DANIEL E. SMITH REFLECTS ON JOHN Q ROLE, DENZEL WASHINGTON & MORE -- Part II

Daniel E. Smith starred in the 2002 film John Q and spent much of his career on TV sets across the United States. Shows like the King of Queens, Friends, Everybody Hates Chris and more were some of Daniel's work as a young actor in the early 2000s.

In the second and final part of our conversation with Daniel E. Smith from May 2, 2018, we dive deeper into the John Q film, getting his thoughts on his heart-to-heart moments with Denzel Washington on set and what he is up to now in 2018 and beyond.

Click here for Part I

NEW! Listen to full interview on our SoundCloud channel: CLICK HERE

Zach Catanzareti: What do you remember from the baseball scene? To me, that was one of the critical scenes when you collapse while you’re playing. It seemed like a technical type of scene. It seemed like the most difficult to pull off, was it that way?

Daniel E. Smith: I remember that scene like it was yesterday. I decided to be a little badass that day and the director, Nick Cassavetes, he advised against it. I was like, 'I'll be fine. I want to do it.' I thought I was Jackie Chan or something and decided to do my own stunts even though they had a stunt double for me. 

The scene in the movie where I fall down when my heart fails on me and I start to seize. I fall down, I’m supposed to fall down face-flat into the dirt. Of course, they’re not going to let anyone fall into hard rock and dirt, so they had this great idea to put a big cushion mat for me to fall on. That was fine, I was all game for that. I can just fall on a mat, no problem. 

Where things got bumpy was it threw the dirt from the ground on top of the mat. Pebbles and rocks. I guess instead of hitting ground, you’re hitting soft dirt? 

It was funny because the crew sat for a good 20 minutes picking out all the pebbles and rocks so it would be just smooth dirt. I give them credit, they got most of it out. But it's still a baseball diamond dirt. 

The first take, I fell and my face just [slams] right onto the dirt. I scrap my forehead a little bit and they’re like, 'Great! Let’s do it again.' And I was like, 'Oh, this wasn’t a great idea.' But I already committed, and I said that I’m not going to stop. But I will work on my angle of landing.

We did it maybe three or four times. After that first one, I was definitely worried about my face. That first take was definitely all-or-nothing. The others were just ouch, I’m going to be more cautious.

From then on, most of your scenes... you’re in a bed. Hooked up with tubes, wires. Did you find it as a challenge? So much different than the baseball scene, doing your own stunts. 

A lot of people would say, 'He laid in the bed, you had it made.' Actually, no [laughs]. I wish, I wish. You have to keep in mind, a 10-year-old kid at the time, sitting down for hours, laying down. Now, I’m all for it if I can get a role where I’m laying around all down. 

But man, as a kid, I’m so ancy, it was tiring. I want to move, I want to get up. I was always hooked up to things, there was a lot I couldn’t really move with. For camera angles and shots, I couldn’t move stuff. Though things weren’t actually injected into my body, I couldn’t move so it would look that way. 

For a 10-year-old kid, it's really hard to just stay still for so long and not be bothered. It was challenging in itself. There's a lot that goes into what people see in the final product. It was very tedious work, long days, long times where I wanted to get up and get out. But we got through it for the most part, we got what we needed. 

The directors, producers, cast mates, they understood where I was coming from. Once you got a good support team behind you, nothing is impossible. 

I've been in a hospital bed before and I know that the only thing you want to do is to get out of that bed.

That is all you want to do!

I would say the most tearful scene of the movie was when Denzel came in to give you that last father-to-son advice when he planned to give you his heart. When it came to Denzel, one of his best performances was that scene. Do you remember anything specific?

Yeah, the funny part is Denzel and I had a heart-to-heart before that scene. And it flowed right into it... Denzel is one of the greatest actors of all time because he puts a piece of himself into every project he does. He doesn’t pull any punches. The reason you feel that realness, it's because that's him. That's who he is, that character and Denzel merged together. 

He had found that very rare quality many actors and performers don’t have but would like to have. Adding just the right amount of them along with that character. As I was saying earlier, coming across as something real and raw and you can’t help but feel it. 

It's make-believe, it's a movie, not something that’s happening. But what you see that man doing is really what he's believing, which is why there’s that connection.

That's what made that scene so great. When you have someone as great as him doing it, you don’t want to be the one to mess that up. Like you feel it in the audience when you see it, I felt that right then and there with him because he makes people around him better, you want help but get caught up in that moment. 

That's what that was, raw emotion. He made me feel it. We were just lost in that moment and it just so happened to be the camera was rolling. You understand? That's how powerful and magnificent he is as an actor. What everyone sees around the world when they watch John Q, what you saw was two people living in that moment because one great person brought that moment to life and allowed me to travel with him in that moment.

You said you two had a heart-to-heart moment before then?

We had been building chemistry throughout the entire project. He had basically become a father figure for me because I was up there for three-and-a-half months with just my mom. My step-dad at the time came up for about a week or so, it was great seeing him, I did miss him. 

I love my mom, I do, but you always yearn for that love from your dad. With [Denzel], I think he picked that energy up from me. That’s why he always checked in on me and brought my spirits up for me. He would always talk to me and say, 'You’re something special, you got talent, I see it. It’s only going to get harder. You started young which is good, but you have to stay with it. I see it in you.'

It just became a relationship of more than just actors working or play-father and play-son, it was a genuine connection. It was a mutual feeling to where I loved him and respected him not just as a play-father but someone who I looked up to as a mentor.

I can’t remember one day on set where he was ever mean or had problems. He was always kind to me and he made acting fun.

The heart-to-heart moment we had before that scene was just him opening up and letting me know what we were about to do and where we're going to go. Giving me comfort, letting me know not to be afraid to feel. [He said] 'If you just be with me in that moment, if you feel it, pretend the camera isn’t there. It's just me and you.'

It was a natural back-and-forth and it flowed. He had about 15, 20 minutes with me and then next thing I know, they're like, 'Alright, you guys ready?' He's like, 'We're ready when you’re ready.'

When you watch that specific scene over, with the background you said, he was saying don’t smoke, treat women right, all this. Knowing him so well, what do you feel when you watch that scene over?

Oh, that’s him. That’s him. That’s what he would tell his kids, his sons. That’s just him. It just so happened to be in the script, that’s just the type of man he is. He’s not going to change that, that's how he’s been. Anybody who knows him, that’s just him. He's one of those rare people in the world who are just good. He's got wisdom and he wants the best for everybody. That’s him all the way.

After the movie premiered, how much did you see him afterward?

I want to say, right after the premiere, within that year, probably five to ten times. As the years went on, of course, less and less. We do establish a good connection when we do see each other. It's not like when you’re working together because as you get older, I’m doing my other things and it's a little different than being a kid and being his son.

When I do see him it's nothing but love and good energy and good talks. Of course, it's not as much as it was but there isn’t any bad blood or anything, it's life, you go separate ways. When we do cross paths, it's good love and positive vibes.

After that film, you went back and did a lot of TV work. One of them was the King of Queens in 2002. An interesting set from the 1970s or so, how was it returning to TV?

Man, again, King of Queens is one of the biggest shows out there. I think there is something to be said about this: The big shows, at least the ones I’ve been on, you wouldn’t know they’re as big as they are. The people are good energy and the vibes from everyone around is just good. There's no big heads, no cockiness, they just come to work and love what they do. 

The people on that show loved what they do, they love to be different and expressive, out of the box.

I met Kevin James, I met Jerry Stiller. I met the entire cast, you wouldn’t know they were as big as they were. They’re just regular people. They were more grateful of me being there than I was being there. That says a lot. They could’ve been, excuse my language, but assholes, [saying], 'OK, another kid. You know what you gotta do.'

But no, they were very sweet, kind. They wanted the best out of me. That’s what’s important. A good experience top to bottom along with Friends, John Q, nothing but good things to say about them.

And I’m a Kevin James fan. It was weird, I knew Kevin but I didn’t know Denzel as much. I was such a big fan I kind of geeked out when I met him but he's such a down-to-earth guy. 

Did you happen to meet Tyler Hendrickson? He was also in that episode, he played Young Doug. I interviewed him for this blog last year.

You know what, that's a good question. There's a good chance I could have. I don’t want to say I didn’t and I don’t want to say I did because my memory is a little shallow in that area. Probably because I was geeking out over Kevin James. There's probably a good chance, if not, it was probably a scheduling thing and he came in a day before or after me.

It looks like you’re in a recent short film coming out, A Father's Love. Looks like it's in post-production. How do you feel it turned out?

Yeah, that's just a little short film I’m doing with a couple friends of mine. There just getting their production company up and running. Any time you get to do what you love, it's a blessing, fun, exciting. 

Basically, they asked if I could come in and do a small role, something that showcases my faith. Without even hesitating I went in. The project my friends did is going to be something that’s really amazing. There’s nothing but talented actors attached to this project. I think this is going to get people's attention and really going to connect to a lot of people.

it's one of the more heartfelt, emotional projects I’ve done. I’m not just saying it because I’m in it, I really do think this is a great project and something that’s going to get a lot of attention and be something to talk about. 

I’m excited about it and I’m really ready for it. I don’t know where it will go but I’m the utmost confident about it. 

Is acting still the biggest drive for you?

