B: And on the phone line with us somewhere out there- Vince
Ventresca! Hello!
VV: Hey, how's it goin'?
B: Hey, great to talk to ya.
VV: Can you hear me?
B: I can hear you; can you hear me?
VV: Yeah!
B: Okay, good! That's an important thing, that you're able to
hear me and stuff. (Vince laughs) Okay so ah… it looks to me as if maybe
you're out on the road driving today.
VV: Yeah, well, I still live in San Diego, where we shot
Invisible Man, and we were up to, in L.A. doing some stuff, and now we're heading back
down to San Diego.
B: Okay, you say "we"- a bunch of you there?
VV: Oh, me and my
family. My wife and my kid Ben.
B: Well, say hi
to them for us!
VV: (off the
phone) They say hello.
B: Well, we're
going to get going, we're going to answer some phone calls today, but I also have some
emails from some of your viewers that have been sending them here to the radio station at
Kiss 96, and we'll get to those as well… Glad
to have you on Kiss 96, "The Invisible Man", it's a tv show you can see on SciFi
channel and it's on Friday nights, it's the biggest show on Friday night on all of
television, isn’t that right?
VV: Ah, almost, I think!
B: Well, you've got a huge fanbase and they've been on the
phone here waitin' to get ready to talk to us, and so we're going to get right to them
next after we hear from some of sponsors on Kiss 96, 'kay?
VV: Fantastic.
(edit)
B: Vince Ventresca is with us, hello? Can you hear us?
(static) There you go, now I can hear
you…
VV: Hey, how are ya?
B: There we go. And we have a caller on the line, is it Yvonne?
Yvonne: It's Yvonne.
B: Yvonne, how're
you doing?
Yvonne: I'm doing just great!
B: Great!
Yvonne: Calling you from Kansas City…. I just wanted to
talk to Vincent and tell him how much we love "The Invisible Man", it's a
wonderful show, he is the epitome of the Invisible Man, we would love to see the show come
back, um, we're working really hard to try and get that accomplished, and, um...
VV: I think the good news about the show is... I mean, there's
still five shows airing, um, next year, and Craig Silverstein, the best writer for the
show, he wrote it so that it sort of ends with a period, so you can start a new sentence. So I think if people wind up doing the show years
from now they can pick it up. But we sort
of... the mistake that was made with "Prey" is that it left everyone sort of in
flux.
Yvonne: Oh yeah.
VV: We wanted to make sure we didn’t do that with
"Invisible Man".
Yvonne: Well the series "Prey" was left in such a
horrible cliff hanger state that it had so many people up in arms that we've been working
really hard trying to bring THAT back, in some type of a wrap up episode at least...
VV: Now I don’t think that's completely out of the
question; I think there's a real good chance for that.
I mean, I know SciFi's VERY aware that there's a loyal fanbase to that show, I
mean, so much to the extent that, y'know, Adam
Storke came back and did a short cameo on the show.
B: Right, right. Vince, I have a question for you here, along with
that. How many other shows other than
"The Invisible Man" have you been involved in?
VV: Um…
B: I know, its
probably quite a few.
VV: I think this is my fifth series... The first one I did was "Medicine Ball",
then I did "Boston Common", then I did "Maggie Winters", and then I
did "Prey", and then I did "Invisible Man". And then I did a bunch, like a few shows that
never like got picked up or anything.
Yvonne: Well, you've done so many guest roles or guest shots
in different series too...
VV: Yeah, when I first started out that's all I really did. I mean, that's sort of how it works, you know, you
start doing small parts on shows, and then eventually they make you a regular on one of
them, hopefully.
Yvonne: Well I think you found your niche in "Invisible
Man," you're just… you are just so good in that, and it's such a wonderful warm
show, and it's so funny...
VV: No, I mean, right from the start that's why I was drawn to
it so much. It's without a doubt the best
part I've ever gotten.
Yvonne: Well, I just really appreciate you getting on the air
with us today, Vincent.
VV: Well I appreciate your support of "Prey" and
"The Invisible Man."
Yvonne: Well, thank you, and I wish you and your family a very
happy Thanksgiving-
B: Oh yeah!
Yvonne: And you
too, Bill, you and ShelBel, okay?
B: All right,
thank you very much!
B: There we have one of your many fans here, the I-Maniacs, is
a group, just to tell my listeners, is a group of fans of the tv show that are on the web
and the word came out, pretty much last week, that "Invisible Man" is going to
be cancelled by the SciFi network. And uh,
Vince you can jump in on this at any time...
VV: No no, I
mean, yeah, I know. You want me to talk about
the cancellation?
B: Yeah, um, just exactly what is up? I mean, there's…
VV: Why is it cancelled?
