Special Report: Sean Whalen on Crust (2024)

and I hope you enjoyed the interview. I've seen you in so many things for so many years, starting all the way back when I was in college and the famous Gott milk commercial was on and I'm just like, Yeah, this guy, he's got a great face. I want to know more about this person. I want to see him in more things. Tell me more about you, and how'd you get your start?

And so then one they figured it out and they'd go they were leaving and I'd go, hey, we're not done yet, and they go, we're done. This is your pans to clean and I was like, I need a new kit. And I got into it and then I had the but you needed to direct a version of Rumpel still Skin, and I put my girl Crush in the lead of the thing. I saw her like just a couple of years ago in France. She's French, and she was like, why was I in then? And I was like, it was a terrible accurance, but I remember

having the greatest time doing the role. And then I said it was We did it for the whole school. I was getting a great response, and when I came out to do my curtain call, my school went nuts. They just were crazy and I was like, wait a minute. I love doing this, they loved seeing it. This is really my thing. This feels right. Didn't do a lot in junior high school. That was fifth grade in elementary seal, but I did do a very big community theater version

of Tiny Tim. It was like I was ten years old. It was like six weekends and three or four that was a weekend. It was a real it was a big deal. So and then I did some ward in junior high school and then just the normal theater kid high school kid. So I did chorus, choir, men's choir, barbershop, quartet, musicals, theater,

the whole thing, and then I got into UCLA. Didn't really love the program, but I did have a nice role in a play with Dafties, a negive from Spaceball's Fame and Melrose places fame, and she and I had a great time. I got some heat. It was just too much. I just came out from Maryland and I just knew I wasn't emotionally intelligent to handle that yet, and so I just thought I didn't like the program.

I wasn't ready for the heat, and so I just finished my years out building a fraternity with some friends and had a great We were basically like Revenge of the Nerds. It was great. And then I got into Growlings and that changed everything. My boss used to go to the shows. I went to the shows and I go, oh, this is the place for me. I have to be here. Did the Groundings for a while, got into the Sunday show, had a blast, and then I didn't get in the

main company on my first go round. The extended me again. I thought I'm just gonna go learn how to act, went into playoffs West It's serious drama thing. And then I got a coach that merged my comedy training with my dramatic training, and I got a couple guest stars, and then I got people under the Stairs. That wasn't a big break, which is shocking because we were number one for six weeks and we never got the same love that if we were number one for six weeks today,

it would be a big deal. Oh yeah, back then, it wasn't that big of a deal for a horror movie because that was why Dalloween. No one cares. But we did very well. But my big break came when I was doing more commercials and theametrical stuff, and I did the milk commercial. Bailberg saw it, he loved it. A student of mine worked with him and said, he's going to put you in something. I guarantee it. Eight months later, I auditioned for Twist and the rest was

history for the nineties. The nineties blew up for me because the milk commercial got me seen, but it killed my commercial career. Never did. I think I did three commercial stints, but it started my theatrical career, which is what I wanted in anyway. And because I worked with Spielberg and Twister, meaning the executive produced Twister, you were on a hot list in town and I saw the difference and I got into a lot of good roles

since then since that time. And then it flowed down in the two thousands because everything changed after nine to eleven and companies bought Hollywood and things like that. So I had a slow period of time right when I had kids, right when I had a house, and so I had to sell blenders and do demonstrations of pans and a costco and I literally knew everything about the costcos and they used me for a reference all the time.

So wow, it was great. And there is one scene in the movie where they say we need you to walk around and talk about that, and I go, I got it that it doesn't want and I walked through and I knew all the terminology and everything like that, So that was really fun. Or else I would also say I got to feed my kids. Man. After that, I got into teaching, and then I was always writing. I started writing the Groundlings I wrote, and then I got a job on Disney Channel cartoon shows. PEPPERH. Jake

