We Talk Going To America With Actor Dave Vescio

Can you tell us a about “Going to America” and your role in the film?

Yeah, definitely! GOING TO AMERICA is a hilarious story about two lunatics who decide to break out of the mental asylum to rescue a princess to win a magical kiss. It stars Eddie Griffin, Josh Meyers, Najarra Townsend, Mindy Robinson, & Penny Marshall. And Eddie & Josh are the lunatics of the story, and Eddie’s character thinks he’s a freakin prince and my prostitute is his freakin princess. So, my character is not too happy about any of this. Ha, ha. The film also won fifteen awards in this year’s film festival circuit. So, it’s totally making a splash! And starting today, August 28th, AMC Theaters is premiering it in sixteen cities. And I’m the lead villain of the movie. So, definitely check it out if you’re into dark comedies with inspirational messages!


What is your challenge in finding the character?

First off, the role was just given to me, and it’s a comedy role, and I’m just not a comedic actor at all. So, honestly, I was literally shocked that I was given the role in the first place. But, my character Rocco is the villain of the story, so, I just prepared myself like it was a drama villain, because that’s all I know as an actor. But, I get on set with all of this dramatic preparation, so, let’s just say that my preparation did not work at all. Ha, ha. So, now, I’m just pulling shit out of my ass & trying to keep up with these super talented comedic actors like Eddie, Josh, & Najarra. Doing comedy was truly a challenge for me, and I honestly don’t know if I’m funny or not. But, the movie did win all those awards, so, maybe I am. We will see, won’t we! wink emoticon


What is the most enjoyable about developing that character?

I honestly enjoyed watching Eddie & Josh become these hilarious characters on set. They are so great at what they do. No matter what they do, they are always funny! So, like I said before, I was just trying to keep up with them all; just trying to do the best that I can and learn as fast as I can on how to approach acting as a comedic actor versus a dramatic actor.


We always hear that playing a villain is fun, what other type of role would be interesting to you?

Do I love playing dramatic villains? 100%. Is it always fun to do? Hell no. Not even close. It is so fucking hard to do. Because to do a drama scene, you actually have to feel the actual emotions that your character is feeling, so, if the character is angry, well, I’m angry for real and so on and so on with every single emotion from mad, glad, sad, to even fear. And when I have to cry on set, I’m literally in a very painful place and crying real tears out of my eyes. Plus, I do my own stunts, and I always tend to get somewhat injured or bruised in these stunt situations because I’m trying to make it look and feel so fucking real to the audience, meaning, I’m taking the hits and the falls for real. So, trust me, it’s not always fun to do. Now, what’s FUN to do is to see how this real life creation that I’ve created totally affects the world’s audience. And that’s when I realize how much power I actually have at scaring the crap out of them, or getting them to despise me or hate me, and sometimes they literally come up to me after the red carpet premiere and tell me that they want to kick the crap out of me or run me over with a fucking truck. So, to me, that’s the most fun part of all; I made them believe that I’m that character for real! smile emoticon

And honestly I’m not interested in being anything else but the villain or the antagonist. As you may know, I’m a real life villain and I my goal is to bring that actual truth to the big screen and to the small screen. And I want to be the best of the best in the world at playing indie film villains. I also want to expose the truths of what real life villains are like to the world as well, so, it will teach the right morals to the world once again; just like fairy tales of the past once did with the newborn generations. Because let me tell you, criminals are always stalking and preying on you, and they usually do it when you least suspect it, meaning, you won’t actually know that you’re the prey until it’s way too late. And the more the audience knows how real life criminals think, act, & look like, well, the better they’ll be able to stop these types from doing whatever it is that they’re trying to do to you or to your loved ones or to your friends / next door neighbors.


You do get cast in films with a lot of award winning actors, what is that like?

It’s fucking awesome! I’ve only been acting in indie films since 2004, and being cast with these award winning actors is like being in the best acting school there is. They are always constantly teaching me how to be the best actor that I can be. And the more I do this and work opposite of these veteran actors, the better I get. And don’t get me wrong, I also get to work with a lot of award winning directors as well, so, they are always teaching me as well. Let’s just say that working in these movies with all these award winning actors / directors is like the best apprenticeship that any actor can ever ask for. I just love it all! And I’m very, very grateful for it as well. I never imagined that I would be at this level as an actor, because I started so late in life. I started acting at the age of 32 versus my competition all started as kids or teenagers, so, I’m very, very grateful for this experience.


Are there any interesting stories you can share?

That’s a tough question. Hmm. Well, every veteran actor brings a different acting technique to their performance. So, Lance Henriksen is so Method where you honestly don’t know who the character is or who Lance actually is. He’ll honestly stay in character on set, off set, shoot anywhere you see him. So, you just don’t know who is who, because he loves living in that imaginary world 24-7. Then you have actors who love to play mind games with you to see if they can throw you off a bit or create an emotion in you that may or may not make you a better actor. And I love that kind of stuff as well, because I was taught about five years ago by a highly successful CEO that when you reach the top levels in any career path, the only thing that is separating yourself from your competitors is the mind games that you play on one another, because the talent is pretty much the same at those top levels. So, if veteran actors are playing mind games with me, well, that’s just telling me that they fear me somehow someway, and I need to take that as a compliment. Ha, ha. What else? Well, I’ve gotten star struck twice on set before. Once with Blake Lively in my movie HICK and again with Kate Beckinsale in a movie that I wish not to promote because they cut my scenes out of the movie. But, I got so star struck that I honestly did not know how to react with these beautiful actresses off set. I was like a complete idiot. I’m such a moron sometimes.


