'Thanksgiving', Actor, Jeff Teravainen

0:07Jawad MirJust your journey, you know, before we get to Thanksgiving, what that has been like, what inspired you, how did you get your breaks, and so on and so forth.

0:19Jeff TeravainenWell, as far as acting goes, I've always wanted to be an actor, even as a little kid. You know, I think a lot of people daydream about it or that sort of thing. But, it never really seemed to be a viable, I don't know, career in Canada growing up. In fact, I started out i… in another, fantasy world, in music. I did that for years, and we got... We did a lot of good stuff, but we were never... We were just always on the cusp of doing something really big.

0:48Jawad MirYeah.

0:49Jeff TeravainenAnd, you know, the whole time I was doing that, I used to say, "Man, I would love to be acting someday if there's the opportunity. Hopefully, I can do something with the music, and then it'll just lead to that." our drummer, my friend at the time, the drummer, his sister was a pretty well-known big Canadian actor, and I always remember we would be moving her, every... Seemed like every eight months she'd be going to a different apartment. A lot of that was down to the fact that she couldn't afford the apartment she was in. So I'm thinking, "Yeah, I don't think I wanna get into acting." But, yeah, eventually just I kind of found my way into it and I'm so thankful. I love what I do so much, so.

1:32Jawad MirRight. Who inspired you to be an actor? Was it a particular actor or a film that you saw?

1:38Jeff TeravainenYou know, I really... I don't... I wouldn't know where to begin on that one because I can remember so many times, for example, being in the cinema as a very young kid… ... Being just blown away, and then we would come home and we would act out the roles, and that was common I remember when we were little for my brother and I. So, I couldn't pinpoint exactly one, but yeah, even if I can think of one guy, I'm, I'm remembering seeing a very young Kurt Russell in films when I was a kid in the theater. I remember my aunt and uncle taking me to see something with him and thinking, "That guy is really cool." But

2:13Jawad MirYeah

2:13Jeff Teravainen... So someone like that maybe. I don't know. It's hard to say.

2:17Jawad MirHe used to come in a lot of, Disney films in the '60s. I remember…

2:21Jeff TeravainenYeah

2:21Jawad Mir... One of the films very vividly was called Now You See Him, Now You Don't, where it's about the invisibility formula and how everything kind of goes around him, and he accidentally discovers it. But yeah, I mean, I... He, I think he was at one of the early Disney stars, when Disney used to make some great films in the '60s.

2:41Jeff TeravainenYeah, th… those were fun, at least from what I remember. I would actually be interested to watch it again, you know, all these years later just because your tastes change and obviously…

2:49Jawad MirYeah

2:49Jeff Teravainen... Films have changed then, but they were fun I remember.

2:53Jawad MirYeah. Actually, some of them I saw it with my kid. Old Yeller, Swiss Family Robinson, Herbie Goes to Monte Carlo, The Love Bug, and they're actually pretty timeless. I mean, especially Swiss Family Robinson.

3:07Jeff TeravainenRight.

3:07Jawad MirI was shocked.

3:08Jeff TeravainenGood.

3:08Jawad MirI mean, looking at it, looking at it from a filmmaker standpoint, like the amount of hard work, not that anybody else doesn't, but the fact that it was made on a ship and then an island and shipwrecks and, you know, pirates, it was an intense film even for today's time.

3:24Jeff TeravainenSo I would actually be interested in finding that then 'cause I loved that movie when I was a kid.

3:29Jawad MirIt should be on Disney+. I think we saw it on Disney+.

3:32Jeff TeravainenCool.

3:33Jawad MirYeah. And what kind of gave you the... If you... What, whatever you defined as a break into doing the things that... Doing the films that you wanted to do, i… in the industry?

3:51Jeff TeravainenI don't know if I've got there yet. I mean, everyone's so…

3:54Jawad MirThere's different stages of it, right?

3:56Jeff TeravainenYeah. I mean, you luck out. Certainly, you luck out at times and, you know, Thanksgiving was one of the ones where I lucked out. I remember doing the audition, and I remember seeing the name on it and thinking, "This is the biggest waste of time in the world. There's no way that I'm gonna get cast in an Eli Roth film," et cetera, et cetera, and it was probably, if I remember correctly, in a rotten mood about wasting a night doing it or... Actually, usually in Canada we're up till self-tapes. We've always have to be off-book, which means you have to learn, like, six, eight, 12 pages overnight and then shoot it the next day usually in the room with the casting, whereas in LA you show up and you read it. You know, it's kind of, kind of a drag, but hopefully now that's, that's changing with some of the new regs and that. But anyways, yeah, I just remember thinking, "There's no way I can do this," and somehow we pulled it off. But yeah, I mean, that's one of the ones where you get lucky, but, you know, I still don't feel like anybody's gonna, you know, just start throwing offers out at me left and right kind of thing, but sometimes you get to go out for great projects and…

5:02Jawad MirYeah

5:02Jeff Teravainen... Hopefully you get them.

5:03Jawad MirAnd what was the audition like? Was Eli there, or was it, a casting director, or both of them?

5:09Jeff TeravainenWell, this one was self-tape basically because of COVID.

5:12Jawad MirOkay.

5:13Jeff TeravainenSo we could go out.

5:13Jawad MirOh, it was done in COVID? Okay. Okay.

5:15Jeff TeravainenYeah, and that's become the industry norm now, and I gotta admit I like it more. That way I can do a couple takes and send the best one I like. And it's funny, usually the best one is the first or second take anyways.

