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LifestyleTranscript
00:00It's easy to get comfortable in this industry and just kind of be the go-to guy for this or, you know, the guy who can rely upon and deliver this kind of thing.
00:11It's a very comfortable, well-paying, relatively easy way to go about it.
00:19But for me, I'm scared of that. I'm scared of getting comfortable. Like, I don't feel comfortable yet.
00:23How you doing today, my brother?
00:31I'm good, brother. How are you?
00:32Good. The legend, the legend. I'm very excited about this conversation, man. Thank you for taking the time.
00:37Absolutely appreciate that, man. Thank you.
00:39So in Government Cheese, you play Bootsy. I wanted to ask you, how does he fit in the world of Government Cheese and what initially drew you to that character, man?
00:47I think that Bootsy is a valuable member of the Government Cheese team because he offers kind of an alternative perspective.
00:59Hampton is a very didactic, clear-minded, focused family man, and there's no question about what he wants to do with the years he has left on this planet.
01:18He wants to set his family straight and be a good example to his sons and a man that his wife can love.
01:25Bootsy is a free spirit who marches to the beat of his own drummer.
01:33And aside from his commitment and loyalty to Hampton and the Chambers family, Bootsy is about Bootsy and what Bootsy wants to do that morning or what Bootsy wants to do that evening.
01:46Does Bootsy want to take a nap? Does Bootsy feel like going to this job, make a little bit of money?
01:51Does Bootsy want to pull off a big score? Does Bootsy just want to get high?
01:57You know, what does Bootsy want to do that day, in that moment?
02:00And that's pretty much how he lives. And it's very different to Hampton's life.
02:07And that's one of the things that drew me to this role, is the juxtaposition between the two of them.
02:16Now, Government Cheese is a truly unique show, but at some points, that surrealist tone, it kind of reminded me of Fargo, which I thought you should have won an Emmy for that.
02:26But that's neither here nor there. We can talk about that later.
02:29Did working on Government Cheese feel familiar to you or was it a new challenge at all?
02:33To me, it was completely new, because I don't get a chance to be funny very often.
02:40And the challenge was to play this character who, on the page, is pretty off the wall.
02:48He's pretty out there, if you will.
02:51And how do I bring reality to such a surrealistic character?
02:59How do I be honest about this man in every moment?
03:06So that felt like a new challenge.
03:09So I know you probably hear this a lot, too, but I'm going to say it again.
03:12I really think that you're a legend in this entertainment industry space, man.
03:15I just really appreciate everything that you've done, and I think it's cool the kind of variety of the roles that you've taken on in your career.
03:23I wanted to ask you at this point, what's your process in choosing the roles that you decide to take on in your career currently?
03:32It's all about, you know, who's going to pay me the most money?
03:37I'm kidding.
03:38No, no, no, no, I'm constantly looking to push the envelope and spread out into different genres, comedy, science fiction, historical characters, whenever I get a chance to.
03:55I'm always just looking to see what boxes I haven't ticked yet.
04:00And even if it's something that seems like I've already participated in this type of film before or played a role similar to this, what can I find different about this character?
04:18I'm always looking to expand.
04:20You know, it's easy to get comfortable in this industry and just kind of be the go-to guy for this or, you know, you know, the guy who can rely upon and deliver this kind of, it's a very comfortable, well-paying, relatively easy way to go about it.
04:41But for me, I'm scared of that.
04:44I'm scared of getting comfortable.
04:45Like, I don't feel comfortable yet.
04:46I haven't found my niche.
04:48I haven't found my thing.
04:52So I'm still trying to expand.
04:56So Paul Hunter, he created this show as a love letter to his childhood.
05:01I wanted to kind of ask you about the preparation for the role.
05:04What type of conversation did you and Paul have in our collaborative were you on the character of Bootsy?
05:11Bootsy was a real person who made an impression on Paul in his youth and had an impact, enough of an impact on Paul's childhood that he wrote the character into the scripts.
05:30And so that's a heavy responsibility.
05:33Anytime you're playing somebody that really existed.
05:36So for me, the conversations I had with Paul were designed to get to the truth about who Bootsy is.
05:48And a lot of that had to do with what Bootsy's ultimate goals were, which I won't divulge, but what was his plan?
05:57And he did have a plan.
06:00You know, he did have aspirations as free-flowing and open-minded as Bootsy was.
06:08He did have a dream.
06:11And, but first, in order to do that, he wanted to make sure that his buddy Hampton was good to go.
06:18You know what I mean?
06:19Because that's his brother.
06:20So his brother just got out.
06:22You know, let me make sure my brother's good to go.
06:25And then I can address, you know, these, these ambitions of my own.
06:29Yeah.
06:29So I don't even know if there's something that you still do or have done at all, though, being as though you've been in so many projects with this show being so unique.
06:40Is there anything either on set or off that you took from this particular experience that was like new to you at all?
06:48I got a better developed understanding of comedic timing and how subtle it is and what a thin line it is between pushing for a joke and just allowing yourself to be funny or allowing a moment to be funny.
07:09That's something that I'll take with me on to future projects.
07:14It was a, it was a real education and that, and understanding that the audience is probably going to find things that you yourself would find funny.
07:26And just almost seeing yourself from the perspective of the audience when it comes to what's funny and what's not funny.
07:37It's comedy is hard.
07:39It's, it's, it's really, really hard.
07:41And, uh, I feel like maybe I got a better education about how to go about it from this job.
07:48So you spoke about, uh, allowing yourself to be funny or pushing yourself to be funny.
07:52So, uh, was it a lot of like improvisation with the show?
07:56Not really.
07:57Most of the stuff was written.
08:01Like pretty much everything we do is written.
08:04There was some physicality that was improvised though.
08:07Most of the dialogue is like set in stone, but the physicality and some of the, uh, subtle nuances in regards to how we, uh, be honest in the moment about our characters.
08:21A lot of that just came out in, in, in the moment.
08:26So I asked this question to, um, Simone earlier, cause she had like a call back in the first episode that I thought was brilliant.
08:32Um, what is the title government cheese mean to you for me, uh, government cheese evokes, uh, uh, sad and happy memories at the same time.
08:47And personally, it's about, uh, aspiration.
08:52It's about ambition.
08:54It's about dreaming.
08:56It's about, uh, believing, uh, in yourself, in spite of the circumstances you might find yourself in at the time.
09:09It's about actually 100% believing with conviction in yourself and in your dreams, no matter what reality might be trying to tell you at that time.
09:26That was perfect, my brother.
09:27Thank you so much.
09:28Uh, appreciate you, Mr. Woodbine.
09:31I can't wait for the world to see this show, man.