Star Pick with William Ragsdale

I was fortunate to be able to interview actor William Ragsdale on April 24th 2022, at the Cornwall and Area Pop Event (or CAPE). A most entertaining event each and every year, one of the highlights was a reunion of Ragsdale and Amanda Bearse – two of the stars of Tom Holland’s horror cult classic Fright Night (you can find their recollections of the film, as well as Ms. Bearse’s Star Pick interview here on Filmizon.com). It is also worth noting that Ragsdale returned for Fright Night’s sequel, and has continued working ever since... recently having a memorable three year stint on the excellent series Justified... while speaking of horror, he had a cool cameo in 2023's Renfield – back in the vampire realm once more. When our conversation turned to his favourite film, it did not take him long to highlight a horror classic – 1980's The Changeling, starring George C. Scott. This is what he had to say: “I love that movie [The Changeling]. When it came out I thought it was brilliant. It had strong performances from George C. Scott and Melvyn Douglas. For me, the shock stuff is not so great, I really love the ambience and how things are created... it is almost like how Guillermo del Toro builds his atmosphere. I really like feeling like this is a place I’m going into and hanging out. And, of course, that movie was all about that. If the setting is correct, I enjoy it – and The Changeling just had it.” It is also worth noting that he gave a shout-out to The Exorcist earlier in the interview as well.

It was an absolute pleasure to meet and interview Amanda Bearse at CAPE 2022 (Cornwall & Area Pop Event). A multi-talented actor and director, she is perhaps best remembered as troublesome neighbour Marcy in the long running television sitcom Married... with Children (she appeared in an impressive 259 episodes, while she also sat in the directorial chair 31times). Yet, two years earlier, she appeared in what must have seemed at the time to be a horror quickie that would come and go... except the annals of cinema history were not done with Fright Night – it becoming a true cult classic of the 1980s that is still growing its viewing audience today. After wrapping Married, she decided to step behind the camera more often than not, directing numerous television series, including The Jamie Foxx Show, Dharma & Greg, Sabrina the Teenage Witch, Reba, Mad TV, to name but a few. For the first time in awhile, she is back in front of the camera with last year’s Bros and the upcoming comedy Tapawingo.

I was fortunate enough to get a quick interview with Joe Gatto after his first ever comedy show in Ottawa on March 3rd, 2023. For those of you who have somehow missed him over the years, Gatto has brought joy and hilarity to the world with buddies Sal, Q, and Murr on the comedy series Impractical Jokers. After nearly a decade on television (creating worldwide catchphrases like: “Scoopski potahtos”, “Larry!”, “Up your ass and to the left”, “Who vants to paint!”, as well as so many others), Joe parted ways with the Jokers after nine seasons to focus more on family. Despite this, you’ve had ample chances to stumble upon him – sometimes with his buds as the Jokers go viral on Youtube, or by way of his very active social media accounts... and, of course, on his comedy tours. His first time in Canada, he regaled the audience with a fantastic combination of outright jokes, venue improv, past stories, and his own unique brand of physical comedy. After nearly a two hour show (which included his friend and opener Jiggy – who has also made some appearances on Impractical Jokers), the audience left with a number of jokes and stories that could make anyone laugh, as well as several local gags that only those attending would get (who knew Canadian royalty was sitting in the theatre box).

A couple of weeks ago, I started releasing star pick interviews with cast members of the long running television series The 100 (to honour its seventh and final season). First to feature was Bob Morley, and today Filmizon.com highlights fellow star Tasya Teles – who plays Echo. One of the most fascinating characters on the show, she first appeared in season 2 as a recurring character (a grounder and not one of ‘the 100’ teenagers sent to see if the planet was still habitable), growing into one of the major players by season 5. With intriguing storylines, she is a strong warrior assassin (that can lean towards ruthlessness), extremely loyal, yet willing to disobey orders if it doesn’t make sense. . . and, over the course of many seasons, has softened a bit – showing a caring side to those characters she originally only had disdain for. A most generous person, Teles was extremely cheerful as we chatted about her favourite film, 1987's The Princess Bride, directed by Rob Reiner. Explaining that the princess story has been told so many times before (usually in a very predictable way), she fell in love with this iteration for its fun, original, and quirky style. . . a film that turns every expected happening on its head – playing with previous stories and the tropes they have built, making for a most unique telling. Also noting the wonderfully etched characters, each actor is a standout when it comes to developing their pivotal role, be it revenge bent Inigo Montoya (Mandy Patinkin) or nearly unrecognizable Billy Crystal – as miracle worker Max, who has lost his confidence a bit of late.

If you are a fan of the television series The 100 - a post apocalyptic tale in which one hundred delinquent teens are sent to an uninhabitable Earth to allow those on a space station to survive (only for them to discover that the planet, that was ravaged by a nuclear war ninety-seven years earlier, is, in fact, alive and well), then this will be exciting for you. Over the next couple of months, in order to celebrate the show's seventh and final season (which started airing on May 22nd, 2020), I am happy to announce that there will be three Star Picks coming up in the near future with a triumvirate of stars from the extremely popular series. First up, the series' male lead - Bob Morley. An Australian actor who got his start on soap operas in his native country (his first big break coming when he was added to the main cast of Home and Away in 2006), just eight short years later and he's found his way to Vancouver, Canada to shoot The 100, taking on the role of Bellamy Blake (who would quickly become a fan favourite) - a riveting character that we have watched grow over the past seven seasons.

To bring you back to a Star Pick interview I posted a few months ago, actor James Phelps revealed his favourite film to me as his brother prodded him playfully – here is the entertaining retelling: a self professed history buff, as James spoke of his love of the film The Lives of Others (its engrossing story, fascinating characters and intriguing visuals immediately catching his cinematic eye), Oliver chimed in, with a rascally smile – “It’s also because he is a secret Communist”. . . James firing back, “I wouldn’t go that far” – his own face featuring an impish grin. Capturing the same dynamic found in their most famous roles, the pair are like a vaudeville act, finely tuned, James playing the straight man to Oliver’s more overt comedic personality. The famed Weasley twins from the Harry Potter franchise, the pair are known the world over as the scampish older brothers of Ron – roles that provided them with many of the best laughs found throughout the eight movies. Having left you hanging a bit longer than you might have liked, I am sure that many of you have probably been wondering just what Oliver chose as his favourite film.