Without a doubt. And it's a strange thing because, like I said, when I started my cousin dared me into doing that play. I had no idea I was already acting, doing certain things in front of my mom or family. That was acting, I just didn’t know it yet until I was like, 'Oh, you people make a career out of this. People actually do this and this is how they make a living. This is what I want. This is it.'

There is nothing wrong with a 9-to-5, nothing wrong with other jobs, we need people like that in the world. That's understandable. But if you have a calling, if this is what you love. Do you love to audition or love to work? A lot of people love to work but I love to audition because when I do, I get an opportunity to act and perform. Getting paid is just bonus.

When I get a chance to play another character and get my creative juices flowing, get out of my comfort zone, that’s what excites me. To this day, I still get excited the moment I get an audition. This is my career. It was fun as a child and I continue to do it as an adult because it's something I love. 

Do you do anything outside acting? Are you married? You said you’re still in California?

I’m still in California, still doing acting. I am in a few more businesses, things like that, I’ve invested in as I’ve gotten older. A few other companies I’ve started and invested in with my friends. For the most part, it's just the acting thing I’m doing. I’m also starting to do the behind-the-scenes stuff, writing a few projects. 

I’m currently working on a new media platform to basically showcase a few projects of some talented friends of mine. The one thing I will say about 2018 and the acting world, there’s so many other revenues other than going to the movie or on your TV to showcase other talents. That’s basically the other endeavor I’m working on. A new media platform to showcase talented people from all walks of life, overseas, comedy, drama.

I will say that 2018 is looking good and 2019 is looking better. The little kid from John Q, Mike Archibald, Daniel Smith is definitely still here, still in the business. It's not the last you’ve heard of me. Hopefully when I do pop back on the scene, you’ll see an adult, a grown man, somebody different, but hopefully you’ll still see that little kid in there in a good way.

DANIEL E. SMITH REFLECTS ON JOHN Q ROLE, DENZEL WASHINGTON & MORE -- Part I

If you're an avid watcher of TV series like Friends, King of Queens or the Bernie Mac Show, Daniel E. Smith may be a familiar face.

Born in Tampa, Florida, in 1990, Smith had a unique path toward the TV sets before eventually hitting the big screen in the early 2000s. His support from his mother boosted him to early auditions and multiple roles as the industry transformed into the 21st century.

His most known role, perhaps, came in the 2002 film John Q, where Smith fit the role of Michael Archibald alongside Denzel Washington.

In Part I of a two-part series, Zach Catanzareti and the Catch-Up Blog spoke with Daniel on May 2, 2018, to discuss his start in acting, his opening TV roles and the audition process toward the John Q film.

NEW! Listen to full interview on our SoundCloud channel: CLICK HERE

Zach Catanzareti: I'd like to start with where it all started with you in Tampa, Florida. Grew up in the 90s, what was your childhood like? Did you have any siblings?

Daniel E Smith: Yeah, there are four of us including me. I have an older brother, a younger brother and younger sister. We're all the same mother just two different dads. My older brother and I have the same dad and my younger siblings have a different dad.

You grew up in Florida, correct?

It's an interesting story actually. My older brother was born in Chicago, that's where my parents met. They moved when she was pregnant with me and I was born in Tampa, Fla. After that, we moved to Indiana and my younger brother was born there. Then we moved to Arizona where my younger sister was born. The industry brought us out to California.

Moving around a lot! Throughout that process, you’re starting school, when did you start finding an interest in acting?

The funny thing is I didn’t have any interest in acting whatsoever. I was actually a very shy kid growing up, a mama's boy. I really didn’t feel comfortable around people unless my mom was there. When I got to Arizona a lot of my family -- a few relatives were close to my age and we went to school around the same time. It was a performing arts school. 

There was a play going on and my cousin talked me into trying out for it. As I got older, I got more comfortable around my family but not really open around strangers. My cousin wanted to audition and she gave me enough courage to go for it as a joke. She would always say I’m funny, but I wanted to show people that. 

Of course, not thinking I was going to get it or anything. Then, I get one of the star roles in the play. I’m sitting there thinking, "What the hell am I doing? [laughs] What did I get myself into? This was supposed to be a joke.' Then my mom got wind of it and she said, 'Well, since you did it, you have to commit to it. You got people counting on you.'

Basically, I get it as a joke and found out it was kind of therapeutic and releasing and fun to get up there, not be yourself but be someone else. People actually enjoy it.

Opening night of the play I was really, really nervous and scared. As soon as the lights came on and I got on stage, it was like an out-of-body experience. There was an agent in the audience, I got rave reviews, they loved me and the character I played. It was funny, exciting, things like that. 

A few days later, the agent asked me to come and talk to him with my mom. They thought I had a special talent and they wanted to sign me. 

My first job in the industry was a golf commercial with Tiger Woods back in the early 2000s. That was pretty awesome.

My agent at the time told my mom that it may be more beneficial for my career and there may be more opportunity in California. My mom and I came out here and said we'd give it six months. And in those six months, I booked a lot of TV, commercials. 

Then we said we'd give it two years and in those two years, that’s when John Q came about. At the time, I didn’t know exactly what I was a part of. But it wasn’t about how big it was, it was just fun. That was the important part. 

I was looking through your history and one of them was an episode of Friends from 2001. Behind Seinfeld, that's one of the biggest TV shows. There you are at such a young age at such a big set with big stars. What do you remember from being on that set?

Keep in mind, Friends, I was 12 or 13 around that time when I did that episode. I was very aware of what Friends was, I just didn’t know how big it was. To me, a 12-year-old kid, I knew it was a TV show I've seen plenty of times, I just didn’t know the phenomenon behind it. 

That's one of the greatest experiences I'll cherish forever. Nobody there had any -- you'd seem looking from the outside in that it'd it such an overwhelming, big experience, nerves. I’m honest with you, it was a testament from the stars, everyone from the top the bottom of how they carried themselves. 

Everyone carried themselves as if they were still doing the first episode of Season No. 1. 

One thing I found out they do for every episode, anybody who acts on the show, they do a curtain call for main stars and guest stars. You feel you are part of the family or you're no better or worse than them. It's all such a loving experience and I'll cherish that forever. 

Jennifer Aniston -- all of them were amazing but I did a scene with her and she’s one of the most beautiful, most amazing souls of people out there in the world. Nothing but love for her.

Do you remember much from the audition process for getting that part?

It started with my agent calling my mom saying we have a role as a trick-or-treater for Daniel and it's for a show Friends. I think this was back when Kinkos was around [laughs]. My mom would go to Kinkos to download scripts and print them out. Then, we would rehearse them, go over them.

Sometimes I would get coached for auditions. I can’t remember if I did for this one or not. It's a good bet that I did.

I remember the first time I went in and the audition was with me and the casting director. They ate it up, loved it. They called us back and that was the funny experience. There were like 15 more people in the room that day. That was such a drastic change of having two people in the room to the second time of 15. I just remembered to do the same thing I did the first time. 

I felt good about it. I want to say within the next hour, my agent called me and said they wanted me for it. It was a good day. 

(Forward to 21:39 for Smith's scene)

One other big role that came afterward was the Bernie Mac Show, the pilot episode. You got to spend some time with Bernie, got to run out, hug him, had some fun lines as well. What do you remember from that experience? 

A funny story about that whole episode. I had auditioned for the pilot and I went all the way to the network, which is the final audition for the producers, directors, writers, everybody to see if you’re right for the character. 

Though I didn’t get the main role, they liked me so much, they offered me a part in the pilot which is what you guys saw. That was just another humbling experience. Bernie Mac, rest in peace, God bless his soul, he was one of the greatest entertainers there was. He was such a down-to-earth, humbling soul and a great guy to meet and be around.

He said he loved life, loved what he did. He passed that onto everything he did. He's a legend in himself and I’m just humbled to have met and worked with him. 

We lost him about 10 years ago now and you yourself have grown as a person. You actually got to work with him as a young boy on set. How has your perception changed of Bernie Mac?

I don’t necessarily know if my perception of him has changed other than the fact of me now growing up and seeing somebody who was dedicated. Now seeing how hard it is and how much passion and drive you have to have to be successful. 

Not so much my perception has changed but my admiration has grown for him. To see where he came from and the success he had, where he was heading. If anything more, admiration and more respect and love toward him and his career and everything he accomplished while he was with us.

And what came after that was certainly among your biggest parts people remember and that is as Michael Archibald in John Q. A fairly fascinating film, huge production and you’re 11, 12 years old in the middle of it. The first thing about that is the audition process, did this differ from past parts?

This one actually did. It came before the Friends or Bernie Mac thing. The movie came out later with the whole production process, but this was different because it was my first time experiencing anything quite like this. The first audition was a casting director and associate, reading the lines. 

Again, I didn’t know, and I don’t think my mom knew exactly how big this was and what it entailed. I just knew it was a feature film. It was another project for me to break out of my shell. I stayed in there longer than usual for most of my auditions. I took that as a good sign, it was a good feeling. They wanted to talk to me a bit.

I want to say a few hours after the audition, my agent called and said I had a call-back. Great, that’s awesome. The next day, it wasn’t quite one to 15 people, the second was probably five to six people in the room. People laughed, people felt it, things like that. 

