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Books, Film, Interviews

Interview: David Dastmalchian talks ‘Count Crowley: Reluctant Midnight Monster Hunter’

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David Dastmalchian has no doubt been on the wildest ride of his career in the last couple of years, nabbing roles in such Marvel Cinematic Universe superhero movies as “Ant-Man” and “Ant-Man and the Wasp,” as well as TV series guest shots in DC’s “The Flash” and “Gotham.” Dastmalchian has also been busy creating independent cinema, writing and starring in such acclaimed indies as “Animals” and most recently, “All Creatures Here Below.”

Yet for all his success, Dastmalchian said in a recent interview that perhaps his most satisfying achievement to date is something that brings him back to the place where many great fantasy tales begin: the panels of a comic book as the writer of “Count Crowley: Reluctant Midnight Monster Hunter.”

“I was a comic book geek who grew up loving film, dreaming of being an actor, and then got to work with the best of the best with David Lynch and Christopher Nolan, getting to be in Peyton Reed’s ‘Ant-Man’ films and part of the MCU, getting to be in ‘Blade Runner: 2049’ and ‘Dune’ coming up and getting to know James Gunn — I’ve gotten to check so many boxes,” Dastmalchian enthused. “And yet, this comic book has truly been the most exciting thing I’ve done yet as a storyteller.”

Interview: David Dastmalchian talks ‘Ant-Man and the Wasp’

Interview: David Dastmalchian talks ‘Ant-Man’

New on comic book racks from Dark Horse Comics, “Count Crowley: Reluctant Midnight Monster Hunter” is a four-issue tale that’s rooted in Dastmalchian’s love of horror movies and the local, late-night TV host who presented them to him as a kid.

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“I used to watch the ‘Creature Feature’ program in Kansas City growing up. It was ‘Crematia’s Friday Nightmare’ with Crematia Mortem, played by the incredible Roberta Solomon,” recalled Dastmalchian, a Kansas native. “She was our local horror hostess who introduced me to the incredible work of Lon Chaney in ‘Phantom of the Opera,’ Boris Karloff in ‘Frankenstein’ and of course, Bela Lugosi in ‘Dracula.’ Those were my early heroes.”

In Dastmalchian’s ‘Creature Feature’ world, however, “Count Crowley” delves more into the life of the host than the movies she presents. The main character is Jerri Bartman, a disgraced journalist who takes a job as a late-night horror show host named “Count Crowley” at a small TV station in her hometown, only to find out that monsters are real and she’s one of the few people who can stop them.

“Her dream is to be the hardest-hitting news journalist in the world in 1983, but life has hit her sideways and she is barely hanging on by a thread. She drinks from sunup to sundown and she has burned every bridge she has left to burn,” Dastmalchian said. “So, she begrudgingly puts on the make-up and the costume, and she introduces the late-night horror show and ends up being quite a hit. People love her bad attitude and her sassy style, but her first little taste of approval is short-lived because she finds out the Count Crowley she replaced wasn’t just a horror host. He was one of the last, great appointed monster hunters among humanity.”

However, hunting monsters isn’t easy, and Jerri needs to get sober to make things work. It’s a page that Dastmalchian has ripped out of the story of his own life, where he’s successfully battled addiction.

“This is something I’ve been wanting to write about for decades. Thinking about monsters and thinking how fun it would be if they had a secret identity,” Dastmalchian, 42, recalled. “Then I grew up, and I dealt with my battles with depression, anxiety and addiction, and I started to recognize that monsters are sometimes good and sometimes truly evil.”

Among the good ones, Dastmalchian said, are “those of us who I considered werewolves who got bit by the addiction disease and just couldn’t seem to control ourselves when the moon was out, but found help, healing and recovery in so many miraculous ways. I also think about the demons within that plague us, and the story really started to take shape.”

As for the evil monsters in this tale, they’re much closer to us than we think.

“I started to think about the news and information, and the monsters who live among us in our own society and thought, ‘How incredible would it be if all that we think we know is a lie?’ Like they’ve been spinning this fake information, and werewolves can’t be stopped with silver bullets and a stake can’t ever kill a vampire,” he said.

