An Interview With Award-Winning Actress Tracey Birdsall
The impressive looking Rogue Warrior: Robot Fighter makes its highly anticipated world premiere on Friday 2nd September at the Opening Night of the Action on Film Festival. We were extremely lucky to grab five minutes with the lead actor, Tracey Birdsall who was not only a fantastic person but was more than happy to talk about the movie and science fiction.
Hi Tracey, thanks for taking time out of your hectic schedule to chat to us.
Can you tell us a little bit about yourself and how you got into the film-making business?
Getting into the actual filmmaking business was a direct result of working in the industry for so long and wanting to create things myself. I was born in Burbank so naturally I was into performing: singing, dancing, etc. from being only a few years old. I remember that feeling when I did solos on stage and how fearless I felt and how excited I was when I entertained people… there was no better feeling in the world for me. I went on through the years to doing theater and musical theater and then parlayed that into becoming a professional (paid) actress in my teen years – having joined the union at 15. Over the years of working in film and television, I really craved wanting to create my own projects. My first production as the producer was a feature film entitled ‘I Might Even Love You‘ in the late 1990’s. Since then I’ve done a combination of working for other people’s productions to sporadically continuing to produce. I love that it combines talent and skill with organization, creativity, and pure brain power.
That’s very impressive! You have been working all your life. It must be something you have a great passion for.
Your the star of the very impressive Rogue Warrior: Robot Fighter. Are you excited for the premiere at this year’s Action On Film Festival?
I’m one of those actors who absolutely loves feeling my audiences reactions to my work – which probably stems from those childhood days of performing on stage. My favorite part of the process is in the creation and birthing of the character, followed by feeling the audiences reaction to the grueling hours I put into bringing the character to life. It’s really a surreal time in my life right now as Sienna (my character in Rogue Warrior) is very strong yet very vulnerable… so I’m kind of baring it all in this one. That said, I’m over the top excited but also humbled to be given the opportunity – whilst yet a bit sensitive to being quite so vulnerable. The character is so transparent in the film that I feel transparent going into it. I’m so proud of my work that I have no fear of criticism only sensitivity to the rawness of the character in which I portray. It’s still so recent that I haven’t finished the process of character separation… but I will try to do that over the next couple of days! I spent most of the year being Sienna, which I’m still trying to shed. It’s a process.
It sounds like a terrific character journey. We are really looking forward to seeing it.
Can you tell us a little bit more about the movie?
When the worlds have been taken over by Artificial Intelligence, we are being overcome by a doom which we have created. It’s a distant look into what could become our ending as a human race. Rogue Warrior not only delves into this surmised possibility, but it thrusts us into an end-of-days scenario where AI are dominating the worlds. Sienna, my character, cannot just let this happen and devises a series of plans – some better than others – to save the worlds. During the journey, she has a series of realizations of her own which make this a character driven journey which is painful, grueling and inspiring. I’ll be able to discuss this more thoroughly once the movie is released, as there’s just too many spoilers that I’m dancing around!
You have traveled all over the world making this movie, how did you find all the traveling and filming in such different locations?
In order to make a movie of this scope on multiple worlds, you have to do extensive traveling… and every filmmaker I have worked with knows that I will do whatever it takes! All of the “worlds” had to appear unique, and we wanted to make it as “real” as possible. Director Neil Johnson wanted to avoid green screen as much as possible as he wanted a real “grit” to the movie. Sometimes we would journey for days just for one shot, so it required a real commitment on everyone’s part! When you get to the various locations however, it really does bring it all to life in your mind as you “are” in that different world and you are bringing it to life. The locations and their history and the natural elements and the weather inspired all of us as characters – we just lived it. It was a ton of work but so worth it. It was surreal.
I think these ‘real’ locations always look more impressive on-screen too.
Visually the movie looks very impressive, how did you find working with the special effects such as the robots and green screens?
