Annette Kellerman's FROM DUSK TILL DAWN THE SERIES set visit part 3: Interviews With The Geckos!!

 

 

I'm back with the final installment from my recent visit to the set of FROM DUSK TILL DAWN THE SERIES. I had the opportunity to chat with both of the Gecko brothers, so I'll start off first with my one-on-one with Zane Holtz who plays Richie Gecko.

 

 

Rebecca Elliott: So here we are at season 3. How do you feel about the direction the direction the show and your character have taken?

 

Zane Holtz: You want to be able to have the opportunity to continue the story and keep going and get to a point where you feel like your being told a sort of long enough version of the series that its like, if audiences are into it now or they find it in five years there's something there that evolves

 

RE: Can you talk about the character arc that has taken place with Richie over the past 3 seasons?

 

ZH: Sure. Ya know, in season one he's kinda crazy and we don't know if he's actually just insane or if he's really being affected by these supernatural forces. And we find out in season one, that yes, it's a little bit of both. Season 2 was about him coming to understand that and also coming to understand where his relationship with his brother. You know, I think at the beginning of season 2 he thought now that he has these abilities he can kind of break away from Seth and be his own man, do his own thing, be his own boss. But over the course of season 2 we find that Geckos are best as a pair. They still rely on one another whether Seth is a human or Richie is doing his culebra deal.  And I think that's a great dynamic to have one brother who's still kind of stuck in this human world and another brother who's kind of a liaison to the creature underworld. They still have that history together. They still have they're entire lives that they've lived together, so that's a strong bond. So going into season 3, we're not doubting that anymore. There's less worrying about can I be on my own guy. The answer is yes, we work best together as a pair regardless of whether we're doing human criminal activities or doing supernatural killing. And I think that the powers that be in the FDTD universe and the culebra underworld see that as well. So you'll see in the first episode of season 3 they sort of approach us with a new job opportunity. Not one they really ask if we wanna do or not. We're just told that this is our new position in the world and then some old enemies of the culebra lords come to be again, and our job is to be the ones to kinda take care of that for them.

 

 

RE: Sound exciting.

 

ZH: It is! And you'll see over the course of this season we're gonna have a lot of new enemies and demons to take out.

 

RE: Can you talk about stepping into a character that has already been famously established by another actor?

 

ZH: With two different actors playing the same role, it's gonna be like two different musicians playing the same song. The blueprint is going to be there and it's going to be the same but no matter what I'm performing it differently than Quentin preformed it. In season 1 I honestly wasn't even concerned with that and it didn't even consider that until I got into these situation where people were asking me about it. But after 2 seasons and now going into season 3, I've been playing this part for a long time now.

 

RE: It's yours now.

 

ZH: I don't know if its mine now, but the TV version is mine. And the material we did later in season 1 and then season 2 and now season 3 has nothing to do with the film. So this was always the goal for the new cast to get to a place where we can honor the original characters and then make it our own telling our own version of the story.

 

 

 

RE: Do you draw inspiration from any particular film, character, or actor?

ZH: I just try to be inspired by Robert and Quentin and their specific style and that world and the way people perform in that world. So, I just kinda try to latch onto that. You have to be aware of that universe and how to perform in that space, so its more that than anything. The movies that those guys have made have been some of my favorites since I was a kid, so I kind of knew what I wanted to do.

 

 

 

And last but not least, I was able to sit in on a round table interview with actor D.J. Cotrona, who plays Seth Gecko. Questions asked by other journalists are labeled simply as Q for question to simplify things. I hope you enjoy!

 

D.J. COTRONA: Does anyone want any peanut M&Ms before we start. (everyone declines) Not a very intimidating snack considering the show, but this is how we balance out all the killing and crime, we eat candy-coated treats. You guys can rapid-fire, whatever you want.

REBECCA ELLIOTT: Can you talk about how your character has evolved over the last 2 seasons and what we can expect in the third season?

DC: Yeah. Seth's a very classic anti-hero in the Robert Rodriguez/Quentin Tarantino sense that we're all familiar with. The type of guy he was in the beginning of season 1 was small time crook, looking to make a buck, and then the world blows up in a pretty scary way unexpectedly and he has to deal with way more than he can handle. At first his biggest concern was making some money and getting his brother out of trouble, and he lost that battle in a big way at the beginning of season 2. Season 2 he was trying to get his brother back and coming to terms and finding his balance in this new crazy, hellish world. Figure out what his motivations are and to rebuild himself. Season 3 we start where he has very much come to terms with what this world is, and we see him starting to make it work for him. The old Seth Gecko is back, he gets his rhythm. And just when he gets comfortable it all explodes open in an entirely new way and he's forced to deal with it in a lot of unexpected ways and he's not happy about it. I said something without saying anything I think. (everyone laughs)

 

Q: With the two brothers back together now, what has it been like building their relationship back up again after last season.

