INTERVIEW: Actor James Duval Talks Upcoming Film BEAST MODE

In preparation for today’s release of BEAST MODE (recently reviewed here), I had the chance to sit down with one of the film’s stars, James Duval.  Chances are you’ve probably seen him in movies such as “Independence Day”, “Donnie Darko”, and “May” to name a few. Aside from those aforementioned titles, James has been in some outstanding independent titles such as “Alyce Kills” and “Tales of Halloween”. James and I had a candid discussion about a variety of topics such as the playfulness of 80’s horror, playing three people in one film, and James’ personal connection to BEAST MODE’s story and its thematic elements.

MD: We are here with James Duval, star of BEAST MODE. James, how are you doing? How's life treating?

JD: Yeah, I'm doing really good. Thank you, Matthew. Staying as safe as one can and you know watching a lot more movies than I think I normally would be staying at home. 

MD: Excellent. Well, James, let’s talk a little about, Beast Mode. Having seen it recently, I loved it. I personally felt that it's a bit of a return to 80’s horror, and as you could probably see behind me, I watch tons of those kinds of movies. 

JD: Yes, I love that! As soon as you came in, like, I'm in a good, I'm in a good place right now. I have my wardrobe and some of the stuff covered up, but if I move that, behind that, there are all these CDs. And then there are these boxes over here for DVDs and movies and more music. And in my friend's garage, I probably have another two or 3000. 

Wow. Well, I can imagine your collection must add up given all the work you're doing. And when it comes to BEAST MODE, what was something that drew you into the script? 

It's a couple of things really, one was the script.  It was so kind of crazy and outrageous. And, you know, in the last probably 10 or 15 years, I've been playing kind of one character who's something in the movie, and in the end, becomes something different. And so I have not really had a chance to play two different people in the same movie, you know, and on-screen, per se. So that was something I was really excited about. And with the script that was kind of like balls to the wall crazy and crude. It has all the sensibilities of horror-comedy that I love, that some may find offensive which makes me love it even more! As well as this incredible cast that they were able to garner together with a script like that, and the cast like C. Thomas Howell, James Hong, Leslie Easterbrook, Ray Wise, and Robert Constanzo. I mean there's Teddy Margas there are so many great actors Carrie Finklea. You know, that’s who I was super jazzed to work with, you know, especially after “Elephant”. So being a fan of movies you know there's no greater joy than stepping on to set with all the people that you love. 

You have those fanning moments which drive you and inspire you and then just compartmentalize that. Set that aside, and do the work. And then you have this great script, which is nothing but fun from the time that I clocked-in to the time that I clocked-out. So really is, you know, it's one of those old adages, you know, if you love what you do, you never really work a day in your life. And that's BEAST MODE for me.

Yeah, I could see that. You can tell there's a lot of heart and a lot of fun that went into making it (BEAST MODE) and what you see on screen really resonates that these people are having a lot of fun, but they're also telling a story that I think horror has kind of forgotten about. You know, we're in a state of horror, where it's very serious. It's very psychological. And yet, I think what drew most horror fans, myself included, to the genre was that playfulness. It's not to be taken seriously, but it's good to be scared by or to laugh.

You can push the boundaries and go, you can be over the top. And that was kind of the fun part. Balls to the wall and letting go. And I think at a time, I mean, there's always a time for it. But especially now, you know, it's nice to check into a movie and just go away from reality for two hours, and then you can check back in after the movie is done. And BEAST MODE is certainly that, with, you know, that sense of poignancy in the middle of it, you know, fame is a monster.  Like Ray Wise says in the film, if you're not careful, it will overtake you. Like it does Michael and well, Huckle Saxton was just born Huckle Saxton. 

I was gonna ask you about that. It's interesting, you mentioned that what drew you to this script was the idea of playing two characters on screen, you know, and then you look at the Huckle Saxton character, and he's, he's obviously the epitome of kind of the typical LA stereotype, if you will, of the actors who…

Who I'm afraid to work with! Yeah, I've had the honor or dishonor of working with them. We make fun of that, too. Not directly, you know, it's not about something specific or particular. There definitely is this sort of a character that people assume once they, you know, get involved with fame to some degree, and we see it, you know, in not just with actors but with directors, we see it in musicians. This idea of how far they can push it, what they can get away with, and, you know, sometimes they get away with anything, which drives them even further into madness and chaos. And, and time and time, again, we've seen how we sort of supported that kind of behavior, and where it can lead. And we examine that in BEAST MODE too, at least until C. Thomas Howell runs me over. 

Right! I was thinking about this, what was it like playing essentially the same character, but different personality-wise? You have the Huckle Saxton character who is the most transparent character in the film because he is exactly who he presents himself to be. But then you play Michael, who essentially comes in to take Huckle’s place, but he's a totally different person. So what was that like? 

I felt like they were polar opposites. So everything that Huckle was is what Michael wasn't. And he had to pretend to be so in some ways to, you know, I, when I broke down the script and started working on the characters, it was three characters, really. So there was a Huckle Saxon, there was Michael, and then there's Michael pretending to be a Huckle Saxton. And so once I knew what those were, then it was very clear and very easy for me to play. 

Playing Huckle showed all the pit traps that I could have fallen into, and perhaps there may have been moments in the earlier years of my career. You know, when “Independence Day” came out it was a big movie. There was a moment where I'm like, “my God, this is one of the biggest movies ever. This is crazy.” Look, I can't let that get to my head. Because none of that's real. At the end of the day, there’s gonna be a bigger movie the year after it. Ultimately, that movie still never was as big as Titanic. You know? I hate to cheese out. And it somehow reminds me of that line in “The Phantom Menace”, "there is always a bigger fish". 