This time when we left the room, we couldn’t even get to the car without getting a phone call from an agent saying they wanted me to read with Denzel [Washington] in two days and go from there. I knew who he was, but I didn’t know Denzel, you know? I didn’t exactly know who he was. 

She was all excited. She was like, "Oh, you get to meet Denzel!' And I’m like, 'OK? Cool, that's great.' 

Two days later, I was expecting it to be a bigger room... same smaller room, there were about 20 people I kid you not. I didn’t know there were that many people who could fit in that room. People standing against the wall, standing on chairs, sitting on other people's laps. It was intimidating walking in, this room is officially a little box.

Denzel is sitting right there in front of me probably about a foot away. I walk in, he shakes my hand [says], 'Hey, how are you? I’ve heard a lot about you.' 

Keep in mind, I know who he is, I know he's an actor. I still don’t quite know how big of a moment this is or who I’m talking to exactly. it came across as very natural. I knew he was an adult and I had to respect him. But the fact he didn’t approach himself like that, didn’t make it seem that way, it wasn’t just work. he didn’t just go right to the audition, he wanted to talk to me, get to know me, what I’ve been up to, what I like, what I don’t like. 

From the moment we met, it was a natural bond.

We talked for a good 10, 15 minutes before we even read the lines. That flowed into me being comfortable and prepared with the lines. After we left, mom said, 'How'd it go, how'd it go, how'd it go?' I said, 'It was fine, I guess. Good, yeah, I feel good.' I couldn’t even get home without my agent calling saying, 'As soon as you walked into the room, Denzel knew you were his son. He wants you for the role. There was no question.'

For me, I was like, 'Great! That's awesome. Whoo hoo, another job.' But for my mom, I remember, she pulled over and started crying, was overcome with emotion. I thought I did something wrong, I didn’t know exactly what was going on. She was like, 'No, these are happy tears. I’m just so proud of you and so happy. This is a big moment in your life.'

What a sweet story. When it came to Michael as a character, there was a lot of character development throughout the movie. We learn your passion is body-building and early on you have fun scenes with Denzel and Kimberly [Elise, character's mother] in the car. It leads into the game where your condition surfaces. A various role, how do you feel you developed as an actor in those early scenes.

It's a process. It's three-and-a-half of filming. Before we started production and we started filming, about three weeks before in Toronto so we could get settled in and get comfortable to where we would be living. My, Denzel and Kimberly, we spent those two weeks before filming basically building character chemistry. Finding things I like, they like, where we come from. Spending time as a family so we could have that chemistry and it's not complete strangers hoping for the best.

That played a big part in developing the characters and also developing the chemistry you guys see on the screen.

It was a process, though. I think most actors will tell you that you do learn more and more about your characters every day. You may get lost in your character and how they may think about this situation or that. It makes it more believable, it comes across real and relatable. It doesn’t come across fake.

With the Make character, daily, it was finding new challenges and new ways to react to certain things. Opening my eyes up to a new world. It allowed me to get in the depths of who this kid was and how he would react. That goes all the way back to the first audition when you go through the script. That goes back to character breakdown and understanding who this person is.

Click here for Part II with Daniel E. Smith

ANDY LUTHER REMEMBERS DARK KNIGHT ROLE, HEATH LEDGER & ACTING CAREER -- Part II

In the second and final part of our conversation with Dark Knight actor Andy Luther, we dive deeper into the hostage scene between himself and Heath Ledger, how his thoughts on the film has changed the past 10 years and what he's up to today. 

The Dark Knight was directed by Christopher Nolan and first saw light in July of 2008. To this day, the film has earned more than $1 billion and is ranked No. 4 in IMDb's list of greatest films in history.

CLICK HERE for Part I

NEW! Listen to full interview on our SoundCloud channel: CLICK HERE

Zach Catanzareti: Where were you two during that scene? It looked like a meat factory room?

Andy Luther: It was shot in Chicago at the old post office station. I believe it's being turned into condos now. It's an old, historical building. A lot of scenes were shot in that, I believe the bank scenes were shot in that building. The meat locker scene, it was basically on the second or third floor in a room they basically turned into a meat locker.

Was it just you two in the room? He turns around and starts talking to the camera. Did everyone else leave and let you guys work it out?

It was all essential people in the room. The director was in there, I don’t even know if the assistant director was in there, but sound people. Everybody essential. That’s what’s happened after we did our first run-through -- I think some people cleared out because they thought, 'OK, this is going to be an interesting scene.' So, they wanted it quiet. I don’t know if Heath was like, 'Hey, you can see the crew when I flip the camera back.'

But those are things we worked out in the first take. By the second or third, everyone was on point. After they told me not to worry about camera angles or this stuff, I was like, 'Fine, I’ll let them do their jobs and I'll do mine.' That's what I’ve learned about being a professional, you have to know your role, stay in your lane and let everybody do their job. That’s how something great happens.

What kind of camera was used? I guess a small, homemade amateur camera?

Yeah. I don’t know if you’ve ever seen the documentary on Heath Ledger where it shows him going around with a video camera all the time. It was very much that. He definitely knew his way around a video camera, shooting stuff, playing with me while he was filming. It was really quite fun. It was like a psychotic person grabbed a video camera and was like, 'I’m going to have as much fun with this tied-up person as I possibly can.'

His most captivating line was when he yelled "LOOK AT ME." I was looking at YouTube comments earlier and everyone was like, 'THAT’S what got me. Of the entire scene, it was when he yelled 'LOOK AT ME.'" When it came to you and that line, you looked terrified. You did it perfectly. I guess that was almost real, right?

Yeah. In the script, it was bolded, the 'look at me' when he yells that. Like I said, we had gone through it a couple times, but the first couple times he would [say quietly] 'look at me, look at me.' I just didn’t look at him. It says [in the script] that it's big so I’m going to wait until he does something to make me do something.

Man, he made me wet myself [laughs]. When he was like 'LOOK AT ME,' I was like, 'Woah!' That’s what I’m saying that if you focus on your attention, things happened. To me, it felt spontaneous.

He really led that scene. It was fun to work with him. It unfortunate what happen to him but he was a great person and very generous and gracious in that whole scene. In the trailer, the whole experience I had with him, even afterward, he walked down with you the entire way.

It was pretty humbling. Its great to be at this level because everyone is doing what they love and they’re so nice. I’ve also been told that is a rare experience on a set, even a typical Chris Nolan set.

Everyone knew it was a great script, a great movie. It's a superhero movie but I like to think it was one of the best ones.

I bet your family and friends have watched that scene. Have they given you any feedback on what they thought about that scene? I bet they’ve never seen you in a scene quite like that.

It was a big deal for a long time, people still talk about it. I’m on a construction crew now, I run a crew and every once in a while, people will find out about it and I get random people coming up behind me going, 'Oh my God! That was you!'

To me, it's always surprising because I thought it was such a small scene. It's nice to know, at some point in my career, I impacted people or made some kind of dent. For you to say it was a turning point in the film is how I felt about it, but to hear people say it, it's like, 'Oh OK, maybe that was a pretty cool thing.'

Aaron Eckhart once told Larry King -- he was in a scene with Heath in the hospital -- and how Heath would kind of walk around his bed and make weird noises and do weird things with his face and hands. Was he in character a lot around you?

Only when filming. I remember -- this is kind of a faded memory now. But when we started our scene, they were like 'Action!' And all I hear is this, 'WAAAAAAAAA WAHHH WAHHH WAHHHHHH"

"And then, next thing you know, here comes the Joker."

But before that, it was Heath Ledger talking to you in Joker makeup, you know?

As far as him staying in character the entire time, that may have developed along the movie, I can’t speak to that. But for me, he seemed to be able to go back and forth quite simply. When an actor's performance develops, the more they get into it. That stuff may have happened.

During the scene, I’m sure if you were able to watch all the outtakes, you would see him pulling those antics and things like that.

But yeah, he did kind of like a weird spiral-dance thing and next thing I knew, he was coming across the room to put a camera in my face. It reminded me to when I was younger and I used to take big risks. This set, I was just sitting in a chair with my arms tied behind my back, so there’s not a lot of movement. But how cool it would be to be at that level and be able to make those kinds of choices and have that confidence.

I feel it would be tough to do that when you’re working with someone like him. You said you’re watching him going 'Wow.' All we do is watch, but you were there in person. What was it like working with someone who was so committed?

As an actor in the moment, you try not to get lost in that kind of stuff. You analyze it retrospectively. In the moment, you don’t. What it does to you as an actor in the moment, it helps you raise your game. If this guy is going to take this seriously, I’m going to take seriously. it becomes a tennis ball and the end is great work.

After we did our eight to 11 takes, there was a gasp that went out of the room because everybody was confident they had it. But Heath wanted to keep doing it again and again and again. Chris Nolan was like, 'Yeah, we got what we wanted, you guys can play around with whatever you want and if something comes out of it, we'll keep it. Right now, we're confident, you can stop whenever you want.'

As far as watching Heath -- once you’re in the cast, you’re invited back, you can get on set and watch people work. I did that one time, it was the night they were flipping the truck over and I caught the end of him doing his machine gun scene, the truck flips over and the Batman is coming at him.

I was like, 'Wow, this character has really evolved in a terrifying way.' The way he was committed to it, you could tell his confidence had gotten stronger as well.