5:27Jawad MirYeah.

5:28Jeff TeravainenBut at least you have that freedom and you're, you're not going in, like your nerves are shot, and also I'm not a... I don't have to be fully off-book. Sometimes I can put some things around, you know, the... In scene three it's like I just have a tough spot, so I'll put a little note there that reminds me of what the words are 'cause it shouldn't be a memory contest, it's an acting contest.

5:47Jawad MirRight. Right. But, it's interesting you mentioned that how it's kind of becoming a norm now, and I'm just being a devil's advocate that Zoom... I mean, COVID has changed a lot of things, right? For everybody.

6:00Jeff TeravainenYeah.

6:00Jawad MirFor some better, for some worse. You know, some people want to go to work… Three, four times a week. Most people don't. And same thing in the acting is I f… I would feel, and I mean, you're an actor, you would know more than I would, so I'm just kinda throwing this out there, doing it on the phone by yourself, as less nerve-wracking as that is, and it gives you the opportunity to p… put out the best, w… in my view, to do it in front of a director, doesn't that sort of g… give him or her the flavor of who you are and give you sometimes the confidence to put yourself out there?

6:35Jeff TeravainenIt depends. Some rooms you go into it's, it's, it's an easier room to work in, and…

6:43Jawad MirYeah

6:43Jeff Teravainen... It is nice to see the director, but a lot of the times on the first casting, the directors are not always there as well. It's almost like casting will put you on tape, and then if you get a recall, then…

6:54Jawad MirYeah

6:54Jeff Teravainen... Then the director will show up for that. And that's always a nail biter as well. I mean, I did one last summer, I remember I read f… three times for that role, and when the director was finally there, this was a big director, and, I didn't get the role. I came close apparently, but yeah, that was a, that was a stress ball going in there. And it was done on Zoom again because of COVID, right?

7:16Jeff TeravainenThey don't have actual room anymore, so you're trying to set everything up and make sure, and my Zoom wasn't working properly, so I couldn't see the person I was reading with. They were, like, this big on the screen. So yeah, it was interesting. But th… these are the challenges that we're, we face in the modern day with everything.

7:34Jawad MirYeah. Are you able to share which director it was?

7:37Jeff TeravainenI don't know if I should yet. I should probably leave that one…

7:40Jawad MirThen don't worry about it. No worries

7:41Jeff Teravainen... The project I…

7:42Jawad MirI m… I'm guessing the film hasn't come out yet, so...

7:46Jeff TeravainenThat's the glory of our industry. You can never talk about half the things you know 'cause, yeah, NDAs and that.

7:53Jawad MirYeah. Yeah. I get it. No worries. What, when you got the part for Thanksgiving, what was the... How did, how did you find out? Did Eli call you or, like, just the, that day, how did that sort of pan out from surprise to, you know, moving on from there to actually being in the film?

8:15Jeff TeravainenYeah, it was, it was funny because I was, I was either going in or coming out of a doctor's appointment. And my agent in Toronto, David, called me and usually when he calls himself, you usually, that usually means something big is happening. And I can't remember what happened, but I came out of the doctor's office, he called me, told me that, and he goes, "Well, I hope you're available on March 14th." And I was like, "Why?" And so he starts explaining to me and I'm getting all excited, and then I, then I looked at the date and I looked back and I looked and then I realized, I'm moving that day. It's our first day of shooting. So it was interesting. I, yeah, I had to, we had some serious work to do to get ready for that, but yeah, we were moving from, you know, 13 years in a house on the day, so it was funny.

9:09Jawad MirAnd…

9:09Jeff TeravainenBut yeah. Sorry, go ahead.

9:10Jawad MirSorry. No, please go ahead. You were not done.

9:13Jeff TeravainenWell, no, it was just, it was, and from there it was, you know, it's just the usual thing. You get excited, you start prepping, you start delving into the character, trying to find out more about him. In my case, he was a, he was a Marine, a s… Special Forces Marine. They're, they're called the Force Recon.

9:34Jeff TeravainenAnd actually, I have some buddies that are f… ex... Well, they hate to say ex, but they're still Marines, but yeah, like, ex-Force Marine, Recon soldiers. And, yeah, basically I started bugging them, trying to get information, you know, like, "What do you guys do?" Like this situation, all these different things and just trying to build on it from there. You know, you wanna show up, on set ready to hit the ground running, especially with someone like Eli, because, you know…

9:58Jawad MirRight

9:58Jeff Teravainen... I really didn't expect and, you know, he always comes across as intense in a lot of the s… the shows and interviews that I watch. So I thought, "I'm not messing around here. I wanna make sure, we get this down."

10:10Jawad MirRight. I'll be very honest with you. I'm not a fan of gore horror, like I…... Never have been. And it took me a long time to even watch Quentin Tarantino films, and I was like…

10:22Jeff TeravainenRight

10:22Jawad Mir... "Why did I not watch them?" But you know, he's in Inglourious Basterds as well, Eli Roth. And, I remember watching Cab… Ca… It was Cabin Fever, his, one of his first films, which was at DreamWorks. And I think Spielberg read the script and he really loved it, and he, and then he did Hostel, which I've never seen, and I don't wanna see it. And with Thanksgiving, it kinda just came about, not because it's a bad film, just for me, I just can't take that kind of, you know, gore and stuff. And for Thanksgiving, I didn't even know what it was until, like I saw posters in the movie theaters and I'm like, "Okay, it's a Thanksgiving movie." You know, it's a very deceptive name. And then I saw the trailer and I was like, "Holy crap." And then I got the screening, press screening invitation and I was debating, should I go? Should I not go? Is it good for the podcast, you know, for the audience? Or am I being selfish? And I went, and I kid you not, it was... It, there were obviously, I mean, I'm not gonna talk about it. There are certainly a lot of moments which, you know, really get really gory.

