Welcome to ScreenTime!

I had the opportunity to chat with Craig Horner recently, and regular readers are going to notice a ScreenTime difference right there.  I actually prefer ScreenTime to be an exchange of emails.  Much as I love talking to all the people involved, I like the idea that ScreenTime participants get to stare at the questions for a while and ramble on as much or as little as they like.

Unfortunately (of course, fortunately really), Craig Horner is filming in New Zealand, and there aren’t a lot of computers laying around him at the moment.

What follows is a sort of recounting of the conversation, because I wasn’t going to record it.  The first thing I should note is that Craig is a hell of a cool guy.

Leave a comment here for a chance to win a shirt by muzeclothing.com.  Details below.

To start, I asked Craig if there were any newish TV shows he liked.  He reminded me that new to me and new to him were different creatures.  As not being able to catch “recent” television spun into not really catching a lot of films at the theater either, Craig let me in on what he was “screening” recently.

In terms of watching television, he told me that what he had been enjoying lately was the BBC version of Ramsay’s Kitchen Nightmares.  After a long day filming, he explained, putting in a bit of “crazy, cooking show,” is a good way to unwind.  Apart from that, Craig said he has a massive DVD collection, with recent additions being Kurosawa and Godfather box sets, and Dark Knight on Blu-Ray.  Of course, Dark Knight probably isn’t popping up for a lot of us as a recent film, but in terms of what Craig has seen and liked recently, it stood out.

In proper ScreenTime fashion, I had to throw out a few odd spins on the general “screening” questions, and I asked Craig, “If you could magically put yourself into a TV show that isn’t on anymore, what would it be and who would you be?” You can see how ScreenTime can stall a phone conversation.

Without a lot of hesitation, he pretty easily picked Buffy the Vampire Slayer.  At first he told me he’d like to be “some badass demon,” or similar bad guy, but pretty soon the answer sort of slid over to his taking over as Angel.

I next asked him, again in rather ScreenTime-ish fashion, “Your character is obviously something of a tough guy, are there any shows you are a big fan of that don’t really fit in with that kind of persona?”  His quick answer was Seinfeld, because they’re all a bunch of wimps.

One thing I love to ask in ScreenTime is, “Are there any movies that you would say ‘sum you up,’ or give a good impression of who you are?”   I think there are a lot of films, the liking or disliking of which can really tell a person a lot about you.  I thought I was getting a bit of a feel for Craig at this point, not least because he bought a Kurosawa box set and liked Kitchen Nightmares, but he also chose as his favorite comedy movie Dumb & Dumber.  Now, he was under the gun during this interview, being on the phone, but a lot of people might wonder about Kurosawa and Dumb & Dumber coming up in the same conversation.

Craig mentioned a lot of films when I asked him about a title that might really give an impression of who he is.  Fight Club came up repeatedly in the conversation, and he even picked it as his choice for favorite non-comedy.  He mentioned Basketball Diaries a few times as well.  Dancer in the Dark, Braveheart, and Dog Day Afternoon were also tossed around in reference to this question specifically.   He made a point of the idea that what he was really a fan of were movies with solid acting performances, and some kind of daring involved in what was going on.  More importantly than picking one movie, I think, was the idea that if you could understand putting these titles together you might understand where he’s coming from.

In the end though, we both agreed that if you said you were something of a fan of American Psycho (and he did), a person had a bit of an idea about who you are on some movie compass.  It’s not every movie-goer who is going to mention that one.

We talked for quite a while about the fantasy genre Legend of the Seeker fits into, and how the show really pushes the boundaries of how intense you can get without going over to HBO or similar.  This is something he enjoys about the show, but the whole thing never really materialized into a question.

Finally, we went over some favorite, all-time television shows, and it became pretty clear that I was talking to someone who, as he said at the beginning, used his recent screening time to unwind after long days of shooting.  He mentioned Seinfeld again, and The Simpsons, and then went right into The Mighty Boosh and The Fast Show.  He mentioned Extras and Entourage, which had both come up a few times in the conversation, and also threw out Curb Your Enthusiasm.  The more he tried to think of favorite shows, the more you knew he just wanted a bit of a break.

The solidly mid-20s actor from Australia is just the sort of fellow who makes it difficult to refer to him as other than a fellow.  As in, personable, young fellow.  He’s a cheery guy on the phone, and it was quite a treat to speak with him and discuss his rather interesting tastes.  He is quite a decent actor as well, and I definitely recommend checking out Legend of the Seeker.

Sincerest thanks to Mr. Horner for taking the time to talk with me.

As promised, or at least intimated with reckless abandon, leave a comment here and be entered to win a fabulous shirt from muzeclothing.com.  In fact, this shirt here.  Click the shirt and you can check some info on it at the Muze Clothing site. Winner will be chosen April 1st.

Thanks for joining in on ScreenTime.

Just for fun, here’s video of another interview with Craig Horner.

Are You Screening?