Lucky Day: Crispin Glover on Film and Character Roles [Exclusive Interview]

It’s certainly a lucky day.

Crispin Glover is well known playing eccentric unique characters both on the small and big screens.

Once again, he is playing a “retirement” assassin for the mob, who is hellbent on taking his revenge on a robber who may or may not killed his brother.

From director Roger Avery, who co-wrote Pulp Fiction with Quentin Tarantino, Lucky Day is a crime action film that has memorable violent scenes and snappy dialogue.

It also stars Luke Bracey, Nina Dobrev, Ella Ryan Quinn, Cle Bennett, Clifton Collins Jr. and David Hewlett.

LRM Online had the opportunity to speak with Crispin Glover over the phone about the film, his role and his projects.

Lucky Day is playing in limited theaters today and On Demand. It is also playing at the Laemmle Music Hall in Beverly Hills tonight, in which is opened to the public with Glover attending.

Read the LRM Online exclusive interview below.

LRM Online: I’m very happy to be speaking with you. You are one of my favorite actors since Charlie’s Angels and Back to the Future.

Crispin Glover: Thank you. Good. Thank you.

LRM Online: Tell us on why you were attracted to a project like Lucky Day.

Crispin Glover: I worked with Roger Avery quite a long time ago on Beowulf. Roger co-wrote Beowulf with Neil Gaiman. They had written that screenplay for Roger to direct. [Robert] Zemeckis read script and he wanted to direct it. He got the rights for that screenplay from Roger.

I’m working with Neil Gaiman now on the American Gods. He wrote the beautiful book that the show is based on and he is also the executive producer. Robert told Neil Gaiman and Roger Avery that he would cast the people they wanted to play the parts. I was on that list to play Grendel.

There had been a lawsuit about the sequels for Back to the Future, because the producers put a prosthetic onto another actor that was based on the molds taken from my face for the old age makeup in the first film. They made up another actor to look like me in order to fool audiences into believing that I was in the film. Of course, it is illegal.

There had been a lawsuit about it. I never thought I’d work with Zemeckis again. I was very glad that I did get the chance to work with Zemeckis again. He is a good director. I had a very good experience working on Beowulf with him. It was very well written screenplay. I have Roger Avery and Neil Gaiman to thank for that.

A couple of years ago, I got the screenplay for this character. As soon as I read it, I knew this is a great part. I got the screenplay in the seven days before they started shooting. It was a very short amount of time to prepare. Luckily, it was a good screenplay with a really great character. Roger was great to work with

LRM Online: Do you like about your character Luc the most? I know you play a lot of eccentric characters, but it seems like it just comes to your desk naturally.

Crispin Glover: I liked that it had depth into it. It had complexity. There was more than one level to the character.

Roger has been incarcerated. There was a very terrible, unfortunate accident that he was involved in. He wrote this screenplay while he was in prison. You can tell he’s really reflecting on something here. It has multiple levels to it.

LRM Online: You could tell the prison link and the artwork in its own way with the film.

Crispin Glover: Yeah, absolutely.

LRM Online: As for being an eccentric character, you mentioned before you did need to prep for those. Do you really need to prep for a character that you seem to excel at playing?

Crispin Glover: Every character has their own challenges. It’s possible some characters are more readily available without as much research or practice necessary for the character. This character has certainly aspects I needed to prepare for. There is a dialect aspect to it. Ideally, you have months and months to prepare for. Seven days is a very short time for that kind of thing. But, playing in international man of mystery is a good challenge to be in.

LRM Online: How did you pull off the French accent in such a short amount of time? Or you already had prepared for yourself?

Crispin Glover: They are professionals who work in the industry that specialize in dialect coaching. There’s a certain group of people that work in a very specific way having to do with phonetics. You can take a crash course in that way. I don’t write or read that alphabet that I can write out my own version of phonetics. You can learn it. The longer you have to incorporate it into your system, the better of course. But, there are ways of doing it relatively quickly. I did have a dialect coach who was very helpful.

LRM Online: One of the scenes that was very hilarious was you driving a low rider? Did you even know what you were doing yourself?

