Masked Cast Interview: Michael Reiser

Michael Reiser plays Tony Dewhurst in Masked. (Tony's character is based on Lord Anthony Dewhurst. Like you couldn't have figured that out...)

From his bio on our website--

Michael Reiser considers the Scarlet Pimpernel to essentially be the Batman of the late 1700's, and is excited to see the story get merged into today's society. Michael is a recent grad of Missouri State University where he got his BFA in Acting. Michael was heavily involved with student films at MSU, co-founded the premiere improv troupe at MSU: Missouri State Improv, and participated in mainstage productions such as Our Town where he portrayed George Gibbs and Man/Daniel in Almost, Maine. He is excited to continue pursuing his acting career in Los Angeles, CA where he will be stationed at the beginning of 2016.

Michael is the second oldest in a family of 7, and has a soft spot for his puppies Lucy Lu and Molly Mae, both proud Boston Terriers. When Michael isn't on camera you can find him partaking in shenanigans with friends and cracking the worst pun you've ever heard. To get in touch and up to date with all his projects check out his website: www.michaelareiser.com.

Michael has the distinction of being the very first person to respond to our casting call back at the end of the winter (has it been that long??? wow), and as soon as the casting team saw his video audition, we were completely convinced that we'd found Tony.  He's been a great sport throughout all the ups and downs of filming this project, and has been exceptionally dedicated to focus and details.  It's been fun to work with him and I'm positive that you'll all enjoy his performance!  (By the way, if you're a fan of literary web series in general, you may have spotted Michael in Grimm Reflections, where he plays the Huntsman.)  

Also, he was homeschooled. Fun fact. :P  (I get way too excited when I find out people were/are homeschooled... sheesh, there are far too few of us in the world.)

So! Interview!

How’d you get interested in acting?  

My parents were involved with the arts and so I did my very first stage production at the age of 9. I guess it just stuck with me!

What was your favorite scene to shoot? 

My favorite scene to shoot was my date scene! It was my first time on set with the crew and I loved the script, so it was a blast!


What was the hardest scene to shoot? 

Definitely the scene where I am in my pajamas, haha. The most difficult was probably the scene when Angelo comes to Drew's house. It was the most dramatic scene I was a part of, and while I love doing it, living in those circumstances can be hard.

What do you like best about Tony's character? What do you find the most interesting? 

I love his demeanor and his commitment to his friends. He really loves them, and has a high sense of loyalty. The most interesting was how he dealt with hard situations and just how little finesse he had in those situations.

What’s been the biggest challenge for you with this role? 

The biggest challenge for me was working the balancing act he had when dealing with tough situations. Doing what I can  to keep those moments honest and real.


How’d you find out about The Scarlet Pimpernel? Have you read any of the books or seen the films prior to this project? 

I had heard of the musical adaptation before, but I never saw the movie until I heard about the auditions; and as of yet I still haven't read the book all the way through, haha.


If you could play any role in any movie, play, TV show, etc., ever, who would it be? 

Spiderman. It's a theory of mine that the reason they've done so many reboots because they haven't cast me as Spiderman yet, haha.

What do you hope people will take away from your performance in the show? 

Well, I hope they liked it! If I could make one person feel something or affect them in some way, that is what I love about acting.


What else have you appeared in, to date? If people would like to watch another of your performances, where should they go? 

I'm going into filming in October for a film, and I have a couple projects currently in post. They are welcome to go to my website to look at some of my other projects! www.michaelareiser.com

Masked Cast Interviews: Arthur Clifford (Paul Reynard)

Arthur Clifford plays Paul Reynard in Masked.  

(Paul's character is based on Citizen Armand Chauvelin.)

From his bio on our website--

Arthur found acting later in life, but at the age of 33 started to become involved with theater because of his son's involvement at The Culture House. Luckily, he was given an opportunity to audition for The King and I and was cast as the Kralahome. Once he got on stage and found out how fun entertaining people is, he changed from a sports-only person to someone who really loves and enjoys the arts. Some of his favorite roles have been Marcellus in The Music Man, Lazar Wolf in Fiddler on the Roof and Monsieur Thenardier in Les Miserables.  Arthur is married to Kerstin who is an amazing person and not only puts up with him, but actually loves him despite the fact that mentally he's still 14. His son is pursuing a BFA in Musical Theater at UCM in Warrensburg, MO. In his free time Arthur is a Jayhawk, Royals and Chiefs fan, and last year got to knock a bucket list item off by going to the World Series. Let's hope he can do it again this year!

