'Night Before the Wedding' to 'Goodbye Promise'
Actor Gregor Collins speaks about his roles from Night Before the Wedding (2009) to Goodbye Promise (2010)
me: First, can you talk about Night Before the Wedding (2009) and your film Chloe and Keith's Wedding (2009) and how you managed to be in two wedding films at the same time?
Gregor: Ha - I can see how you would ask that! Night Before the Wedding is
totally separate from Chloe and Keith's Wedding - I happened to be cast
in CAKW a couple weeks after we wrapped NBTW. Total coincidence. But I
did start to think... "Is this a sign? Is this some twisted subliminal
hint that I, Gregor Collins, should get married soon, bizarrely
manifested through my harmless booking of films? Say it ain't so!!" I'd
have been worried if I was cast in a third wedding film, but I wasn't.
Sorry, Mom - grandmothering may not come for a while.
me: Okay, about Night Before the Wedding. There have been so many films about the archetypical American male bachelor party. What makes this one different in your mind?
Gergor: We have made a bachelor party movie you haven't quite seen before. While
others have explored murder (Very Bad Things) or over-the-top
laughs (Bachelor Party), we've crafted something somewhere in
between. We've explored the moral side of a bachelor party, and how ones
actions the night before their wedding could change the course of their
entire life. You're a fly on the wall to what really goes on at one of
these things. It's a movie made for guys, about guys, but there are
surprising sensitive girlie moments you don't see coming. And be
prepared for an ending you probably didn't expect!
me: Your next film with director David Branin is Goodbye Promise expected out this fall. I've seen the preivew for this and it looks like a film that any of us in the film industry, or any of us with a dream for that matter, would relate to. Can you speak to us about it?
Gregor: David Branin and I are in post on a film called "Goodbye Promise." (www.goodbyepromise.com).
I produced/starred. The premise: My character gave himself 7 years to
become a movie star. The film opens up 7 days before his deadline, and
no one knows who the f*^@ he is. He's back where he started. He now just
has a few people he needs to talk to before he quits his dream.
This will appeal to anyone who's ever pursued a dream. The entire
film is improv, and shot ultra-ultra-low budget-style using only natural
lighting. We worked from an outline David and I put together based on
our own real life struggles in the entertainment business. Initially we
thought to ourselves... 'Most movies are about keeping the dream alive,
and finding hope in the midst of deprivation, but what about the movies
about the guy who actually quits? Isn't that more realistic and
ultimately appealing?'
me: Super! Im anxious to see that film. Now, on a totally different note. I understand you, like myself, are a novelist. Can you tell us about your new book?
Gregor: Totally unrelated to acting, I've written my
first book, about my adventures during the week with a very special 94
year old lady from Austria. I could go on for, well, pages, about this
woman and our unlikely relationship, so I'll end it here. I hope to tell
you about her one day soon.
me: Thanks, Gregor. Ill look out for your upcoming film and Ill be waiting for my free signed copy of your book in the mail! :-D
Gregor: (LOL) ...If you'd like to check out our trailers, please visit www.nightbeforethewedding.com,
and www.goodbyepromise.com.
'Night Before the Wedding' is screening next in New York City at the
Anthology Film Archives, on September 24th, at 7:30pm. I will be flying
in for it, and I hope to meet you there!
Interview by, Vanessa McMahon
Gregor Collins, actor and novel writer.
