Moviehole – ýAug 14, 2009ý
Ken Davitan
"The Prankster" is a terrific new teen comedy, based on an original
screenplay by Tony Vidal, that features such names as George
Corraface, Kurt Fuller, Ally Maki, and Madison Riley. Ashley Hillard
caught up with one of the film’s stars, Ken Davitian, probably best
known for his roles in "Borat" and "Get Smart’, to talk about the
film, as well as his experience working on the Sasha Baron Cohen’s
smash hit.
You have an impressive resume in both film and television – what led
you to pursue a career in the entertainment industry?
My grandmother was a member of Ruben Malmoulian’s Armenian theater
group and at a very young age I decided this is what I wanted to do.
You are often cast as characters from countries outside the U.S., do
you feel you’ve been typecast?
I don’t care, I want to be cast. I think everybody should be happy
just working.
The story of how you landed your role in ”Borat” is hilarious! How
were you able to stay in character through the audition process?
I have been training for that opportunity all my life, I’m only glad I
had the chance.
Can you share some behind the scenes moments in Borat that audiences
don’t know about?
There’s a scene at a plantation, we went there for a reenactment of
plantation life. Borat got into a confrontation with the woman who ran
the plantation. Borat commented, "Why do you make these poor people do
this kind of slavery?" her answer was, `This is a reenactment" the
argument began to get very heated. The woman called her husband who
called her brother, the sheriff. As we heard the sirens Borat and I
jumped in our ice cream truck and took off down the two lane highway
leaving our crew to deal with the authorities. As we drove down the
highway, we drove off the road into a field and found the trailer and
put the ice cream truck on the trailer. Our driver who was driving the
trailer suggested that we wait for someone else to pick us up in a
car, as we stood in the middle of cotton fields our ice cream truck
drove off. We were picked up by another driver and as we were passing
the state line of Mississippi, we saw the trailer with our ice cream
truck being pulled over !
by the state troopers, who were searching everywhere for Borat and me.
It seems like it would be very difficult to pull off a lot of the
scenes you and Sacha shot – how did the production team make it work?
By not laughing and convincing the people that they were an American
crew that didn’t understand what Borat and I were doing. Their work
was tireless and I applaud them for it.
Please tell me about ”You May Not Kiss the Bride” – are you
currently filming in Hawaii?
No, we are done filming. We filmed on the island of Oahu and it was
fantastic. The movie has a great ensemble cast, Dave Annable,
Katherine McPhee, Vinnie Jones, Mena Suvari and Rob Scheider. I was
lucky enough to play Katherine McPhee’s corrupt yet comical father. It
was written and directed by Rob Hedden.
I’m also curious about ”The Prankster” – what is the story about?
Did they film it in San Francisco?
It is a coming-of-age story about a young man on the verge of his high
school graduation looking for more in his life and still staying true
to his friends and family. Matt Angel plays the lead role of Chris
Karas and I play the role of his stern father Stavros Karas. Also in
the film are new comers Jareb Dauplaise, Madison Riley, and Marcella
Lentz – Pope. It was written and directed by Tony Vidal.
Do you have a preference of working on film or television?
Working is the operable word. I love the industry and if I am on the
other side of the guard gate, I am happy.
You own The Dip (At Hollywood & Highland) and The Infield in Sherman
Oaks – how do you juggle running your restaurants with acting?
The Dip in Hollywood and Highland has great French dip sandwiches with
a 1/2 lb of meat, burgers as big as your head, and breakfast for
giants – a perfect way to start the morning. The Dip is run by my
wife, as my older son runs The Infield in Sherman Oaks which
specializes in America’s two greatest pastimes: hot dogs and baseball
– with over 25 different hot dog creations, including a fried Twinkie
dog, a Smores dog, and 1/2 lb Chicago dogs.