¶ Meeting at Pro Gym
You have such great reception , wherever you are Well you're going to stand like that the whole time .
Hey , I was going to walk around the neighborhood .
I love this , for us this is Chase Bank . Ok , but you're not going to get tired because you know we're going to talk about some stuff . I don't care , ok , so first , let me just say welcome to the private lounge , charlie Matera . I created this for people like you who never are able to meet with me on Thursday night , so I appreciate you doing this .
I do .
Well , you know I'm working all week and then you know I'm having the nonstop disappointments of whatever audition or thing you didn't get , or whatever callback you didn't get , or whatever it might be . So that's just like oh no no , it's not .
That's what I'm saying . We all are in that boat , so I don't want to turn around and make it like you know what I mean . I was trying to make it easier for people . So I love this for us and I'm glad you're doing this for me . I appreciate you being so supportive , but so Well , you're such a New Yorker with the , with the chewing gum .
Because I remember , I know that O'Neill used to say to me he goes , look at this guy . We're like watching a movie . He'd go , look at this . He'd say who's the director ? I go . What ? He goes ? Who's the ? Who's the unit production manager ? He goes . You guys freaking chewing gum in the movie . Figuring is not to get that out of there . Ok , wait .
So do you want to talk about Ryan ? And then that could be a conversation .
I don't mind . I could talk about everything , but I could talk about Ryan .
Well , no , no , I mean because we lost him in December and I know you and Ryan O'Neill were pretty close .
Let me tell you something , probably one of the funniest , craziest people I've ever met in my whole life . I had a lot of laughs with him . You know there were times I wanted to . You know I wanted to geeky , geeky and look at a chocom , you know . But you know most of the time he was the big brother I really never had . You know .
How did you guys meet ? I never heard the story of how you guys met .
I walked into his gym . He used to have the gym in the club .
Oh my god yes , in San Vicente , Not San .
Vicente .
It was off of Montana right .
Remember it was called Pro Gym . You know what that means . Yep , wait , I'm sorry . Volume OK , ok , I'm losing you .
You're going in and out a bit . Maybe you should go back in your car . You're going in and out now .
That meant Patrick Ryan O'Neill Pro Gym .
Can I just tell you I was sitting there trying to figure out how I met him . Yeah , I could not remember how I had met him , and that's right . I was a member of the gym for like a minute .
Well , everybody , and his mama was in that gym . You know what I mean . You'd walk in there to go work out and there was Cindy Crawford . It was like Caleb Deschanel . There would be the guy I forget his name , Kate Beckinsfield . There would be a heart-pounding , the door .
Well , because it's the neighborhood . It's the neighborhood we live in .
Well , no , not only that , that gym was sort of a sanctuary for the entertainment crowd , because they knew they could go there and it wasn't a hassle and , truthfully , they would be around their own kind in a lot of ways and everybody was kind of wouldn't . It was like you didn't mention it .
It was the funniest thing , because when I used to work out in there , the bigger the star you were , the more I would just like I would see you .
I'd be working out at the gym and I'd look over and I'd see you , or I'd walk past you and I'd go and they think I was going to go like hey , you know , hey , you want to give me that 20 pounder , right , I'd walk past them like they were ghosts .
You know what's so funny ? I really did forget that he had it just hit me when you just said that , but I forgot that that's where I had met him . So weird .
I remember I went and I went in that gym thinking , you know , maybe I might run into somebody with the fuck , you know , sell the screenplay , get a gig , you know .
I don't know . Are you serious ? Why are you joined ?
Well , I lived right there and I said you know , if I'm trying to get working the entertainment business , wow , and I just go join that gym . Everybody and his mom is in there . You know , fuck , trying to get , I never spoke to anybody in our neighborhood ?
I don't ever , you know how you did
¶ Personal Stories and Movie Industry
it .
You know my boy , todd , who I write with Todd Newman . He's very talented director . He directed the documentary about Dave Navarro called Morning Son . You know the guitar player Dave Navarro . Rock and roll guy .
Yeah .
It's a hell of a picture called Morning Son , about his life and what he went through growing up and tragedy and holy shit . I don't know how the guy functions after what he went through as a kid His mom got killed by a boyfriend of hers , his mom and his mom's best friend and he was literally in school and came home to this .
You know , and he knew the guy , he was very freaky , yeah , so the documentary talks about that and then he actually goes to San Quentin this guy's on death row and goes and visits him and faces him . You know , for the first time in like 20 something years , the guy who killed his mother . Yeah , yeah , yeah , oh my .