To be in those shoes after Jack Nicholson. Everybody was comparing him to Jack Nicholson before he even got a chance to show them his work. To see him rise above that and focus on his Joker was enlightening to me as an actor. You’ve got to do your thing.

Was that the only scene you saw before the final product?

Yeah, I didn’t see the final product. They had a screening for the crew in Chicago and I went and saw that. I didn’t even watch my performance the first time until it came out on DVD and I could watch it by myself. I didn’t know I was one of those actors, but there were some things I thought in retrospect, 'Oh, it would’ve been cool if I did this or that.' The end of the day, I accepted it was a decent performance people responded to.

There was one shot when he set the camera down on my legs, I was doing the screaming and things like that and that was the only direction Nolan gave me, he said, 'If you’re conscience of him setting the camera down by your feet, it would be great to see while you’re screaming to see your legs do something.' I sat there like a rock, I didn’t even think about that.

That was a lesson to me on set. You have to act with your whole body. The more you get captivated in that make-believe world, the better off you’ll be as an actor.

Since then, unfortunately, we lost Heath the January before Dark Knight came out. How did you find out about his death?

People texted me because I wasn’t a big Facebook person at the time, social media person. They texted me saying, 'Hey, did you hear about Heath?' I found out pretty quick, but I found out when everyone else did, I didn’t have any inside-scoop or anything.

I was very saddened by it because he had become a hero to me. The way he treated me, how gracious he was, just what a nice human being he was. He really had this aura that made you think everything was going to be OK and everything you did was great.

Damn, it's too bad that his life ended so short because I feel he had so much more to give. Instead of the Joker being one of the biggest things he did, it could’ve sunk back and been one of the smaller things because I really think he was on a trajectory to do pretty amazing things.

When did you first meet him?

I met him in the makeup trailer, I want to say June 14. I was in a buzz that day because I had my costumes fitted previously and they were like, 'You know, you’re going to be with Heath. He's in the trailer right now.' And I said, 'That’s OK, I’m not here to get autographs, I’m just here to do my job.'

I just sat there, got my makeup on. It took a while because they experimented with a few different things. They had to take down the makeup in how beat-up I was. Heath was talking about his garage band, skateboarding, things like that.

He had his own makeup artist and at one point he got up, walked over and said, 'Oh mate, they’re really doing a number on you.'

And I go, 'Yeah, I think you’re doing this to me!'

And he goes, 'Oh, that’s great mate, you want to go have a smoke?'

I said no and the makeup guy kind of hit me on the shoulder [kind of saying] if an actor like that invites you out, you should go out. After we got our make-up on, we had a little session before we went out.

It was business. After he had his make-up on, you could tell the mode was starting to swing to focusing on the scene. There was so much stuff happening in the background and they really minimized that room for us. It was a special moment for me. I look back and I know it was cool that I got to experience that even at the 1/10th of what I could’ve if I pursued acting. I’m glad I had that experience.

Did you have any experiences with Christian Bale, Christopher Nolan as well?

Yeah, Chris Nolan, too. His attitude and Heath's were one of glee, you could tell they were enjoying doing the film. Cillian Murphy is someone I got to spend a lot of time with, I thought I spent the most time with him on a set.

I loved watching his work now because I actually got to spend an entire day with that guy on a set. He would tell me, they’d give you director chairs to sit in and I told him that I was too small on the totem pole and he goes, 'Hey mate, that's your chair over there. You should probably sit in it. And it's OK to ask for things, if you want water, let they get water because they want to do something.'

We were both smokers at the time and we would have a couple smokes. He'd ask me, 'So, what is your experience like with this?' And he told me about his family, he had a boy at the time. It was just interesting.

And Christian Bale, to him, I have to say I was starstruck at the time. He is an incredible actor and someone I really looked up because of his style and how he gets into things. It was intimidating working with him, but he was very professional. I didn’t have the personal interaction with him, he had a lot of places to be.

I got to work with him in that scene, we did that take four or five times. [I say] 'What the difference between you and me?' [And he says] 'I’m not wearing hockey pads.' Those things where you can barely hear each other because you’re so far apart.

All around, it was a great experience. It's taken years to process all the little nuances that went on. It was a great opportunity for me and an experience I'll never forget.

That was my final question about how you’ve processed this. Its been 10 years and how your thoughts of your experience have changed over the years. Does it seem like a second life to you?

First of all, it doesn’t seem like 10, 11 years. He shot it in 2007, so it's been 11 years. Its such a popular movie and the funny thing is we're still getting residual checks for it. I’ve been told for years that those are going to run out and they keep coming.

Having that big of a thing happen in your career so early, right out of college, it put things in perspective for me. I got to see the hills I had to climb at the age I was. 'What can I actually get out of this?' I have always compared my other experiences to that one, but the ones I had after that, I brought more confidence to the set, more confidence in me and my choices.

It's something I look back on fondly. I’ve stepped away from it, I’m a character actor. I know I’m a utilitarian actor and I feel I could step right back into it if I want on my terms. I don’t have any spouses or children so my debt is all on me. It got to the point where I knew I had another career that I knew could take off.

Is that one of the reasons you chose to step away, to do something new?

I had a multi-million-dollar opportunity come my way and it required all my attention. Now, I have the responsibility of 30 + workers, I run an installation group and it s requires more of my time. It's a way to get some security.

It does tie back to the whole Dark Knight experience because when I got out of grad school, I had that feeling of security. I didn’t have any debt, I was able to focus 100 percent on my acting. The result was the scene people say turned the mood, so to speak. It turned the mood of the whole picture. I felt like a trained actor coming out.

I have an opportunity again to do that with my business. Everything I’ve learned through acting, I take with me every day, even if it's just recognizing when someone is upset, it affects your life.

I guess you’re a big movie watcher now and some sports as well?

Yeah, I’m a big Cleveland Browns fans, Cleveland Indians fan. All my sports teams are Cleveland, you can share in my misery there. Film is something to this day, it relaxes me. Post-retirement, one of the things on my bucket list is to take improv training in Chicago, audition and try to go through those two-year programs. Improv is something I’ve always wanted to do, I was told that was a skill I already had.

That is something I will go back to someday and maybe I’ll do improv comedy for a nursing home or something when I’m older [laughs].

(Below is some of Andy's work in 2013 and '14)

ANDY LUTHER REMEMBERS DARK KNIGHT ROLE, HEATH LEDGER & ACTING CAREER -- Part I

The Dark Knight was directed by Christopher Nolan and first saw light in July of 2008. To this day, the film has earned more than $1 billion and is ranked No. 4 in IMDb's list of greatest films in history.
One actor who played a role in the DC Comic hit was Andy Luther, better known as the guy who was tied to a chair by Heath Ledger’s 'Joker.' 

However, Luther was more than that.

In part one of our two-part interview for The Catch-Up, Zach Catanzareti spoke with 45-year-old Luther April 10, 2018, to discuss his dramatic role as Brian Douglas -- also known as "Fake Batman" -- in the Dark Knight film and his work with the Christian Bale, Cillian Murphy and specifically, the late Heath Ledger. We also dive into his childhood, beginning of his acting interests in high school and, later, how acting experience has affected his life today.

NEW! Listen to full interview on our SoundCloud channel: CLICK HERE

Zach Catanzareti: Let’s start with where it started for you in Twin Lake, Michigan. Grew up in the 1970s, did you have any siblings? How was your childhood growing up?

Andy Luther: I've got kind of the Brady Bunch of a family. My parents were divorced when I was around 7 years old, my oldest brother is my adopted brother Paul, then Matt my full-blood brother. Then I Have a half-brother whose 34, then a step-brother. So yeah, the Brady Bunch. I have two step-sisters as well. 

Was acting a part of your childhood? Was it something you strived for at a young age?

No, it was something I got into in high school. I was involved in athletics and it was kind of an after-school thing I got involved in. I joined the high school musical in around 11th grade. I just pursued it loosely after that. I really picked it up and started thinking about it professionally when I was 19 or 20.

I moved up to New York City when I was 22 years old and that’s where I got my formal acting training. Before that, I was just doing community theatre and school plays.

Was theatre what you were really aiming for at that age or were you looking at the big film productions?

No, it had always been theatre for me. For me, it was about the craft of acting. This really took place in NYC when I got my training at a company called the Acting Studio Inc. That’s where I started getting an appreciation for the craft and how to break down moments, character analysis.

What was your first role in any type of acting? Was it in theatre?

I would say that was in NYC and it was a character called Charles. That was at the acting studio, they had an off-shoot company called the Studio Lab. That's where their current students could do performance-based things. The play with Charles was called 'Heat,' that was the first graduation project we did. 

How much did you learn? For me, when you do something for the first time, you study it and then you finally get to do it. How much did you really learn when it came to that first project?

I always looked back on my training in NYC at the acting studio, I consider that to be the foundation of all my acting principles and techniques. I’ve always fallen back on that. Before, I was just ad-libbing and being funny and performative. 

Something they always told us during training was, 'We're going to give you all the tools you need to become an actor but you’re going to spend the next 20-25 years learning to master these tools.' I was always very stressed to hang onto everything I learned, keep your notes. These are all things I’ve always done.

