Interview: John Saxon

It’s me The Black Saint again reporting from The Creation “Weekend Of Horrors” with more interviews from the show. Unfortunately your favorite deity had himself a long night last night & was on a bender with some of the other attendees (Great people by the way). So I woke up with a bit of a headache & A sour stomach. But f*ck that noise! I’m here to let you know what’s going on & I’ve got some choice interviews to share with you.

First up: Mr. John Saxon.

TBS: Hello Mr.Saxon how are you today?

JS: I’m ok today. Hello everybody, I’m John Saxon.

TBS: (Laughing) OK, You’ve been the star of countless films in all genres that I could probably talk to you all day about your career, but for now I want to focus on one of my favorite Sci-Fi films: “Battle Beyond The Stars”. It’s a big favorite of mine & what makes me laugh whenever I watch it..

JS: It has a lot of humor in it.

TBS: Yes it does but what gets me is whenever I watched Corman films after yours was done was how much of the space scenes he used in his future sci-fi films. I think “Battle” was a big budget film for him…am I right?

JS: I don’t think anything Roger made could be considered “Big Budget”.

TBS: Well not an especially big budget film but in terms of what we were used to seeing from him. It certainly had a bigger budget than his usual fare.

JS: OK, but do you know that the sets were designed by Cameron?

TBS: James Cameron?

JS: James Cameron.

TBS: Actually he designed a few of Corman’s films after this one as well. But the Spaceship scenes just repeated themselves from film to film.

JS: I didn’t know that.

TBS: Watch “Galaxy Of Terror” & “Forbidden Planet” which have just been released on DVD last month. And you’ll be amazed about how much of the special effect work was cannibalized from your film into these two amongst other Corman films.  He’d probably still use that footage if he was producing another Sci-Fi film today. He got the most out of his money.

JS: It wouldn’t surprise me if he did either.

TBS: Do you have any fond memories of the film?

JS: Yes, I had a lot of fun playing that role.

TBS: That comes through in your performance.

JS: Well it was written that way. You know the cutting off of the arm scene and all that. I remember walking into an area inbetween set-up’s & seeing James Cameron working on the next set. I enjoyed making that film a great deal. You know I wasn’t in the film that much. I think I only worked 5 days on that film. You know with Corman the whole picture was only in production for 20 days.

TBS: I wanted to ask you about working with Bruce Lee. I had no idea you were an accomplished Martial artist as well as actor.

JS: I had done some Judo/Karate long before the film. The film was made in 1973 & I went back to the 60’s with the martial arts stuff.

TBS: That’s really surprising for me to hear because you look like you know what you’re doing in “Enter The Dragon”. I didn’t notice any stunt men performing your stunts. Did you get injured while making the film?

JS: I was injured by talking & rehearsing with the director before going to Hong Kong. There was a scene in Los Angeles on a golf course. I went to the office of the producer & the director & I asked “How do you want to do this scene”? I began to tell them what I thought..wait a minute. Was it 3 guys or was it 4?

TBS: I think it was 4.

JS: Ok, four. I trained with this guy named Jimmy Wu & I asked him how could I do this scene? Well, he said we could try it this way, or this way. And then I countered with an idea of my own & he said we could do that too. So we were doing all of this thinking but I was demonstrating all the while. An hour & a half or so later we agreed on how to do it. When I left the office I said “Jeez, the back of my leg hurts”. And I went home & the back of my leg was black & blue. I was in huge pain & luckily there was a week or two before we had to go to Hong Kong. So I was constantly wrapping my leg during the filming of the Golf Scene.

TBS: Well, it certainly doesn’t seem like you’re hurt in the scene.

JS: No. my teacher, Jimmy Wu did the kicking scenes.

TBS: Well, that’s a testament to your acting prowess because I certainly couldn’t tell the difference.

JS: Well at the end of the day….

TBS: Yeah. I could imagine how much pain you must’ve been in at the end of the day.

TBS: Is there somehing you’re currently working on that I can pass on to your fans?

JS: I have a film that I played a role in called “God’s Ear”.

TBS: “God’s Ear”?

JS: Yes, like the phrase “From your lips to God’s ear”. It’s about an autistic boy who works in a boxing gym that I manage, cleaning up. And I develop into the character that takes care of him. It’s very good & it’s coming out on DVD very soon.

TBS: Really?

JS: It might be out now actually, or very soon. Look for it.

TBS: That’s great news to hear. I just want to thank you for your time & talking to us.

JS: I have a website for my fans. It’s JOHSAX@msn.com. No wait a minute…that might be wrong. But if you can find it there are a lot of pictures of me for sale on there.

TBS: One last question, the film you just spoke of: Is it a studio production or is it independently finananced?

JS: No. It’s a very independent low budget film. The guy who wrote the script directed it & played a major role in the film as well. It’s won awards at film festivals all over the world. Hawaii, Paris & Japan as well. It’s a kind of a touching film. It’s not a horror or a shoot em’ up type of film. I’m very proud of it.

TBS: Are you more comfortable making independent films or studio films?

JS: Anything that comes along that strikes my fancy I will do. Anything. This is a low budget film & I have a piece of it but I’m very proud of it.

TBS: Excellent. It’s good to know that you would do that. Put some of your own money into it. You’re John Saxon for Christ’s sake, you didn’t have to put your own money into it. A lot of stars wouldn’t do that. Congratulations.

JS: Take care my friend..

TBS: Thanks so much for your time Mr. Saxon.

JS: You’re very welcome.