Breaking The Fourth Wall, continued
and facets in terms of film. I
knew personally as a director
that Gerald was someone that
just had it. I don’t know how to
explain it There’s certain people
that are actors and you can look
at and just know that they have
this God given talent; and that
was Gerald.
SM: What was the dynamic like
on set? Like on day one, the
whole crew being there, having
the actual person Antonio
Servidio whom the movie is
based upon as the executive
producer, and then bringing in
this superstar musician who’s
never acted before. What was
that like directing on this set,
with all of these different people.
SD: Well, it’s not my first time at
the rodeo; in terms of that. What
I will say is that what our biggest
challenge is because Gerald
obviously with promoting his new
record and so on and so forth,
I only had one conversation
with Gerald. That was over the
phone in terms of the material
and the content and the script.
The highlight of our production
is that we had Gerald the night
before at our hotel. He had flown
back from Sweden or Norway
the night before we shot. I
know with Gerald’s schedule,
he was booked out until 2017.
He literally had three days off in
order to do the project. I think
from my directorial standpoint
is that we were working very
organically and very swift but
we knew that we had to get all
of our content in within these
three days because on the
fourth day we would lose him.
There was no moment for error
or pickup shots. We had to get
one hundred percent of what we
had. We genuinely had a very
strong script with a lot of scenes.
I am going to put Tuffy [Wiliams]
on the phone. Ben [Guppy], Tuffy
and Ethan [Kaslow] were the
ones that controlled that while
I was working with Gerald and
our other actors.
TW: I’m Tuffy, I’m the producer.
Like Sarah was saying, we only
had three days with G, so there
was no room for error. To be
able to pull off so many setups
and different scenes, and looks,
and periods of time, we went
from ’93 to present day, for of
all that to come together in
22 | THE POWER ISSUE
three days was fascinating for
me. And also to be able to see
G be able to pull that off, having
never done anything like this.
With a million things on his mind.
His album wasn’t out yet. We
were just getting him in right
before his huge tour. He had
a million things going on but
he was able to put on a whole
different hat immediately. To
see that dynamic, and how his
relationship with Sarah worked
well, right from the get-go and
also being pretty authentic to
Tony. Seeing him embrace the
Johnny Russo character.
SM: They do have a lot of
similarities, which I am sure only
enhanced his acting, pulling in
from his own experiences. You
also worked with some other
big names on this project as
well, David LaBrava and Robert
Miano. Were there previous
projects that you had worked
on with them that led up to
them being involved with Tunnel
Vision?
SD: Personally, as a director, and
an overall human being, I have
always been infatuated with Kurt
Sutter and his writing. I think Sons
of Anarchy was probably one of
the most brilliant shows ever put
on television, ever. I love the fact
that FOX took a risk with the
content, the material and really
showcased some great work. In
being a fan of that show, for me
personally, I’ve always wanted
to be a part of that. I’ve always
said I want to be around Kurt
Sutter, or I want to work with one
of the actors. David [LaBrava]
was somebody basically that
I went to Tony and I told him I
had met David a few years prior,
and David hasn’t done any kind
of work in front of H