Scott recently did a telephone interview with Brett, and the interview has just been posted on Movie Picture Film . He kindly accepted my request to post a copy of the interview on this webpage. I've also posted a copy on the blog to allow for comments. Enjoy!
Brett Chukerman in "The Curiosity of Chance" which screened at NY's Newfest 2007 this year.
Actor Brett Chukerman had a lot to live up to for fans of the first "Eating Out" last year when he was replaced the uber- fan favorite Ryan Carnes in the sequel "Eating Out 2: Sloppy Seconds." Luckily when the film opened he was met with an acceptable response. Now with his second high profile gay film playing in this year's Newfest, Chukerman is in the spotlight once again and has people talking. "The Curiosity of Chance" is a great little teen film about acceptance and finding out who you really are. Chukerman and co-star Tad Hilgenbrinck are the film's protagonists, Hilgenbrinck playing the out of the closet Chance who is picked on by the school Jocks, one of them played by Chukerman. Any romance involved? Check out the movie as it continues to play festival's across the country and find out.
When speaking with Chukerman last week over the phone I got to know a lot about him, what he wants out of his career, his choosing of gay films and even his take on why MTV's "Undressed" has disappeared. Read on for more with Brett Chukerman...
The movie poster for "Eating Out 2: Sloppy Seconds," on DVD now.
MPF: Out of all the projects you could choose from, why "The Curiosity of Chance?"
Brett Chukerman: I really love the 80's teen comedies, it's like an alternative version of "Pretty in Pink" or "Sixteen Candles" but for me it was really about playing the role of Levi. I think we all needed to have that hero in high school who broke the traditional stereotypes and crossed the line of popular and outcast. To be able to play that hero, the guy that stands up to the bully- defends the out of the norm kids, it was just such an exciting opportunity to embody that role. Its a movie I think all high school kids should see. It shows you that being an outcast doesn't necessarily mean bad things- to embrace what you have.
MPF: And yet the film is struggling to find distribution, would you say its harder for an independent film like this to get seen?
BC: Yes, absolutely. Small theaters across the country are closing and with DVR's and Netflix around people don't really go the movies anymore unless they think "Oh I have to pay my fifteen dollars because its Spider-Man 3 and I need to see the explosions and the special effects on the big screen." So smaller films like ours- they don't have the best theatrical venues. It's tougher to find ways to get the word out that we exist and let them know the movie is out there. We actually made the film two years ago, so it's exciting people are finally seeing it. But it goes to show you that quirky independent films... ones that don't have Hollywood stars in them, struggle to find a big audience. I'm really keeping my fingers crossed that this one finds a way to get out there and breakthrough. I appreciate you taking the time to support this film by the way. It's great to see people get behind a project that you work on, especially one that you really enjoy too. I'm really proud of the film and hope to see it spread its wings...
MPF: Would you describe this as a gay film?
BC: No, not really. We were talking about it and its more like the teen movie you couldn't make in the 80's. The other film I did "Eating Out 2" has a very identified gay movie going audience. Unfortunately what that audience looks for, you don't find in this movie. You don't have shirtless guys running around, there isn't any sex in it. I think that's where it struggles to find an audience. Gay movies that kind of fit the mold unfortunately of what the stereotypical gay movie is, they seem to be able to have some assemblance of an audience. A film like this doesn't get that immediate acceptance. It's a sad state of affairs that a lot of gay audiences have come to expect that from their movies. We've come to identify gay movies as an overly sexualized experience. I think that as younger generations of filmmakers come in the audience gets sick of that nature, they're going to start coming up with more interesting stories to tell. I think "Chance" is a excellent example of that...
Max Maes and Brett Chukerman star in "The Curiosity of Chance" which is looking for a distributor.
MPF: You were on one of my favorite guilty pleasure shows of the 90's MTV'S "Undressed." What ever happened with that show?
BC: (laughs) Yeah on that show you had a different storyline every week- I was one of the three main characters in the college storyline for a few episodes. They did new story-lines every three to eight episodes, you know they got rid of it because they refused to reuse anybody. The whole concept was they wanted you to feel as if it could be at any high school or college, anytime. So they felt if they reused anybody it would break that mold and it would be more of a stereotypical soap opera or feel less like a voyeuristic peer into anyone's college life. Amazingly, and you think this could never happen especially in L.A.- they ran out of twenty something actors.
MPF: That's insane! So that's why the show disappeared...
BC: Yeah. They did open calls at colleges for a couple of months and they were able to squeeze out another season of it after they kind of started panicking. The casting directors and writers went back to the network and said "let us bring people back." You know, we'll take a character from this season and a character from that season and make new story-lines, they'd be the same character but they'd be in different situations. Different things happen to kids over the course of time but the network said no, they didn't want to it for various reasons and so basically they just ran out of people, decent actors and- but it's funny because if you were a young actor in L.A. in the 90's you were on that show. Its kind of the staple- people look at your resume and go "oh, we know where you got your start!" I still bump into some of the actors I worked with on that show with every once in a while. Actually, the guy I played opposite of in "Undressed" was up for the role opposite me in "Eating Out 2" (which went to Marco Dapper.)