God . Ok , I do have to watch that .
I told him I was like Dave , God bless me . I don't know how you do that , but you know , great guy , great guy . It's funny because a lot of people are who are enamored of celebrities and when you meet them , a lot of them are just , you know , just regular people . Yeah , they're just banging nails . You know , it's just a job .
And if they the best ones , the best ones . I think the most talented ones seem to have been people before they ever got into the business . Of course they had real jobs , Right , Right , you know I met one guy I'm not going to say his name , but he's a big star now and this guy was literally working to destruction . You know , with me up on a roof .
Right Somewhere .
Until one day I was doing some bullshit horror movie , this crazy horror movie , and Ryan was going to do it with me . He wanted to do it with me . No , the only reason why he wanted to do it with me ? Because he didn't want to stay home . He goes what are you doing ? I said I want to do this horror movie . He goes well , they need some .
I said wait , wait , give me . He said you know it's a million dollar price . He goes what the fuck ? We'll go , hang out . They'll pay us . You know he goes we'll chill out . You know we'll smoke . See , he was so cool like that he was so cool , so you know how great it was . Like I would be on the set of a film and they go .
God , we need to die in his 60s , got a good look , was cool , was good acting I would say I got a guy for that . And they go Charlie , come on , get the fuck out of here . I go , wait , wait , let me make a phone call and I reach out to her . He goes hey , ryan , you want to work ? And he goes Ryan , what are you doing ? And they go this is it .
And they would go , ryan , who ? I go Ryan O'Neill . And they go what I go ? Yeah , yeah , I said Ryan , I'll tell you what . I'll have him send the car by the house , small , right , pick you up , I'll be in it , me , and you will go . We'll go have some fun , shut the fuck up . And they get off the phone , these guys . And they go .
Man , how are we going to pay him ? It's Ryan O'Neill . I said I already spoke to him about that . He said take the money and give it to the old actors home . You know this is what he would do and he would come work with me for like two , three days and we would literally be in tears , correct , the whole time . Even in it he was one of those guys .
This is what's great about movies you can watch a shit movie . You can watch any shit movie and you look in the background not just the 56th guy in the back and you go . You know what this movie sucks , but that guy is awesome , he's got something . That guy's worked . He's going to go somewhere and we would always have fun finding that guy .
And we would always have fun finding that guy that , whatever in the film world that we would do , and I go , I'd say , right , he go , you're not kids , not bad , I go , he's pretty good . Huh , he goes . Hey , come to come on in here some coffee with us , you know , and this is what I would do and come in .
Oh , she's Mr O'Neill , you know he goes first . Look , take a picture with me , show it to your mom . I'm sure your mom will freak out . He goes . My back color . Oh he's cool , you're not right . You know , man , believe me , nobody else wants to be me right now , like my friend Kimmy .
My buddy , Kimmy Talbot , is a Boston , southie guy and we would do in love letters , me , Rye and Ali , like 11 cities and we go to Boston and I go a ride . No , he said to me . He said to me it was your boy , timmy Talbot . Isn't he up here ? He goes , the guy you said . I said , yeah , yeah , timmy's here . I said he said , come up .
So I called Timmy , I left you and I spoke to him in like a year and a half , two years . He's like hey , charlie , how's it going ? I go , I go . I go . Well , you're hanging out with Dooley Patty , you know . And he starts laughing and he goes no , it's not . I go . You know we're doing the play right . He goes . I saw the posters all over town .
I said , well , right here , and he's like hey . Timmy and then Jimmy , he goes . Get your mom , get your aunt , get the whole crew together . He goes . I'm a kid , this 10 , the dozen of them . He goes . Hook it up with Charlie , get some tickets and show he's a show up early .
You come in the back , meet Ali with your mom and the ladies and we'll get some laughs in and he goes . And then , you know , go check out the show . He goes in . Then after we'll all go get something . You know he's me and your whole family and Ali . He was just the real deal , he was well , you know it's , then they're not around anymore .
You know , the only other guy I hung out with who's like that was Pierce Brosnan . Just years ago I had lunch with him at that place , in the grill in Beverly Hills . You know , forget about .
So here's my question . I wanted to ask you if you were okay . I mean , I know you did a whole movie about this , but , um , because I think that's them , I can't find that movie anywhere either . What is it ? Yeah , yeah , I know I owned it for some reason .