Arthur was the very last principal actor to be cast in the show, and found our casting call through a friend's recommendation.  At the time of his casting, we were literally down to the wire before shooting was to begin, and a bit apprehensive about casting such an important character in such a last-minute fashion.  But his audition seriously impressed our casting team, so we went for it.  I actually ended up interviewing Arthur over the phone while I was on vacation with Melody (so professional, I know :P) and was incredibly pleased by how well he seemed to understand the character, so I offered him the role-- and he proceeded to blow us all away with his interpretation of Paul.  I'm thrilled to have him as part of this show and I think you're all going to be delighted by his portrayal of the guy everyone loves to hate.  (He's really a very nice person though.  Despite Paul being Very Decidedly Not.)  It was great to work with him and he did a fantastic job of juggling commitments to this show along with appearing in a large-scale production of Into the Woods at the same time.  (Now that's dedication!)

Okay, so, here's what I asked him and what he said.

How’d you get interested in acting?

Actually it was my son who got me into acting. He started going to The Culture House (which is a performing arts academy in Olathe) when he was 9. He had done a couple of musicals there and fell in love with theater. When I got the chance to get out on stage with my son, I jumped at the chance to see what it was all about. I never though I could be a person who could perform in front of people because I am naturally introverted, but I auditioned for The King and I and got a lead as the Kralahome. I was so nervous about the very first show, but as soon as the scene started I went into my character and transformed from myself to someone else. That feeling is why I fell in love with acting and why I still pursue it today.

What was your favorite scene to shoot?

I would have to say the last night of filming because I really enjoyed working with Alexandra Rovirosa. Getting to work with her has been a real treat because she is an amazingly talented actress but she's also goofy and fun to get to know in between takes. We had so much fun and at one point she burst into song and had us all cracking up.

 

What was the hardest scene to shoot?

It was the first scene I did. We filmed at my house and in the scene I was supposed to be talking to the character Margot on the phone. I have never done film work before and I knew my lines, but if you have never acted in front of a camera it can be more intimidating than a theater full of people. I started to freeze and my mind went blank on when I was supposed to come in on my lines and then I kept forgetting my lines. Luckily there was a wall off camera where I could tape up my script and remind me of my lines as I "acted" like I was listening to her. It was a life saver and as I got more comfortable with the camera the day went a lot better and we got through 3 scenes that day.

What do you like best about Paul's character? What do you find the most interesting?

I like Paul because he's a bad guy, it's always more fun when you get to be the bad guy, but Paul is also interesting because there are some different levels to him. He tends to blend in and smuggle drugs under the radar so he has to be an actor himself so that people don't suspect him of anything. He shows his dark side and his creepiness throughout the show, but he has to fool Margot to get what he wants. 

What’s been the biggest challenge for you with this role?

Getting used to film work. When you are on stage it's pretty easy to stay in character because you rehearse and play the character over and over. When you film it could get weeks in between shoots and sometimes it's difficult to remember what you did before and how you played the character. 

Have you read any of the Scarlet Pimpernel books or seen the films prior to this project?

I have never been exposed to The Scarlet Pimpernel, I watched some on youtube, but I have never watched the movies or read the books. Because this was a modern adaptation I wanted to create my character without influence of the books or movies.  

If you could play any role in any movie, play, TV show, etc., ever, who would it be?

I love comedies so I immediately thought of King Arthur in Spamalot, but after thinking about it if I could be anything in Star Wars that would be the ultimate for me. I am such a Star Wars geek and I can't wait for December 18th.

What do you hope people will take away from your performance in the show?

I hope that people will appreciate all of the hard work that has been put into this project. Everyone involved from Amy and Sydney to the crew and other actors has put their hearts and soul into this. I have only been involved for the past few months but this has been in the works for a long time and I am so proud to be apart of it.

Arthur as Monsieur Thenardier in Les Mis

What else have you appeared in, to date? If people would like to watch another of your performances, where should they go?

