INT: Michael Emanuel

Last Updated on July 28, 2021

The Arrow
interviews Michael Emanuel

If
you haven’t heard of actor and producer Michael Emanuel, you’ll surely
remember him after viewing the comedic, yet disturbing, flick
“Lucky”. In the movie, Michael plays Millard Mudd, a loveable neurotic,
psychotic, chick-killing, nipple-rubbing, beer-guzzling lug who has
lengthy exchanges with his new talking pet pooch. I had the
opportunity to chat with the dude behind the stellar choking
techniques and here’s what came out of it.

ARROW: What would
you say is your favorite horror movie?

M: Tough to name
just one…I tend to respond to movies that cross genres like “Frailty”,
“Donnie Darko” or “Peepin Tom”, but for pure horror, I’d have to say
“Night Of The Lepus”…kidding, I mean “The Exorcist”. The devil always
makes me shit my knickers!

ARROW: I was
looking up your filmography and came across a TV show called “Apple
Valley Nights”, in which you acted and also exec produced. I’ve personally
never heard of it, but the premise sounded interesting. What’s the
history behind that show?

M: It was a Pilot
created by Stephan Sustarsic, directed by Eric Leward (“Incoming
Freshman”” Young Hercules”) that unfortunately never sold. Really funny
stuff but sitting on a shelf somewhere.

ARROW:
On to “Lucky” which you also executive produced. As an executive producer,
what were your duties on that show? Locking the financing?

M: My partners
and I, writer Stephan Sustarsic and director Steve Cuden acted as
both executive producers…we got the cash…and as producers…we put the
whole project together. Talented Writer/Producer and friend James
Fergusan helped as well and was really my right hand on the set for
the day to day stuff. Steve Cuden our multi-hyphenated director
(writer-lyrasist -producer- director- adajio dancer) handled most of the
post production…and did an exemplary job of it. Steve Cuden single
handedly got us flying on the film festival circuit with his thankless
submissions and never ending hard work.

ARROW:
What kind of preparation and homework did you do as an actor, in order
to be
able to slip into the shoes of the twisted individual that is Millard
Mudd?

M: Well, I
unearthed a corpse at the local cemetery and practiced my suave moves
and hung around with the Green River killer.

ARROW: Would
the part stay with you in between takes or after a hard day of
shooting? Or was it easy for you to let go when not being in front of
the camera.

M: I was very
concerned with what time we were going to break for lunch. You know the
girl who plays Wendy was also our caterer. On the day that we shot
that horrific strangling scene, for lunch she prepared “Bologna
Salad”…made the strangling that much more easier! Not to make light of
a wonderful performance, Maureen Davis is a truly gifted actress and
her brave performance in that scene is what makes it so compelling and
unsettling…it’s got nothing to do with the bologna.

ARROW:
 I
heard the shoot took place over a period of nine days. Did you have
any room the to improvise
anything during takes or did you follow the script to the letter?

M: Yes, it did
take nine days as we were scheduled for ten, but the county shut us
down for a day cause we didn’t pull permits….although we snuck back in
in the dark with a strobe light and a camera and shot some stuff that
made it into the movie. No need to improvise on this as I truly love
saying the words that Steve Sustarsic writes. My biggest fear is that
I won’t ever get the chance to say words like that again.

ARROW: What would
you say was the hardest scene for you to act out in terms of it being
emotionally taxing on you as a person.

M: The really
horrible stuff is the hardest, but it was my job as an actor to play
this…I have to believe that stuff first if I expect the audience to
believe it. So when I’m killing somebody, I have to pretend that it’s
what I want to do. Same as when I’m devastated when Misty leaves me…I
have to believe that to make it work. Does that make any sense or does
it sound like drivel? It’s tough to verbalize this stuff since I
believe that acting is an emotional process and not an intellectual
one.

ARROW: I
assume that “Lucky’s” (the dog) dialogue was added in Post. How were
your
lengthy exchanges with your canine co-star shot and what kind of
challenges did that raise for you as an actor?

M: No, David Rievers,
great actor, voice of “Lucky”, was feeding me lines almost every day
on set, so I just listened to him and
pretended the dog was saying those smart ass things to me.

ARROW: What’s
next on your plate as an actor or an executive producer?

M:
I stay pretty busy as a
working actor with films, television and
commercials…just wrapped a
movie with Kelsey Grammer called “The Good Humor Man”, a huge guest
spot on the ABC show “Threat Matrix” and a TV movie called “Gone But
Not Forgotten”. On the producing side, I have a bunch of irons in the
fire across the board in terms of genres and budgets. “M”
by John Gilmore is the story of a young man who drifts into the
Charles Manson camp in the days leading up to the Tata/LaBianca
murders.

Truly America’s nightmare, it’s a voyeuristic eye into the
family, the sex, and drugs, the tearing of the moral cloth during the
sixties. A young man’s decent into hell, if you will. Another in the
works is LARRY HITLER, written by Sustarsic. In the same tone as
LUCKY. It’s a darkly comedic, smart, coming of age teen horror flick.
As if high school isn’t hard enough…Larry Hitler! An uplifting period
piece called “Buck Jackson” with Thomas Carter attached to direct,
Steve Sustarsic’s quirky offbeat ensemble comedy “San Bernardino” with
Dwight Yoakam attached to star and a couple of others. I’m really busy
these days and I like it that way.

ARROW:
They say that through every role, an
actor discovers something new about himself. What would you say you
learned about yourself via Millard Mudd?

M:
Be nice to lonely fat guys.

I’d like
to thank
Michael for his time, for stopping by the site and for not killing me
and putting my head on a stick. It must also be said, the man has
raised the bar when it comes to the art of choking and I have to
respect that. If you don’t know what I’m talking about, quit reading
and go watch “Lucky”. Trust me…you’ll know then.