Huesario.

Michael Rosenbaum Habla sobre "Back in the Day"
Por Karen Benardello 07 de enero, 2014

Revisiting your old hometown and the people who inspired the decisions you have made as an adult can be both life affirming and a hindrance on your perception of self-worth. That theme is prevalent in the new comedy ‘Back in the Day,’ which is being released on VOD today, with an exclusive theatrical engagement to begin on Friday in Indiana, and a national rollout to follow on January 17. Not only does the main character in the independent movie, Jim Owens, reflect on the meaning of his professional success as he travels back to his hometown to reunite with his school friends, so does actor Michael Rosenbaum. The former ‘Smallville’ star, who made his feature film directorial and writing debuts with the comedy, and shot the project in his hometown in Indiana with the support of his old community, genuinely and humbly reflects on how staying connected with his roots has influenced his career.

‘Back in the Day’ follows Jim (Rosenbaum), a somewhat successful Hollywood actor who’s dealing with the grind of everyday life that L.A. offers, and he’s bordering on a midlife crisis. But in an effort to help him move forward with his life, he listens to his friends and returns home to Indiana to attend his 20th high school reunion.

Not only does Jim have to contend with his now-married high school friends, he also must deal with his old rivalries as he relieves his glory days. But he begins to ponder if going back was the right decision, as the over-the-top weekend of beer-fueled barbeques and hitting the strip leads to taking revenge on an old high school principal. Jim also revisits and old romance with Lori (Morena Baccarin), and possibly complicates her approaching wedding, which gets him into trouble with his friends and especially their wives.

Rosenbaum generously took the time recently to talk about writing, directing and starring in ‘Back in the Day.’ Among other things, the filmmaker discussed how he was inspired to write the script for the independent comedy from his own experiences of his high school friends reuniting in his hometown in Indiana; how he knew he wanted to shoot the movie in Indiana, despite his colleagues telling him to film in L.A., in order to give the story a more genuine and authentic feeling, and how everyone in his hometown was helpful during the filmmaking process; and how he supports releasing movies through Video On Demand, particularly independent films that only play in a limited number of theaters, as the platform gives national exposure to projects filmmakers work so passionately on without the backing of a major studio.

ShockYa (SY): You penned the script for the new comedy, ‘Back in the Day.’ Where did you come up with the inspiration for the story, and what was the overall writing process like for you?

Michael Rosenbaum (MR): Well, it was the first script I had written years ago. I grew up in a small town in Indiana, and that’s where we shot the movie-in Newburgh and Evansville, Indiana. I was inspired by things that had happened to me growing up. I was also inspired by the old gang getting back together and doing things and hitting the mall. I also drew on old relationships and things that had happened to us as friends.

I just wrote from my own experiences. Usually that’s what people tell you to do. So it really came from that, and I thought that would be a good first script to write. I have written many scripts since, and somehow this was the one we were able to get the budget and financing for, and it just took off.

It’s really about me going back in a lot of ways. It’s not to say I’m not happy (laughs), but it’s a guy who’s really not that content with his life. So he goes back home. He thinks he’s going to be happier than his friends in this small town, but he realizes his friends are all content with their lives. So he has to learn from them in a lot of ways.

SY: Besides writing the screenplay for the film, you also served as the director. Was it always your intention to helm the movie as you were writing the script? Did you find being the writer helped you in your directorial duties on the set?

MR: When I wrote the script, I just wanted to write. I started to write in the program Final Draft, and it was years ago. I thought, I want to write a script. I want to start and complete one, and that’s all I really thought about.

As an actor, I thought maybe I’ll just write it and be the actor, if this movie ever gets made. At that time, I never thought of directing it, because I never really considered being a director. It wasn’t until about Season 6 of ‘Smallville’ that I got to direct an episode of the show, and I fell in love with directing.

But when I wrote the script for the film, I never really thought about directing it. It’s amazing how things evolve, and you grow as an artist and branch out.

As far as the writing influencing the directing, I wrote the words and knew the story so well, because in a lot of ways, there’s a lot about me in the story. So it was easy to jump in there and change things that needed to be changed. It’s definitely easier when you write and direct something.

I’ve heard from the writers and directors I’ve worked with that they usually stick to their words, and everything has to be a certain way. I would say I’m the opposite. The films from guys like Darren Aronofsky are great, but they’re dark and completely different.

But for me, it was about being loose and fun and getting the jokes. I want to keep the tone of the story, but allow the actors to really find their characters and things they would do. I really love to improvise. I thought it would be a disservice if I didn’t let some of these great guys who had done comedy their whole lives not explore and do that.

For me as a writer-director, I was like, this is the story, so lets tell the story. We only have X amount of hours in a day, and we don’t have money for overtime. But if someone has a better idea or a funny line or can take us in a different direction, let’s do it. It was definitely an amazing experience to explore.

SY: The comedy features a diverse supporting cast, including Nick Swardson and Isaiah Mustafa. What was the casting process like for the rest of the actors in the movie?

MR: Well, one thing I will say about this process is that it’s incredibly difficult to get an independent movie made. Casting is tough enough just to get people to read the script and commit as you look for the right people for the roles.

But I think the toughest thing for me was that I didn’t realize it, and hindsight is 20/20, but the movie was going to shoot during pilot season. So every actor and their mother are wrapped up in auditions for potential series. Imagine someone say, “Come shoot a movie in Indiana in the winter for not much money; we’re not going to pay you much. Or you can stay in L.A. where it’s warm and beautiful, and have a few auditions a week, and try to get a role on what can become a hit series with a studio.”

It was difficult. I even called my friends, and they said, “I love this and I want to do this, but it’s pilot season, and I can’t afford not to be here.” So that was really difficult, and it took a really long time. I thought, oh, we’re going to cast this in a month. But it really took months and months. I think I cast Emma Caulfield from ‘Buffy’ when we were a week into shooting, and Danielle Bisutti was one of the last cast, as well.

In the beginning, I was having these sessions and lunches and meetings with people for the lead roles. But then when I took off for Indiana, it was impossible to meet with people. So I had to Skype, as my casting director, Anne McCarthy, was in Los Angeles. She had to send the reel or scene in which she auditioned them.

I had known Jay Ferguson, who was on ‘Mad Men,’ as we have been friends for a long time. We did a pilot for The WB years ago, and we remained friends. I asked him to do it, and he was available.

Harland Williams has always been one of my closest friends, as we did ‘Sorority Boys’ together. I have always loved his work. In the beginning, he was going to play Skunk, and then he said, “Well, I’m a little older.” I said, “It doesn’t really matter. We’re making a movie, so you’ll dye your hair and shave, so you’ll be fine. Plus, your character is supposed to have been held back a few years.”

The other actors I met with, like Isaiah Mustafa, who’s the Old Spice guy. We just connected. I said, “The character has to be really nice and humble and a smart-ass,” and it just clicked with him.

With Morena Baccarin, who was the biggest get, an ex-girlfriend was like, “How about Morena?” I was like, “She’s beautiful and great.” We had actually met, but I didn’t realize that until we had lunch. She said, “You know we’ve met.” I was like, “Oh, great. When did we meet?” She said, “We met on ‘Sorority Boys.’ I was dating one of the guys in the movie.” But I didn’t recall.

We hit it off, and I said, “Do you want to do it?” She said, “Yeah.” I said, “Okay, so you’re doing it.” She said, “Wait, are you offering me the part right now at Greenblatt’s Deli in Hollywood?” I said yeah, and she said sure.

Then I was also talking to my agent and asking if they had anyone really funny, and they were pitching. When you’re doing a movie, everyone, even people you’ve never spoken to before, are coming out of the woodwork and are pitching you. I think ultimately we got the best cast.

The biggest catch was Nick Swardson. Nick’s always busy, as he’s doing stand-up across the country. He’s also in every (Adam) Sandler film; he was doing ‘Grown Ups 2′ and all these movies. He has a nice role in it, but I knew it was going to be difficult to get him.

Up until the last minute, he said, “I think I’m too young for this part.” I had written his character of Ron Freeman to be a little older. I said, “Give me until tomorrow,” and I changed the script around to make him younger. So Nick jumped on a plane, and this was able three days before we were going to shoot. But we got Nick out to Indiana, and he turned out to be genius in the movie.

So you really don’t know what the process is going to be like in the beginning, and the amount of time that goes into making a little movie like this. Ultimately, the production value is incredible, and the laughs are huge. I really think people are going to dig it.

SY: Like you mentioned, you shoot the film independently. Did having a smaller budget pose any difficulties on the set?

MR: Yeah, everyone told me to shoot in Los Angeles, because you get a tax credit, and it’s not winter here. I said, “No, I want to shoot in my hometown. I know these locations, and I want it to be authentic.” If it was my first and last movie (as a director), I wanted to shoot in my hometown. I wanted my friends, including my high school and acting buddies, to be in it and work on this movie.

That’s what I thought Hollywood was. If you get a chance to go out and explore and hang out with your friends and the people you like to work with, then you do it. I know a lot of the bigger directors do that. So that was the goal, and I refused to do the shoot in L.A.

When we went out to Indiana, we had no tax credit. I’m not talking five percent tax credit; I’m talking zero. The Indiana Film Commission stopped giving tax credit the January before we shot, so we just missed the boat. I’m going to try to change that, and I would love to get involved with the Indiana Film Commission, and help get movies made out there. I think it helps the community.

But I think the biggest hurdle was finding a crew. We could only bring the Director of Photography, the gaffer and a couple other people out to Indiana to shoot, because we couldn’t afford to fly everyone out. But then the line producer (Nanda Rao) said, “We can get somebody from Cincinnati.”

You really don’t get to meet with these people, and you have to make changes a lot of times. When shooting in a small town, almost all of them had no experience on a film crew and set. So it was very difficult, and it slowed things down.

You only have 12-hour days, and one hour is lunch, so you really only 11 hours to shoot eight pages. But on a studio movie, you shoot one or two pages a day. So you have to move really quickly.

But the great thing I will say is that I think what compensated for the lack of time was that everyone was so passionate about the film. Everyone in my hometown embraced the movie, and gave us whatever we needed to make it.

The local car dealership gave us trucks for the crew and cast, and the motels gave us cheap rooms. We shot at my old high school for three days. That would have been $40,000 in L.A. We also shot at my friends’ house. They also stopped traffic, and we had the strip on Green River Road for about six or seven hours. All the cops in Evansville and Newburgh came and supported us.

It was like, I can’t believe I’m pulling this off. How are we doing this? I was the shortest kid in high school who wasn’t popular, and now I’m directing this movie in my hometown. It was very surreal.

But where there problems? Yeah. The biggest problem was that we were filming in winter. Talk about something that’s going to slow a movie down. If there’s an ice storm, people are going to be late to work.

Or just the opposite happened; it was almost like a Godsend. A week into the movie, we realized it was going to be the warmest winter Indiana had ever had. So the weather completely changed, and we decided to make it almost like a spring movie.

The weather completely changed, but we already had Christmas lights in some scenes. There was a scene with Harland Williams, who plays this character Skunk, who’s based on a friend of mine, and we were walking to his house in the movie. We were like, what are we going to do? We have Christmas lights up, and it’s supposed to be spring, since we changed the movie.

So we added a line in post-production where I say, “You still have your Christmas lights on.” He says, “Yeah, it’s always Christmastime at my house, buddy.” It just worked, and people buy into it.

You try to get as much as you can, and make the movie look as big as possible. I don’t know how we did it, but we pulled it off.

SY: The film will be released on VOD on January 7, 2014, with a national theatrical release to follow later in the month. Are you personally a fan of watching films On Demand, and why do you think the platform is important for smaller movies like ‘Back in the Day?’

MR: I think most people don’t really know what VOD is, unless they’re in the industry. I’ve spoken to so many people in Indiana who said, “What’s VOD?” (Rosenbaum pronounces it as a word, instead of the letters V-O-D for the acronym of Video On Demand.) It’s not VOD, it’s Video On Demand.

I, in fact, didn’t even known what it was. I wasn’t that educated, and I was like, I’m going to the theater and watch movies. Then I got Apple TV and cable TV, and started doing what everyone else in Hollywood was doing. Now it’s obviously grown throughout the country and the world. You’re able to download a movie and watch it in your own house.

The great thing about VOD is, especially for an independent movie, we don’t have the budget, as the P&A (print and advertising) on a studio film is $20 million. We had very little money, but our publicity firm is just kicking ass, but it’s still a small movie.

Now you have the ability, since you’re not going to play on 2,000 screens in a couple hundred cities, to show your movie to people before it comes out, or while it’s playing, in the theater. People can sit in their own homes with their friends and download the movie right there.

I think it’s one of the best things that’s ever happened, because I don’t leave the house. I watch trailers and think, I like this actor and I want to see this, but I don’t have to go to the theater. A lot of times most of these movies aren’t even playing in theaters.

So for a lot of movies, particularly independent films, I think VOD is incredible, especially for movies that are only playing in theaters in 15 cities. Then someone in Milwaukee says, “How do I watch this? I can’t go to the theater and support this movie.” But they can, because they can download the movie and have a great experience at home, watching it with their friends. So they can see the movie now, and I think that’s extraordinary for independent films.

Now these films have a chance, and you’re not saying, “How are we going to make money?” DVDs have become almost obsolete, as they’re not as big as they once were. Now independent filmmakers can say, “With social media and a little following, we can make our money back, and make another movie.” That’s what it’s all about-being able to go out and make another movie with your friends.

This is what I want to do now-I want to make movies. You think, if half a percent of the people who can download movies will download my movie and support independent films, then the movie can make its money back, and I can go out and make another movie. That’s the idea, and I think it’s pretty fascinating.

SY: Like you mentioned, you starred on ‘Smallville,’ and also directed the 2007 episode, ‘Freak.’ How did acting and helming the show compare and contrast to making ‘Back in the Day?’

MR: It was a lot easier to direct an episode of ‘Smallville.’ The budget for the shows was about $3 million per episode, so they were spending that amount of money each week for every show. You had this infrastructure of who was doing what.

For example, these four people would always do the set design, and were in charge of designing all the sets. You see that when you go into what’s called a tone meeting, which would set the tone for each episode. There were always the same production designers, make-up artists and script and prop supervisors, and hundreds of the same people who would always work on each episode.

Everyone’s doing their own job, so you don’t have to interview and hire people. They already know what the show is, as they’ve already been doing it. So you skip a big process. Not to mention that when the show’s complete, all the dailies of all the stuff you shoot was sent back to Warner Brothers, and they started editing them. They have a whole team of editors working on it, and then it goes to the sound and composing departments.

That infrastructure doesn’t exist for independent films. So you’re hiring everybody, and they don’t know what your tone is. You have to explain exactly what you’re doing, since they haven’t done 10 ‘Back in the Day’s before this.

So it’s a process, especially since you don’t have the money, resources and post-production facilities. You have to interview everyone and try to get good deals. You also have to work out ways to make your movie sound and look like a real movie, and compete with the huge films, on a shoestring budget.

The infrastructure is the big difference-on ‘Smallville,’ it was incredible, since it was a huge show; it ran itself. Luckily for me, as a director, it was already cast, except for the guest stars, who I did have to cast. That was a process, as I had to fight for the guys I wanted.

But mostly what I learned from being on set everyday was how to watch the camera, including where it goes, how to move it and what lenses to use. I also learned how to bring out emotion, make the shocks more effective, how to tell a story and how to transition into another scene.

These were things that I learned as an actor-turned-director. I think most actors are oblivious, and don’t really pay attention when they’re on set. But there are some actors who do pay attention, and I finally did. With my ADD, that’s not easy.

I started to be fascinated by it. I started to think, I can do this. I don’t want to do all this explosion and Superman-sci-fi stuff (laughs); I think I can direct comedies. I’d like to make a movie. It was definitely a great stepping stone into directing a film.

From there, I started my company, Rosenbaum Productions. I also shot a really cool short film called ‘Ghild,’ as well as a little horror short, ‘Fade Into You,’ that went to Screamfest. Then I thought, let’s do a movie! It’s experience, and ‘Smallville’ gave me that experience.

But they’re completely different. I didn’t know how fortunate I was to be on that show, to be able to direct. I thought, wow, it’s easy! Then you direct a movie, and you’re on your own. You have to cast and hire all the people, like the line producer and the lighting and sound departments, and then fire this person because they’re not doing their job. You also have to get a caterer who’s good, so the cast and crew aren’t bitching every day about the food. (laughs)

It’s endless, and you’re dealing with problems every day. You make decisions every day. You always have to be in control. But I loved every bit of it.

SY: Now that you have acted in and directed both television and movies, do you have a preference of one medium over the other? Do you have any upcoming projects, whether writing, directing, acting and/or producing, lined up that you can discuss?

MR: I love acting, as that’s what got me here. I feel in love with it when I was in high school and college. I felt like I had something, but I didn’t know what it was. I will continue to act because I love it.

Fortunately for me, I feel like since ‘Smallville,’ I was able to save a little money, and now I’m able to do what I want to do, at least until I need to get another job. But from this point on, I’m going to try to do things that make me happy or that inspire me, or make me think, wow, I’m going to have fun doing that. I don’t want to just work to work; I want to work on things that I’m really excited about. At my age right now, I’m getting to that point.

So I definitely want to continue acting, but I also love writing. But I didn’t know I was going to be so fond of directing. I’m just crazy about it. But I never went to film school; my film school was ‘Back in the Day,’ being on the set of ‘Smallville’ and doing these shorts. But I fell in love with it. I thought, wow, if I can do this with this small budget, think of what I can do with more money! (laughs) It’s not to say you can’t make a decent and funny movie with little money, because you can, but it’s difficult. I really want to do it all.

I don’t think I would be the lead actor in the next film I direct; I actually guarantee I wouldn’t. The next time I direct, I really want to focus on being the director. I was warned by Jason Reitman, who directed ‘Juno,’ and James Gunn, who wrote and is directing ‘Guardians of the Galaxy,’ who are old friends of mine, to not be the lead actor in ‘Back in the Day.’ They were like, “It’s exhausting just being the director.” I was like, “Oh no, I can do it, I’ve been working out.” (laughs) But two weeks in, you’re physically spent. But I don’t regret it for a second, and I’m glad I did it. But I’ll definitely stick to directing the next one.

As far as upcoming projects, I’ve written quite a few. I’ve got a couple TV projects that I’m trying to work out the deals for. There are also a few films that I’m doing the rewrites on. I’ll probably pick the one I want to do by the end of January, and hopefully start prep in March or April.

In the process, I’ll also audition for things I really like. There’s this awesome (Martin) Scorsese HBO pilot, so I went in on that. If there are projects I find really compelling, I’m game.

http://www.shockya.com/news/2014/01/07/ ... z2pjPdkoRu

Nick Swardson y 's Michael Rosenbaum, Escritor/Director/Protagonista de "Back in the Day"
Por Spirit of the Thing 7 de enero, 2014 - 2:13pm

As a man who just recently went to his own 20-year high school reunion this past summer, seeing Michael Rosenbaum's Back in the Day hit home. As we trek back to our hometowns to reminisce more simple times, we are flooded with nostalgia and perhaps a little regret, happy to re-imagine the good times, perhaps a little mad at ourselves for letting opportunities slip through our fingers for whatever reason we as 14-18 year-olds reckoned were the right choices at the time.

Michael Rosenbaum makes his feature directorial and writing debut with Back in the Day, a comedy where second chances can be the best first impressions. The film also stars Morena Baccarin, Danielle Bisutti, Liz Carey, Emma Caulfield, Sarah Colonna, Jay R. Ferguson, Mike Hagerty, Isaiah Mustafa, Kristoffer Polaha, Nick Swardson, and Harland Williams.

Back in the Day is tinged with these elements as any film about a high school reunion should (reference Grosse Pointe Blank for another prime example). It tells the homecoming of Jim Owens (Michael Rosenbaum), a guy who left his his hometown of Newburgh, Indiana, to tackle Hollywood and become an actor. Like many things that beset young starry-eyed teens, Jim's plans didn't quite work out the way he wanted. Despite giving fantastic auditions for film and TV roles, Jim has been relegated to being the spokesman for All City Insurance. While not a bad gig (he's sort of like that Flo woman from the Progressive commercials), it isn't quite what he hoped for and is antsy about his situation. So he decides to go home to reunion, catch up with old friends...and meet up with his old flame Lori (the enchanting Morena Baccarin).

When he returns home, Jim immediately reconnects with his old friends who pick him up at the airport. There's T (Isaiah Mustafa - yeah, the Old Spice guy which = awesome), Skunk (Harland Williams), and Len (Christopher Polaha) where they fall right back in the same routine as when they were younger, joking with each and mostly making fun of Skunk. Of course they think he's a Hollywood hot shot - they see his face everywhere for All City ads...and are even known to dry hump them for comedic effect. When they tell him that Lori has a boyfriend, Jim is visibly upset, but tries to play it off. She's the one that got away, and it becomes clear at this point, boyfriend or not, he will make a play for her affection. And so, the usual shenanigans happen - wiffle ball tournaments, egging the old principal's house, stripping a passed out and Skunk naked and putting him into the bed of someone else's pickup truck. And then shit gets real when Jim finds out Lori doesn't just have a boyfriend, but is engaged, something which his friends neglected to mention to him. And not only is she engaged, but to a guy who broke Jim's leg during an all-important football game when they were in high school. So, the chase for Lori takes on a different tone at this point. Fearing that he will make the same mistake twice, Jim still pursues Lori as one might expect. Jim must wrestle with whether or not this is the right choice at this particular point in time, especially when it comes to light that Jim chose to let her go before with her waiting for many years for his return before giving up on him.

So this is a pretty standard film in the high school reunion arena, with a tremendous heart. It is filled with laughs, has its gross moments (does one really think that getting a group of guys together after twenty years won't have them revert back to their juvenile selves?) and also has some really touching moments.

I was fortunate enough to speak to both writer-director-star Michael Rosenbaum as well as star/comedian Nick Swardson about Back in the Day and I had a ball doing so. Both were quite passionate about this film and Swardson didn't disappoint with the laughs. Talking to both of them felt like talking to my own friends. Such down to Earth guys. No wonder they've been as successful as they are.

I spoke with Swardson first in LA, where I immediately questioned him about the weather since I'm sitting in the middle of a damn polar vortex with temperatures topping out today at -8 degrees Fahrenheit. Being from Minnesota, he could certainly sympathize. After discussing the disappointing seasons of our fave football teams, his Minnesota Vikings and my Chicago Bears, we got down to business. I asked him how he'd gotten involved in the project as they had some common experience with the same director, but Swardson said he'd been introduced to Rosenbaum through some of his friends who he worked on Reno 911! with. Rosenbaum thought he was perfect for a part, based on a guy he'd known from his hometown, and wanted him to play the role. When I asked if he had done any research into the people of Newburgh, Indiana, where the film takes place, he said:

"I know that character. Growing up in the Midwest, I know people like this".

His instincts were spot on as Ron Freeman, from the sweet mustache (about which he said "I hated the mustache, but it fit the character...I felt like a molester") to the 880z Big Gulp of Mountain Dew, Swardson exudes a certain type of Hoosier and does it well. What I feel is genuinely the most touching moment of the film surprisingly involves Swardson during a less than flattering sexual act involving the back seat of a station wagon and a pregnant ex-cheerleader (Liz Carey). I asked Swardson if he'd consider doing some more dramatic roles since I was so taken by this scene and he said:

"I totally would do a dramatic role. [One of the reasons] this scene went as well as it did was I was going through some personal shit and really channeled that. I really cried during that scene, but that part got cut".

The scene will surprise you. I promise. As we discussed the logistics of this scene, shot in a small car, in the backseat, I asked him was it awkward to which he replied:

"There is nothing I won't do for comedy. The only hard part about this scene was the physical logistics. It was painful. My knee hurt like hell and we only had 20 minutes to do the scene. Liz (Carey) put saline drops in her eyes, which no one knew about, and that made it more difficult, trying to hold the emotion [as she dealt with the pain of the drops]".

When I asked him if his role, which is on the smaller side in the film, was at any point bigger or cut a wider swath in the narrative, but he said:

"It wasn't, but Rosenbaum wanted it to be after the fact".

Before finishing our conversation, I asked him about whether or not we would ever see a Terry spinoff from Reno 911!, something I've always wanted. He said he pitched it to Comedy Central, but they never committed. The pitch - Terry as a detective who never solves anything. Damn...I need that show in my life. Swardson was incredibly fun to talk to and very open in answering my questions. It was much fun to interview him. Later in the day, I was able to speak with Michael Rosenbaum about the film. It was a great little conversation and I could tell how proud he was of this film. It reflected him, his friends from home and his hometown in the best and most honest way. When I asked him if he had looked at other high school reunion films before making Back in the Day, he said he had not. I initially mentioned Grosse Pointe Blank, Romy and Michelle's High School Reunion and Beautiful Girls specifically). His response:

"I haven’t seen Grosse Pointe Blank and Romy and Michelle's High School Reunion, but love Beautiful Girls. It had a darker edge to it, which is a direction I didn't want to go".

