Exclusive Interview: Alexander Hauck (Macabre Mountain, Bermuda Island)

Exclusive Interview: Alexander Hauck (Macabre Mountain, Bermuda Island)

What made you want to get involved in acting?

I was always an awkward kid and did not have any friends growing up. I would spend days in the backyard with a stick and nothing else and pretend I was fighting off pirates, or I was a cowboy taking in some desperados. So I was always creating stories and characters for me to play with to fight off being lonely. My mother tried to find things to help me interact and be more sociable with the other children starting with sports like soccer and baseball. Very quickly it became evident that I was not too interested in sports so my mother had me do an acting workshop one summer as another way to keep me busy. I remember that we did a bunch of small plays based on fairytales and one of them was based on the three little pigs. Now I was cast as the Big Bad Wolf, now the three little pigs were played by three girls who were older and taller than me. Even at that young age, the comedy of that casting wasn’t lost on me. So I made myself bigger and louder than I really was to make that role as memorable and as fun as possible. That was when I first realized that acting was something I enjoyed doing and wanted to do more of it.

On another note the moment I decided that I wanted to be an actor and get involved in acting as something more than a hobby was in high school. We did a performance of “Guys and Dolls”. Now I cannot sing or dance so naturally that puts me in a bit of a disadvantage when it came to the musical arts, but I loved acting so I was happy to take a stab at it. Now I played Joey Biltmore a voice off stage and one of the gamblers in the ensemble. When I am on stage I have fun and I make no matter what role I have as interesting and as exciting as I can be. When the show is over all the cast come out to be greeted by friends and family. The stars are given flowers and of course get heaps of praise for their performances from everyone who came to watch it. When I leave, I go find my parents they always gave me words of encourgement and we’d go home. I rarely ever got any encouragement or congratulations from anyone else in the audience because I was not a star. Then there was one night I had left the backstage and was looking for my family and i ran into the mother of one of the leads in the show. She took me aside and told me I did a very good job and I was so captivating that whenever I was on stage, she was always watching me and loved everything I did. That touched me and made me start thinking if I could make a small ensemble role have an impact what could I do with a bigger role. That was the day that acting went from a thing I enjoyed doing to a true passion.

Who inspires your creativity?

My parents have always inspired me to follow my creative tendencies. My partner Mathew Fisher whom we have three podcasts, and many films we have created together has helped inspire and push me toward my creative path. Those who have inspired my creative sensibilities range from the comedy duo Abbott and Costello that had the best comedy timing of anyone I have ever seen, to Robin Williams mastering of comedy improv and deep heart wrenching drama. If I was to be honest I could spend years writing a 1,000 page essay on every movie, actor, and director who had done something that had moved me in such a way and changed and help mold how I look at film and story telling. Then again I am sure those who reading this right now don’t have the time to read that essay so i will move on to the next question.

Tell us your biggest obstacle while working in the film industry?

My biggest obstacle while working in the film industry. My job. I work at a pharmacy 40 hours a week. It is not a creative inducing environment and it makes it hard for me to go to all the auditions or jobs I would like. When I am not at work I do the podcasts, I edit, I audition I use every second of my paid vacations to fly anywhere in thr world to film. I have been told if I was taking acting and filming seriously you would quit your job move to California. Live in a car, on the beach, maybe kidnap someone’s sofa. Not everyone is lucky enough to either have family or friends with enough money or resources to help them in their creative pursuits. Plus I am not one for a hand out. I work at that job for one reason to put all my time and money into projects because I am betting on myself and I am 100% in. I am hoping in the future to be able to cast off my shackles of the life destroying succubus which is the daily grind but until then it is an obstacle I have to work with and find ways to work around to accomplish my goals and desires.

What has been your most challenging role?

My most challenging role would be the role of Wesley Kalinski in the film “DJ Stan DA Man” directed by my partner Mathew Fisher. First it was the first production Mat and I worked on together so we were getting to know each other and figure out how we would work together as a team. Now the character of Wesley is a videographer for weddings and he is a part of DJ Stan DA Man’s crew. Now he is a creepy and very off putting person, you know the type, the guy you don’t want to get stuck next to the punch bowl talking about his bug collection with. So he screams serial killer but this is while a dark comedy is still a comedy. So taking this very uneasy person and making him funny but not too funny. Not making him into a cartoon or a caricture but making him feel like a real person and at the same time bring out the laughs during scenes if they were in the real world would be consider extremely off putting and uncomfortable.

What has been your most memorable moment in film?

