Posted in: Netflix, TV | Tagged: wednesday

Wednesday: Anthony Michael Hall on Burton Reunion, Comedy & More

Anthony Michael Hall (S.W.A.T. Exiles) spoke with us about appearing in Wednesday Season 2, working with Tim Burton again, and more.

As Anthony Michael Hall was emerging in Hollywood throughout the '80s, he knew he had to take risks and take the opportunities when he could, which is why he became successful in comedy with some of his earliest successful works in John Hughes classics like The Breakfast Club (1985) and Weird Science (1985). Another one of his earlier successes in a more serious role was playing Jim, the standoffish high schooler and bully, in the Tim Burton classic Edward Scissorhands (1990). Things would come full circle 35 years later when Hall found out he would appear in his Netflix series, Wednesday, a more supernatural, murder-mystery, adventurous spinoff of the popular The Addams Family, with Jenna Ortega playing the titular character. While promoting his work in the upcoming S.W.A.T. Exiles for Starz, the actor spoke with Bleeding Cool on his almost-reunion with Burton, working with the ensemble cast filming his season two episode in Dublin, and breaking out of his initial comedy mold into more serious roles.

Wednesday: Anthony Michael Hall on Reconnecting with Director/Creator Tim Burton, Ensemble Cast, Evolving Career

Bleeding Cool: When you got the film 'Wednesday,' did you get a chance to chat a lot with Tim and catch up on the old times? Did it feel like it was back in the day when you both worked on 'Edward Scissorhands,' or has that changed due to the times and/or the nature of TV?

Hall: Right, right. It's a good question. Here's the thing. That was the first question I had when I got to Dublin. I brought my family. I was like, "Where's Tim?" They're like, "Tim's in the south of France editing." I was like, "Of course he is. He's Tim Burton. I'd be in the South of France, editing too," so I'm joking about it. The director I worked with was a guy named Paco Cabezas, a Spanish director. He'd done some really interesting work and was a good filmmaker, so I did not see Tim, unfortunately, but I wrote him an email when I got to Dublin, and I thanked him profusely. I told him, "I'm really excited to work for you again, and thanks for the opportunity," and I joked with him at the end of the email. I said, "You didn't have to wait 34 years since 'Edward Scissorhands' to hire me."

This is like two years ago, but a great experience, and again, being on his set and in his world was incredible, because as the new model with these companies like Netflix or Amazon is, "You know you're doing a limited series, right?" It's six or eight episodes, eight or ten, but again, the craftsmanship, the depth of resources, obviously, because it's Tim Burton, it was like being on a huge…it was when I shot 'The Dark Knight.' You have a huge crew. You're talking about a 150-strong crew of men and women, and I was just blown away once again by the world that he creates.

I likened Tim Burton to a modern-day Walt Disney because he is one, I mean, short of having the family park and everything. In terms of having a signature to his work and his style, even though he's made so many different types of films and having that kind of level of artistry, you don't see that in Hollywood as much. It was incredible to work for him again, but I didn't get to see him, unfortunately. In terms of the size and scale of the show, Tom, it's amazing because I was shooting one episode, and I probably worked fewer than two weeks of shooting days. I was there for like five weeks, because it was such a big production, but it was a great experience.

I mean, especially if you're playing in that 'Addams Family' world, since it's like such a dramatically different feel in a sense, but it still has the aura of that show. The work also presents itself, right?

Yes, and it's always about the pedigree of people, right? Since I got to work with some great actors like suddenly, I'm there with Catherine Zeta-Jones, and I got to work with Steve Buscemi, who I've always been a fan of. He's a sweet guy, a very nice person. Luis Guzman was my favorite. He has great stories to tell about his career, his life. He's just a wonderful guy, and then Jenna Ortega could not be sweeter and so focused, quite an interesting young actress. I like her a lot, but what a sweetheart in person, really lovely. My role (of Ron Krueger) was really funny. I'll tell you exactly what I was doing, Tom. Do you remember 'Full Metal Jacket?' It was a movie that I was offered by [Stanley] Kubrick many years ago. But I was, I was doing a blatant kind of imitation of R. Lee Ermey's Sgt. Hartman.

The reason I thought it was funny was that I was watching his scenes between takes, and I thought I'm playing a Cub Scout leader, but if this guy takes it so seriously, like he is running a platoon of Marines, you know? So that was the gimmick on that one, and when you're playing a comedy, you can't go just for the laughs. You must play it straight, but I was playing a guy that was so gung-ho, almost too much, obviously, because he's like operating like a Marine drill sergeant, even though all his plebs are like 12-year-old Cub Scouts [laughs].

When you're coming up in the industry, you did so many comedies, and then you fell into what you did with more dramatic, intense, serious roles. Did you ever imagine as a young actor that you'd be tapped into as many serious roles, or were you just having fun doing that along the way, playing your hand as it got dealt?

Yeah, I think it's the latter, Tom. It's like that old saying, "Necessity is the mother of invention." When you're an actor, there is no company to fall back on. There's no staff. You're like a lone gunman. You are alone in the search for work; to be honest, it was just adapting, trying to stay busy, and keep working through the decades. A lot of actors and actresses can attest to this. Again, back to your first question, I think the project finds you in a way; when it's meant to be, it's meant to be. You must be willing to outlast uncertainty, right, and to operate from that place.

It's not for everybody, that's for sure, because it's a challenging way to make a living. After all, unfortunately, there's nothing to fall back on, but I'm grateful for it; I thank God for it. I really do. I'm a better face, and I thank God that I've had a creative career this long and grateful for. I wish I could say it's as cool as, like, I chose those things. It was really kind of like adapting and flowing as I went, you know, decade by decade.

S.W.A.T. Exiles premieres on September 25th on Starz. Wednesday is available on Netflix.

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