Wolfgang Bodison Interview: From Castle Rock Mailroom to A Few Good Men and Beyond

Kyle: 00:00:00

Foreign. Ladies and gentlemen, welcome back to a very special edition of the Movie wars podcast. I have a very special guest with me today.

He took time out of his busy day directing plays and doing all the things doing. Mr. Wolfgang Bodison, ladies and gentlemen. How you doing, sir? Doing well.

Wolfgang: 00:00:26

Thanks for having me.

Kyle: 00:00:28

So glad you're here. It's kind of. Yeah, it's so funny how we.

We cross paths because like I mentioned on our preparation for the discussion, we've talked about, you know, you know, a few Good Men a few times on the podcast and I've posted content from our. Our excerpt from the podcast.

And each time I've done it, the reaction, the love for the role, people's memory of that role, you know, your story of how it happened, and it just always elicits a huge response. And obviously you've been doing so much work since then. We're going to get into that.

But I thought it would be such a treat for our fans and listeners who love that story to hear it directly from you. You know, not just the story of how it happened, but what you were doing beforehand.

You know, the emotions, the experience and the impact that it's had.

Wolfgang: 00:01:10

Sure, sure. I mean, it's funny because the story has kind of taken on a life of its own. I mean, I've been.

I was Rob Reiner's gardener to his, you know, masseuse to all kinds of crazy, his. And, you know, it starting at that company. I started in the mailroom at Castle Rock and came to LA to write and direct out of University of Virginia.

And, you know, the opportunity at Castle Rock was a huge opportunity and, you know, hustled, you know, doing all those kind of jobs out of the mailroom and slowly started to work my way up the production ladder because, you know, again, my intention and my dream was to more write and direct. And so being around those creatives there and seeing the business was pretty extraordinary.

And then, you know, did some PA work on some of their TV shows.

And then a big opportunity was to be Rob Reiner's assistant on the movie Misery with James Caan and Kathy Bates and especially somebody who wants to direct.

I got the chance to watch, you know, Rob Reiner and Barry Sonnenfeld, who was a dp, you know, collaborate and set up the shots and watching Rob talk with Kathy Bates and, you know, Jimmy Khan with his directing. So, I mean, I just filled out journal after journal after journal of notes of, you know, it's basically my kind of, you know, education in a way.

You know, school Education, just watching him work. And after that, you know, I continued and I was a car. What was it called? The car supervisor, I guess something on Boys in the Hood.

And then came back to Castle Rock and started to location manage and did a couple jobs, working up the ranks as an assistant and then got the opportunity to be the location manager on A Few Good Men when that came about, which in itself was like a crazy opportunity, really. My first job as the lead location manager on a. A list movie with all these stars.

So, I mean, I was running around like, you know, a madman trying to get that job done.

And I was at the company and bumped into Rob and we started talking and, you know, he's talking about the job and the locations stuff, and then out of the blue, he literally looks at me, goes, have you ever. I know you want to write and direct, but have you ever acted before? I was like, no. He goes, well, you know the role of Dawson, yeah.

I said, yeah, of course. And he goes, well, why don't. Just bear with me. Why don't you come in and read for it? See. See how you do.

And, I mean, I didn't think much of it at the moment.

I thought enough of it to get an acting coach once the appointment was set up to help me with the audition and, you know, prepared for it, came in and the funny moment was, you know, in the lobby, the casting director comes and they're like, do you have a headshot and resume? I'm like, no. And she smiled because she knew the situation. And so I go in and I read and, you know, I. I guess it went okay.

I don't know at that time, I didn't know what a good audition was. And, you know, of course, for me, I leave the room and I'm back out hustling trying to find locations for this movie.

And then they called me back a couple of times. And then after the last callback, I remember at the end of the audition, Rob stood up and he goes, well, I have a big decision to make.

And I'm thinking, yeah, you probably do, man. You got, you know, there were all these names that were out in the lobby, you know, waiting to come in.

And I'm thinking, yeah, man, these some good actors out there. I'm. That's going to be a hard decision. And I'm like, off again, running to find some locations that I'm stressed about.

And a few days later, I get a page, I'm dating myself from his office, and his assistant gets on. Hold up a second. She sounded Excited. I'm like. And Rob gets on, and he says, well, welcome to the movie business.

I'm going to offer you the role as Dawson and A Few Good Men, which. Wow. And I know the phone in the building where I was making that call from, of course the building's there, but the payphone isn't there anymore.