So, thinking about the role of Huckle Saxton. Particularly the point of view that the film has about Hollywood and the entertainment industry as a whole. It paints a very, what I would call a stereotypical picture of the cutthroat nature and people in the business. C.Thomas Howel's Breen is the skeevy Producer who's on his last leg, for example. So did you find when you were reading through this that “I can relate to this” and therefore I can do that on the screen quite well, or did you feel like this is almost the time to ham it up? 

Both of them. It was very natural and easy to walk on set and do it once from my experience and that of others because we were doing it as a comedy. And I think, you know, if you didn't ham it up and you can kind of take it too straight, it probably wouldn't be very funny. I don't think that’s how comedy works. Usually, the other way around, is that you do it and you don't plan for laughs. That's when it's funny, you know, but these things are so outrageous. Like you play them for the laughs and that's what makes it funny is because, at least in my experience, too, it's like it is kind of that outrageous. You know, we see it all the time. You know, we still hear people defending other people like how can you even pretend to defend this person like, you have? What world are you in? What are you taking? Because I never want to try that?

Did BEAST MODE film during COVID at all?

This is pre-COVID. Believe it or not, I believe, when we filmed the first half of it was before Donald Trump was president. And then one of the financiers fell out, but we didn't want to give the movie up. So we had to wait six months to raise more money than we filmed a little bit more of it. More close to done, but we need one more piece. So we did one more segment. And believe it or not, which, which happens, I had to cut my hair and leave. C. Thomas Howell, you know, got a job with a big beard on “Ray Donovan” so we had to wait so he could shave for him to come back. So that was probably another year when we got that. So it took about two and a half years to get the shooting done. And then the post was, you know because we ran out of money. And so we got the editing done, then we had to raise more money for the sound, and we had to raise more money for the color. And then get all the deliverables out of the way. And then finally, which is, you know, that's more than just a relief, I'm excited that it got out, I honestly shocked that I'm talking about the movie, I couldn't be happier. And I'm so glad that you guys got a chance to see it. And at least a few of you liked it. And I can say that that has made my day or week. You know, once it gets out of my hands as an actor once I've walked offset, you can only hope that people respond to it. You know, I've certainly done stuff when I walked away, and people were just like, not into it. And I'm like, I try. I fall down sometimes, but I get back up.

You have a very long career with heaps of time left on it, and I think that BEAST MODE is only a reinforcement of the quality of work and your commitment to the art that you continue to be prominent in. Not just in the horror genre, but in many genres. I was looking at IMDb. It was something around 40 give or take like horror films you've been in. And so I'm wondering, are you a horror fan at all?

Absolutely. I actually love this question because it's incredible to see how much the horror genre has grown. You know, growing up as a child in the 70s, horror really was "Halloween". “Friday the 13th” in the 80s, "The Fog". All of the originals. Everyone's you know, I remember when "A Nightmare on Elm Street" came out after all those movies, it was like that was considered the next generation of horror movies back then. And so was “Hellraiser”, it was like this new wave. But you know, how could you need a new wave because we just had you know "Halloween", "The Fog" in front of them. And those are no junk. Those are like at the time, and they're still to me, incredible movies. Especially the original "Halloween". You know, I was also in my formative years, I loved superhero movies, which we didn't get a lot of. I love "Star Wars", you know, and even though "Star Wars" was big, it didn't become a mainstream thing. It was pop culture, but it didn't become this massive, mainstream thing that it is today. By the time the prequels came out,  and then the Disney you know, we were still made fun of quite a bit for it. 

It wasn't cool. It wasn't cool to be a “nerd” or be into something alternative wise. And that's why I think a lot of people gravitate towards horror, punk, whatever it was.

For me to watch all these genres that I grew up loving, and a part of that was, was seeing the fringes come to the forefront. The ability to do 40 plus horror movies, which I hope to keep doing and keep working with you know, really good and fun filmmakers who love the genre and know how to work it very, very well. Because it's a joy. Each genre I have a certain love for. Musicals, romantic comedies, sci-fi, horror, and even all in one. And that's why I love it. That could be all wrapped in one because I love all of the genres together. And I learned to have an appreciation for each of them as I was growing up. My dad would take me to the theater to see “Terms of Endearment” when you're 9. You're like, man, I don't ever want to be an adult. It was not cool at all as a kid. But you know, because my father loved the film and took me to the movies once a week I was exposed to everything from Karate Kid to Close Encounters to Terms of Endearment to Marathon Man. I don't know why I was watching that at such a young age, but he thought it was okay. I think it's okay. But here we are. 

Yeah, absolutely. I personally can say that part of my interests are entirely related to some of the things that I was exposed to either from my parents or people that were around during our formative years. I think this is a recipe for telling us who we are going to be. So my final question is thinking back to horror, what kind of movies in the past 10 years, you're going to have these ebbs and flows of activity. I think horror is having its moment particularly these past few years with a lot of big horror and even smaller horror movies making big splashes. What stands out to you?

I just finished watching “The Haunting of Bly Manor”. I loved it. CBS has “Evil” that I just started watching. You know, especially now you can just take them all in. I'm like, Wow, look at the money, and to have the guts to do that. I'm having a good time watching these shows. There's some that you know, come from all over the world with their tales and their stories, which are fully original. Um, I remember not too long, I guess it was maybe 10 - 15 years ago, but it's a vampire movie that came out of Russia. It was “Nightwatch” and “Daywatch”. And that I thought was super original. I love that whole idea about being in the gloom and the prophecies of the future happening. It was all part of something much much older that you found out in “Daywatch” that predates this peace treaty that is very unstable, and it's about to break.

I and the entire Macabre Daily team want to thank James for being so gracious with his time, and for such an amazing conversation. BEAST MODE will be available on DVD and Digital on December 1 (that’s TODAY!) from DEVILWORKS PICTURES in the U.S.and Canada.

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