You mentioned being funny. Was humor something you aimed towards or were you the more serious role?

It's funny, in life I’m always the guy cracking jokes in the classrooms, but the roles I tend to get are more serious roles. I never got cast in many comedic roles, I’ve done them before and have had a great time, but they’ve definitely been the smaller percentage of what’s I’ve had in my career.

That will definitely lead me right into the Dark Knight. All that experience growing up really seemed to pay off. You had a fascinating experience with the movie but how did it really start for you? When did you decide you wanted to go for that movie?

Well, after I went to the acting studio I went back to school at the age of 27. I was going to become a teacher at that point. I went through some personal things, we had called off our marriage and I was 27 and forced to figure out, 'OK, what am I going to do with my life?' 

I went back to school and got into Western Michigan University in the Communications program. Within a few semesters I got a scholarship for the theatre program, so I kept going after theatre. From there, I went to grad school and that’s when I really started to look at my career as professional and taking advantage of the opportunity.

I get to Chicago, I was able to get an agent and they started sending me out on auditions and that was one of the first ones I went out on. It was called 'Rory's First Kiss' because they had a code to change the title to protect it. 

I didn’t expect anything out of it, so I was very loose in the audition, I tried to experiment with a lot of things. They actually didn’t read me for the character they called me in for. Brian Douglas was a different character. They said, 'We want to look at you for this role.' The rest is history.

I was going to ask if you tried for other parts, but I guess they didn’t let you know what you were going for. How tough was that not knowing what they were eying for you?

In film, when you’re doing the auditions you have to do all the work and the backstories and everything you’re going to bring to the actual audition. I knew at that stage in my career I was going to be doing a series of one-liners, this is what I considered to be one of those. 

The characters I went for were supposed to be scheduled for one day on set. After I got the Brain Douglas casting call, they said, 'Congratulations, you got the role,' next thing I knew I was going to be on set for three days. I was like, 'Oh my goodness, this is going to be a little meatier than I thought.'

Then we started to dissect things with the Joker and I was actually going to have a scene with Christian Bale, Cillian Murphy. I don’t like spending a lot of time analyzing 'What if I got this role?' because so many times -- I’ve gone out for thousands of auditions and got nothing. You get so used to not hearing anything back. If you fuss over every role you don’t get, you’d be psychologically insane. 

You just become a professional auditioner. I think it's the professional way to go about it: go in, do your job and leave. The phone call is up to your agent.

When you realized you were going to be a part of the movie, were you more nervous than usual? This was just a massive movie that blew up.

Yeah, I started to think about that. if I have any regrets, its that I allowed those kinds of thoughts to creep in. I went out and did the scene with Heath Ledger, I guess the video portion of it. I was still kind of in that mode of doing my job. 

But the day I was on set with Cillian Murphy and Christian Bale, it was a longer day. I had a lot more time to think -- there were some doubts that crept in, I got nervous. I was the quiet guy sitting in the back like, 'Holy cow, I’m sitting on this big production film and working with Christopher Nolan.' 

It affected me a little bit, but I like to think I came through it. Hindsight is always 20/20, 'Ah, I should’ve done this.' But everyone seems to be happy with the product. It also taught me that if you do your job, you go home and you don’t think about it because it's down and there’s nothing you can do about it. 

That opening scene for you was high-action, you got a couple lines, fighting, gunfire. How difficult was it to balance everything that was going on?

That was done by stunt people, most of it. Physically for me as Andy, started sitting next to Cillian Murphy. They shot that stuff the day before we were on set, they told us very little about the action that had gone on. 

Again, they were keeping the script very close to their chest. They give you a brief rundown and what’s going on prior to this, you put that stuff in. I think I was on set for a full day that day. Basically, we were waiting for light most of the time. 

It was simple, [laughs] I wish I had something more interesting to tell you but I was sitting there and the piece they had me sit on was actually was piece of concrete so my legs fell asleep during that whole thing. It took about two hours and you start to get up and your legs are asleep. I think we did four or five takes and that was it, we were done. 'Well, alright, I guess that's it.' 

After that was your big part, arguably the most disturbing scene in the movie. It was known to silence movie theaters across the country, and that was the hostage scene you and Heath. First off, I want to know what that early process was like developing this scene. I heard Heath helped direct that scene, what was the early development process of getting that together?

How it happened was we [Health and I] had some time in the makeup trailer beforehand. We didn’t talk about the film at all. Its one of those things where we walked in and you’re supposed to know what you’re doing. For that scene, like I said, I was still confident, I had my backstory figured out of who Brian Douglas is. 

Prior to the movie coming out, I started to look into who this guy was and you could find very little about him. Basically, I just made up a backstory, basically of that this guy must have a family at home and this might be the last time they’re going to see him.

I started to think about things like that, pulling family members because you know I have a big family -- to have that conversation with yourself. Next thing you know, they yell action and here comes Heath Ledger with a video camera in your face. You just try to stay focused on your intentions. 

I go back to my acting training in NYC, in that moment, you cling to what you know best. I had been out of acting school at least 15 years by then. It was true, you start to pull on your old tools that are habit. 

One of the things I was very proud of was -- there was no screaming in the script whatsoever. That was something I put in, I added the fear to it. It's easy if you take the words off the face to make it seem like this guy thinks he's Batman, or best buddies with Batman. I took a different route to it and you could feel an energy change on set. Everybody got really excited.

I asked them when they were re-miking, 'You know, I want to do some vocalizations at the end of this.' And they go, 'Yeah, whatever you want to do, just go ahead of do it.' I said, 'Well, it might involve some screaming and it may blow out your mic.' [They said] 'Don't worry about that, you keep focusing on the acting.'

The really cool thing was after we finished that scene, we were walking out of the room and Heath kind of escorted me out. 

He was like, 'Hey, what did you think about that scene?'

And I was like, 'Oh, you’re doing amazing work' That typical phrase you give those type of actors. 

He said, 'No mate, I was talking about you. What do you think about your work?' 

I was like, 'This is my first time on a large set like this, I hope I did it justice.' 

He said, 'You did really great work man, you should be proud, mate.'

In retrospect -- while it's happening you don’t register a lot of that stuff. You're trying to get through the process as professionally as you can. At the time, I thought I could use this as a springboard to something else. It did in Chicago, but I never pursued film and kept my nose to the grindstone. I never saw myself a fit for L.A.

Heath's performance really took off. I don’t know if it was his first day on set, but I know it was very early in the process of shooting the film. He was very excited about it, too. It was a feather in my cap to say the least. It's something I look back on fondly.

Did you two practice the scene together? Were there multiple takes?

There was the script, the lines we both spoke were all scripted. But we went right into it. It was one of those things where they filmed the rehearsal. I'd like to think they kept the second or third take -- I think we did eight because we kept experimenting with where the camera sets down, how we can convey the story. We played with it a lot. 

A lot of that stuff ends up on the cutting room floor but it was a fun experiment. You could tell Heath wanted to work on that scene. I want to say we did eight takes, it could have been up to 11. 

They kept a lot of the spontaneous things. We didn’t have a lot of personal conversation or character study on-set -- he brought his work, I brought mine. And we just kept filming it as many different ways.

Do you think that is the best way to do it? Watching that scene, you did a great job, you looked terrified, he was in his character. It seemed more natural that there wasn’t as much planning into it.

I think that’s the best way any time. That’s what captivates me when I’m watching stuff, when something spontaneous happens. When you try to plan out a reaction, it falls flat. That’s the thing that catches people is surprise and if you can surprise yourself as an actor then you don’t have to worry about getting the audience watching. 

The rest falls in place. That’s where other films hit the mark -- they’re trying to get a specific reaction out of an actor. They’re coaching the person to that direction.

CLICK HERE for Part II

TYLER HENDRICKSON [YOUNG DOUG] RECALLS EXPERIENCE ON KING OF QUEENS - Part II

(Photo courtesy of Tyler Hendrickson)

In the second and final part of my interview with King of Queens child actor Tyler Hendrickson, we wrap up his final episodes on the show and talk about what he's up now nowadays.

CLICK HERE for Part I

Zach Catanzareti: Your second-to-last episode was “Mentalo Case”. You got to yell ‘Hotdog!’ after playing with the Mentalo. How was that one for you?

Tyler Hendrickson: That one was really cool because - I know in that scene they were going for the southern thing. They made the joke with the crick. So, my dad’s side is from Tennessee and it’s easy to throw a little southern accent. I think with the whole crick thing, I tried to give a little bit of that – put a little ‘W’ in Dawg. [Laughs] That’s why I tried to play that up a little bit.

Not make it the most authentic as flashbacks, because in that scene, [Doug] is playing up the nostalgia of Mentalo. Carrie kind of see’s through that.

That was fun to get to do and it was a little bit of a challenge with the doll. There was a button on the back that you turn the lights on and off with. That was another piece that you had to keep in mind. It’s probably tough to explain but I had to hold the button in and then let it go in order for the eyes to turn on. So, there was a little technical side that I had to keep in mind in that scene. I think it ended up looking really good - and I guess that episode is going to be on TV since it’s a Christmas episode.

That was a really fun one. My favorite thing about that episode, it has nothing to do with my part, but the final scene where it goes back and forth from the kitchen and the living room and everyone’s fighting. The blocking that it required to set that up and then actually see it come off, was incredible. It was a long process but I think everything down to the final moment where Holly sneaks out the front door with her earrings was shot perfectly and staged well.

