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JUNE 23, 2015-WAYNE W. JOHNSON INTERVIEW WITH MONSTERDIGGARE.NET (Read)
To start things off, can you introduce yourself to the readers?
-My name is Wayne W. Johnson. I’m an actor as well as the singer / guitarist for the Melodic Hard Rock Band CAROLINE BLUE.
What is the best thing about working in horror?
I play the villain more often than the hero / victim in horror movies. Early on I learned that, in regards to my “type”, playing the role of a person who inflicts damage on others tends to flow better for me than playing a person who is having damage inflicted upon them. I’ve done both, but way more of the former than the later. One nice perk with that is, when filming at night in the cold, the killer is usually dressed nice and warm while the victims are in summer clothes. Of course, if it’s in the summer on a hot, humid day or night, then it’s reversed and I basically melt-but hey, no guts, no glory right? 🙂 Another nice perk is working with some really great make up / FX artists that help in the transformation from yourself into your character.
Why do you work in the film industry?
Acting, like music, grants me a great vehicle to honestly express myself and my creativity. In addition, IMO, the worst day filming is better than the best day doing the 9 to 5 (or 10-12 hour shifts) daily grind. 🙂
What are some of your upcoming projects?
In a week I’ll be playing the role of a killer named Reaper in a film called ‘Planewalker’ by Geoff Orlowski. Right after that, filming is scheduled to start for ‘Romeo 3000’ by Mad Angel Films in association with Yellowhouse CNY and WWJ Productions. I play the role of Tybalt in that, as well as being a co-writer of the script. After all that I’m slated to play the role of Voices The Clown in ‘Horace and Elmer in Barely Stoopid’ by Polonia Brothers Entertainment and Emerson McBride in the pilot episode of ‘Dimentions Unknown’ by Old Time Productions. Then I’m scheduled to play the role of Jake in ‘Nature of the Beast’ by Rising Fyre Productions. I’m sure there will be more to add in between all that in the coming months. If I can squeeze in some new music videos and songs from CAROLINE BLUE before years end, all the better 🙂
What was the project you learned the most from?
Every project, to me, is a learning experience-even if it’s just re-learning stuff, but seeing things thru new eyes based on further experience. I like to watch what other actors, and crew, are doing and work on adding to my acting toolbox continuously. I would say filming with ‘Night of Something Strange’ was one of the biggest lessons on several fronts.
What do you do to unwind and relax?
I’ll let you know when I get there (HA!) 🙂 Sleep is always a wonderful thing to get when I can…
How do you prepare for a role?
I’ll start by reading the entire script. Then I’ll start centering on my character in regards to look, speech, manner, etc. If there are a lot of lines, I’ll make an audio recording of the entire scene where all the parts are spoken except mine. When it gets to my part, I just say the name of the character so when I get to those points, I hit pause and say my line and continue. It’s a trick I picked up from someone I know who does a lot of theater. Of course, the best is to have someone reading the lines with you-especially if it’s the actual actor playing the part, but that doesn’t usually happen unless you have rehearsals and / or on the day of filming so…If I have the luxury of knowing the blocking and angles beforehand, I incorporate all that into the rehearsals. I usually don’t have that luxury though. 🙂 I also will rehearse in front of a mirror from time to time so I can get instant feedback on my delivery visually.
What advice would you give to someone wanting to try a career in acting?
-I’m still climbing the ladder myself so I’m not sure I’m the best to person to ask, but I know a few things. In brief…One-make sure this is really what you want to do and be prepared for the long haul-especially if you want to do it more than a hobby. You have to know where you want to go and believe in yourself to make it happen. Two-develop what I call your “armor.” No matter what you do or how good you are, there will be people who don’t like what you do-or just don’t like you period. It is what it is. Disregard any destructive criticism. Listen and consider constructive ones. Three-always work on improving your skills and reach. There are so many people who are not only going after the same roles you are, but who are better than you. Raise your level. It also helps to be aware of your “type” and center on that initially (you can work on other “types” later if you are able). Four-get your work out there and network as much as you can. Networking can be just as important as talent-sometimes more at times. Five-Get wise about business. It’s not a matter of “if” someone is gonna try to screw you over, it’s “when”-and how many times. At the very least know how to read a contract and know that, if you need a lawyer, you need one who specializes in entertainment, not real estate, criminal law or any other. Six-when on set, do your best and leave any bad attitudes / habits at home. How many times has a choice between two equally talented actors for a role been decided because one was likeable and easier to work with and the other was a pain? More than you think…
What scares you?
Seeing myself naked-do you wanna know how traumatizing that is? (HA!) Ask my girlfriend, she’ll tell ya 🙂
What motivates you?
I’m my harshest critic so I’m always trying to do the best I can be-and then raising the bar if / when I achieve it.
What is your favorite horror movie and why?
Believe it or not, for the longest time I wasn’t a fan of horror movies. It wasn’t until I started acting in them that I started to appreciate them more. Having said that, a few stick out in my mind. The original ‘Halloween’ freaked me out when I first saw it. I really liked ‘Evil Dead 2’ and even enjoyed the ‘Evil Dead’ reboot-I thought that was nice layer they added to Mia with the heroin addiction so that no one would believe her about what was happening till too late. Would it be too egotistical for me to say my favorite horror films are some of the ones I’m in? (HA!) 🙂
Your favorite song/band are?
I tend to be more a fan of songs than bands, per se. Having said that, my favorite band is KISS and there are so many songs that are tops for me like ‘A Million To One,’ ‘Magic Touch,’ ‘I Was Made For Lovin You,’ the whole Paul Stanley 1978 Solo album… I have a pretty wide range in terms of music I listen to, from rock to classical to pop to new age to dance to electronic to metal and so on, so my favorites outside of KISS tend to rotate more.
