DUCK Interview - Think Outside The Flock

For years, the nation has been swept up by the comedic stylin' of a certain actor in the highly successful Aflac commercial campaign. Bursting from Madison Avenue to Hollywood, this actor has spread his wings and is now starring opposite the legendary Philip Baker Hall in the indie feature DUCK.

We sit down now for a few minutes to meet the personality behind the duck.

Q: You star as "Joe" in the hopeful yet heart-wrenching DUCK, your independent feature film debut. Tell us a bit about the story and the character you play.

A: DUCK is a survival tale about a duck who saves the life of a man in Los Angeles, 2009. I play the unlikely hero, "Joe". To be fair, Philip too plays an unlikely hero, though neither of us could have filled the other's shoes.

Q: What was it like working with such a formidable talent as Philip Baker Hall?

A: He brings such intelligence and depth to the role. An utter believability that draws you in. Plus, he's surprisingly funny. And I might add -- can be quite scary -- as neither he, nor his character, suffers fools lightly.

Q: What does DUCK mean to you?

A: For me, this is a film about risk, about having the hopes to make a change. Sure, politically. But also, personally. For a while now, I've been getting type cast - fans and "the industry" constantly coming up to me in public, insisting "do the line, what's the word?" I indulge them, of course, but it was time to do something more. Something darker, edgier, topical... And tell me, who doesn't love a good underdog story, or fish-out-of-water fable, so to speak? Hello -- we won the Audience Award at our Cinequest World Premiere and Best Foreign Film at the inaugural European Independent Film Festival.

Q: And the future, what does it hold?

A: Well, I hope to work with writer-director-producer-gambler Nic Bettauer again. These days she's humping to secure DUCK a stellar theatrical life and I'm back to doing commercials for seed money. But, word-of-mouth on DUCK is ablaze, and buzz is she has two hot properties to direct next. One's a gritty, urban, cluster*&^% of a cop film and the other is a modern spin on the classic tale of boy meets girl. Actually -- I'm not quite sure where that leaves me?

Q: Perhaps the bad cop?

A: Not a shabby idea. Did I mention, DUCK is all-live all-the-time, and I do my own stunts...