He said he had shown a cut of the film to Adam Sandler and Sandler was impressed with the way the film turned out so sweet, and he was happy that Rosenbaum didn't steal material from other similarly-themed films. This is a point I would agree on with Sandler. I could feel the realness of the characters, who were anything but stock, recycled characters. They had depth in subtle ways and it is flourishes like the scene granted to Swardson and Carey that I mentioned above, both characters who operate on the periphery of the narrative, that give this film layers that you might not expect. Rosenbaum expounded quite eloquently about the basis for the film and the direction he wanted to take it:

"I wrote this a few years ago, based on people I really knew. This film captures a spectrum of people coming together with awkwardness, people who haven’t grown up, people with families and people who don't know who they really are. I was trying to be as honest as possible. But I love fart jokes, too. There is a big part of me in Jim. When I come home to Indiana, I do the things that Jim does. I wanted Jim to ask, "What have I been missing?" His friends are happier than he is and more content despite his supposed success".

And when I asked him about the end of the film where Jim and Lori don't get together and whether at any point in the writing phase he .did have them getting together, Rosenbaum replied:

"In real life the guy doesn’t end up with the girl. Jim missed the boat. He still has something to do. It's selfish to come home and try pick up where [he and Lori] left off. I also didn’t want the fiancée to be an asshole (like the guy in The Wedding Singer...it's too easy to hate him). It is just too on the nose if they end up together. Jim has to finish his story. And that he gets great advice from unlikely sources – i.e. Skunk - makes this all the more necessary".

This is a point I would certainly agree with and one of the reasons I would so happy with the ending. All that said, I felt that the success of this film rested mostly on the chemistry between Jim and Lori and it is exceedingly obvious that he and Baccarin have real chemistry onscreen. The scenes that they are in together really pop with sexual tension. When I asked how she became involved in the project and whether they did any rehearsals to shape the characters, he said:

"We met through an ex-girlfriend. One day we met and I was describing the film. She said, it’s fun and got heart and I want to do it. Before the movie, we only read the scenes together, nothing too extensive. She was a joy. I would put in her every film if I could. The chemistry was easy".

Rosenbaum, a former resident of Newburgh, Indiana, could have easily drifted off into parody of the folks of Southern Indiana. Newburgh resides across from Kentucky on the Ohio River. It wouldn't be hard to paint the people of this town as white trash (although Rosenbaum does give an apt portrait of the town and its inhabitants). As an Indiana native (Muncie, represent!) who lives in Bloomington, this is a stereotype I know and one that is easy to exploit, so kudos to Rosenbaum and crew for not doing so. He was very humbled by the experience of filming in Newburgh and the tremendous outpouring of support he got from the locals as well as the cast and crew who worked for virtually no money. A note to my hometown peeps, let it be known that Pizza King (a Muncie legend) makes its first (?) appearance in a motion picture.

When all is said and done, this is a solid film filled with laughs and some keen insights. I think Rosenbaum has behind-the-camera chops, so it will be nice to see how he develops along those lines. He said he has three projects in the works now, but will likely not star in any of them. Fans of Smallville know he has screen presence and there is no shortage of that in Back in the Day. All in all, this is a fun watch and one I would suggest to anyone who wants a laugh and who isn't afraid to plumb the full spectrum of humor for said laughs. The payoff is certainly worth it. The film premieres this week in Indiana and hits theaters in other cities on January 17.

http://www.cinemit.com/article/intervie ... in-the-day

Michael Rosenbaum regresa a la comedia
Por Timothy W. Young 09 de Enero, 2014 7:00 am

Michael Rosenbaum has returned home for the premier of his independent film, Back in the Day, which he shot in 2013.

The premiere is on Thursday, Jan. 9 at Showplace Cinemas in Newburgh.

The movie will be available to the public on Friday, Jan. 10 at local theaters, with a national rollout to follow on Jan. 17. The movie is also available on Video on Demand.

The film follows the story of Jim Owens, played by writer/director Rosenbaum, as he heads back home for his high school reunion in an attempt to relive his glory days.

The comedy depicts many local locations, such as Castle High School and Green River Road, as well as many characters that are based off of people that Rosenbaum grew up around.

Rosenbaum is a 1990 graduate of Castle High School and is best known for his work as Lex Luthor on the Superman-inspired television series, Smallville.

He has also performed on Breaking In and has provided voice work for the Flash in the DC animated universe.

The movie also stars Morena Baccarin (Homeland, V), Nick Swardson (Pretend Time, 30 Minutes or Less) and Harland Williams (Dumb and Dumber, Half-Baked).

Rosenbaum, who lives in Los Angeles, said he gets the chance to come back to his Newburgh home at least twice a year.

“I like going back,” he said. “Everything slows down for a bit. I really enjoy it. There’s just something that always calls me back.”

And that is exactly why Rosenbaum said he decided to film Back in the Day here.

“In my heart, I always dream of raising a family in Indiana,” he said. “Everyone wishes they can live in (L.A.), but I miss the seasons.”

Whether it was working at a local go-kart track or sneaking through the back yards of South Broadview, Rosenbaum said Newburgh is home and just feels right.

He explained that he could have shot the movie in L.A. for much cheaper than the cost of flying the cast and crew out to Indiana, but he wanted the authenticity of Newburgh.

“I want where we play wiffle ball to look like where we play wiffle ball,” said Rosenbaum. “I want my high school to look like my high school. (The cast and crew from L.A.) all came because they knew they were making a fun, passion project.”

He said that if this is the last movie he ever makes that he will be happy that he made it where he grew up.

Rosenbaum credited the generosity of the community that helped make the movie possible.

“Ultimately, I just want to thank everybody in Evansville and Newburgh... it couldn’t have been done without the community,” he said. “I just hope that people, instead of going to see one of these Oscar movies, they go to see this little, funny indie that they’re going to get some great laughs at.”

http://www.tristate-media.com/warrick/a ... f887a.html

¡"Back in the Day" Trae las risas + entrevistas con Rosenbaum y Nick Swardson!
Por harmonov 13 de Enero, 2014

As a man who just recently went to his own 20-year high school reunion this past summer, seeing Michael Rosenbaum‘s Back in the Day hit home. As we trek back to our hometowns to reminisce more simple times, we are flooded with nostalgia and perhaps a little regret, happy to re-imagine the good times, perhaps a little mad at ourselves for letting opportunities slip through our fingers for whatever dipshit reason we as 14-18 year-olds reckoned were the right choices at the time.

Back in the Day is tinged with these elements as any film about a high school reunion should (reference Grosse Pointe Blank for another prime example). It tells the homecoming of Jim Owens (Michael Rosenbaum), a guy who left his his hometown of Newburgh, Indiana, to tackle Hollywood and become an actor. Like many things that beset young starry-eyed teens, Jim’s plans didn’t quite work out the way he wanted. Despite giving fantastic auditions for film and TV roles, Jim has been relegated to being the spokesman for All City Insurance. While not a bad gig (he’s sort of like that Flo woman from the Progressive commercials), it isn’t quite what he hoped for and is antsy about his situation. So he decides to go home to reunion, catch up with old friends…and meet up with his old flame Lori (the enchanting Morena Baccarin).

When he returns home, Jim immediately reconnects with his old friends who pick him up at the airport. There’s T (Isaiah Mustafa – yeah, the Old Spice guy which = awesome), Skunk (Harland Williams), and Len (Christopher Polaha) where they fall right back in the same routine as when they were younger, joking with each and mostly making fun of Skunk. Of course they think he’s a Hollywood hot shot – they see his face everywhere for All City ads…and are even known to dry hump them for comedic effect. When they tell him that Lori has a boyfriend, Jim is visibly upset, but tries to play it off. She’s the one that got away, and it becomes clear at this point, boyfriend or not, he will make a play for her affection. And so, the usual shenanigans happen – wiffle ball tournaments, egging the old principal’s house, terstripping a passed out and Skunk naked and putting him into the bed of someone else’s pickup truck. And then shit gets real when Jim finds out Lori doesn’t just have a boyfriend, but is engaged, something which his friends neglected to mention to him. And not only is she engaged, but to a guy who broke Jim’s leg during an all-important football game when they were in high school. So, the chase for Lori takes on a different tone at this point. Fearing that he will make the same mistake twice, Jim still pursues Lori as one might expect. Jim must wrestle with whether or not this is the right choice at this particular point in time, especially when it comes to light that Jim chose to let her go before with her waiting for many years for his return before giving up on him.

So this is a pretty standard film in the high school reunion arena, with a tremendous heart. It is filled with laughs, has its gross moments (does one really think that getting a group of guys together after twenty years won’t have them revert back to their juvenile selves?) and also has some really touching moments.

I was fortunate enough to speak to both writer-director-star Michael Rosenbaum as well as star/comedian Nick Swardson about Back in the Day and I had a ball doing so. Both were quite passionate about this film and Swardson didn’t disappoint with the laughs. Talking to both of them felt like talking to my own friends. Such down to Earth guys. No wonder they’ve been as successful as they are.

I spoke with Swardson first in LA, where I immediately questioned him about the weather since I was sitting in the middle of a damn polar vortex with temperatures topping out at -8 degrees Fahrenheit (-45 at its lowest with the wind chill). Being from Minnesota, he could certainly sympathize. After discussing the disappointing seasons of our fave football teams, his Minnesota Vikings and my Chicago Bears, we got down to business. I asked him how he’d gotten involved in the project as they had some common experience with the same director, but Swardson said he’d been introduced to Rosenbaum through some of his friends who he worked on Reno 911! with. Rosenbaum thought he was perfect for a part, based on a guy he’d known from his hometown, and wanted him to play the role. When I asked if he had done any research into the people of Newburgh, Indiana, where the film takes place, he said:

"I know that character. Growing up in the Midwest, I know people like this."

His instincts were spot on as Ron Freeman, from the sweet mustache (about which he said “I hated the mustache, but it fit the character…I felt like a molester”) to the 88oz Big Gulp of Mountain Dew, Swardson exudes a certain type of Hoosier and does it well. What I feel is genuinely the most touching moment of the film surprisingly involves Swardson during a less than flattering sexual act involving the back seat of a station wagon and a pregnant ex-cheerleader (Liz Carey). I asked Swardson if he’d consider doing some more dramatic roles since I was so taken by this scene and he said:

"I totally would do a dramatic role. [One of the reasons] this scene went as well as it did was I was going through some personal shit and really channeled that. I really cried during that scene, but that part got cut".

The scene will surprise you. I promise. As we discussed the logistics of this scene, shot in a small car, in the backseat, I asked him was it awkward to which he replied:

"There is nothing I won’t do for comedy. The only hard part about this scene was the physical logistics. It was painful. My knee hurt like hell and we only had 20 minutes to do the scene. Liz (Carey) put saline drops in her eyes, which no one knew about, and that made it more difficult, trying to hold the emotion [as she dealt with the pain of the drops]".

When I asked him if his role, which is on the smaller side in the film, was at any point bigger or cut a wider swath in the narrative, but he said:

"It wasn’t, but Rosenbaum wanted it to be after the fact".

Before finishing our conversation, I asked him about whether or not we would ever see a Terry spinoff from Reno 911!, something I’ve always wanted. He said he pitched it to Comedy Central, but they never committed. The pitch – Terry as a detective who never solves anything. Damn…I need that show in my life. Swardson was incredibly fun to talk to and very open in answering my questions. It was much fun to interview him.

Later in the day, I was able to speak with Michael Rosenbaum about the film. It was a great little conversation and I could tell how proud he was of this film. It reflected him, his friends from home and his hometown in the best and most honest way. When I asked him if he had looked at other high school reunion films before making Back in the Day, he said he had not. I initially mentioned Grosse Pointe Blank, Romy and Michelle’s High School Reunion and Beautiful Girls specifically). His response:

"I haven’t seen Grosse Pointe Blank and Romy and Michelle’s High School Reunion, but love Beautiful Girls. It had a darker edge to it, which is a direction I didn’t want to go".

He said he had shown a cut of the film to Adam Sandler and Sandler was impressed with the way the film turned out so sweet, and he was happy that Rosenbaum didn’t steal material from other similarly-themed films. This is a point I would agree on with Sandler. I could feel the realness of the characters, who were anything but stock, recycled characters. They had depth in subtle ways and it is flourishes like the scene granted to Swardson and Carey that I mentioned above, both characters who operate on the periphery of the narrative, that give this film layers that you might not expect. Rosenbaum expounded quite eloquently about the basis for the film and the direction he wanted to take it:

"I wrote this a few years ago, based on people I really knew. This film captures a spectrum of people coming together with awkwardness, people who haven’t grown up, people with families and people who don’t know who they really are. I was trying to be as honest as possible. But I love fart jokes, too. There is a big part of me in Jim. When I come home to Indiana, I do the things that Jim does. I wanted Jim to ask, “What have I been missing?” His friends are happier than he is and more content despite his supposed success".

And when I asked him about the end of the film where Jim and Lori don’t get together and whether at any point in the writing phase he did have them getting together, Rosenbaum replied:

"In real life the guy doesn’t end up with the girl. Jim missed the boat. He still has something to do. It’s selfish to come home and try pick up where [he and Lori] left off. I also didn’t want the fiancée to be an asshole (like the guy in The Wedding Singer…it’s too easy to hate him). It is just too on the nose if they end up together. Jim has to finish his story. And that he gets great advice from unlikely sources – i.e. Skunk – makes this all the more necessary".

This is a point I would certainly agree with and one of the reasons I would so happy with the ending. All that said, I felt that the success of this film rested mostly on the chemistry between Jim and Lori and it is exceedingly obvious that he and Baccarin have real chemistry onscreen. The scenes that they are in together really pop with sexual tension. When I asked how she became involved in the project and whether they did any rehearsals to shape the characters, he said:

"We met through an ex-girlfriend. One day we met and I was describing the film. She said, it’s fun and got heart and I want to do it. Before the movie, we only read the scenes together, nothing too extensive. She was a joy. I would put in her every film if I could. The chemistry was easy".

Rosenbaum, a former resident of Newburgh, Indiana, could have easily drifted off into parody of the folks of Southern Indiana. Newburgh resides across from Kentucky on the Ohio River. It wouldn’t be hard to paint the people of this town as white trash (although Rosenbaum does give an apt portrait of the town and its inhabitants). As an Indiana native (Muncie, represent!) who lives in Bloomington, this is a stereotype I know and one that is easy to exploit, so kudos to Rosenbaum and crew for not doing so. He was very humbled by the experience of filming in Newburgh and the tremendous outpouring of support he got from the locals as well as the cast and crew who worked for virtually no money. A note to my hometown peeps, let it be known that Pizza King (a Muncie legend) makes its first (?) appearance in a motion picture.

When all is said and done, this is a solid film filled with laughs and some keen insights. I think Rosenbaum has behind-the-camera chops, so it will be nice to see how he develops along those lines. He said he has three projects in the works now, but will likely not star in any of them. Fans of Smallville know he has screen presence and there is no shortage of that in Back in the Day. All in all, this is a fun watch and one I would suggest to anyone who wants a laugh and who isn’t afraid to plumb the full spectrum of humor for said laughs. The payoff is certainly worth it. The films premieres this past weekend in Indiana and hits theaters in other cities on January 17.

http://spiritofthething.wordpress.com/2 ... n-the-day/

Michael Rosenbaum habla sobre su debur como director en “Back in the Day”
Por Jeremy Werner 13 de enero, 2014

For nearly a decade, Superman fans came to love Michael Rosenbaum for his portrayal of Lex Luthor on “Smallville”. During that time Michael also found time to act in other TV shows and movies as well as voicing the Flash for DC’s animated universe. For the past two years though, Michael has been working on something near and dear to his heart. His first movie, “Back in the Day”, details a lot of his experiences growing up in a small town in Indiana. Some of those experiences are hilarious as well as very touching. Media Mikes was able to talk with Michael about his labor of love as well as the trials and tribulations with working on his first film.

Jeremy Werner: When watching “Back in the Day”, you really get this vibe that this is a love letter to the people and town that you spent your best years in.
Michael Rosenbaum: Oh yeah…I go back twice a year for whiffle ball. I really embrace the city. I really love where I grew up…cutting backyards, drinking out of firehoses, catching fireflies and playing baseball as a kid…It was a little bit of a love letter. I wanted it to be authentic and I wanted people to see how beautiful it can be instead of a stereotypical, ‘Oh I hate the small town and these people are rednecks’. It’s just the opposite of that. I’m very proud of where I grew up.

JW: I assume that every character in this movie is based off someone that you knew growing up.
MR: (laughs) Oh yeah, it is. Skunk is a real character played by Harland Williams…A lot of these things happened. I’ve known these guys for a long time, so it’s an exaggeration and loosely based on a lot of these guys, but definitely. There’s kind of a lot of characters all rolled up in one…I was kind of a nerd in high school and couldn’t get laid. So the girl in the movie is the one I had my first time with mixed in with the most beautiful girl in the world I could never get. They’re all based on the idea or of people that I knew.

JW: I’m almost afraid to ask, (laughs) but there’s a mom who drinks and smokes in the back-in-the-day-postermovie…did you know someone like that?
MR: (laughs)…You see some of those things every once and a while and you’ve seen it. That girl was a little bit of an exaggeration, but I hope that people find that funny…that was an exaggeration of someone I sort of knew, who when I go back home, I kind of still see every once and a while and it’s a big exaggeration…I thought she was just a larger than life character and people do that. They actually smoke light cigarettes and they’re smoking occasionally. They think it’s OK. They occasionally drink…an occasional shot of whiskey. So I think there are people out there.

JW: So have your friends watched this movie yet?
MR: They love it…they thought they were gonna see something shot on an iPhone and we had the budget to about do that (laughs). The laughs were loud, it’s great to see it with an audience…so far everyone has really enjoyed it. Obviously there’s some offensive moments and I’m sure somebody will say this isn’t for me, but it’s not for everybody. There is heart…so there’s a little bit of something for everybody. It’s what I wanted to make. I’m happy with that.

JW: How much of yourself did you put into the movie’s main character, Jim Owens?
MR: I obviously have a lot to be thankful for and I’ve done it all for myself and God bless, but there’s always a part of me that longs to be back home. I miss that side, that part of my life. Jim left someone behind, a girl he was in love with. I think that we all wanna find that, that love and he remembers that she was probably the best thing to ever happen to him and even though it happened years ago, he’s seeing what happens. I think there’s a big part of Jim in me or me in Jim because I think a lot of people long to go home and they miss home. Sometimes when they’re home, they realize: I do love home. But maybe I was destined to be an actor. I was destined to be a doctor somewhere or was destined to be…whatever it was. To each his own. I miss my friends back home. I miss the simplicity of being in a small town and living in a neighborhood and having seasons. I’m in Los Angeles and as beautiful as it is and you go to the beach and you have all these great things in life…everybody will sit there and go, “Oh my God. I’d love to have your life”. It’s funny because I’d like to have their life in a lot of ways too…It’s kind of mixing it. I think you can have the best of BITD_Michael-Rosenbaum_Morena-Baccarinboth worlds.

JW: So with so many memories, when did you start work on this script?
MR: Well, it’s one of those things where it was one of the first scripts I’d written and then I kind of let it go because it’s too small for a studio to buy and go, “Yes! It’s gonna be a big blockbuster comedy.” They consider it not high concept enough, I would say. I was trying to say, “I know these characters, wait until you see them.” It’s funny, I wrote it so long ago that I started working on all these other projects and then when another movie that I was suppose to make fell through…I was asked, “Do you have anything you wrote on growing up in Indiana?” I said, “Holy shit, I do.” I kind of switched gears and within three months I was prepping this movie and I pulled it out of the woodwork. I updated it a bit and I asked my friends to be in it. It’s a passion project. I can’t believe this movie is my first. Honestly, it was my first step in directing and it was the best first step. I hope people look at it and go, “Wow! For a million bucks, this is friggin’ funny. It looks great.”…You hope that people appreciate it and you hope you can get your second shot and that’s what I’m aiming towards.

JW: Was there a lot of pressure going into this?
MR: Yeah, I didn’t know how much work it was until I started doing it and then I realized…how am I gonna do this scene in one day? I don’t have enough money for this stunt, how am I gonna do that? How am I gonna get these actors from LA…and why would they do some independent movie in the middle of Indiana for no money in the dead of winter? So there’s a lot of obstacles. Then you finally make it happen and then you’re shooting and you start to have more problems. It’s raining…a snowstorm is coming in…whatever’s happening. Oh my God, it can’t be a Christmas movie anymore, it’s getting warm now. And then how do we finish the movie…and then post-production. How can we afford sound design? How can we afford a composer? How can we afford getting the songs that I really wanted to be in this movie? And then all of sudden we’re trying to screen the movie and we only have ‘x’ amount of weeks to edit it and now we’re trying to sell it. On a studio movie, once you’re done directing and cut, you’re done. Studio takes over and they have an infrastructure. With an independent movie there’s multitasking and I’ve been doing a ton of jobs with my amazing producer, Kim Waltrip and my post supervisor Aaron Peak, for no money. I haven’t taken a job for a year and a half because I’ve become so invested in this.

JW: Is there another script you have in mind after this?
MR: Yeah, I can’t really name it. There’s a camp movie that I’m considering directing that I wrote. I also wrote a TV show that we’re probably gonna shoot digitally for a studio. So that’s in negotiations…a lot of good stuff on the horizon.

JW: Now finally…as a nerd, I gotta ask…
MR: Do it!

JW: (laughs)…have you gotten any calls to be Lex Luthor in the upcoming Batman vs. Superman movie?
MR: The fans have been unbelievable. They’ve tweeted me, I’ve tweeted back…I’ve been to conventions and they always ask me, “Would you do it?” And I’m not an idiot, of course I’d do it. I’d love to do it. But I think Joaquin Phoenix is probably gonna do it or somebody. I’m a big Zack Snyder fan. Obviously, I think I could play the role. I would do it in a heartbeat, but I don’t hold my breath because I know there’s the stigma, “He was the TV Smallville Lex Luthor.” I say that sarcastically, but I think it’s a shame. If people like the role and what I did with it, then they should consider it. But I’m not the director. I’m not the producer. Long story short, I’d do it in a fucking heartbeat.

http://www.mediamikes.com/2014/01/micha ... n-the-day/

WAMG vuelve a "BACK IN THE DAY" con MICHAEL ROSENBAUM
Por Melissa Howland 15 Enero, 2014

Michael Rosenbaum and the gang are taking a trip down memory lane in the all new side-splitting comedy BACK IN THE DAY and because I like you, you’re coming along for the ride. Recently, I sat down with Michael Rosenbaum, to talk about his experiences tackling his first feature as both the writer and director. Not only that, but he stars in the film as well. Michael is a buddy of mine, but we never talk shop so this was a real treat for me.

BACK IN THE DAY is the first feature film written and directed by Rosenbaum. He also stars in the film alongside Morena Baccarin Harland Williams, Sarah Colonna, Nick Swardson and Isaiah Mustafa. The film was acquired by Screen Media Films in early October, and will be making it’s way to theaters on January 17, 2014. Can’t wait that long? Well, you are in luck! BACK IN THE DAY is out on iTunes now!

They say “write about what you know, and there are definitely some similarities between you and JIm. You’re both actors, you have a similar sense of humor, similar friends. Was that your process for this film?

You know, I wrote it a long time ago… and this other movie that I wrote fell apart. We lost the money, so I switched gears and started writing what was OLD DAYS, now is BACK IN THE DAY. You know, they always say “write what you know”, at least in the beginning, so I kind of stuck with that. Write on experience. Write what you know. Write characters that you know. It’s real. It’s easy to write. You’re not just creating stuff. You can just elaborate, or make a character that you know a little bigger, and brighter. The foundation’s already there, and it’s a lot easier to write. So, these were characters that I knew… like this guy Skunk growing up. He was a trouble maker. He had a heart of gold, but he got in fights, and was a tough guy, and he drank a lot. He had some amazing stories behind him like waking up naked in the back of his neighbors pick-up truck, and the story – the true story – is more fantastic that the one in the movie. Then there were these guys that I grew up with like T… we used to play wiffle ball at his house since I was, like, 10, and he choreographed the dance scene in the movie. Isaiah Mustafa, who’s my good buddy now, plays him. The real T isn’t as ripped as Isaiah, so I said to him “Isaiah, you’ve gotta gain a little weight. You can’t look that ripped up” because this guy I knew wasn’t always this ripped up, so he gained a few pounds, and grew a goatee… All of the characters are loosely based. It’s an exaggeration. You hire funny people to make things funnier.

Have the people who are begin loosely portrayed in the movie seen it yet?

They’ve seen a lot of it. My friend Kent Brenneman – Kris Polaha, who’s a great actor plays him. Kent’s a church guy. He’s family oriented. He’s a good guy, but he’s got a little bit of an edge. He likes to have fun here and there. He saw some of the character and was like “Oh, wow! Kinda looks like me actually.” and T’s always been a smart ass, so there was an essence of T in the movie. Skunk was just an exaggeration. Obviously, when Harland Williams is playing him… but there’s a heartfelt moment in the movie where we see that he really loves Jim. He’d do anything for Jim. There was that part of the real Skunk in there. Nick Swardson plays Ron Freeman – it’s one of my favorite parts in the movie, because on paper he’s just this floater… who is this lost soul years later, and he finally meets someone who’s trying to find herself. These two lost souls find each other. What’s amazing, which I think people will see if you are a Swardson fan or not – if you’re not, you’re going to be a Nick Swardson fan – is that he’s [the character] just a genuine guy. Everyone knows, in their town, that guy, but it’s heartfelt, and it’s real, and it’s exaggerated. I say this with absolute sincerity… I think this is the best performance that I’ve seen him give. Regardless that this is my movie, I think that it’s like “Woah!”. It makes you uncomfortable. There’re all these different levels to him. Even though it wasn’t the biggest role in the movie, he has such a presence. I feel like every character in this movie is a leading role. Because it’s the 12 of us, it’s all about these characters. It’s about personalities.

