You may think of Dan Fogler as the silly guy that channels a Chris Farley zaniness, or maybe you’ve only seen Josh Duhamel in big blockbusters or romantic films, but that’s exactly why both actors took on their respective roles in Scenic Route. The film, which stars Fogler and Duhamel as two old buddies that decide to take a weekend trip away and end up stranded in the middle of Death Valley, is up to their abilities as actors to pull of the drama that ensues.
Largely, the film genuinely succeeds and so it was with great pleasure that I talked with Duhamel about his role and now it’s time to reveal my conversation with Fogler. Together we discussed how he always seems to have the same haircut and we also rant about mohawks, how he felt like they were channeling John Cassavetes by making such a small film, how it’s like to be pigeonholed and wanting to stretch his dramatic chops, why you’ll likely see his sophomore writing/directing effort Don Peyote before the end of the year, and shooting in the middle of the desert.
The Film Stage: So obviously this film has a very low cast member number, and I’m assuming it was a small crew as well. Was there anything in particular you missed about having a large cast and crew with 20-30 other actors?
Dan Fogler: Well, they both have their pros and cons. It’s awesome to be part of a giant production where you’re just like, “This is amazing. Everything is buzzing. I don’t know half of these people!” [Laughs]. It’s the whole production and you feel like you’re part of the circus and that’s kind of wonderful. But it’s also great to have an homage to all the independent and small films that I’ve made, that I love and made myself. When you’re doing a smaller movie like this, that’s so awesome. You really get to the raw roots of it and if you could still somehow get people to come to the theater with just talking and very little spectacle and no CGI, that’s a huge feat these days. So I’m really excited.
Having a small cast and crew, it seems like it would be open to a lot more collaboration. Is that about right?
Yeah, they definitely wanted us to put our stamp on the characters. We had a large rehearsal process for a movie. So we were very, very prepared when we went into it. I really clicked with Josh [Duhamel] early on. This guy is like someone I went to college with, so falling into character was really easy. The whole thing felt like one of those great ’70s films, like what [John] Cassavetes used to do with his friends. Just got together with a couple of people, put the camera on, and just improvised. He just knew that as long as everyone was passionate something good was going to happen. [Laughs]. I love movies like that. There was a magical feel like that on set, definitely after the first day.
No one really knew what was going to happen. We were out in the wilderness, essentially. Pray to the weather and we did this first take and it was almost 20 minutes. It’s all choreographer. We’re running around. We’re pushing each other. We’re going in and out of the car. They finally yell “Cut”, and it was like we had done a little play. All the crew, people put the camera down or whatever they were holding and just started clapping. They were like, “Holy shit!” [Laughs]. They just appreciated how prepared we were. It all was just working. It looked seamless. Normally, if you have a 20 minute scene of dialogue, you’re working on that for two to three days. That’s a long scene from a lot of different angles. We played a lot of stuff in one take and I think the movie is great in that regard. It’s very theatrical. It feels very real, raw, and gritty. My hat’s off to the directors for being so ready to kick ass out there.
Speaking of the wilderness, I’m definitely interested in knowing how much you were actually out there. Were there trailers just off the main area where you were filming or were you being shuttled in every day?
Yeah, we had to drive 30 minutes into Death Valley National Park every day from our hotel. So there’s this one place. It was fun. Everyone was at this little place called The Furnace Creek Ranch or something. We’d wake up in the morning and drive about a half hour into the desert and you’d see three little trailers sitting there. A craft services table. [Laughs]. Just a speck in the middle of this place in all directions. That’s what they were looking for. You really felt like you were out there. And we were, man. If aliens came… [laughs]. If there were wolves that tracked us, like a pack, that would have been rough out there. The weather would change all the time. There were sand storms and it was crazy.
I’m sure. Well, if anyone’s seen the posters or the trailer for this film, Josh Duhamel sports a mohawk and channels this gnarly Travis Bickle kind of look.
Yeah, yeah.
I’m curious because the film touches on this hard point in a lot of people’s lives where they’re not able to kind of relax and do some of those things that they really wanted to. He has this great monologue about why he’s never had a mohawk but you also feel sad. Is there something like that that you haven’t been able to get around to? It seems like you have the same hair in every single movie and I don’t know if that’s just…
[Laughs] Hey, that’s not true. I had short hair in Good Luck Chuck.
Oh, OK.
Ha! [Laughs]. Yeah, I do have a similar look in a lot of my movies. [Laughs]. How do I feel about that? I feel like it’s time to start changing it up. Showing different sides of me, definitely. Which is the heart of this movie, especially for me and Josh. Would I ever do a mohawk? I don’t know. I don’t know if my head could pull it off. But I think Josh definitely did. I don’t know. Maybe I would get a mohawk one day. Would you get a mohawk?
