into the biz. An overnight success often takes about 15 to 20 years. Now, with
social media and a good agent, you, with hard work, can do it in maybe 10 years
or less. There needs to be trust in your talent from casting, and that comes
first with good training on your résumé, and by performing well in auditions.
When I first returned
to Hollywood in '82 (I grew up in L.A. and left to train at the American Conservatory
Theater in San Francisco), there were regular "general meetings" in
which a casting director would meet with an agent's clients that were new to
them, and they would read them on current projects, and get to know their talent's
ability. Those "generals" seemed to have gone the way of the dinosaur
in the mid '80s, and with the amazing pressure the studios and networks put on
casting, there is little time now for getting to know talents outside of your
files or current auditions.
A casting director
recently told me that she gets 2,000 submissions for every part she puts out in
breakdowns, which tells you how many hungry artists are out there vying for a
role. You need to stand out, be wonderful and trained, be in the right place at
the right time, and know the right people to put you there. It's a crap shoot,
but if you are driven, it's in your heart and soul, you work hard, persevere and
do it.
Just don't get taken
in by the promises of scams that will get you work by paying them to put you in
front of someone in casting... it's likely going to hurt taking the shortcuts.
I don't mean to say don't take risks, but be professional, friendly and
prepared, and when opportunity presents itself, you'll find success.
HASSLEIN: Finally, do you find it difficult to
obtain work in the current Hollywood glut of reality TV and elimination shows?
WEISSMAN: It is a shame that a good part of TV
has been taken over by "sideshows" and "reality shows." But
they found a market for sensationalism. And with the advent of cable, there is
a huge demand for programing, and producers don't always want to pay casting
directors and actors or deal with unions, so this is a way to avoid all of
that.
I can't say that
working on these shows is bad, especially for someone trying to get into the
biz using this means as a shortcut, but get training and be ready to use your "flash
in the pan" to get more work by going in the open doors and being
brilliant. If you want to see great acting, stay with film and television that
hires great actors to play in well-written scripts.
HASSLEIN: How optimistic are you about the
situation improving in the near future?
WEISSMAN: I am hopeful that there will always be
an audience not settling for mediocrity and insulting shows or low-brow
productions. I have faith that our culture will evolve to rise above the low
standard of so much TV and mainstream films that are insulting to a moral or
thinking audience. But I suppose it's up to the producers to try harder to make
good shows and tell great stories.
Thanks to Jeffrey Weissman for taking the time to answer our questions with such frankness and insight.
Labels: Back to the Future, George McFly, Jeffrey Weissman
4 Comments:
Loved the interview, love Jeffrey!
Brilliant thank you for a small peak into your life /world
BEN
Thanks for the small look into your life /world an interesting read
Great interview, Jeffrey, and the photos are priceless. Thanks for sharing it.
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