You are no stranger to being onscreen. Do you think there is more pressure bringing someone else’s words to life, or your own? Is there added pressure since you wrote this?

Yeah. You always hope that your jokes are funny. Sometimes they’re funnier than you thought they were. Sometimes they’re not funny at all. Sometimes when you hear other people saying them, no matter how they say it, they can’t make it as funny. I had the gift of working with such amazing talent that, if something wasn’t working, we’d make it better. If something was really working, we’d make it even funnier. You write a script, and what I think is funny is that I can hear these people [the characters] talk, and when somebody else reads it, they don’t always hear it the way you do. It’s artistic expression. If any of these guys write a script, or write a movie it’s objective. It’s arbitrary. When somebody reads it, it’s their interpretation of those voices in their head. The jokes aren’t hitting how you have it in your head. So, you really have to rely on good acting. You have to trust… It was amazing. I remember the first day that I heard my words, going “This is working! This is coming to life!” “Oh, this is funnier than I thought!” or “It’s even funnier if I say this instead of making things work that aren’t working.” I don’t know. Sometimes you go to movies, and you go “I can’t relate to anyone”, and that was the biggest thing for me as a writer and director. I wanted people to go – worst scenario – “Eh, I didn’t like this story, but I liked the characters.” They’re going to relate. At least there is a believability. There’re jokes. I want them to at least like everyone, and I wanted to have every actors back. I wanted to make sure they were all likable in some way, and have some sort of redeeming quality. Like the character of Mark, who’s the fiancé. You think he’s going to be the stereotypical guy that cheats on his fiancé, or that he’s the dick, or the asshole, but he has some redeeming qualities. I wanted to go against the grain sometimes.

You brought some of your close friends to Indiana, which is your home turf. Did you take them to some of your old stomping grounds? How fun was that?!

It was amazing. I was nervous though, because we were coming out to Indiana, and leaving LA during pilot season. Not only are they going to Indiana in the middle of that, but they’re also going into a cold climate. They’re not getting paid much money. I was nervous. I wanted them to like Indiana as much as I do. I go back, for a reason, twice a year to play in wiffle ball games. There’s just this sense of reality there. It’’s a family there. You go back and it’s more relaxed. It’s slower. LA moves so fast, and you get caught up in your own life. Sometimes you just forget about what’s important. What’s great is, I think they all came back and said “That’s the best time I ever had on a movie.” Isaiah, Harland, Morena, Sarah, Liz, Nick… all loved being there. They loved the town, and didn’t want to leave. I remember seeing a tweet from Morena when she went to LA for an interview and was coming back to Indiana to finish filming. It was something like “I’m on my way back to Indiana. I can’t wait to be back. I miss it so much.” and that touched me. They appreciate where I came from. When you make an independent movie, a lot of stuff could be a disaster. You don’t get stuff done. I was a first time director. ‘Does he have my back?” “Am I going to look like shit?” “Will there be a good makeup artist?” “Is there a good team?” Those are all things to think about, but I’m an actor. I knew all of these things. I actually can relate to them. So, I said ‘I’m going to take care of you. You’re not going to look bad!” You have to, hopefully, know that they trust you, and they did.

You have quite a few friends that are writers and directors. Did you get any tips from them seeing as this is your first feature?

You know I did. [laughs]

We don’t ever talk about this stuff. [laughs] That’s kind of the beauty of it.

Yeah. We leave work alone. We went on a hike to the hot springs with a whole bunch of people. I think I was the only one naked.

You were the only one naked. [laughs] Although I was the dumbass that forgot a suit and went in wearing shorts.

We go to concerts and things, and that’s who I am. I have friends from being in the business so long, like James Gunn. He’s one of my dearest friends, and he’s directing the new GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY, and SUPER. He’s just a really smart guy, and he’s directed a lot so I wanted to get advice from him… and my friend Jason Reitman who did JUNO, and my friend Greg Beeman who did LICENSE TO DRIVE in the 80’s, and Peter Segal who did TOMMY BOY. I sat with all four of these guys, not at the same time, and I got something from each of them. My friend Greg, who’s a dear friend, and we’ve written a lot of stuff together told me “Tell the story. Get the performances. Tell the story. Have transitions from scenes.” and “Be honest and sincere.” That’s another thing Reitman really dug into me, was “Find honest moments. I know your movie’s funny and a little outrageous, but find those little nuances that make your characters likable, or relatable so that you feel something for them.” That was a great note. And Pete, well, most of them said “Don’t play the lead role. Don’t do it!” They were like “Listen, by the end of this thing you are going to collapse. You are going to be exhausted.” I did not take their advice on that one. [laughs] As much as it worked, I think the next time I just want to direct. You can see more from outside looking in, rather than being in the scene acting, and being a part of it. They all gave such great tips. They all told me “Look, this is your first movie. Don’t be too hard on yourself. Have fun. Get the jokes. Don’t worry about moving the camera and being fancy. Just put the camera where it tells the story best.” That’s something Reitman really dwelled on.

What’s the one thing, as an actor, that you wanted to make sure that you did, or didn’t do on set?

I didn’t want to be selfish, or narcissistic, or an egotist. I didn’t want to be perceived as that. I wanted to be someone who the actors thought “He’s got my back.” Whenever you’re working with a first time director there is some worry. I’m sure all of them were like “Fuck!” I just wanted them to know “Hey, I’m going to make you look good. Trust me on this.” I also wanted to let them know that I knew what I wanted. Sometimes it can be hard to get, and you’re not the most articulate person, but I wanted to be a leader. It’s funny, because in my personal life I feel like a leader.

My nickname for you after all of the concerts and kickball games was “The Captain Of Summer”. [Laughs]

“The Captain Of Summer” [laughs], people call me Grizwold! Clark Grizwold from the Vacation movies. I like that. I think that’s sweet because I do organize things, and I like people to have a good time. I kind of feel like I lead people out to have fun. I was like, “I want this to be a really good movie. I want them to give me what I want, but I also want them to have a good time.” It was a balancing act. I think most directors don’t give a shit, and they just want to get what they need. They don’t care if you hate them. I felt like, not only was it important for everyone to have a good time, but to be comfortable, and for them to be happy with what they were doing.

Is it easier, or more difficult to direct your friends? I know Isaiah and Harland are your boys.

Sometimes. You know, Isaiah wasn’t my boy. I didn’t know him.

That’s how you met Isaiah! [Casting him in this film]

That’s how I met Isaiah. I interviewed him, and I thought the fucker was late! I was sitting in this restaurant, and finally I call and go “Where’s this fucking client? He’s really going to be 20-30 minutes late?” and I look over, and he’s sitting at another table. We were both looking at each other like ‘Is this you?” Within five minutes I knew “This man is just a sweetheart.” He’s a sweetheart. He’s a gentle soul, and I knew, right there, that he had to play T. Everyone was pushing me to play these other actors, but there was something about Isaiah that, I thought, was midwestern… genuine. That’s what I think about when I think of the character. Harland is one of my best friends, so that was a no-brainer. He was like “Well buddy, I’m a little older than you.” So I told him “Just dye your hair. You’ll look great! You’re a character that flunked out of class a few times. It’ll be fine.” I knew Jay Ferguson, who’s on Madmen, and Jay has more energy than anyone. He has worse ADD than me. [laughs] Keeping him entertained was a balancing act. Ultimately it comes down to performance, and he gave a great performance. They all did, but it was challenging. It’s challenging when you’re directing your friends, but Harland said “Hey buddy, anything you need man!”

You actually said that in his pacing. [laughs]

“Hey buddy, anything I can do for you man. It’s your movie”. [laughs] There were times when I’d give a certain direction, and you could tell that they weren’t sure that they wanted to do it, but they listened to me. I wanted a variety of things. I didn’t want the same reaction every take. One actor was going a little psychotic with his character, and I told him “You’ve gotta bring it down. I don’t believe it. If you want to look like an asshole on camera… ” and he brought it down. I think they started to see that I knew what I was talking about. A week later I showed them a scene, and they were like “Oh wow. This looks like a real movie.” and it helped to build trust. You can’t build trust overnight. You have to work at it. I think, by the end, people started realizing, and especially once they saw the film… Now I’m not a first time director. Now, not having to say “He’s a first time director.” Now they can say “He’s directed a feature”… so, hopefully next time it’ll be easier to cast this son of a bitch…

Are you working on something?

Oh yeah. I’m narrowing it down between three. Right now there’s one script that might direct, that I didn’t write, but there are three that I am thinking about. I mean, I’ve written, and I’m revising. I have to decide between another buddy, romantic, balls out comedy or one that’s more of a romantic comedy… I don’t know. I fell in love with this.

You’ve played such a wide variety of characters. You’ve done the superhero villain, you’ve done the comedies… is there any type of role that you haven’t gotten to play yet that you’d like to?

Hmm. You know, I’m very lucky, and I’ve played a lot of different roles, many of which probably no one has ever seen. I know that SMALLVILLE – Lex Luthor - was the most iconic, and most of the time people think of me as this serious, intense actor… I’m so not if you know who I am… if you meet me. Actually, it’s a compliment. You know, Wes Craven told me in a movie that know one saw, called CURSED that he directed – I love Wes – and he told me “You’re going to play this killer one day… this psycho, and it’s going to be just brilliant.” and I don’t even know how to take that.

Thank you? [laughs]

It was just a really great compliment. He said “You have this way about you that is likable, so when you turn [snaps]….” I don’t know. It always sat with me. I hope he’s the one who directs that. Look, I don’t think anyone has seen what I can do. I’m 41 years old, and I really believe that. I mean, I like to believe that I can do anything, and I really hope that people can see that. I mean, I’ve done drag in SWEET NOVEMBER, where I played Charlize Theron’s neighbor, I was the homosexual in MIDNIGHT IN THE GARDEN OF GOOD AND EVIL, I was Lex Luthor – the mastermind, and I was in SORORITY BOYS… So, I like to be funny. I like to be serious. I like to mix it up. You just hope that you get the chance. It’s really hard. I don’t care what you are doing. At my level, with a million people above me, I have to fight for everything. I have to audition, and I’m fighting against everyone constantly. It’s never easy… to get a movie made, to get the role that you want. You just have to keep fighting. Some people just decide “Fuck this. I’m going to go have a family. I’m tired of fighting.” I don’t think I’ll ever get tired of fighting.

http://www.wearemoviegeeks.com/2014/01/ ... rosenbaum/

Michael Rosenbaum sobre su debut como director en ‘Back in the Day’: “Es un proyecto hecho con pasión”
Por Kristyn Burtt 15 de Enero, 2014

Michael Rosenbaum is known to television fans for playing the iconic role of Lex Luthor in Smallville, but he wanted to expand his talents beyond acting. The 41-year-old star decided to spread his wings and make his feature directorial and writing debut in Back in the Day.

The story focuses on aspiring actor Jim Owens who goes back home to Indiana for his high school reunion. It’s a hilarious yet classic tale of what might have been had he stayed home and made a more conventional career choice.

Daily Actor had the opportunity to interview Rosenbaum about the film, his career and what’s next in his career.

For the full interview, click the audio link above or download it from iTunes.

Michael Rosenbaum: Let’s do it. I’m ready.

Daily Actor: Alright, well let’s talk about Back in the Day because clearly it looks like to me that you have some autobiographical elements to it. What inspired you to write it?

Michael Rosenbaum: I love going back home. I go to play whiffle ball in my small town where I grew up in Newburgh, Indiana, in Evansville, twice a year. People don’t understand why. I say, “Come back and you’ll see,” and they do and they’re like, “wow.!” It’s just a bunch of guys playing whiffle ball who are a little over-aged. They’re in their mid-30s or 40s and drinking beer and eating Strombolis and hanging out and it’s just… I grew up in a small town and it’s just… we used to cut through backyards and drink out of a garden hose and play flashlight tag and catch fireflies. And I just… I miss that essence and when I’m here it’s just like the character in the movie where he has to go back. Because it’s not only that he goes back for a reunion, but he starts to fall in love with the town he ran away from so many years ago and I left and I thought, “I’m gonna be the one who gets out of here. I’m gonna be the one who goes and becomes an actor.”

This guy only becomes… regardless of what he’s become, he’s like the Nationwide insurance guy with the big thumbs up all the time. All city insurance, always there, all the time, all in. And when he gets home his friends give him shit and they go, “All the time? Balls deep.” And, you know, I think it’s one of those things where I’m 41 now and I’m like going, “Wow,” you know? It’s not a pity party. It’s like, “Wow, I did Smallville and movies and I made some money and I’m… shouldn’t I be just on top of the world?” Then you go back home and you see your friends with their families and their kids and their… and it’s just this sweet and you’re like, “What did I miss out? Did I go in a different direction where…?” You know, there’s a line in the movie where Morena Baccarin’s character Lori says, “Are you happy?” and I go, “No.” I go, “Are you happy?” She goes, “Well, who’s really happy?” And I go, “Happy people, I guess.” It’s kinda like this what the… in a sense it’s like it’s what you find… what really makes people happy. And when I go back home there’s that innate goodness about the Midwest and…

DA: Sense of community.

Michael Rosenbaum: Sense of community.

DA: We don’t have out here in LA.

Michael Rosenbaum: It’s just like the generosity. You can’t rent a high school out for free. Fuck you, give me 20 grand.

DA: And let me see a permit.

Michael Rosenbaum: Let me see your permit. We want money. Change the name of the high school. They’re like, “Yeah. Shoot in our high school for 3 days for free. Shoot at Pizza King for free. Shoot at the Nob Hill.” My friend Phil went and slept in a Howard Johnson’s or some shit for letting me use his house. You don’t find that here.

DA: Right.

Michael Rosenbaum: I had to go home. I, you know, there was something, you know, you talk about this project, it was like it’s a passion project. A lot of these stories sort of happen. These characters are all based loosely on people and, you know, some of them. And, I felt like I had to go film in Indiana.

DA: It kind of takes a village. They all helped you with the project in some way.

Michael Rosenbaum: This movie is for Indiana. I think they’ll get a kick out of it and I think they’ll appreciate that, you know, most people go back to their hometowns or their small towns and say, “Oh, this is the fattest city in the country,” or, “Oh, this is the most depressed city in the country.” But I’m like, “This is the most beautiful city in the country. Fuck you. Go and visit and you’ll find out how cool and interesting Midwesterners are.” I couldn’t imagine growing up… growing a family in Los Angeles. Not to put Los Angeles down…

DA: I get it.

Michael Rosenbaum: …but I don’t know how people do it. I mean, I remember, like I told you, just living in a neighborhood where we walked to school and cut through yards and, you know…

DA: You can’t send your kids out in the street here.

Michael Rosenbaum: I think all these kids are so hip and they’ve got their phones. Take phones away from children. My niece texts me these little emojicons. What do they call them? Emojis?

DA: Emojis or emoticons, either one.

Michael Rosenbaum: She’s 10 years old. She says, “You’re a terrible uncle. You don’t text me back.” I’m like, “You’re 10 years old. Get off the cell phone.”

DA: Go outside and play.

Michael Rosenbaum: Call me from a freaking landline like a normal 10-year-old. So I don’t know, man. This world. But I… look, I got off on a tangent.

DA: No, no. But it makes sense though because I think for people in LA, especially, it’s a story that a lot of us can relate to if you’ve gone back. I grew up in small-town Massachusetts so I totally understand.

Michael Rosenbaum: Worcester?

DA: Not Worcester.

Michael Rosenbaum: My uncle lived in Worcester.

DA: Worcester. Andover.

Michael Rosenbaum: Park the car in Harvard Yard.

DA: Yeah.

Michael Rosenbaum: Yeah, I know that.

DA: I don’t have the accent, though. Thank God.

Michael Rosenbaum: But going back home is like I just, man, there’s something about it. I just am drawn to it. I’m drawn.

DA: Well, how about you, you’ve been an actor, this is your writing and directorial debut. What was it like for you to be in charge because I’ve got to imagine this was a big learning lesson for you?

Michael Rosenbaum: Anybody who knows me, look, I just brought all my friends to Disney World for New Years Eve. I’m a leader, I organize softball, flag football, kickball, bowling, and when I don’t people are like, “Dude, what’s going on?”

DA: What’s wrong with you?

Michael Rosenbaum: I’m like, “You guys can do this.” So I always was like, “You know what?” I like to have fun, I like to think that I’m fun to be around, and I wanted to do… I really… this may sound egotistical, but I like control. I like having control. I like, being on set, I like saying… calling the shots. I like to think I know what’s funny and if I don’t I have other people around me who are all talented and funny and I said, “Well, what’s on paper is fine, but I know that these guys are gonna bring it.” And Nick Swartz and Sara and Morena and Emma and all these… Jay, Isaiah, Nick, Chris, and I’ll name all of them. Mike. Who else?

DA: We’ll be here all day.

Michael Rosenbaum: Liz. Anyway, you just, I… whatever.

DA: That seems to be the best part. Was there a hard part that you didn’t expect?

Michael Rosenbaum: Yes. The first two weeks I felt like, “I can do this. Wow, I’m a born director.” And one day happened, whiffle ball scene, it rains, shot list out the window, we’ve gotta create… we’ve gotta somehow shoot the scene handheld, they’ve already let some actors go home so now other actors are reading with assistants who don’t know how to act and are reading their lines off camera and somebody’s being short with somebody and so and so is being short and they’re like, “Oh my God, does this first-time director know…?” I don’t know if they said that, but I’m sure I… in my mind I was like, “Oh my God, this is the shits, fucking gonna sink.” It was just one day and all these other days were brilliant and it’s one of those days you’re like, “Oh my God, can I do this?” And then you fucking say you put it together, you put your team together, and you say, “How are we gonna make this work? Let’s make this work.” And the next day we got a record of 63 setups, which is unheard of.

DA: That’s huge.

Michael Rosenbaum: And I said to my DP and my AD and I said, “Hey, today was rough. Tomorrow is gonna be beautiful.”

DA: As an actor did you feel a little bit more nitpicky on your, you know, what you were doing?

Michael Rosenbaum: You know what? I just, I knew… I trusted myself as an actor. I’ve done enough work where I was like, “You know what? If you’re worried and paranoid and insecure and going, ‘Oh, am I good enough?’ and all those things, you’re gonna fail.” You’ve gotta trust how good you think you are. You just gotta say, “I’m good. I’m gonna do this. I’m not gonna worry about me.” My goal is to worry about everybody else and make sure their performances because they gave their time and they’re in Indiana and I’ve got to make sure that they’re taken care of. So I made sure everybody’s performance was good and I looked at my producer and my best friend Tom and my AD Sherry and I said, “Hey, watch my back. Watch these takes. If I need more energy, tell me to do another one. Because I’m not gonna watch my shit. I know the shot, I know how close you are on the camera. If it’s not good… if it’s good, we’re moving on.” And you don’t have time to look at your shit, you’re shooting eight pages a day. So I just trusted. I trusted the people I was working with. You’ve gotta let go. As much of a control freak, you’ve gotta let your DP do his job, your AD do her job, your producer do the job, and your actors, let them do their shit.

DA: It’s called delegating, isn’t it?

Michael Rosenbaum: Delegating.

DA: You know, all the fans were asking, what are you working on next? They’re dying to know.

Michael Rosenbaum: You know? I’ve got… I’m definitely gonna direct another movie. That’s happening. So I can’t say what it is, but it’s gonna be happening by the summer probably and they’ll hear about it shortly and I’m really excited and I think it’s gonna be a little bigger of a budget and, you know…

DA: You writing it?

Michael Rosenbaum: I wrote it. And I’m also… I’ve written a couple of horror movies and so there’s a horror movie coming out that could be made soon and… and also there’s a TV show that I’m gonna make digitally for a studio. So I think that’s gonna happen too so we’re just dealing with contracts and stuff. There’s a lot of… there’s a lot of good stuff around.

DA: That’s good, I’m glad to hear that.

Michael Rosenbaum: I’m blessed.



Puedes escuchar la entrevista al completo: AQUÍ

http://www.dailyactor.com/2014/01/micha ... n-the-day/

De vuelta a casa: Michael Rosenbaum regresa a su alma mater en una nueva película
Por Emily Patton

Michael Rosenbaum’s high school experience wasn’t what you might expect from the star of the television show “Smallville.”

A graduate of Castle High School in Newburgh, Ind., Rosenbaum, 41, says he wasn’t popular in high school, didn’t go on a lot of dates, and was the smallest kid in the building. Recently, he had the chance to go back and be what he never could be.

“This character is supposed to have played football,” Rosenbaum says. “In moviemaking, you can be whoever you want to be. It was magical.”

Rosenbaum’s feature film directorial debut, “Back in the Day,” is shot in his hometown and takes main character Jim Owens (Rosenbaum) back to his 15-year high school reunion after an unsatisfying career in Hollywood. The characters in the movie cruise Green River Road in Evansville, boogie at Castle High School, and dine at Pizza King in Newburgh.

Rosenbaum wrote the script for “Back in the Day” 10 years ago, and he says it somewhat mirrors his life.

“The story really reflects on me a lot,” says Rosenbaum. “The hostile grind of Los Angeles and everyone wanting to be an actor and succeed in the business and you get tired of all that. No one really cares about that back home.”

But it wasn’t until a movie he was working on in November 2012 lost half of its funding that he finally put his plans into action.

“I felt like I let everyone down,” Rosenbaum says. “I’m not going to let this happen again. I picked up right where I left off and changed gears. It was a blessing in disguise. If I never do another movie, I got to shoot in my hometown — that is an accomplishment.”

A month after the other project collapsed, Rosenbaum flew to Evansville, where his mother and sister still live, to see if his long-lost script could be produced and began prepping the movie in February 2013.

Rosenbaum enlisted the help of several locals, including University of Southern Indiana senior Spencer Paddock, who served as the film’s photographer. The 21-year-old Paddock was responsible for all the photography on the set, posters, advertising, and pictures used by the media. In the 22 days it took to shoot the movie, Paddock recorded more than 22,000 photos.

“I went into it kind of scared, not knowing what it would be like,” says Paddock, who was one of 46 members of the cast and crew from the Evansville area. (Read more about the local production crew in the September/October 2012 issue of Evansville Living, which featured Rosenbaum on the cover for a story titled “Wind, Reel, and Print.”)

“You hear a lot of talk about how people from L.A. are hard to work with, but everyone was so down to earth,” Paddock says. “You have all these people that turn into your family.”

Rosenbaum co-produced the film with his 36-year-old brother, Eric, as Rose And Bomb Productions, and Kim Waltrip. Waltrip recently produced “Hit and Run,” which starred Rosenbaum, Kristen Bell, Dax Shepard, and Bradley Cooper.

“Back in the Day” is an R-rated comedy distributed by Screen Media Films and stars Morena Baccarin (“Homeland”), Nick Swardson (“Mad Men”), Harland Williams (“Dumb and Dumber”), and Sarah Colonna (“Chelsea Lately”).

In early January, “Back in the Day” was released to video on demand (VOD) and Newburgh and Evansville theaters. It hit theaters nationwide on Jan. 17.


http://www.evansvilleliving.com/articles/coming-home

In this week’s “Celebrity One on One,” we feature country star Laura Bell Bundy who interviews actor and country music fan, Michael Rosenbaum!

Rosenbaum may be best known for playing “Lex Luthor” on “Smallville” but is now taking over the big screen as star and director of his new film “Back in the Day.” In the movie, the star plays “Jim Owens,” an actor living in Hollywood who heads home for his high school reunion where he tries reliving the glory days with his buddies. Reliving those glory days entails revenge on his former high school principal and an attempt to rekindle an old flame.

The film stars “Homeland’s” Morena Baccarin, “Half Baked” star, Harland Williams, “Grandma’s Boy” Nick Swardson, Jay R. Ferguson, Sarah Colonna, “Old Spice” commercial star Isaiah Mustafa and more!

Laura Bell Bundy caught up with Michael about his country music faves, bloopers from set, and being buddies with the likes of Dierks Bentley and NASCAR’s Jimmie Johnson…

Laura Bell Bundy: This is your directorial debut, and you are also the lead character “Jim,” how did you balance both of those roles?

Michael Rosenbaum: I don’t know. I’ve been acting a long time. You really just have to trust yourself and not think about things too much. If you ever doubt yourself or get into your head for too long, that’s when it gets a little overwhelming. And hiring a lot of professional and talented people makes your job a lot easier. I was also very prepared and knew what I wanted. I didn’t sleep much, I’ll tell you that.

LBB: How would you describe your film?

MR: A raunchy, romantic, buddy comedy with heart.

LBB: You headed back to your hometown in Indiana, what was it like to set up shop there, so to speak, and shoot in places you grew up around?