Dastmalchian said the year “Count Crowley” is set in is 1983. True, that was the year where he came of age as a boy reading comic books or started watching horror hosts on TV. But he selected that year more because it the dawning of a new age of media.

“The time was the beginning of cable, and I thought it would be pretty fascinating that the monsters were getting their eyes on the power of cable media and access to a wide audience,” Dastmalchian said.

Dastmalchian is no doubt in a unique position as a comic book author. In a way, he’s living a type of parallel universe, in that many of the films and TV series he’s had roles in over the past decade have originated from DC Comics and Marvel Comics.

“There’s been a wonderful renaissance in the last 10 years that I’ve been so fortunate enough to be a part of in a small, tangential way, like my role in Christopher Nolan’s ‘The Dark Knight,’ which I think reimagined comic book adaptation filmmaking,” Dastmalchian said. “Then, I became a part of the Marvel Cinematic Universe for the last five years with the ‘Ant-Man’ films and getting to become a part of cinema history with what (Marvel President) Kevin Feige and his entire army of artists accomplished. And now, I’m part of the Dark Horse family with ‘Count Crowley.’ It’s been pretty amazing for me as a consumer of this type of material.”

And with any luck, Dastmalchian’s life on the pages of “Count Crowley: Reluctant Midnight Monster Hunter” will continue on after its debut run.

“If it’s just these four issues that are being published, if this is what it ends up being, I’m just trying to be here in the moment, and being as appreciative and as grateful for it as I can be,” Dastmalchian said, humbly. “My dream for it, obviously, is to go many years into the future with many different stories and monsters that I want to explore and battle.”

Tim Lammers reviews movies weekly for “The KQ92 Morning Show” on KQRS-FM,  “Paul and Jordana” on WCCO Radio, “It Matters with Kelly Cordes on WJON-AM, KLZZ-FM, “The Tom Barnard Podcast” and “The BS Show” with Bob Sansevere, and reviews streaming programming on WCCO Radio’s “Paul and Jordana” as well. On TV, Tim has made hundreds of guest appearances on “KARE 11 News at 11” (NBC).

Copyright 2019 DirectConversations.com

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Interviews, TV

Interview: Dana DeLorenzo talks ‘Perpetual Grace, LTD’

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A year after her classic role as Deadite-slayer Kelly Maxwell on “Ash vs. Evil Dead” came to an end, Dana DeLorenzo is once again living in a state of grace — and appropriately it’s in the critically acclaimed noir drama series “Perpetual Grace, LTD.”

Wrapping up its first season with its 10th episode on Sunday on EPIX, “Perpetual Grace, LTD” follows the twisty plight of James (Jimmi Simpson), a hopeless drifter who is lured into a seemingly simple plan to pilfer $4 million from pastor Byron Brown (Sir Ben Kingsley) and his wife, Lillian (Jacki Weaver). Unbeknownst to James, “Pa,” as the pastor is known, is far more dangerous than he could have imagined, and the unforeseen circumstances pull the deeply damaged soul into a labyrinth from which there appears to be no escape.

Damon Herriman plays Paul Allen Brown, the manipulative, estranged son of the Browns who concocts the plan with his scheming girlfriend, Valerie Spoontz (DeLorenzo) — a used car saleswoman who ropes an unsuspecting sheriff, Hector Contreras (Luis Guzmán), into the plot.

“The series is so gripping. I’m such a fangirl of this show,” DeLorenzo enthused in a recent phone conversation from Los Angeles. “And it has nothing to do with the fact that I’m a small part of it, which I am grateful for.  But I love the show as a viewer as much as I loved filming it.”

One of the most refreshing shows to come down the television pike in quite some time, “Perpetual Grace,” created by Steven Conrad and Bruce Terris, is a wildly imaginative series that clearly tips its cap to Alfred Hitchcock. Still, the series doesn’t take 100 percent of its cues from The Master of Suspense, and in fact, it sometimes seems to employ the dark humor of the Coen brothers. Almost seeming to defy any sort label, one thing is for certain: With “Perpetual Grace,” Conrad and Terris elevate the mystery genre.

