If you run into Neil Hopkins at the grocery store go ahead and sing to him, he won't mind. It wouldn't be the first time fans of the hit series "Lost" have recognized the actor -- who played Drive Shaft lead singer Liam Pace -- and belted out a few bars from the fictional band's hit song "You All, Everybody."
While he only appeared on five episodes of "Lost" In his role as Liam, Hopkins said he is delighted when fans recognize his work.
Now, Hopkins takes his chameleon-like character skills to the big screen in the alien invasion film, "Skyline" which came in third place in last weekend's box-office derby earning $11.7 million.
Recently, the SoCal-based actor discussed the indie filmmaking sensibilities behind "Skyline" and offered his insight on the ever-evolving film industry.
Modern Mythology: You play Ray? Tell me about your character in Skyline.
Neil Hopkins: Ray's kind of a goofball, he's friends and co-working buddy. He works for Donald Faison's character Terry. They work in the world of digital effects, which is a very sort of self-reflected thing they added into the script which I think is kind of cool. And it's sort off this buddy buddy relationship that he has with Donald Faison's character as well as being somebody that works for him. And so, I guess I would say he sort of adds some of the comic relief to the film. And that's about all I can say, I don't want to give too much away.
MM: How did you get involved in the film? Did you read for it? were you approached?
Hopkins: I read for it and it was a really quick process. I read for it back in December and I heard they were interested. I actually read for the lead and I heard they were interested in me. And when I came back from break in January, they cast Eric Balfour in the lead and they wanted to give me this other part because they really liked me so it went form there. I shot about a week on the film and it was really a great experience and everybody involved were just super cool and it's fun making a movie with just all geeks who really love the process and are really excited about the project. And it wasn't at all tied down by any kind of studio, it was completely independently done and they turned it around so lightning quick. We had this event last night in Hollywood that was kind of a promotional thing. And it was really crazy. And all of us getting together for the first time since the wrap party just saying 'isn't it insane how quickly they turned this around?'
Hopkins: Because most movies, you know, you shoot a movie you may not see it for a year, you may not see it for two years, you may not see it for three years. And to actually have it being released less than a year after they shot it is incredible.
MM: Just last December you read and now the movie is in the can.
Hopkins: They shot it in February and finished in March and that was it. And now it's November. Not even Thanksgiving and they're already releasing on 4,000 screens. And that never ever happens. So it's a very unusual, in a good way, experience. Especially since as an actor you usually don't get to see your work for a long time to know if it's any good or not. It's really cool. Last night they showed some clips for the film to a pretty big audience and people were really psyched about it. We're all very excited and feel very lucky to have been a part of the project.
MM: Now, I hear the budget was really contained. Did they really shoot a lot of this in one of the creator's homes?
Hopkins: Yeah, they shot practically the whole thing. Not in a house, but a high rise. So it was in Marina Del Rey and not very far from where I live. So I was shooting like, ten minutes away from where I live. It was really funny. It was just like 'oh, I'm going to work' and I would drive ten minutes away and we'd shoot in this guy's apartment. It's a gorgeous apartment. It's not like a dumpy, old waste. I mean, it was really his place. So we all had to wear like these little booties over our shoes when we were walking in and out of his place (laughs). We had to be quiet for some of the neighbors. You know, it was crazy. And I guess, in retrospect, Greg Strause, whose place it was -- Colin and Greg (Strause) are the two directors, they're brothers -- he's like, 'I would never do this again' because I think ,it rubbed a lot of his neighbors the wrong way. Because, you know, when he said he was shooting a little movie I don't think they had any idea that we were shooting a full movie.
(laughs)
Hopkins: I think he alienated a lot of people, no pun intended. But, I think they'll be pretty amazed when they see it come out.
MM: You said it was a lot of fun to be on a project where there a lot of geeks into the process. Have you done a lot of indie films that are smaller?
Hopkins: Yeah. You know, you do a lot of indie films and especially now. Kind of since the economic crisis -- and everybody tells you and it's true -- there are either big tent pole productions, $100-$200 million movies or they're low, low budget indie films that are being made. There's no market anymore really for what the independent branches of the studios used to do before they closed down. Which was like $5 million to $15 million pictures. And so everything is independent. They were always around before but even more so now. And there's a lot of great stuff being made on a very small budget. I just shot a feature over the summer that we shot for ... I think we shot it for... it was definitely under a $100,000. Probably closer to like $75,000. And it's this great movie called "Detour" and I think it should be coming out in the next year. It's forcing people to be very creative the fact that there's very little financing available for movies anymore. It's forcing people to be creative within the constraints that they've been given.
Hopkins: I think it's going to turn out a lot interesting work in the next few years.
MM: Now, I've heard about the budget and then I saw the trailer. That's a lot of really detailed special effects for that kind of budget. Did you know about the work of the Strause Brothers before? I knew they did a lot of special effects.
Hopkins: I don't know that world necessarily in terms of who does the behind-the-scenes stuff, but when I went in to read for the role it was at one of their two effects houses in Santa Monica, they're called Hydraulx. And just, the operation that they run there was huge. And I was just kind of blown away not just at the design of the pace but at the sheer number of people they have working for them. And all these different editing bays. Any movie in the last five or six years that you can name that has heavy special effects they've done it.
Hopkins: And the reason they were able to do it for such a low budget is because they did it all in house obviously. So, they did it completely in house and literally they shot it in their house! So it was really a home-grown production as slick as it looks and as amazed as I think people are going to be when they see it. I can't stress enough what a small kind of a production it was. there was basically like, 11 people in the crew. You know, there couldn't be a big crew because they were all in this guy's apartment. There wasn't any room for anybody (laughs).
And it's crazy. I think it's going to blow people away when they find out the story behind the movie which is as impressive as the movie will be, I think.
Skyline now playing.
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