I have been in several theater shows with both The Culture House and Jewish Community Center. Some of my favorite roles has been Monsieur Thenardier in Les Mis, Marcellus in Music Man and I just got done being Milky White the Cow in Into the Woods. But If you want to watch my other performances you would have to come to my house and watch the DVDs of the theater shows. You bring the popcorn and I'll supply the entertainment!!! But hopefully we do another season of Masked and you can see more of me then.

Thanks for joining us here today, Arthur! Everyone, stay tuned for more interviews featuring other members of our cast!

Masked Cast Interviews: Isabella Rovirosa

Isabella Rovirosa plays Suzanne James in Masked.   (Suzanne's character, for the curious, is based partly on Armand St. Just and partly on Suzanne de Tournay in the original novel.)

From her bio on our website--

A high school student and drama queen extraordinaire, Isabella has had many varied roles in plays over the years.  Masked marks her screen debut, following appearances in such productions as Ms. Scrooge, Pajama Party and It's a Wonderful Life: The Musical, etc.  Isabella has been a devoted fan of The Scarlet Pimpernel since 2012 when she first saw the film starring Anthony Andrews and Jane Seymour, and she is overjoyed to be a part of reinventing this classic story for a modern audience.

When she's not acting, singing or orchestrating shenanigans (a hobby at which she excels), Isabella enjoys fangirling over Doctor Who and Sherlock, dabbling in art, reading good books, dancing anywhere and everywhere, making her famous pancakes and doing flawless impressions of Miranda Sings and Martha Mahinsky.  She's a little bit bonkers... but then, all the best people are.  

Isabella (Belle, or Martha, or the child... or whatever I choose to call her as the fancy strikes me) is kindly joining me here today for an interview! I've known Belle since she was... um, a good bit younger than she is now... and I'm proud to call her my friend as well as my colleague in putting together this show!  She's extraordinarily talented, basically born to play the role of Suzanne, and I'm really thrilled to have her as part of this project.  (Also, she has the most utterly amazing hair I have ever had the privilege of seeing in real life.  Seriously what even.  Like Rapunzel or something.)

Now, without further ado, The Interview.

How’d you get interested in acting?

Well I originally fell in love with acting around three or four, but (besides being a little four-year-old diva at home ;)) my family and I performed for three years solid all over the U.S. Then I joined a drama group a year or two back and did plays with that group. Then I moved on to community theater, did plays there and others here and there, but mostly community theater. And of course Masked. :) And then on the side projects...

What was your favorite scene to shoot?

Honestly any scene where I can eat cake, pretzels, etc. I get so hungry while on set, I don't know what it is. :)

What do you like best about Suzanne's character? What do you find the most interesting?

Suzanne's character has definitely developed a lot since when I was first cast for her. She relates to me a lot I think, and I relate to her. I like the independent vibe she has and how she strives to make everything right and encourage people to follow their dreams. She's a very big believer in that.

What’s been the biggest challenge for you with this role?

Understanding the characters and trying to bring them to life on screen.

How’d you find out about The Scarlet Pimpernel? Have read any of the books or seen the films prior to this project? 

Well, the 1982 movie was a girls' night classic in our family, and I have read the first book.  Very good book, very much recommend.

If you could play any role in any movie, play, TV show, etc., ever, who would it be?

Probably the villain or misunderstood character, it would be so much fun building layers to those kind of characters. I would definitely love to be in a movie based off of a really good book for sure! But probably more of an adventure type book. :)

What do you hope people will take away from your performance in the show? 

I hope they can really relate to Suz and the other characters on the show, and be able to relate the story to the TSP story for sure! I also really hope they enjoy the modern aspects to it.

What was the hardest scene to shoot?

There were no extremely hard scenes to shoot that I was a part of, but we did have some difficult ones. There was one difficult one that comes to mind... but that would be giving away the story ;)

(note from Amy: I know what she's talking about and just wait until you see the footage. ;))

What are you most looking forward to in the future of the show?

Developing the characters into the characters we all see in our heads and watching them grow through the series. I'm also excited to see what happens in the later episodes and what the final product is, and of course hoping everyone enjoys it.

(I made her promise not to give away any spoilers... so yes, that last answer is purposefully vague!)

You can follow Isabella on Twitter, and check out her character Suzanne's Tumblr if you care to!

Six days till the pilot premieres!

