By Christina Radish
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Fred Savage at the ABC Network All-Star Party held at the Wind Tunnel in Pasadena, Calif. on January 22, 2006. |
In the TriStar Pictures/Revolution Studios film Daddy Day Camp, the hilarious sequel to the smash hit Daddy Day Care, Charlie Hinton (Academy Award winner Cuba Gooding, Jr.) and Phil Ryerson (Paul Rae) take over running a summer day camp. Armed with no knowledge of the great outdoors, a dilapidated facility and a motley group of campers, it doesn’t take long before things get out of control. Up against threats of foreclosure and declining enrollment, Charlie is forced to call on his estranged father, Colonel Buck Hinton (Richard Gant) to help bring the camp together and teach everyone about teamwork, perseverance and the power of forgiveness.
Having spent the past several years directing kids’ comedy on television, actor-turned-director Fred Savage (best known for his six seasons as Kevin Arnold on The Wonder Years) jumped at the chance to take on his first feature film. The 31-year-old Illinois native tells MediaBlvd Magazine about working with so many kids.
MediaBlvd Magazine> How easy or difficult was it, working with the kids?
Fred Savage> For me, it was very natural. I felt very comfortable. Given my background, I really feel comfortable working with young actors. That’s what I grew up doing. Given my experiences as a young actor, it really helped to inform how I worked with the kids. When you’re younger, you’re very aware of what approaches work, and what doesn’t. I tried to take the best of what I liked about working with directors when I was a kid, and eliminate all the stuff I hated. I’ve let that guide me, in working with all actors, in my directing career -- not just young actors, but with adults as well.
MediaBlvd> What doesn’t work, and what did you hate, as a kid?
Fred> The set’s got to be a positive place for any kind of work, but particularly comedy. Young actors are sensitive to moods that are on the set. When I’d come on the set, from school or wherever I was, and someone was in a bad mood, or someone was ticked off about something, I’d feel that. For me, I would just instinctively turn inward. I didn’t want to upset anyone. I didn’t want to exasperate the situation. I wasn’t sure what was going on. I just felt like it wasn’t a comfortable place. I just don’t think that gives any actor -- but particularly young actors because they’re so attuned to that stuff -- the opportunity to succeed and give their best performance. The only way to do that is to make the set a positive place that they feel comfortable going go, where they’re happy to be, where they’ll feel comfortable enough to take risks and make themselves vulnerable, and where they can play and try things. As a kid, I did not like when sets were not a positive place. Another thing is that you’ll never see me yelling a piece of direction across a set from behind the monitor. I always hated that. The notes that a director has for an actor are no one’s business, but the director’s and the actor’s. I always felt that yelling direction across a set violated some contract between the actor and director. The work they do together, and the process to get that work, is a private thing. I either stay right by the camera -- which is where I prefer to be -- or, if I have to be back by the monitor, I’ll run back and forth. The path has to be clear because I’ll run in for notes, and run back. It’s just no one else’s business what the notes are.
MediaBlvd> How did you keep the parents’ egos in check?
Fred> The parents were definitely proud of their kids, and I liked that. And, I really see the parents, of all the kids I work with, as partners. Certainly, it would be inappropriate for them to pitch new lines for their kids, or things like that. I try to make the boundaries pretty clear. But, if there is something we need from a young actor that we’re not getting, or if it’s a question of preparation the night before, or focus on the set, I see the parents as partners in that. It was always important to me to make sure the parents were happy and that they were having a good time, and then make sure that the lines of communication between myself and the parents was open. The kids were such pros, even though they were pretty young. They’re not going to be as frank or as open with me, as they would be their parents. If they were uncomfortable about something, or unhappy about something, or if there was a rift somewhere, I wanted to know about it. I wanted the parents to come to me, so I could remedy it and make sure the kids were as comfortable as possible on the set. On the other side of the coin, if I was needing something I wasn’t getting, I could talk to the parents and say, “Hey, can you make sure he goes over his lines a little bit tomorrow.” It was very important to me that there was an open line of communication between me and the parents, for the benefit of everyone.
MediaBlvd> How was it, directing Cuba Gooding, Jr.?
Fred> Directing Cuba was wonderful. He is just as you would imagine him to be on a set. He’s just so full of energy and enthusiasm, and he’s gung-ho. He throws himself into it. He was wonderful with the kids. He was so patient. A less confident actor would worry about working with kids, or worry about them being too cute. He worked so hard to make the kids the best they could be. He was that confident. He was that self-possessed. He wanted the kids to do a great job. It wasn’t about him, it was about those kids. He was just so generous with them, and so wonderful.