MR: Surreal. We shot at the old Pizza King, my old high school, the mall and cruised Green River Road. These were things I did as a teenager. It was really freaking cool. What was even cooler was that the whole cast really loved filming there. They were all very sad when it was over. They really thought it was one of the most beautiful places they had been too. I loved growing up in Indiana and was glad they appreciated it too.

LBB: Seems that you’re from the “country,” what are some of your favorite country songs/artists from growing up?

MR: Ronnie Milsap, Eddie Rabbit, Alabama. An old teacher of mine, Mr. Hunter, used to make us listen to all of that, and I can’t thank him enough. I still listen to it all. My friend and I Sheldon Souray, who is a professional hockey player, kick out those old jams all the time and belt them out. We love us some Country.

LBB: I know you’re a big country music fan now too, who are you listening to?… Besides me : )

MR: Just so you know, I will “Two Step” & “Giddy on up” with the best of em’. I love your voice. You sing like an angel. I’ve seen you on Broadway twice, if you remember. I will always be a fan. But, I love me some Dierks Bentley. Got to hang with him a few times and he’s just a great guy all around. He even tweeted about my movie “Back in the Day” along with Jimmie Johnson and you, of course. I love the support. But I think my favorite country song in the last few years is Kenny Chesney’s “Somewhere With You.” I just love that damn song. Touches the soul.

LBB: If there was a country song to describe your childhood, what would it be called?

MR: That’s a tough one. Hmm. How about…”I Ain’t Too Short To Love You.”

LBB: You worked with some of your hilarious friends in the film, there had to be some amazing behind-the-scenes bloopers. Are there any memorable mishaps?

MR: We could honestly have an hour and a half movie of bloopers. I’m not even kidding. At the end of the movie there are some great ones. And I put another five minutes worth on the DVD. I love when movies have bloopers at the end. What a treat.

Also, the girls shared a trailer and the boys shared a trailer. We didn’t have a lot of money so we had to share. I think the actors were skeptical at first but it was the best thing that ever could’ve happened. There was this immediate bond and everyone grew close very fast. You really had no choice when you were going to the bathroom and two feet away the rest of the cast are screaming “Connect Four.” That’s an old game from the 80′s for all you young farts out there.

LBB: What feeling would you like your audience to walk away with after seeing your film, and is there any particular message you wanted to convey?

This is a fun movie. It’s light and filled with a lot of craziness, but I also wanted it to have heart. But a message? Hmm. I guess I’ll say this:
Nobody loves growing up. And, I truly feel like age is just a number. It’s really just about doing the things that make you happy and being around people that make you happy. This is the story of a guy who is trying to find himself and uncertain if he’s making the right decisions so far in life. Sometimes it takes getting advice from an unlikely source to guide you in the right direction. So you should always keep your eyes wide open…

We’d like to thank the talented Laura Bell Bundy and friend of Spotlight Country, Michael Rosenbaum for this great interview.

We’ve seen the movie a few times already and can assure you that you will belly laugh while, at times, be overcome with nostalgia. Any 80′s & 90′s fan will greatly appreciate the fantastic music, as well. GO SEE IT!

http://www.spotlightcountry.com/laura-b ... n-the-day/

Michael Rosenbaum habla sobre BACK IN THE DAY, cómo el dirigir un episodio de SMALLVILLE le preparó, el escribir para un presupuesto y más
Por Christina Radish 18 de enero, 2014

From writer/director Michael Rosenbaum, Back in the Day is a raunchy comedy with heart that tells the story of Jim Owens (Rosenbaum), an aspiring actor in Hollywood who decides to go back home to Indiana for his high school reunion. Reliving the glory days with his now-married friends, he encounters an old flame (Morena Baccarin) and wonders what could have been, had he chosen a different path in life.

At the film’s press day, actor/filmmaker Michael Rosenbaum spoke to Collider for this exclusive interview about what started him down the road for this film, how directing an episode of Smallville was a great trial run, having to write for your budget, how he got this great cast together, how much improvisation they did, keeping track of his own performance while he was directing, changing the ending, editing the film down from a two hours and 20 minute assembly cut, and what he’d like to do next. Check out what he had to say after the jump.

Collider: What started you down the road on this?

MICHAEL ROSENBAUM: I was on Smallville and I had a lot of free time on my hands, sitting around on the set, and my friend was like, “You need to write.” Carrie Fisher, who’s a friend of mine, said, “Just write stuff. You’re always telling me these crazy stories, so write it!” So, I wrote a whole bunch of short stories about growing up, and then I gave it to her. She said, “Did this really happen to you?,” and I was like, “Yeah.” She said, “You need to write this. This should be a movie or a TV show. This is really funny.” I was like, “What?! You wrote Postcards from the Edge. You’re a genius!” So then, I started writing and I got to sell a few things. None of them got made, but I sold them. You’ve always gotta look at the little things, and the accomplishments in life. While I was at Smallville, I was like, “Why don’t I take the opportunity to direct an episode?” So, they let me direct an episode, and I was like, “Oh, my god, I love this!” And then, I directed a short, produced another short, and wrote this and that. Then, I decided that I was going to direct a movie. I’ve seen a lot of people do it who can’t, and I’ve seen a lot of people who really can, so I decided to give it a shot. And then, you realize, “Wow, I have no money,” and you have to raise money, which takes forever. Then, you lose money. Then, someone else comes back. Somehow you get a movie made, which is a miracle, on its own. And then, you have to cast it and finish it. This was one of the first scripts I had written. It was loosely based on a lot of stories that happened when I was growing up.

Did directing an episode of Smallville really help you with directing a movie?

ROSENBAUM: Yeah, it helped. But, you’ve gotta remember that Smallville had millions of dollars in the budget, an infrastructure, a special effects department, a stunt department, a make-up department, and a hair department. Everybody was already doing their job. You don’t have to direct anyone. You just get the performances. But, I felt that I really got great performances, and I thought, “Okay, I can do this.” We had nobody. We just had one person doing make-up and hair. A lot of times, people think directing is how you can move a camera and how you can make big explosions. That’s not directing. I haven’t directed a lot. This is my first movie. But, directing is more about telling a story. You have a script and you tell the story, the easiest way possible. The best direction I got was from Jason Reitman and James Gunn. They’re big directors and they said, “Tell the story. Transition to the next scene. Get performances. Get a variety of performances, so that you have something to cut, if you don’t like it.” To me, it’s really about performance and telling the story. I’m an actor, so it’s easier for me to talk to actors. I felt like I could get what I wanted out of them. That was the biggest thing I had going for me. I knew that the characters were going to be good and that they were going to be believable, I just didn’t know how the movie was going to turn out. But, I was very happy. You’ve just gotta keep it simple. There are movies where you need to do big things, and they’re called action movies. But for a comedy, you’ve just gotta tell the story.

When you wrote this, did you know you’d also be directing it? Did you think about that while you were writing it, at all?

ROSENBAUM: You just have to know your budget. You have to go, “Okay, I want to do a stunt scene driving.” I wrote this scene where a truck jumps off into the cornfield and busts through a billboard that’s my face with a big thumbs up, but I couldn’t afford that. We had six hours to shoot a stunt scene. I was a little over-ambitious. I wanted to do so much, but I love what I have. We had 20 days to shoot the movie and a million bucks. That’s it. We shot in the middle of nowhere with no tax credit and no overtime. To do what we did was simply amazing. I can’t believe we did as much as we did. We shot driving scenes, stunt scenes, a wedding, a reunion with 12 actors and at least eight days of it, a wiffle ball scene and a BBQ. There were a lot of big group scenes, and that’s very difficult. I knew that we could do it. I just hoped that weather permitted and that Lady Luck was on our side.

How did you get this great cast together?

ROSENBAUM: I got lucky with this cast. I was a first-time director, and it was pilot season. I had no idea how I was going to get people out to the middle of nowhere, where I grew up, to shoot this movie. But somehow, I did. We didn’t have enough money to get through the days, but we did it. Then, we were finished and we were in the editing room, and I was like, “Wait, there’s some funny stuff here, and this actually looks like a real movie.” The one thing I didn’t want to do was make an arthouse movie. I love them, but I didn’t want this to just show at a small theater. I wanted people to go, “This looks like it could be a studio movie.” And I give that credit to my D.P., Bradley Stonesifer. It looks great. And we’ve got a great soundtrack. Call it luck, or whatever, but I am lucky.

Did you have these particular actors in mind?

ROSENBAUM: Yeah. Harland Williams was always Skunk. It’s based on a real character, who I grew up with. Skunk was such a great guy, and Harland nails that character. Nick’s character is based on a guy who used to ump our wiffle ball games. He’s a big drinker with a heart of gold. They were all loosely based on different people, for the most part. So, I knew Nick would play Freeman, I knew Harland would play Skunk, and I knew [Jay R.] Ferguson would play the fiancé. I was blessed, but I was lucky that they all did it.

It seems like a movie like this would have a lot of improvisation, but when you’re on such a tight schedule with such a tight budget, can you even allow for that?

ROSENBAUM: I had to. It would be a disservice to not let these gifts in the improvisational world not to improvise. As little time as we had, I always said, “Take one, say it how it’s written. Once we get that, let’s play with it.” And I’m acting in those scenes, too. You take your time for things that are really important, and those things that aren’t as important, you just go, “Hey, that’s enough. Let’s move on.”

Did you find it hard to keep track of your own performance while you were directing?

ROSENBAUM: Yeah! I thought I was going to be so stressed about knowing my lines because I wrote it and it’s embarrassing, if I don’t know my lines. But, I was at ease because I was so worried about everything else that I forgot. I just became myself. But, I had eyes on the camera. I was just say to my first assistant director, “Hey, are we good?” Every once in awhile, she’d say, “You could use a little more energy.” And I trusted her because she’s done 30 movies. I just shot as much footage as I could. I knew that the key was to shoot as much footage as I could, keep rolling and get the moments. I wanted people to connect, and I also wanted people to laugh. The jokes had to be there, and the relationships had to be there.

Was this always the ending you had written for this?

ROSENBAUM: No. The scene at the end wasn’t supposed to be there. I wrote it at the end. I was like, “You’ve gotta have a little bit of a happy ending, and some morsel of hope that maybe things work out.” This is a comedy. This is light and fun. This is a date movie, where you’re going to laugh and enjoy yourself. You don’t need to feel sorry for anybody. I didn’t want it to be too cliche. It’s just a real story.

How challenging was it to put together a final cut?

ROSENBAUM: It was easy, but there was a lot of great stuff that got cut. Richard Marx was a gift from god. He was hilarious in the movie, but I ended up cutting him out. It was not because of his performance, but it didn’t work. He was nice enough that he gave us a song. He’s become one of my best friends. He’s like my big brother. But my editor said, “I’ve never been with a writer/director that cuts as easily as you do, ever. You can cut stuff like you don’t care if it’s you.” I was like, “If it’s not funny, it’s not making the movie. If I don’t believe it, it’s not making the movie.” This is a comedy. People don’t want to go so a two hour and 20 minute comedy, although some directors do that. I wanted to make an hour and a half movie, where you’re in and out and you laugh your ass off. We have outtakes at the end. That was important. I didn’t want the movie to drag. There were some dance scenes at the reunion and some bachelor party stuff. I cut a lot of Harland Williams stuff. I had to just cut stuff that was really funny, to get out of the scene. When they gave me the assembly cut, it was two hours and 20 minutes, and I said, “What the fuck?!” I remember chopping it down to two hours, and then to one hour and 50 minutes, and then to one hour and 40 minutes, but that still wasn’t enough. I even think I still could have cut another four or five minutes, but it moves and it’s fun.

When you throw so much of yourself into a project like this, do you then just want to go do an acting project and leave the rest to someone else?

ROSENBAUM: I’ve gotta say, as much as that sounds so easy, and it’s fun sometimes to be the actor and go home and not worry about anything but your lines, I loved coming to work every day and seeing this whole crew that looked at me like, “What are we doing today? It’s your call.” I like to direct. I like to engage with people, and I want people to have fun. I’m a people person, and I feel like I could be a good leader. I think being a good leader is knowing what you want, having professional people around you, who are fun to work with, and know your taste and what you want. That makes it easier. A lot of these big directors work with the same people, for years on end.

Do you see yourself directing scripts that you haven’t written?

ROSENBAUM: Sure. I’d love to direct my own stuff, but a lot of my stuff isn’t as good as most people’s stuff. I don’t think I’m the world’s most gifted writer. I think I have great ideas and great characters. Sometimes I think I write really well, but sometimes I don’t. If a script comes to me that’s great, I’m game. If I can get the rights to it, I’m gonna direct it. But, I like to put my own twist on it. I like if they can give me the freedom to add things to it and take things away. I always want that freedom. I want to improvise. If it’s not working, I want to have the freedom to not have to call the writer and say, “Do you care if we change your words?” I’m not going to be that director. You’ve always gotta respect the writer, but if you write and direct your own stuff, you can change it.

Do you know what you’re going to direct next?

ROSENBAUM: I’m gearing up to hopefully direct my next movie in the summer. I can’t really tell you anything about that right now ‘cause everyone steals in this business. But, it will have a bigger budget with more days off. It’s a very funny romantic comedy. There’s also a camp movie that I wrote, and another movie that I won’t talk about. I’m really narrowing it down, revising both and seeing what’s best. But, I’m up for anything. One of my favorite movies is Tommy Boy, but then I love The Perks of Being a Wallflower. I like to make people a little uncomfortable, and then say, “It’s okay. These things happen.” There’s just some kind of awkwardness that I want to convey, so hopefully I’ll be able to do that, in the future.

http://collider.com/michael-rosenbaum-b ... U404JUr.99

Michael Rosenbaum sobre "Back in the Day"
Por Daniel Tucker 19 enero, 2014

I spent a healthy majority of my life watching Smallville. My favorite character from Smallville without question was Lex Luthor, played by one Michael Rosenbaum. I was also a huge fan of Poolhall Junkies and one of the select few that realizes that Hit & Run is hilarious. Years later, I was given the opportunity to talk to Mr. Rosenbaum, something I never thought would actually happen. After gushing for far too long about my love for Smallville and for Michael Rosenbaum in general, we got to talking about his first time directing a feature film.

Daniel Tucker: This is your third time in the director’s chair, the first time being your work on an episode of Smallville and the second being your work on the short film Fade Into You. As a director, what has changed and what has remained the same?

Michael Rosenbaum: I think what never changed is that I just wanted to get performances. That was the most important thing to me. As an actor I said, “you know what? I’m gonna get good performances.” That’s the whole thing. A lot of people think that you need a lot of fluff or big set pieces. If people don’t like the character, or if they don’t believe them, then that’s the worst thing you can have in your movie. Movies just aren’t funny if you don’t care about anybody. I got that a long time ago from a director, my friend Greg Beeman. He said, “just try and get some honest moments, and then you have all the laughs you want. If enough people like your character, then you can do whatever you want.” And that’s what stayed. What changed was my naiveté of just thinking it was easy. As an actor, you can be like “oh god, when are we done? What is this director doing?” But then you start to learn that there’s a lot on your plate. There’s a lot to do. You don’t have a lot of time. You have to tell the story, you have to get performances, you have to get the shots, you have to get the transitions, you don’t have a lot of time. Because of infrastructure of Smallville, the show pretty much ran by itself. It didn’t need me. Although I think I did a good job. The performances in the episode were great, and I really like the episode, but I felt it could run by itself. It was a finely oiled machine, but then you get to an independent movie and it’s not. You have to sometimes fire people, you have to sometimes tell people that it’s your vision. They don’t know what you want, and they shouldn’t. So you have to explain it to them. You have to articulate, “this is what I want.” You have to cast people. You don’t have a studio like Warner Brothers backing you up. You’re going to be working for Rose and Bomb Productions! It’s a lot of work, but it was film school. I learned everything from prepping, to casting, to shooting, to directing, to post production, to calling music companies and trying to get the rights, to selling the movie, and screenings – it’s been a whirlwind. And ultimately, I think it’s the best feeling ever. I wouldn’t trade doing this for the world, and I really love the project. I’m passionate about the film. So that’s the difference. Being a director isn’t as easy as I thought, but it doesn’t stop me from wanting to do it more and more. Smallville was a stepping stone, and this was a big second step. Now, it’s just been a real great experience.

DT: As an actor, has being behind the camera helped inform you as a director?

MR: Absolutely. As an actor, to direct other actors, I know what they’re feeling. Sometimes there are people with smaller parts who get really nervous. I could see their hands shake, and their lips quiver, and their hands are shaking, and they don’t’ know what to do. I knew how to make them comfortable. I knew what I wanted, and I knew how to make them comfortable. If I saw something and didn’t think it was funny, I had to find a way to make it funnier. Sometimes that meant changing lines or letting the actors ad lib. There are so many geniuses in this movie, like Nick (Swardson), Harland (Williams), and Sarah (Williams), who go in and add some stuff and really create something special. Being an actor and starting out with that has really helped me because I understand actors. I know what they’re feeling sometimes, and I know how to articulate and get what I want.

DT: This movie felt incredibly personal. How much of it is you, and how much of it is made up?

MR: Well, it is a movie. I think we all miss home, and I think we all sometimes think about how our lives could have been had we done something differently. And if maybe Jim had stayed back in Indiana, maybe he would have been happier. But I think it’s always, “what if?” And you can’t really look back. You really have to go your own way and follow your heart, and I think Jim ultimately does that. But we all get in ruts. Sometimes, no matter how old we are, we all need a hug – whether it’s our friends or our parents. Sometimes you need a break, sometimes you need someone to tell you, “dude, life’s not always easy.” And people can assume that you’re the happiest guy in the world in Los Angeles, and you have everything to be happy for and you should be. Sometimes, you miss not having such responsibilities. I miss being young. I miss just cruising Green River Road with my friends. I miss my parents paying for my house. I miss my grandparents. I think there’s a big part of me in Jim, the lead character. All these characters are loosely based on people who I grew up with and I know, people who I home and give hugs to and drink beers with. There’s an essence of that. Whatever I do when I direct my movies, I always want to have an essence of the people I grew up with. I think it’s important.

DT: I liked the ending. You see too many films that tie everything up with a bow. That’s not necessarily how life is. You still have something ahead of you. I felt that at the end of the movie that Jim had come to grips with who he was and where he wanted to go, but he still had a life to experience.

MR: I’m really glad you said that. That’s exactly what I wanted to get across. Too many movies are nicely wrapped up at the end. The ride as you go on as audience member helps a lot. Sometimes, as an audience member you were glad for the fun ride, but maybe this one thing happened that you didn’t love. In retrospect, that’s real life, and you hope that someone finds a morsel of happiness in whatever way they are capable of doing so. Not everybody always ends up together. A lot of people may say, “oh god, this is just a high school movie about a guy who goes back home and steals the girl” will be missing what the movie is. If you give it the time and watch it, you’ll realize it’s not. There are some twists. It is reality based. As much as it is full of big laughs and farts and boners and all that stuff, there’s also some real stuff and real moments. I tried to balance that.

DT: There’s certainly a heart to it, and I think that’s what makes it work.

MR: Dude, you’re the best.

http://nextprojection.com/2014/01/19/in ... -back-day/

La estrella de ‘Smallville’ Michael Rosenbaum habla sobre su debut directorial ‘Back in the Day’
Por Diane Cooney 22 Enero, 2014

Building upon his diverse film and television experience, actor Michael Rosenbaum recently returned to his hometown of Newburgh, Indiana for his directorial debut, Back in the Day. Rosenbaum, who also wrote, produced and starred in the film, plays the role of Jim, a struggling actor who returns home for his high school reunion.

Of course, Rosenbaum is known to most audiences for his role as the charming and inscrutable young Lex Luthor in Smallville. The role (which required Rosenbaum to shave his head ten months out of the year during the seven seasons he appeared on the show) is a marked contrast from Rosenbaum himself, who is warm, chatty and funny; even saying his friends describe him as a “dork and goofball.”

The actor recently took time out of his busy schedule to speak to Philly2Philly from his home in Los Angeles.

“I’m 41, I want to do what makes me happy, I can wait around for the right project,” says Rosenbaum. “Most of the stuff that gets sent to me is stuff I don’t want to do. If I commit to another TV show, I want it to be something that’s as gripping, as diverse as the character I played in Smallville. Or something that’s really fun and I can grow as a character and something that I can have creative input. So I’m producing and writing, that’s what I want to do. That’s why I started a production company Rose and Bomb Productions."

In addition to Back in the Day, Mr. Rosenbaum wrote and starred in the award-winning short Ghild (which you can watch HERE), directed by David Yarovesky.

Mr. Rosenbaum assembled a fantastic cast for Back in the Day, including Homeland and Firefly star Morena Baccarin, Mad Men actor, Jay R. Ferguson., Kristoffer Polaha (Ringer, Life Unexpected) comedian Nick Swardson, and the Old Spice pitchman, Isaiah Mustafa. Longtime friend and collaborator Harland Williams (Dumb and Dumber) also stars.

“Morena Baccarin, I can’t say enough about her”, Mr. Rosenbaum gushes. “You look at her and you think you know wow, how beautiful, and then you work with her and you realize she’s absolutely stunning inside out. She just was a joy to work with every day. You know, we’re shooting eight pages a day, not one page a day like these studio movies. To get actors who are just pros, and want to come and do the work and show their support because they know you are doing this as a passion project, they know this is your home town where you grew up.”

“We didn’t have money for overtime. We never went over one day. We did a stunt scene with a big car chase scene. We had like six hours to shoot it, ” he continues. “Nothing comes easy, I’ll tell you that. I thought it was going to be a lot easier. I don’t think I’ll ever be the lead actor in a movie again, while directing. I think I might play a small part, but I really love directing, I fell in love with it and I like being on the outside looking in. I feel like I’m more creative and I can see things.”

Back in the Day provides a nice blend of scatological human and heart. Something Mr. Rosenbaum was very cognisant of while making the film.

“I think sometime movies get too sappy. I wanted to have these nice moments, but you have to ease up. You have six or seven minutes of laughs, but then you come out take a deep breath, and now ok, we’re going to get a little serious now and tell a little story. If you’re going to have a serious moment, just make sure you follow it up with a laugh.”

Although the film was only released last week, Mr. Rosenbaum took a brief moment to reflect on his accomplishment, which he doesn’t take for granted.

“It was a lot of luck, it was getting the actors to come from Los Angeles in the beautiful sunshine to come to southern Indiana in the middle of the winter for little money. I really give credit to everybody around me; from the crew, cast, the people in the town, they made it happen.“


http://www.philly2philly.com/entertainm ... scusses_di

Sometimes in order to move forward, you have to go back. And in this comedy, Jim Owens does just that when he heads home for his high school reunion. In an attempt to relive the glory days with his boys and explore an old romance, he nearly destroys his hometown and friendships.


Comedy written & directed by Michael Rosenbaum, starring Nick Swardson, Harland Williams, Morena Baccarin and more! Now on demand.

1. Back in the Day was shot entirely in my small hometown of Newburgh and Evansville, Indiana. We filmed in my old high school, the Pizza King, the Knob Hill Tavern and many of my old friends' homes. It was surreal and a real community bonding experience. The town was buzzing. I wanted to give back and the generosity was unbelievable.

2. Our film is based loosely on four or five guys that I grew up with. Every actor got to meet the guy they played and that was pretty cool. Harland Williams portrayed one of my old buddies, Skunk. The real Skunk just passed away a few months ago and the movie is in memory of him. He was an amazing guy. a tough guy and a freaking hilarious one too.

3. Everyone told me not to shoot in Indiana. There was no tax credit there and everyone was trying to convince me to stay in LA. Not to mention it was pilot season in Los Angeles and what actors would leave their nice homes and sunshine to film in southern Indiana in the dead of winter for no money? I didn't listen. I wanted it to feel real. Authentic. If this was my first and last movie, I was going to make it in my home town. Somehow it came together.

4. I put my own money into the movie. A lot of people are using Kickstarter which is pretty damn ingenious, and I'm not knocking it, but I got a few investors and wrote some of the checks myself. If it doesn't work out, I might have to start a Kickstarter campaign for myself.

5. I'm a big fan of John Hughes, Adam Sandler

and The Farrely Brothers...

The big question in making this film was how can I make a movie, pay homage to all of my idols, make it my own, make it look like a quality film and make it really funny for NO MONEY?

Well, I knew that I needed a good Director of Photography and someone who could move fast. So, I got one. My now good friend Bradley Stonesifer who also shot the film HIT and RUN, with Bradley Cooper. I liked his style. He's an artist. I remember joking with the crew on the first day of filming. I made an announcement: "Brad is here to make ‘ART’ and I'm here to make ‘FART’ and Together we will make ‘F'ART’”; and that's just what we did. We have a lot of silliness sprinkled in this movie, but there's also a lot of gorgeous shots and some genuinely sweet and artistic moments.

Brad once asked me, "do you think the critics will like this movie?" I replied "No... I just want my friends to." Mission Accomplished. This is for the boys, and all the boys out there. That's the great thing about indie movies….Freedom.

http://ondemandweekly.com/blog/article/ ... rosenbaum/

I'm Michael Rosenbaum - most of you probably know me from my role as the supervillain Lex Luthor (the only one to fully shave his head to play the part - COMMITMENT!) on Smallville, as well as working on Hit and Run with Bradley Cooper. I have worked with a bunch of great actors from Christopher Walken and Clint Eastwood to Forest Whitaker and Kevin Spacey. I was also the voice of the Flash for many years on the Justice League.