11:25Jawad MirBut it had a very interesting feel to it for me. P… films like Scream and I Know What You Did Last Summer from the '90s with, you know, more intense twist to it. And I enjoyed it. I mean, I wouldn't say, you know, I was crazy about it like a masterpiece like Lawrence of Arabia, but it was entertaining. So just wanted to sort of relay that to you from my, from my standpoint. I mean, most of the times whenever the gore scenes came, I would just kinda look away and, you know, just you can hear all the grinding happening in the background. It's like you can't even close your ears because the movie theater, you know, speakers are so loud. But I enjoyed it.

12:05Jeff TeravainenYeah. It's, I'm glad to hear that. The, I've been trying to tell people that I know… Ones that are really afraid of scary movies in general or slasher type films. I like everything really, but I get it. You know, it's just not your thing.

12:21Jawad MirYeah.

12:21Jeff TeravainenBut there's something about this that, it's more of.. I like to think it's more like a thrill ride. Yes, it has scares just like a, an amusement park would, but it's also got funny things, and it's, it's, it's got a lighter feeling.

12:35Jawad MirYeah.

12:35Jeff TeravainenLike some... I love scary movies, so if I walk out of Hereditary…

12:40Jawad MirI do too, yeah

12:40Jeff Teravainen... Like Hereditary to me…

12:42Jawad MirYeah

12:42Jeff Teravainen... Like I'm gonna be freaked out for five days afterwards and feel violated. Like this is one of my favorite movies, but this movie is a scary movie. I think it's more like a thrill ride where you walk out going, "Holy smokes, did you see that?" Or whatever. Or, "That was funny."

12:55Jawad MirYeah.

12:55Jeff TeravainenAnd you know, you still get your scares, but it's not like it's not like you need therapy or something afterwards.

13:01Jawad MirNo. But you know what I really loved? The f… the setup of the film leading up to the opening sh… you know, where it says Thanksgiving. You know what I'm talking about, right? Like how it pretty much for me, I don't know, I'm, I'm sure you did. For me, it's set up the way the world has been for the last three, four years from every facets like socially, politically, economically, how people behave in situations, and how everybody is selfish as hell.

13:32Jeff TeravainenYeah.

13:32Jawad MirYou know? And I think, I thought that was quite, for me, that, when that happened, I was like, okay, I was hooked because that connected with me way more, and it was really well crafted by Eli. Like, it just brought in every single aspects of the society from left to right to center to far right to far left.

13:52Jeff TeravainenYeah. I mean, there's definitely a deeper vein there that he, that he struck into, for sure. Him and Jeff, Rendell, the writer as well. Yeah. They.. There's, yeah, there's a lot more going on there than just, the slasher end of it.

14:05Jawad MirYeah. Yeah. Ab… absolutely. Your first day at shoot on set, how many days of, pr… were you on the set for your part?

14:14Jeff TeravainenI think, 18 days or something for me.

14:18Jawad MirAnd what was the duration of the film production?

14:21Jeff TeravainenMan, it was too short.

14:24Jawad MirYeah.

14:24Jeff TeravainenIt was

14:24Jawad MirSo you were there from

14:26Jeff TeravainenI, my first day was, I remember March 14th, and I think I wrapped close to May. So, you know, it was in and out between those times. So yeah, it was, it was a quick shoot. There's no doubt about it, and also the you know, just bringing that thing from this past March to theaters is insanely quick. I don't know how they managed to do it.

14:50Jawad MirOh, it was March 14th this year?

14:52Jeff TeravainenThis year. Think about that.

14:54Jawad MirWhoa.

14:55Jeff TeravainenYou know your films, and like think about that. It's crazy. We had such... They were sending the dailies to Sony and that, and the dailies got such a good response that they said, "We want this out this Thanksgiving in the US." So suddenly it was like, "We gotta do this." but yeah, it was, it was fast. It w… and that's the thing I noticed too, that people were so excited to work with Eli, and I'm talking not just the actors, but you could tell on the crew. I talked to a couple people that dropped other jobs just for the opportunity to work, say, two weeks on this show or movie, that could have worked like two months on something else just 'cause they wanted to work on an Eli production. So it shows you the goodwill that he has. He's, he's extremely likable person in real life. And you can see he's got the Quentin Tarantino vibe where he's on set, "We love making movies," you know? And he does. Like the exact same feel to it 'cause you can tell they're friends, right? So.

15:50Jawad MirYeah. I mean, I see a lot of his work that I've seen with Cabin Fever and Thanksgiving, there is elements of Tarantino in there you can see. Not that he's trying to imitate it, but just because being a f… you know, a fanboy, it kind of comes across in your work. Your first day of production and your first scene, what was it, the first scene, and what was it like working with Eli on the first day of set?

16:15Jeff TeravainenI don't know. Do you actually know about... Did you get, somebody give you a hint about my first day and my first scene, or are you just asking that?