Interview With An Acclaimed Authoress {and a giveaway!}

Today, lovely people, I have the great honor of hosting an authoress in our midst! Miss Jessica Greyson, author of the newly-released Annabeth's War and writer of the delightful blog Safirewriter, has consented to an interview here at Yet Another Period Drama Blog in celebration of her new book.  I started reading Jessica's blog about six months ago at my sister's recommendation and I've been hooked ever since... so will you be, too, once you get a taste of this girl's writing!

You have no idea how insanely excited I am that you're releasing Annabeth's War... what was the prompt to launch your own self-publishing project? 

 I've dreamed of being published ever since I started my first little stories. My plans were to go through a traditional publisher and become rich and famous…er…something like that. Maybe not the rich and famous part, but at least published. I've had a few mentors along the way and shortly after I finished my first real novel (I Am Louisa) I happened to attend a seminar given by Denis Hensley. After that first seminar I was positive I was ready to meet the world and be published (please forgive my ignorance - this was about five years ago I KNEW NOTHING). However as I began editing I became discouraged, and after sharing the first chapter with someone whose opinion I highly valued, I was crushed and just went back to scribbling. 

Through the years of my scribbling I kept secretly stuffing and waiting for that single moment and opportunity in time where the light would simply burst open and shower me with a dream come true. Anyone who knows what makes dreams come true knows it's a four letter word, called work. So I started working on my own dreams, researching hours on the internet different publishing companies and agents, but things kept turning me off to one thing or another. I couldn't find someone or someplace that I liked or I didn't have to write that nasty horrid cover letter too. (Which I totally understand, it makes perfect sense - but the amount of unfinished ones on my lap top is simply horrifying). During this time I stumbled across the Jerry B. Jenkins Christian Writers Guild which was just shy of promising that by the time you finished their course you'd know everything you wanted to know about the publishing world and most likely be published. I jumped at the opportunity. To say the least I was disappointed. I came away from my lessons disappointed and nigh penniless and further from realizing my dreams than I thought possible. Long ago I had avowed I would never ever ever ever self-publish. But you know what they say…don't ever say never. (Okay it's "Never say never" but I like it that way better).

Through winning NaNoWriMo in 2010 I received a delightful ability to publish one of my own books. The delight of holding my own copy was far more gratifying and delightful then I thought it could be. I wanted more but… I didn't want to pay for it. However the lovely Katherine Sophia found out a special deal going down at Lulu. You could publish any book for free and just pay the shipping. Needless to say the two of us went nigh crazy with publishing our works for our personal libraries. Through the writers group I attended sporadically I started noticing groups and tendencies. There were the published, the unpublished, and the self-published. The unpublished was my personal boat at which helm I sat mutely watching those around me. Most people wanted to be published traditionally…(who doesn't), yet the whole procedure daunted them (okay it daunted me). Then the published…their publisher wasn't doing anything, had put it under a different title than they originally planned and now the book didn't sound like it made sense, changed the text to their dissatisfaction, the cover was all wrong or boring, problem after problem. I glanced at the self-published ship, in it were the kind of people who give self publishing well…a bad rap? Then I glanced back down my ship…in it were well, people running in circles, who rewrote their work over and over again and sought perfection constantly only to find it really was yet beyond the horizon. I jumped ship, and boarded self-publishing full steam ahead. Because self-publishing doesn’t have to have a bad rap, and done right it can be very effective in the publishing world. So that is how I landed in self-publishing my works. I get to retain my rights, and have full control of what happens to my little darlings.

Love what you said about self-publishing not having to have a bad rap! I concur.  Wholeheartedly.  :D Can you remember where the idea for Annabeth's War first came from? I know for some novels this is like asking "can you remember your first thought when you were a baby?'...

Annabeth's War is a story that lay in the back of my mind for quite some time and under several disguises. The Mask of Margurite was the original idea I had written in a note book and three of the characters defiantly stemmed from there, however Ransom certainly had his own ideas of how the book should go, and it morphed accordingly.

Having not yet read Annabeth's War (though I'm dying to) I'm a bit ignorant... Can you give a really quick summary of the plot? 

The king is away at war and Annabeth, daughter of a master swordsman, is fighting for the life of her father, Prince Alfred and her country. Will she save them, or will she fall beneath the power of Lord Raburn and his men?

Which character in AW are you the most apathetic about? (The favorite character question is soooo hard to answer so I'm skipping it.) 