I know I you know what if I would have made that movie myself . Jordan's a great guy and me you want to see a better movie . The better movie is . The first one is a black and white film called love and happiness . Jordan Allen , who made terminal bliss Okay with , was Lou Perry and I think who else is in there . There was some big kids who became big .
It was sort of like his lesson zero Okay do you ?
need to attach your your phone to your whatever I don't have a thing with attached .
Oh , I'm low-tech .
It's not about low-tech , that's just the thing you buy and it holds you phone , oh .
I think I bought they all suck .
I've yet to find one that's really any , yeah , no , I just go back is .
I don't want to get tired anything , they keep falling out of the air conditioning , you know , and especially when you're driving you know I look at , I never use my phone in my car , so I just don't want you to be uncomfortable .
No , I'm . So . Here's my question , because I think one of the things I found surprising about you because you , you were incarcerated and I didn't know if you wanted to talk about that or share that information . I I find that to be one of the most amazing things about you . Not because you were , you became .
I am no problem . I have no problem with that . Hey look , you do stupid stuff .
¶ Life Lessons From an Ex-Convict
You want to be a gangster , you better be prepared to get locked up . That's just part of them . That's part of the job . Right , you know . Right , you got a guy where you keep money . Just for that reason , bail bondsman money . You know you got to prepare . You don't walk out of the house . You're gonna be a burglar .
You don't walk out of the house without your tools . You're gonna be a carpenter .
You're gonna have a ham right a couple of things , but you never thought you were gonna get caught .
No , you know what the back of my mind , I knew I always get caught well , do you want ? To tell people what you actually know people are curious , you know , because remember when I got caught . When I got caught Literally , and I was sitting where I was sitting , I breathe the sigh relief I was but what did you do ?
You need to explain to people what you did I .
Did everything the robbed , I stole a lie that cheated .
But is it the movie the gentleman ? What is it ? The gentleman Disorder based on this whole kind of ?
Oh , it's all bullshit . It's the only thing . It's all bullshit . The only thing real is is that I went out of my way to screw my life up . Really , you know , and if you had , if you had something and I wanted it , it was only a matter of time . I need to shit who you were . I was gonna get it , you know okay but that was just .
I saw rich people with stuff and cars and Not jewelry , but just look beautiful in the clothes and I had nothing , man . You know , I had no old man around , straight me out . He was more concerned .
We get laid right and and , and my mother was so mad at him that I was just the evil man you know that to be destroyed , especially because I looked exactly like her right so . I think more her trying to hurt herself instead of me , and I had a crazy sister I Considered a mother or sister , you know , and and I represented all the men that left them .
Yeah .
You know you're a tough childhood .
You did not have an easy childhood .
No , I was not what I would call some Norman Rockwell shit . It was the absolute opposite right . But you know what ? I the worst things that have happened to me in my life . I made it my job to take those and Make myself a better person . Right , because I truly believe if those things didn't happen . I wouldn't be the guy I am now .
I mean , I'm in the last part of my my , my life , you know the last 20 to last quarter . But you would have , and you know I'm happier now Then I ever was . Before I had plenty of fun . You know I had false fun and then I had genuine when I met you in like 2002 or something . Something like that . I came to California in like 1990 , right .
I must end in you . I don't know about 98 , 99 right in there 2000 something .
I mean 2002 , when I met you . I thought you were amazing . Then you were . You were already living your best life in an authentic way .
Well , I was doing the thing you know with the screenplays and I was like I was getting work . I got in the union , I got you know , I was like you were amazing .
Okay , wait , wait , here's something you don't remember .
So you know I grew up with a lot of people and I know a lot of people who went to prison a lot , but when a friend of mine's kid ended up in trouble I don't think you remember this I called you , and I called you because you were one of the few people you're one of three people I know that were in in prison , got out of prison and made their lives
Better . You didn't go back to all the bad stuff .
That would have been easy .
I Love that .
That was easy because when I'm a New York guy who's got some scars , comes out the LA . These people are so fucking soft out here they're very lucky . They have no idea that if the right four or five guys came out here you could take the whole state . I mean literally they don't get it . You know they're not California . People are non confrontational .
That's right , they do not like being called under bullshit behavior . Right , they do not like being confronted and they are extremely Fear . They fear everything .
Right .
I'm sorry . I mean I met some great people out here , but you know this is not a state loaded with balls , you know it's just , it's never has wait wait , you're talking about Hollywood people , right ?
You're not actually talking about the whole state of .