We used very little green screen but when we did it was a blast. I have a very active imagination and I love science fiction, so I had no problem bringing what wasn’t actually there to life in my mind. Growing up as a science fiction aficionado was a real advantage in this film. When I was in a spaceship or on a speeder bike, in my mind, I was really there. Since one of the main actors in the film is a robot named Hoagland, in my mind I brought him to life. The Director was kind enough to allow me to bring the physical Hoagland home to create a relationship. I know that sounds odd, but I literally talked to him and created his personality in my mind. I kept him in my office and interacted with him which made shooting with him quite easy. To me, he was real (and kind of still is!). I still have him with me and if I have my way, would like to keep it that way! We will see…
It sounds like you have a friend for life with Hoagland! It wouldn’t be fair to separate the two of you after all you have been through together.
This movie is very action orientated, did you have to do much preparation for the movie?
I prepare intensely for every role that I do and I know no limits once I commit to a project. As I already work out and fight train constantly in my life, I did have to bulk up a bit not only to feel like Sienna, but also to be able to endure the action she had to do. I ate immense amounts of food and upped the protein and carb ante by about 100% during filming, no matter how much I had prepared for the action, I still became well-known for eating everyone’s leftovers at meals. For the bulk of the principal photography I was consuming about 7,000 calories a day. It was extreme. Neil Johnson did a lot of aerial coverage in this film, which meant upwards of 10 takes in those massive action scenes.
WOW! That is pretty intense work. But it does show your dedication to the character and the role. That is really impressive.
Have you seen the final cut of the movie? And if you have, are you pleased with the results?
I’m actually thrilled with the outcome of the movie. When I see Sienna’s journey, however, it still makes me cry in several parts. I look forward to separating from her character more in a year or so, so that I can watch it without feeling her feelings.
You have worked on a lot of science fiction, are you a big fan on sci-fi?
There is no greater genre to me than science fiction! My father was a science fiction aficionado and so I do believe it’s genetic to some degree. I love the concepts of what possibilities lay in our future. Science Fiction often has the other genres within it as there’s usually underlaying drama, comedy, mystery, and sometimes horror. There are no limits.
I agree. I am a big sci-fi nut as well!
What are your favourite sci-fi movies?
I love some of the classics such as Logan’s Run and the original Planet of the Apes. I also love anything with robots since I’ve always loved the technology behind robotics. Wall-E, Transformers, Metropolis, Star Wars, Robocop, Terminator 2, Bicentennial Man, and of course The Day the Earth Stood Still …
You can’t beat the classics. Logan’s Run and The Planet of the Apes are two awesome examples.
Have you got any upcoming projects you can tell us about?
We are currently working on a rather secret project that Director Neil Johnson has been working on for over a decade entitled The Time War which you should expect to see released in 2017. We started lensing this time-travel movie last year which saw my character once again working opposite Barry Corbin, and featuring the narration of Sir Christopher Lee – as his final credit in his long but elaborate career.
That project sounds amazing, we will look forward to hearing more about that in the future. It will also be good to hear Sir Christopher Lee one last time, he was a great.
Have you got any advice for our readers who are trying to making in the film industry?
If you want to succeed in this industry, you have to work harder than everyone around you and to be willing to miss social events, birthday parties, anything that might take you away from your focus. It is a constant and grueling career that takes not only talent and dedication, but the most extreme perseverance. My goal is to always work harder than everyone else because I believe that’s what makes the difference in the successful people I see in the industry. I mean, you can count on luck – which works for a few. You have to make it happen, which I believe requires more effort and sacrifice then most sane people would be willing to endure. So, yes, work harder, train harder, focus more, network less (which I think is one of the biggest excuses in our industry to socialize when they could be working).
That is some really solid advice. Thank you so much for you time Tracey and good luck with the premiere at the Action on Film Festival on Friday 2nd September. We have a sneaky feeling the reception to the movie will be unbelievable and we hope it all goes well.
You still have time to get tickets for the WORLD PREMIERE of the movie at the ‘Action on Film Festival’ so make sure you don’t miss it, tickets are available to the event HERE.