B: Yes.
VV: I... I swear to God it's the weirdest thing in the world. I mean, it doesn’t make a whole lot of sense. I mean, worldwide the show's watched by 10 million
people every week.
B: And the ratings for the show are quite high for SciFi
channel, so they're, you know, they're sitting in a situation where they're going to axe
one of their most popular shows?
VV: Yeah, well,
all I know is I think it has to do with like nasty tv, like- politics. The only thing...
because I don’t understand it, I have to attribute it to something that is
beyond logic. And beyond even like ratings
and stuff. I really don’t know what it
is. I think… hopefully I think it'll
feel like a mistake, with time. I know that
there's a lot of people who, at the network, that really really supported the show, and
loved the show. And, as heartbroken as we
were, as cast members and as fans, there were a lot of guys in suits- and women in suits-
who feel the same way. So it's not just
"us" versus "them", they were as frustrated as we are.
B: Excellent. Well, hang on with us and we're going to get
right back to you, as we check in with Vincent Ventresca from "Invisible Man."
(edit)
B: St. Cloud's
all new Kiss 96 we play today's best music and we enjoy talking about some of our favorite
tv shows, too, a little bit, and one of the best tv shows- and I'm saying that, because,
first of all, it is- it's too good for SciFi!
VV: (laughs)
Yeah, that's what the problem was!
B: Yeah, see? It's just too darn good for SciFi, that's the
problem! And it is "Invisible Man,"
the lead character of that show, Darien Fawkes, The Invisible Man himself, is with us,
it's Vincent Ventresca, hi Vince!
VV: Hey, how's it goin'?
B: Oh, goin' great here, I tell ya. We keep having these nice days in November in
Minnesota. Now I know you're in San Diego,
and I know in San Diego it's ALWAYS nice.
VV: Yeah, it gets kind of annoying, how consistently nice it
is.
B: (laughs) I can’t imagine that. Well, we're enjoying 59 degrees here today, and
you'd think it was Heaven outside.
VV: No, no. The
midwest, I mean, in the fall, I was back in Indiana visiting my parents, and I'd much
rather be in the midwest for the fall.
B: The fall is gorgeous.
VV: Yeah, I love that, when it's a little chilly...
B: Yeah, it's
second to none, it really is. You get that
smell of smoke in the air, you know, it's really gorgeous!
Who do we have on the phone with us here?
Caller: Hi, this
is Lauren.
B: Hi Lauren, how
are you?
Lauren: I'm doing
great! How are you?
B: Well, we have Vincent Ventresca here, of course, things are
just going great, and I need to know what you would like to talk to him about.
Lauren: Well, I was just wondering, I really like the episode
"Germ Theory", and I was curious if you'd given any advice or tips to Shannon
and Eddie on how to play quicksilver mad, or how to deal with those red contacts?
B: (laughs) Oh,
the red contacts!
VV: Uh... can you ask the question again? I heard that you liked "Germ Theory" but
then... something about my contacts…
Lauren: Oh! It was just, if you'd given the other actors any
advice or tips on how to play quicksilver mad.
VV: Oh yeah,
yeah. I *loved* that, it was like payback
time. 'Cause those FREAKING lenses are
horrible! They were the worst part of it, and
for some reason they would always shoot it like the last few scenes, so my eyes were
already irritated, and it was awesome watching Paul go through the same agony I'd gone
through. Um... but, no. Everyone's eyes are different, 'cause you know
there's these built in reflexes. I just got
out of the trailer and watched them go through what I went through.
B: Extra cases of Visine on the set just to heal afterwards. Ah, Vince, I have a couple more emails here...
Laura says that she really enjoys getting to know the character Darien the somewhat
reformed thief over the last several months. What
would you like to see your character doing in the future?
Is there anything you'd like to do on the show but haven’t been able to do
yet?
VV: Yeah, yeah, but I kinda don’t want to give it away,
'cause, well, um, we have five shows coming out, of original programming, in January, on
the SciFi channel, and it's kind of cool, because the show sort of wraps up in a really
nice way, but it is kind of a cliffhanger. It's
sort of the end of a chapter, and you sort of see the new chapter, and this new chapter
is, um… it's... not to give too much away but it's basically I'd like to see the
character come to some sort of agreement that he is now the Invisible Man, and he's not so
much fighting it.
B: Well that would be cool!
VV: Yeah!
B: And, Amanda says... first she'd like to say that she's a
huge fan, never misses an episode, and could go on and on about how special she thinks the
show is, and how unlike anything else on tv today it is, but- would like to know what
Vince thinks. Vince, what do you think makes
"The Invisible Man" such a special and unique show?
