The time it was about Bad Samaritan

Once upon a time, I got an email invite to the LA press conference for David Tennant’s upcoming movie, Bad Samaritan.  I read the email, probably screamed and then deleted it.  I’m pretty sure we all know how much I adore him, but I figured there was absolutely no way I would get approved to attend.

So, in case you didn’t know, once you’re approved for press for SDCC {or any other con for all I know}, you get all sorts of press invitations.  I’m talking 10-20 emails a day and anything from “watch this dvd” to “read this comic” to “this <enter random event> is happening”. I usually don’t even open them because I haven’t had the best luck getting approved for media things.  I’m guessing it’s because my outlet {this blog} is primarily about books.

But I digress.

I told Hubs about it later in the afternoon and he encouraged me to respond and request to attend.  He figured the worst thing they could do was not reply or deny, but without emailing, how would I know.  So, I did and after a quick email exchange, I was approved and confirmed.

now, before i get into the recap part of it, check out this trailer.

looks creepy and amazing, right?

of course it goes without saying that we were able to get things worked out to go.  Thankfully it was on a Saturday, so all of the plans we had were quickly cancelled and we headed up to Hollywood.  We grabbed breakfast and then headed over to the London West Hollywood to check in.

We were a little early, but we weren’t the only ones who were waiting in the lobby.  They started checking people in around 9:45.  When I got up to the counter, the woman behind the desk didn’t have my info on the list.  There was another woman who was standing by and told her to just write me in.  As the first woman was taking my information, the second woman introduced herself as the person I had been emailing with at the beginning.

We shook hands and I thanked her for approving me. After we were all set up, we headed back to our couch to wait for the theatre to open. Annnnnnnnnnnnnd while we were waiting, David walked by us and he smiled at me and I died.

We were let into the theatre at 10.  I grabbed seats, Hubs grabbed some coffee, and we settled in to wait until it started. Everything was scheduled to start at 10:30 and just before that time, a woman came in and said things were running about 5 minutes behind and the talent would be coming in shortly.

And exactly 5 minutes later, everyone was introduced: writer Brandon Boyce, actors Robert Sheehan and David Tennant, and director/producer Dean Devlin.

The screening had happened a few days prior, so this was literally just a Q&A session.  The entire thing lasted 30 minutes and it was pretty much non-stop talking.  Instead of transcribing the entire thing, I’m going to share a couple of the questions and responses.

David, were you looking for a dark character to play and what work did you do to delve into Cale’s psyche?

DT: I love the idea that you think I might be in some way tactical. That I’m looking for something specific. I just got this script and I thought this is an amazing set up and an amazing story and a bonkers character. So, I jumped at the chance, really. I wasn’t angling to play a psychotic monster. It was rather delicious exploring those darker corners of the human psyche, of course. I had been reading up on psychopaths in recent history because I played another one for Marvel, so I dusted them down a little bit and did a little more reading around that subject.

RS: What was that book you were reading while we were shooting?

DT: It was something Brandon gave me.

BB: The Wisdom of Psychopaths

DT: There’s lots to read out there and then you just have to set yourself free into this character and try and find the empathy, which was hard for a man who has none.

Brandon, can you talk about what the peanut butter and chocolate was for putting together this story?

BB: Most of my stories are about jamming two things together, but it certainly started with the idea of the technology perspective of giving your keys to a valet, which we do in Los Angeles maybe a few times a day, and what you’re really handing that person. And then once that person is in your car and you have GPS and there’s a home button or an address with the registration to get to the house. Then there’s an automatic garage door opener and no one ever locks the door to the kitchen and now there in your house.

That was the the start of the idea. Then I thought wouldn’t it be interesting if it got turned around and the person who was breaking in had his life completely blown open. What would it take to make that happen? It would take a very smart psychopath and it would take — from Robby’s perspective — someone I would really care about, even if they shouldn’t be breaking into houses.

DT: Is that a thing that — well, sorry, I know I’m not meant to be asking questions —

BB: Yes, David?

DT: Is there any proof that this has really happened with valets? When I read this, I was like “Of course. Of course this must happen all the time!”

BB: It did happen. I remember there was a story that one of my reps sent me shortly after it happened. I thought “Oh no, it happnened and it’s going to take all of the thunder out of our story.”

DT: So, it might become a thing now and it’ll be all your fault.

RS: There’s a little indictment from all valets from this movie.

BB: Or every valet is going to mess with my car from now unitl eternity.

For Dean, what was it about Robert and David’s work that made you want to cast them?

DD: Here’s the thing and this is 100% honest. There comes a time when you see things on television or movies and you kind of lust, like “Man, wouldn’t it be great if I could get these guys?” Both of these actors were my dream choices. What happens when you do a movie is that you put your dream choices up and then you put up the “If I can’t get them, this is who I will settle for.”

There used to be a joke in Hollywood: a guy says “I’ve got De Niro staring in my movie.”

“Robert De Niro?”

“No, Murrary De Niro, but he’s really good.”

In the case of Robby, I had gone crazy over him in the TV series Misfits. My wife and I would watch the show and talk about how he was going to be a gigantic star. I did another movie a couple of years ago and I wrote the part for Robby. I was fortunate enough to get him to do it. As we started working, I realized the depth of his skill level and I got really excited about it and slipped him the script and told him he had to do it.

With David, I’m just crazy about all of his work. I’ve never seen an actor — you know, normally, when an audience falls in love with an actor playing a certain part, they’ll tolerate or even admire them doing something different. But they always want them to just do the thing they fell in love with. David is one of the few people I’ve seen where they fell in love with him in Doctor Who and they also fell in love with him in Broadchurch and they also fell in love with him on Jessica Jones. Three totally different characters and I’ve never seen that before.

When I went to ask David to be in the movie, I was trying to pretend like I was a sophisticated director. We were doing a Skype call and two minutes in, I started fanboying and asking about the TARDIS. It was just embarrassing.

DT: If I remember correctly, you were wearing a Doctor Who shirt, so you weren’t working very hard at being sophisticated.

DD: Not only was I wearing a Doctor Who shirt, you pointed out that it was the logo for the Eleventh Doctor.

DT: And I nearly hung up there and then.

huge thanks to everyone that I emailed with and talked to.  This was an amazing opportunity and I can’t wait to see the movie. the trailer, top still photo and links to the tickets were all provided by Legion M and Electric Entertainment.

Bad Samaritan opens today and you can get your tickets here!

Two young men who valet cars at a local restaurant develop a clever scam to burglarize the houses of the restaurant’s customers. Things go smoothly until one robs the wrong customer and discovers a woman being held captive. Afraid of going to prison, he leaves the woman and returns the car to the restaurant. Filled with guilt, he makes a call to the police, who find nothing when they investigate. Now, the valet must endure the wrath of the kidnapper who seeks revenge on him, all while desperately trying to find and rescue the captive woman he left behind.

official website | instagram | twitter | #badsamaritan

Now, what do you think of this movie? Will you be seeing it? Who is your favorite Doctor?