“People are trying to fit it in a box and this show does not fit in a box. I love its originality,” DeLorenzo said. “How I’ve been describing it is a ‘Hitchcock-inspired, dark comedy thriller with heart.’ If there’s any influence that Steven and Bruce have talked about, it is Hitchcock, even in the script, it would say, ‘Hitchcock close-up.’ They bring in that dark, suspenseful thriller aspect in a very specific way — the way that Hitchcock might — but then incorporate comedy by turning the situation on its head in a way that borders on the absurd.  Because life can be pretty absurd during tumultuous times. And the absurdity makes it hilarious.”

By saying “absurd,” DeLorenzo doesn’t mean “Perpetual Grace” is a farce, but rather has moments where the scenes can be darkly comedic amid some very serious circumstances.

“In those really dark moments, you can have a character like New Leaf (Chris Conrad), carrying around a Chili’s buzzer that he rigged to his parents’ life support, which will light up when his parents die. He gets an identical buzzer while he’s waiting for a table at a Chili’s.  He confuses which one is which,” DeLorenzo continued. “Suddenly one of them goes off. Is it the parents-are-dead buzzer, or your-table-is-ready-buzzer? The suspense creates tension and ultimately some painfully funny dialogue.”

DeLorenzo added that the moment isn’t “funny like a one-liner,” it’s funny because in life’s darkest moments, there can be things that are oddly amusing.

“What makes ‘Perpetual Grace, LTD.’ such a compelling story is the characters. They are completely original, nuanced and wonderfully specific. And yet, relatable. You root for these characters because they’re broken, struggling to relieve the guilt for something they caused. Each of them wants to right their wrong,” DeLorenzo explained. “But the harder they try, the worse everything gets, and eventually they all become intertwined in a spider-web-in-quicksand kind of way.”

“It’s morbid and tragic, yet optimistic. But it’s also wonderful, comedically. I really love how Steven and Bruce know how to swing that pendulum a certain amount,” DeLorenzo said. “It never gets too serious or too silly. Right when it’s about to go one way, the pendulum swings back to the other. I really commend them for how effortlessly they do that.” DeLorenzo said the opportunity to do “Perpetual Grace” came around when she least expected it, thanks to her previous connections to Conrad and Terris, who she worked with together and separately 10 years ago on some TV pilots in Chicago. And while the actress’ screen time is far less than the time she spent on “Ash vs. Evil Dead,” DeLorenzo didn’t spend her time off away from the set, but rather shadowing Conrad directing every chance she could get.

Perhaps DeLorenzo’s biggest coup on “Perpetual Grace” was having the opportunity to watch Kingsley in the fifth episode of the series, which features a stirring, four-page monologue that the Oscar-winning actor shot over the course over three days. She said the opportunity was “a masterclass on acting” and gave her and Kingsley the chance to bond, simply because both are such huge admirers of Conrad’s writing.

“When Steven introduced me to Sir Ben,  of course, I fumbled, I couldn’t even say ‘honor to meet you’ in a complete sentence. But he was so gracious and kind, he took my hands and kissed both sides of my cheeks, so I finally stopped blabbering,” DeLorenzo recalled. “And then we started talking about the writing, and how he jumped at the chance to do this, which Steven said was thrilling because he was their dream choice for the role.”

What came next is a moment DeLorenzo said she will never forget, mainly out of potential embarrassment.

“I said to Sir Ben, ‘Yeah, Steven is such a brilliant writer that all you have to do as an actor is just say the lines, like David Mamet said.’ And his response was, ‘You’re absolutely right.’ I remember thinking after that, ‘I hope Ben Kingsley doesn’t think him I’m giving him notes on how to act!’” DeLorenzo said, laughing.

Luckily, DeLorenzo said, Kingsley is a “consummate professional with zero ego,” which made an already satisfying experience on “Perpetual Grace” all the more worthwhile. “Being part this show has been a tremendously exhilarating experience,” DeLorenzo said. “I’m just counting the days to when, hopefully, we go back to work. Because I miss it. I’m desperate to see where this story and characters go from here.”

And while DeLorenzo has already had a dream job as one of stars of “Ash vs. Evil Dead,” the opportunity to do a show like “Perpetual Grace” helped her scale even higher professional heights after a decade and a half of struggles trying to get a foothold as an actor in Hollywood.