California . Yeah , I'm talking about Hollywood people , the street people I've met out here a Rock , right you know , to surf guys , the beach bombs , they got nothing to hide , they were all genuine . I can hang out with anybody . I could talk to anybody , always did . You know ? I've been places , man , you would , you would never walk in a million years .
And my wife would say to me you know , is this anyway , we need to be right now . You know , oh , the way , by the way , but it's so cool . And then run into like sketchy crew and all sudden wanted a people out of the to go . So and she goes . You know , these people , I go again . Those people , friends of mine , man , these are the guys .
Yeah , trivenals , they're bad guys . I go to other people . They're very guys . For me they're not big yeah , I think that's .
What people don't understand is that you can have a past and have moments where things didn't work out . That doesn't mean you're a bad person . You know , like everyone does the best .
I look at it this way I paid for my that's right two thousand tons , nobody else , just paid for that .
That's right .
You have no idea . You know I look at this way not to be religious because I'm not a religious guy . But whatever the grand poob are , mystic , majestic ruler up there , the Toronto things , or is , george Carlin would say , the giant , or you know . Whatever it is , you know it has way of Cutting your space off . Yeah if you're too fucking out of control .
Yeah and what it does is , if you're really out of control . It puts you in a room the size of a friggin closet , about eight by six . Yeah and then you have no Alternative but to look at you , okay , and figure out what is it about you that brought you to this , to find your fucking self , do you ?
regret that that had to happen , or are you saying no , I thank God for that .
I thank God they locked me up . I needed it . If they wouldn't lock me up , I'd be dead how long ?
how long were you locked up for ?
long fucking time . Okay yeah , high school , high school in college Wow , in one stretch .
Wow .
Yeah , almost eight years , wow , buddy and change , and I'm glad they did it . I'm glad they did it cuz they saved my life .
They really that's , that's how my Very different people understand you get locked up .
You are with some real evil villains man . Yeah , I mean , these guys are arched criminal villains and everybody is there to be victimized and picked off and torture if you let yeah , people have no idea . You know they think you go get locked up and you're gonna learn a lesson . You know you got cops there . They're supposed to protect you and protect everybody .
They don't care , you're on your own . That's in real life too .
That's not even . You gotta get a garbage pail top and I'm offering a handle . Man , it's gladiated , school , it's on .
When did you decide in prison or out ? Maybe it's when you left that you were gonna change your life like when did that happen ?
I was in , I think like about it , it was like two , it was about two years , maybe year and a half years , and I'm sitting in the center of this dorm , right , you know where ? They had like four , you know , a , b , c , d , and then a control room and they had a center grass area with some tables when the animals could sit and have a picnic .
You know , whatever we wanted to when they weren't torturing us , you know , and and uh , I was sitting out there in a pair of boxy shorts , high-top sneakers and a t-shirt . That's the uniform at night Okay you always gotta , always gotta , have rubber on your feet , man .
Okay , and I don't mean flip-flops .
You gotta be back there ready to ride at any moment . I think you go down , and you might as well go down swinging , because you're going down .
Okay .
So this is in jail . This is at night , you're no , this is joint jail's different this is Hell , is the state .
The joint is federal right .
No , the joint is you got state and you got federal , two different things . When you go to jail .
Jail is the county .
You're an inmate now . You're not a convict yet right Okay you know when you get sentenced and you get sent to prison . Now you belong to the department of corrections . You are in prison . This is a different story .
So that's where we're in the joint .
It's a , it's a village , where people , a thousand people , and everybody in there is the fucking straight out criminal . Okay , well , I didn't do it , I'm not guilty , I've been some travesty . No , no , everybody .
Yes , you did it , you did it , you did it and you get it do it again I mean , I saw guys get out , come back , get out , come back , get out and come back again , and I was still there and I hadn't gotten out yet and I used to ask the way you like the food ? What's wrong with you ? Right , why are you keep coming back ?
So wait .
So two years in , you're sitting in this I'm sitting on the table and I'm , and the sky is clear , it's blackest night and the stars everywhere . And I literally said to myself I said , oh , what the fuck ? I'm not getting out of here for a while ? These people are fucking animals . What am I gonna do ? I'm fucking a kid . What am I gonna do ?
I'm not going anywhere . This is it . And I said you know , well , I could be one of the animals you know , just like everybody else , but I've never been like everybody else . Did you know what ? I'm gonna go to that library and I'm gonna read every fucking book in there the law books , the regular books . I'm gonna educate myself . I might as well .