I’ve had a mohawk, actually. A couple of times.
Really!?
Yeah. I rocked one in college.
Dude, you’re cooler than I am.
[Laughs] I kind of want it back, but the thing is, once I had the mohawk I realized my hairline was receding.
Oh, shit.
Yeah. That was not a fun realization when you’re about 20 years old.
Can you do a mohawk now, or no?
Yeah, I could still pull one off but it might not grow back right.
Ah, that’s risky.
It definitely is. There’s a great monologue from your character in particular about the artistic versus commercial aspects of having a job. He’s a writer. But the interesting thing is that that can be applied to being an actor as well. You can do a lot of “commercial” work or you can do a lot of “artistic” work. How much of that hit home with you?
There’s people that become icons and they can just do whatever the hell they want. Like a Bruce Willis can do whatever he wants. He can come out in some small movie or do some huge blockbuster. So I do think there are people that crossover. Obviously, I don’t know, I haven’t been around long enough for people to really know what I can do, but I do independent films. I’ve done big blockbuster movies. Well, not necessarily blockbusters [laughs], but they were big movies. I’ve been in the full spectrum of stuff. But you’re right. People will look at you and judge you by one movie. “Oh, you’re the ping pong guy.” Screaming, “BALLS!” at you from across the street. “Hey, Balls!” I just go, “Yes, thank you.” Another reason I’d like to change my look.
[Laughs]
Wear a mask or something. Although that movie was a lot of fun and it had kind of a cult thing. People liked that movie a lot. But I went to college. I did Shakespeare. I did Chekhov. I did Mamet. I did all these amazing things back in college. Two hours at a time doing these and I want to share that with everybody. The silver screen kind of sizes you up by your look first, and then audiences are fickle, and as an artist and an actor you’ve got to keep on saying, “I know what my ability is. I know what my skills are.” Just keep pushing. Sometimes the parts aren’t out there for you and you’ve got to make them for yourself. I direct my movies. I made a movie called Don Peyote. It’s coming out at the end of the year and Josh is also in it. One of the reasons I made that movie was to show more of my abilities. So I’m hoping that that movie and this and couple of other things I’m doing starts to give a larger picture of what I can do. I know Josh did this movie for a lot of the same reasons.
You know, I definitely think you all both showed a side of you all I wasn’t expecting. But the flip side of that is that this film is so much on just both your shoulders that it had to be daunting going into it.
Yeah, going into it, just wondering if it was all was going to work. But it’s like everything else you go into, you don’t know what the outcome is going to be. Only about half way through do you go, “Oh, shit, we’ve got a movie here, man.”
And even then, the final product may be different. I’ve heard that time and time again. People think when they walk away from the set and say, “Shit! We made something awesome.” Then they see it and they’re like, “Oh, that’s not what I expected.”
Oh yeah. The editing really makes the movie — sometimes the ADR makes the movie. A lot of things happen right at the very end that can make or break a movie. Usually it saves the movie. Usually there’s some brilliant thing the editor comes up with, some gimmick or some sound effect that is magic. Yeah, man. Fanboys is a great example of that. There were many different cuts of that film until the audience stepped in and said what they wanted, which is awesome.
So, you mentioned Don Peyote. I’m curious if you’re trying to push that towards a festival or not.
We just finished it and we recently sent it out to festivals so we haven’t heard back from anybody yet, but we have a lot of offers for people to buy it already.
Wow.
So we’re in a really good place. Pretty sure it’s going to be in theaters by the end of the year.
Oh, man. Awesome.
Yeah!
I’m glad to hear that because it seems like a lot of women are doing this. Creating healthy roles for women and making films. But, hey, male actors aren’t always getting great roles either and they can do that just the same. There’s no reason why if there’s an audience for it it can’t be made.
Let me try and digest that for a second. Yeah. I think it’s important for women, definitely, to make more movies to show their abilities because there aren’t many out there that are complex enough, unless they make the parts themselves. And I think there’s a lot of men, women, and actors in general who say, “Oh, shit, this is a really competitive field.” Maybe the part out there are for a specific pigeonhole. They always want me to play this one part all the time. But you’ve got to feed your family, so, you know. But you also have to have longevity so what do you do so people don’t get tired of you? So a lot of people, George Clooney included, all these guys direct these movies and they want to show different sides of themselves. They want to be Robert Redford, who is someone that has a festival named after one of his characters. Someone who’s well-rounded. I think it’s across the board — that’s a thing that a lot of actors do.
Scenic Route is now in limited release and expanding.