“I’m passionate about ‘Perpetual Grace’ because after 15 years of the highs and lows and rejections and triumphs, it’s all worth it when I get to work on something I love with people I’ve admired for a while — especially when those people are all passionate about the work, and everyone’s there for the same reason you are: to bring a story to life,” DeLorenzo said, humbly. “I get to be part of a dream team and everyone is a team player. I don’t take a day of it for granted because that kind of camaraderie is what it’s about, man.”

Tim Lammers reviews movies weekly for “The KQ92 Morning Show,”  WCCO Radio, WJON-AM, KLZZ-FM, “The Tom Barnard Podcast” and “The BS Show” with Bob Sansevere. On TV, Tim has made hundreds of guest appearances on “KARE 11 News at 11” (NBC).

Copyright 2019 DirectConversations.com

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Film, Interviews

Interview flashback: Hugh Jackman talks ‘X-Men: Days of Future Past’

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Note: In celebration of the release of the final movie of the “X-Men” saga, “Dark Phoenix,” this week, here’s an interview with the star of the franchise since the beginning, Hugh Jackman, for the 2014 blockbuster “Days of Future Past.”

Originally published May 22, 2014

Whether he’s sporting adamantium or bone claws, Hugh Jackman is no doubt as sharp as ever as the Logan/Wolverine in “X-Men: Days of Future Past.” But perhaps no performance of the legendary character prior to this new chapter in the “X-Men” and “Wolverine” film series stands out more than his three-word cameo in 2011’s “X-Men: First Class.”

It’s a brief, but memorable scene, where the young Erik Lensherr/Magneto (Michael Fassbender) and Charles Xavier/Professor X (James McAvoy) walk into a bar to recruit the grizzled mutant for a new initiative. After briefly introducing themselves, Logan, sitting at the bar and chomping a cigar, says unflinchingly, “Go f–k yourself.”

“I remember (director) Matthew Vaughn pitching the idea to me, and I asked, ‘Is anyone else swearing in the movie?’ and he said, ‘No.’ So I said, ‘I’m in,'” Jackman told me, laughing, in an interview for the theatrical release of the film. “I literally went in for a half a day, and when I left, I hoped that I’d get a chance to work with these guys again. They were awesome. Michael was in the makeup chair, telling jokes the whole time. We got on really well. Both guys are phenomenal actors.”

Of course, at the time, Jackman had no idea at the time that he’d get his wish to work with Fassbender and McAvoy again, much less in an “X-Men” movie — until the director of the first two films in the “X-Men” franchise, Bryan Singer, approached him about the unique idea of playing the central character in a film that showcased mutants in their past and future incarnations for “Days of Future Past.”

“When he sent me a one-pager of the idea, I got about halfway through it, knowing I’d say, ‘Yes’ to the movie. It was such of an awesome idea,” Jackman recalled. “It was such an organic way to bring everyone together.”

Hugh Jackman in 'Days of Future Past'

“X-Men: Days of Future Past” begins in a dystopian future where Wolverine, Professor X (Patrick Stewart), Magneto (Ian McKellen), Storm (Halle Berry) and a host of other mutants are clinging to survival. The world has become overrun by Sentinels — giant robots infused with mutant DNA — which have not only decimated the mutant population, but targeted any humans sympathetic to the mutant cause.

As it turns out, there was a key event involving a mutant 50 years earlier which led to the creation of the Sentinels. In the hope of changing the course of events, Kitty Pryde (Ellen Page) uses her powers to enable Wolverine’s mind to travel back to 1973, where his consciousness would be implanted in a younger version of himself to find the young Professor X, Magneto and Mystique (Jennifer Lawrence) in a desperate attempt to avert disaster.

While Jackman has been heavily involved in the X-Men universe since the film franchise kicked off in  2000, the actor admits that he was only vaguely familiar with the fan-heralded “Days of Future Past” storyline from Marvel Comics’ X-Men  canon.

“I had heard about it, but had never read the comic book. So the idea of doing it on film never even crossed my mind until I read the one pager, actually,” Jackman explained. “It was really great for all of us. Everyone really loved getting back together again, because we’re all like family now.”

As Jackman found, however, the storyline turned out to be a double-blessing in a sense for the filmmakers: With a narrative that examines the idea of altering the course of history, it gave them the opportunity to right some wrongs in previous “X-Men” movies that raised the ire of the fan base.

