Actress Julian Berlin recently joined The Two Doctors radio show to talk about her upcoming projects.  Her movie, Ghost Voyage premieres tongiht, January 26, 2008,  on the SCI FI Channel.

 

Julian> Absolutely!  Ghost Voyage with Antonio Sabatto Jr is coming out on the Sci Fi Channel.  Then there is Thy Kingdom Come, which is the horror suspense film which is going to be starting over in Europe, premiering in Spain and Italy.  And I know it’s going to a festival in Brussels in March, and will probably go to a couple of different film festivals over in Europe throughout the year, and then will eventually come to the States. 

 

Julian>  You know, I think it’s fascinating.  I just find sci fi scripts and horror scripts something that you can dive into as an actor and just loose yourself in the imagination.  I think that’s what’s so much fun about them is that it’s out there.  It’s something creative and new.  So when I did Thorian, I did that with Vernon Wells who you might know from Mad Max, it was just so fun.  In that one, I was a British archeologist and I played his daughter.  It was just great!  Following the mystery of excavating these creatures that we didn’t know what were, and stumbling on them.  I love the special effects of sci fi films and everything about it is just fun.  It’s like going to work, but you’re really playing.  It’s like being a child again!  It’s really fantastic.

 

Julian> Oh yeah, I think it would be amazing to be a part of a sci fi series.  Stargate, Battlestar Galactica, even Star Trek would be such an amazing thing to be a part of.  Any of it would be fantastic.

 

Julian> There’s a tagline, that “no flesh shall be spared.”  The script is based on a Russian fairy tale about these creatures that come once a year and feed on the souls of the weak.  And the creatures live on.  Basically the plot is based on that fairy tale, and I have these dreams, but I can’t figure out whether they are real, or really just dreams.  Eventually as I’m going through trying to discover the history of what my dreams are, I find different facts in books and through my psychiatrist and eventually through a mentor of mine, that they are actually real.  Once we all find out that it is real, those creatures come that evening and we have to deal with that situation and fight for our lives.  There are some pretty incredible that we shot that I haven’t even seen yet.  I think it’s going to be great. 

 

Julian> Yeah, I remember seeing those when they first came out.  First of all, they freaked me out.  I was younger and so scared after seeing that film. What a great, great film.  You love Sigourney in those kinds of roles.  I think it’s so great when there’s a woman in distress, and she fights for her life, and you see that strength and that courage and intensity come out of them.  I think it really takes someone who is that organically in real life to portray that in film.  I just love that intensity that she had in those films, and that’s always something I think about when I’m shooting some of the horror and sci fi films.  Where that strength and intensity has to come from and I think it’s a great portrayal.  It’s great that women get the opportunity to do that.  It’s a great role as an actor because it’s so intense and you really get the opportunity to flex your muscles as an actor.

 

Julian> Yeah, that one’s sort of a mystery.  There’s a bunch of us that find ourselves on a ship, and we don’t really know how we got there.  And eventually through scouting around the ship we all come upon certain vices that we face in real life.  And we’re all kind of met with a life or death situation, or a choice per se to fall into the bad habits that we have always repeated in our life, or to make a choice and start anew.  And it’s interesting what everybody has to deal with because every character has a different demise to face on the ship.  Some of us live and some of us die.  Working with Antonio Sabatto Jr was great.  He was so much fun and he’s such a pro.  Not to mention that he’s so handsome with all of his dimples!  It was also fun because I got to play the comic relief in the film.  There’s always someone who has to lift the intensity every once in awhile, and it was a blast.  It was kind of oscillating between the intensity of the situation, being scared not knowing what’s going to happen, then being able to make a joke in the middle of it all which was so much fun.

Julian> Well, for us as characters, it’s definitely on the psychological side because we don’t know what happens.  We’ll be walking down a hallway and sense that something is behind us, then turn around and look, and we don’t see it.  So for our experiences as characters, its definitely psychological as we’re trying to figure out what’s going on.  We have these premonitions that we’re being followed, or looked upon, or something, but you didn’t see it.  So it’s kind of this psychological experience for us.  But for the viewer, you’ll see those ghosts and see what’s going on, and see those things that we can’t see.  I’m really excited to see some of the effects for that film.  I saw a rough cut just a couple of months ago, but they didn’t have any of the CGI effects in there, so I’ll be really excited to see how the ghosts are portrayed.

 

  

Ghost Voyage on the Sci Fi Channel, premieres January 26, 2008.

Julian> Yeah, I definitely did some green screen on that.  And it is interesting.  Fortunately, our director, James Oxford is a great special effects artist.  So it was nice to have him come in and tell us what was going on, and to describe what it is that they are later going to create, because imagination is really what takes you there as they are creating these moments.  For him to come in and kind of fill in the blanks as to exactly what is happening, gives us actors, more fuel to make those real and go there and experience that and allow the fear to come in and make those moments full.

 

The film is a sequel to one they had a few years ago with Judd Nelson, by the same producers.  I’ll be interested to see how it turns out.