VV: Well, it's
kind of hard, I feel kind of goofy trying to explain it, but I think the answer's in the
question itself. That, it's sort of like
nothing else on tv right now and that's why I was sort of attracted to it from the start. I mean, what I like in my life, and what I like in
tv shows and what I like in movies and stories, is surprise, and you don’t know where
it's going to go, and I think "The Invisible Man" has that element. It can take a turn that's emotional or can take a
turn that's quirky- it seems more true to life, that its not just one thing. I mean, you watch "ER," I love
"ER," but you know what's going to happen, someone's going to maybe die or
something really traumatic is going to happen, so you're prepared for it. I think "Invisible Man" you can catch
people off guard a little bit.
B: Yeah, that's
true, "ER," I mean, it's an emergency room, that's what happens in an emergency
room, you know that what's going to happen, and with this you're in all kinds of different
situations, makes total sense.
(edit)
B: From "Invisible Man" it's Vince Ventresca! Hello Vince!
VV: Hey how's it goin'?
B: Okay, we have got more emails coming in by the moment here,
so I'm going to share a couple more of these with you.
A lot of people just emailing in, in fact, just to say "hey". I know we put the email out for the station on the
"Invisible Man" fan site, so I've been getting a few from them, but here's one
from St. Paul, which is right down the road. She
says it's Ann, she says its difficult to pretend to be turning invisible or invisible, is
it difficult or do you just pretend only that certain body parts are invisible, how
difficult is it to do that? That made NO
sense, the way I just said that... (laughs)
VV: No, I gotcha. The
invisible aspect of the show was only difficult in how... in that it was very time
consuming. Um, as far as me turning
invisible, I didn't really do it, they... we would do a scene and then they'd say,
"Okay Vince, get the hell out of the camera" and then I'd move and then they
create the invisibility effect. Um, as the
show was going on, we were sort of moving and sort of making the invisibility a little bit
more sophisticated with motion-control cameras and stuff.
I was kind of getting into it at the end. But
the invisibility is no big deal, except that it was very time consuming.
B: Lets see here's another one.
From Janet, she say thanks again, please pass on to Vinnie on Tuesday how much the
fans love the show, and how hard they're working to get it picked up elsewhere. "If you get a chance to ask him, I'd love to
know if our efforts are making any sort of impact."
VV: You know what, as far as the show going anywhere else, all
I can talk about is what I know personally. And
all I know personally is that it's been cancelled on SciFi, and I think they tried to see
if anyone else was interested in it, and I think the fanbase now is being heard, but I
think it's something that's not going to happen in the immediate future. I think...
B: There is going to be a hiatus.
VV: Yeah. I think
so.
B: Well, we're gonna come right back with you here, can you
hang on with us?
VV: Sure.
(edit)
B: Vince Ventresca from SciFi and "The Invisible
Man" is here on the radio with us today. Hi
Vince!
VV: Hey, what's happenin'?
B: Well, it's goin' pretty good, we've got a caller now,
Danielle, how are you doing today?
Danielle: Good!
B: Good! Can you hear okay?
D: Yep!
B: You have a question for Vince?
D: Yes, I was kinda wondering, about future projects, if you
had any plans.
VV: Yeah, well, as of right NOW, I don’t know. I mean, I did a television series about 8 years
ago, and "Invisible Man" was the 5th series I did, and I kinda did
series back to back to back to back to back. And
you gotta be careful, because once you "marry" a series you're kinda off the
market, and almost, with the exception of "The Invisible Man," the others
weren't the best experience in the world. So
I want to just sort of take my time and sort of see what happens next. But really- I'm an actor looking for a job.
B: There ya go!
VV: You know, I'm
hanging out with my family a lot. I mean, I
had a kid, like a year and a half ago, right when we first started filming "Invisible
Man," so it's sort of perfect to just be able hang out and spend some time with them. So, I think my "future projects" are
just sort of hanging out.
B: That's kind of
cool, though, that's a good time to have time to spend time with your family, is when
they're young like that.
VV: It's perfect. I
mean, I really want to do a 3rd year, but, you know, my son's already a year
and a half old and he's already like a guy and we're already talking, and if we did
another year then it would be another year before I got to spend time with him, so... (phone cuts out)
B: Uh oh, Vince is cutting out a little bit on the cell phone. You still there?
We'll check back with him in a little bit.
(edit)
B: Not only playing today's best music but also takin' out
some time here to talk with Vince Ventresca from "Invisible Man" on Kiss 96
today. Hi Vince.
VV: Hey man, how's it goin'?
B: Well, it's going pretty good, and we've got lots more
callers. Who do we have with us this time?
Caller: El Zora.