DC: When they were split? That's funny because the other night Zane turned around to me at, like, 5:00 in the morning and we were exhausted and complaining and he said, "You know we haven't done one scene apart this entire season so far?" I love working with Zane, and we get along really well, we're really good friends. Just bringing these characters to life together is really, for me...they're a part of each other. They're two halves of the same whole. Prep-wise and performance-wise when we bring the life and make this crazy world come alive, I owe a lot of what I do and what I'm able to do to Zane. And I think vice versa. We play off of each other more than anything else. So, I'm super excited the more I can work with Zane on FDTD.

Q: What have you learned about yourself by playing this character?

DC: Oh God, let me think. Similarities that I might have with this character are impatience. Maybe a little too fond of the sound of his own voice. Stubborn. And looking for the fastest, easiest route through things, ya know? It's a fun character because it allows you to follow the most dick-headed parts of my personality I get to lean into. So, it's fun. I think what it does is it solidifies some of my behavioral habits that I'd like to fix, but every time I go to this show playing this guys I get to lean into that stuff. I'm not the most polite guy for a few months after we finish. I'm kind of a loud mouth, but it's super fun.

 

Q: Even though the brothers are back together, do you think Seth resents Richie at all for what happened with Kate at the end of season 2 or with the betrayal that occurred or is it water under the bridge?

DC: They're obviously brothers and that comes first between them, but those issues are still floating. As the third season unfolds you see them kinda get ripped to the surface again. There's different points of contention, new details that illuminate those things. I think Seth had a nice, comfortable arrangement where he was able to keep things a certain way and was at terms with everything that happened with the world as it is set up at the beginning of season 3, but as the doors get blown off some of those things come flashing back and they have to deal with that in very violent, explosive ways.

RE: Can you share any stories about working on such an effects-driven project?

DC: Yeah, (looking at publicist) is there anything I can't say? (nods) That's one of the perks of working on this show. Robert did the first DUSK with Greg Nicotero back in 1995-96, and Greg is a huge part of the show. He does all of our creature design, and his company KNB does a lot of practical effects. This show is very much an homage to the classic ways to do action- we try to do it as practical as possible. But it's also an homage to the classic artistry of monster design, character design. So KNB does some amazing creatures and characters. Tom Savini, who was in the original movie, is back, and that's another amazing homage to the entire industry and him as a personality, it's great. It's really cool. It's an education, and you get to be a part of a moving piece of art.

Q: With the first season of the show really retelling the original film, and now the second and third season deviating from the film, how has the experience been further developing the character?

DC: It's great! There's more freedom. As an actor, that's what you want to do. You want to have a character that you love enough to want to keep exploring. Robert had it that was by design, so we start with the familiar and then branch off into crazy stuff. When you get great characters like these, it's just a blessing that you get to bring them into new scenarios and explore new aspects of their personality. It's just exciting as an actor and as a fan to have new stories with them. Some of my favorite characters in film are iconic ones that Robert makes or that Quentin makes, and you just want to see more of them. It's why their movies live on so long and remain classics I think, it's because of the characters. So we get to do that, we get to explore with him.

Q: Is there any improv that makes it in?

DC: Oh, dude! You don't even know! Everything is malleable, and we are really running and gunning this season and I feel that more than ever. And that's one of the great things. We owe that to Robert. He puts creative instinct and puts the best idea first. In all aspects of production everyone is chiming in. The writers are riffing off of the directors, and the actors come up with ideas when we get the scripts. When we land on the day, something could completely change or get tossed. We'll do every type of take you can imagine. If someone has an idea, they throw it out there, and then whatever comes out as the best thing in the wash is usually what gets picked. Which is great because things change. When you have a story in your head or on a piece of paper, but you get there that day and the location is different or this actor has a cold and can't perform it a certain way, you know things are always in flux. So it's a positive thing for us to maintain that fluidity to improv and come up with cool stuff. Especially now since we've been working together so long and we know the characters so well, it's really easy for us to find fun new stuff in the moment.

 

Q: Do you make official notes that you take to the writers about your character.

DC: Oh yeah, constantly. Sometimes they love us for it, and sometimes they hate us for it. When we get our scripts sometimes it's like, "I wouldn't say that," or,"This doesn't make sense and this would be a good idea." All of it. Good, bad, and ugly, it's a collaboration. It makes it fulfilling, and having a disagreement with someone about what we should be doing creatively is just as valuable as totally agreeing or coming up with a new idea. It's that melting pot that allows you to come up with good stuff. It's very much a team sport here, so we're all just trying to do the best job we can. Because it's rare- I've been through the other versions of that. If you miss the comma, they point a gun at you (everyone laughs).

Q: Gonzales and Seth haven't always gotten along, but now that Gonzales is more a peace keeper and Seth is in the culebra business, are they gonna play nice with each other moving forward?