Scott Prendergast is no stranger to multitasking. The actor-writer-director has been making and starring in short films for nearly a decade, supporting himself by acting in commercials and writing for such shows as MTV's Celebrity Deathmatch.
Writing, directing, and starring in his feature debut, Kabluey, produced by Los Angeles-based Whitewater Films, was a natural progression. Prendergast plays Salman, a jittery oddball who helps his sister-in-law (Lisa Kudrow) look after her young sons while her husband is in Iraq. Salman eventually lands a job playing a giant blue corporate mascot and is forced to spend many an hour lurking on a dreary strip of road, passing out fliers.
The film's poignant blend of humor and pathos make for a sweetly off-kilter crowd-pleaser, and Prendergast's performance is a true comedic marvel--particularly when he's trapped inside that massive, strangely melancholy, blue monstrosity. Notes the filmmaker, "It was like being in a little blue prison."
Back Stage: Where did this idea come from?
Scott Prendergast: Originally, I got the idea for a man in a big, blue mascot costume. I didn't know what it meant. It just appealed to me, the idea of a man trapped inside a costume. It's all about feeling sealed off from the world. And while I was writing the script, I was staying with my sister-in-law while my brother was in Iraq. My brother's in the Oregon National Guard, and he was in Iraq for a year and a half, and I went and stayed with his wife for two months to help her take care of my nephews. And it was horrible. My nephews were horrible. We had a horrible time, and I wanted to kill them, and she wanted to kill me, and it was a nightmare. While I was writing the script, the two stories [came] together: this silly suit and this sad story at home. And I have to say, as I promised my sister-in-law that I would, the story is fictional. The things [the character] does in the movie, my sister-in-law didn't do.
Back Stage: Did you always intend to star in the film?
Prendergast: Yeah. I was an improvisational actor because I didn't have the discipline to be a writer. And then slowly, as I got older and calmed down, I was able to put stuff on paper. But it was always me; it was always [about] furthering what I wanted to. In improv, you're telling a story with your body; instead of writing down the story, you're using yourself. Instead of writing a novel, you get up on stage and spew obscenities for an hour. [With Kabluey,] I knew what I wanted to do, I knew the character I wanted to play, and I wrote it for me. The only luck I've ever had in my career is when I did something for myself. I'm not that good-looking of a guy; I'm not exceptional. Nobody's gonna take a chance on me. I'm a regular guy who did some commercials, had some luck, could never get an acting agent, and didn't really want to be the kind of actor who waited around for someone to say, "And now you can do this." No one was going to give me the break; I had to make the break for myself.
Back Stage: How did you know Lisa Kudrow would be perfect for the part of Leslie, Salman's sister-in-law?
Prendergast: The Comeback. There's a moment in Kabluey where it literally says in the script, "The character walks down the street; she slowly breaks down. Every emotion plays across her face." In The Comeback, she says so much with her face. They just close in on her, and she's telling you a world of information without saying a word. It's all playing across her face. And in The Opposite of Sex, there's a moment at the end of the movie where she looks at Lyle Lovett and she just nods at him and she's like, "It's all gonna be okay." I wrote her a letter to get her in the movie, and I said, "I'm in love with The Comeback."
And I wrote a three-page letter about that. And then at the end of the letter, I said, "I have a movie, Kabluey. I want you to be in Kabluey because of the moment in the end of The Opposite of Sex when you look at Lyle Lovett and you nod. It's such a sad moment, because that character's been through some hard times and now it's all okay." Also, she's funny as hell.
Kabluey will screen at the L.A. Film Festival June 30 at 7 p.m. at the Landmark. For tickets and information, visit www.lafilmfest.com.