Favorite book?
I love the Discworld series by Terry Pratchett. I also enjoy reading about Acting , Music, Writing , KISS and Bruce Lee as well as Self-Help / Motivational books by people like Tony Robbins, Larry Winget, Jim Rohn and more.
Favorite animal?
Cats (although I love dogs too).
Favorite Drink / food?
Currently Peach Diet Snapple and Water / Chicken Alfredo and Subs-pizza too 🙂
If you could work with any actors or actresses who would they be and why?
Oh, there’s so many…IMO, Acting is-in large part- a give and take process involving the interaction with the people you work with in the scene as well as the environment via the script / set. Basically, if I can work with people who become their roles, as opposed to just “reading” them, I’m happy-cause now, potentially, we can really make something happen. The reverse is part of my job as well-to do the best I can to give the people I’m in the scene with as much to work with as possible. Obviously there are many more actors / actresses who do this on higher levels and I look forward to one day working with them and raising my game.
Where can we found out more about you and your work?
Several places (get ready… 🙂 )
-My personal website at https://waynewjohnson.com/
-On IMDB http://www.imdb.me/waynewjohnson
-On Facebook https://www.facebook.com/wwjofficial
-On Twitter https://twitter.com/wwj13
-On You Tube https://www.youtube.com/user/WWJOfficial
-On Instagram https://instagram.com/waynewjohnson/
-On LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/pub/wayne-w-johnson/24/30b/2a8
-On Google Plus https://plus.google.com/+WayneWJohnson/posts
What is the funniest and craziest you have done so far?
The craziest, and up there for funniest, would have to be while filming ‘Night of Something Strange.’ Defintely the hardest currently. I really hope there’s a blooper reel for this cause I got hit with a number of them-for your enjoyment of course 🙂 I subscribe to method acting so when playing a modern zombie I got into that mindset, which led to me either destroying stuff, hurting myself and / or unfortunately causing some harm to my fellow actors. The movie is very over the top with a twisted sense of humor-I mean, the zombie virus spread thru STDs kinda says it right there 🙂 You’ll have to watch the movie to see what I mean. It definitely has some ‘Evil Dead 2’ layers to it.
What is your personal definition of horror
Getting into an accident and realizing that you forgot to bring an extra pair of fresh underwear with you. 🙂
Who is your current inspiration?
My initial inspirations were Bruce Lee and Arnold Schwarzenegger, but more for their drive and determination than their acting (which I enjoyed BTW). Add Paul Stanley from KISS into that mix as well in regards to music and drive. They all still are, in general, as well as Ricardo Montalban’s performance as Khan in ‘Star Trek 2: The Wraith of Khan,’ Heath Ledger as The Joker in ‘The Dark Knight,’ Clint Eastwood, Johnny Depp, Robert Downey Jr. (‘Chaplin’ is awesome IMO), and many more.
In a lot of ways, either on my own or by suggestions from a director, I’ll watch stuff, at times, for inspiration per project. Some examples include the following….For my role as Dr. Mosku in ‘Zillafoot,’ I watched some of the original 1966 Ultra Man episodes-and kinda centered around episode #2. My role as ‘Draven’ in ‘Blessed Are The Meek’ / ‘Empire State of the Dead’ was inspired by watching Heath Ledger, Jack Nicholson and Mark Hamill (voice) as The Joker. For ‘Night of Something Strange’ director Jonathan Straiton had me check out two movies for my role as the lead zombie ‘Corneilus’-a modern Zombie. They were ’28 Weeks Later’ and ‘Dawn of the Dead’ (2004). And for ‘Tales of Dracula’ director had me watch Frank Langella’s version in ‘Dracula’ (1979), although I also studied the classic Dracula with Bela Legosi (1931) and some clips of Christopher Lee in the role as well. I then take that and mix it into my makeup and hopefully the results are, at least, entertaining 🙂
Favorite country or place?
Home (After that huge answer previously, it’s nice to have a quick short one right? 🙂 )
Did you know anything about Sweden?
Not much unfortunately, although one of my favorite bands, ABBA, is from there. I would love to go for a visit sometime…
Anything else you want to mention?
-I just want to say thank you very much for having me here-I hope I wasn’t too longwinded 🙂 Also a HUGE thank you to all the people who encourage and support what I do. It means the world to me and is most appreciated.
(And now…Shameless Promo Mode Engaged-HA!) 🙂
-Tales of Dracula DVD available via the link below for only $5.95
http://www.oldies.com/product-view/1095D.html
-Be on the look out for the following horror / monster films to be released soon…
-Night of Something Strange by WLPFilms / SRS Cinema LLC / Virtual Interactive
-She Kills by SRS Cinema LLC ( I have a small cameo role in it, but it’s a sister film to NoSS and should be watched before it 🙂 )
-Empire State of the Dead by SRS Cinema LLC
-Zillafoot by SRS Cinema LLC
-Brackish (remake) by Mad Angel Films
-Transformation by Hewitt Films
-The Dollmaker by Monstrous Entertainment / Stealing Shade Productions
Plus, here’s some clips you might want to check out 🙂
TALES OF DRACULA TRAILER
<iframe width=”560″ height=”315″ src=”https://www.youtube.com/embed/xw3tc1TFBOg” frameborder=”0″ gesture=”media” allow=”encrypted-media” allowfullscreen><!–iframe>
NIGHT OF SOMETHING STRANGE TRAILER
STAR TREK NEW VOYAGES: PHASE II-EPISODE “Mind Sifter”
LOCKED IN-FULL MOVIE
PICKLE TALK-EPISODE 1 (Totally In Character & Improvised 🙂 )
WAYNE W. JOHNSON 