I ain't got nothing else to do . I ain't fucking going anywhere , that's for sure . Yeah , I ain't
¶ Life After Prison
gonna like . Oh , by the way , we made a mistake .
Right .
We're gonna let you go home . I'm afraid there's a car waiting to take you over and use some money . No , I knew . I knew that wasn't gonna happen , so I decided to just make the best of a bad situation , you know .
You knew you had to do the hustle in order to start changing your life . Reading book Well , nobody was sending me any money in there .
You gotta survive . You know you need some smoke to eat the barter . You need to get things done . You need to juice people . You know that's the way . You know you need to the child . You want to go guys regular in the chow hall . You want to jump the line . Know the guy up front .
You know if you can give him a pack of cigarettes now you juice the line for the next week .
You know you were preparing yourself to get out of there by surviving .
I met a guy in there who was a way for life , my friend Ricky D . He was older , older Italian guy and he came over to me one day and he said to me he said you're gonna be a low life your whole life .
Wow .
Like what the fuck , ricky ? I said it's depressing enough in here . You know he goes . I'm being serious . He says you're a good-looking guy , you got your shit together , sort of like he goes . But you're a fucking asshole . He goes . I watch it . You're all over the fucking place he goes . You're gonna get killed in here , man .
Was he right .
Yeah .
Yeah .
I was up to fucking old guys , it's it . So he says you're gonna get whacked out in here . He goes . But you everybody loves it , man . He goes . You make people laugh . You know you're up to something every day to screw the cops . He goes . I like that . He goes . But it's time for you to educate yourself . He goes , you get out of here .
You need to class yourself up . He's just Charlie . You know you're only gonna be considered who you are by the crowd You're seen with right . And you stick out like a sore thumb . He goes you're the biggest little guy I know . He goes , you need to get it together . He goes I got something for you to read . I said okay .
He says come by over there and I'll let you have it . I'll see you later . So I go over there and they sit me down and ricky slides me a book across the table . I said what's this ? He says I want you to read this book . He says and I'm gonna ask you questions about it he goes , cover to cover . I want you to know this book .
You know what he gives me . He gives me the emily post book of etiquette Shut up . Yeah , yeah , yeah . And I was like well , the fuck is this ? He goes you need this book , cover to cover . He goes you'll know how to behave in life . He goes rich people , poor people , they'll all understand that you have a way about you . He goes .
It may be over the top , he goes , but it's something to know . It's information . He goes . What you do with it is on you . He goes , but , like I told you , he says you have the ability and the talent to be and go wherever you want . He says put you lack the initiative man . He goes I could have had a whole life . He goes I fucked up .
I'm here forever . He says you're going home Some point at some time . You better be fucking ready . He goes you're all that in the bag of chips in here . He goes out there . You're just another ex convict fucking scumbag that nobody wants to give a job to you ever . He says you can never tell him who you are . Right , he's the only thing .
So you have to be something they all want to be around . He goes , and these books and these lessons will help you do that . Nobody cares where you've been or what you are , only care about who you are now , in this moment . He goes you could be a bad guy , but what are you gonna do now , right in this moment in time ? Who are you gonna be ?
So I left them guys . My fucking head was hurting for like two days , but you read that damn book . I sure did . I read everything . I read the Holy Bible as a dot book , I read some of the Quran , I read the Torah , whatever , all of it , whatever I can get my hands or whatever they had you know .
And when I finally got out , my stepfather came to get me and I was . I was finished . Expiration of sentence , no parole , no probation or nothing . Day for day I walked out . It was like no , I didn't have to report anybody , nothing .
Okay and I remember I was banging on the window in the morning , 8 am , but at the control room I was wearing a pair inside .
I was .
you're about to be let go , okay , I thought I got this box with all my shit and the cops are like what , what you want material ? I was like dude , you're on my time now , right , free man , right now . I said no parole , no probation , expiration , sense , open the fucking door . And they look at me like , well , you know , we're all .
I still got property and I was like my friends .
I was like take it .
He was like I said Mike . I said the old man's out there right now to get me in the car . I said all you gotta do is let me sign and let me get the fuck out of this . They don't make me , and I'm big as a house . I mean working out dark as a teakwood table my hair was like lemon yellow .
I mean , people don't look like this in the free world and I remember he brought me . He says let's go take a ride because we're checking to a hotel hang out for a couple of days . So right away I know what's going on . So I said , okay , sure , sure , you know .