There are two I can think of but both of them are the same situation. I was on a film called “Bloodthirst” and I played Lacroix a member of a militia who run a section of desert during an apocalypse populated by vampires. Now my character is a man with not a lot of power but the little power he does have he like to throw it around like he is a big man. He’s at one of the campsites of the human survivors and he starts giving crap to this woman played by the talented Sarah French and he sees that a man played by Rich Rendon was hovering by her and my character asked “Is he your new Boyfriend?”. I of course had fun in how I said it very condescending. Now Costas Mandylor who plays the vampire hunter is also in that scene. After that filming when ever he saw me he would say that line exactly how I did. That meant a lot to me that an actor i respected liked my delivery so much that he would bring it up every time we would meet up.

The second time very similar happened only last month I was cast in a film called “Macabre Mountain”. I played Harold who blames a character played by LC Holt for his daughter being gone. In the same scene Felissa Rose and Robert Mukes are also there. Now I come out of a crowd confronting LC and I stab him in anger. After I did that scene Robert Mukes and Felissa Rose told me they really liked my performance. Two more people I respect and admire giving me compliments on my craft which make me feel appreciated and happy.

What attracts you to the horror genre?

What attracts me to the horror genre is because of all the genres horror are where character actors become stars. You got Brad Dourif, Jeremy Combs, Kane Hodder, and Robert Englund. Great actors who play these cool interesting and even horrifying characters. You might have the final girl as the one winning the day but the true fun are the villains that you can’t help but root for.

What is your favorite decade for horror?

The 30’s. I love Frankenstein, Dracula, The Mummy, Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, The Invisible Man, and King Kong. These movies focused on suspense and mood. They showed very little and by doing so accomplished a lot. A trick that I think is lost on a lot of modern filmmakers.

What role are you destine to play?

There are a lot of choices and just picking one would be impossible but I will give you two. First going in the vain of Superheroes and comic books since that is what is all the buzz in Hollywood. In the Golden Age Green Lantern had a sidekick named Doiby Dickles. Ok I am giving you all sometime to quite your laughter before i go on. You guys ok now. Well you see Doiby was a heavy-set bald man that wore a Derby hat. He had a thick Brooklyn accent and the weapon of choice for him was a wrench. Why I gravitate towards him was he was heavy like I am and he kicked butt. Don’t get me wrong he definitely was there to be funny and throw some comic relief into the comics but he was not just there to be funny, he was not just there to be laughed at. He fought with the hero and sometimes saved Green lantern. Now being heavy is something have dealt with my entire life and will keep dealing with it till I die. In film being heavy or fat places you into two roles the funny fat friend, or the creepy guy who is going to use your intestines as garters. Personally I’d rather play the creepy guy because it is way more fun. Now Doiby is a character who is apart of a crime fighting team and he is not always being saved and he is not constantly falling down. He is a fighter like me.

Second one I would choose would be Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. Why because I have always been fastinated with the duality of man. We are good and evil and who we become depends on which side we decide to feed. I have always loved the book and wanted to delve into a mind of a man who is really two distinct personalities at war with each other. Which is the reality we all deal with on a daily basis.

What’s the best piece of advice you were ever given?

Best piece of advice I have been given. There are so many things I have heard from others in business on the podcast I co-host The BoomBastiCAST. We always ask the same question at the end and that is “What advice would you give someone who is struggling during the tough times”. The times when the phone isn’t ringing. When you put everything on hold and pursue your dream and you feel like you can’t go on anymore because you aren’t booking jobs, agents seem to forget your name and number. The director who said you stole the audition but seem to hire his cousin for the role instead. While every answer has been different they all have one theme. “Don’t Give Up”. The hardest part of doing this is not giving up because it’s so easy to say it’s not going to happen and pack your bags and leave it behind. If you don’t have the passion for it I understand and you have to do what is right for you. If you wake up every morning and you know you won’t be happy or fulfilled unless you are on a film set then I want to be the first to welcome to you this crazy business we call Show.

What’s next for Alexander Hauck

What’s next? Good question there is one film that is on the schedule. It is called Abigail which is a New England Vampire Folktale directed by James Lamond a good friend of mine. He is trying to raise some money on Indiegogo for it too shoot next year. I would definity recomend you to check it out especially if you like your vampires scary. I play Thomas a father who has to make a very hard decision. I will just leave it at that don’t want to give too much away. Other than that I have a few other projects in development that I will showcase as soon as I get the all clear until then keep a look out on my Facebook page Alexander Hauck Fan Page. Everything about me and film related will be there. Also check out BoomBastic media on Youtube it’ll show you all of our videos and interviews. You can also check out BoomBastic Streaming on Patreon where you can get excess to even more cool stuff.