American Dragons. Phil Moore, another show by Scott Gimble actually did The Walking Dead. He did a cartoon show and it was great and I was a writer on that in terms of punching up, and I wrote a couple of scripts. So I've always been writing, and I had a few scripts that I had written over the years, tried to sell and then I wrote this after a depression in twenty fifteen, after my divorce. It just flew

out of me. I had an idea before about a cheap idea of horror movie, which is just one location a guy in a sock suit. I thought it would just be cheap and take white clothes and cover it with socks and that's it. But as I get closer, I realized and definitely for the guy who designed Crust, Eric Porn, who does the special effects forteen wolf On, he built Crust and he said, what should be like Oogie Boogie in a basket except for a cute part of Ougi Boggy, the nicer part. And he was right,

and he built that puppet. We tried to get it going, meet Felicia Rose, other people tried to get it done in twenty sixteen, and we just didn't know enough about indigogo or producing. And it was the seven years in between where Felissa ga is a producer and learned a lot more, and I learned a lot more. And then I had gone with other producers, maybe starting up, and they'd be like, oh, I don't like the color. I was not going to play well in Walmart, and I go,

this is not for Walmart. And then they go, yeah, but the DVD you would put it in the wall. I go, no, I won't. This is going to be in the nerd guy's garage that has the block buster racks and racks and he's gonna name you forty movies you've never heard of. That's who this is for. For that guy. We just got a screening now at the Coney Island Freak Show Theater. Well they did, and this

is a serious question. He goes, when you come for the screening, now you don't have to do this, but before year screening, we could do a fifteen minute sideshow freak show for you.

And then when I was gonna direct it or no, I was producing it, co writing and starring, and I thought this is great, told my manager. He said eh, and I go what and he goes, Unfortunately, in this town it doesn't matter unless you direct. And I thought really and he goes yeah, and I go, I guess I'm directing it. And I watched master classes with Ron Howard and Spike Lee and it's one of those things where you know more than you'd think. Yeah, I just I've been on so many since I've learned so much.

I was panicking. Bradley Cooper before he did A Star Is Morning. He was like it, I was in researching and doing it and I hadn't done any of that. But I also just knew more than I thought. I worked a long time with my DP, which was the part I didn't know the most. I prepped a lot. I rehearsed a lot with all my actors. And that's one thing I have heard is that you're acting throughout it is fantastic. And I was like, it'd be embarrassing

if I was an actor director and my actors. Of course, I had to make that a priority and it came very easy to me. But I think it's also feeling powerless as an actor. Then you're finally in control of all of it. As an actor, we don't know who we're going to act with, what the set's going to look like, how it's going to be edited, will I even make the final cut? And so I thought, this is a great one. I love filmmaking, and Rebecca Kennedy

and I were just bonding as friends. Her husband is a great friend of mine, my wife is a great friend of hers, and we just all four got together and said let's do this because we want more control. We did a comedy series which drops in two weeks, which I'll plug, which is Psyche on Sunset. It's going to be on our website. Four episodes, but the hottest restaurant in LA where all the waiters are trained and licensed there Base, but they're the worst therapist in LA

because they couldn't get her an office trip. They gased like you and stuff. So it's Oh, I'm gonna have a martini and my wife will have the same. It's wow. So you don't think she's capable of ordering for herself and you're like no, and she likes it. He goes on instead of you telling us how she feels, how about you telling I do it all the time. When he goes, oh, you're a control for you, she's gas lighting and fun and they're really fun. And that drops

in a couple of weeks. That's me and Rebecca Kennedy's production. So she is a production company with her husband. I have a production company my wife and we co produced and we're co producing another feature that's coming that we're shooting in February and pre production for that. So it's great and yeah, so it was really great. I learned a lot and move forward and yeah, that's my journey on how I got here.

don't need the gatekeepers anymore. It felt like it's a wonderful life almost. They were like, you've entertained us for so long, we wanted to see you in a bigger part. For you to say that is so powerful for me to hear, because through their actions, the town that you're trying to make says you're not a lead or you're gonna pop in every once in a while and do something fun and give us some spice. But you're not

elite and certainly not a romantic lead. Not in a million bazillion years have I, Me or Rebecca ever gone out for those lead romantic roles. What's beautiful about this new community? In the way social media and Indigogo and all this stuff works, people know you can reach people more. But then they can say, you know what, I don't agree with the studios. I have to show them, oh, I actually can be a leader. But they wouldn't know that unless they saw it. So again, I'm not knocking them.

I'm just saying I couldn't wait for you to decide. Kevin Hart did a great thing. He goes. I just didn't understand, coming from stand up when I would go and just take in charge of my career, that all of a sudden, I'm supposed to sit here and wait till you decide when I work. That makes no sense to me. And he started producing his own stuff, and that's I think that's the new thing. And I've already got an investor who's all say, A felt like you followed me your old career, and now he wants to

finance my next several films. So a few investors, so I'm booked and busy for the next few years. I've got our next movie that we're doing, and then yeah, I'm literally booked to twenty twenty seven and just movies that I'm producing and directing and acting in every single one. And then after this one that I'm doing that I didn't write, the next three year all ones that'll write, produce, direct, and star. And again that's so great. Yeah, it's really great.