Crispin Glover: [Laughs] That was cinematically edited. The owner of the car was there for the mechanics of it. I just had to be in the car reacting to the situation at hand. I was not actually controlling anything. I do like the scene. It has humor to it.

LRM Online: You had great reactions or at least with your facial features with it. I laughed out loud.

Crispin Glover: I enjoyed doing that.

LRM Online: My favorite scene was the art gallery scene when you entered the art gallery. Could you talk more about that scene? That scene is very embedded in my mind.

Crispin Glover:
That was the first scene that we shot. I’ve not yet seen the film. I’ll see it on Friday. It’ll be the opening night in the public screening at the Laemmle Music Hall on Wilshire Boulevard in Beverly Hills. That’ll be this Friday. I had the opportunity to see the film before, but it’s a film that will be good with the audience reaction. I want to see it that way. I think it’s going to be an enjoyable way to see the film.

From my recollection of that scene, there were firearms in that scene. I was working with firearms that day for the first time. There was a red [paint], not actual blood, representing blood being spread upon the walls of the art. There was a social commentary on that on the art of the blood with violence at the same time. By itself, I don’t know how it was edited in the film. I want to see that commentary to it.

LRM Online: It looked great from my perspective. I watched that scene twice when I had the chance. I think you did a terrific job.

Crispin Glover: Well, good. I enjoyed the shooting the scene and quite literally shooting the gun. [Laughs]

LRM Online: I believe you carried the film. What kind of roles do you tend to seek out when you’re choosing parts?

Crispin Glover: I started acting professionally when I was thirteen. Things come about when you feel the need to work. I feel lucky and privileged that I’m able to make a living working as an actor. By itself, that’s a good thing. If you get to a point in time where you’re able to be selective about certain things, that’s even better. Sometimes I have been able to be more selective. Sometimes I need to bring in income. It all depends. I fund my own shows with my salary essentially from acting in other productions.

There are so many factors as making a decision about a part. Ideally, it’s the material and the character. It can be many things. I’ve made the decisions for many different reasons at many different times. With something like this comes along and it’s a great part. And you’re getting paid for it. What could be better?

LRM Online: Let me start wrapping things up with your Crispin, can you talk about your future projects? Such as upcoming TV show American Gods?

Crispin Glover: I’m supposed to start shooting, for the new the season in November. They just started the season, which might even be today. Right now, I’m very close to completion on my own film that I’ve been developing since 2007. It was shot with 35 millimeter that I developed for myself and my father. This is the first time my father and I’ve acted together in the film. I’ll have that ready in 2020.

I’ve been writing a book for many years on the subject matter is about how propaganda functions in the US entertainment. It’s about 450 pages. I’ve been working at it for a long time. There’s still I’m editing to do. It’ll be a bit later in 2020.

Immediately, in January, it will be the 15th anniversary will be for touring with my shows of What Is It? That be playing at the Castro Theatre in San Francisco. I think it’s going to be January 15. It’s going to be part of something called Sketchfest. Castro Theatre is a very large venue. I think it’s 2,000 seats.

LRM Online: Thank you very much Crispin for this conversation. Are you looking forward to the new Charlie’s Angels reboot?

Crispin Glover: Somebody, in fact, said that they saw it. There was some, the previous screenings for it. I’m glad I was a part of that franchise. I had a really good time with that character Thin Man. Strangely, I had more influence on that character than any of the characters I’ve played. It’s strange because it’s a big studio film. There were vary circumstances that let me have all these influences on that character. So I had a great time working on that film.

As I recall, the producers from the television show we’re also involved in that production I was involved with. I’m assuming they probably would be involved in the new one as well. I’m glad to be part of it. I had a very good time.

LRM Online: Thank you very much. Crispin. I know you have a busy day today. Thank you for this conversation.

Crispin Glover: Me too. Appreciate it.

Lucky Day is playing in limited theaters today and On Demand. It is also playing at the Laemmle Music Hall in Beverly Hills tonight, in which is opened to the public with Glover attending.

Source: LRM Online Exclusive

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