MPF: Moving on to the role you're most known for now, the role of Marc in "Eating Out 2." Ryan Carnes originally played Marc in the original "Eating Out" and has a major fan following. Did you get any hate for taking over the part?
BC: When we started blogging about the film and creating a MySpace page for it and everything, there were a lot of comments like "where is Ryan Carnes?" and "who is this new guy?" but you know I created my own role and did my own thing with the material with a fresh eye and I've been very fortunate. People have been very supportive. Someone said to me,"I walked in wanting to hate you, and I ended up not." Or "I went in expecting to be disappointed since you replaced him but I wasn't disappointed." You get kind of scared about stepping into someone else's role, but the other three actors who came back were incredibly warm, supportive and friendly. I worked really, really well with them. I also have been told people prefer my performance to Ryan's so-(laughs) it goes both ways.
Marco Dapper (on the bottom) and Brett Chukerman star in
"Eating Out 2"
MPF: I spoke to Scott Lunsford last week-
BC: Oh, the roommate from the first one?
MPF: Yeah and we discussed his hesitancy to go through with the now trademark "Eating Out" nudity and how when I googled him all these pictures came up. You did full frontal nudity as well and guess what happened when I googled you...
BC: Naked pictures came up.
MPF: Yeah. How do you feel about that?
BC: Honestly, I didn't think it through completely (laughs.) I'm not thrilled about it, you know when you look at the screen-time it's only two seconds or so, it's part of the scene, it's a fun little moment, but then you forget about the power of the internet these days and people will freeze frame it and do whatever. It is what it is though. It's done and something to look back on and laugh about. (laughs) I have no problems with my body, I'm very comfortable with it. Whenever I think about it, I just say, hey when I'm seventy five or so I could look at the picture and go, "look how great I looked!" I'm flattered that people are attracted to the images for whatever reason. If it's something they want to hold on to or keep- it's flattering. But you think careful next time around. It's an actor's job to be a fantasy, it goes with the territory- I guess.
MPF: You get casted a lot as the 'hunk' or 'gym boy' and so on, are you worried about being type cast?
BC: No. Honestly I'm more worried about being typecast as gay. I have plenty of gay friends and I grew up in theater but...there's so many gay independent projects- I've gotten work that way- I have kind of softer looks so I guess it kind of fits into that mold. But yeah, 'the jock' kind of character when you look at what's on film and television, those roles end up growing into some strong, decent characters. Look at someone like Chris Klein who started out as the text-book jock and now he's done some really strong films. So no I don't think its an issue, if anything the only issue is good god I can't get lazy about going to the gym everyday. But outside of that, it becomes a real limiting factor.
MPF: Would you do an image makeover, put on a fat suit etc?
BC: I'd love it, gain twenty pounds, lose twenty pounds...
MPF: Do you think people would still come to see you?
BC: I'd hope so, I'd hope my fans are interested in more then just my body. But I can't worry about them, I have to worry about me- what inspires me, what motivates me. When I'm required to a part that doesn't require me wearing a tank top or involving a strip scene that my fans will still follow.
Chukerman and Dapper in "Eating Out 2"
MPF: You seem comfortable in gay roles, and a lot of people because of this think you're gay, especially on some message boards...
BC: (laughs) I'm a firm believer of what people see on screen, the persona that people know- that's a part of me, it's not all me. I like to keep a mystery about me. I want to be everyone's fantasy, it's part of my job. My personal life stays personal so I don't escape out of anyone's dreams at night. That's my job. To keep people interested, titillated and excited and my personal life is separate from that.
MPF: So will you do an "Eating Out 3?"
BC: (laughs) I wouldn't go on record saying I wouldn't do it, but- hey I don't even know if they're going to make an "Eating Out 3" and I don't know if I'd be apart of it. It would all depend on the circumstances really.
Final Impression:
It was fun to talk to Chukerman about his aspirations and opinions on gay cinema. When I did a preview of this article last week I know it got some heat, especially from fans- so if you have more to say, I'm opening up comments in the interview section.
More pictures from Tuesday night's EO2 release party. (if you haven't seen this , you might want to check this out. It's from December's Premier)
Check this out (third paragraph) if you wish to meet some of the other casts from Eating Out 2 in person. (edit: my appologies but as Bradley had pointed out, Brett's actually going to appear for the DVD signing in Los Angeles, not S.C.)
It's out! Get Eating Out 2: Sloppy Seconds on DVD today! Here are some after party pictures taken last tuesday from EO2 myspace . To see who else was also there that night, click here .
The Making of Eating Out 2, by writer/director David Quantic
...And Now, Featuring The Curiosity of Chance Slideshow...
Since many of you have asked, note: I do not know when the DVD version of The Curiosity of Chance is going to be released. When I do find out, I'll be sure to post the date here. - modBrett Chukerman - "Born and raised in Chicago, Chukerman sang at Carnegie Hall and with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra throughout his teenage years, before making the switch to theater where he studied at both Oxford and the American University of Paris. After returning to the states he made a living performing in the theater and upon moving to Los Angeles attended USC while turning his attention to film and television, scoring roles in MTV's "Undressed", "Power Rangers." and "So noTORIous". His other movie credits include Return to Innocence and the short film Crush." -Bigfoot EntertainmentModerator - in my early 20s looking to meet new people to share interests and basically enjoy life as it is :)