“The fact that it came from a part of the X-Men lexicon only helped give this new movie some credibility,” Jackman said. “It’s a brilliant device to clear up some of the inaccuracies we had before, and to make it feel like a fresh beginning. It’s very, very clever and Wolverine feels more complete now. It was great playing him and doing something a little more out of the box for my character. It’s also sort of a wonderful throwback to the first movie, but now it’s a complete reverse of what Professor Xavier was doing for my character. Now I’m doing it for his.”

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Secret weapon
There’s no doubt an immeasurable amount of brutal training and commitment for Jackman that went into the creating the incredible physique of Logan/Wolverine for seventh time with “X-Men: Days of Future Past.” But the vital element that’s often overlooked in Jackman’s physical transformation into the character is an unseen weapon that doesn’t necessarily happen while he’s preparing to play the character for a film, but what transpires in the theater.

The actor’s Weapon X, if you will, is called stamina, and it’s all thanks to Jackman’s three turns on Broadway, and he’s soon heading back for a fourth with “The River” (after hosting the Tony Awards for the fourth time, no less) to stay with the flow.

“I often feel after being on stage and going to fill that I feel sharper. It’s a great discipline,” Jackman enthused. “You have to do eight performances a week and hit it 100 percent. You have to be there at the top of your game. Nothing’s harder than eight shows a week. There’s performing, dancing, singing. I think the hardest I ever worked was doing ‘The Boy from Oz’ (which earned him a Best Actor Tony in 2004). I can still tell you the finish date of the production, which was the 16th of September, because it was kind of like crossing a marathon finish line.”

Giving it his all, after all, isn’t a choice for the Tony winner and Oscar nominee – it’s a way of life, and he’s committed to being all there all the time. He’s keenly aware of the fact that people spend their hard-earned money to see him, and he never, ever, wants to disappoint.

“For any member of the audience, it could only be the once-a-year thing for them. The theater could be a special outing for somebody, as is the movies. Hey, I know. I have two young kids, so getting to the movies is not so easy,” Jackman added.

X-Men Days of Future Past

With any luck, Jackman will continue his trek as Wolverine and entertain audiences for years to come. Of course, in the age of franchise reboots, the fact that role will go to another actor someday is inevitable. At age 45, Jackman admits the idea is definitely weighing on his mind, but he’s not going to preoccupy himself with it.

“There’s got to be an end date, but I think I can do 21 or 22 more movies, something like that,” Jackman told me, laughing. “I just want see the party finishing before someone pushes me out the door. You need to help me out there. Just call me up and say, ‘Buddy, this should be our last interview for this character.'”

Tim Lammers reviews movies weekly for The KQ92 Morning Show,” “KARE 11 News at 11” (NBC), WCCO Radio, WJON-AM, KLZZ-FM, “The Tom Barnard Podcast” and “The BS Show” with Bob Sansevere.

Copyright 2019 DirectConversations.com

Film, Interviews

Interview flashback: Voices of Aladdin, Jasmine recall magic of animated ‘Aladdin,’ Williams

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In celebration of the release of director Guy Ritchie’s live-action version of “Aladdin” this week starring Will Smith, Mena Massoud and Naomi Scott, here’s a look back at 2015 interview I did with the voice stars of 1992 Disney Animation classic for the Diamond Edition of the film on Blu-ray and DVD. 

Without question, “Aladdin” voice stars Scott Weinger (Aladdin) and Linda Larkin (Princess Jasmine) are thrilled over how the 1992 classic Disney animated film continues to be discovered and held dear by new generations of viewers.

Still, Weinger told me in a recent phone conversation, some people have been harder to convince than others when it comes to explaining the cultural impact of the movie — a circumstance that fortunately changed at Disney’s D23 fan convention last summer.

“We did an ‘Aladdin’ event that thousands of people showed up for, which was so cool … I also got to take my kid around for rides at Disneyland and he got his first inkling that ‘Dad’s pretty cool,'” Weinger said, laughing. “I was like, ‘I’ve been telling you for the past six years that Dad’s kind of a big deal,’ but he never believed me.”