But thank you for saying that, because you think am I crazy? But then when I hear it from someone who's following Mega, No, they actually did want to see that.

this the right way. But the level of geekdom and Twisters and just having that crew together with Alan Ruck and just like every nerd character that you can think of, and even phillipsy Moore Hoffman, Like before that broke big, it was just like, Holy, I'll look at all of these guys.

Hopefully this allowed to keep people to go, I actually can be a leader. Look, and I was a terrifying proposition. Rebecca had done a couple of lead roles, felicaid lead roles, and I hadn't been, so I thought, oh my god, you do you wake up in the middle of the night with those night sweats and going what if people go you can't carry a movie? And luckily no one has said that, So I'm glad.

have more cookies than me statistically, right. Well, so I go, if I'm getting older, this is the time to make a stab and go. You know what it's like the MNFL. You got one shot, like I got a few more years left, so you may as well just go for it and see if it works. But it doesn't, at least I tried. My role is always try something for a couple of years. And I tried Crust. And it's been two years since we started it, but since I

shot it, it's been less than two years. And already I've got my second movie, green Let, which will be dropping in the trades in the next few days about who's in it and things like that, and so I go, okay, I'm not crazy. I think that. Thomas Zembeck, the president of Anchor Bay, nailed it at our La premiere and he said, I kind of challenge anyone to not have a good time at this movie. It's just fine, and

that's what I love more than anything. If you follow me on, So for me, like Evan, fine making people laugh, being silly, engaging with people, and if I can give anything to this modern world a couple hours of fun, that's it. Message of mental health.

and so I got very prepared. And the great thing was on the set. I knew we had to move, but I was so excited to see these people speak my words and say this stuff out loud, that you're I'm having such a good time, And people said it was one of the funnest sets they've ever been on, because I was so excited to be there, to have

this opportunity. I think I knew I was lucky. When you've had success young and then you don't have it, when you get any whiff of another shot at it, you're so much more grateful because you don't know what you have when you first get it. Could you just think, oh, I've worked a lot in high school, and I worked a lot after I could get in the growling and moved there really quick. Of course I'm gonna work, And so I didn't know how lucky I was, And now I absolutely know how I d am. So you ingested

a lot more and respect it more. But I just had so much fun on set. And then at night we had a playlist. Everyone had a playlist, but they couldn't have songs at not sixty percent of the crew new, and we had old people down to twenty somethings, and we would always dance to it, and friends came in later in the shooting. I've never seen a more joyful, fun set. And it's a night shoot and you guys are having a dance party at lunch, which was crazy.

So it was great. But acting wise actors, and we all do, and because I've had problems with anxiety, we get in our head. But because I was so busy with everything else right before we rolled, I had no

time to think about anything. So because I couldn't think about anything, I thought to myself, there's no overthinking, and I would just go, So there's a similar moment in the movie, which you know that involves music and dancing and fun, and the movie is before that and after that, because everything before that is a little sand and everything after that slowly starts to change, right, I would always go, what scene is it? Oh? Is it before that thing?

Because I knew it was sweats, sad makeup, and then or it was after that and it was starting to grow. So I think it was honestly a gift because I had no time to think about my acting that I really do think it's the best acting I've ever done because I had no time to worry about it, so I was just open and available. And it's a scrip I knew for years.

is coming out of her nose. Her ears are rolling down her face and smearing her makeup. R Wag is tilted not and it's amazing and you have to realize. And that's when I went, oh, you can't care well what you look like at all. You just can't. You just have to be in it, because no one in real life goes, gosh, I hope he's thinking that I'm not rocking in my chair too much for this podcast, and we don't do that. You're not sitting here going oh, when should I not? When should I not? Yacht? You

know what I mean. You're just living life and you don't care what you look like you're just engaged. And I think that was a lot of it that I thought, And definitely in terms of me and Rebecca bonded as real. Our friendship just grew tremendously because she never got cast in those roles. I never got cast in those roles. We would never be casting those roles, and so we knew as people who have the quirky side parts taking a sabbag or we had to rely on each other.

