Interview by Daniel Robert Epstein, contributing editor
Stephen King has created some of the great horror novels of all time and many of those have been turned into fantastic films. But it is impossible to ignore the non-horror works that King has created such as The Shawshank Redemption and Apt Pupil, which is the category that the Nightmares & Dreamscape episode, "The Fifth Quarter," falls into. Jeremy Sisto stars as a just-released convict who learns from his dying friend of a map in four parts that reveals the location of several million dollars. The Nightmares & Dreamscape episode, "The Fifth Quarter," airs July 26th on TNT.
UGO: You've done a few horror projects, but would you classify your episode of Nightmares & Dreamscapes as horror?
JEREMY SISTO: No, I don't think so. It is more character driven. What's weird is that it is like a few different movies. It's a real character independent feel and then it becomes this big action movie. It's all over the board and offers a lot in an hour.
UGO: What struck you about the script?
JEREMY: They said, "You want to go to Australia next week?" I said, "Let me read it." I really liked how it was written. I was drawn to the inscrutable situation where a character is trying to reunite with his wife and reunite with the free world and become a citizen and a human again. I liked that and then it became this action thing which was written really well. Also I'm a fan of Samantha Mathis so I was excited to work with her.
UGO: How was it working with Samantha?
JEREMY: She's great, a real sweetheart and just a really strong actress.
UGO: How was working with [director] Rob Bowman?
JEREMY: Good. The director that was supposed to do it had to drop out at the last minute because he got sick or something and Rob was there doing the episode "Umney's Last Case" with William H. Macy. So he went and jumped right on and he was great, man. I really liked working with him. He's very straightforward and supportive.
UGO: Are you a Stephen King fan?
JEREMY: I haven't read any of his books or stories but I should. I like some of the movies that were adapted from his stories but I actually cannot say I've read any.
UGO: Also you haven't gotten to carry a gun much in movies.
JEREMY: Well, now and again I've had some gun work.
UGO: How did you like doing the action scenes?
JEREMY: They are more fun to watch than to do. It is much more difficult to technically get it done and make it look really good. As an actor, it's a lot of being there for the director, waiting around for them to do what they need to do. But the actual stuff you're doing there is really short little shots here and there. It's not the most fulfilling part of acting. It's much more interesting to do scenes that are less technically difficult.
UGO: Could you relate to that feeling of redemption for your character in "The Fifth Quarter?"
JEREMY: Yeah, I think so. But it was more about this guy getting out of prison and only feeling intimate with this one friend of his that he was in prison with and then trying to reconnect with his wife and trying to find that intimacy again. Somehow through this crazy story there is redemption for his friend and standing up for that guy and going through that with his wife. So by the end he somehow he finds his way back to being a husband and a father.
UGO: When is Kidnapped airing?
JEREMY: It's coming out in the fall and I'm very excited about that. I think the pilot is really good and the scripts that are coming in are just great. I'm crossing my fingers that people think it's as cool as I think it is.
UGO: Are you the main guy in it or is it more of an ensemble?
JEREMY: I'm the main guy in it but it's filled with a great cast. Timothy Hutton, Delroy Lindo, Dana Delaney, Mykelti Williamson so it's a really rounded and great cast.
UGO: What is the story?
JEREMY: Each season follows one kidnapping case. The first season is Timothy Hutton and Dana Delaney as an upper-class, bourgeois rich family and their kid gets kidnapped. So I'm a specialist that is ex-FBI and then there are the FBI agents and it follows the kidnappers and everyone else involved. It's really suspenseful and weird and you slowly get to know these characters and their sordid lives. I'm very proud of it.
With things like Nightmares & Dreamscapes and Kidnapped, it sounds like there's not much difference between TV and movies anymore.
JEREMY: I think TV is better just because it has a quicker growth rate and quality right now. Shows like 24, Lost and Prison Break are changing what TV is. It is really fun to be involved in that world right now. It is also a lot of fun to be involved in something where the characters are growing and you get to be involved in it for a long time. So in a lot of ways I think it's more fun than doing movies.
UGO: How was working with director Jeremy Kasten on The Thirst?
JEREMY: It was a fun role. I was the king of the vampires or something like that. I play the head of this little family like the Manson family. We would go around and just kill a bunch of people from place to place and move around and have this real rock star concept of us. We take somebody into our group and the person comes in and gets addicted with us as we start eating a lot of people and living this crazy life. It is our little metaphor for drug addiction.
UGO: How did you like playing a vampire?
JEREMY: It was fun for a minute. [laughs] Then you want to play a human being.
UGO: Do you have any movies coming out?
JEREMY: Yeah, after the last episode of Six Feet Under, I did a movie called Unknown with Jim Cavaziel, Greg Kinnear, Barry Pepper and Joe Pantoliano. Then I did a psychological thriller called Population 436 and a movie called Waitress which Adrienne Shelley directed.
UGO: How was working with Adrienne?
JEREMY: I did a movie with her years ago as actors. I'm a big fan of the work she did with Hal Hartley. She's a really good director and writer. I'm excited to see it.
UGO: Do you have any interest in writing or directing at all?
JEREMY: I did at one point and I feel like I've got some great stories in me but I can't seem to finish any of these scripts.
UGO: A friend of mine [Joe Lynch] is directing the sequel to Wrong Turn right now.
JEREMY: Are you serious? I didn't even know there was a sequel.
UGO: Do you have any advice for him?
JEREMY: [laughs] Watch out for the arrows.