MediaBlvd> Did you have any reservations about doing a sequel with different actors?
Fred> I felt like the situation we were in with the movie gave us the best of both worlds. We were part of a franchise that everyone knows, that was very popular, that parents trust and that kids enjoy. Coming into our movie, you’ll know the characters and their background. So, we have all that going for us. At the same time, using new actors for the same characters and aging the kids up, liberated us, in that we could make our own movie. It didn’t have to look the same as the first one, it didn’t have to feel the same and we didn’t have to reference it. We had the same characters and the same brand title, so we got all the benefits of that with none of the negatives. We didn’t have to be beholden to the first one. It was really liberating that we could use Cuba and use new kids and tell our own story. We can stand on our own, as a movie, but we still get the benefits of being the cousin to this huge hit. The Daddy Day name means something to the parents and to the kids, and we can only benefit from that.
MediaBlvd> Did you go to summer camp, as a kid?
Fred> I did. From when I was about 5-10, I went to day camp. I loved it. Those experiences definitely helped inform this, that’s for sure. It was not the fanciest of places, but it was a place where you could still have a good time. I went to a camp outside of Chicago, where I’m from, called Tamarack.
MediaBlvd> Do you think the name Fred Savage will forever be connected to projects for children and young people?
Fred> I hope that people remember the work I do now, and did when I was younger. But, like anything, you hope to constantly be tackling new things. With each new job and each new year, my tastes will change and my life will change. If I can be doing this 30 years from now, I’ll be very happy and I hope that I will have matured in my tastes and my sense of humor. I hope that people link me with quality product and work that is good. I hope to be linked to that forever. Up to this point, I’ve been pretty successful, in that regard. I want to be doing comedies. I like comedies that appeal to a wide audience. I like comedies that have a nice emotional heart to them, and a story that serves as a foundation. I hope that I keep doing good work and that I can cross some genres, along the way.
MediaBlvd> Do you miss acting?
Fred> I do sometimes, but I just find directing so energizing. I really love it. Acting was my first love. It’s obviously something I’m very passionate about. But, in a large sense, I feel like it’s a solitary pursuit. You go home and you learn your lines, on your own or sometimes with a tape recorder, and then you go to work and you sit in your dressing room, and they call you, they bring you to set, you shoot your scene, which is great and fun and wonderful, and you’re working with everybody, but then you go back to your room, and then, they call you for the next scene. There’s a lot of downtime. The thing I love about directing is that it’s so all-consuming and so all-encompassing, from the moment you’re on set until the second you go to bed.
MediaBlvd> Is it better to be a director because you don’t have to go through the rejection you do, as an actor?
Fred> Rejection never feels good, in any respect. Being a director is definitely less vulnerable. The big difference about directing is that it’s much easier for me to be a self-promoter, as a director, because you’re talking about and selling a thing. When you go in for a meeting, you’re selling your idea about a movie. There’s some distance between you and the work. It’s obviously very personal and you pour yourself into it, but as an actor, you’re selling yourself. You’re the product. There’s something that’s really vulnerable and humbling about that. It’s hard for me to promote that. I can say, “I’ll shoot the shit out of that movie. I’ll do a great job, shooting that.” I feel comfortable saying that. But, I don’t feel that comfortable saying, “I’m a great actor!” There’s a difference between when the product is you versus when it’s something else.
MediaBlvd> When did you decide you wanted a career as a director? Did you have a bad experience as an actor?Fred> No, absolutely not. Since I was a kid, I was interested in directing. I was always interested in the camera and how it worked and the creative choices directors would make, as to why a camera was in one position rather than another, or why one scene would require a lot of coverage and a scene of the same length required very little. It wasn’t born out of anything negative. It was something very positive. I always wanted to try to do it, and I enjoyed it. I’m never going to get a part that they want Leonardo DiCaprio for, but they’re also not going to say, “Oh, we can’t get Scorsese? Let’s get Fred.” There’s always going to be role models, and people who you look to and aspire to and who are going to be better than you. I’m certainly not hiding in directing because I can’t compete as an actor. I just enjoy the work more.
MediaBlvd> How different is it to direct a feature film, compared to directing television? And, which do you prefer?