And we worked in an acting class for a few months before because we said, if our chemistry doesn't work, we don't have a movie. And luckily everyone goes, you guys have good chemistry.

The colors she brought to it, the sadness, the pain which she's supposed to be really mean to me, but you feel for her a little bit. There was someone who said she's the most grounded character in the whole thing because she's sang, yes, I'm depressed, but years of it is takes its toll on the people around you. And we rehearsed that one. But when it was time to do her later stuff, when she gets a little

more animated, she was fearless, just fearless. She just dove right in and did it and she was great, so good, and I have to prepare and just let it go, and she again gets an instinct and just goes. So everybody's different. But yeah, I guess I also wanted to show no ego. That's why that funny underwear scene at the end where I'm in my underwear. I thought of that in the middle of the night, and I thought that's a good excuse for me to get in shape, and I'd be in better shape for the shoot and

the whole thing. And it inspired me to do that. But yet I think that it's like Brian Transton said in his book, he goes. I just told the writers, do whatever you want with me. So he was in tidy whites tied to a truck and he was covered in bees. And my other friend did that on OZ. If you ever watched OZ, he would Jak Simmons. He was Ropes and JK simmons right hand man, and he said the same thing, just do whatever you want. And his art was insane, but he just trans for a while.

He was getting me all this crazy stuff, and I thought, that's what I wanted to do. I want to just I'll worry about this stuff. Who cares? As long as it's grounded in something emotional and real, then it's fine.

cover it and then move on. We only two or three takes. Like being Rebecca's date scene on those dryers, that was a five minute scene and Rebecca and I did it three times. That was it. And that's how good she is that we could go and seen in the bed at the end. That's a one shot the entire thing. You don't move from us at all. There's no editing. And that was another one that she just came in and we just knocked it out in a

few takes. But that's what I think help when you bring up circling is the preparation in acting help and also the idea that when you're going in you can't overthink it.

Wendy White, the junior college reporter. But most people I brought in the crew she brought in, and when she was younger, she said, I wanted to be a matchmaker. That makes a ton of sense if you've ever met her seen her. She knew the right DP for me. She knew the right guys. She brought in this young crew and then as a fluke, our guy who liked the gaffer had to drop out. We got this other guy that she had worked with and he said, yeah, I know had a light noir and he just tossed

it off in one of our zoom meetings. But on the first day we were doing all the back room stuff. The back office was all shy back there in the first three days, and he took that light underneath and lit up those wires in the back that you see in my office and I go, this looks like Frankenstein's Layer. It's unbelievably cool. And he said, that's the thing about noir. When you think there shouldn't be a light behind you, you put it behind you. Just don't put it as

a shadow. You just point the light behind you somewhere else. And I thought, that's it pretty much. And we said it so casually, but it looked tremendous. Brian's just amazing.

see it it. My movie is one that in the first five minutes, if you're not in by the time Chris appears on street, if you're not in, then you're never gonna be in. Because my first set of jokes from Tinseltown to Night is very dark humor, and if you don't buy into it, then you're probably not gonna get the movie. But I thought, so I'm unapologetic about my tone. And then I thought, wait a minute. So as Star Wars, there's a slong scroll of this big story we never heard of. And then all of a sudden,

this guy that's all in black grams. The guy gills him. It looks it's insane, and they do the same thing, and I go, that's what all the good movies do. And Orson Wells said, if people aren't furious at your film and loving it, some loving it and some hating it, you didn't take a risk. And so I thought, Luckily, I've had people I think you'd agree with me. My acting is there, my writing is there, my cinematography is there, my sound is there, my special effects in terms of

practical with the puppet there. It's either not for you or it is free. I don't think anyone could come at me and go, you have crappy actors. There's huge whole plots, plot holes. I don't think people will come for me at that, but they might just say it's just not for me. It's not what I expected. It's not boobies and blood, and it's not terrifier by any means. But most people are getting it, which is great. They're saying it's a shlock movie framework, not that it is one.