That's not a thing anymore. But it was across from the Beverly center on Beverly Boulevard. And, you know, that's where kind of a, you know, a crossroads began.

And the funny thing is, I immediately went into the head of production at Casserole, and I said, look, you know, Rob offered me the job as Dawson and A Few Good Men. He goes, yeah, I know. Congratulations. I said, thank you, but do you think I can continue to do the job as the location manager as well?

And he laughed, and he was like, look, I think you should probably focus on the one job as the acting in this film. And so he was right.

And then, you know, I worked with the coach and worked on the role, and it came time for the table reading for the film, and it's in, you know, it's in Culver City and a big, you know, one of those studio sets, and we got the tables all in a big circle, you know, and I'm early, like, 30 minutes. And in walks, you know, Kiefer Sutherland, Kevin Bacon, Kevin Pollock, Demi Moore, Tom Cruise, and then, of course, Jack Nicholson. Wow.

World is happening. And we start reading, and, you know, they're all fantastic.

Just reading off the page, you know, not trying to deliver any performances, but, man, I'm ready, you know, I'm like. And I'm looking down, and suddenly, like, some water drips on my page, and I'm like, there's a leak in the building.

But no, as sweat dripping off my forehead.

Kyle: 00:08:37

Oh, my gosh.

Wolfgang: 00:08:39

And the whole time I've got my.

My thumb, you know, on the page where I'm supposed to speak first, you know, and it's getting closer, and it's getting closer, and finally it's my turn to speak. And I think I just vomited. Just like, you know, I just exploded with my line, just one line, you know, and everybody laughed because they understood.

And it was.

I tell you, from that day was I realized, well, looking back, I really appreciate the support that I got from everybody in the cast, particularly Tom. Tom Cruise, who, you know, look, they all kind of knew the story, and they all could have took a stance of like, who is. Who is this guy?

You know, But Tom was like, hey, whatever. You need more than happy to, you know, spend time. If we want to go over lines. If you want some advice, please don't hesitate to come talk to me.

And so that really helped to settle me.

And you know, from there, you know, working with, you know, doing the shoot and everything, you know, at the time, oh, I understood because I'd been on, you know, sets before, especially on, you know, like Misery. I understood sort of the magnitude of really the level of work that was happening.

I just didn't understand me being a part of it and contributing to it, you know. And then when the movie came out and it kind of doing as well as it did, it was kind of a, you know, it's been a roller.

It to this day, it's been still a roller coaster ride because on, on many levels as an actor, I always say I've. It's a great problem to have. But I don't suggest people start there at volume 11. Yeah.

Because after that going in and auditioning, once I made the decision to continue, rightly and wrongly, there were expectations. You know, rightly and wrongly, people either were supportive or not and understand.

I kind of cut the line a bit and I did the best I could from somebody who was really now trying to play catch up. And so it was, it's been a great experience. I've worked on a lot of great projects with a lot of great people.

Probably didn't rise to the occasion on a lot of things just because of that inexperience.

But, you know, I've come to really just sort of, you know, give myself, you know, you know, hey man, this has been, you know, not many people have this story, you know, and I'm, I'm proud of where I am right now and the work that I'm doing. And you know, the journey isn't over and I'm excited about the future. Yeah.

Kyle: 00:12:07

You know what's interesting? I mean, you, you say cutting in line, but you talk about your experience before that.

I mean, being part of the films that you were, regardless of what role you were in, you were being exposed to, to high level filmmaking though with Boys in the Hood, especially in Misery. I mean, both of those films, insanely impactful. Especially Boys in the Hood. I mean, it's not, it's not like you were a part of low level. Those are.

You were getting an education whether you knew it or not.

Wolfgang: 00:12:30

I mean, at the time, my education, my education on Boyz N the Hood, I was a picture car coordinator.

So if you remember the movie, there were all those car clubs and My job was to go down into the communities and to touch base with them and recruit them. And it was quite an experience because some of those cultures were kind of, you know, kind of hard, and it was. It was a lot of fun.

And I think back, and I think how naive I was at.

At the time, walking into places I probably shouldn't have walked into with cameras hanging off of my back, but actually was well received and they were excited about the movie. But then even understanding some of the culture down at the time, which is.

And it still exists between the Bloods and the Crips and things, you know, and how some of them were perceiving how the movie was portraying certain sides and stuff and kind of getting. Finding myself in the middle of that at times. And. And, you know, it was a lot of fun. And like you said, the movie was. Was. Was. Had a huge impact.

And John Singleton, you know, unfortunately, who has passed away, you know, it was a, you know, launching point for him. So I was very lucky to be able to work on that.