What some of you may not know is that I recently made my directorial debut with Back In The Day - a movie that I am very proud of, which I also wrote and starred in with Nick Swardson (Pretend Time, Grandma's Boy), Morena Baccarin (Homeland), Isaiah Mustafa (much more than The Old Spice Guy), Sarah Colonna (Chelsea Lately) and Harland Williams (Half Baked). It's out in theaters today and on iTunes!

I also work for my charity - Echoes of Hope I'm playing hockey this Sunday at Sundance to raise money for it. Check it out and help out in any way if you like. I also work with The Ronald McDonald House in Seattle

Proof

I'm on Twitter

Bring it on, ask me anything - Poolhall Junkies, Lex Luthor, Hit and Run, Sweet November, Urban Legend, The Flash, Back in the Day, and anything else!

EDIT: Guys, thank you all so much - I had to go and deal with everything I have to do today with Back In The Day premiering in theaters. You were all incredible, and I wish I had had more time to answer you all. It's awesome to see how many great fans I have, and how many people care about my work. Please support indie movies and see

NCR-Patriot: Hi Michael I'd just like to say that your voice has become the Flash in my mind in the same way Kevin Conroy is the de facto Batman. As for my question, what comic book character would be your dream to play if you hadn't been cast as the Flash?

ImMichaelRosenbaum: batman. i could do it. i can make my voice deeper

yourpalthomps: thanks for releasing your new movie online concurrently with the theater release. are you getting the response that you had hoped for with the digital market and do you think that this is going to become a bigger trend in movie distribution?

ImMichaelRosenbaum: it's tough. for an Independent movie to be seen, you really have to get the word out. And before VOD and ITUNES, it was really tough. I'm just thankful that people get to see the movie. The digital market is the future. now and forever. I still want people to go see Back in the Day in theaters. It's different experience.

AllenHenry: Hi Michael! Loved your work on Smallville... Was there a prop or memento you got to take away from your time on the show that you hold near and dear?

ImMichaelRosenbaum: yeah. i stole this crazy piece of art from lex's office. i have it here. haha. and his long trench coat from the last episode ever. yes! didn't really steal. just sounds cool to say.

clexkate: Hello, Michael! This is a question I've been dying to ask you for several years. Clark and Lex were always destined to be enemies, but Smallville always hinted that Lex could have been a powerful ally to Clark under the right circumstances. So my question is if Clark had confided in Lex about his alien powers in the early seasons when they were still good friends, would Lex have been okay with it? Would he have helped Clark in understanding his powers and giving him protection, or would he have eventually used Clark for his own personal gain? I've wondered this for years and it would be great to hear your opinion! - Katey

ImMichaelRosenbaum: so have i Katey. so have i. i think if you're honest with someone from the beginning, there's a level of respect. Clark was never honest with Lex.... so the story goes. But i think that's what is great about this story. it's really left to the imaginations of the fans to think about what could have been.

AndyGurtch: Hey Mike! I just graduated from Castle, and watched your movie at Showplace. It was fantastic! My dad was actually an extra in the film, and he says thank you for the opportunity! It was really cool of you to film it in Newburgh, and we wish you the best of luck!

ImMichaelRosenbaum: i love you. not because you're a fellow hoosier or loved the movie... but because you're so darn nice. thank you. please spread the word.


ImMichaelRosenbaum: Guys, I'll be on for another half an hour or so. I wish I could stay forever. This is a blast. But Back in the Day opens today so i have to do a million things like feed my dog. But you can always tweet me @mrosenbaum711, instagram irvrules, or vine me at Michael Rosenbaum. I respond quite frequently. This has been a real treat. Those that know me, know I love my fans. See ya'll on the flip side. But i'm still answering for next half hour.


jgp11: I loved the interactions between you and John Glover on Smallville. The show was not nearly as good when you guys were gone. How did you feel about the way Lex was handled at the end of the show?

ImMichaelRosenbaum: much obliged my friend. John is a genius and made me a much better actor. he is not only a gifted actor but an incredible guy. just had dinner at his house a few months ago. love him. he's like a dad. a good one though.


ImMichaelRosenbaum: We hit 400. wow. I love you all. Thanks so much. I'm out now to promote Back in the Day. If you had fun today, then maybe help a brother out. much thanks, Michael Rosenbaum (Your Lex Luthor)


KRYPTON_KN1GHT: What episode of Smallville was your favorite to work on? And what was it like playing a character that changes from being a person trying to do the right thing to becoming Superman’s nemesis? I also would just like to say your portrayal of Lex Luthor is easily one of the best acting performances on television! Smallville will always be my favorite show of all time.

ImMichaelRosenbaum: loved shattered. the best characters are the ones that have an arc. that go somewhere. going from a man who is trying to do what's right to a man who's truly lost.... that was some journey. one long freaking journey. it's folks like you that make us successful. without you, where would we be? thanks for watching all these years.


Miss_Kit: Is BITD going to be released in the UK or made available on DVD?

ImMichaelRosenbaum: it sure as hell better be. or you're going to have to fly a long effing way to see it. :0


icyone: As the best live-action version of Lex Luthor of all time, how much influence did you have over the direction of his character? Smallville's Lex was so much more of a match for Superman than Hackman or Spacey, which isn't a dig at their acting so much as the character. You absolutely aced Lex over the years, so I really hope Zack Snyder gives you a call.

ImMichaelRosenbaum: thank you a million times over. i never imagined in my wildest dreams i'd be playing lex luthor. i'm such a silly person. But the fans have been great and it looks like i did not let them down. i didn't do any research for the role. i remembered Mr. Hackman from the Superman movies but i knew if i was going to play this character for a long time, i'd have to play it real... grounded. I hope Zack at least lets me read so i can at least say i read for it. haha

meteordes: Who do you think would make an awesome Lex Luthor if they decide to use him in the Zack Snyder Superman series? If it were me, I would cast you :P.

ImMichaelRosenbaum: Because I think.. and this is my opinion... that Lex needs to be dynamic and layered. I think he can be funny and insane at the same time. But it needs to be played with absolute conviction. I know I can do this. I think most actors are either serious or comedic. I like to think of myself as both. Unfortunately some people can't get past the fact that I played Lex on television, but i guarantee they would within the first five minutes of watching the movie. Sorry to toot the old horn, but it's honestly how I feel.


Robot6215588: What was your favorite car that you got to drive as Lex Luthor? I seem to remember him owning a few Ferraris as a couple Porsches.

ImMichaelRosenbaum: i feel more comfortable driving a van or pick up truck but i didn't hate driving Lamorghinies. (i don't care about spelling)

mayphoenix: Speaking of vans, do you still have the Shaggin' Wagon?

ImMichaelRosenbaum: durr


republic_of_gary: Fuck, marry, kill. Tom Welling, Tom Arnold, Tommy Lee.

ImMichaelRosenbaum: Hmm. why am i entertaining this? because i like entertaining. Fuck Tom Arnold Kill Tommy Lee Marry Tom Welling (duh) he's got a nice butt.


TheEmpressStar: How would you describe your latest movie "Back In The Day" - IN JUST 3 WORDS - to someone who hasn't seen it yet? Apart from AWESOME AWESOME AWESOME

ImMichaelRosenbaum: Hmm. Back in the Day.... Fun. Raunchy. Heartfelt. Farts. damn, that's four.

Cinemaphreak: Morena Baccarin (Homeland). For reddit, the credit you are looking for is Firefly...

ImMichaelRosenbaum: how dare you. hahahha

jgp11: The Flash was one of my favorite characters on Justice League! I wish they had done more episodes focused on him or even spun him off into his own animated series. Did you enjoy working with Kevin Conroy and the other great voice actors on that show? Would you welcome more opportunities to voice him in the future?

ImMichaelRosenbaum: yes. they were a real treat. we were always goofing around. but most of the time i was filming smallville so had to do by myself. but i agree... i always liked to be focused on.


randsome01: Congrats on Back in Day. Gonna watch it this weekend. I also want to commend you on having the coolest pad on MTV's cribs. Unlike some of the other places they've show, yours looked lived in. Now my question is: Has there any been any role you went out for that you didn't get?

ImMichaelRosenbaum: funny story or long story longer... Sandra Bullock came up to me at a Kings game and said " you are so funny" and i said "what movie did you see me in" and she said "cribs". haha. anyway.. thanks for checking the movie out this weekend. i'll hold you to that. i have been up for many many roles that i didn't get. Saving Private Ryan, Good Will Hunting, and millions of others. But i was lex luthor so i ain't complaning. hahah


malugargula: What's one character you'd never play and why?

ImMichaelRosenbaum: Well i've played a super villain, a super hero, a transvestite, a pool shark... what's left?

malugargula: Which one is harder to play: love, fight or hate scenes?

ImMichaelRosenbaum: love. for sure. always feel stupid gazing into someones eyes who doesn't really love you.


JustCaws: Loved your performance in smallville! It was brilliant. And justice league of course. My question is: What was the hardest thing you encountered in your roll/getting/preparing of Lex and how did you face it? Thanks!

ImMichaelRosenbaum: just thinking if i could actually pull it off. i was worried. and would i look like the dude from goonies when i shaved my head.


Redlockscot: Hi Michael! First, thanks for getting me through boring chemo treatments (Smallville episodes)! We are both 80's kids, and are a little (okay a LOT) into music. So, I'm going to ask: What 5 discs would you take with you on a desert island? XoXo from coastal NC

ImMichaelRosenbaum: that means the world to me. i hope you are doing great and wish you only health and happiness. thompson twins greatest hits,michael jackson's greatest hits,hall and oates greatest hits, chicago's greatest hits and the doors greatest hits


Velorium_Camper: Hey Michael, I met you a couple years ago at Dragon*Con. I was going to get your autograph, but you were selling them for $20 and I couldn't afford to get it (I was a poor college student.) You told your assistant that you knew me and gave me a free autograph. I just wanted to thank you for being awesome and making my experience enjoyable. Keep up the good work. If you ever come back to Dragon Con, I can finally give you the $20 I owe you haha

ImMichaelRosenbaum: you owe me nothing. you're devotion as a fan is plenty. seriously. they make those rules, but i always find a way to break them with special cases. because i'm so special. )))))


joelaflow: Hey Michael, big fan of your work and can’t wait for your new film. My question would be, just how many doctors, lawyers, etc. did Lex have on retainer on Smallville? He seemed to always have plenty of people to assist Clark or others when needed.

ImMichaelRosenbaum: Wow. Good question. I wish i knew. let's say a crap load. I think the real question is "where the hell is his security team?" haha


alexandra_c: What is your favorite role to date? Thanks for doing this ama!

ImMichaelRosenbaum: loved Danny in Poolhall Junkies. loved Gill from Hit and Run and certain Jim from BITD... but lex was so dynamic. that's the easy answer. Although i'm really a comedian at heart.


Eannsu: Michael, do you know if there will be a Back in The Day DVD and Soundtrack?

ImMichaelRosenbaum: hell yes! i made sure of it! with loads of extra crap. so much fun. if you go see it in theaters, stay for the credits. 4 minutes of outtakes. I love when comedies do that. i want to see that crap. i'm a fan. and we will have an independent soundtrack for all the indie bands. and all the money will go directly to them. quick shout out to MOCK ORANGE from indiana. hell yes


jim71989: Is Allison Mack as beautiful in person as she was onscreen?

ImMichaelRosenbaum: yes. hot. haha


mizanguiano: Hey Michael! How is it that you are still single? You rock man!

ImMichaelRosenbaum: you rock. and why am i single? because i need someone to really knock me off my feet damn it. you know anyone?


Varian: Met you at a party back in 91 I think...I went to Reitz same years you were at Castle (nobody's perfect). I live in FL now but flew back to watch the premiere with a friend (both of us Smallville fans), wanted to just say fantastic piece of cinema, and ask you: Evansville's West side -- Great part of town or Greatest?

ImMichaelRosenbaum: good sense of humor. i had a pal that went there. thanks for flying back. what a stud. pretty damn great


blueskidoowecantoo: Graduate of Castle here, Even though I graduated a year too soon to be directly involved with the filming, I wanna say thanks for continuing to give back to the community you grew up in and remembering where you came from. I met you a long time ago with Mrs. Godeke and you were such a class act and humble. Way to put the burgh on the map! Hm question. What do you miss most from small town Indiana?

ImMichaelRosenbaum: HEY CASTLE!!!!! that's exactly what i wanted to do. I wanted people to see where I grew up and admire what it's really like to grow up in a small town. i loved giving back. but really, it was my home that gave back. too damn generous.


Red_Dawn_2012: was there really no alternative to shaving your head?

ImMichaelRosenbaum: none. no choice. i was always worried whether it would grow back or not. thank god it did. i'm hairy


Frajer: Did you ever get a sense why Breaking In seemed to keep getting canceled and uncanceled and changing times?

ImMichaelRosenbaum: never know what happens. you just show up to work, hit your mark and try to be funny. great fun though on that project.


republic_of_gary: Michael, big fan. I saw Back in the Day and loved it. I recently read a tweet of yours that you wanted Leo DiCaprio's Star Wars collection of memorabilia. I've read you have an awesome toy/action figure collection yourself in your home office. Care to share a photo?

ImMichaelRosenbaum: gosh. i have so many toys. i'm staring at freddy kruger, edward scissorhands and thinking... aren't i 41 years old? check out my twitter i'll try and post something after the AMA. it's @mrosenbaum711


TheEmpressStar: Hi Michael, I guess the character of the questions will depend on what you're wearing right now...so assuming you're decent...here goes...what's the best AND the worst movie soundtrack ever that's left a lasting impression on you and why?

ImMichaelRosenbaum: caddy shack is great. so is footloose and breakfast club. worst? hmm. probably and remake of those movies.


fmarquez1994: I am such a huge 90s fan, and I feel that you really spoke to me with all the 90s nostalgia through the music in Back in the Day. What was your scene in the 90s? How do you feel you represented the 90s in this film?

ImMichaelRosenbaum: i love music. mostly 80's and 90's, but i really wanted to give an energy to the movie and with songs like "sex and candy", "in the meantime" and "more human than human"... those were my favorites back then. They just speak to me like I'm assuming they spoke to you. Radical.


Sisiwakanamaru: Hello, I heard you voiced this character on the first Yakuza series. What was the experience? Thank you

ImMichaelRosenbaum: great. love voicing video games. you get to play with yourself. i mean when you are actually playing the game... you know what i'm saying.


PMcE: Im having pizza for dinner right now, its 7pm Scotland time dude. Whats your favorite pizza toppings? Ive got chicken,bacon,bbq sauce, peppers going on right now!! Yeah!!

ImMichaelRosenbaum: hey girlfriend. you know i love just pepperoni or do you not?


iwritestories7: Will you be attending any of the Comic Cons/Fan Expos this year?

ImMichaelRosenbaum: Sacremento,Orlando Mega Con, Wizard Louisville, St. Louis,Fan Boy Knoxville,Australia,San Antonio,Vancouver, Toronto

iwritestories: Awesome! Hope to catch you there.

ImMichaelRosenbaum: don't drop me



ImMichaelRosenbaum: ONLY hang around people that make you happy. People that lift you up. Stay clear from Debbie Downers. And only do things that make you happy. If you can do that... merrily, merrily, merrily..


soccerdude70105: Favorite place to go to dinner and what do you order?

ImMichaelRosenbaum: anywhere with steak. and mashed potatoes.


jonathanb550: What was your first impression of Tom Welling?

ImMichaelRosenbaum: geniuine. at first....haha


Miss_Kit: If you could choose 5 guests (from any point in time) to join you fora dinner party, who would you choose & why?

ImMichaelRosenbaum: Chris Farley Jim Morrison Dudley Moore Morrisey Bette Davis


JohnGonzalez277: I know you're a huge fan of the NHL, what other professional sports do you enjoy watching?

ImMichaelRosenbaum: anything really. love sports. but hockey number 1


PMcE: Gravity or American Hustle??

ImMichaelRosenbaum: gravity. unless i want to sleep.


liamquane: Hi do you have any Directorial advice??? :~)

ImMichaelRosenbaum: hmm. i just got so much advice from other directors but i would say BE PREPARED. and communicate and do whatever you can to get what you want on screen. And be one step ahead on every shot. know what you are going to do next.


liamquane: do you have any screenwriting advice as well please? thank you! :~)

ImMichaelRosenbaum: write what you know. at least at first. enjoy what you write. don't write what you think people will like.


alejandradd: Why did you leave Smallville?

ImMichaelRosenbaum: my contract ended. and i wanted to go and make movies and have hair. haha


UltimotheEditor: you have kissed both Kristin Kreuk and my gf. you lucky basterd. does this make you my arch nemesis?

ImMichaelRosenbaum: does it? haha


Rainingmadness: Hello and thanks for doing this AMA! I really got a kick out of the film Sorority Boys. How did you get along with your 2 other co-stars? Did you guys get into any funny antics behind the scenes?

ImMichaelRosenbaum: always got into trouble. i loved when we were in drag and crew guys from other movies saw us from afar...and they would stare. but when we got closer they looked like they were going to shit themselves. it was great. we were not pretty women. nothing like jared leto. and i love reuniting with harland williams for back in the day . he's my pal


AGallagher410: How was the transition from actor to director?

ImMichaelRosenbaum: I have the attention span of a fruit fly. i like to mix things up. i'm pretty decent at a lot of things, but not great at anything. haha


id10t_pen15: DC or Marvel?!

ImMichaelRosenbaum: tough one. love lex but love stan lee. he did say i was the best lex.

id10t_pen15: STAN LEE COMPLIMENTED YOU!? faint. You could totally play a Warren Worthington III or Bobby Drake.

ImMichaelRosenbaum: yes. check out the pic i have on twitter. from a while back. yeah!


dayofthedead204: Hi Michael! Thanks for doing this ama. What is your personal favorite episode or The Flash moment from Justice League / Justice League Unlimited? Also - it was just announced today that Lex Luthor is going to be a member of the DCU Justice League. Thoughts?

ImMichaelRosenbaum: when clancy brown and i switched voices in the great brain robbery. what a damn treat. and great direction by andrea romano. she's a gem. always keeps me working and keeps that SAG health insurance going.


NotFredFlintstone: Between being an actor, director, producer, and writer, what role do you find to be the most difficult?

ImMichaelRosenbaum: individually... they are all difficult. but when you do them all at the same time.... that's a real bitch! Back in the Day was a handful and it was the first time doing all of those things together. but wouldn't trade it for the world. the next project i think i'll just direct and maybe play a smaller role if any. I really enjoyed just the directing aspect on those few days where I only had to direct.


Rob_Saget: Michael, If you had to choose to be either Lex Luthor or The Flash in real life, which character would you pick and why? There was a lot of rumor going around that you would be picked as Lex in the Superman v. Batman movie. Would that have been a role you'd be interests in reprising? I host a podcast that has celebrity guests talk about hobbies and and things they nerd out about outside of their careers. Would you be interested in being a part of the show for an episode? Thank you and look forward to your answers!

ImMichaelRosenbaum: flash. he's so fast. get where i wanted so quickly. and he can travel in time. right?


interpolite: First, I'm a big fan. I believe Smallville suffered after you left and there was a void that just couldn't be filled. Were there any actors that helped influence your Lex Luthor? Also, how was it working on Always Sunny?

ImMichaelRosenbaum: my relationship with my father helped. hahaahaha. sunny was amazing. great people. funny ass people.


evil-lynn: Hello from Scotland g Do you have any other films in the pipeline that you would like to make..

ImMichaelRosenbaum: a few. deciding in the next month on what i'm doing to direct next.. thanks for inquiring


Hanuh16: huge fan! I have many things I want to ask but honestly, why does it seem like everyone that played on Smallville has acted as if the show was a burden? You're pretty much the only one who hasn't. Also, why doesn't anyone interact with Tom anymore? Congrats in the movie! Can't wait to see it!

ImMichaelRosenbaum: i complained sometimes. everyone does. but i'm sincerely appreciative at the same time. everyone has bad days at the office. i guess ours is just more public. Tom just does his own thing. that's okay. i mean we were working 12 hours a day together for many years. i know that when they called wrap.... the last people i wanted to hang with was my cast. haha. but we still talk. good dude


RoseLawr: Holy HAIR! I'm loving the new do~ I can't wait to see you in "Back In The Day." Is this your directorial debut as well? You were always my favorite actor on Smallville:) [I'm hoping for your Zack Snyder call as well!]

ImMichaelRosenbaum: first time directing a movie, yes. and thanks for that.


TBLacK457: Hey Michael, big fan of your work in Smallville, and Justice League! You were consistently the highlights of both shows. My question(s) for you is this: What ran through your mind when you were asked to come back for the series finale? And how did you think the series as a whole turned out, as far as Clark and Lex's journey towards their respective roles in the world?

ImMichaelRosenbaum: thanks again. i'm eating mexican food right now btw. just thought i'd say that. anyway...i had too. the fans wanted it. gotta make your fans happy. and i didn't want to hear "why didn't you go back" when i was 80 and dying. the series put me on the map. i'm forever indebted. it was a nice ending. It was no Breaking Bad, but what really is? that's my fave. haha


iamthatis: How did you feel about Back In The Day being the movie for your directorial debut? Also, you seem to be heavily invested in movies at the moment, but will we ever see you back on TV?

ImMichaelRosenbaum: love tv. but i get offered a lot of crap. the best part of being on a successful series like smallville is that now i can be patient and do what i want. i'm very luck. i just auditioned for a Scorsese pilot. I would do that in a heartbeat. I just don't want to do NCIS Nebraska. not that it would be bad. just not what i want to do.


TheEmpressStar: Your favourite line/moment in your beautiful short "Ghild"?

ImMichaelRosenbaum: "i'm bigger than you. I'll throw you threw the roof". you can watch GHILD for free online ya know. ghild.com


davidrolding: Hey Michael! First off I would like to say my wife and I are huge fans of you from Smallville! My question for you is this. In Season 2 was Helen out to betray Lex the entire time or did she make the decision as a result of Lex coming clean about stealing the blood from her lab? I thought maybe that made her hate Lex and turn on him or maybe she was just playing the whole time.

ImMichaelRosenbaum: playing him like everyone else in the world. poor lex. no wonder he had to get rid of em all. haha. EVIL!!


whackyinflatable: Hey! You are awesome, seriously. I saw some videos of your impressions of other people years ago! Spacey, Walken, Eastwood, etc. Which are you most proud of so I can go watch it again and appreciate your hilariousness?

ImMichaelRosenbaum: love hamming it up. love all of them. my fave is ARTHUR. the dudley more one. and john malkovich


Miss_Kit: Is there any country/place/destination which you would like to visit, that you haven't already?

ImMichaelRosenbaum: spain. iceland. krypton.


brandonknida: What other movies/projects do you have coming soon? I want to see you do a villain again, no one beats your Lex Luthor.

ImMichaelRosenbaum: tell zack. much love. oh.... wait til you see THE NERDIST later today. i'm on it. i think you will all love. fun little sketch we did.


PMcE: When the heck are you coming back to the UK? Get your ass to Scotland already dude.

ImMichaelRosenbaum: fine. jeez


mrsmirandajones: What do you think your life would be like if you hadn't made it big? And just stayed home?

ImMichaelRosenbaum: i'd be a DJ at a roller rink or a sports announcer.or i'd still be sacking groceries at wesselmans.


http://www.reddit.com/r/IAmA/comments/1 ... nbaum_ama/

Hey Michael, big fan of your work and can’t wait for your new film. My question would be, just how many doctors, lawyers, etc. did Lex have on retainer on Smallville? He seemed to always have plenty of people to assist Clark or others when needed.

Wow. Good question. I wish i knew. let's say a crap load. I think the real question is "where the hell is his security team?" haha

The Flash was one of my favorite characters on Justice League! I wish they had done more episodes focused on him or even spun him off into his own animated series. Did you enjoy working with Kevin Conroy and the other great voice actors on that show? Would you welcome more opportunities to voice him in the future?

yes. they were a real treat. we were always goofing around. but most of the time i was filming smallville so had to do by myself. but i agree... i always liked to be focused on.

DC or Marvel?!

tough one. love lex but love stan lee. he did say i was the best lex.

I saw Harland Williams on Conan when he was promoting your new film. How is he in real life? The stories I've heard is that he can be a douche when it comes to fans in public. Any funny stories from the set of Sorority Boys? Congrats on the film!

he's the coolest guy in the world. heart of gold. don't believe everything you here my friend. i'm the douche. just kidding. seeing harland in drag for three months (in sorority boys) was a bonding experience that only two men can share in drag. hahahahaah

Graduate of Castle here, Even though I graduated a year too soon to be directly involved with the filming, I wanna say thanks for continuing to give back to the community you grew up in and remembering where you came from. I met you a long time ago with Mrs. Godeke and you were such a class act and humble. Way to put the burgh on the map! Hm question. What do you miss most from small town Indiana?

