Brian Krause: Bad Guy of Gods of CircumstanceThe213.netHaving played a ton of good guys, most recently on the TV series Charmed, actor Brian Krause is adding a new character to his resume - the bad guy. In the new film THE GODS OF CIRCUMSTANCE (which recently screened at the 2009 British Film Festival in LA and won all three top acting awards including one for Krause for best supporting actor!), Krause plays obsessive husband and all around heavy Jim Jeff, a troubled man who is focused on getting his wife back at all costs. The film also stars Dukes of Hazzard alum John Schneider and fetching newcomer Cate Cohen and is directed by God's Forgotten House director Justin Golding. We had a chance to talk with Krause about playing the unstable Jim Jeff, his thoughts about the themes in the film, plus a look back at some of his terrific genre work of the past.
Your character Jim Jeff is an angry dude - what was it like to play him? BK: It was refreshing - I think as an actor it's about constantly trying to re-invent yourself and prove your not just a one-tone kind of guy. It was fun and I like playing the bad guy. I like characters that have that deep dark angst and more going on than just being happy-go-lucky - it was a lot of fun. But when you get done with certain things like that, I mean I like playing Jim Jeff, but you're like I need Disney movie (laughs), I need kids, I need animals because you get so invested in the anger and angst these characters have.
How did you see Jeff's relationship with his ex-wife Toni - why was he so obsessed with her? BK: I think he saw Toni as she's just confused and she needed convincing. I think Jeff was obsessed with her because he felt guilty about what happened, he felt responsible for the life that she had and I think it was a whole lot of trying to make amends for it. I've seen people like this in real life, people that stalk, people that can't let a girlfriend go and it's like gosh if you could just talk to her again and make her see things your way, you'll find that love again - I really think that's where he was coming from.
Jim's relationship with Toni's sister was sinister and ambiguous - what was your take on that? BK: Honestly I thought maybe we slept together, maybe we've done drugs together. I think she was the one person he had control over with money, with drugs, with fear of losing her child. I kind of almost looked at her like a mistress in a way as I was doing it - that was kind of my thought going into it.
The film deals with second chances and starting anew, but how not dealing with your past can also haunt you - what do you see as the message of film? BK: I think the message in the film is there are certain things in life that are uncontrollable - things that just happen to us. Even as we have our best-laid plans to reproduce our life, going about it positively or negatively, there are things that we are just not in control of. I think that's what the title The Gods of Circumstance says - certain things just happen to us that are unavoidable.
Past work - Sleepwalkers teamed you with Director Mick Garris, as well as a young Madchen Amick and Alice Krige - what was it like working on that film? BK: That was one of my dreams come true, to actually star in a feature film. That was actually my first opportunity to have the lead role and to have it be a Stephen King movie and to have Mick Garris, I couldn't have been luckier. Mick is a very ambitious and exciting person to work for - he loves making films. And being able to do the make up, the hours of make up, Madchen so beautiful and talented and Alice as well, probably one of the best actresses I've ever worked with - it was a dream. I'd love to reprise that role or do something else together.
Plus you also did one of my favorite Tales From The Crypt episodes House of Horror that had a great cast... BK: That was amazing how that all came along because all those guys in it I'd worked with or met and was kind of friends with in the circles of Hollywood. The fact that they cast us all in that episode was quite bizarre. To look back and think and see where people have gone and what they've done, the fact that they show was one of the winning episodes, I'm proud to have it on my resume.
So what's next for you? BK: I've been doing a play lately called Desperate Writers at the Edgemar Center for the Arts and it's been a lot of fun and nice to get on stage and stay sharp. Beyond that I have a few films in post production we're waiting to come out, one called Cyrus where I play a serial killer and one called Nowhere to Hide - just running the game.
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Subject: Brian Krause: Bad Guy of Gods of Circumstance(May 13th, 2009) 