Kyle: 00:14:04

Yeah. Going back to that table read so that. That part sticks out to me too, is another part of my research.

I did so much research for that, because it's a movie that warrants that. Right. Like, you really have to bring it when you're going to cover that movie. You talked about that table read. I. What I read was, is.

Is, you know, so take your experience. You know, coming into this, I heard Jack Nicholson brought just an. Just walking into the room brought this level of intensity to that table read.

So going back to your shoes, where you're sitting, having just been put in this role, what was. Is that true? Was it did. When he did the read, was it like, whoa, we're. We're in business right now.

Wolfgang: 00:14:38

I always like to, you know, all the stars that were involved, they come into the room and then Tom Cruise comes and there's that buzz that happens. But then there was like, before Jack walked in, it was like. Like the calm. It was, something's about to happen, right?

And he comes in and yes, he not only brought that level, intensity to the table read, but also to the days that he filmed and he worked. And not only intensity, but in professionalism, you know, and yes, he had it in his contract.

He had to leave by a certain time to go watch the Lakers. That he had to cloud to do that.

Kyle: 00:15:26

Absolutely.

Wolfgang: 00:15:27

When he was there and this was across the board with all those stars, there could have been a level of diva that would have upended a lot of things. But everybody Brought their A game, including him.

And, you know, when we did that scene in the courtroom where he did his monologue, the iconic monologue, of course he did it like he did it on camera, but he also did it like that for everybody as we covered the room, you know, which is not unheard of, but, you know, not always expected, especially from big names. A lot of times they're. They don't even do it. You got someone like, you know, the. The. The script supervisor doing.

Saying the lines, but he not only did it, he delivered it as he did when he did the role so we could all work off the same performance when it was our term on time, when it was our time on camera. So, I mean, that was pretty amazing.

And, you know, for myself, being the first time really as an actor, seeing that level of professionalism, we always joke, kind of messed me up because it's like that doesn't always exist, you know, but to see those guys from, you know, Tom and Demi and Kevin Pollock and Kevin Baker, Tom Cruise and Kiefer Sutherland, all of them bringing that level of professionalism was something that I used as my standard moving forward, regardless of the movies I work on, which I'm grateful for.

Kyle: 00:17:14

That's fantastic. Thanks for retelling that story in your own words. That was. It's so cool to hear it from you.

Wolfgang: 00:17:20

Absolutely.

Kyle: 00:17:21

And after that, so then, you know, you get into Little Big League, the expert. I mean, you keep doing things. So you said there was an expectation coming out of this film, but you. You kept getting work, you kept getting hired.

So what was that like for you after. Did you.

What was it a constant kind of state of, you know, that continual education you're getting in there and doing the, you know, the auditions or. Or did you find that the roles were. Were kind of filling up and your agent was calling you on a regular basis? Kind of. How did that play out?

Wolfgang: 00:17:46

Well, I mean, I was that kid, you know, who's this kid who did this job on A Few Good Men.

And, you know, I was studying and again, playing catch up, not only in the craft of acting, but the living the life as an actor, which is just as important. And I mean, you know, like I said, doing the Expert, Little Big League, Highlander, all of these jobs that.

I mean, there were times I was in rooms with directors, rightly or wrongly, maybe I shouldn't have been in the room with, you know, considering my level of experience, you know what I'm saying? And I get it. And I, you know, really.

And the thing was, the Crazy thing was, on the movie A Few Good Men, you know, I had nothing to lose, quite honestly, and I had no concept of acting. And I was fortunate to be working with a director who was very good at communicating with the actors.

And so I was in a great position to deliver a performance that was truthful out of myself. Okay. And that's.

I mean, Rob has talked about kind of why I got the job, because he got to know me on Misery, and he said that there were a lot of qualities from Dawson that were inherently in me and he had confidence in his own directing abilities to kind of pull that out of me. Okay. And I had no preconceived ideas about acting that would get in that way. After. After that, there was a lot of fear involved.

And because now with the expectations, I'm worried about living up to that. And then, so what tended to happen, I started to get in my own way in terms of acting.

I would kind of, instead of just being truthful out of myself, I started to do performances that I thought needed to be delivered. Okay. And, you know, that's. That's at times did well and a lot of times did not do well.

And, you know, coming full circle in my journey, you know, now as an acting teacher and director, you know, and really can come to grips to. Wow.