And we're driving around , I'm looking at everything outside , people , cars , we don't see shit . I mean , we see television , we don't see shit . And I see , in 1987 , we're just we're . She takes me to the mall . I wanted to get some clothes , I wanted to get a new pair of sneaks and walk her to the mall .
I see , I mean I'm big as a fucking house Damn shit , looking handsome as hell , and People just looking at me . And I looked at the old man . I said what the fuck do ? I got like conflict stapled on my fire , I don't know .
Oh yeah , you were taking it the wrong way .
I had seen a mirror in in eight years . We don't got mirrors in there , we got bent up pieces of metal . You know , oh wow , you don't even know what you look like . You go in there you 20 . You come home you 28 . You don't know what you look like anymore . Who's that fucking guy ?
You know . So you were . You were being self-conscious , whereas everybody else was looking at you .
Do I fit in right ? Do I not look like a fucking crazy person , criminal ? You know that these people have any idea that . I just Fell into the planet Earth . I've been in another planet for eight years , you know . You know I see women . I could fucking smell them 200 feet away . You know , you smell , smells . This food is everything . You know .
Perfume , you know , beautiful scented lotion we don't smell that . We're all state-raising animals , you know . Oh well , I've been smelling this button feet for like eight years , you know , and now there it is , you know , and they're beautiful and they're looking at me and I'm looking at them , you know , and I could see their faces . They're like wow .
You know , I was like no drugs .
Don't know , you know and you know you come out . You're a gladiator man , you're a warrior . You've been , you've been to school and , and I remember the old man .
Were you scared , were you scared .
Yeah , I was terrified of the world . I was like , oh man , what the ? And a million thoughts are going on my mind . What am I gonna do ? I'm like gonna survive . Where am I gonna live ? I'm gonna get by . You know , I don't know anyone . I don't have any friends . My friends are gone , or dead or Back there in jail right . Who are put those people's ?
The only friends I had , my friends , were killers , you know , oh , burglars , diamond thieves , you know , gangsters , real ones , not like these fucking punks . I see on the street these guys with fucking bad guys , but they were my friends , we , whatever , anybody was away for you get past it . And I remember .
So we checked into the Howard Johnson's Hotel in Fort Lauderdale .
This is you and your stepdad after yeah , I mean it's cool .
You know we're all right . You know , and he was a knock-around guy , you know I'm tying guy . So we get into the hotel , we walk past the pool and I see all the bikinis . And I see guys wearing those fucking speedos and I'm like With the crazy mullet , like the atomic mullet , oh , yeah , I guess it's 1980s . Yeah , fuck you know the old man she's .
They could say we're good , though . I Said what's up with that ? He goes , hey , you've been away a long time . I said I can't tell who's who over here . He goes , don't worry , nobody else can either . It's alright , this is what he says to me . So I said okay , we check
¶ Journey From Crime to Hollywood
in . We go upstairs to the hotel room and he's like taking his shoes off . He goes hey , I'm gonna take a snap . I'm fucking exhausted . So I says to him and I'm staring in the middle room , I look to myself . I said to him you know what I said I'm gonna go take a walk . Let me go to the beach . All right , he goes to me .
What the fuck you asking me for ain't the warden ? I said no , I'm just saying you know . I said he says fuck , dude , you're free . Whatever you want , man . He goes in . He's some scratch . He reaches his pocket and pulls out a couple of hundred . He goes here yeah , go to fucking go get , go have a sandwich , whatever . Take a stroll , whatever .
Here's the room key . He goes yeah , I'm gonna sleep for a few hours . I said all right . So I go outside and I walk across a 1a to the beach and I see this old couple and I go over to and I scared them too , cuz that took a shirt off . I look like miles , I look like Miles O'Keefe and Tarzan and and my hair's , you know , short and just her .
Everything was perfect . And I looked at me . Could you guys and watch my stuff ? I just want to take this one . I hadn't been in the water in a million years . Oh my god , that's right . So I took my stuff and they were like , yeah , sure , no problem . So I said thank you very much , you know . They're like , oh , you knew , yeah , I live from Jersey .
I said , oh , thanks , I really appreciate it you know and I Go into the water . I got about waist deep . And I dove in and I just started swimming and I'm strong as a fucking ox . I'm cutting through the water like it's Not and I get out there most .
I spin around and I look back at the beach and you know I am , I'm floating in the ocean and it was like it was just wondrous you know , the co-chair . Maybe I am free , you know , just maybe I'm like I'm waiting for , I'm waiting to see it , like you know we made a mistake . Come on , go back . You know I'm waiting for it .
