Tonight is the NY and LA theatrical release of Across the Hall, starring Brittany Murphy, Danny Pino and Mike Vogel. This past week, I posted a review from the NY private screening and had the pleasure of interviewing Danny Pino (Terry), Director Alex Merkin and Brad Greenquist (the Porter).

After returning to his hometown of Miami this past summer to perform in a play at The Actors Playhouse, Danny was kind enough to take some time from production for the hit television series, Cold Case, in Los Angeles.

Scene B Seen: How did you get involved in Across the Hall?

Danny Pino: Mike Vogel, who plays Julian in the movie, called and said he had read the script and was involved with this film and they were looking for someone to play his best friend. You know, Mike and I are very good friends and have known each other for a while and we always wanted to find something to work on together. So I read the script and thought that the character was something that would be challenging, interesting and had something that was very different from what I usually do on the TV series [Cold Case]. And so that and meeting the director Alex Merkin and speaking with him about what his ideas were with the script and the writer Jesse Mittelstadt. I felt like it was going to be a good fit for me. I was actually nervous.

SBS: Nervous? What were you nervous about?

DP: 1st off, I knew that we were only going to have 17 days to shoot and the way that the script is set up, it’s chopped up, it has different cuts and it shifts out of sequence, some scenes, if you were to eliminate those cuts, and were to read them in a sequential order, they run 10-15 pages long. That’s a pretty long scene when it comes to film and TV world. I mean, when you’re on stage, its par for the course, usually longer then that.

SBS: Right.

DP: When you’re doing a play, you’ve got several weeks of rehearsal… to be able to make that happen. Here we were looking at 1 week before we were going to start shooting. All of those elements made me nervous. But, I was really excited to be working with Mike and I thought the script was in a very good place. Alex and Jesse were very dedicated to what we were doing.

SBS: So, did you shoot sequentially or out of order like the script reads?

DP:  Well when we rehearsed it, we rehearsed in sequence… so, it really felt like there was something going on when you went back into the scene, you were already at that level. There was an intensity there and there was a life flowing through the characters rather than starting at zero again.

SBS: Absolutely.

DP: So, we mostly shot it that way. There were some things that Alex had to do with the camera, and Andrew, the DP, wanted to do with the camera, so we were cut in certain places so that we would have a nice transition into whatever the next scene that they would be cutting into was. We tried to stay within the same “world” and certainly within the same scene as often and much as we could. In essence, we block shot it and shot it very much like a play.

SBS: Interesting.

DP:  You know it’s shot in a very classic noir style, but it has modern elements that are very quick, quick cuts. I think the camera and a lot of the visual elements that Alex has put into the film, really moves the story along, sometimes more then the script does.

SBS: Yeah, except for two shots, I think, everything was eye level and the camera was always moving in the same direction. Cold Case and Across the Hall are very stylistic, does style effect how you take on a character?

DP: I think it’s a consideration, you know, to live within that “Noir World”. Everyone needs to know what the stakes are and all the acting 101 stuff, but then after that, you’re sort of on your own. Then when you come to set, you hope that there’s some sort of harmony to what your bringing to the character and what the camera is doing, the lighting, sound and set design. That’s where the synergy comes in with filmmaking. Especially when shooting within 17 days… hopefully it really comes through.

SBS: I definitely think it did. So, you knew Mike prior to this film, did you know Brittany [Murphy]?

DP: I knew her work and was excited that she was a part of the ensemble, but I did not know her personally.

SBS: The chemistry between all of you is phenomenal. Everyone has a secret and is very devious, so it’s very impressive that only after a week of rehearsal… was Alex a big part of how you all interacted together?

DP: Alex was definitely a big part of that. Alex is very cohesive. He had a lot of considerations to address as we were shooting, some relative to the actors and mostly not. Mostly in relation to the camera or the lighting.

SBS: How much actor directing did he do or was it mostly lighting and camera direction?

DP: What’s interesting though, I can’t really speak for the other actors but, because of the experiences that I’ve had on Cold Case, we work very quickly. We sometimes shoot 8-10 pages a day, which is pretty high when you consider motion picture world… you don’t have a lot of time to rehearse. You basically have to be comfortable with what you’re doing and that everybody is on the same page and prepared.

SBS: Right.

DP: So, thankfully we were when we were shooting. I think all the actors knew that we were on a time crunch and we were under a lot of pressure to bring what we were gonna bring, almost ready to perform. And just search for those “happy accidents” in the scenes and that something real happens, ya know?

SBS: Yes.

DP: I think that happened quite a bit throughout the 17 days, where something real would happen and we would engage within the given the certain circumstances in the scene, that would help us carry through the rest of it. You get enough of those and all the sudden; you’ve got a 90-minute movie that delivers.

SBS: Well, I have to be honest with you, I Tivo Cold Case and watch 2-3 episodes before bed every night [laughter]. I know it’s very strange to watch that type of show before bed, but I didn’t even recognize it was you for the 1st half hour of Across the Hall.

DP: Wow! That’s a compliment.

SBS: It is! The character is so far removed from what you normally do, it didn’t even occur to me. Which I think is pretty cool.

DP: Thank you for that. I really appreciate that. That is something I really love doing- playing against what I’ve been doing, been blessed to be doing for the last 7 years… It’s also fun to challenge yourself by playing someone like Terry. He’s so desperate and going through such a desperate time, that he doesn’t see any other way out.

SBS: Absolutely. It was a great performance and I hope to see you in more of these dark roles. It’s refreshing to see an actor play against “type”. Thank you so much for taking the time to chat.

DP: It’s my pleasure and thank you for taking the time to promote our film.

Danny is currently shooting the episode, "Metamorphosis", which he co-wrote with Adam Glass. The episode takes place in 1971 about a small traveling circus. Set to all Doors music, the segment which is scheduled to air in February 2010, promises to be psychedelic, dark, very desperate, and devious.

*photo 1: Danny Pino

*photo 2: Across The Hall Los Angeles Premiere 12/01/2009 - Laemmle's Music Hall 3: Danny Pino, Brittany Murphy and Mike Vogel

*photo 3: Across The Hall Los Angeles Premiere 12/01/2009 - Laemmle's Music Hall 3: Brittany Murphy

*photo 4: Across The Hall Los Angeles Premiere 12/01/2009 - Laemmle's Music Hall 3: Danny Pino

*photo 5: Across The Hall Los Angeles Premiere 12/01/2009 - Laemmle's Music Hall 3: Mike Vogel, Alex Merkin and Danny Pino

*photo 6: Across The Hall Los Angeles Premiere 12/01/2009 - Laemmle's Music Hall 3: Across the Hall Cast and Crew