16:20Jawad MirNo, nobody did. I'm just literally just asking. I swear to God.

16:25Jeff TeravainenYou want to c… you want, you want to hear a sc… crazy story?

16:28Jawad MirI would love to.

16:28Jeff TeravainenOkay. So the first day of the first scene, super early get up. I think I got a 5:00 AM call time. I go down, and like any time, you're nervous. I haven't met Eli yet. We haven't even had a conversation, and the first scene was with Patrick Dempsey. We're leaning up against a car, and it's just a little bit of banter. That's it. And somewhere, 'cause you know how you shoot different angles, you'll do wide and all that.

16:53Jawad MirYeah.

16:53Jeff TeravainenJust in case your audience doesn't know, you have like wide shots and then mediums and close-ups, and you'll shoot me, and then they'll turn their cameras around and shoot you and whatever else. So on the first shots, it's me, and suddenly I've started to get a lot of pain. And again, I just met these guys. I'm already nervous, and I'm getting crazy pain down my left arm. I'm having trouble breathing. My neck feels like it's gonna fall off. I'm, I'm literally like getting afraid here that I've, I'm starting to wonder, am I having a heart attack? So we did a couple passes on me from the wide, and I realized I gotta go see, I gotta go see the medic. In the back of my head, I'm, I'm like, "I'm having a heart attack, and they're gonna let me go on my first day after all this." Go to see the medic and, as I was talking with him, I realized if I moved my neck a certain way, my chest didn't hurt as much and my back. So, and he did some checks, and right away they figured out, okay, it's not a heart attack, but something's going on here.

17:54Jeff TeravainenAnd from that moment, from the entire shoot up until about a month after, I had the worst pain, no sleep. I was on crazy medications. Somehow, well, there's a degenerate problem in my neck, and I had a couple, pinched nerves and a s… and a, and a bulging disc. But it happened right on the first, like right there is when it happened. So most is, most of the time you see me, I'm, I'm dying in pain.

18:21Jawad MirI gotta see it again now.

18:23Jeff TeravainenI mean, it kind of worked because my character is such a... He's, I don't know how to describe it. He's, he's not the happy-go-lucky guy, right? So it…

18:32Jawad MirYeah

18:33Jeff Teravainen... It is what it is. But yeah, honestly, from the first scene of the, of filming, and that was the first shot of the movie too, so everybody was, you know, finding their place. Everybody was amazing about it. Once they, once the, it, the word got out, you know, like Eli said to me so many times, he says, "You can't tell, don't worry. It's, it's amazing," and all that kind of stuff. But I kinda got ratted out because the sound, one of the sound techs, "You have a microphone on you." And he came up to me after a take and goes, "Are you okay?" And I go, "Yeah, what do you mean?" He goes, "Johnny, you're grunting like crazy off camera." And I was like, "Oh, man." So, but by that point, I was fine anyways. Like, it's just so funny, like you're dying you think, but at the same time I can't, I can't, I can't be fired out this movie, I'm having too much fun. You know, it's amazing.

19:17Jawad MirAre you fine now?

19:19Jeff TeravainenYeah, we're getting there. I'm going to see a surgeon in December. It's, it's kind of an ugly situation up there. But, I…

19:25Jawad MirYeah

19:26Jeff Teravainen... Had major muscle atrophy and stuff because the nerves were damaged because, I guess they don't send firing signal… signals if the nerves... The muscles won't grow. So it's been an interesting time, but at least the pain's gone.

19:40Jawad MirYeah, no, I know ex…

19:41Jeff TeravainenSee, that was my first take.

19:43Jawad MirNo, I know exactly how you feel. I had a pinched nerve in 2009. It lasted me, with me for about 10 years. And I tried everything and never, nothing worked, and I finally gave into homeopathy, and that just did the cure. So I know exactly how you feel, and it must... But I also wonder if you hadn't gotten, if you hadn't gone through that, would you have been more nervous in terms of putting out your character? How would have that sort of transferred out? Not that you would, but I'm just sort of wondering what if, right?

20:11Jeff TeravainenWell, usually most sets there's always that awkward period, at least for me, where you first meet people.

20:17Jawad MirYeah.

20:17Jeff TeravainenOr you have a preconceived idea. Like, Eli, right? Like, I didn't know what to expect. He's, you know, he looks intense, and I hadn't r… really watched a lot of interviews, but I'd seen him act and a lot of those parts were intense. And I did the same thing when I was on Dark Matter. It was a TV show I worked on years back.

20:35Jawad MirYep.

20:35Jeff TeravainenWhen I first met Alex Mallari Jr., his character is just this mean SOB. And so when I met him, I was almost intimidated by this guy, and he turns out to be the nicest guy, and fun, and we've been great friends ever since. And it's the same with Eli. Eli was so fun and inviting and welcoming, and the more I got to know him, the more I loved working with him and just hanging. Like, we talk and text still, and he's, he's a super dude. Really passionate about what he's doing and making stuff, but he's fun too, you know? Just, so yeah, it's just funny how I get that vision in my head of people and then it's like, "The heck was I thinking? This guy's amazing."

21:13Jawad MirYeah. Yeah, and it... You know, what you said about being awkward on your first day of set, I mean, even Spielberg has said, I mean, someone like Spielberg, that every first day of the movie that he directs, he's nervous as hell. And I think…

21:25Jeff TeravainenYeah

21:25Jawad Mir... It's just one of those things that, you know, kinda kick into you that do, I don't know these... And most of the artists, you know, that you would know, I know even myself and I'm sure part of you, we're all introverts, right? And when you're thrown into, like, this big environment of the set and you have all these people, you're like, "How am I gonna deal with this?" But yeah, overcome, you overcome eventually when you get to know people, and that's the beauty of it.