HEY CASTLE!!!!! that's exactly what i wanted to do. I wanted people to see where I grew up and admire what it's really like to grow up in a small town. i loved giving back. but really, it was my home that gave back. too damn generous.

Michael, big fan. I saw Back in the Day and loved it. I recently read a tweet of yours that you wanted Leo DiCaprio's Star Wars collection of memorabilia. I've read you have an awesome toy/action figure collection yourself in your home office. Care to share a photo?

gosh. i have so many toys. i'm staring at freddy kruger, edward scissorhands and thinking... aren't i 41 years old? check out my twitter i'll try and post something after the AMA. it's @mrosenbaum711

What is your favorite role to date? Thanks for doing this ama!

loved Danny in Poolhall Junkies. loved Gill from Hit and Run and certain Jim from BITD... but lex was so dynamic. that's the easy answer. Although i'm really a comedian at heart.

Did you ever get a sense why Breaking In seemed to keep getting canceled and uncanceled and changing times?

never know what happens. you just show up to work, hit your mark and try to be funny. great fun though on that project.

I loved the interactions between you and John Glover on Smallville. The show was not nearly as good when you guys were gone. How did you feel about the way Lex was handled at the end of the show?

much obliged my friend. John is a genius and made me a much better actor. he is not only a gifted actor but an incredible guy. just had dinner at his house a few months ago. love him. he's like a dad. a good one though.

Between being an actor, director, producer, and writer, what role do you find to be the most difficult?

individually... they are all difficult. but when you do them all at the same time.... that's a real bitch! Back in the Day was a handful and it was the first time doing all of those things together. but wouldn't trade it for the world. the next project i think i'll just direct and maybe play a smaller role if any. I really enjoyed just the directing aspect on those few days where I only had to direct.

How was the transition from actor to director?

I have the attention span of a fruit fly. i like to mix things up. i'm pretty decent at a lot of things, but not great at anything. haha

Hi Michael! Thanks for doing this ama. What is your personal favorite episode or The Flash moment from Justice League / Justice League Unlimited? Also - it was just announced today that Lex Luthor is going to be a member of the DCU Justice League. Thoughts?

when clancy brown and i switched voices in the great brain robbery. what a damn treat. and great direction by andrea romano. she's a gem. always keeps me working and keeps that SAG health insurance going.

was there really no alternative to shaving your head?

none. no choice. i was always worried whether it would grow back or not. thank god it did. i'm hairy

As the best live-action version of Lex Luthor of all time, how much influence did you have over the direction of his character? Smallville's Lex was so much more of a match for Superman than Hackman or Spacey, which isn't a dig at their acting so much as the character. You absolutely aced Lex over the years, so I really hope Zack Snyder gives you a call.

thank you a million times over. i never imagined in my wildest dreams i'd be playing lex luthor. i'm such a silly person. But the fans have been great and it looks like i did not let them down. i didn't do any research for the role. i remembered Mr. Hackman from the Superman movies but i knew if i was going to play this character for a long time, i'd have to play it real... grounded. I hope Zack at least lets me read so i can at least say i read for it. haha

STAN LEE COMPLIMENTED YOU!? faint You could totally play a Warren Worthington III or Bobby Drake.

yes. check out the pic i have on twitter. from a while back. yeah!

Michael, do you know if there will be a Back in The Day DVD and Soundtrack?

hell yes! i made sure of it! with loads of extra crap. so much fun. if you go see it in theaters, stay for the credits. 4 minutes of outtakes. I love when comedies do that. i want to see that crap. i'm a fan. and we will have an independent soundtrack for all the indie bands. and all the money will go directly to them. quick shout out to MOCK ORANGE from indiana.

hell yes

Hello, Michael! This is a question I've been dying to ask you for several years. Clark and Lex were always destined to be enemies, but Smallville always hinted that Lex could have been a powerful ally to Clark under the right circumstances. So my question is if Clark had confided in Lex about his alien powers in the early seasons when they were still good friends, would Lex have been okay with it? Would he have helped Clark in understanding his powers and giving him protection, or would he have eventually used Clark for his own personal gain? I've wondered this for years and it would be great to hear your opinion! - Katey

so have i Katey. so have i. i think if you're honest with someone from the beginning, there's a level of respect. Clark was never honest with Lex.... so the story goes. But i think that's what is great about this story. it's really left to the imaginations of the fans to think about what could have been.

Is BITD going to be released in the UK or made available on DVD?

it sure as hell better be. or you're going to have to fly a long effing way to see it. :0

I am such a huge 90s fan, and I feel that you really spoke to me with all the 90s nostalgia through the music in Back in the Day. What was your scene in the 90s? How do you feel you represented the 90s in this film?

i love music. mostly 80's and 90's, but i really wanted to give an energy to the movie and with songs like "sex and candy", "in the meantime" and "more human than human"... those were my favorites back then. They just speak to me like I'm assuming they spoke to you. Radical.

Who do you think would make an awesome Lex Luthor if they decide to use him in the Zack Snyder Superman series? If it were me, I would cast you :P.

Because I think.. and this is my opinion... that Lex needs to be dynamic and layered. I think he can be funny and insane at the same time. But it needs to be played with absolute conviction. I know I can do this. I think most actors are either serious or comedic. I like to think of myself as both. Unfortunately some people can't get past the fact that I played Lex on television, but i guarantee they would within the first five minutes of watching the movie. Sorry to toot the old horn, but it's honestly how I feel.

Hey Mike! I just graduated from Castle, and watched your movie at Showplace. It was fantastic! My dad was actually an extra in the film, and he says thank you for the opportunity! It was really cool of you to film it in Newburgh, and we wish you the best of luck!

i love you. not because you're a fellow hoosier or loved the movie... but because you're so darn nice. thank you. please spread the word.

Hello, I heard you voiced this character on the first Yakuza series. What was the experience? Thank you

great. love voicing video games. you get to play with yourself. i mean when you are actually playing the game... you know what i'm saying.

Fuck, marry, kill. Tom Welling, Tom Arnold, Tommy Lee.

Hmm. why am i entertaining this? because i like entertaining.

Fuck Tom Arnold Kill Tommy Lee Marry Tom Welling (duh) he's got a nice butt.

Just finished Back in The Day, I did see the credits! I also love when movies do that. It's so funny! Loved seeing you be acting and directing at the same time! A man with many hats.

you're too kind

sweetheart

Congrats on Back in Day. Gonna watch it this weekend. I also want to commend you on having the coolest pad on MTV's cribs. Unlike some of the other places they've show, yours looked lived in. Now my question is: Has there any been any role you went out for that you didn't get?

funny story or long story longer... Sandra Bullock came up to me at a Kings game and said " you are so funny" and i said "what movie did you see me in" and she said "cribs". haha. anyway.. thanks for checking the movie out this weekend. i'll hold you to that. i have been up for many many roles that i didn't get. Saving Private Ryan, Good Will Hunting, and millions of others. But i was lex luthor so i ain't complaning. hahah

You were definitely the best Lex! What was your favorite Smallville episode? And are you happy with the way you left the show? Hated to see you go btw

loved the show. still pals with a lot of the peeps. mostly crew guys and my make up artist natalie. she was like my mom.

favorite episode was Shattered probably. I lost my effing mind. and loved it.

Hi Michael, what was it like to work with the crew at Always Sunny?

those guys are genius. truly. and good guys. most of the really successful guys in this business are pretty solid, but they are on another level. rob machelhany used to sleep on our couch in NYC when i lived in a one bedroom with 3 other dudes. Why i was only put in one episode is beyond me. hahaahah. just kidding. i had a blast doing that show. so many people watch.

If you could choose 5 guests (from any point in time) to join you fora dinner party, who would you choose & why?

Chris Farley Jim Morrison Dudley Moore Morrisey Bette Davis

Where did the Garvin come from in bitd? Was that impromptu Harland?

Best question yet. A FART question. i wrote that! when we were younger, we used to actually throw our farts. Of course the LA Times and NY Times might not like a movie that includes fart throwing, but I didn't make the movie for critics or people that read the Arts Section of those papers. I made it for people who read the fART section ))))))) That's my favorite scene in the movie. i laugh every time i watch it. "right there on the tom selleck". that line was improvised by Harland.

What was your favorite car that you got to drive as Lex Luthor? I seem to remember him owning a few Ferraris as a couple Porsches.

i feel more comfortable driving a van or pick up truck but i didn't hate driving Lamorghinies. (i don't care about spelling)

Holy HAIR! I'm loving the new do~ I can't wait to see you in "Back In The Day." Is this your directorial debut as well? You were always my favorite actor on Smallville:) [I'm hoping for your Zack Snyder call as well!]

first time directing a movie, yes. and thanks for that.

What was your first impression of Tom Welling?

geniuine. at first....haha

huge fan! I have many things I want to ask but honestly, why does it seem like everyone that played on Smallville has acted as if the show was a burden? You're pretty much the only one who hasn't. Also, why doesn't anyone interact with Tom anymore? Congrats in the movie! Can't wait to see it!

i complained sometimes. everyone does. but i'm sincerely appreciative at the same time. everyone has bad days at the office. i guess ours is just more public. Tom just does his own thing. that's okay. i mean we were working 12 hours a day together for many years. i know that when they called wrap.... the last people i wanted to hang with was my cast. haha. but we still talk. good dude

thanks for releasing your new movie online concurrently with the theater release. are you getting the response that you had hoped for with the digital market and do you think that this is going to become a bigger trend in movie distribution?

it's tough. for an Independent movie to be seen, you really have to get the word out. And before VOD and ITUNES, it was really tough. I'm just thankful that people get to see the movie. The digital market is the future. now and forever. I still want people to go see Back in the Day in theaters. It's different experience.

Favorite place to go to dinner and what do you order?

anywhere with steak. and mashed potatoes.

(This question was deleted by the user)

ONLY hang around people that make you happy. People that lift you up. Stay clear from Debbie Downers. And only do things that make you happy. If you can do that... merrily, merrily, merrily..

Hello from Scotland g Do you have any other films in the pipeline that you would like to make..

a few. deciding in the next month on what i'm doing to direct next.. thanks for inquiring

Will you be attending any of the Comic Cons/Fan Expos this year?

Sacremento,Orlando Mega Con, Wizard Louisville,
St. Louis,Fan Boy Knoxville,Australia,San Antonio,Vancouver
Toronto

Michael , been a fan of yours since I was in middle school. I think you are an awesome actor. Your a very talented and all together great guy. Love Back in the day, Indiana looks like a great place! What was your favorite part of filming back at home?

filming with friends and family. just a great support team. dream come true. you rock

Hey that's what they keep telling me, lol Can't wait to see you in August at Wizard World San Antonio!



AKA the most eclectic and dangerous dinner in history...

hell yeah. laughs, great music, and great stories. and farts

Hey Michael, big fan of your work in Smallville, and Justice League! You were consistently the highlights of both shows. My question(s) for you is this: What ran through your mind when you were asked to come back for the series finale? And how did you think the series as a whole turned out, as far as Clark and Lex's journey towards their respective roles in the world?

thanks again. i'm eating mexican food right now btw. just thought i'd say that. anyway...i had too. the fans wanted it. gotta make your fans happy. and i didn't want to hear "why didn't you go back" when i was 80 and dying. the series put me on the map. i'm forever indebted. it was a nice ending. It was no Breaking Bad, but what really is? that's my fave. haha

I know you're a huge fan of the NHL, what other professional sports do you enjoy watching?

anything really. love sports. but hockey number 1

Your favourite line/moment in your beautiful short "Ghild"?

"i'm bigger than you. I'll throw you threw the roof". you can watch GHILD for free online ya know. ghild.com

How did you feel about Back In The Day being the movie for your directorial debut? Also, you seem to be heavily invested in movies at the moment, but will we ever see you back on TV?

love tv. but i get offered a lot of crap. the best part of being on a successful series like smallville is that now i can be patient and do what i want. i'm very luck. i just auditioned for a Scorsese pilot. I would do that in a heartbeat. I just don't want to do NCIS Nebraska. not that it would be bad. just not what i want to do.

Thx for reply. My favorite as well. We have watched it 4 times and bought on iTunes. Oh and the puke scene. That's the most realistic one I have ever seen. I was having deva vu. Congrats on your success. I'm heading to pizza king.

you are my hero. love that you've seen the movie 4 times in the week it has been out. wow. devotion. now if there were only 400,000 of you

Awesome! Hope to catch you there.

don't drop me

How many takes were ruined by you or other members of the cast cracking up? When you have "serious" actors like Morena trying to keep a straight face while Swardson sips a slurpie and swings a wiffle ball bat it can't be easy to direct!

tons. we cracked up every second. morena cracked up the most. hilarious. watch the outtakes at the end of the movie. haha

Hi Rosey, time for a serious question: If you could rearrange the alphabet, where would you put U & I?

flirt

Hey Michael! First off I would like to say my wife and I are huge fans of you from Smallville! My question for you is this. In Season 2 was Helen out to betray Lex the entire time or did she make the decision as a result of Lex coming clean about stealing the blood from her lab? I thought maybe that made her hate Lex and turn on him or maybe she was just playing the whole time.

playing him like everyone else in the world. poor lex. no wonder he had to get rid of em all. haha. EVIL!!

Hi Michael! Loved your work on Smallville... Was there a prop or memento you got to take away from your time on the show that you hold near and dear?

yeah. i stole this crazy piece of art from lex's office. i have it here. haha. and his long trench coat from the last episode ever. yes! didn't really steal. just sounds cool to say.

Hi Michael, I guess the character of the questions will depend on what you're wearing right now...so assuming you're decent...here goes...what's the best AND the worst movie soundtrack ever that's left a lasting impression on you and why?

caddy shack is great. so is footloose and breakfast club. worst? hmm. probably and remake of those movies.

Hi Michael I'd just like to say that your voice has become the Flash in my mind in the same way Kevin Conroy is the de facto Batman. As for my question, what comic book character would be your dream to play if you hadn't been cast as the Flash?

batman. i could do it. i can make my voice deeper

Is there any country/place/destination which you would like to visit, that you haven't already?

spain. iceland. krypton.

Hey! You are awesome, seriously. I saw some videos of your impressions of other people years ago! Spacey, Walken, Eastwood, etc. Which are you most proud of so I can go watch it again and appreciate your hilariousness?

love hamming it up. love all of them. my fave is ARTHUR. the dudley more one. and john malkovich

Gravity or American Hustle??

gravity. unless i want to sleep.

Do you see yourself going more down the director route?

yes. love it. doing another one for sure

Is there audio commentary on the DVD? I love audio commentaries. Especially the Psych ones on the DVD sets. Loved the ones you did for Smallville.

yes. morena, harland, isaiah and i all did commentary.

Speaking of vans, do you still have the Shaggin' Wagon?

durr

Hi do you have any Directorial advice??? :~)

hmm. i just got so much advice from other directors but i would say BE PREPARED. and communicate and do whatever you can to get what you want on screen. And be one step ahead on every shot. know what you are going to do next.

What episode of Smallville was your favorite to work on? And what was it like playing a character that changes from being a person trying to do the right thing to becoming Superman’s nemesis? I also would just like to say your portrayal of Lex Luthor is easily one of the best acting performances on television! Smallville will always be my favorite show of all time.

loved shattered.

the best characters are the ones that have an arc. that go somewhere. going from a man who is trying to do what's right to a man who's truly lost.... that was some journey. one long freaking journey

it's folks like you that make us successful. without you, where would we be? thanks for watching all these years.

How would you describe your latest movie "Back In The Day" - IN JUST 3 WORDS - to someone who hasn't seen it yet? Apart from AWESOME AWESOME AWESOME

Hmm. Back in the Day....

Fun. Raunchy. Heartfelt. Farts. damn, that's four.

Michael, great work on "Back in the Day." Watched it last week...thanks for coming back to Evansville/Newburgh to showcase the area. You did a nice job illustrating what it's like to live here. I wish you best, and I hope there'e more to come!

you're amazing. it was such a treat to see a packed theater with all my friends and people i grew up with. the laughter was just incredible and put tears in my eyes. Everyone told me i should shoot it in LA and it would be cheaper.... well, i didn't. I wanted it to feel authentic. Shooting at all the places where i grew up was just surreal. truly happy i did it there. GO MIDWEST.

Spoiler alert - Michael Rosenbaum/Lex Luthor/The Flash dies at 80

damn. i jinxed myself.

do you have any screenwriting advice as well please? thank you! :~)

write what you know. at least at first. enjoy what you write. don't write what you think people will like.

> Morena Baccarin (Homeland) For reddit, the credit you are looking for is Firefly...

how dare you. hahahha

Hey Michael! How is it that you are still single? You rock man!

you rock. and why am i single? because i need someone to really knock me off my feet damn it. you know anyone?

THANK YOU

thank YOU

hey mike, I'm a huge fan from way back (sweet November and then smallville)... anyway, was BITD a case of art imitating life? I read a long time ago about the annual (?) whiffle ball tourneys in your hometown, so did (or does) this scenario happen to you? where you feel happier at home?

i go back to indiana twice a year for a whiffleball tourney... that's right. we raise money for charity or a friend in need. i miss home. there's something simple and nice about being back. a sense of community. i will one day retire there i'm sure. and thanks for being my fan.

What's one character you'd never play and why?

Well i've played a super villain, a super hero, a transvestite, a pool shark... what's left?

What do you think your life would be like if you hadn't made it big? And just stayed home?

i'd be a DJ at a roller rink or a sports announcer.or i'd still be sacking groceries at wesselmans.

Maybe. But it's *bleeping hilarious and is so relatable even if you aren't from the area. How is it doing on iTunes?

great. you spreading the word? thanks

Thanks for answering that. I know as a Smallville fan it was disheartening to see people like Kristen, Tom, Allison and even Erica shun the show after it was over.

did they shun it? i never knew that?

Hey Michael, do you watch any TV series? What are your favorite ones that are running now?

Dateline on NBC. haha

When the heck are you coming back to the UK? Get your ass to Scotland already dude.

fine. jeez

Hi Michael! First, thanks for getting me through boring chemo treatments (Smallville episodes)! We are both 80's kids, and are a little (okay a LOT) into music. So, I'm going to ask: What 5 discs would you take with you on a desert island? XoXo from coastal NC

that means the world to me. i hope you are doing great and wish you only health and happiness.

thompson twins greatest hits,michael jackson's greatest hits,hall and oates greatest hits, chicago's greatest hits and the doors greatest hits

What other movies/projects do you have coming soon? I want to see you do a villain again, no one beats your Lex Luthor.

tell zack. much love. oh.... wait til you see THE NERDIST later today. i'm on it. i think you will all love. fun little sketch we did.

Just wanted to say before I ask my question, your Lex Luthor is my favorite TV villain of all-time. You were incredible in that role. My question: Did your experiences as an actor shape or influence the way you directed "Back In The Day?" Good luck with the film; I hope everyone supports it!

you rock. yeah. being an actor helped out a ton. i think i knew how to talk with the other actors to help get what i wanted. i also directed an ep on smallville. do you remember which one?

Loved smallville, best lex luthor. Great show That is all

thanks a ton. that's all

How many questions about shaving your head are you going to answer today? Do you think people will ever stop asking you the same question over and over?

no. they will never stop. and i will never stop answering i guess. ha

Love that you are an old- school rocker...what was you first concert?

probably chicago or quiet riot

Thanks, Obviously I think you rock too! So far I have seen Back in The Day twice today!

let's go for 10. haha

Loved your performance in smallville! It was brilliant. And justice league of course. My question is: What was the hardest thing you encountered in your roll/getting/preparing of Lex and how did you face it? Thanks!

just thinking if i could actually pull it off. i was worried. and would i look like the dude from goonies when i shaved my head.

Michael,

If you had to choose to be either Lex Luthor or The Flash in real life, which character would you pick and why?
There was a lot of rumor going around that you would be picked as Lex in the Superman v. Batman movie. Would that have been a role you'd be interests in reprising?
I host a podcast that has celebrity guests talk about hobbies and and things they nerd out about outside of their careers. Would you be interested in being a part of the show for an episode?

Thank you and look forward to your answers!

flash. he's so fast. get where i wanted so quickly. and he can travel in time. right?

All hail the Fart King! Loved you as Lex but gotta say I'll always be hot for Adina. Who are your comedic inspirations?

Farley, Dudley Moore, Adam Sandler, John Hughes. Chevy Chase

Is Allison Mack as beautiful in person as she was onscreen?

yes. hot. haha

Im having pizza for dinner right now, its 7pm Scotland time dude. Whats your favorite pizza toppings? Ive got chicken,bacon,bbq sauce, peppers going on right now!! Yeah!! Paula Thunder

hey girlfriend. you know i love just pepperoni or do you not?

First, I'm a big fan. I believe Smallville suffered after you left and there was a void that just couldn't be filled. Were there any actors that helped influence your Lex Luthor? Also, how was it working on Always Sunny?

my relationship with my father helped. hahaahaha. sunny was amazing. great people. funny ass people.

HI, Rosey. What scene was your favorite to shoot of "Back In The Day"?

whipping scene with sarah colonna was genius. she was nervous to do that role but if you haven't seen it you'll know why. the fart throwing scene was amazing to watch. the penis scene was amzing. that was probably the best part of the shoot. oh... and the puking scene. oh and filming on the football field at castle high school.

Is there any superhero or villain that you haven't voiced yet that you'd like to take a stab at?

i just love doing it. i'll do anything really

Guys, I'll be on for another half an hour or so. I wish I could stay forever. This is a blast. But Back in the Day opens today so i have to do a million things like feed my dog. But you can always tweet me @mrosenbaum711, instagram irvrules, or vine me at Michael Rosenbaum. I respond quite frequently. This has been a real treat. Those that know me, know I love my fans. See ya'll on the flip side. But i'm still answering for next half hour.

Hello Mr. Rosenbaum I've been a fan of yours for years Everytime I read anything with the Flash or Lex Luthor I hear your voice. Today is my ex gfs birthday and I miss her a whole lot I've got two questions for you. The first one is how are you doing today sir? And the second is will we ever see you on its always sunny in phildelphia again?

great. everyday you wake up is a good day. ask the guys from always sunny. hell yeah i'd do it. blast

Yes sir. I emailed brad booker, have done SEVERAL fb shares and as soon as I figure out Twitter I'm all over it. I bought 11 tickets for my son, his friends and cousins to see it. And they r 16. What else can I do to help?

holy shit. thank you. you have already done enough. just spread the word and god bless. toooooo kind

if you got a chance to play lex luthor again just being a fan boy would you take it? i loved u in smallville!

of course. i'm not an idiot. haha

Which one is harder to play: love, fight or hate scenes?

love. for sure. always feel stupid gazing into someones eyes who doesn't really love you.

very cool that it's for charity. BITD was great, so please keep writing, directing, and acting. I'd love to see you as Lex again, as you were phenomenal in that role, but I've liked you in everything, so I'll watch whatever. best of luck!

i will. thank you pal. awesome.

I have to say my favorite episode of Smallville is "Lexmas" not because you get shot and almost die, but because we got to see a different kind of Lex Luthor! Did you like filming that episode? Also was that the only Christmas episode Smallville ever did?

yeah. lexmas. i loved that one. i got to be sweet and charming. awww. thanks. i think it was the only xmas ep. but i left after 7 seasons and never watched again after that. until i came back. then i had to get caught up.

Any chance for your short "FADE INTO YOU" to be shown to a wider (online) audience?

it was just a little stepping stone for to direct. i shot it for two days at my house for nothing. i love it and it came out great. it was at Scream Fest and that was really cool. i'lll put it online sometime.

I'm 5 years out, I actually miss being bald;)...sometimes, thanks for the well wishes. Greatest hits? Almost a cop out! But, I'd do the same with Pink Floyd, Queen and Rush.

i liked being bald too. it's cool. love those bands too.

What's your favourite roller coaster to go on? Okay, top 3?

i love disney world. Space Mountain, Rockin roller coater, tower of terror, but SIX FLAGS Magic Mtn has some crazy ass coasters. they scare me and are incredible. love coasters.

I do!! "Freak" from season 6. Was that your directing debut?

yup. rad

Ya've already had an earthquake today! What more do you want? Two earthquakes...LOL

an earthquake on itunes for Back in the Day would be sweet.

How log did it take to actually film the movie? Didn't you start back in 2011?

filmed in march of 2011 and shot for 20 days. indies take a long time to turn around.

I heard you really know and hang out with Dave Clark when you visit Evansville. Is he really as cool as everybody says? Do you really rub his bald head for luck before hitting home runs in Whiffle Tournaments? Back in the Day was literally the coolest Movie I have ever seen in my life.

if that's what he tells ya. haha. he's my BOY. love that guy. really helped on Back in the DAy and getting word out.

