CooperTalk

Craig Shoemaker - Episode 380

Steve Cooper talks with comic Craig Shoemaker. Craig is most known for his unmistakably engaging, iconic, baritone-voiced character, The Lovemaster. But his stand-up has been seen by millions in his decades of successful stand-up comedy. His specials have been aired on Showtime, HBO, ABC, CBS, NBC and just about every other major network and has been seen in TV shows and movies like Parks & Recreation, The Bold and The Beautiful and Scream 2. He also has been heard in Pleasantville, many characters in numerous animated series, and all the voices (and even the title song) for the BBC cartoon, Big Foot, Little Foot. He currently has dedicated using laughter as healing modality. With his recent retirement from stand-up comedy he is now focusing his efforts on his new organization dedicated to the cause Laughter Heals and he has also just released a best selling comedy album The Last Stand (Up). 

Peter Murnik - Episode 379

Steve Cooper talks with actor Peter Murnik. Peter started to study acting in Hollywood in 1985, and has never looked back. He is best known for his current role of Hershel Jenkins in Granite Flats and as trooper Tom Bergen in Justified. His Journeyman career has now spanned nearly 30 years, including over 50 guest-starring spots on episodic TV series, roughly 100 commercials, and 30+ movie roles. Some of his credits include Quantum Leap, Father of the Bride, Seinfeld, Northern Exposure, It's My Party, ER, Hard Rain, Armageddon, JAG, Desperate Housewives, Rizzoli & Isles, Shameless and many more. He is also a lover of classic cars, motorcycles and dangerous, outdated and high-powered machinery of all sorts and is an avid surfer. He briefly held the World record for long-distance windsurfing and is known as Cal Worthington's Evil Twin for his ability to sell classic cars around the world. 

  

Ali Spagnola - Episode 378

Steve Cooper talks with Ali Spagnola. Ali is a pop/rock/electro musician. She created a Power Hour Drinking Game Album that contains 60 one-minute songs that are also a drinking game. She self-released the album on a USB drive kept within a shot glass. She has also created several of the ringtones shipped on multiple android phones. In 2008, she started a project called Free Paintings. She takes requests online via email about what she should paint. She fills one request a day creating a 12x12", bright, pop art, acrylic painting. She then mails the painting to the requester for free. Requests are filled on a first come first served basis. The wait list is reported to be over 1,300 people long. She has completed over 2,000 paintings for the project and still continues to create one square foot of art a day. She recently moved to LA to record a new CD and has also toured the country many times playing her music and was at one time a Pittsburgh Penguins Ice Girl.

Mark Moses - Episode 377

Steve Cooper talks with actor Mark Moses. Mark is probably best known for his roles as Duck Phillips on Mad Men, Dennis Boyd in Homeland and Paul Young in Desperate Housewives. He made his film debut in the Best Picture Academy Award winner Platoon and then appeared in Born on the Fourth of July and The Doors, each directed by Oliver Stone. Among his other movies have been Ridley Scott’s Someone to Watch Over Me, Ronald Maxwell’s Gettysburgh, Mimi Leder’s Deep Impact, Sean McNamara’s Race to Space, Brett Ratner’s Red Dragon and After the Sunset, Robert Luketic’s Monster-In-Law, John Whitesell’s Big Momma's House 2, Joshua Stern’s Swing Vote and Clint Eastwood’s Letters from Iwo Jima. He is also a very familiar face to TV being a regular on series including Grand, The Single Guy, The Killing and Manhattan and guest starring on numerous shows including Criminal Minds, Family Ties, The Practice, Blue Bloods, Elementary, Scandal, CSI: Crime Scene Investigation, Covert Affairs, The Closer, Human Target, Castle, Law & Order: SVU and many, many more. He can be seen starting in June playing President Jeff Michener in The Last Ship. 

Jamal Doman - Episode 376

Steve Cooper talks with comic Jamal Doman. Jamal is a Philadelphia native who started doing stand-up in his hometown in 1993. In 1998 he moved to Hollywood and quickly became an industry favorite. Soon he landed spots on such shows as Showtime At The Apollo, BET's Comicview, Martin Lawrence Presents The 1st Amendment, Comics Unleashed and Who Wants To Date A Comedian. For the love of his country, he has also performed around the world for US troops in such places as Iraq, Afghanistan, Japan, Kuwait, South Korea, Iceland and Guam. He has also starred in such films as Repos, The Greatest Song and Streets! Jamal is also an internet sensation with his videos getting thousands of views. His Juicy T.-Certified Pimp webisodes are considered classics and has a huge following with his King of Captions on Instagram.

Nick Searcy - Episode 375

Steve Cooper talks with actor Nick Searcy. Nick a consistent presence in American film and television for almost twenty years and a Peabody Award winner, has starred in independent films as well as studio blockbuster hits, including The Ugly Truth, The Last Song, Castaway, The Fugitive, Head of State, Runaway Jury, The Assassination of Richard Nixon, Blood Done Sign My Name, The Dead Girl, An American Crime, Moneyball and Fried Green Tomatoes among others. On television, Nick was a series regular on five different shows: 7 Days, American Gothic, From the Earth to the Moon, Rodney, and Easy Money. He has guested on many shows such as The West Wing, Boston Legal, Hawaii Five-0, Mom, Hot in Cleveland and CSI. He also has shocked horror fans in the features Deadly End, Cold Storage and Timber Falls. He is recently finished filming the last season of the FX Network’s Justified, where he portrayed Chief Deputy Art Mullen.

Lew Schneider - Episode 374

Steve Cooper talks with TV writer/producer Lew Schneider. Lew got his start in stand-up comedy working the clubs in NY and around the country. His comedy was seen on Dr. Katz, Professional Therapist and HBO's One Night Stand. He also hosted Nickelodeon's game show Make the Grade which led to starring in two sitcoms, Wish You Were Here and Down the Shore. Soon after that he started writing for television where his credits include The George Wendt Show, The John Laroquette Show and the Naked truth. He eventually joined the staff at Everybody Loves Raymond and served as Supervising and Executive Producer throughout it's 9 year run and won 2 Emmys. Since then he has written for shows such as American Dad, The New Adventures of Old Christine and Men of a Certain Age. Currently he is Co-Executive Producer on The Goldbergs and directed an episode this past season.