21:47Jeff TeravainenYeah, it's just, it's a strange business in general, and I'm sure even someone like Spielberg might be obsessed with the director of photography he's got for that film. You know, like, it could be a lot of things. My best friend, did one movie in his life. He was a model, but he did one, and, it was with Stanley Kubrick. And, I remember him telling me how it was literally he got to set, he met Nicole Kidman and that, and then they said, "Okay, well, we're gonna be filming you in this tub, so get naked." And then they go. But I just remember thinking, you know, I would die, you know? You… like, you're just meeting all these people, and it's like, "Go in the, go in the tub and get naked." So it's a weird business.

22:27Jawad MirYeah, people, I think people eventually, like, and I think that's one of the th… one of the reasons that Hollywood is the way it is because everybody, what was his name? Kevin Bacon, he came on a podcast that I saw. He was talking about that one of the things that really bothered him throughout his career, but he finally overcame it, is that you work with all these people for three, four months, and you really get to know them, and everybody disappears out of your life.

22:51Jeff TeravainenYeah.

22:51Jawad MirLike, there's zero contact. And that bothered him a lot, and I can see that because you figure, sometimes you feel like you've made a connection with someone, but it's just for a limited time, and that's, that's the way the industry is.

23:03Jeff TeravainenWell, one thing I would say that's changed about that to a degree is social media. I have a love-hate affair with, social media, but that's actually one of the cool things. I've kept in touch with so many castmates that I've connected with on set.

23:17Jeff TeravainenOr even gotten to know a little bit. You know, it's nice to just be able to fire up an email to them and say, "Hey, what do you think about this?" Or, "Have you seen that?" And I mean, even today if I think about it, there's been three or four conversations with ex-castmates, people I just really enjoy. And, you know, like, there's a lot of people on this set as well, we've all kept in touch. It was great seeing people the other night at the theater. Yeah, it's, it is a little different now. But yeah, in the old days, I mean, you know, you would meet these people, and then they're, like you said, they're gone. They're off to something else. And I can see why, like, you see a lot of actors and stuff, they get into these romances and stuff when they're on set with people because you are so close, and you're in the trailers…

23:58Jawad MirYeah

23:59Jeff Teravainen... And everything like that. It's like your whole life is in this little box, and then yeah, and then everybody takes off and goes their own ways.

24:07Jawad MirYeah, no, true. What was one scene that you recall that was probably the most, not that it would, you would take a lot of takes, but it was just challenging to pull off, for whatever reason, whether it was your own character or whether it was y… the scene that you were in with whoever it was, or whether it was any technical thing? Do you remember any story of that relevance?

24:31Jeff TeravainenIn, for Thanksgiving, or you mean in general?

24:34Jawad MirYeah. Thank… Thanksgiving or general. You can talk about both.

24:37Jeff TeravainenI'm trying to think what I can talk about without giving away things. There's one scene, where... How can I say this? There's a lot going on in this scene and, they were using a steady cam swirling around. Plus other cameras, drones and everything, and there's a lot of cars all coming into an intersection at the same time, and they literally…

25:04Jeff TeravainenI… it was incredible. In real life, I'm in the car and I gotta get out at a certain time. My driver, these guys are so good, he literally would s… like so close to the camera, he'd have the rear of the car s… sliding right into place every time, and then I'd have to get out and all that kind of stuff, and then they, we would go through the scene. And if I didn't do it's back to ones, and that means 20... These cars and cops and the drones and everything, and they gotta go back to ones. And I never thought about it once, when I think back, my stomach actually hurts 'cause again, if I, if I didn't do the right thing on each take... And I remember we did, I think we did three takes. First two were okay, but I remember coming up with something on the, on the third one, and I said to Eli, he goes, "You okay for another one?" I said, "I got something here." And, I'm so glad we did it again because they were telling me, Russell, who plays, Detective Ewin, Russell said the whole, base camp or whatever erupted when they got the shot they wanted, so it was amazing.

26:06Jeff TeravainenBut yeah, when I think back now, it was like, man, what if I did something wrong or got out and my hat goes flying or whatever the heck, you know? Something stupid, and it's like, "Okay, guys, back to ones." And then half an hour later everybody's backed up into their positions and you start again.

26:22Jawad MirYeah. Yeah. No, that... And it, you know, it's ta… speaking of Eli, just not talking about the story, but just more so, you know, when he ca… when he comes to you one on one about a scene, how does he try to get you involved into that moment? Like, does he give any,.. Does he calm you down? Does he kinda talk about something else, or is it just straight to the point?

26:46Jeff TeravainenOne thing I would say with Eli is that he lets you do your thing, and then, yeah, he will comment and he's very, he's very nice. He's an ac… what do they say? He's a actor's director.

26:57Jawad MirActor's, director's actor, or…

26:59Jeff TeravainenYeah

26:59Jawad Mir... Yeah. Yeah.