How awesome was the wig you had to wear in Bringing Down The House? I'd give it a 9/10.

terrible. hated it. brutal. that's what sucked. i had to wear wigs for that movie and sorority boys and this little short i did special. the wigs really take people out of it and they itch. but i couldn't turn em down. loved working with steven martin

Hi Michael, I just want to tell you that I love your role as Lex in Smallville I saw it just for you, I want to know if there is any chance that BITD comes to the movie theater in Guatemala City? Thank you, much love and hugs!!! Love you!!! greetings from Guatemala ;D, whenever you want I can be your guide when you come to this beatufil country

i'll hold you to that. i hope BITD comes out there, but it will be awhile. don't they have itunes? all my hugs

Met you at a party back in 91 I think...I went to Reitz same years you were at Castle (nobody's perfect). I live in FL now but flew back to watch the premiere with a friend (both of us Smallville fans), wanted to just say fantastic piece of cinema, and ask you: Evansville's West side -- Great part of town or Greatest?

good sense of humor. i had a pal that went there. thanks for flying back. what a stud. pretty damn great

Hi Michael, How does your preparation for a character differ between live-action and animated projects?

i don't prepare for animation. i drink a diet coke and just read. haha. live action is tough. people see your face. you have to look decent.

Your singing voice is something...can't wait to hear you sing on Jason Manns album... How about Michael Rosenbaum's solo album...

i would be a rock star if i could really sing, but i like to play guitar and sing for fun. i'm okay sometimes. and i love jason mann. one of the best dudes out there.

When will you come to Brazil? We have amazing places for you to enjoy

i keep asking morena baccarin to take me there. i really would love to come out there.

Hey Michael, I met you a couple years ago at Dragon*Con. I was going to get your autograph, but you were selling them for $20 and I couldn't afford to get it (I was a poor college student.) You told your assistant that you knew me and gave me a free autograph. I just wanted to thank you for being awesome and making my experience enjoyable. Keep up the good work. If you ever come back to Dragon Con, I can finally give you the $20 I owe you haha

you owe me nothing. you're devotion as a fan is plenty. seriously. they make those rules, but i always find a way to break them with special cases. because i'm so special. )))))

Ever plan on coming back to WKU to visit sometime? I promise we can have a blast hanging out at the top of PFT!

i want to film my next movie there. i even want to screen Back in the DAy there. could you get a huge crew to go see it if we play there?

Hello and thanks for doing this AMA! I really got a kick out of the film Sorority Boys. How did you get along with your 2 other co-stars? Did you guys get into any funny antics behind the scenes?

always got into trouble. i loved when we were in drag and crew guys from other movies saw us from afar...and they would stare. but when we got closer they looked like they were going to shit themselves. it was great. we were not pretty women. nothing like jared leto. and i love reuniting with harland williams for back in the day . he's my pal

you have kissed both Kristin Kreuk and my gf. you lucky basterd. does this make you my arch nemesis?

does it? haha

big fan of poolhall junkies! Do you still keep in touch with the Smallville cast?

totally. allison just tweeted the movie and so did kristen. lovely gals

Hey sunshine <3 I do love pepperoni! I love some meat....on my pizza! But I'm also one of those weirdos that puts pineapple on their pizza :-/ Judge me, I dare ya!

grody. ))))

Were you ever on the Castle football field back in high school? Attend a game?

NO. i wasn't cool back then. that's why i wrote it in the movie Back in the Day. Movie magic. you can be cool when you make a movie. haha. i still go back and attend games.

Why did you leave Smallville?

my contract ended. and i wanted to go and make movies and have hair. haha

Favorite and least favorite high school teacher?

loved em all. mrs. rowe. mr. morrow. mr. raymond. all great peeps. mrs. skinner.... hola senorita.

We hit 400. wow. I love you all. Thanks so much. I'm out now to promote Back in the Day. If you had fun today, then maybe help a brother out. much thanks, Michael Rosenbaum (Your Lex Luthor)




http://interviewly.com/i/michael-rosenb ... 014-reddit

Saliendo con Perros: Michael Rosenbaum habla sobre su experiencia con el amigo más leal del hombre
por Eric Bittman 20 Febrero, 2014

So you’ve been dating your significant other for a while. It feels like true love, and you decide to take the next step: buying or adopting a cute puppy together. Before you pick up your fluffy Fido, there are a few conversations that you need to have.

This month, I asked actor Michael Rosenbaum, who recently wrote, directed, and starred in the movie Back In the Day, a few questions about dating with dogs:

Q: What is your favorite dog breed?

A: German Shepherd. My grandmother always had Shepherds running around the house while I was growing up.

Q: How many dogs have you owned?

A: My family had a St. Bernard, some poodles and a Golden Retriever growing up, but the first dog that I’ve ever owned is Irv, a German Shepherd.

Q: If you dated someone who demanded a little dog, such as a chihuahua or a yorkie, would you give in or push for a bigger dog?

A: I like more of a manly dog. Someone I can wrestle with and not have worry about stepping on by accident.

Q: You meet someone that insists that her dog sleeps in the bed with you guys. Is that the end of the relationship?

A: Irv sleeps with me every night. Maybe this question should be for the person I’m dating!

Q: What is your favorite brand of dog shampoo? (Hint: I will only accept one answer to this question!)

A: I like Warren London. It’s all-natural, and that has to be good, right?


http://www.cupidspulse.com/dating-with- ... ing-a-pet/

Michael Rosenbaum habla sobre “Back in the Day”, “The Justice League”, y más
Por Nick 22 de Febrero February, 2014

I was lucky enough to get the opportunity to talk to Michael Rosenbaum about his new film, Back in the Day, as well as his career on both the small and big screen, as well as his voice work. It was an incredibly fun conversation with the man and I do have to admit, I was rather giddy talking to not only Lex Luthor, but The Flash himself. Michael was incredibly generous in the time he gave us and I have to thank him sincerely for allowing the opportunity.

In your new film, Back in the Day, you play Jim Owens, an actor who returns to his hometown in Indiana to reconnect with friends and hopefully rekindle the romance of a lost love. How much of the film was autobiographical, considering you did indeed graduate from Castle High in Newburgh, IN?

Well you know I did graduate from Castle. But most of the stuff was all made up. There were a couple of friends of mine, like the group of boys, are loosely based off real characters. The movie has a lot of moments based in reality. There’s one scene where Skunk gets drunk and wakes up the next day in a pickup truck naked. And that really happened. The character’s name was really Skunk. That’s what we called him. There a lot of moments and I really wanted to film in my hometown. I wanted to give the sense of a small town and growing up there. And I loved growing up there and I wanted people to see how I saw it. Which was beautiful, on the Ohio River, the neighborhood, and the sense community which I don’t think a lot of places have. I live in LA and I don’t really know my neighbors.

But the movie is really about having fun. I come from the Sandler camp and I love John Hughes. I look up to those guys. Obviously there are some fart jokes and it is a boy comedy, but it’s got a through line with heart in it. It’s not all about booze and dicks. It’s also a lot of fun. I wanted it to be a guy/girl movie, where the guy walks out and is like “That was hilarious!” and the girl actually likes it too. It’s not for one or the other.

Shooting in Indiana, we shot at Pizza King, Green River Road, the Washington Square Mall. It felt really authentic. I felt like I had to shoot the movie. It was going home, and that was my home, and that’s where we had to shoot it.

With the locations, how much was shot in Newburgh?

Between Newburgh and Evansville, I’d say 98% of the movie was shot on location.

Did you have the help of a lot of old friends and locals you knew with making the movie?

My friend Phil gave me his house, my sister gave me her house. The house where we used to play Wiffle ball was used for the scene where we play Wiffle ball in the movie which was really cool. The police, the crews, it was surreal. Smallest kid in my high school growing up and now I’m shooting a movie in the same time I grew up in. I had to pinch myself sometimes. We’re shooting a low budget movie, you know. We’re not shooting $50 million movie. It wasn’t easy but it was certainly worth it.

The movie also has to make its money back. This little indie movies live and die off of video on demand. Word of mouth and paying full the $5 and that’s how we get our money back. We don’t get a big distribution deal to be in thousands of theaters. Our movie was downloaded tons of times, illegally, and I don’t think people realize how much it hurts the industry, especially the independent filmmakers. I put my own money out there and I made this movie for not a lot of money so we’re really relying on this. You have to hope people will go see the movie and pay a few bucks. It’s a tough business, between writing it, prepping it, casting it, directing it, and editing it, it was a crash course in making it. You learn all the bad and good things about the business.

With that in mind, have you found the work to be at all discouraging? Or is directing something you really think you want to do more of?

That’s a good question. I fell in love with it. Once I fall in love with something I have to do as much as possible. I know I have to do another one. And so from what I’ve learned from the first one, making it with pennies, you hope for more money and more days. I would not be the lead actor in it this time- it’s too much work. I really would love to that. I’ve been working a few scripts and I’ll decide on one soon and hopefully shoot it this year. But it’s got to be the right one. The first one is a step. To see how much you like it, how you do it, how much money. The second one is the one you want to be the most special. Now that I have a little idea of what I’m doing and how to work the budget. You have to work with you strengths and what you’re good at.

Again, it comes back to people who support you. It’s word of mouth. It starts out with you talking about and telling one and everyone telling their friends. It’s how movies like these can make it. I think this movie will have kind of a cult following. I can tell people are really enjoying. IT’s really great to see that you can make a movie that didn’t cost a lot of money that was made as a passion project that people can enjoy. Ultimately, that’s what I wanted from it- for people to enjoy the movie. To me, that’s enough.

Isaiah Mustafa, who most people know as the Old Spice guy, plays a part in Back in the Day. Does he smell amazing in real life?

Isaiah Mustafa smells wonderful. He gave me a ton of free Old Spice products. Twenty sticks of deodorant, shampoo and everything. He saved me a bunch of money

by Nick | on February 22, 2014 | 3 Comments | in Interviews | Like it
An Interview with Michael Rosenbaum: “Back in the Day”, “The Justice League”, and More

I was lucky enough to get the opportunity to talk to Michael Rosenbaum about his new film, Back in the Day, as well as his career on both the small and big screen, as well as his voice work. It was an incredibly fun conversation with the man and I do have to admit, I was rather giddy talking to not only Lex Luthor, but The Flash himself. Michael was incredibly generous in the time he gave us and I have to thank him sincerely for allowing the opportunity.

In your new film, Back in the Day, you play Jim Owens, an actor who returns to his hometown in Indiana to reconnect with friends and hopefully rekindle the romance of a lost love. How much of the film was autobiographical, considering you did indeed graduate from Castle High in Newburgh, IN?

Well you know I did graduate from Castle. But most of the stuff was all made up. There were a couple of friends of mine, like the group of boys, are loosely based off real characters. The movie has a lot of moments based in reality. There’s one scene where Skunk gets drunk and wakes up the next day in a pickup truck naked. And that really happened. The character’s name was really Skunk. That’s what we called him. There a lot of moments and I really wanted to film in my hometown. I wanted to give the sense of a small town and growing up there. And I loved growing up there and I wanted people to see how I saw it. Which was beautiful, on the Ohio River, the neighborhood, and the sense community which I don’t think a lot of places have. I live in LA and I don’t really know my neighbors.

But the movie is really about having fun. I come from the Sandler camp and I love John Hughes. I look up to those guys. Obviously there are some fart jokes and it is a boy comedy, but it’s got a through line with heart in it. It’s not all about booze and dicks. It’s also a lot of fun. I wanted it to be a guy/girl movie, where the guy walks out and is like “That was hilarious!” and the girl actually likes it too. It’s not for one or the other.

Shooting in Indiana, we shot at Pizza King, Green River Road, the Washington Square Mall. It felt really authentic. I felt like I had to shoot the movie. It was going home, and that was my home, and that’s where we had to shoot it.

With the locations, how much was shot in Newburgh?

Between Newburgh and Evansville, I’d say 98% of the movie was shot on location.

Did you have the help of a lot of old friends and locals you knew with making the movie?

My friend Phil gave me his house, my sister gave me her house. The house where we used to play Wiffle ball was used for the scene where we play Wiffle ball in the movie which was really cool. The police, the crews, it was surreal. Smallest kid in my high school growing up and now I’m shooting a movie in the same time I grew up in. I had to pinch myself sometimes. We’re shooting a low budget movie, you know. We’re not shooting $50 million movie. It wasn’t easy but it was certainly worth it.

The movie also has to make its money back. This little indie movies live and die off of video on demand. Word of mouth and paying full the $5 and that’s how we get our money back. We don’t get a big distribution deal to be in thousands of theaters. Our movie was downloaded tons of times, illegally, and I don’t think people realize how much it hurts the industry, especially the independent filmmakers. I put my own money out there and I made this movie for not a lot of money so we’re really relying on this. You have to hope people will go see the movie and pay a few bucks. It’s a tough business, between writing it, prepping it, casting it, directing it, and editing it, it was a crash course in making it. You learn all the bad and good things about the business.

With that in mind, have you found the work to be at all discouraging? Or is directing something you really think you want to do more of?

That’s a good question. I fell in love with it. Once I fall in love with something I have to do as much as possible. I know I have to do another one. And so from what I’ve learned from the first one, making it with pennies, you hope for more money and more days. I would not be the lead actor in it this time- it’s too much work. I really would love to that. I’ve been working a few scripts and I’ll decide on one soon and hopefully shoot it this year. But it’s got to be the right one. The first one is a step. To see how much you like it, how you do it, how much money. The second one is the one you want to be the most special. Now that I have a little idea of what I’m doing and how to work the budget. You have to work with you strengths and what you’re good at.

Again, it comes back to people who support you. It’s word of mouth. It starts out with you talking about and telling one and everyone telling their friends. It’s how movies like these can make it. I think this movie will have kind of a cult following. I can tell people are really enjoying. IT’s really great to see that you can make a movie that didn’t cost a lot of money that was made as a passion project that people can enjoy. Ultimately, that’s what I wanted from it- for people to enjoy the movie. To me, that’s enough.

Isaiah Mustafa, who most people know as the Old Spice guy, plays a part in Back in the Day. Does he smell amazing in real life?

Isaiah Mustafa smells wonderful. He gave me a ton of free Old Spice products. Twenty sticks of deodorant, shampoo and everything. He saved me a bunch of money.

Your primarily known for two things, playing Lex Luthor on Smallville and voicing The Flash on The Justice League, both on TV but one involving you acting and the other involving you doing voice work. Which do you prefer?

You know, I really like both in different ways. The great thing about voice work is that you go in not having shaved and wearing your Jim Morrison t-shirt. It doesn’t really matter what you look like. You go sit down, drink a Coke, and just riff for an hour and you’re done.

As for acting, it is tedious, but very rewarding in a different way. It’s a lot harder with more work. A voice actor does two hours, while an actor can work 15 hours a day for eight days in a row, for a couple of months. I love both and I love the chance to do both. I’m fortunate. I’ve done 20 movies, hundreds of episodes of TV, short films, and theater. I always thought my passion was acting but now the directing bug is in me. Voice work is a treat, and playing Lex and Flash at the same time was pretty nuts. I wasn’t a huge comic book fan, not that I don’t like comics, but I never realized the impact I would have playing Lex and Flash and going to these conventions. People go up to you and they’re like “You’re The Flash!” Well, my voice is! You wouldn’t think it matters but it does. People really respond. I think the most loyal fans are the DC fans. When they were casting the Lex Luthor part (for Man of Steel 2), It was amazing to see all of the fans reaching out on Twitter and all of the kind words to get me to be Lex Luthor again. I didn’t do anything I just sat back and thought it was really sweet. I’m very lucky.

You’re known for playing two of the most famous characters in comic history- The Flash, one of the greatest heroes, and Lex Luthor- one of the greatest villains. If Michael Rosenbaum was to exist in the DC universe, would he lean more towards being a hero or being a villain?

I would lean toward The Flash kind of guy. The guy who wants to take light of the situation, when everyone is so upset and the world is dying he’s like, “Hey everything’s going to be alright! Let’s go bowling!”. That’s always been me. That’s kind of me and I’ve always had that temperance- the ability to make things better than they are. I think that’s my gift, honestly, is to entertain. I’d have to say I’d be closer to The Flash. I have some evil in me but I’d be positive for the most part.

One of my favorite episodes of The Justice League is “The Great Brain Robbery”. In the episode, The Flash switches bodies with Lex Luthor. When voicing Lex, did you channel Clancy Brown (the voice actor of the character) or did you play him like your Luthor on Smallville?

No, I wanted to do his version of it. We were both listening to each other and would go back and forth. It was a little tricky but it was really me channeling his. I remember having a lot of fun with it and doing a lot of different takes. What they came up with was pretty good and its one of my favorites.

How much interaction did you have with the other voice actors? I know that sometimes, with voice-work, the entire cast isn’t together for the production.

I tried to be there when we were all recording and we did that quite a bit. As the seasons went on, it was harder and harder. I was up in Vancouver shaving my head and playing the mastermind of Lex Luthor. We’d be recording at 2pm on a Tuesday but I’d have to fly to Vancouver to film at 6am on a Wednesday. So a lot of time, I had to a patch or come down the following week and I’d be there alone. I didn’t like that as much. I liked working with the cast.

You had a reunion with the voice cast for Justice League: Doom. What was that like?

It was really nice. Hopefully there will be more reunions. People are always asking me why I’m not still voicing The Flash. I’d love to play The Flash all the time. but you’re not that forever. I love playing the character and the response I get from all over the world is amazing.

If you could play any other DC character, be it on screen or through voice-work, who would it be?

I think I’d be a fantastic Joker. I think I could crush The Joker.

Acting or voice-work?

Both, actually. I don’t think anyone can top Heath Ledger’s version of the Joker. I don’t think that can ever be topped. I’d give it a shot, don’t get me wrong. The voice would be fun. And I think I could be Batman. Look, these are the ones I’d enjoy, but I’d do anything. Bruce Timm would always ask me to do this and that. It was always a treat “do one of your impressions”. I got to do many voices over the time. It was very fun.

One thing I like to ask everyone I talk to is what are some of your favorite movies? Gun to your head, what would be three movies you had to choose?

I think if I was on a deserted island with ta Blu-ray player and headphones, I got to laugh, have fun, and be scared. If I had to laugh it’d be Arthur. Dudley Moore’s version of Arthur. Probably Empire Strikes Back and maybe Return of the Living Dead. Or maybe The Exorcist. No, I’ll go with The Shining. You got classic horror, classic 80s fun sci-fi thing, and then you got your comedy. That’s me.

What did you think of the Arthur remake?

You know I just didn’t see it. I cant get myself to see it. After I saw Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory, I’m not watching remakes ever again. Just not doing it. There’s no reason to. If something’s not broke, don’t try to fix it. I just can’t. They remade Carrie. Maybe it’s great, I just don’t care. They remade The Amityville Horror, I mean.. are you kidding me? The original was so scary. I couldn’t believe they made that hack job.

Shifting focus, Jesse Eisenberg has been cast to join your ranks as those who have played Lex Luthor. Do you have any advice for the guy and what do you think of his casting?

First off, I think he’s a really good actor. I don’t think he needs any advice from me, he’ll do his homework. Do it your way. I’m sure Zack [Snyder] has an idea. He cast you for reason. Jesse’s a good actor. He’ll do it his own way and that’s the best way. If you can do it your way, if you succeed or fail, you succeed because you are being original. If you’re trying to emulate someone, you’ll always be compared. That’s why I didn’t want to be compared during Smallville. I didn’t watch any of Gene Hackman as Lex. He’ll be fantastic. Great actor, no problem with it.

I want to end the interview on a nice note. I know you do a lot of charity work, with both The Ronald McDonald House in Seattle and the Echoes of Hope Charity. Can you talk about those?

RMH work with in Seattle is great. They are a tremendous place. There are a lot of kids sick with leukemia and other diseases and the RMH not only gives the kids a place to stay, but also gives their families a place too. It’s such a supportive group of people. Their operations are expensive and we try and help them out. It’s a great charity all around. Echoes of Hope has fantastic support for foster youth. It gives the kids a chance. They’re talented and have something to offer. We try and give them a family atmosphere and the tools to succeed. We raise money and the success has been tremendous, with many of the foster youth going on to college and graduating. It means a lot. Usually if someone believes you in it makes life a lot easier. It’s the least I can do.



http://cinekatz.com/an-interview-with-m ... -and-more/

Se ha confirmado que Michael Rosenbaum ha sido escogifo para co-protagonizar frente a Krysten Ritter el piloto de la NBC "Mission Control", una comedia producida por Universal TV y producida por Gary Sanchez Productions y los productores ejecutivos Adam McKay y Will Ferrell.

Un lugar de trabajo en conjunto situado en 1962, "Mission Control" examina lo que ocurre cuando una fuerte mujer (Ritter) se enfrenta a un astronauta macho en la carrera por aterrizar en la luna. Rosenbaum interpretará a "Bus", un guapo, bromista, testarudo y muy simpático astronatuta de la NASA.

Rosenbaum, está representado por APA, Untitled y el abogado Todd Rubenstein, y ha sido visto más recientemente en la película 'Back In The Day', que escribe, produce, protagoniza y dirige.

http://www.deadline.com/2014/02/fred-wi ... -old-soul/



Actualizado: Tristemente, la serie ha decido volver a hacer un nuevo cásting para el papel de Michael, lo que significa que no vamos a verlo en la serie.

http://www.deadline.com/2014/05/nbcs-mi ... matically/

Por qué a Michael Rosenbaum le encanta ser un malvado supervillano
Por Candice Barnes 10 Junio, 2014 - 3:46PM

Lleva coraje el decirle a un completo extraño lo malvado que es, pero para la estrella de Smallville Michael Rosenbaum, es el mejor cumplido que se le podría hacer.

“Eso es por lo que luchas. Era ese chico bajito en el insituto y no tenía novias y ahora estoy interpretando a uno de los mayores villanos de todos los tiempos y es subrrealista, algunas veces tienes que pellizcarte a tí mismo,” dice.

Di interpretación del archi-enemigo de Supermán Lex Luthor en Smallville le hizo ganar una legión de fans y los elogios de la crítica.

“No tenía ni idea de cuánta gente amaba a Supermán hasta que empecé a hacer esa serie,” dice Rosenbaum.

“He hecho muchos papeles donde nadie sabía quién era, así es que éste fue uno de esos papeles que caló en la gente, fue la serie perfecta en el momento perfecto. Es mágico.”

El actor de 41 años está a punto de descubrir lo apasionados que pueden llegar a ser los fans de Perth, con la aparición de la estrella prevista para la Supanova Pop Culture Expo a finales de este mes.

“Recuerdo la primera convención a la que fui. Estaba sentado ahí y miraba y allí estaba esa marea de fans,” dice.

“Smallville acababa de empezar y pregunté ‘¿por quién está esta gente aquí?’ y dijeron ‘están aquñi por tí’. ¡Fue apabullante!”

Junto a ñel estará el antiguo actor Jon Heder, quien saltó a la fama por el personaje principal de Napoleon Dynamite.

“Viene por aquí cada semana, o yo voy donde él y vemos películas de terror. Nos hicimos buenos amigos haciendo eso,” comenta.

“Un día dijo ‘cuántame cómo son esas convenciones’, así es que le contesté ‘son muy divertidas, ganas dinero y te encuentras con los fans’. Y él dijo ‘sí, estaba pensando en ir’ y yo dije ‘bueno, ¡estoy seguro de que les encantaría el tenerte!”

Ahora que Smallville ha acabado, Rosenbaum ha estado trabajando en sus propios proyectos y escribiendo, dirigiendo y protagonizando su reciente película 'Back in the Day'.

Dijo que los profesionales de la industria intentaron advertirle en contra de que tomara un papel tan grande.

“Me estuvieron diciendo lo exhaustos que estaban cuando no estaban actuando y lo hice y al principio decía ‘tío, esto es fácil’, pero tras dos semanas empezó a patearte el trasero un poco,” dice Rosenbaum.

“Ahora estoy centrándome en mi próxima película. He escrito un par de ellas, ahora tengo que decidir cuál quiero hacer y luego empieza la financiación. Si todo va bien, llevará dos buenos años.”

“Se convierte en tu bebé. pero también se convierte en el bebé que no quieres. Dices ‘He terminado con esto, te marchas a la universidad, Papi necesita un descanso’ y entonces tienes otro bebé.”

Rosenbaum apareció en los eventos de Melbourne y Gold Coast Supanova el año pasado, pero dice que está deseando explorar el Oeste de Australia.

“Australia es el mejor lugar de la Tierra y la gente de allí es fantástica - y no estoy diciendo eso tan sólo porque vaya a resgresar,” dice.

“Alguien me dijo que fuera a Margaret River. ¿Tienes alguna casa embrujada allí?”

Michael Rosenbaum nos contó que tendrá unos cuantos días libres mientras que esté en WA. ¿Qué pensáis que debería de hacer mientras que esté aquí?

La Supanova Pop Culture Expo se celebrará los días 20-22 de Junio en el Perth Exhibition and Convention Centre.


http://www.smh.com.au/entertainment/abo ... zs2vt.html?

El Museo de Kentucky Museum ahora tendrá vínculos villanos con el mundo de los cómics ya que el traje de Lex Luthor está listo para ser mostrado.

Michael Rosenbaum, alumno de la WKU, interpretó a Luthor, el archi-enemigo de Supermán, en la serie de TV “Smallville.” Rosenbaum ha donado uno de sus trajes de Luthor a la exhibición de Instrumentos de la Excelancia Americana del museo.

“Es el traje blanco que Lex Luthor lleva puesto… cuando se convierte en presidente en el futuro y tenemos vistazos de eso a través de toda la serie de ‘Smallville’,” dice.