From someone who appreciates the technical side of filming movies and TV, that was the most educational part by far.

Did you get to keep the Mentalo? Did you ever get to keep anything from the show?

I did not get to keep Mentalo, I did not get to keep Mental man, either. I actually did get an IPS hat. There was a stack of them in a wardrobe and I just asked ‘You know, you have six or seven of these, would it be OK if I had one as a souvenir?’ So, I did get an IPS hat, which I’m happy to have because I’m pretty sure they haven’t been sold. I’m guessing they’re pretty limited supply.

I got a few coffee mugs just as part of a gift basket or something. And then one of the years at the holiday party...

"I got a waffle maker with the King of Queens logos, so you could make King of Queens waffles." 

That was pretty cool, you could burn in the logo and everything.

I got a few nick-knacks and keepsakes but, as far as props I used, I didn’t take anything with me. The IPS hat was the biggest thing I wanted to have. Of course, I kept my scripts and got autographs from everyone.

Your final episode was “Dog Shelter” where you actually had to dress up as Wonder Woman. Was that a tough thing to do on national TV or were you like ‘Ah, what the hell, I’ll do it’?

I really, honestly, had no hesitation. I guess it’s probably weird because kids that age – I was in eighth grade – those kids are insecure. But for me, it goes back to the whole mentality of being willing to do whatever they wanted me to do. They thought it would be funny for me to dress up as Wonder Woman? Let’s do it.

I viewed it as, I’m a guest on their show and I was very happy to be there. I didn’t have an ego on what I would or wouldn’t do. I was more than happy to do it. I think it flowed well with the episode and it was a necessary part of it. That was custom-made for me – I remember getting fitted for that. So, it wasn’t a costume they bought that was pre-made, it was designed and made just for me. That was pretty special – to have a custom wardrobe.

Like I said, I wasn’t insecure about any of that.  

"It would’ve been hard for somebody to make fun of me for anything I did on television."

I was fully prepared to – as the kid who wanted to make fun of me for wearing a Wonder Woman costume, I would kindly ask what he was going to be on television. And that would’ve been the end of it.

There were some issues with some of the other kids throughout the history of the show – maybe they weren’t as responsive to some of the costumes they wanted them to wear. So, they appreciated the fact that I was willing to do whatever they wanted.

People do ask me that – if I was weird about wearing that. And I tell them ‘no, it’s there show. I’m there to do a job and whatever they want me to do.’ I thought it was funny.

So, they didn’t trick you and tell you it was an Uncle Sam costume?

[Laughs] No, I knew the whole time. That’s what I wanted to give a big smile because I wanted to sell it like I was fired up, there’s no doubts in my mind. I didn’t want to have it be like ‘Oh, I was questioning this or wasn’t sure.’ I’m here as Uncle Sam though everyone else’s can see it’s a dress.

I wanted to be completely bought-in and be as excited as I could be. And if I remember correctly, it was the same exact spot as ‘Eat a Pellet, Make a Pellet’. We went to the same part of the lot at Sony Studios and shot at the same place. If you watch those two back-to-back, you’ll see it’s the same. Not to give away too much but its been off the air long enough so nobody will be mad at me.

Looking back on all your episodes, you had such a great opportunity to be on set with many amazing actors. What advice, or moments, did you have with cast members? What sticks out to you?

The first thing I tell people when they ask me about being on set is how dedicated Jerry Stiller was to everything he did. He always had a script in his hand. He was always going over his lines, going over what he needed to do - and it showed me what a professional he was. It didn’t have to be the biggest part of the particular scene, but he was going to nail it.

"He was so focused on what he had to do and I took that to heart."

Here’s a guy who had an amazing career and had so much longevity, and it’s probably because he worked so hard and dedicated himself so much to getting it perfect. I took a lot of guidance from that.

He was incredible to me in the moments we passed. He said some kind words and thought I did a great job. That meant a lot just because of what a legend he is. That’s one of the biggest things I took away – how much time and effort he put into his role.

So, you did get to meet Jerry? You got to talk to him a couple times?

Yes, I talked to Jerry a few times. Just briefly – I knew he was so locked in and focused that I didn’t want to take up too much of his time. I was able to talk with everyone – they were all very supportive. Victor Williams, who played Deacon, his thing that he always told me was ‘Don’t forget me when you get famous.’ He would always say that to me and it’s like ‘Yeah, but, you’re already famous? What do you mean? [laughs]’

Everybody – it seemed like they went out of their way to make me feel at home and part of the cast. Even though I was only there, maybe, once a season, they always made me feel like I was part of it. Everyone was always willing to come up and say ‘hi’. It was really helpful going into all of my scenes, I felt like I was part of something.

Did you have any interest or opportunities to act again after that? Was there reason why that was the big thing for you?

I did have other auditions and things for some movies and TV shows after that. I think eventually, I just focused on school. At that point, I was in eighth grade and then I get into high school. I went to a really competitive academic school, it’s a really rigorous program for college prep over at Long Beach Polytechnic – I’m not overstating them, it really is one of the best high school programs in the country.

At that point, I made the decision to focus on school. My parents also got divorced so it made it a little more difficult for me to go and audition. They both had to work separately, the custody changed since they shared custody. That made it more difficult, and then getting me up to L.A., getting me out of school, doing all that – they had to take time off work to get me up there. It was really challenging on them.

I figured that acting is a fleeting thing, you never know if you’re going to make it or not – its incredibly competitive. I figured I should focus on my academics and getting to college, getting my degree. Then, if I wanted to pursue acting at a later date, it would always be there for me.

It was easier on the family, allowed me to focus on school. 

It would’ve been great to have a career as an actor. Maybe I could have done it. I don’t know. But I think I made the more sensible decision at the time and I really enjoyed my high school years. I’m happy with how life turned out professionally for me so I don’t really have any regrets.

But I do think about it sometimes. People ask me ‘Why did you stick with it?’ But I was able to get my creativity out. I took theater in high school, so I was still able to perform – just not on nearly as big a stage [as King of Queens].

Fast-forwarding to today, any time one of your episodes come on, what goes through your head?

It’s funny. I love it, I still get some residuals any time the show comes on. I still get gas money every few months [laughs]. It’s not a ton of money but it’s something. I’m constantly reminded of the fact I was able to do this.

When the show comes on – I do really search for it necessarily. I don’t go through the week and be like ‘OK, when is it going to come on?’ if I’m scrolling through the guide and I see King of Queens come on, I'll check and see if it’s one of my episodes. Maybe I'll text someone I recently talked to about it and tell them to turn to this channel to watch one of my episodes.

It’s always fun to relive that part of my life. I’m excited that it’s still on TV. So many people enjoy the show.

It is a very popular show. I see you got fan mail from Germany a while ago. How cool was that?

Yeah, that was pretty special. I was blown away. I don’t know how they got my address [laughs] but it was pretty sweet. Nobody really writes letters anymore – that was the first thing I was taken back on. A lot of people will find you on Twitter or Facebook, and that’s the way I would do it. That’s the easier way. But to actually take the time to write the letter was special. It meant a lot.

I’ve been able to find one of my old scripts and I’m going to sign it and send it back to him. I thought that would be a little cooler than just a photo. It took some time to dig it up but I got it now. I'll make sure to send that – I don’t know how much its going to cost to ship to Germany but I guess we’ll find out [laughs].

But I appreciate the effort. I never thought I would inspire anyone in any way. That’s not what I set out to do or thought what I was doing at the time. Especially all these years later.

Speaking of inspiration, I saw that your father passed away more than 10 years ago. When it came to him during your childhood, I believe he got to see all your episodes, what do those memories mean to you?

It was one of the best times where I was able to make my dad proud. He was the most proud of me when I was acting and on TV. He made up postcards that have pictures of me on one side and details of the when the show was going to be aired on the other side. He would either hand them out to people or mail them out to family.

It was a quick way of saying ‘Hey, here’s when Tyler’s episode is going to be on. CBS, this date, this time. Be sure to tune in.’ That was cool. They would always have them with him so when we would be at a restaurant talking to our waiter, he would hand them his card. That was kind of embarrassing.

All in all, it was very special for him to see me on TV doing something that he never got to do or never thought I would do. That was a good way for us to bound. Sports was always a good way for us to bond, and then I was able to make him proud that way. This was a different way.

Both of my families are from back east, my dad is from Tennessee, my mom’s family is from Illinois. That was their way to see their nephew, this is what he looks like now, this is crazy. That was a special thing for him and he took a lot of pride in that.

I saw your profile picture on Facebook is of you and Rachel McAdams. She’s big time, so where did you get to see her?

Well, as much as Ill like to lie and say that we’re dating [laughs]. Because I’m in the Screen Actors Guild, I get invitations to movie screenings during award season. That’s really great, I vote in the SAG Awards every year. It was a screening for Spotlight last year, what a great movie that was, and she was going to be there for a Q&A.

I’ve always been a huge fan of hers so she is one of my favorites actors. I was really excited to meet her and I got lucky – she got mobbed by fans after the Q&A and as she was leaving I picked a side to where I wanted to stand. It turned out she left on the other side and I asked if she could take on photo and she was willing to do it. I almost fainted, it was overwhelming. What an opportunity to meet her and congratulate her on her success.