 I love this question. Hmm, most apathetic about. There are about three characters that have taken that seat but the one who steals it best would probably be Lady Christina.

What was the most stressful part of the story to write? 

Probably the dungeon scenes, let's just say lots of tears were shed.

How long did it take you to write AW from beginning to end? Like, from first inspiration to final dying gasp---er, last edit? 

A little less than a month to write from when I settled down to write it to when I wrote the last word. From start of story to last edit…it's been 21 months.

I know you're a voracious writer... how long have you been scribbling like this, would you say? 

I've been writing seriously for about five years now and have slowly picked up and dropped speed to about a book a year overall. My peak was before I was doing a lot of working, and I pulled off 3 books in 4 months (which felt supremely epic). However it has dropped considerably and I write a few thousand words a month when I get the chance.

What's one book you would recommend to everyone reading this post (other than AW and the Bible? :P) 

I am going to go on my old fallback for this one - there are SOOO MANY WONDERFUL Authors to recommend, however one author I always feel safe saying to just anyone is Lois Walfrid Johnson. She spins some pretty amazing and lovable characters and stories.

Is there a particular piece of music that you listened to obsessively during AW's creation? 

There were several pieces of music that defined Annabeth's War but the one that I listened to the most would be Hero by Heather Dale, which happened to be forwarded by Katherine Sophia to me shortly after I started Annabeth's War.

Are any portions of AW drawn from real life? Would you care to share an example (or two)? 

Annabeth is purely a work of fiction; the only thing from my life that I placed in this story was the truth I learned that all things really do work together for good, no matter what it is.

The book's cover is fascinating! Did you design/draw the cover?

 The cover was created by Louie Roybal. He did such an amazing job with it I am floored and tickled beyond pink. Working with creating a cover for Annabeth's War was very difficult for me. So often when people tell me about their novels I catch an INSTANT image of several ideas and the creation comes about, however with my own works it can be hard at times to come up with something because I see so many images at once. So after briefly sketching out what I imagined my ideal cover to look like and taking a few pictures of my little sister (she is the silhouette on the banners). Louie and I did some chatting, and took his creative bent to work and created a gorgeous cover.

Annabeth is a lovely name! Did she just sort of choose her own name and you had no say in the matter, or was it a name you'd always liked and wanted to give to a character? Or none of the above? 

Coming up with a name for her was difficult. Ransom knew he wanted his name instantly but coming up with hers' took more time. I actually wrote the first chapter just referring to her as she and her, before we came up with it. We were wavering between Anne or Anna and Elizabeth neither which really seemed to fit her exactly. Ransom said he wanted to call her Beth for short so after a little bit of thinking the inspiration to combine the names struck and name Annabeth was created and fit her perfectly.

*

Thank you, Jessica, for consenting to be interviewed today!

And now I have a special surprise for all of you (okay, if you read the title of this post it's not really a surprise...).  In addition to the interview, Jessica has kindly agreed to give away one free, autographed copy of Annabeth's War!  How cool is that?  If you're as anxious to read it as I am, here's your chance-- and if you've already read it, I might add that a lovely signed copy of this splendid book would make a delightful Christmas present for a friend.

To enter, you must be a follower of both Safirewriter and Yet Another Period Drama Blog (insert little star thingy that says You Are Here).  In order to earn entries, you can...

• Follow both our blogs [Mandatory entry - 2 points]
• Share about this giveaway via whatever social media you use: Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, blog button, etc. [2 points for each of these, and be sure to leave a comment with a link]
• Write a blog post to promote this giveaway [5 points]
• Write a review of Annabeth's War (only if you've read it already...) and post it to Amazon.com or Goodreads [10 points]

Don't forget to leave a comment on here for each entry! (If you write a blog post or a Goodreads/Amazon review, however, you can just leave one comment for each of those and I will add the correct number of points to your tally.)

The giveaway will close Friday, December 21st-- so get crackin'!  Oh, and here is the button you can use for the second entry option:

<div align="center"><a href="http://miss-dashwood.blogspot.com/" title="Yet Another Period Drama Blog"><img src="http://i845.photobucket.com/albums/ab15/Safirewriter/MissDaswood.jpg" alt="Yet Another Period Drama Blog" style="border:none;" /></a></div>

P.S. Jessica is hosting me at her blog for an interview/giveaway today as well, so hop over and take a peek!