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Post by ck100 on Mar 16, 2020 12:17:26 GMT -8
When Bordello of Blood first came out on Blu-ray, I uploaded the documentary to YouTube so everyone can see it if they didn't have the Blu-ray. Just recently, out of the blue, one of the actors who worked on the movie responded to my video saying that they participated in the movie. The actor in question is Kim Kondrashoff who played Jenkins the vampire biker.
Needless to say that as a Crypt fan, I was stunned that someone who worked on the movie saw my video and responded to it. Anyway, I decided to reply back to Kim by asking if he could recall his Bordello experience by answering various questions I had about the movie. Below are the questions I asked him and his replies. Enjoy! And my thanks to Kim for responding to my video and questions! If you guys would like me to attempt to further ask him any follow-up questions, let me know!
ck100:
My questions for Kim were as follows:
A. What was it like working on this movie? B. How did you get the part and how much input did you have on the Jenkins character? C. Are you a Tales From The Crypt fan or was this just another acting job for you?
D. What was it like working with Dennis Miller, Corey Feldman, Aubrey Morris and Angie Everhart?
E. Are all the stories in this video true concerning the shoot being difficult?
F. What was it like working with director Gil Adler?
G. How did it feel having Angie Everhart rip your head off?
H. How do you feel about the movie today?
Kim Kondrashoff:
"Working on the show was a real mixed bag, some days great, others not so. They were auditioning in Vancouver Canada. My agent called me & said the Canadian casting director for the film wanted me to come in & read for the part. I read initially read for Gil, soon after that I had a call back. I was given complete freedom with my character Jenkins, mind you at the call back Gil had me read the part many different ways. I believe the reason behind it was to see if I could take direction. I remember the director laughing & saying that I had that ''Kirk Douglas'' thing down, minus the hole in my chin. The majority of the actors that I worked & had contact with on the most part, were all professional. Re: the stories being true? Yes, especially when it came to Dennis. Working with Gil was great! A decent guy & a great director! He gave me lots of room when it came to playing Jenkins! Angie ripping my head off? Lol, I don't know what to say! She grabbed my head turned it to the left then the director said cut. She was very nice & easy to work with as well. I feel somewhat nostalgic about the film. It's been some years since I've seen it. OccasionalIy on Halloween night I'd watch it with my friends over a few drinks. Cheers!"
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Post by Crypt Keeper on Mar 21, 2020 13:49:16 GMT -8
That's awesome. He seems like a cool and nice guy, and that's so cool how he took his time responding.
Some questions I'd like to ask him:
1. Were you ever on set during the filming of the Crypt Keeper sequences? If so, what was it like seeing the Crypt Keeper puppet in person and seeing it perform?
2. Did you ever get to meet John Kassir (the voice of the Crypt Keeper)? What's he like if you did?
3. With Dennis Miller having been notoriously difficult to work with during the shoot, did you ever have any conflict with him on-set? Do you recall anything physical or violent occuring as a result of him?
4. Have you ever watched the TFTC HBO series of which BOB is spun off from? If so, any favorite episodes you have?
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Post by ck100 on Mar 21, 2020 14:44:00 GMT -8
That's awesome. He seems like a cool and nice guy, and that's so cool how he took his time responding. Some questions I'd like to ask him: 1. Were you ever on set during the filming of the Crypt Keeper sequences? If so, what was it like seeing the Crypt Keeper puppet in person and seeing it perform? 2. Did you ever get to meet John Kassir (the voice of the Crypt Keeper)? What's he like if you did? 3. With Dennis Miller having been notoriously difficult to work with during the shoot, did you ever have any conflict with him on-set? Do you recall anything physical or violent occuring as a result of him? 4. Have you ever watched the TFTC HBO series of which BOB is spun off from? If so, any favorite episodes you have? First off, where have you been, CK? I think you've been gone from this place for a week at least. lol.
I think it's a safe assumption that he wasn't around for the CK segments and very likely didn't meet John Kassir either. I mean you've never heard Miller, Feldman, Everhart, or anyone else talk about being around for the CK scenes so I doubt Kim would either. Generally speaking, an actor/actress isn't going to hang around on set and watch other scenes be shot if those scenes don't involve them. Also, he didn't answer my previous question on if he was a TFTC fan or if this was just another acting job for him so I'm going to assume this was just another acting job. I'm trying to keep the focus on the Bordello shoot since that's what we all most want to know about. For my last, newest batch of questions I recently sent to him, I did ask a question similar to your #3 question about Dennis Miller, but not in regards to any physical confrontation. It was more similarly toward what you mentioned with conflicts as well as how exactly Kim did his scenes with Dennis given his conformation about Miller's bad attitude/on-set behavior and the fact that most of Kim's scenes were with Dennis. But like with before, I'll post my latest questions and responses if Kim answers them. The newest questions I just sent to him will be my last batch. I don't want to keep bothering the guy over and over with Bordello questions. If, for some reason, he asks me a question, then I'll will respond back and post.
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Post by Crypt Keeper on Mar 22, 2020 11:36:13 GMT -8
I'm still here. Just had a busy past week with work and also errands to get supplies.
Cool, let us know when he responds. It's very cool of him he took the time to respond.
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Post by ck100 on Apr 22, 2020 13:42:59 GMT -8
Kim was gracious enough to answer my second and final set of questions below. What a guy! Thanks once again, Kim!
My questions:
A. You've said working on Bordello was a real mixed bag with some days great and some days not so. What made the great days great and the other days not so?
B. How exactly did you work with and do your scenes with Dennis Miller given that most of your scenes were with him as well as your confirmation about his bad attitude/on-set behavior?