27:00Jeff TeravainenOne. But yeah, because he, his communication was amazing right out of the gate. I remember, there's a scene actually that didn't make it in the movie unfortunately, but I remember him going and, talking to me about it, and he's like, "So when you say this, then, do you mean this?" And I said, "Yeah," and he go, "You know, I never thought about it that way. That is actually a really cool way to do it, you know?" And I thought, "Okay, good. I'm on the right track." Right? And the other thing I noticed with him is that he really wants you to run with stuff. So he'll say, "You know, you know, don't, you don't have to stick to the, like to completely to the script. If you feel that you need something here, just do it. If it doesn't work, I'll let you know." And sometimes, you know, sometimes it does work, and other times it's just like, "Yeah, you know, that was cool, but I think we should do this as well." But very collaborative, very fun. And the same with, like Patrick as well. You know, there were scenes where Patrick would step in, you know, and say, you know, "Jeff, what do you think about this? Why don't you try that?" And I'd, I, you know, I'm totally open to it. And the other thing is that I don't know how many times he would say to me, he's like, "Did you get what you needed?" Like on my turnarounds when it was time to shoot me.

28:02Jeff TeravainenI've actually at times over my career have shot to a tennis ball because the lead took off you know what I mean?

28:11Jawad MirSchedule.

28:11Jeff TeravainenAs one of the, one of the assistant directors was reading, but you got a tennis ball to look at. But you know, Patrick would be like, "Did you, did you, everything you got everything you needed out there? Do you wanna try something different?" I was like, "Holy smokes, man. I like this guy."

28:24Jawad MirYeah, Patrick, I remember... I mean, he's come in a lot of movies, but one movie of his that stood out for me when I was growing up, I don't know if you've ever seen it was called Run.

28:34Jeff TeravainenNo.

28:35Jawad MirWhere he's, where he witnesses a murder, or, if my memory serves me right, and he just basically runs from these, you know, bad guys. In the '90s there was a lot of movies like that, The Net, Run, Pelican Brief. But I remember him from there and I, it was good to see him. It was good to see him in this role and, I think he did a great job in his character. And everybody did. I, you know, there was, it was just such a interesting elements of society, different types of students and, you know, your character and families and the rich and the poor and the mi…... It just covered everything in a very, and then presented in like a extreme, you know, manner. And especially I think, w… which I won't say, but I know exa… you'll figure out what I'm gonna t… talk about, the ending where there's a scene where everybody's around the table. I mean, that just, that was too much. Way too much for me.

29:31Jeff TeravainenIt gets pretty ugly there, yeah.

29:33Jawad MirYeah. What was the most nasty thing that you saw on the set that kinda threw you off, if you did?

29:39Jeff TeravainenThe funniest stuff was, it was one of the killings in a restaurant. I guess I could say that.

29:47Jawad MirYeah. Yeah.

29:48Jeff TeravainenAnd outside there was a lot, there was a lot of, props. Let's just put... I again, I'm so afraid of giving anything away, but…

29:54Jawad MirNo, I get it. I got the…

29:55Jeff TeravainenI just remember turning around and laughing. I'm like, "Man, look at this. It's just ridiculous." You know? I was like, "Yep, somebody definitely, did not die nicely here."

30:05Jawad MirI don't think you can do any comparisons of any character dying better than the other. I think it just…... It just, it's just one after the other and, but yeah, like I said, like you said and I said, I don't wanna talk about it. I can't give anything away. But it was, yeah. And, you know, one thing that I find interesting, is that for you to be able to come on this film and not having, and please correct me if I'm wrong, have you done anything this major in terms of a… Big film in ter… you know, being distributed…

30:38Jeff TeravainenOh, yeah

30:38Jawad Mir... By Sony. Okay.

30:39Jeff TeravainenYeah

30:40Jawad MirSo please tell me, and I'm not educated about that, so.

30:43Jeff TeravainenYeah, I mean, I've, I've done lots of features and stuff like that in the past, so. But I mean, you know, they're all the same. They're all, they're all nerve-wracking at first, and usually you start having a good time, and then it's over and you're depressed 'cause it's over.

30:56Jawad MirNo, but you've done a lot of features, but in terms of the level of this film, like Eli, Sony, you know, and all that.

31:03Jeff TeravainenWell, I mean, I did Christmas Chronicles, which was a, is a, that's a huge film. That was with Chris Columbus and that as well, so, yeah, I mean, I've done stuff like that. I actually, I was in the last scene, of, X-Men: Dark Phoenix a couple years back.

31:20Jawad MirOkay.

31:20Jeff TeravainenThat was incredible, and, that scene got completely taken out and rewritten and reshot. A completely different ending after, I guess, test runs, which is such a drag because I was setting up the sequel to the next, thing.

31:34Jawad MirOh.

31:34Jeff TeravainenBut, you know, I was there with all the X-Men and my, I was, had a dialogue with Michael Fassbender in that. That was pretty crazy, actually. I'll never forget that. I remember just being driven to set thinking that the set alone is probably worth more than some of the productions I worked on's entire budget. You know what I mean?

31:51Jawad MirI bet. Yeah.

31:53Jeff TeravainenNo, that's great.

31:53Jawad MirIs Chris… Christmas Chronicles directed by Christopher Columb… Columbus, you said?

31:57Jeff TeravainenHe was the, he was the executive producer, so he was there all the time.

32:00Jawad MirOh, okay.

32:01Jeff TeravainenBut Clay Kaytis did it. Clay's amazing. Clay's, he's done a few great films since as well, and he's working on something right now. But, yeah, he actually just did the, what was it? The sequel to, Christmas Story that came out last year as well.

32:17Jawad MirOkay.