Michael Aston - Episode 373

Steve Cooper talks with musician Michael Aston. Michael Aston is the founding member, lead singer and leader of Gene Loves Jezebel. 1989 he left Gene Loves Jezebel due to his unhappiness with the direction of the band and strained relations with his twin brother, Jay. Moving to California, he started The Immigrants which eventually became Edith Grove. Edith Grove released its debut album to rave reviews and he eventually decided to tone things down a bit and he wrote and released his first solo album, Why Me Why This Why Now?. He reformed Gene Loves Jezebel instead of writing and recording a new Edith Grove album; the band's debut album was its only album. Between 1993 and 1997 Jay and him were working together on various projects and recordings, including an album that would eventually become VII. Both brothers did a reunion tour from February 1997 to October 1997 as Gene Loves Jezebel, however that ended with the recording and subsequent tour for VII. Another bitter falling out ensued. According to Michael, he refused to be pushed out of the band after all of the work he had put into the reunion and reformed GLJ with the backing band used on the first '97 Pre-Raphaelite Brothers tour. This caused much confusion amongst the fans as to who had the rights to the band name. Jay sued Michael to stop him from using Gene Loves Jezebel. Judge O'Brien in LA Superior Court denied twice the injunctions intended to stop Michael from using the Gene Loves Jezebel name. Jay withdrew the case with prejudice meaning that he could never sue Michael again. Jay released VII in 1998. Jay erased all of Michael's vocals and credits off the album however, a copy of this album with Michael's vocals was released as The Doghouse Sessions. Michael owns the exclusive rights to Gene Loves Jezebel in the US and continues to perform and release new material as Gene Loves jezebel throughout the world.

 

Lucky Lehrer - Episode 372

Steve Cooper talks with drummer Lucky Lehrer. Lucky is a drummer from Los Angeles, California who was voted the best punk drummer of all-time by fanzine, Flipside. He was originally trained in jazz but most famously played in LA punk rock bands, particularly the Circle Jerks, Redd Kross, Bad Religion, Darby Crash Band and LA's Wasted Youth, among others.  He also appeared in three notable documentary films charting the punk rock music scene. He is the brother of LA's Wasted Youth guitarist Chett Lehrer and teaches drums, with notable students being future Bad Religion drummers Pete Finestone and Bobby Schayer.

Phoef Sutton - Episode 371

Steve Cooper talks with writer Phoef Sutton. Phoef started his career at the NBC television show Cheers. He stayed with the show for eight years, working his way up from staff writer to executive producer, winning two Emmys and a Writer’s Guild Award. After Cheers, he has produced and created a number of television shows and consulted on others, including News Radio and Boston Legal. He is honored to have won a Peabody Award, a GLAAD award and a Television Academy Honors award for this work on Boston Legal. Recently, he has worked on critically acclaimed series Terries for FX , The Soul Man for TV Land and Defiance for the SyFy Channel. A particular favorite is of his is the cult comedy Thanks, a sit-com about the Pilgrims starring Cloris Leachman and Jim Rash. He has also worked for many years as a screenwriter and script doctor. Mrs. Winterbourne, directed by Richard Benjamin was an adaptation of a novel by one of his favorite authors, Cornell Woolrich. The Fan, directed by Tony Scott and starring Robert DeNiro was an adaptation of the novel by Peter Abrahams. He is also a published novelist with Always Six o’Clock a romantic-thriller and The Midnight Special a horror novel and he recently announced that is he co-authoring a series of 4 books with best selling author Janet Evanovich, the first of which will be published this year.

Anthony Rich - Episode 370

Steve Cooper talks with director Anthony Rich. Anthony has worked on over four hundred episodes of prime-time network television and is currently a Director and First Assistant Director on the hit CBS sitcom, The Big Bang Theory. He has directed nine episodes of the series, and in 2014, earned his first DGA Award nomination as Outstanding Comedy Director for the season six episode, The Love Spell Potential. In addition he has also directed multiple episodes of Mom starring Anna Faris and Allison Janney, Hot in Cleveland starring Betty White, Valerie Bertinelli, Wendie Malick and Jane Leeves and Young & Hungry starring Emily Osment and Jonathan Sadowski as well as episodes of The McCarthys starring Tyler Ritter and Laurie Metcalf “Kirstie” starring Kirstie Alley, Rhea Perlman, and Michael Richards and See Dad Run starring Scott Baio. He also wrote an episode of ABC’s MacGyver that aired as the series’ fifth-season finale in 1990. 

Cindy Caponera - Episode 369

Steve Cooper talks with writer Cindy Caponera. Cindy honed her comedy with two stints in at The Second City in Chicago and began her television writing career with the early Comedy Central series, Exit 57. She then landed a writing job with Saturday Night Live and after that has worked as a writer or producer on various shows that include Norm, My Boys, Sherri, Ground Floor, and Sunny with a Chance plus Showtime’s Shameless and Nurse Jackie. She recently published her collection of essays, I Triggered Her Bully which is available both in an online and print version, after being named a Kindle Top Rated Humor Book and will soon be available on audio book.

John Riggi - Episode 368

Steve Cooper talks with writer/comic/director John Riggi.  John is an Emmy-winning writer, director and producer. He started his career as a stand-up comedian, logging appearances on The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson, as well his own comedy stand up special on HBO. He made the transition from stand-up comedian to television writer when he began work as a staff writer on The Dennis Miller Show. From there he worked on -- and eventually became the head writer on -- the award winning Larry Sanders Show, starring Garry Shandling. He has written for such notable shows as Will & Grace, Family Guy and The Bernie Mac Show, where his writing was acknowledged with the Humanitas Prize. More recently he served for six seasons an executive producer on the Emmy Award-winning 30 Rock. In addition to writing, he directed numerous episodes of this critically acclaimed show. He currently Riggi is under contract with Warner Bros. Television and was thrilled to be reunited with Michael Patrick King and Lisa Kudrow for The Comeback this past season.