Seeing what I was kind of really, you know, trying to compensate for in that moment not only helps me to kind of, I guess, forgive or understand where I was in that experience, but also work with actors now and understand, you know, really what they might be going through and how to help them to really just allow them to work from themselves, from a place of honesty, you know, and not from a place of performance.

And so it's kind of taken me having to go through that experience to really be able to have the language and have the vocabulary to communicate that with actors, you know, in the directing and the teaching that I do now. But at the moment, it was, like I said, quite the rollercoaster ride. And. And again, I don't complain about it. It's a good problem to have had you.

But there is value in coming up the ranks, so to speak, you know, and learning your lumps, making your mistakes. I made a lot of.

I made a lot of mistakes in front of people I shouldn't have been making, you know, big name people, you know, that mistakes I should have been making in front of early on in my career when it didn't matter. So what are you going to do? That's what the universe gave me. And, yeah, I'm thankful.

Kyle: 00:22:22

Well, it sounds like the universe gave it to you almost, because you're. You're now giving it back in the form of teaching and at the Playoffs West. Let's talk about that. It's a good transition. So you're now teaching.

Teaching acting and.

Wolfgang: 00:22:32

Yes.

Kyle: 00:22:33

And you're the. You're the. Is it the creative director, the artistic director at Playhouse West, Is that right?

Wolfgang: 00:22:37

Yes, yes. And, you know, it's. You know, it's kind of funny. It's like someone who started acting, never acting, is now teaching acting.

And, you know, somebody might bring that up, but I'm like, yeah, that was 30 years ago. I mean, I've kind of gone through a whole journey now. You know, I started at Playhouse west as a student because I was at that place in my career.

Like, there's something missing. You know, I've had really good teachers, but there's something about my functioning that is off.

And I kind of came across the Meisner technique through my investigations, you know, through my research, and immediate. Excuse me, immediate was like, that's what I need. That's what I need.

And so started studying there and studied under Bob Carnegie, who was one of the founders there, and, you know, very quickly understood the bad habits that I had developed. And the funny story I tell, it's like I was in his class and he would stop me and he'd go, what in the world are you doing? And I go, I'm acting.

He goes, well, please stop it. Just stop.

And it took me a while to kind of shed this concept of performance, you know, and more importantly, how to inherit a role so I can really just work out of. Out of myself. And I really kind of understand why.

And really finding, again, refining that love for the craft at Playhouse west to the point, like, they were like this guy's. I was there for, like, I don't know, four or five years. Like, this guy's not going anywhere. Maybe he should teach. And so, you know, Mr.

Carnegie asked me if I would like to start subbing. And, you know, sitting with him and watching him, you know, teach on a regular basis, and. Which was, you know, quite the honor.

And then, you know, one day I got a call from him that the director at the school, Tony Savant, was actually moving to Philly to start Playhouse. Playhouse West, Philly.

And he asked me if I would like to take over his position, which, again, was like a shot out of the canon, because I think I had one class and subbing class, and suddenly I had a class, you know, a workload of 10 classes and basically running the curriculum at the school, which again, now I'm playing catch up again, you know, and, and went through that huge learning curve as a teacher, you know, to, to take on his class and to really, you know, learning how to monitor and to shepherd people along through the beginning level, intermediate level and advanced level through the Meisner technique. So that now, 12 years later, you know, it is something that, again, I'm very proud of the work that I do.

I'm constantly keeping the students on stage, working with plays, with different workshops that we do and have a really solid community of current actors and alumni who are always, you know, wanting. In fact, I'm a starter now, an alumni one act production group just because so, so many of the alumni just want to keep busy.

So I've been very fortunate, you know, in those opportunities that have forced me to kind of step up.

Kyle: 00:26:55

Yeah, yeah. Because you, because you say playing catch up, what I hear is seizing the moment.

It just sounds like, you know, obviously I understand what you're saying with the, the Catch a Piece, but there's also this. You have to step up and, and just seize the moment. And perfection is something you look at later. It's like, I got the opportunity I get.

I'm getting in that bat. Let's go. You know, and I think that's amazing. That's amazing.

Not just with a few good men and the following, you know, roles that you portray, but then with teaching, it's like, you know what? Perfection will come later. I'm getting a knop. Let's take it. Let's go.

Wolfgang: 00:27:24

Exactly, exactly. And, you know, whether it was like, say, Rob Reiner or, you know, Mr.

Carnegie, allowing me that space to, you know, make my mistakes and to grow and to learn, I have such a great opportunity there at Playhouse west because the Magnolia Theater, that's. Because we have two different locations there. And I'm kind of more responsible of Magnolia.