32:17Jeff TeravainenI think Christmas Story Christmas. Yeah, he's great. I love Clay. And like…

32:21Jawad MirI ac…

32:22Jeff Teravainen... Chris was great. So go ahead.

32:23Jawad MirYeah. No, I was gonna say, I missed this film. I didn't know about this. I mean, I'm a huge Christopher Columbus fan, and I've talked to, Don Burgess, who was the DP on this film, like six, seven times on this podcast already. So I must have over looked it. I'm not looking forward to seeing it because I mean it's obviously…

32:40Jeff TeravainenRight

32:40Jawad Mir... Christmas coming up, too.

32:42Jeff TeravainenIt's a great film. And I'm so pla… proud to be part of that one. I play, I guess you could say probably the he… the main heavy bad guy in it, but, so many good memories because, you know, I was excited to work with Christopher Columbus, 'cause I didn't know when I first got the role that he was involved. So again, it was one of those moments where I was like, "I'm, I'm nervous." But he turned out to be really easygoing and cool, again, open to all kinds of suggestions and things like that. And, yeah, that's big because it's become kind of an instant Christmas classic. Like, every year I get stuff sent to me on Instagram all the time, you know, "Here's my, here's my living room and there's the Christmas Chronicles in the background."

33:23Jawad MirOh, cool.

33:23Jeff TeravainenIt's, it really... Yeah, honestly, what, I told, I tell my daughter this every year, and she rolls her eyes now 'cause it's every year. We'll watch like It's a Wonderful Life. And I'll point out that the bad guy in that is, he was born in 1885, and we're still watching it every year. You know, it doesn't get old. And I said, "You know, imagine if this thing even lasts 20 years, I'd be so honored to be in people's living rooms."

33:45Jawad MirYeah.

33:45Jeff TeravainenSo I got a Christmas movie, and now I have a Thanksgiving movie, so. We rolling.

33:50Jawad MirQuite opposite of typical Thanksgiving movie, but.

33:55Jeff TeravainenYeah.

33:55Jawad MirBut it's so true. I mean, the way you put that with It's a Wonderful Life, that it's been over 100 and what? You know, 40 years that we're, we're still watching the movie of the guy that was born in 1885.

34:07Jeff TeravainenYeah.

34:07Jawad MirAnd I think that's, at the end of the day, as a, as a creative person, filmmaker, editor, cinematographer, actor, actress, whatever it is, it's sometimes it's more about what you leave behind, and I think that defines how it has impact people's life. I was talking to... Have you ever seen the... Are you into animation?

34:29Jeff TeravainenSome of it, yeah. I work…

34:30Jawad MirThere was a movie that... Sorry, go on.

34:33Jeff TeravainenOh, I work in some of animation, too, so.

34:36Jawad MirOkay. So there was a movie that came out in 2002, Spirit Stallion of Cimarron by DreamWorks Animation. It was, like, one of the last traditional animation films, and it was directed by two individuals, Kelly Asbury, who passed away, and Lorna Cook. And I've spoken to her, and then I met her for, lunch, and we were talking about how films affect people, right? And she told me a gu… a kid came up to him who was 20 or 19 years old, so he was probably born around the time when the film came out, and how he said to her that, "Because I watched your film at the age of 15, it prevented me from suicide."

35:14Jeff TeravainenReally?

35:15Jawad MirI mean, that's the…

35:16Jeff TeravainenThat's quite the thing to hear

35:17Jawad Mir... Kind of effect, right? Like, if for creative peoples like us to hear something like that versus, like, you know, box office glory or Oscar nomination, which is great, but to have that kind of an impact…

35:28Jeff TeravainenYeah

35:28Jawad Mir... On someone's life that you don't even know is quite something. And I'm sure you have had the same. You've done something to some people, I'm sure, 100%.

35:35Jeff TeravainenYeah. I mean, you hope you have. I don't know. I mean, I get a lot of nice comments and stuff that I'm part of something, but I mean, I'm, I'm part of a bigger picture doing film and TV. It's not me. It's the whole package, you know?

35:48Jawad MirYeah. True.

35:50Jeff TeravainenBut…

35:50Jawad MirBut at the end of the day, I mean, you're…

35:52Jeff TeravainenIt's a job

35:53Jawad Mir... You're working hard, right? So I said, at the end of the day, you're working hard, and you should, you should pat yourself on the back sometimes.

36:02Jeff TeravainenEh. It's nice, though…

36:03Jawad MirI know

36:03Jeff Teravainen... I mean, when you do hear stuff.

36:05Jawad MirYeah.

36:05Jeff TeravainenI did a Comic-Con in South Africa and, it's, it was really humbling, people coming up. You know, you're on a completely different continent and as far away from Canada as you can imagine in everything, every aspect, and yet these people are coming up and they're crying 'cause they're meeting you. And I just, it doesn't comprehend, you know?

36:24Jawad MirYeah.

36:24Jeff TeravainenLike, I find it really weird, but I guess, like one of them said, she says, "No, you did this thing. I love this thing. You know, this makes me happy. Thank you so much for meeting me." And I'm thinking, "It's just me, but I'm so glad I was able to do that."

36:39Jawad MirYeah. Yeah. It's, it's, it's crazy. And I'm sure, like, as, yeah, you've… For sure have impacted people's lives, and I think with... Now I'm interested to see Christmas Chronicles, and I would love to chat with you about it in the future if you have time and if you'd be interested with it.