Felicia Michaels - Episode 367

Steve Cooper talks with comic Felicia Michaels. Felicia has appeared on such networks as MTV, A&E, Comedy Central, VH1 and Showtime. Not to mention NBC, ABC and FOX. She also was the Comedy Grand Champion on Star Search. Her first comedy CD, Lewd Awakenings, landed her on XM Satellite’s list of top 100 jokes. She was nominated twice as Funniest Female by the American Comedy Awards before clinching it. Breaks from touring were supplemented with film and photography courses at NYU and The New School, which led to her writing and directorial debut with the Cine Eagle Award-winning short film In the Weeds. Work soon followed on Mitch Hedberg's Sundance Film Festival selection Los Enchiladas, as an actor and assistant director. Guest appearances followed on sitcoms, and her ongoing photo documentary project "Stand Up / Stripped Down" won first place at the Prix De La Photographie Competition in Paris. She currently performs across the country, has started painting and is working on a book.

E.G. Daily - Episode 366

Steve Cooper talks with actor/singer E.G. Daily. E.G. has starred in more than twenty feature films as an actress and leaped to the top of the charts as a singer/songwriter. Recently E.G. had a role in a Nick Cassavetes film called My Sister’s Keeper and starred as Candy in Rob Zombie’s The Devil’s Rejects. Her credits also include Street Music, Valley Girl, Streets of Fire, Pee Wee’s Big Adventure, Fandango, Loverboy, and Dogfight. She has done voices for numerous animated series, including the Emmy Award winning Rugrats (Tommy Pickles) and The Powerpuff Girls (Buttercup). She resumed her role as the voice of Tommy Pickles in all three animated feature films and can also be heard as the voice of Babe in the live-action feature Babe II: Pig in the City. Additional voice-over credits include Starship Troopers, Recess, Chalkzone, Eek! the Cat, Duck Days, Duckman, Jungle Cubs, Problem Child, and Baby Blues. She also provided the voice of Froggie in the feature film The Little Rascals, Bam Bam in The Flinstones, Lorenzo in the Academy Award winning feature film, Lorenzo’s Oil and Baby Mumbles in the Academy Award winning Happy Feet. In addition to her extensive voiceover work, she co-wrote and co-produced two solo albums, Wild Child and Lace Around the Wound on A&M Records. Several of her songs soared to the top of Billboard’s dance charts and became well-received music videos, including Say It, Say It, which became a number one hit. She has also composed music and performed on a number of soundtracks, including Street Music, Thief of Hearts, Scarface, The Breakfast Club, Summer School and Better Off Dead. She has collaborated with many well-known producers, such as Giorgio Moroder, Keith Forsey, Stock Aitken, Waterman, Jelly Bean Benitez and Harold Faltermeyer and recently was a favorite when she sang on NBC's The Voice.

Catherine Hicks - Episode 365

Steve Cooper talks with actor Catherine Hicks. Catherine is best known for her role as preacher's wife Annie Camden on the drama 7th Heaven which she played for 11 seasons. She first rose to prominence as Dr. Faith Coleridge on the soap opera Ryan's Hope, a role she played from 1976 to 1978. In 1979, she was one of the leads in the television version of The Bad News Bears and in 1982 she took the lead role in the comedy/detective series Tucker's Witch opposite Tim Matheson. Supporting roles in movies followed, with appearances in Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home as Dr. Gillian Taylor, and Peggy Sue Got Married as Carol Heath (both 1986), but it was the role of the mother in the movie Child's Play (1988) that first established her as a name in Hollywood. The next year, she starred opposite Tony Danza in She's Out of Control. In the first half of the 1990s, she found acting work in the form of made-for-TV movies, but it wasn't until 1996 that she got the role on 7th Heaven. She has also starred on Broadway and many other plays.

Nick Bakay - Episode 364

Steve Cooper talks with writer/actor Nick Bakay. Nick got his start when he a became a contributing editor for The National Lampoon Magazine, which led to a writing job and starring roles in two cable series, Night After Night and Sports Monster. After landing a job as a writer and sidekick/announcer on the syndicated The Dennis Miller Show, he decided it was time to move to Los Angeles. Since that time, he has written and performed in numerous television series including What's So Funny?, She TV, In Living Color and Comedy Central's Baseballapalooza and NFL Offsides. He has also guest-starred in the comedy series Coach, Ellen, Grace Under Fire, Seinfeld and That 70's Show. For the first four seasons of Sabrina, the Teenage Witch, he was a writer/producer on the show. He has also taken on that role on many shows including  The King of Queens, Til' Death and Two and a Half Men. He has additionally has written segments and commentary for ESPN and ESPN.com. and was the host of Reel Classics on ESPN Classic. Currently he is a writer/producer on Mom and has co-written both Paul Blart: Mall Cop movies. 

Phil Hendrie - Episode 363

Steve Cooper talks with radio legend Phil Hendrie. Phil is a creative genius chock full of character, comedy and commentary. He is famous for concocting a cast of fictional characters, all of whom he plays on air while simultaneously serving as host of his national talk radio program, Hendrie actually started out as a disc jockey at WBJW 1440 AM in Winter Park, Fla., a suburb of Orlando.  After 15 years working as a disc jockey at stations across the country, he moved to Los Angeles and debuted in talk radio as a weekend host at KFI-AM 640. His popularity resulted in his radio show going national in 1999.  By 2006, he was ready to explore the next chapter of his career, acting. For the last ten years he has had roles in the Fox animated shows King of the Hill and Futurama. Other work includes Giants of Radio, The Replacements, Three Strikes, The Unit, Teachers, Semi-Pro and a recurring role on Fox's New Girl. Although he enjoyed acting on a full-time basis, he missed the daily creative outlet that radio provided.  In 2007, he returned to national radio in the late evenings, but in the Spring of 2014 he finally severed his ties with radio and made the show available exclusively online via podcasts.