And it's kind of like my little laboratory that, you know, I can really kind of build out and really kind of raise the brand in Hollywood in terms of the productions that we put up there. The word of mouth that's starting to spread about the, the level of work that we're doing.

We did a play, I directed a play last year, Men in Suits, and the. One of the actors won best featured performance for Stage Raw magazine, which is a prominent theater magazine.

And the amazing thing is he was up against all the other actors in town at the Ahmanson, you know, the Geffen Mark Taper. So it wasn't like he was just up against sort of black box theater competition.

So it's something we're really proud of because we now are starting to get a lot of repeat, you know, people coming. So.

Oh, every time, you know, I've heard people, every time I see your theater putting up something, I go, because I know it's going to be quality work. So we're really excited about, you know, the future and trying to, you know, grow upon that.

Kyle: 00:29:15

That's incredible.

Wolfgang: 00:29:17

Yeah.

Kyle: 00:29:17

Last subject, so I know what, so you mentioned earlier that your original ambition before you started working with Rob, you said you were his gardener and all the different things you had done.

Wolfgang: 00:29:25

Well, that's what they, that's how the story has evolved. Right, okay. Right, right, okay. No, I mean the, the number of jobs that I was like, you know, how I got that job? It's, it's kind of funny.

Kyle: 00:29:39

Yeah, that's hysterical. Say, but your ambition was writing and directing.

And, and one thing I came across is you have not only written and directed, but you have, I think, four short films that have won awards. Simone, Broken, Sarah's Wish and the Long Wait. Let's talk about those.

Wolfgang: 00:29:55

Yeah, I mean it's, I've continued to, you know, pursue my dream of directing film.

There was that four, five year kind of stretch that I directed a bunch and then is when I got the job as a director at Playhouse west that my sort of theater directing kind of took off. So that kind of held precedence for. Has been the main thing for the last few years.

But my desire has always been, you know, to, to always incorporate, you know, the film. And I just directed a, a short film, the first since maybe last five, six years is called the Night of Hate.

And it came out of, it's come out of a one act festival that I put together with my advanced students. And I'm at the point now that I'm encouraging they have to write their own material. So this one, the Night of Hate is a story that Alicia G.

And Samuel Semp wrote together and we put it up in the festival and it was, you know, a big hit. And so we were, we gotta put this on film. And so we recently shot it maybe two months ago.

And so now it's, you know, being edited and worked out and that kind of thing. And I saw a rough assembly and it looks great.

And what was exciting for me is in my theater directing, I've developed a system of movement that when the conflict happens, I call it ebb and flow. That kind of creates a dynamic sort of experience for the audience. Okay.

And I've always been like, I'd love to be able to bring this, you know, to film. And so that's what we did. And watching it, I think it's really come off well.

So, you know, there's another project that we did a year ago that we're going to shoot soon.

So the next exciting thing is sort of developing, you know, this sort of technique that I discovered in theater and kind of trying to bring that to the, you know, to movie making. So it's always evolving.

Kyle: 00:32:41

That's awesome. So you have a newer project in the works as well. So you said Night of Hating. And is this a new one that's coming out in the future?

Wolfgang: 00:32:47

It's a short film. Night of Hate is a short. And then there's another one called O. O. That's where are still.

I mean, it's, you know, written and we did it at the One Act Fest. And so now we're putting the production pieces together.

So, you know, just trying to, as I tell the kids, you know, I try to keep them off the streets, try to keep myself off the streets.

Kyle: 00:33:15

A level that's something to absolutely look forward to. And I bet working with your students on your projects has got to be thrilling as well.

Wolfgang: 00:33:21

It is.

It is just, you know, to see them grow and then even after working with them, see them excel, you know, and getting opportunity and, you know, working in a professional world, it's. It's very rewarding.

Kyle: 00:33:39

That's awesome.

Wolfgang: 00:33:40

Yeah.

Kyle: 00:33:40

Well, I know, I know you. You got a lot going on and thank you so much for joining today.

You were so gracious with your time and I know everyone's going to love hearing these stories and we have a lot of aspiring actors too, that listen to this, and I know there's going to be a lot to take home from that and a lot of the lessons that you've learned and you get to bless your students with those every day. But, man, thank you so much for coming on. This is a blast.

Wolfgang: 00:33:58

For sure. Thanks for having me. This is awesome.

Kyle: 00:34:01

Absolutely, man. I hope you have a great weekend.

Wolfgang: 00:34:02

Thanks, man. You too.