La exhibición, que se abrió en el otoño del 2012, se muestran muchos artefactos de la historia y la cultura pop Americana, que van desde unos zapatos de tacón de la actriz Liza Minnelli al primer telescopio de Neil deGrasse Tyson. Objetos regionales, tales como bates de Louisville Slugger, también se muestran en la exposición.

“La fuerza de esta exposición es el tener cosas extraordinarias que la gente usó para hacer cosas extraordinarias,” dice John Perkins, director de desarrollo y objetos especiales.

Todos los objetos de la colección fueron recibidos como donaciones, incluyendo la última adquisición de Rosenbaum.

“Fue un edfuerzo conjunto de nuestro presidente Dan Murph y una serie de miembros el contarle a la gente sobre esta henial idea (para la exhibición) y realmente conseguir ponerlos tras ella,” dice Brent Bjorkman, director interno del museo.

Rosenbaum dijo que fue Perkins quien contactó con él para preguntarle sobre si estaría interesado en contribuir a la exhibición permanente.

“Recibí este email de repente... y me contó sobre muchas cosas del museo y pensé que era muy fascinante,” dice Rosenbaum. “Al principio pensé ‘Yo no encajo ahí.’ Quiero decir, aquí están los zapatos de John Wayne y Liza Minnelli.”

Perkins le recordó que “Smallville” fue una serie extremadamente popular en la cultura pop Americana durante su emisión.

“Siempre pienso que, ya sabes sólo era una actor de esa serie, pero luego te topas con personas, soldados que estaban en Iraq y dicen, ‘Hey, me hizo sobrellevar la guerra’…así es que es aleccionador,” dice. “Así es que pensé, sabes, ¿por qué no? Fue una serie icónica y duró 10 años, era muy popular, así es que dije qué tal si es el traje blanco que Lex Luthor lleva puesto cuando se convierte en presidente.”

Rosenbaum se había quedado con uno de los dos trajes blancos que usó en la serie. Es el traje que mandará para que sea expuesto.

Después de que el museo adquiera el traje de Rosenbaum, éste pasará por un proceso de revisión y limpieza por la conservadora del museo y su equipo.

Donna Parker, la conservadora del museo, dice que la donación es emocionante.

“La primera cosa que tendremos que hacer es cogerlo y evaluarlo... y si necesita cualquier tipo de limpieza, lo haremos,” dice Parker.

Tras ello y muchos otros pasos de limpieza, el equipo revisará y se asegurará de que no se necesita hacer ningún otro tipo de reparación a las costuras del traje y empezará a costruirse una silueta o maniquí para mostrar el traje.

“Tienes que o comprar o hacer una silueta que encaje en la pieza,” dice. “Muchas veces lo que hacemos es coger una silueta y rellenarla para que llene la forma de la ropa.”

Aún no hay una fecha fijada para cuándo estará el traje en exposición, pero Parker y otros miembros del equipo de conservación aseguran que será una vez que puedan seguir los procedimientos normales de preservación y exposición.


http://wkuherald.com/life/article_9d1ae ... b2370.html

La alegría de Lex: Michael Rosenbaum brilla en Supanova
Por Rohan Williams – 27 Nov, 2015


For seven years, he played one of pop culture’s most iconic villains — but what Michael Rosenbaum really wanted to do was make people laugh.

Rosenbaum, who’s in Brisbane this weekend for the Supanova Pop Culture Expo, is best known for his role as nascent supervillain Lex Luthor opposite Tom Welling’s Clark Kent on superhero series Smallville.

As much as he loved his time on the show (and as much as the fans loved him), he admits now that the decision to walk away after seven seasons back in 2008 wasn’t a difficult one, because his true ambitions lay elsewhere.

“I’m not going to lie to you, it wasn’t really a tough decision to leave the show,” Rosenbaum says. “I’ll give you the honest answer. Honestly, I worked 70 months on that show. I shaved my head, and I spent thousands of hours spray-painting my head. I delivered tonnes of the same lines, just with slightly different words. I was contracted to play the part for six years and I actually played it for seven. And truthfully, as much as I loved the character and I loved the cast – and I still do; Tom Welling just texted me today and we still keep in touch – I always wanted to do comedy.

“I always wanted to do other things. And I’d never experienced being on a show for seven years. I was on a show that lasted a year, and then another show that lasted a year, and I thought, ‘This is great, I can play different roles every year!’ Then you hit Season Four, Five, Six, Seven on the same show, and you think, ‘This is great, but it’s time to move on’. As much as I loved it, I had to move on.

“And it wasn’t like I left the show, exactly. That’s what people say, that I left the show, but they’re confused. Leaving the show would have meant leaving before my contract was over. My deal was for six years, and I did that, and then I did another year! I loved it, but it was time to go, because I knew that I wanted to do comedy and movies and other things.

“Playing a super villain is great and it’s intense, but it was time to go do some other stuff. That was all it was. And other people were leaving the show at the time, too. The original creators left. It was time. You just know when that ship’s sailing, when it’s time to move on.”

Rosenbaum essentially backed himself by walking away from a hit show (“Believe me,” he says, “if I thought I didn’t have anything else going for me and I wasn’t going to work again, I would have milked Smallville for all it was worth”), and it’s proven to be a wise decision in the long run.

He had a recurring role in Fox comedy Breaking In. Last year, he wrote, directed and starred in the comedy film Back in the Day, and though the critics weren’t kind to it, he backed that up this year by scoring the lead role in the hit comedy series Impastor.

The series, which airs on TV Land in the US, stars Rosenbaum as a fugitive and gambling addict who steals the identity of a recently deceased gay pastor in order to hide from loan sharks. The show, on which Rosenbaum also serves as executive producer, was recently renewed for a second season.

“The first day on the set of Impastor, I said, ‘Guys, if we’re not laughing every day, we’re doing something wrong’,” Rosenbaum remembers. “I really want to have fun. No drama, no bulls**t. And we do! The crew, every day, look like they’re having fun, like this is a good job to go to. That’s the kind of job and the kind of environment I want to be in, in any field, really. It doesn’t have to be acting. It could be anything. I like to have fun. That’s kind of my thing!”

As much as Rosenbaum is enjoying his new show, however, he knows it’s the enduring appeal of Smallville that makes him a favourite at conventions like Supanova.

“It’s a small miracle,” he marvels. “Whatever the odds are of winning the lottery, being an actor on a hit show — where years after you leave the show you can still travel around the world and sign autographs and meet people — that’s got to be a really close second. It’s got to be. I am blessed, there’s no doubt. I was on the series for seven years, and I played a great, iconic character.

“I was also on an animated series called Justice League at the same time, where I voiced The Flash for six years. I didn’t know the impact that would have. Every time I go to a convention, kids are dressed up as Lex Luthor and The Flash. You just count your lucky stars. Other actors always come up to me and say, ‘Hey, I want to go to conventions’, and I’ll say, ‘Well, I don’t know if the appeal in England or wherever is going to be there for your soap opera’. It’s a very select group of shows – sci-fi, horror, anime – that develop that sort of following.

“I can’t believe I can still go to these things! I always say, ‘Oh, there’s probably only going to be five people at my table this time’, but there are always people there. How are they still coming? It’s overwhelming. It’s great that people want to come and see you, and I always like to take the time with each person, because it’s like… they’re coming to see you, you’ve come all this way to see them, let’s have a moment here!”

Despite spending such a long time bringing Lex Luthor to life, Rosenbaum doesn’t see himself as a custodian of the character. In fact, he’s not all that interested in the upcoming Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, in which The Social Network star Jesse Eisenberg will shave his head and take his turn playing Superman’s nemesis.

“Here’s a little secret I’ll share with you,” he mock-whispers. “I’m not into comic books! I love Smallville, and it was the first of many, many comic book shows like that, but as a kid, I was never into comic books and I never read all that stuff. I loved horror movies. I’m buddies with [Evil Dead star] Bruce Campbell, and he’s the coolest guy in the world, as far as I’m concerned. That’s what I love.

“You know, I like the old Superman movie with Gene Hackman, but it’s at the point now where every time I turn a corner there’s another superhero movie. I loved Guardians of the Galaxy, and not just because my friend James Gunn directed it, but because it was different. It wasn’t a superhero movie. It was edgier and it didn’t take itself so seriously.

“Who’s directing this new Superman movie? Zack Snyder? I mean, great! I loved when he directed Dawn of the Dead! That was a great movie. I loved 300, too. So I know the movie’s going to look great, and I know Jesse Eisenberg’s probably going to do a great job.

“I understand why you’d be curious what I think about it, but in my egocentric mind, I always think, ‘I can play anything’, because that’s what you’re supposed to think as an actor, and that’s what Eisenberg will be thinking, too. If you doubt yourself, you’re not going anywhere.

“Look, you could say Zack Snyder picked the wrong Jew. He went for Eisenberg instead of Rosenbaum! And, seriously, if they’d have asked me I would have said ‘F**k yeah, I can do it’, and then I would have been nervous as s**t, and then I would have worked with a coach and I would have done everything I could do to be the best I can be, and I’m sure that’s what Jesse Eisenberg’s doing. He probably got really excited and nervous and then busted his ass and now he’s going to be terrific. Because that’s what happens when you have talent, and he does. So, you know, he’ll be great.”


http://bmag.com.au/your-brisbane/chatte ... -supanova/

Michael Rosenbaum cuanta historias no contadas de "Smallville"
27 Sept 2016

Empire spoke with Michael Rosenbaum to promote tonight’s season premiere of his new show Impastor on TV Land, now entering its second season, but the big highlight is that Rosenbaum spoke a bit about his departure and series finale return to Smallville several years ago.

Rosenbaum played Lex Luthor on the series and is generally remembered as one of the best aspects of the show. He departed after the show’s seventh season, but in the Empire profile, he recalled Warner Bros. Television President Peter Roth‘s taking him out to dinner, trying to get him to do two more seasons of the show. This is a story Rosenbaum has never really told.

“He tried to get me to do two more seasons of Smallville. I was very polite and respectful. I said, ‘Peter, my grandma thinks I’m funny and I’ve always wanted to do comedy, and I started out in comedy, and I was doing tons of comedy, and then I was catapulted into this role that I love and it’s been great, but I was contracted for six years to play Lex Luthor, I did seven, and I’m just ready to move on and I’m just ready to take a new step’,” Rosenbaum recalled. “He looked at me and says, ‘You know, Julianna Margulies, she turned down millions of dollars to stay with ER and look where she is now.’ It wasn’t two or three years later where she just made a fortune with The Good Wife and all of that, and her career just took off. I said, ‘I’m going to bank on my talent. I’m just going to take a chance on me. I think I’ve done this long enough, I did this character for seven years and I just don’t feel like shaving my head for two more years.’ I came back for the finale, but at the time I just wanted to take a chance,” he explained.

After leaving the show, Michael grew out his hair, met with casting directors, and landed roles including a fun one in Season 1 of Adam F. Goldberg’s Breaking In. In 2014, Rosenbaum directed a feature, Back In The Day, with Morena Baccarin, Nick Swardson, and Harland Williams.

Michael assured that his leaving Smallville was not driven by ego. It wasn’t, ‘I’m not doing Smallville because I’m too good for it.’ It was more, ‘Hey, I’ve got more to offer.’ Look, luck is a commodity of preparation and opportunity and I feel like I’m always prepared when that moment comes. I think it comes down to just believing in yourself,” the actor recalled.

Also revealed in the piece: Rosenbaum did not see what happened in the later years of the show after he left. “Here’s the thing: I didn’t watch the last three seasons, because I wasn’t in it,” Michael admitted. “Call me egotistical, call me whatever, but that’s the reason I didn’t watch the show. I was working and getting my shit together. But I finally called them up and said, ‘Hey, look, it’s the last episode ever. I’ll do it, you’ve got me for one day next week.’ When I got there I was, like, ‘What’s happened since I left?’ I had no idea what was going on. There were moments where I just didn’t know what the f— I was doing. I liked my scenes with Tom Welling, but I felt like the show was, for me, done when I left in season seven. Then I sort of did it for the fans and did it for me for closure and to say, ‘Hey, I did come back.’ I did do it, and that’s ultimately why,” he said.

“I’m proud of it,” Rosenbaum said about his experience on the show. “I have fans all over the world because of that show and I love them. I go to Australia, I go to England…people just embrace it. You can’t be luckier as an actor or as a human being to feel that sort of accomplishment, and if that’s all I did — if I was just Lex Luthor — it would be enough. It really would be enough to go back home to New Berg, Indiana, where there are, like, 3,000 people in the town and where I wasn’t supposed to do anything. To say you were this iconic, legendary character for seven years. I would’ve mowed my lawn with a smile on my face,” he said.


http://www.empireonline.com/movies/feat ... rosenbaum/

Michael Rosenbaum de ‘Impastor’va a muchos conciertos de los ’80s
Por Brett Michael 12-10-16

Michael Rosenbaum is an actor probably best known for portraying Lex Luthor on Smallville. Currently he stars in TV Land’s Impastor, which recently kicked off its second season, where he portrays a man who steals another man’s identity and ends up posing as a gay pastor in a small town. Michael was nice enough to take a few minutes from his busy schedule to answer a few questions from us.

1. You walk into a bar. What do you order from the bartender?

Probably a Jack and Diet. I’m from Indiana, that’s what we drink, but I live in L.A., so hence the diet.

2. Who’s your favorite person to follow on Twitter and/or Instagram?

I love Bruce Campbell. I worked with him, he’s hilarious and comments on everything. Carrie Fisher is ridiculous and brilliant, so she’s fun. And Michael Ian Black kills me.

3. What’s currently waiting for you on your DVR?

Dateline, of course.

4. It’s your last meal — what are you going out with?

Olive Garden, baby!

5. What websites do you visit on a regular basis?

RedTube.com. Don’t go to that… it’s a porn site.

6. What’s the most frequently played song on your mobile device?

“Sailing” by Christopher Cross. “If You Leave Me Now” by Chicago.

7. If you could go back and give your 18-year-old self one piece of advice, what would it be?

Don’t worry. Once you grow pubic hair, fix your grill and grow nine inches… you’ll eventually get laid.

8. What’s the last thing you Googled?

Halloween onesies for adults.

9. Dogs or cats?

I love all animals, especially my dog Irv. He’s named after my grandfather Irv… who’s still alive.

10. Best concert of your life was…?

I go to so many ’80s concerts, so this is a really difficult question. Chicago, I’ve seen them so many times, love them. Guns N’ Roses at the Hard Rock in Vegas. Def Leppard at the Hard Rock in Vegas. ELO at the Hollywood Bowl. Human League at the Microsoft Theatre.

11. What book are you most likely to give as a gift?

It would be a book about farts. I have many fart books.

12. What’s the nicest thing anyone has ever done for you?

There are a lot of great people out there, a lot of nice things have been done for me. A fan once sent me an Impastor version of the game Clue, and the thing was unbelievable. I mean it was so elaborate, really lovely gift.

13. South Park or Family Guy?

South Park.

14. You have an entire day to do whatever you want. What would you do?

Probably nap… or go to Disney World… or go to Universal Horror Nights.

15. What movie can you not resist watching if it’s on?

Tommy Boy, Empire Strikes Back, Alien, The Shining, Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory. Slapshot. Arthur (Dudley Moore version).

16. The sports team or teams you’re most passionate about?

I love the New York Giants. Anything New York — New York Giants, New York Knicks, New York Rangers and New York Mets. I hate the Yankees.

17. Where did you eat the best meal of your life?

Gibbys in Montreal. Holy shit, what a steak.

18. The last movie you saw in a theater?

The Blair Witch 2016. Just saw it and I love horror movies. Not a great flick, but the last 15 minutes almost made me piss myself.

19. Who was your first celebrity crush?

Probably Goldie Hawn. I think I saw a vagina in the movie Private Benjamin. I don’t think it was her vagina, but I still have a crush on her. Met Goldie and Kurt Russell a few months ago and they were wonderful.

20. What would you cook if Nic Cage was coming to your house for dinner?

Olive Garden. Or Sonic. My sister works at Sonic, so I’d get Nic some free shit.



http://uproxx.com/tv/michael-rosenbaum-impastor/

Esta semana, las noticias nos sorprendieron tristemente con la pérdida de la gran Carrie Fisher y de su madre Debbie Reynolds apenas un día después.

El actor Michael Rosenbaum tenía una gran amistad con la actriz, y ha compartido unas palabras por la pérdida de su amiga y mentora con la revista de su pueblo natal "Evansville Living":

“Carrie no era como nadie que jamás haya conocido. Aunque ella siempre será recordada como la Princesa Leia para mucha gente de todo el mundo, ella era mucho más para mí. Ella me inspiró para que empezara a escribir y cuando empecé por primera vez Smallville estaba alojándome en un sofisticado hotel de Hollywood donde asistía a demasiadas fiestas y ella me dijo que sentara la cabeza. Me ofreció quedarme en su casa en un bungalow en donde se quedaban todos sus amigos. Meryl Streep, Richard Dreyfus, y otros. Y terminé quedándome tres meses. Así es como era ella. Sus puertas siempre estaban abiertas. Pienso que fue mi época más creativa. Veía su ética de trabajo y conseguí entender realmente el negocio. No fue sólo una gran amiga sino una mentora y alguien a quien siempre recordaré con cariño. Una vez mientras que estaba rodando Smallville, ella voló a Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, con su hija Billie y su asistente Kim y me dijo que íbamos a hacer un viaje por carretera para ver la aurora boreal cerca de Whistler. Nos apilamos en mi caravana, condujimos hasta Whistler y pasamos unos días épicos. Ella era intrépida, aventurera y brillante. Estoy desconsolado por su pérdida, pero extremamente agradecido de que pudiera compartir tantos grandes momentos con ella."

El actor, además, ha compartido una foto junto a la actriz en su casa de Hollywood cuando ésta estaba escribiendo su último libro "The Princess Diarist" en twitter junto con el mensaje:

@mrosenbaum711: ¡Eras un ser humano excepcional @carrieffisher! ¡Conseguiste que empezara a escribir y que empezara a preocuparme menos! ¡Te echaré de menos inmensamente!


https://twitter.com/mrosenbaum711/statu ... 8926043136

http://www.evansvilleliving.com/blog/ca ... ear-friend

James Gunn ha revelado que el actor de "Smallville" Michael Rosenbaum interpretará un significante papel en "Guardianes de la Galaxia Vol. 2" (que se estrenará el 05 de Mayo). Gunn también dio pistas sobre los personajes interpretados por Rosenbaum y Sylvester Stallone. El director hizo el anuncio durante una aparición en el podcast de 'The Adam Carolla Show':

“Tenemos un par de personajes que son muy importantes en el universo Marvel, que van a hacer su debut en Guardianes Vol. 2, y que la gente no sabe,” dijo Gunn. “Y Sylvester Stallone interpreta a uno de esos personajes… Pero diré que mi amigo Michael Rosenbaum también tiene un papel bastante decente en la película y trabaja en tlandem con el personaje de Sly.”

Rosenbaum posteriormente twitteó sobre el anuncio de Gunn. “Me mantuve callado durante un año pero finalmente puedo decir lo que James Gunn anunció en Adam Carolla,” escribió. “Estoy en la increíble Guardians.”
https://twitter.com/mrosenbaum711/statu ... 1667682307


En una entrevista con Marvel Entyertainment durante la alfombra roja de la premiere de la película que se celebró en L.A. el 19 de Abril, Rosenbaum se negó a desvelar el nombre de su personaje, habiendo tenido que jurar el secreto. No obstante, dio un par de pistas, incluyendo la importancia del personaje y también habló un poco de cómo se verá en la película.:

“Bueno, estoy en la película, y realmente no puedo decir el papel que estoy interpretando porque James [Gunn]me hizo jurar el secreto. Pero es con Stallone, y es un papel importante. No me está permitido el decir nada más que eso. No puedo esperar a verlo. No lo he visto, y he estado esperando un año para ser capaz de decir algo. Así es que es realmente emocionante. Estoy realmente emocionado por estar aquí. Los fans son increíbles. Están por todas partes. Sí. Esto es increíble. Así es que voy a verla por primera vez también. Tampoco voy a decirte cómo me veo. Vas a tener que ver la película. No tuve que afeitarme la cabeza de nuevo, así es que eso es bueno", continuó.

Como todos recordaréis, Rosenbaum interpretó a Lex Luthor en "Smallville" y previamente trabajó con el director de Guardians, del que es muy amigo, en "James Gunn’s PG Porn", una serie web creada por Gunn y sus dos hermanos, Sean y Brian.



http://adamcarolla.com/james-gunn-and-vinnie-tortorich/

Michael Rosenbaum sobre 'Guardians 2' y su salvaje amistad con Carrie Fisher
Por Byron Burton - 23 Mayo, 2017 11:37am PT

The 'Smallville' alum opens up about auditioning to play Star-Lord and the rather crass autograph the 'Star Wars' star once gave him.

After cementing himself as DC comic book royalty on the small screen, Michael Rosenbaum has shifted to Marvel with Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2.

The Indiana-raised actor played Lex Luthor for seven seasons on TV's Smallville and has earned fan acclaim for voicing The Flash in DC animated properties. This month, he returns to his comic roots as Martinex, an associate of Sylvester Stallone's Ravager character Stakar. It's a homecoming of sorts, as Rosenbaum — whose podcast Inside of You With Michael Rosenbaum launches in June — auditioned for friend and director James Gunn for the role of Star-Lord in the original Guardians.

In a conversation with Heat Vision, Rosenbaum opens up about reading for the role that ultimately went to Chris Pratt, his Smallville years and his surprising friendship with the late Carrie Fisher.

Marvel and Disney are known for their secrecy. When you landed the role of Martinex, how much of the script did they share?

I got the whole script. It was watermarked with my name. I knew Yondu [Michael Rooker] died before we shot it … I was sitting at the premiere with Michael Rooker and I could tell he was choking up at the end … it really says something when a man can get emotional about his own work.

You’ve written and sold several projects. If you could write something for the Marvel Cinematic Universe, what would it be?

I’d love to write Power Pack. It came out in the '80s … these young siblings get powers from an alien race right as their dad builds this planet-destroying weapon, which another alien race wants. It’s got that Spielberg/Stranger Things vibe. I could really take that concept and make it fresh.

You worked with Sylvester Stallone on Guardians 2. What was your favorite moment with him?

I love James’ [Gunn] taste in music, but he hates a lot of the '80s shit that I like. I remember belting out this really obscure '80s song and suddenly Stallone joins in … I look over at James and he’s just staring at me with this “f— you” look on his face.

You auditioned for the role of Peter Quill in the first Guardians. Can you talk about the screen test? Was it strange being in front of Gunn, who is a friend?

Yes, I was nervous as shit (laughs). You’re sitting there with one of your best friends who’s directing a huge movie, who knows your ability and said, “I wanna see your take on Peter Quill.” Now the pressure’s on. I just had to shut it off … I remember coming up with my own dance for the Star-Lord dance scene. I had a great partner, it felt really organic right from the start.

Were you disappointed when you didn’t get the part?

You know, I didn't really care about getting the part. I didn’t know anything about the Guardians comics. I just wanted to do a good job for James.

Did you know Chris Pratt was cast before that became public?

Yeah, I’d heard. Chris is amazing in that role.

Were things weird between you and Gunn after that?

No, not at all. The way I look at it … I was privileged to be one of the few people that got to screen test. I was so honored and grateful that James had me audition.

How do you draw the line between friendship and business?

Friendship comes first 100 percent of the time. You don’t question it. I want to see my friends succeed … if they have the ability to cast me in something, that’s great. If not, I don’t think twice.

Talk about your relationship with Carrie Fisher. How did you two meet?

Carrie’s assistant reached out because Carrie’s daughter wanted a signed photo of Lex. I said, "Tell her I want a signed picture from Return of the Jedi!" Carrie actually sent the photo, which I keep in my office. It says, “Blow me — Carrie.”

At the time I was filming the first season of Smallville and living in a hotel. She said, “Why are you living in a hotel? I have these little bungalows at my house, Meryl Streep stays there, Richard Dreyfuss stays there, you could, too … it’s got its own kitchen, you’d never have to see me."

So I stayed there for three months and I wrote like crazy. She really showed me the way when it came to writing, and she never asked for anything, she just said, "Buy me a gift when you’re done." So I bought her a skylight for her living room.

She was just an amazing person, she embraced mental illness like no one had ever done and she was just so giving. Her house was always open to everybody, and she was so smart. I remember listening to her and saying to her, “I don’t understand a f—ing word you just said." She said, "Oh, f— you, why don’t you try reading, Rosenbaum?!"

Carrie was always there for her friends. If I said, “Man, I feel like shit,” she’d say, “Why? Do you wanna talk?”

What’s one of the strangest things that happened with Fisher?

I remember lying on her giant bed with Michael Keaton, Tracey Ullman, Nicole Kidman and Carrie … just lying on her bed … laughing and talking. I thought, "Where am I?" Then she tried hooking me up with Nicole Kidman. Nicole is so out of my league … Carrie took me over to Nicole, said one sentence, and just left me with her. It was never gonna happen, but I’ll always remember that.

We’d have parties at her place with my friends and her friends. It was like Meg Ryan with my stoner friend Roger. It was a great relationship. She was just a powerful human being.



http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/heat-v ... er-1006446