Ritch Shydner - Episode 362

Steve Cooper talks with comic Ritch Shydner. Ritch made numerous appearances on TV in the 80s, including Late Night with David Letterman and The Tonight Show with both Johnny Carson and Jay Leno and he did an HBO half-hour special, One Night Stand. He played Al Bundy’s co-worker on Married with Children and made guest appearances on many other TV shows, such as Designing Women and Roseanne. He was able to translate his modest success on TV into an obscure film career, appearing in Steve Martin’s, Roxanne and Eddie Murphy's, Beverly Hills Cop II, before moving on to minor roles on smaller pictures. He also wrote for sitcoms such as Roseanne, The Jeff Foxworthy Show and HBO’s The Mind of the Married Man. He wrote material for Jeff Foxworthy’s Grammy nominated comedy albums, Totally Committed and Big Fun and he has written for Ron White and Jay Leno. In 2006 he was co-author of a book on stand-up, I Killed and in 2010 he produced and performed in an award winning documentary on the world of stand-up comedy, I Am Comic. Currently he is writing a movie adaptation for HBO of Bill Maher's book, True Story and performing around the world.

Peter Dobson - Episode 361

Steve Cooper talks with actor Peter Dobson. Peter was 21 when he landed his first starring role - after being chosen from a nation wide search - in the Tri-Star Pictures musical, Sing, from the producers of Fame and Footloose. This was followed by the critically acclaimed adaptation of Hubert Selby's Last Exit To Brooklyn, and Neil Simon's The Marrying Man. Director Robert Zemeckis cast him in the title role of the short lived but highly acclaimed comedy TV series CBS's Johnny Bago, which led to starring roles in numerous TV series and TV movies, including Michael Mann's Miami Vice. Other notable series include CBS's Lenny, FOX's Party of Five, HBO's Tales From The Crypt and Norma Jean and Marilyn. He portrayed young Elvis Presley in Academy Award winning Forrest Gump. Following that were Peter Jackson's cult classic The Frighteners, and Drowning Mona. With his growing popularity, he was then offered the title role in the USA Network series Cover Me: The True Life of an FBI Family. Following the series-run of Cover Me, he moved behind the camera. He wrote and produced the hilarious Sundance Film Festival favorite, his first film, Choose Life. (A story about two hit men obsessed with the 80's pop group Wham!). He then went on to produce his first feature Double Down starring himself and Jason Priestley. His second short film White Mule, proved that he is a force behind the camera as a Writer/Director, and was selected at 2013's Cannes Film Festival, among many others. And this has led to his upcoming feature film in Development, Exit 102: Asbury Park, attracting the great Robert Evans as Producer. Most recently, Dobson is executive producing and starring in new TV Series in development Dirty Dead Con Men.

David Starzyk - Episode 360

Steve Cooper talks with actor David Starzyk. David started out on stage productions in New York and Boston before moving to Los Angeles. Since being in LA he has amassed an impressive resume which includes recurring roles on such shows as Desperate Housewives, 7th Heaven, Charmed, NYPD Blue, Boston Legal, Days of Our Lives, Pacific Blue, Veronica's Closet, The Young and the Restless, Hot and Cleveland and many others. He has also guest starred on series like Person of Interest, Castle, iCarly, CSI: Crime Scene Investigation, Without a Trace, Entourage, Charmed, Lost, Two and a Half Men, Bones, Masters of Sex, Revenge, The Mysteries of Laura, Blue Bloods and Mad Men to name a few. He has appeared in many commercials and was featured in the Chase Sapphire campaign.

Pamela Des Barres - Episode 359

Steve Cooper talks with writer/groupie Pamela Des Barres. Pamela is known as the World’s Most Famous Groupie or Queen of the Groupies, but has many other facets, fascinations and unique talents. Known mostly for her heady dalliances and friendships with classic rock’s elite dandies in the 60s and 70s, she presciently kept copious diaries about those madcap revolutionary days and nights. Pamela has written four books, I'm With the Band, Take Another Little Piece of my Heart, Rock Bottom: Dark Secrets in Music Babylon and Let's Spend the Night Together: Backstage Secrets of Rock Muses and Supergroupies. Known as Miss Pamela, she has shared her history on endless TV and radio shows and documentaries, including two memorable stints with both Oprah and Larry King. Last year she wrote and produced an hour-long VH1 Doc interviewing an array of supergroupies based on her most recent book. She has been teaching ongoing women’s writing workshops in Los Angeles and all over the country for twelve years, inspiring like-minded dolls to share their desire, stories and ideas in a totally safe environment. She calls these writing parties Groupie Therapy. And as an ordained minister, Pamela performs unique one-of-a-kind rock & roll weddings.

Larry Poindexter and Rebecca Metz - Episode 358

Steve Cooper talks with actors Larry Poindexter and Rebecca Metz. Larry and Rebecca stop by the studio to discuss the proposal called Actors Equity's proposed new 99 Seat Agreement. Thousands of actors in Los Angeles have come together to oppose a proposal by Actors’ Equity, the theater actors' union. The new proposal seeks to prohibit its members from lending their talents to small, nonprofit theaters by requiring these theaters to increase actor compensation nearly 1,000%. If this passes it could be very damaging to the LA theatre community and could cause some of these smaller performance houses to close. Larry and Rebecca both accomplished actors on stage, TV and screen are just two of the many Hollywood working and successful talents that are taking a stand.

Roxanne Hart - Episode 357

Steve Cooper talks with actor Roxanne Hart. Roxanne is best known for her roles as Camille Shutt on Chicago Hope and as Brenda J. Wyatt in Highlander. An accomplished stage actor she has also been a recurring character on TV shows such as Dream On, Hung, E.R., Law & Order, Medium and Oz and guest starred in numerous shows including Remington Steele, Cold Case, Party of Five, House M.D., Numb3rs,Grey's Anatomy, Bones, Private Practice, CSI: Crime Scene Investigation, The Mentalist and many others.