Did your training in a theater company provide you with a foundation for acting in films?

Yes it definitely did. David Mamet’s acting conservatory is an offshoot of his theatre company called the Atlantic Theater Company. And the biggest lesson in this acting conservatory is to create your own game versus to play the game. Mamet’s instructors are always teaching us to form our own theatre companies or to create our own films, and teaching us, that we’re more then just actors for hire who have to audition for roles. We’re actually the leaders of our own Art as well, meaning, we’re the ones in charge of getting the audience to the theatre show or to the indie film by doing our own marketing, advertising, and publicity. So, that’s what I do with all of my indie films that I perform in. I promote the hell out of them with my social media pages, with my mass email campaigns, to even doing press interviews like this. So, studying at Mamet’s conservatory was the best thing that I ever did with my acting career. Plus, Mamet created his own acting technique and I tend to use that in all of my dramatic performances as well. So, it was win-win for me to attend a theatre company acting school versus a typical acting school. But, at the same time, I only like to study with the best of the best, meaning, people who actually do this for a living at the highest levels, and my most favorite acting teachers at Mamet’s acting school were the actors who actually acted on Broadway or Off-Broadway or just created their own plays & indie films instead. The instructors at the Atlantic Theater Company Acting School definitely taught me the skill sets on how to become the best indie film actor that I can be. And if you’re an actor and you haven’t read David Mamet’s acting book TRUE AND FALSE: HERESY AND COMMMON SENSE FOR THE ACTOR, I highly recommend that you do. It will change your career for the better. There’s a reason why he won the Pulitzer Prize as well as got Oscar nominations, Golden Globe nominations, Primetime Emmy nominations, as well as Tony nominations. He’s a freakin genius!


How did it and what are the differences from the stage and screen?

Stage acting and screen acting is so different because it actually takes place in totally different environments. Stage acting is a story that is told from beginning to end without any pauses and no re-starts. You get only one chance to tell your story to the paying audience. Plus, the audience is sitting in seats that are either very close to the stage or very far away from the stage. So, now, you have to do bigger movements & facial gestures and your voice has to be heard throughout this whole space as well to make sure that the audience members who sit in the very back can actually see & hear the play as well. Plus, you actually rehearse the play for at least four weeks if not longer before you actually perform it for the paying audience. Versus screen acting is the exact opposite in every single way possible. It’s totally shot out of order and you do the same scene over and over and over again until you actually get it right, because there is no rehearsal process for screen acting at all. So, when you shoot the scene over and over again, well, that’s the actual rehearsal process of screen acting. And your voice, physical movements, & gestures have to be like real life, not exaggerated in anyway, well, unless it’s a comedy. So, stage acting & screen acting are totally different in every way possible.


What projects are you working on that we can look forward to?

I actually got done performing in a crime thriller movie called WOLF MOTHER starring Golden Globe nominee Tom Sizemore & Najarra Townsend. It’s a fucked up crazy story about a famous child star actress who gets kidnapped and sold into a sex trafficking ring and the realities of that world, and let’s just say that I’m the twisted villain of this fucked up storyline. It’s very, very dark indeed. I also did a movie called BEREAVE starring Malcolm McDowell & Jane Seymour. Now, this indie film is actually kicking ass & taking names in the film festival circuit right now. So far we’ve won thirteen awards and been nominated for another nineteen awards in just fourteen different film festivals. And my horror movie MUSE is getting ready to start the film festival circuit this coming year. So, I have lots of different kinds of films coming out in movie theaters within the next year or so.

And if you haven’t seen my indie films HICK or THE ODD WAY HOME, I highly, highly recommend that you see them. My cult film HICK stars Oscar winner Eddie Redmayne, Chloe Grace Moretz, Blake Lively, Alec Baldwin, & Juliette Lewis. And it’s a real life story about a thirteen year old girl who decides to run away from home and the realities of what actually happened to her living as a young naïve child in an adult’s world without having a mom or a dad protecting her. And my movie THE ODD WAY HOME starring Dancing With The Star’s winner Rumer Willis & Chris Marquette is a very touching story about the emotional abuses that disabled adults & children have to go through in this world by so called normal people. It’s totally messed up if you ask me. I hate that we live in a world that judges people by just how they look it’s fucking stupid. And let me tell you, disabled adults & children are the most kindest people I have ever met on this planet. They give you so, so much love and all they ever ask for in return is that you see them as normal as well. It’s a deeply emotional story that will definitely change the way you see yourself in this world. I highly recommend it!