36:53Jeff TeravainenDefinitely. Sure.

36:53Jawad MirBecause with Chri… Christmas coming up, I think it's perfect timing too. W… a… anything that you wanna ta… you can talk about in terms of what's coming up next that's been made official?

37:04Jeff TeravainenYeah, that's the problem, is the ones I'm thinking of, they're, I've got an NDA on them.

37:09Jawad MirOh.

37:09Jeff TeravainenI'm really excited, this... Most of them are video games right now. ... But really cool things coming up. I mean, I don't know if you cover gaming or your audience watches it, but I've been lucky enough to play on a lot of stuff. And it, and it's cool. The thing about video games that a lot of people don't realize is that, yeah, there's the voice aspect of it, but nowadays it's literally these amazing cinematics in between.

37:35Jeff TeravainenSo they call them cut scenes, for example, and you will act those just as if you would act any movie, television show. You basically wear the mo-cap, the performance cap suit… ... Dots on your face, and you have a helmet that's capturing everything. But, there's some incredible performances going on by A-list actors and everybody else on those things now. So the cut scenes have really elevated. And so yeah, I've got, I've got some stuff coming up on that, and I just wish I could tell you. The one is a major franchise, and the other one... Well, two of them are, and then the other one is something else, but I, again…

38:11Jawad MirNo worries

38:12Jeff Teravainen... It'll take…

38:13Jawad MirNo

38:13Jeff Teravainen... It'll take my kids' kids.

38:16Jawad MirNo, I get it, but that's great that you're getting, you know, such opportunities. And I think the way the world is evolving with AI and the video games and cinema, you know, there's always this discussion, is video game... I mean, Netflix is kind of exploring that. Is film… are films and video games are some gonna… somehow gonna merge into one in the future with, you know, virtual reality and augmented reality?

38:42Jeff TeravainenI can see that. I mean, Eli even just did some big budget, virtual reality interactive movie, for Meta Facebook. I... We were talking about that when we were shooting. So I don't know if that's out yet, but yeah, I mean, they're spending big bucks doing these things, so it's coming.

39:02Jawad MirYeah.

39:02Jeff TeravainenIt's de… it's definitely coming. I was gonna say too, if you guys want, I can release some information shortly, but I'll, I'll do it on my Instagram when I'm allowed to, but that's where I usually put the stuff out.

39:17Jawad MirSure.

39:17Jeff TeravainenWhen I'm, when I'm allowed to talk about it.

39:19Jawad MirYeah. No, it's, it's fair enough. No, this has been, great, man. I really appreciate your time and really, again, I wish we could talk about Thanksgiving in detail because there's so many things I do wanna talk about because of the intensity of violence that was in the film and just to kinda get it out of my system. But a… at the end of the day, it was, it was entertaining film and, I'm not gonna say anything more than that, but there were some interesting things that happened from the beginning to the end that, yeah. So I was quite taken by that.

39:56Jeff TeravainenThat's... I'm, honestly, I'm glad to hear that because, again, I've got, I'm taking 15 relatives and close friends to the theater tonight and

40:04Jawad MirOoh

40:05Jeff Teravainen... Well, yeah, three of them are absolutely terrified of scary movies. And I keep telling them, I said, like, "If you get really freaked out, just look at me and you'll know that, you know, it's me and whatever," right? But yeah, I mean, again, it's, to me it's... Again, there are, to me there are terrifying scary movies, but they have a tone, like The Exorcist or the…

40:24Jawad MirYeah. Yeah

40:25Jeff Teravainen... Serious all the way through. This one has a lot of light moments. It's fun and that sort of thing. So it's a good balance for someone who's... But I think, yeah, you'll still give the slasher people their stuff, which…

40:37Jawad MirI mean, again, it's not really mine either, right? It's like I like more the ghost side kind of thing, but I appreciate good s… good slashers. I've always, I grew up with them. So yeah, I think you get a bit of everything, but it's l… it's not too intense that, again, you walk out of the theater like, "What did I just m… " It's like you've gone to Vietnam or something.

40:55Jeff TeravainenThe problem is that people might be able to cover their faces, as in your friends, but the sound is there and that's way more effective than the visuals would be. Because you can watch something visually and there's no sound, it's not that powerful. It's very rare, like a, you know, a violent scene will impact you, but that sound…

41:14Jawad MirYeah

41:14Jeff Teravainen... Really gets to you. And

41:16Jawad MirIt's true. I, they did a good job on the sound. I can hear it. Yeah. Yeah, and I'll tell you, at, when I saw the press screening, I think there was like about, how many of us were there? I would like to say 30 of us, and there were like couple of guys who kept laughing at every terribly violent scene because that's the way they were letting it out of their system. Everybody deals with it differently. And I just, I thought it was hilarious that they were laughing and I'm just like looking away and, you know, everybody dealing with the violent, differently. But I wish you all the best with the family and friends screening. I think it would be,.. You should actually film them watching it and then, you know, you can use that against them at some point.

41:58Jeff TeravainenCool. Well, thank you very much.

42:00Jawad MirThank you so much for your time, man. I appreciate it. Looking forward to, more of your work and wishing you nothing but success and talk soon.

42:07Jeff TeravainenThank you so much.

42:09Jawad MirTake care. I hope you enjoyed this episode. Thank you so much for watching and listening. Don't forget to subscribe, like, share and comment, and do come back for another episode. Until then, have a great day.