Lex Medlin - Episode 356

Steve Cooper talks with actor Lex Medlin. Lex is best known for his roles as Owen French in Drop Dead Diva and as Detective Andy WIlliams in Southland. He has appeared in countless commercials and has been a co-star or recurring character in numerous series such as Happy Hour, Rock Me Baby, Mental, Still Standing and CSI: Crime Scene Investigation. His acting covers both comedy and drama and has guest starred in hit series like Castle, It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia, The Closer, Modern Family, The Crazy Ones, Criminal Minds, The Mob Doctor, Hot in Cleveland and The Mentalist.

Kurt Fuller - Episode 355

Steve Cooper talks with actor Kurt Fuller. Kurt is best known for his role as Woody in Psych and Zachariah in Supernatural. He appeared in numerous films, working with acclaimed film directors such as Brian DePalma, Paul Schrader, Harold Ramis and Ridley Scott. His film career include appearances in Ghostbusters II, Wayne’s World, Reflections on a Crime, Pushing Tin, Scary Movie, Auto Focus, Anger Management, Ray, The Pursuit of Happyness and Midnight in Paris. He also has an extensive television career. From his screen debut in 1984, playing a cameraman in an episode of Knight Rider,he has appeared as a regular, recurring character and guest in numerous television shows such as The Good Wife, Parenthood, Manhattan Love Story, The Crazy Ones, Franklin & Bash, Scandal, Grey's Anatomy, CSI: Crime Scene Investigation, My Name is Earl, Ugly Betty and countless others. 

Roma Maffia - Episode 354

Steve Cooper talks with actor Roma Maffia. Roma is best known as Liz Cruz on the FX Network series Nip/Tuck, the anesthesiologist colleague of two dysfunctional plastic surgeons. She began her acting career in Off-Broadway and Off-Off-Broadway productions. In 1994 she made her film debut playing the minor role of Carmen in director Ron Howard's film The Paper. Soon after, she landed a role on the television series Chicago Hope. Her television career continued as she played Grace Alvarez, the forensic pathologist for the Violent Crimes Task Force for four seasons on NBC's Profiler. She has had guest-star and recurring roles on shows such as ER, The West Wing and The Sopranos. Her most widely seen performances may be playing Seattle attorney Catherine Alvarez in the film Disclosure, also starring Michael Douglas and Demi Moore. She followed this up with a series of performances as Vanessa Galiano in the TV series, Law & Order and as Judge Victoria Peyton on ABC's Boston Legal. Other movie credits include Nick of Time, Eraser, Married to the Mob, I Am Sam, Double Jeopardy and many others. Currently she portrays Linda Tanner on Pretty Little Liars. 

Paul Ben-Victor - Episode 353

Steve Cooper talks with actor Paul Ben-Victor. Paul has built a career entertaining audiences and impressing critics with his work in film, television and on stage. With roles on numerous HBO series and over 50 films, he has time and again delivered standout performances with his tremendous range of characters. For the past two decades, Ben-Victor has been an actor in demand. On television, he has made a lasting impression with his quiet ruthlessness as the Greek henchman Spiros Vondas on the widely acclaimed series, The Wire.He received critical acclaim for his recurring portrayal of Warner Brothers studio chief Alan Grey on Entourage. He also starred as Special Agent Bobby Hobbes in the international hit series The Invisible Man a role that earned him a Best Supporting Actor Audience Award for Sci Fi. Some of his other impressive roles have been playing Moe Howard in the ABC bio-pic The Three Stooges, making several appearances in a large recurring role on the hit comedy series Everybody Hates Chris and playing Stan McQueen for five seasons in the series In Plain Sight.  

Ron Zimmerman - Episode 352

Steve Cooper talks with writer/comic Ron Zimmerman. Ron started doing stand-up comedy in Washington DC and parlayed that into a successful career as a TV writer/producer. Some of the shows he worked on have been Action, 7th Heaven (which he also had a recurring role on as the character Doc),V.I.P., Rude Awakening, The Michael Richards Show, My Wife and Kids, Til' Death and Shake It Up. He also has written comic books for Marvel including The Rawhide Kid and has a been a frequent guest on The Howard Stern Show where he also filled in for Jackie "The Jokeman" Martling for 6 weeks.

Ian Roumain - Episode 351

Steve Cooper talks with agent/director Ian Roumain. Ian graduated the NYU's Tisch School of the Arts and then worked on many movies such as Great Expectations, I.Q., Donnie Brasco, The Devil's Advocate and The Imposters as a Production Assistant. He decided to move to LA in 1999 and got a job as an assistant at SMS Talent and after years of hard work became and Agent for them in 2004 and a then Partner in 2012. He also has co-written a novel and has directed two documentaries, That Guy...Who Was In That Thing and That Gal...Who Was In That Thing and is currently working on his third documentary that deals with actors that have been in any and all iterations of the Star Trek franchise. 

Vanessa Angel - Episode 350

Steve Cooper talks with actor Vanessa Angel. Vanessa is best know for playing Lisa in the USA TV series for 5 years and for her role asClaudia in the movie Kingpin. She began modeling at 16 when she signed up with Eileen Ford and relocated to New York. After taking on a Russian accent for Landis' goofy Chevy Chase-Dan Aykroyd comedy, she studied the craft further at the Actors Studio. She combined her past and present professions playing a model in a guest appearance on TV's Melrose Place and starring in USA's TV movie The Cover Girl Murders. Along with TV, she worked in feature films throughout the 1990s, mostly expanding upon her first experience with movie comedy. After landing bit parts in Abel Ferrara's crime noir King of New York  and the ill-received Sylvester Stallone comedy Stop, or My Mom Will Shoot, Angel next appeared as part of the ensemble cast in the independent romantic comedy Sleep With Me and starred as objects of affection in Kissing a Fool. In recent years she has appeared on both screen and on television is movies such as Hall Pass, Trouble Sleeping and Christmas Spirit and shows such as Saving Grace, Criminal Intent, Entourage, Californication and many others.