It's a shlock movie framework with tons of heart and great characters. That's what I'm getting the most of, and I feel proud of that.

crude or anything. But they can lean into a little more adult the stuff because the band they are all adults. But it's so fun, has great heart and everything. But no, she I had that thing built by Eric Morn. Like I said, it was heavy, and I thought, oh, it might have to be gutted now that I'm giving it to a real puppeteer. Maybe it's too heavy, maybe it's this, maybe that, And it's like ten fifteen pounds and she just goes or put it on our lab and she

made that thing go. It was unbelievable. And I filmed it and my producers like, do we really want to pay him that much money to a puppeteer? And I went watch this and they are like okay, because to me, it's like, why would you don't want to cut back on the move et, don't go We're gonna spend money on everything but the creature. And it doesn't make sense. And she wasn't asking for anything, you swearing, but man, she would be laying there and I don't know if

you've ever seen the way the Muppets do it. They have a TV monitor right in front of them and they're watching what's going up in here. And they're moving to match something that is above them and in an opposite angle, which is insanity, makes no sense. And she was doing that with little iPhones and stuff. So then I finally said, listen, when it's your turn to do

a Crust scene, you are directing, period. And I would just turn the set over to her because it's something I don't know and I don't have an ego about it. I'm not gonna pretend I do. And I let her run the set when it was time, because she never ever was green screened out, not once. The only time that you see that stuff was our only VFX shot, But she never had greeting screen on anything. The only thing she might have had is maybe a few more socks down her arm. But she was hidden in every

single one of those shots, which is outreache. She's a huge talent, and Crust becomes a character because of that. We weren't looking at a tennis ball in a poll or a green treet. We were acting with Rust, and there was plenty to work off.

of tortuous women. It's a horror thriller which will be really fun, and we have iconic characters. Look, here's how I feel. When I went to my latest convention scare fests, there was Michael Myers, Freddie Krunker, Jason, and Art the Clown. I went, Okay, these are studios who know that horror is huge, who know these icons are huge, and they for twentyy some years couldn't come up with a new one. They just retreaded Freddie, Michael Myers, Jason, they just retread, retread.

It was the fans and a real special effects, a guy who knew that brought us the Clown. It wasn't even from the studio system now. And so I said, Okay, if Art the Clown can be the new Freddy, maybe Krust can be the new Gremlins. That's my hope, because I think that's the job of us is to create. And these sisters, you have no idea. They're mute and crazy, ones got a sickle, ones bald and talk. They're going to be iconic in their characterization. And I think that

that's what we need. We need new How many years can we keep wearing Chucky Freddy? It's the same, and then Chucky dB series. There's nothing fresh, there's nothing new, and young people are all over it. They're so happy. And then they keep telling me we grew up with corporate MCU, DC, BRED, Harry Potter and Star Wars. That's and every iteration of anything all is retreaded and remixed

and reunited and whatever. And they said, we don't have we didn't have Rocky Horde, we don't have Repoman, which if you saw all the plain labels on everything that was the information was Repo Man. And they go, we don't have anything like this. And I was at a screening with one of twenty somethings recently, and since this was made for you guys, you get to have your Freddy.

I remember seeing Jason the first time, I remember seeing Freddy the first It's great, it was exciting, and I want this for you guys, just like Terrifier is doing so well because of that. Oh, they're very happy that this younger generation is very in tune with their mental health and talking about mental health. Plus they don't get

anything weird and original. People my age, our age whatever, talking about how it feels like a lot of movies they've seen, but nothing they've ever seen, which is exactly what I intended. And the younger people are going, thank you for giving something weird and fun for us that's outside of the thing. And that's why they love the clown because it's theirs. It's their generation. It came out

during their young life, not their parents' young life. Oh let me turn you out down to fred that's your guy. Freddy is your guy? Where's my guy? Art the Silent is my guy? And hopefully they'll go and crust is mine too, So we'll see.

to be posting about it. But this web series, it's going to be dropped the week before Thanks Getting. Some people can pass it around with the family and make each other laugh. That psyche on Sunset dot Com and then everything else you can find out as Sean Whalen actor.

he got a buy. Leslie and Junior said on all his interviews, he said, I didn't know anything about Alexander Hamilton. Alls I knew was about that nineties milk commercial Joe it all the time, and so I called him and said, hey, man, Leslie's talking about Sean's commercial all the time and they're showing clips of this commercial. Wouldn't it be fun to have Leslie meet Sean in New York at one of the shows. It would be so fun, the guy who loved Alexander An all the whole thing, and it would

be great publicity. And they go, we're sold out for ten years. We don't any publicity. If we were like, how about for me? What do you people don't know about it? What he will would? Oh? That's great? So I DM Leslie and m JUNR a long time ago. Hand never responded, but I just said, hey, I'm that guy. Do you keep talking about? It's all my bucket lists to meet him and say thanks for mentioning.