I’ve had the opportunity to meet some cool people through the SAG Awards. That’s another thing I’ve gotten from the show is to be able to be in the Screen Actors Guild.

I bet it makes you appreciate it even more when you get to meet people like that. I bet you look back on that little thing you did as a kid and realize how big it actually was.

And it makes you realize how big the acting world really is. That was one small part on a show that’s been off the air for maybe 10 years now. Yet, I’m still able to have these opportunities because I was young enough and have continued to stay as part of the Guild.

You realize that it’s a big, competitive industry. Sometimes I feel like I don’t belong because it was so long ago and that my career now is so different. I take it very seriously and have a lot of respect for acting and the process.

Final question, you seem to be doing things in sports. Recap what you do today and why you have a passion for what you do.

I’ve always loved sports from when I was a kid. My dad and I would go play baseball. I was playing tee-ball as soon as I could walk, playing soccer. I played almost any sport I could. That was something my brother, dad and I bonded over. I wasn’t the most athletic person, but at the same time, that’s what allowed me to play Kevin James, right? [laughs] If I was in great shape, I probably wouldn’t have been right for the part! [laughs] No disrespect to Kevin.

Sports were always fun but I knew I wouldn’t be good enough to make a career out of playing. I always wanted to be Jerry Maguire and to be involved in sports without being an athlete. I was in college and one of my buddy since preschool, his older brother, started sports website covering high school and college Long Beach sports.

I was planning to get a master’s degree in sports management. I would do highlights video, game stories. It was really a lot of fun – really rewarding work. I ended up doing that for five years – started as an intern and made my way up. Got responsibilities with editing and they started a sports page on one of the community papers.

We ended up working on the Long Beach Press Telegram. 

"That was special to me since I grew up reading that paper, so now being able to write sports in there was special."

Back in October of 2015, I started over at Long Beach State in the athletic department. That was my alma mater, I got my maters in 2013 and had did broadcasting for the women’s basketball. They reached out to me and wanted me to apply for a job in media relations. I was a difficult move but I knew I needed to make more money and health insurance.

It was a great opportunity and have been doing it for 14 months. It’s been a ton of fun, I work with women’s volleyball and tennis. It’s been a learning process, a lot of skills involved but its been great. To be able to give back to my alma mater has been great.

I get to travel with the teams and that’s fun. To be the voice for the Dirtbags baseball team has been very special. That’s my career ark and how everything shook out. It’s relationships with people, who you know and then when you get your foot in the door, you work hard and you never know who’s watching. 

TYLER HENDRICKSON [YOUNG DOUG] RECALLS EXPERIENCE ON KING OF QUEENS - Part I

(Photo courtesy of Tyler Hendrickson)

Following one of the most successful runs in American sitcom history, it's easy to point out the King of Queens stars who populated the screens every week from 1998 to 2007.

There are a few, however, who raise the question "Where are they now?" One of whom is Tyler Hendrickson, better known as young Doug.

Standing as a near-perfect reflection of Doug Heffernan's childhood figure, Hendrickson relished in his first major acting role, as he appeared in seven episodes from 2000 to 2003. From fighting Kevin James in a classroom, to singing Eat a Pellet, Make a Pellet to a pet guinea pig, Hendrickson warmed the hearts of millions in some of the show's most memorable scenes.

In a phone interview with Zach Catanzareti on December 23, 2016, Hendrickson, in a two-part series, talks about his experience on the show, behind-the-scenes moments and what he's up to now.

Zach Catanzareti: Starting out, when it came to your childhood, how did it all start for you? Where you grew up?

Tyler Hendrickson: I grew up in Long Beach, California, which is about 20 to 30 miles south of L.A. Born and raised here, I still live and work here every day. Very proud to be from Long Beach since it's always been home.

As far as the acting side of things, how it got started, it was sort of dumb luck to be honest. It was a cold call we got at our house from an acting school - they were just calling different houses asking if they had kids of a certain age. I was of a certain age, and I had always been an outgoing, funny kid so I was like 'Yeah, this could be something interesting.'

They offered classes down there - we went down there, took some classes and eventually, on the weekends, they had auditions for mangers and agents. So, one week I auditioned for a manager, I got a manager, she liked me and signed me up. Then I started going on auditions and eventually, it led to nothing too major but obviously, the King of Queens was the biggest thing I was ever able to do. That was eventually what it led to.

It was basically them cold-calling, trying to find people interested to going to this acting school and we were interested. It all unraveled from there.

When it came to acting, what was it that got your interest as a kid?

I was always a performer as a kid. My dad would always give me these funny things to say, so when we would go to a restaurant, doctor's office, dentist, whatever, I would have these little jokes I would say. I guess I enjoyed being in the spotlight a little bit and I always enjoyed making people laugh.

That was one of the things that drew me to it. I was kind of good at it and I didn’t mind being in the spotlight. A lot of kids are usually shy, but that was never my problem. I enjoyed being the life of the party - I’m still that way, but that was one of the things that drew me to it. I was already doing but it, obviously, it was to a broader audience and there was an opportunity be make money as well.

When it came to getting your spot with King of Queens, you said you had to audition for the role? Did they like how you looked? You looked very similar to Kevin James. Was that a part of it?

I’m sure the look was a big part of it. When you’re going for the younger version of a main character like that, they want people to know right away, they want to see the connection. They want to know 'OK, this is young Doug.'

I think that was a big part in it. I do think I did well in the audition. I always have an intuition when I walk out of an audition room if I felt like I got the part or not, based on how I feel like I did and the reaction from the room.

Both times, the original audition and the callback, where Kevin James was there for the second audition, so that made me extra nervous [laughs]. But after that, I felt very confident that I had gotten the part.

I think it was a combination. They were going for a specific look, but they wanted to someone who was comfortable and who could deliver on camera. I guess I must’ve done good on the audition [laughs]. I was fortunate to be able to fulfill the look and deliver with my best efforts on the acting side.

So, Kevin was there for your second audition. Did he give you any pointers or was he there just to watch?

He was there to watch, I don’t remember any specific pointers. It was a long time ago and I was pretty nervous so I was probably just thinking about not messing up the lines. I do remember that he was front and center right when I walked into the room - it was the first thing I noticed. That was a real shock to the system - this is a big moment in your life.

Funny thing about that second audition, there were two parts to what I was reading. I did the first part, got a really good reaction from the room, they thanked me and I left. I was walking down the hallway leaving the room and then someone stopped me and said 'Hey, wait, hold on! We forgot the second part.' So, then I had to go back after I thought I had finished and had to get back into that mode to do the second. That was a little twist on things. 

"Obviously, everything worked out."

Throughout the whole process, Kevin was really awesome. He always remembered my name and everything. I’m just a little kid so I get the sense that I’m on someone else's ground, I don’t really belong, I’m just this kid who comes in every once in a while. But he and the rest of the cast were always so receptive and welcoming. Made it a very easy working environment.

You knew who Kevin was at the time. The show had been on for about two years before your first episode, did you watch the show the first two years? Were you a fan?

Yes, I did watch the show. I wasn’t [a watcher] every week, but I remember it was on the lineup with 'Everybody Loves Raymond' and it was in the CBS prime-time spot. I knew the show, seen it and enjoyed it. After auditioning, then I really became a regular viewer. I have all the seasons now. I really increased my viewing once I auditioned.

I’m going to rundown each of your seven episodes and you can tell me your experience with each episode. Your first was "Whine Country" in 2000, you were in the RV watching a little TV show. What do you remember from your first episode?

I remember a lot. I remember being really nervous. It's a small part, that first episode, I really just say one word and laugh. I yell 'Coming!' and then I laugh at the TV. It's incredibly simple and it's so basic, you can’t mess it up.

I’m in fifth grade at the time, I’m 10, so I’m really nervous. It's my first time on a real, legit set. The RV is fake, obviously. You’re in there and you see the behind the scenes. I remember they have the bowl of Cheetos:

"I remember thinking, 'If I keep messing this up, I’m going to get to eat this whole thing of Cheetos.'"

Of course, I didn’t want to mess up. I remember going it the first time, feeling like I did a good job. The reaction was good. They wanted to do it again, which is pretty standard to have a couple of takes. I’m pretty sure we only did two takes and they were like 'I think we got it, I think we're good.'

So, there was so much energy in the room, at least for me since this was the biggest thing I had done.

 It was over and... that was it. I couldn’t believe it happened that fast. All the buildup and I was only sitting in the RV for three or five minutes. I had to wait months to actually see it air, that’s just the process. It was a lot of fun and I hoped I would get the opportunity to come back.

Your second show was "Departure Time" which had your most famous line in the 'Eat a Pellet, Make a Pellet" song. Whose idea was that song?

It was in the script, I remember the director of that episode, Rob Schiller, he directed a ton of episodes. He referred to that as a King of Queens classic. It was in the script and I remember them telling me to have fun with it and make it my own. So, I incorporated the dance with it and everything just to liven things up.

It was fun working with a guinea pig, actually having an animal handler there to make sure it didn’t run away from me. I guess one of the things they say in Hollywood is to never work with animals, but obviously, I said I would work with anything you would give me [laughs].