Jim Beaver - Episode 349

Steve Cooper talks with actor Jim Beaver. Jim is best known for his leading roles as Bobby Singer in Supernatural and Whitney Ellsworth in Deadwood. He has also co-starred or had recurring roles in many series including Justified, John From Cincinnati, Harper's Island, Day Break, Big Love, 3rd Rock from the Sun, Thunder Alley, Reasonable Doubts and Breaking Bad. As a guest star he has been in series such as Dallas, Psych, NYPD Blue, That 70's Show, The West Wing, Six Feet Under, CSI, Criminal Minds, The Mentalist, NCIS, Dexter, Major Crimes and Revolution to name a few. He can also be seen soon in Oscar winner director Guillermo del Toro's movie Crimson Peak.

Wade Williams - Episode 348

Steve Cooper talks with actor Wade Williams. Wade is best known for his starring role as Brian Bellick on Fox's Prison Break. He began his acting career at the Delacorte Theater in Central Park and then continued with performances on and off Broadway and toured nationally in productions such as Ragtime, Guys and Dolls and Kiss of the Spiderwoman and many others. His films credits include Jarhead, Flicka, Ali, Collateral, Erin Brokovich, The Dark Knight Rises, Draft Day and Gangster Squad. On TV he had a recurring role on The Bernie Mac Show and has guest starred on Monk, 24, NYPD Blue, Charmed, Over There, Six Feet Under, CSI, The Bridge, Revenge, Crisis, NCIS, Burn Notice, The Mentalist, Bones and many others. He also does voice-overs for many projects and is a musician.

Jack McGee - Episode 347

Steve Cooper talks with actor Jack McGee. Jack has been very the last two years starring in NBC's The McCarthy's and USA's Benched and Common Law. Born and raised in the South Bronx, he is the youngest of eight children. Admittedly, this may have been his impetus to strive to get noticed – and successfully so, as he was the president of his senior class and a star football player. Shortly thereafter, he realized he had a knack for performing, and joined the 1960s rock band The Young Rascals.  Eventually transitioning into acting, he was able to make ends meet as a New York City firefighter in the late 1970s. Appropriately so, he got his first big part in the 1985 firefighter film Turk 182, and then moved to Hollywood where he went on to appear in a series of feature films, television movies, and TV series. His most notable television role has been as Chief Jerry Reilly on FX's edgy firefighter drama, Rescue Me. He also recurred as Hickey in the Spike TV series, Players and has guest starred on such TV series as "Drop Dead Diva, Rizzoli & Isles, CSI: Miami, Criminal Minds, CSI: NY and Castle. He also starred in the critically acclaimed film The Fighter, opposite Mark Wahlberg, Christian Bale and Melissa Leo. He can be seen in Moneyball with Brad Pitt, New Year's Eve directed by Garry Marshall and Gangster Squad starring Ryan Gosling, Josh Brolin and Emma Stone.

Illeana Douglas - Episode 346

Steve Cooper talks with actor Illeana Douglas. Illeana was one of the more versatile performers to emerge on film in the early 1990s. After small contributions to a few of director Martin Scorsese's films, including GoodFellas (1990), the actress grabbed the attention of audiences with her gutsy performance opposite Robert De Niro in Cape Fear (1991). She followed with a plethora of supporting roles, among them turns in the survival tale Alive (1993) and Gus Van Sant's dark satire To Die For (1995). As a lead, she was impressive and impassioned in the music industry-set Grace of My Heart (1996), and later flexed her comedic muscles as the classic "hooker with a heart of gold" in the woefully underappreciated comedy series Action (Fox, 1999). Occasionally, she ventured behind the camera for such efforts as Stories of Lost Souls (2005), for which she directed the segment entitled Supermarket. As an actress, she continually sought off-kilter indie films like the horror-comedy Otis (2008) and collaborated on personal projects such as the web series Easy to Assemble (2008- ), a fictionalized comedic version of her life, which she wrote, directed and starred in. Equally adept at eliciting either tears or laughter, at ease in a supporting role and more than capable of carrying the lead, time and again she proved herself a welcome addition to any production.

Daniel Roebuck - Episode 345

Steve Cooper talks with actor Daniel Roebuck. Daniel has many film credits including having starred in blockbusters like The Fugitive, US Marshals,and final Destination, as well as popular titles including Agent Cody Banks and it's sequel, That's What I Am, Money Talks, Flash Of Genius and so many more and he has also starred in dozens of TV Movies. Perhaps his most famous turn was his critically acclaimed portrayal of Jay Leno in The Late Shift. He stepped into another pair of famous shoes when he played Garry Marshall in Behind The Camera; Mork and Mindy, The Unauthorized Story. Other Movies for television include A Family Lost, A Glimpse Of Hell, Murder At The Presidio, Shredderman Rules, A Borrowed Life, Quints and many others. His voice over work includes Christmas Is Here Again (a film he also produced),The Haunted World Of El Super Beasto and the groundbreaking video game, L.A. Noire. As a television guest star, he has played countless characters. Some of his most memorable are a cop who literally turns into a pig on Grimm, a Romulan on Star Trek, Next Generation, a gun toting hostage taker on NYPD Blue, a cranky studio owner on Sonny With A Chance and a grieving father on Glee. He played other memorable roles on New Adventures of Old Christine, NCIS, Ghost Whisperer, CSI, Boston Legal, CSI Miami, Law And Order, Desperate Housewives and Hot in Cleveland. The theater remains his first love and he has continued that passion in the Los Angeles area. He appeared in the world premiers of Sarcophagus and Crooks. He has also starred in No Time For Sergeants, Here Lies Jeremy Troy, Arsenic and Old Lace and The Man Who Came To Dinner among others. In 2006 he founded The Saint Francis Stage Company.