 

Julian> This one was actually filmed in Sophia, Bulgaria. I know it’s great to film over there because there are a lot of tax breaks.  It’s a lot less expensive, and they have huge studios in which they create these sets.  We had a lot of rain fall in Ghost Voyage, that I didn’t really have to deal with, but I heard it was really cold in between takes.  But they have huge rain machines.  So in the studio, there is this huge ship that they’ve built, and above that they have the rain machine, and when it starts to fall, the ship is flooded.  Then bam, they cut the water and the scene is done.  It’s pretty incredible what they do over there.

Julian> I find it fascinating to shoot overseas.  I love to travel, and had the fortunate life of traveling with my father since I was very young.  So I love to travel.  I love to experience different culture.  I guess when you are working over seas, the first kind of adjustment is dealing with the time change.  And then you are in a completely different environment, so it’s kind of an adventure in itself to work internationally.  Then on your days off, you get the opportunity to kind of mosey around if you’re not too exhausted.  I find it kind of an adventure and really charming to film overseas, with the different crews and different language.  I wish I could remember more, but the only thing I remember in Bulgarian is hello.  But it’s an incredible opportunity.  Then I was in Buenos Aries, Argentina for Thy Kingdom Come.  I wish I could do more of it.

 

Julian> Later in the fall, I’m a part of a TV show called Unhitched.  It’s the Farrelly Brothers new TV show. It’s a comedy and I love comedy, and it’s on Fox.  It was a blast, and I can’t wait to see all the episodes.

 

Julian> I was definitely a fan and watched when I was in high school, so it was definitely weird my first day, when I showed up and walked into the makeup room.  It was during an episode in which Sami was getting married again, and I walk into the makeup room and see everybody that I’d been watching since I was like 16.  I was like, “Oh my God, I know these people.”  And they all look the same as they did 10 years ago.  It was a lot of fun, but it’s hard work.  Soap opera actors sometimes get a bad rap for over acting but what they do is so hard, and they move so fast because they film an entire episode in one day.  So they have to know all of their lines right then and there, and they can’t screw up because they only get one take, maybe two.  When those people have to cry, there’s no time to think about it.  It’s really impressive to watch those actors work and they are so inspiring.  I think it’s about 5 weeks turn around from the time it’s filmed till it airs.  My character was Eve Michaels.  I was a dirty cop with a good heart!

 

Julian> I started playing in school when I was a child, I believe in the 5^th grade, and I was very bad!  I should have practiced more.  Then I played again in college, and that’s when I really started to practice.  I was always a good violinist, but I wasn’t dedicated.  I was also a dancer, and I was just dancing all the time.  So when I was in college, I really started to fall in love with, and really started to be able to play.  And I played with a symphony for 3 years, the Saint Cloud Symphony in Minnesota.  Then when I was out here in LA I started playing with bands.  I have a pick up for my violin so I can plug it into an amp, so I played some rock and roll and I play some jazz with a group of friends.  We just get together and play Jazz and Bluegrass and Country- just anything you can imagine. 

 

Julian> I haven’t done that and I’m always looking for that.  I’m really in the midst of completing a script with a producer that I worked with a couple of years ago, for a pilot.  And he is first and foremost a music producer, but I’ve brought a script to him that is almost finished being developed, and that is about a violinist.  So I do hope to be able to complete that and get it off the ground in a few months.

 

Julian> You know what, it really is, and I’m behind them 120%.  I have some great friends who are writers and they’re always out there on the picket lines.  I have a friend who is up at 5AM everyday to be at the picket line by 6AM.  Eventually, in June I believe, is when it’s going to affect the actors.  Everything the writers are fighting for now, they are kind of starting our battle as well.  I support them and have been out to the picket lines a couple of times myself to support them.  Hopefully, they’ll get it cleared up soon because it affects everyone in this town.  It’s not just the writers, but the actors and caterers and everyone involved in the shows.  The writers themselves are out of work, the actors are out of work, and the economy in LA goes down because no one goes out and spends as much money because they are out of work.  Its amazing how one piece of the pie can affect everything.  So I really do hope for everyone’s sake that it gets settled soon, and that it’s amicable and it’s fair.  I think that’s the bottom line is that it’s fair in the end. 

 

Julian> I can’t say that I’ve put my name to anything in specific.  But I’m passionate about anything.  I’m passionate about animals, but I haven’t really put my name into any kind of organization, so to speak.  I have 3 cats that I’ve adopted, and 2 dogs.  It’s more than I can handle!  When I leave town I have to have a baby sitter come over, and it’s an ordeal.

 

Julian> Yeah, they were a blast.  I love comedy because it’s so much fun.  You get to go act silly all day, and make people laugh, so how much fun is that.  Working with Zach Braff was amazing.  He’s stunning to work with.  First of all, he’s hilarious.  I could barely keep a straight face.  I was like, “I need to stop laughing at you because I’m ruining all the film.”  But he’s just fearless when he works.  He’s not afraid to take a risk in his comedy and fall flat on his face-- because he’ll have the script, but he’ll make up his own stuff.  It’s great to watch genius at work, and a fearless genius at that, who’s not afraid to try things that will maybe be funny and maybe won’t. It was really inspiring to work with him.