That one was a lot of fun, that started the trend of being the tag at the end of the show. I was able to do that on my episodes. That was my first and it became a standard for when I appeared on the show. It was cool to work outside on the lot on Sony studios. If I ever get in the studios again, I can walk to where that was shot.

At the time, or all these years later, do people still sing that song to you?

I have gotten messages from fans and stuff on Facebook. I have gotten 'Eat a pellet, make a pellet! That was pretty funny.' So, that is one of the memorable things I do get. My friends don’t necessarily quote the show, but they will bring it up or mention it to people.

If someone were to quote something to me from the show, it would be that. That is the line that gets most remembered.

Your next show was "Veiled Threat" which was probably my personal favorite, when young Carry falls on you and you almost choke to death. What was that scene like?

That was cool to be able to actually work with other actors. the first two I was by myself and felt a little isolated. But this was a chance to work with other people. That scene, out in the park in L.A. somewhere I knew I needed to sell this choking. It really had to be a life-or-death situation, or at least that’s how I thought in my head. So, we have this plan where I would ne laying down, so I told the director 'OK, I can probably cough pretty loud. I can make it like I’m really wheezing or whatever.' And he said 'Yeah, yeah, go for it. Give us everything.'

I was able to trick myself into coughing when I wasn’t even choking. I was able to cough really loud - they thought I had Asthma when I was a kid because I coughed really loud. I was able to tap into it.

Fortunately, we only had to do a couple of takes or I may have gotten lightheaded. That was the thing. I felt her land on me, it didn’t hurt, and I was able to roll over and breath weird and force myself to cough like that. It really came off and it legitimately looks like I’m choking [laughs], every time I watch it - it's pretty funny.

That episode also had the football camp, I believe. That was the first time I got to really express my self a little more. I had a little more dialogue to do a little more on the acting side. That was really good.

I had played football as a kid in Pop Warner. I hate running, so it really worked that I was bummed to run around. Those were very true emotions I had to tap into there.

When it came to acting in front of the camera. As a kid, you’re acting, but you also have to know where the camera is. Was that a difficulty, something to learn at first?

I think the first time I was on set - the thing that’s really jarring is how bright the lights are. On set, the first one was in the RV, you notice that everything is so bright on you that it washes out everything that isn’t right in front of you.

You see the set, but as far as the camera and the people behind it, you really don’t see much because of how bright the lights are. So, you really have to stay focused and it creates a cloud that shields you from the producers and directors.

When we were outside, you just had to do your best to ignore it, to know that it's there and knew they’re going to do what they need to do as far as moving to get the right shots and angles. 

"I was really able to lock in on what I was able to do."

Even though it’s not as easy as it sounds to forget there’s a camera there, I really focused on how I wanted to deliver the lines. It's easier actually in the studio because you usually don’t actually see the camera, its when you’re outside in the day light and the camera is right in front of you.

The one where we had to sprint past the camera at the end of the fake football practice, that was one where I really did have to pay attention to the camera because we had to run past it without actually running into it. You can sort of see when I move past the camera that there's a little lean to get out of the way and not hit the camera - it's a million-dollar piece of equipment and I’m not about to knock it over.

My thing was that I did not want to be the guy that had to do a bunch of takes. I didn’t want to waste tape, waste time. I felt very fortunate to be here so I wanted to be the easiest one to work with.

So, your fourth episode, "Hero Worship" saw your longest scenes up to this point, pretty straightforward - you look bored and then look happy when the package and sandwich guys come to the door in the shop. Was it really that easy in these scenes? Or was it tough to get the facial expressions down?

That's funny because I dot think I have a single line in that episode. That's really one of my bigger episodes.The biggest thing I had to think about was that I needed to differentiate between the two [facial expressions]. I wanted to be excited when the delivery man got there, because that would eventually be Doug's career. But I needed to be a little more - I needed to have a little twinkle about the sandwiches. You needed to see it in the eyes. I wanted it to be noticeable but I didn’t want to go over-the-top. I didn’t want it to where it was a little too much that I was salivating at the sandwiches, cartoonish.

As I’ve watched that, I notice that it is pretty subtle. I think there's a little more of a head-tilt and a little twinkle in the eyes. I was pretty happy with how I was able to achieve that.

The second part at the cash register, that was pretty easy because I got the confused face down. I was able to get the confused, terrified look and then it was all about the timing on when to turn and run. I really enjoyed that one because it’s great to make that face on television.

it’s that scene with that shirt, one of my friends took a picture of the TV and now that's the picture whenever I call them. For whatever reason, that's the one that got them.

That probably had to be the easier acting part because the customer was asking about store credit and all these tough questions. Do you even though what those mean today? Those were pretty tough questions they were asking you.

[Laughs] Yeah, I knew what they were asking but I knew in the moment I had to be so dumbstruck by what they were saying. I guess it was good that I was able to play dumb! [laughs]

Your next show was probably your most popular in "Shrink Wrap", where you get a massive brawl with Kevin. First talk about the preparation, what that was like with him. I’m guessing there were some practice runs, right?

Yes, we had to really block that out carefully to make sure everything went well. We had a stunt coordinator, he was a guy from Louisiana, and it was a lot of fun because every kid wants to be an action star, right? Well, I thought it was really hilarious that I was working with a stunt coordinator, so I could tell people that I do my own stunts.

The biggest concern in that scene was the window. So, he goes through the window and there's a mat he lands on. It's sugar glass, which I guess is an industry standard, but there were only three panes of glass. So, we could only go through the window three times and then we were screwed because that's all we had.

Knowing that, I knew I had to deliver this time and that I couldn’t mess it up. Where the camera angle is and where the shot ends up, after I push him through the window, I needed to slide to the left in order to make that opening so you could his whole body go through the window. So, that was one of the things I had to remember.

Fortunately, that worked out. That scene was a ton of fun. Nobody was injured as I recall it. Though, one of the funny parts of that episode was that William Hurt was there and that was unbelievable to have an Academy Ward winner on the show.

The chair I end up hitting over Kevin's back, it was scored so it would break, that's one of the tricks of the trade. It was set up in the classroom so I knew where to go get it so when I opened the door, I could come up behind him and hit him. We were in between takes, everyone is re-positioning everything, dusting everybody off, checking makeup and suddenly, we hear this crash. We look over and we see wood all over the classroom and William hurt is flat on his ass in the corner because he sat on the chair that I was supposed to hit on Kevin’s back.

Everyone freaks out because this is a huge get for the show and they're like 'Oh, my god, are you OK? We're so sorry!' He gets up, he's embarrassed and says 'I’m fine, I’m fine.' That was a funny moment where we thought William Hurt would be injured or would storm off set.

There were some rough stunts on that one. Where there any stunt doubles or was that all you guys?

No, that was all us. Kevin really wanted to do everything and then I’m the kid, so I have to do it. I was certainly fired up. He was the one that had to do most of the falling and crashing. He did a great job.  I know getting through the window was the tough part because he had to shot himself up to make sure he got his whole body through.

If you look back and see where the cabinet and the window sill is, it's high. So, he had to push himself high. I’m sure that was a lot of fun for him. He ended up doing a lot of stuff like that in his career. That's part of comedy, right? Being able to do the physical stuff.

It was fun to do that with him because we got to interact. And it was fun that the kid I was fighting with was also named Tyler, the kid that was hitting me with the erasers.

Your final scene in that episode, you got to call Kevin a 'lardass' on the couch with William. How fun was it to be able to swear on TV?

That was great, so awesome. being that age in middle school and having the opportunity to say 'ass' and TV: 

"I felt like I was going to be the coolest guy in school." 

With us dressing the same, everyone on set was just talking about how much we looked alike and it was the first time we actually tried to look like one another.

My scenes were completely apart from everything they were doing. It was an effort to have us sitting in the same clothes, same setting. That was really cool to see that and have people react. That line was great. I read that in the script and I was like 'Oh, this is going to be hilarious'. That was the one I was most excited to do. To be able to cuss on TV at that age and just knowing how it would come off with the internal conflict, I thought it was really funny and a creative piece of writing.

This episode was unique for you because, in every other episode, you were flashbacks so you’re not with Kevin on scenes. Here, you guys were working together. I bet that made you so excited when you first found out that you would actually be working with him.

Oh, it was unreal. I had assumed that wouldn’t happen. The way all the scenes had gone, I thought I would do my own little part off to the side like a cameo and then the episode would proceed as usual. Being able to be in the scene with William Hurt was unreal and the episode was really funny. It’s honestly one of the funniest episodes I think. Having the opportunity to work with some of the other child actors there, young Carrie, young Arthur were there, too.

It was a good episode and, like you said, very unique being able to work with Kevin. It was really seamless and easy to do but it was a different challenge. I think it created a really special moment in the history of the show.

Ben Stiller was also on that episode, did you ever get to see him?

He was on a different day, his call was on a different day was I didn’t get to see or meet him. He’s obviously incredibly busy so he just came in, did his part. But yeah, he was on a different day so I didn’t meet him, but that would’ve been really cool. Yet another reason why that was a great episode, to have Ben Stiller play his father’s father, he was Jerry Stiller’s dad in that flashback. I thought that was funny. 

CLICK HERE for part 2 with Tyler Hendrickson.