Mark Rolston - Episode 344

Steve Cooper talks with actor Mark Rolston. Mark is best known for his role Bogs Diamond in the multi-Oscar nominated film The Shawshank Redemption but has appeared in countless other movies and TV shows. His first big role came in James Cameron's Aliens and has been seen in The Departed, Weeds, RoboCop 2, Hard Rain, Lethal Weapon 2, Saw V & VI, Rush Hour and many others. On television he has had recurring roles on series such as Profiler, CSI: Miami, Young Justice, The Shield, NCIS, Cold Case, Brooklyn South and 24 to name a few and has guest starred on Criminal Minds, Nash Bridges, The X-Files, NYPD Blue, Alias, Touched by an Angel, Star Trek: Enterprise, CSI: NY, The Mentalist, The Closer, Franklin & Bash and Touch and many more. He also lends his voice to various projects on the small screen and video games.

Chris Caldovino - Episode 343

Steve Cooper talks with actor Chris Caldovino. Chris booked the recurring role of Billy Leotardo in 2004, on HBO's The Sopranos. After working on the famed show, Chris went on to book many more roles on TV and film, including FOX's The Good Guys and the film Brooklyn Rules with Alec Baldwin. As of late Chris has had roles in Martin Scorsese's Oscar-nominated film The Wolf Of Wall Street and the film Stealing Cars produced by Oscar-nominee Rachel Winter of Dallas Buyers Club, which will be released in 2015. Chris has just finished up a three-season stint as Tonino Sandrelli on HBO's Boardwalk Empire, for which he received a SAG-nomination for ensemble cast. Working on Boardwalk Empire Chris teamed up with some of the old Soprano's crew, including Oscar-nominee and Emmy-winning Writer/Producer Terence Winter, Director Tim Van Patton, and Steve Buscemi.

Tomas Boykin - Episode 342

Steve Cooper talks with actor Tomas Boykin. Tomas recently played God in the hugely popular Super Bowl commercial for Mophie. He has various TV, film and stage credits.  He was born to a musician father and a stay at home mom. Growing up he enjoyed playing a musical instrument, painting, drawing, singing and dancing. He once stated, "We danced in our house. There were no wall flowers." He was encouraged to act as early as the 3rd grade. By the time he left college he had experienced "A Chorus Line," "Pippin," "Finian's Rainbow" and "Little Foxes" and many other musical productions. Tomas trained and performed professionally in both Philadelphia and New York. He became serious about performing when he moved to New York and eventually moved to LA.

Jaime Klein - Episode 341

Steve Cooper talks with photographer/writer Jaime Klein. Jaime moved out to Los Angeles to pursue a career as a stand-up comedian.  A regular spot at the Comedy Store, turned into writing gigs for Fernwood 2Nite and later the Gong Show.  That evolved to a produced screenplay called Pandemonium. 10 years of development deals for screenplays and pilots lead to a gig in broadcast marketing where he stayed for 15 years writing and producing promos/launch campaigns and short form programming for such shows as Seinfeld, Simpsons and Raising Hope. That advertising bug has now transitioned into a career as a portrait photographer.

Xander Berkely - Episode 340

Steve Cooper talks with actor Xander Berkeley. Xander started off playing minor roles in 1981, with appearances in Remington Steele, Miami Vice, Moonlighting and countless other series. Much later, he also appeared on The X-Files, CSI, ER, 24, and Law & Order. As for the big screen, he counts Sid & Nancy, North Country, Terminator 2: Judgment Day, A Few Good Men, Apollo 13, Gattaca, The Rock, Air Force One, Spawn, Amistad, and Timecode as some of his credentials. In 2001, he bagged a recurring spot as George Mason, head of the Counter Terrorist Unit on the hit series 24. His character was killed off in season 2. In 2009, he was cast on the NBC sci-fi series Day One, which follows apartment residents who survive an unknown worldwide catastrophe. From 2010 to 2012, he starred on The CW's Nikita as the villain Percy. The following year, he was seen on Being Human, Longmire, NTSF:SD:SUV and Louder than Words. Lately he has been seen on Salem, The Mentalist, Justified and numerous other shows. 

Matt Gallant - Episode 339

Steve Cooper talks with host Matt Gallant. Matt is an Emmy Award-winning television host. For five seasons, he was the host of the Animal Planet's popular series "The Planet's Funniest Animals," although the show is no longer in production, it regularly airs in repeats and continues to find new audiences in international markets. He has hosted shows on MTV, ESPN2, G4, NFL Network, Fine Living, ABC, DirecTV to name a few. He hosted the ABC's Network prime time hit American Inventor. In 2008, Gallant took a sabbatical from TV in hopes of making a difference in the world and began to purse a career as an Interventionist/Therapist, like his brother Paul. He spent over two years working as counselor at a dual diagnosis rehab in Venice California. In 2012 he enthusiastically returned to the TV business and Co-Hosted the entertainment show The List on the Scripps Network.

Rae Dawn Chong - Episode 338

Steve Cooper talks with actor Rae Dawn Chong. Rae Dawn began appearing on Canadian television in her preteen years. Chong's first major TV role was on the popular 1974 sitcom The Wiz Kid of Riverton. Seven years later, she exploded onto the big screen as the mud-covered cave dweller Ika in Quest for Fire (1981), which earned her the Canadian equivalent of the Academy Award. Playing a variety of striking characters, she would be prominently cast in such films as The Color Purple (1985), American Flyers (1987), and Commando (1985). By the 90's, Chong was a bankable actress with multiple projects per year, including successful TV roles as well, on shows like Wild Card and Mysterious Ways. Throughout her career she has appeared in over 50 movies and countless TV shows.She recently released Cursed: Part 3 which she wrote, directed and co-starred in.

Deon Estus - Episode 337

Steve Cooper talks with musician Deon Estus. Deon is an American bassist and singer, best known as the bass player of Wham! and as George Michael’s bassist on all of the latter’s subsequent projects. In 1988, he released a solo album entitled Spell and scored a U.S. #3 Billboard Hot 100 hit pop single, “Heaven Help Me”. He also played with Marvin Gaye, Tina Turner, Frank Zappa, George Clinton, Annie Lennox, Edgar Winter, Aaron Neville, Elton John. He toured China with Wham!, performed at Rock in Rio, and with George Michael on his Faith tour. He recorded two albums with Brainstorm as a teenager, scoring a hit with “Popcorn.” He most recently produced and co-wrote songs for aspiring singer Julie Anne, who boasts a 5 octave range.