Fred> Television directing was a great training ground for film. The schedule and the pace of television directing is just brutal. There are huge page counts and you’re just going all day. You’re shot out of a cannon, from first call, so you learn to be very well prepared, you learn to roll with things and you learn to improvise very quickly. There’s really not a lot of time to mull things over. What I liked about feature directing was that, even though our schedule was very tight and the budget was tight, it was more relaxed. You could breathe a little bit more. The page counts were smaller, so you could take more time with a scene, in rehearsing it. You could cover a scene a little more properly. You could finesse things a little bit more than you could in television. But, I also love working in television. I find the pace kind of exciting.
MediaBlvd> What was your best experience, directing for TV?
Fred> I’ve been fortunate that I’ve had a lot of great experiences. In building a new career, as I have been, each gig brings some new challenge and some new excitement because it’s something I’ve never done before. The last thing I shot was a ton of fun, only because it was so different from what I’ve been doing. I did a show for FX, called It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia, that is not family fare. It was a great way to exercise another side of my sensibilities and my personality. It was adult and off-color and a little more sophisticated. Danny DeVito is a guy I’ve admired for many years, not only as an actor, but as a director. War of the Roses is something I go back to, again and again. I try to steal as many shots as possible from that. That was my last directing experience. We just finished up this Spring. It’s great to work with people your own age. You have a lot more common experiences. It’s fun to get a little raunchy, now and again.
MediaBlvd> Do you direct non-stop, or do you take breaks?
Fred> I try to fill my schedule up as much as possible, but it doesn’t always work that way. So far, I’ve been pretty fortunate, staying busy. But, I have a new son, who is a year old. Any downtime I have, I really relish. My wife was nine months pregnant when I got the job to direct Daddy Day Camp, so I was really nervous about it. I didn’t want to leave my family and miss the birth. We were shooting out of town, in Park City, Utah. My dad told me, “In your business, you’re really on. It’s all-consuming. You eat, sleep and breathe work. But, when you’re off, you’re really off.” You take the good with the bad. Even though you’re off, you want to be working, but you relish that time with your family. When I’m off, I’m there with my wife and son, in the morning, and I put him to bed at night.
MediaBlvd> Were you there for the birth?
Fred> We were scouting locations and I got the call saying, “Honey, you might want to come home.” I made it home, was there for a few days and then had to leave. I had to go back and start the movie, which was hard, but you get times where you’re off. I’m probably with my family much more than any of my friends who have a more traditional 9 to 5, where they’re up before their kids are up, and down after the kids go down.
MediaBlvd> What were the safety nets that kept you straight, growing up? What advice can you give today's generation?
Fred> I was very fortunate, in that I had a really great support system. I don’t care if you’re a young actor, or if you played little league or you’re on the school debate team. If you don’t have a good support system behind you, and a strong family and good friends, you’re going to run into trouble. I don’t think that’s anything unique to young actors. I was very fortunate that I have a terrific family who’s been very supportive of me, and that kicks me in the butt when I get out of line. I have friends who do the same, and a wife who does that now. I have a lot of people who care about me and make sure I’m making good choices.
MediaBlvd> Did you see people going down wrong paths, when you were a teen?
Fred> To be perfectly honest, it was never part of my life. I never was involved in the Hollywood scene. I wasn’t friends with showbiz kids. It wasn’t part of the lives of the kids I worked with either, so I wasn’t around it, nor did I seek it out. If you look at the kids who were on TV the same time I was, I think everyone turned out pretty good. I see Reese Witherspoon winning Academy Awards, and Leonardo DiCaprio, Tobey Maguire, Kirsten Dunst, Anne Hathaway and Elijah Wood. A whole host of kids, who started working at a young age, are doing great things. It’s more about the individual than the environment. It’s definitely hard, and one poor choice is magnified a thousand times -- much more than when I was younger -- but, I still don’t think there’s a cause and effect between celebrity, or working, at a young age and trouble later on. Look at the matinee when you go by your movie theater. There are tons of people who started acting as kids. There are also plenty of people who acted as kids, who went on to be lawyers and vets and architects. I don’t think you measure the success by whether or not they stayed in show business.
MediaBlvd> What’s next for you?
Fred> It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia is on next month. I went to Disney Channel and we started a new show over there called The Wizards of Waverly Place, and that comes on in November. I’m actually shooting the season finale of that show next week. I went up to Vancouver to shoot some shows for the CW. I shot a show called Aliens in America for them. And then, I’ll be shooting Cavemen for ABC. I’m directing episode nine or 10. I try to stay busy, whether it’s in features or television.