“Aladdin” makes its Diamond Edition debut as a Blu-ray/DVD/Digital HD Combo Pack (Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment) Tuesday. In addition to the film, the new release includes never-before-seen Genie (Robin Williams) outtakes, as wells as featurettes, deleted scenes, deleted songs and more.

While Weinger and Larkin are the speaking voices of Aladdin and Jasmine, the singing voices were provided by Broadway veterans Brad Kane and Lea Salonga. Larkin said in a separate phone conversation that she was amazed how Salonga matched her vocal style when recording the film’s Best Original Song Oscar winner, “A Whole New World.”

“I was actually surprised how smooth the transition was because I speaking going into the song and coming out of the song. It is so seamless that the filmmakers almost had me convinced that I sang it,” Larkin said, laughing. “I was like, ‘How did I do that? It was amazing!’ I’m joking, of course, but it was such an incredible match for my speaking voice. Lea’s such an incredible singer. I feel so lucky to have had her to be a part of that with me.”

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For those new to the film, Aladdin is an Arabian street urchin who meets and falls in love with Princess Jasmine. Resigned to the fact that their dramatically different backgrounds will forever keep them apart, Aladdin’s fortunes change when he opens a magic lamp that contains a genie (Robin Williams) who will grant him three wishes — that is if the evil sorcerer Jafar (Jonathan Freeman) doesn’t get in their way.

Weinger and Larkin said their good fortunes continued far beyond the film, including opportunities to continue to voice Aladdin and Jasmine in subsequent film, TV and video game projects.

“It’s one of the luckiest things that ever happened to me and I’m so proud of it and fortunate,” Weinger said. “It was a pleasure happening when I was a kid to enjoy the initial success of the film in real-time as it was being introduced to the world, but I would have to say it’s even more fun now, now that it’s entered the pantheon of classic Disney movies.”

While Weinger’s voice is prominent in “Aladdin,” he’s far from taking any sizable credit for the film’s staying power.

“I have no ego about it. I have no illusions that I’m responsible for the success of the movie. That belongs to the magnitude of the people who worked on it, from the animators like Glenn Keane, Mark Henn and Eric Goldberg, and Alan Menken, Howard Ashman and Tim Rice, who did the music — and of course, Robin Williams as the genie. For me, I just feel lucky to play a small role in this massive production.”

The Diamond Edition release of “Aladdin” is both joyous and bittersweet for Weinger and Larkin, given the loss of Williams in August 2014. Watching the film now gives it a whole new meaning, they said.

“My wife was saying as much as she enjoys watching it now, it’s hard not to burst into tears thinking he’s no longer with us,” Weinger said. “But at the same time, as sad as it is and as awful for everybody as it was to lose him, it was amazing to see my 6-year-old and his buddies at a screening of the movie last weekend rolling in the aisles. It was amazing to realize that even though he’s gone, he continues to touch people and make them laugh like that. It was incredible to see my kid coming home that day and saying lines from the genie in the movie.”

Photo: Walt Disney Pictures

For Larkin, the actress not only connected with Williams on ‘Aladdin’ and subsequent projects, but also as a member of the theater community.

“We met on the movie and only had one day of recording together — Robin, Scott and I — and it was one of the most special days of my life,” Larkin said, humbly. “He was an incredible to work with, and it was exciting and inspiring. It was everything you’d imagine it would be. I would see Robin every five years.  He’d either come up in my life in something we were doing for Disney, or, like in 2011, when he and my husband, Yul, were both doing plays on Broadway around the corner from each other. They were both nominated for Tony Awards, so they were seeing a lot of each other and knew of everything going on in my life because of it.”

It was also the year Larkin was named a Disney Legend, and Williams made sure that she knew how proud of her he was.

“I went to see Robin in his play during a matinee, and I went backstage afterward to see him in-between shows,” Larkin recalled. “He had a lot of time for me and it was really special because he congratulated me on the Legends award, made some jokes about it, of course, gave me a big hug like he always did, and called me ‘Princess.’ It was the last time I ever got to see him, and it’s a really precious memory for me.”

Tim Lammers reviews movies weekly for The KQ92 Morning Show,” “KARE 11 News at 11” (NBC), WCCO Radio, WJON-AM, KLZZ-FM, “The Tom Barnard Podcast” and “The BS Show” with Bob Sansevere.

Copyright 2019 DirectConversations.com