C. Did you get to socialize with the other cast members between takes?
D. Given your complete freedom with the Jenkins character, does that mean you were able to do things like ad-lib/improvise during filming?
E. How much of Jenkins was a mix of your input, the script and Gil Adler's directing?
F. Jenkins is memorable for a lot of people given traits like his bug eyes, hissing voice, scarfing down that hamburger, etc. What made you decide to do those things, as well as any other characterization stuff, specifically for this character?
G. The movie was produced by famous Hollywood directors like Richard Donner and Robert Zemeckis. Did they ever visit the set and/or have any input during filming or on the script?
H. Do you have any behind-the-scenes stories or information you can share with us that wasn't covered by the video?
Kim Kondrashoff
"For me, there were a few days that were fine, when things were running smoothly, people's moods were more or less sort of ok. The other days when things weren't running smoothly, it was like getting stuck in a major rain storm! I worked with Corey and his gang, Dennis & Angie. I still smoked cigarettes back then & the scene where I first meet the boys in the bar...between takes with plenty cups of coffee & countless cigarettes...my breath obviously wasn't too pleasant! The next day one of the actors of Corey's crew brought me breath mints & inisted I use them! Lol! I didn't really have a problem with Dennis. My take on him was, if you showed him any vulnerability & if you showed him you were intimidated, he might go after you. I didn't allow that to happen. I let him know during the bar scene I had with him that it was pain in the ass he wasn't sticking to the script re: cues. He basically said with a smirk, ''When my mouth is open, I'm talking, when it isn't I'm not. '' I let him know in no uncertain terms I had no idea when that was going to be. We worked it out. Re: not Dennis not sticking to the script. The night I rode my friend's 1947 Harley Chopper exteroir to the Cunningham wake, Gil lost it on Dennis, he got really mad at him, cursing & throwing the script into the air, pages flying everywhere. Dennis thought it was funny. I didn't hang out with the cast after work. No ad libbing at all, Dennis already had that covered. I stuck to the script. Like I've mentioned before I had lots of freedom with Jenkins. I used the script like a blue print on how I was going to play this guy. Re: Gil, it was like he was keeping me on course / track so to speak. If I strarted to veer off too far to the left or to the right, get way too big, he'd get me to bring it down, to use more subtley / dynamics. ( with a charcter that wasn't too subtle! lol! ) Blocking the scenes, giving us an overall picture on how he wanted it played. He was great! I really liked being directed by him! All the characterization stuff you mention, I used my crazy anti social cat I had at the time as a reference. When I'd feed her she would get really territorial with her food. Growl while she was eating, to seeing her bringing up hair balls. I would try to mimic her with some of my delivery. Re: Hollywood directors like Richard Donner and Robert Zemeckis, if they were on set I don't remember seeing them. Whether they had any input on the script or not I don't know. When the movie was finally wrapped I went down to the props. dept. & asked if I could have my severed head & the guy who was in charge of prosthetics said I could have it. I was on the Granville bus in Vancouver going south towards Broadway. I had the bloodied head from the movie in a cloth grocery bag that I just picked up from the studio. There was an older Chinese lady sitting across from me, she had seen it & started to have a major melt down in Chinese. She hurriedly headed towards the driver freaking out when we made first the stop over the bridge. Frantically pointing towards my direction & going a mile a minute. The bus driver looked very confused...as she quickly got off the bus & as we we're pulling away you could still hear her! During all this commotion I quickly covered the head with my jacket. My biker buddy, former band mate who lives in Spokane Washington, now has the head. He tells me it's a great conversation piece!"
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Post by Crypt Keeper on Apr 22, 2020 23:26:00 GMT -8
I enjoyed reading that. I didn't know he took inspiration from his cat for his character's mannerisms. Even though his role in the film is relatively minor he still put a great amount of thought and effort into it and drew upon things like his cat when crafting his character.
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Post by ck100 on Apr 23, 2020 15:54:28 GMT -8
You really get the impression that it's no joke on how much of a pain in the ass it was to work with Dennis Miller. lol.
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Post by Crypt Keeper on Apr 23, 2020 16:52:13 GMT -8
It seems like there could easily be an entire documentary dedicated to how difficult Miller was during the shoot. You get the gist of it on the BOB doc, but you can tell the people criticizing him have so much more to get off their chests on that subject.
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Post by ck100 on Apr 23, 2020 16:58:46 GMT -8
It seems like there could easily be an entire documentary dedicated to how difficult Miller was during the shoot. You get the gist of it on the BOB doc, but you can tell the people criticizing him have so much more to get off their chests on that subject. It stood out to me what Kim said on how Gil Adler one time just got upset at Dennis because of his behavior during the filming of when Kim meets up with Dennis at the Bordello on his motorcycle. Gil gets all upset and Miller just finds it amusing. |
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Post by Crypt Keeper on Apr 23, 2020 17:00:12 GMT -8
I wonder if that incident was recorded on video and someone has it. It'd be something to see that. Much like the outtakes from I Heart Huckabees where the director exploded into a swearing fit.
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Post by ck100 on Aug 16, 2021 18:51:50 GMT -8
I sent out a message to Kim about Bordello's 25th anniversary and here is what he said:
"25 years! Yikes! Time flies when one lives the life a vampire! Lol! Thanks for the mention! Re: the movie, if it's shown again this Halloween, my gal & I over a few drinks, we'll watch it, have some good laughs as I go down memory lane! I hope you're keeping safe & healthy! Cheers!"
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Post by Crypt Keeper on Aug 16, 2021 19:31:38 GMT -8
That's cool he replied to you. He seems like a really cool guy who enjoys interacting with fans.
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