And I remember I swim back in and I'm coming out of the water , like slowly coming out of the water , and I look to the left and there's like four girls walking down the beach and I'm coming out of the water like like Godzilla and I'm soaking wet and I got the bathing suit on and I am fucking nails and I remember that's when I realized , oh , I guess I'm
something to look at you know . And then I saw a little baby running , little baby like one and a half or so , with a bucket , just laughing his ass off . I almost want that . I wish I could have put a wire in my head and to his to let him know what could happen , what moves not to make . Just don't be like me , be like Mike . You know .
I never forgot it . So then the old man takes me to dinner that night .
He goes , wait a minute .
I said there's this place over here , over there , over here by the intercoastal waterway , whatever , come on . So we go over there and we have a cup of drinks sitting at the bar and I'm having a beer and we just sitting there quietly and I'm looking all around , I'm casing the place and he looks at me . He goes you robbed this place , didn't you ?
I said yeah , it's a long time ago . I said this place , the place next door , the place over there across the water , the one down there , you know , and he said Jesus Christ , what the fuck were you thinking ? Yeah , he goes . What was going through your head ? He says you're running around with a gun like a crazy person .
I said I guess I just couldn't give a fuck . I wanted to . I didn't care about anybody or anything . I said but I'm glad everything happened . I'm glad it happened the way it did . You never killed anybody , you just you went through this feeling just to be clear .
You stole a lot of money .
I heard a lot of feelings . Yeah , that's what I did . Okay , so now I mean , I feel , I said you want to laugh , you want to die laughing . So I said to I said what happened ? I said mom sent you down here . I said if you see , if I'm gay or I'm fucking crazy , and I lost my mind .
And I said she gave me a pocket full of money and if any of those was true , you're supposed to hand it to me and tell me to go on my marry way . I said but if I'm okay and I'm done and I'm finished , I could come home . I said that's what I'm here , right ? He does .
He turns his head and he takes his sandwich drinking , he goes , he just looks up and he goes . Boy , you know your mother , man , you good , you know your mom ? Of course I do . I said I know exactly what she's thinking all the time .
But you didn't go home , did you ?
I went back to New York . I didn't go back to their home . He was saying that I could come back to New York .
Right .
And he let me know that everybody had said back in New York I could come home , because if they said I couldn't come back I wouldn't be able to go back there . I went back for a little while I worked at night clubs and everything . And then I got involved in all of that fucking shit . Everybody was getting high and drinking .
And then in the middle of the night one night I got it in my head . I packed my bags . I met a guy in the nightclubs . He used to hang out at all the clubs outside watching me carry on with the crowd and he said you ought to be an actor . I was like , yeah , OK , be an actor . I need a real fucking job .
Man , I got money , I got to pick bills . I go those people are fucking . I said I'm a real person . He goes this is what I'm talking about . He said you would kill it . He says if you could be what you are here , there he goes . I don't think you'd have a problem .
OK , but you were just saying it was really . It was hard for you to deal with people who aren't .
Because people could say anything to you out here , especially in the entertainment business . Hey , I'll get back to you . That means fuck you , nothing , nothing . Hey , I'll read that to you . You're not going to read anything . Right , people make instead of reading a script . You got coverage . She's taken halfway through the coverage , you know what I mean .
How are you going to make million dollar decisions if you don't read what you're you got to read ?
So people here say they're going to do something but they don't follow through on it because it's all cheesy . But when you're incarcerated ?
what they're going to say . They're not going to read it unless they see you walking down the street one day and you're with Jim Cameron .
Right .
Or you're walking with Robert DeNiro one day and they see you having lunch with Ryan O'Neill and they're like is that , charlie , who has been read the script Right ? Get to Ryan O'Neill for six months I can't even get near . Oh , charlie works for him . What ? Hey , charlie ?
Hey , beth Bepperson , here I was thinking about you don't meet Todd Bradford , ok , but I'm going to say something that's going to make you feel like you're going to yell at me . It's not just Hollywood , that's in every industry . No , no , yeah , and it's all about the networking , both literally .
I'll get back to you .
Yeah , it's all the bullshit . Ok , wait , let's not skip . You get out of prison . You go back to New York .
You decide you were just going to tell me how you came to LA . How did you come ? The guy who asked and told me I should be an actor . He said why don't you try being a writer ? I said well , he goes . Yeah , you're bullshit . You could do characters all day long . He goes . I'll show you how to do it . He goes .