Eddie Jemison - Episode 336

Steve Cooper talks with actor/director Eddie Jemison. Eddie is best known for his role as Ronnie Haxon on two seasons of HBO's series Hung. His first national break came in the Yes, I Am / Dr. Galakowitz spots for Bud Light. Several appearances on David Letterman followed. Soon after, he acted in his first film, Schizopolis, directed by Oscar winner Steven Soderbergh. He went on to act in Soderbergh's Ocean's Eleven, Twelve and Thirteen and relocated to Los Angeles. His feature work also includes his role as Ogie in Waitress directed by Adrienne Shelly, along with roles in The Punisher and Bruce Almighty. His television credits include The Closer, ER, CSI, Six Feet Under, The Guardian, NCIS, Grey's Anatomy, Franklin & Bash and many more. He recently finished writing, co-directing and co-starring in the movie King of Herrings which has been a festival favorite and is available on iTunes.

Brian McNamara - Episode 335

Steve Cooper talks with actor Brian McNamara. Brian is best known for his role as Michael Holden for 7 seasons on Lifetime's top-rated show Army Wives and has been acting for over 30 years. He got his break in Hollywood with a part in the hit movie Flamingo Kid and has since appeared in numerous roles in both film and television. McNamara starred in one of the first Lifetime Movies, Storm and Sorrow as well as The Secret Lives Of Second Wives. Some of his other film credits include, Short Circuit, Arachnophobia, Mystery Date and Dead of Winter, which was also his directing debut. Early in his career, McNamara was nominated for a Golden Globe for his work in the TV movie, Billionaire Boys Club. Some of his many TV credits include guest starring roles in such popular series as, Seinfeld, Monk, NYPD Blue, St. Elsewhere, JAG, Mad About You, Ellen, Murphy Brown, The Mentalist, Perception, Grimm, Bones and Franklin & Bash as well as playing Brooke Shields love interest in her series Suddenly Susan. He directed 4 episodes of Army Wives and currently is directing episodes of Granite Flats.

Jason Whitton - Episode 334

Steve Cooper talks with Singer/Songwriter Jason Whitton. Jason was raised in Houston, TX, where he grew up listening to R&B, Rap (that's what they called it back then), and Country. His musical tastes are ALL over the map, including everything from Eminem to Tom Waits. His influences range from Garth Brooks, to George Strait, to James Taylor. He's released three records, Thriftstore Cowboy, Broken Horses, and My Way Home. You can find them on cdbaby.com and iTunes. He is currently in the studio finishing up his fourth release. He plans to make a video for one the tracks, and hopefully some touring for the record. Keep your eyes and ears peeled for this amazing Americana/Alt. Country future Superstar.

 

Patrick O'Sullivan - Episode 333

Steve Cooper talks with actor/comic Patrick O' Sullivan. Patrick just wrapped 2 seasons as Alien Johnny Unitas on ABC's Neighbors and guests stars this season on Adult Swim's Hot Package. He has also guested on ABC's Happy Endings, Comedy Central's Free Radio and is the creator of the hit impersonator stage shows All About Walken and All About Jack. He had a two year run as Gary Busey in Point Break Live! and his one man show Young Sully was chosen as a San Francisco Chronicle Pick of the Week. He has been a fixture on the LA comedy scene at The Improv and The Comedy Store while also touring across the country. He has also produced the  hit documentary about Lenny Bruce called Looking for Lenny and can be seen on the big screen playing Detective Cooper in the horror film Smiley. His latest venture is the creation of a live stage parody of the 1987 film Summer School. 

Suzanne Whang - Episode 332

Steve Cooper talks with actor/host/comic Suzanne Whang. Suzanne was the host of House Hunters the #1 rated show on HGTV (Home & Garden Television Network) for almost ten years, and she also hosted the hit spinoff show House Hunters International. She had a great time as Dick Clark’s co-host on TV's Censored Bloopers for NBC, while concurrently co-hosting New Attitudes on Lifetime Television. Prior to that, she was a field host/fill-in co-host for Fox After Breakfast with Tom Bergeron, and a field host for Personal FX, Breakfast Time and The Pet Department. As an actor, she has appeared in numerous television series, including four seasons as Polly the hilarious spa manager on NBC’s Las Vegas and was on ABC’s General Hospital as Carol Cheng, the funny and loathsome wedding planner.  She also had a memorable guest starring role on Cold Case, and co-starring roles on Two and a Half Men, Boston Legal, Criminal Minds, The Practice and Nip/Tuck to name a few. As a comic she has been on Comedy Central's Premium Blend and has performed across the country in clubs and in comedy festivals. She currently is writing a book on her beating breast cancer and can be seen on the TV series From Here on OUT.

Brian Howe - Episode 331

Steve Cooper talks with actor Brian Howe. Brian is typically cast as an American everyman in many ways, the most challenging of roles to play. After spending time in stage productions in Boston he began his TV career during the mid-'90s, as an occasional guest player on episodes of such series as Law & Order and Spencer for Hire and the short-lived sitcom The Bonnie Hunt Show. He re-teamed with the venerable Hunt for a small role in his first feature, which the actress directed: the romantic comedy Return to Me. Supporting turns in an uneven series of films ensued, ranging from K-PAX to Steven Spielberg's Catch Me If You Can. He later was cast in the short-lived sitcom A Minute With Stan Hooper then landed a trio of supporting roles in A-list films during 2006: one in the Robin William's in RV, another with Will Smith in The Pursuit of Happyness and a third in Tony Scott's Deja Vu. Clint Eastwood cast him in the 2008 drama Gran Torino. He appeared in the 2011 action film I Am Number Four, and in 2012 Howe appeared as Randy Scheunemann in the made-for-HBO docudrama Game Change. He recently had a recurring role in HBO's hit The Newsroom and can be seen on the new season of Showtime's House of Lies.