I go to his house one day and this is the weirdest thing he flipped on the computer and it was the little one . Remember the little square one with the floppy gems .
And the little screen .
It looked like the little TV , like the old one . And I saw some stuff he had on the screen and it was like Bill and John went there there , there and I was like what the fuck ? That doesn't sound like people . I'm not even interested . He goes what do you mean ? I said look , do like a dog street . I said the light from the street shines in the car .
A match is struck . It lights a cigarette . We followed a smoke up to a balcony where a guy is hanging . I said he's looking through a single eyepiece of two guys down the street in the car and they're talking . I said now we cut to the car and he goes . And the guy says Bill , what ? I said no , no , no . The guy says what the fuck are you doing ?
You fucking idiot ? I've been waiting for you for three hours . We're supposed to clip this fuck and you're dicking around eating a sandwich in some fucking restaurant . What's wrong with you ? And I saw the guy's eyes light up . I said I want to know . I said I want to know . I said the information's got to be happening . I said I watch a movie .
Because I watch movies to be in lockdown . I was the guy who used to put the movies on the car . We used to see movies every week . We used to order them . So I've seen every black and white movie , every movie you can imagine , every TV show . I was raised by television so I've seen them all and I know what's good and I know what's bad .
So I said , just because of being a kid . And I said to him I got to hear the music . See , sister Bee , what do you mean ? I said I got to hear the . I said I said now I'm in , I want to know what the fuck's going on . I said the moment the music goes , I said I'm fucking lost , I'm over it .
I said every scene we write starts in the middle , not , I said , the part we don't see . That's the beginning . We're in the . They're at it when we go in . Somebody's like you gonna eat this fucking sandwich . I said that's how you start seeing the guy hoax up a front and put on your Sims . You're gonna fucking eat this .
You want mustard on this or what I go to me ? I'm interested . Is he gonna put mustard on it ? Does he have a bit to get the coleslaw ? Now I'm in .
So when did you move to LA ? When did you make the decision ?
So , with this guy . I , we wrote like , we literally Wrote three scripts in New York like this I was writing 20 pages , 30 pages dialogue a day , and I could still do it . You know , because I knew how people spoke . You know , I knew how to Latin . They see it . You know say , I knew I had it all . You know , I knew how the brothers taught them .
You know how the crazy chicks taught they do have the elegant . You know . You know bitch fuck . You know the swells . I knew how the swells talked . You know , I've been around them , you know , and so it was easy for me . And on a fluke , we sent a script to some Agent in LA and I don't know where . We get a call . Hey , I'd like to represent you .
I'm fucking a Hollywood agent . And the reason why I said yes was because she was a woman . It was this kid named Wesley strict who wrote wolf . He wrote a bunch of stuff . He's a big screenwriter wrestling Wesley strict and his mom , shirley strict , was an agent .
Oh . Very agent , another name yeah .
Yeah , yeah , she wanted to represent
¶ Journey to Hollywood Success
us . So all of a sudden I'm like , oh shit , you know we gotta get out there and my writing partner ? He didn't . I just took off , I ran out there with it .
When did you come out here ? When did you come out to LA ?
1990 , I think , I had a double bag full of clothes , 500 bucks cash in my pocket and I Befriended Jason Bateman in New York and he told me come to fucking LA man , I got it . You come sleep upstairs , don't worry about it . You got you killing yourself out here . So I came , I was living with Jason down in Santa Monica .
Yeah and every day I would get on the bus and ride to my writing partners place . He came out because I found a manager , this crazy girl . She brought a script of mine , a prison script , into Roger Corman . Oh yeah , okay , boom , I'm here . Three weeks Self-script . That's crazy , I love that people come to LA to sell the script .
Millions , man , and now Roger Corman years and it's years and they don't get that . They don't get .
Roger Corman says to me , says I'll give you extra amount of dollars for the screenplay or I'll give you this much less and you could direct it . I should give me the city , you direct it , give me the money . Give me the money that was our first sale , which turned out to be it was a serious prison drama based on race relations in prison Wow .
And turned out to be blood fist three for With Don the dragon Wilson .
That's awesome .
Yeah , yeah .
Oh .
So and and starring Richard roundtree and I got to hang out . Richard Rousey was the coolest night .
Thanks for stopping by . All about the joy be better and stay beautiful . Folks . Have a sweet day .