B: El Dora,
welcome to the radio, you're on Kiss 96, and you have a question for Vince?
El Zora: Yes. Um,
it's probably been asked before, but is it Vince, Vincent, Vinny, Vinny-viddi-vici...
(laughter)
VV: It's completely up to whoever I'm with. (laughter) "Vince"
just seems simpler, because it's only one syllable. My
mother calls me "Vincent." Some of
my friends sort of go with the more kitschy "Vinny," which I'm fine with too.
B: I've been wondering the same thing myself- every time I
introduce you, I think I've introduced you differently.
VV: It's a weird- think about it! Think of it, three different ways of saying the
name, I mean, they're so different... "Vincent" is so formal, "Vince"
is blah, and "Vinny"- all of a sudden it's "Vinny Boberino". (laughter)
B: Well, we were talking a little bit about some of the
characters that you've done in the past, like for instance on "Boston Common"-
what was the name of your character on "Boston Common?"
VV: Professor Jack Reed.
B: That's right, he was a professor, you had the glasses and
the whole thing going on for that...
VV: I loved the show, but I hated playing the part. (laughter) I
mean, I was such a dick to everybody, and... like I would come out and the audience... I
mean, they sort of loved to hate me, but- it wasn't so satisfying playing that part. I was much more excited about playing Darien
Fawkes.
B: And that is exactly what we were talking about off air just
a minute ago, is that this is a much COOLER character to be. And you were saying that how much you liked the
character earlier, and this character has got to be so cool to play!
VV: Yeah! You know, I didn't know that he was going to be
that cool. Um- and it is, I have to admit, I
mean, I spent a lot of my life feeling like a nerd, and it was sort of fun to go to work
and be the cool guy. (laughter)
B: I can relate to that.
VV: But believe me, he was much more cool than I am. I mean, he sort of dressed cooler, he talked
cooler, and had more confidence than me, I suppose.
B: And of course, he was also an ex-thief, too.
VV: Yeah!
B: Uh, Joyce
emailed to say hello, and she goes by the handle "Invisible Mom," and she said
to say hello. Let's see here-
VV: Tell Joyce I said hello too, she's been a real big
supporter of the show.
B: Christina has also just emailed me with a little
"hi-how-ya-doin'", to tell Vince that we really love his work, and what future-
I think we covered this- what future projects do you have in mind.
VV: I don’t know, I'm available for anything! (laughter) No,
I'm an actor for hire, basically.
Danielle: I'd hire you! (laughter)
B: (still laughing) You just sit down there, girl.
Danielle: (still laughing) Okay.
B: Lets see, what else do we have. We've got five more shows coming out after the
first of the year. And we don’t want to
spoil that for anybody, but these are gonna be some really kick butt shows.
VV: I think they really are! I
think we started really, really like hitting our niche.
And what was great is because the second season was winding down, the stakes of the
show... there was just more at stake with the show and I think that's what the show
needed. And the actual last two episodes were
written by Craig Silverstein and he wrote them so they can air seperately, but they
actually could also air as a movie, so they may end up doing that, I don’t know.
B: That'd be
fantastic.
(edit)
B: Vince Ventresca from SciFi's "Invisible Man" is
on our radio today, and also- who is our guest with us now?
Caller: My name is Melissa.
B: Melissa, how are you doing?
Melissa: I'm great, how are you?
B: Doin' great, and you have a question for Vince?
Melissa: I do, and...
VV: Hi Melissa!
Melissa: How are you doing?
VV: Good! How are
you?
Melissa: I'm great! And
my question for you is, whom do you admire the most, and in what way does that person
inspire you?
VV: Like, any person? Like
famous person or...
Melissa: Anybody. It
could be your dog! (laughter)
VV: Oh. Who
inspire... well, you know what, I had a kid a year and a half ago, and he has- it's
STUPID, you know, everybody told me all this stuff and used like all this flowery
language, but without a doubt he's THE most inspirational thing for me. I mean, I feel like, when you have a kid... I don’t know, there's no words for it.
B: Oh, absolutely.
VV: Without a doubt he's been the biggest influence in my life
so far, and honestly, like he DOES inspire you, he inspires you to like be the guy that...
be a good person, you know?
B: To be that better person, that you would want to be for
your kid.
VV: That's exactly it, okay, so you understand what I'm
saying?
B: Absolutely. Absolutely. Which is yeah, why... You do things that you normally just would not
normally do "pre children".
VV: No, I'm a much better person and it feels like you get
a... It's like you get a new shot at not
being a schmuck. (laughter)
Melissa: You get a new shot at playing with his toys!
B: Well, that too- you get to play with all the legos and
stuff too. It rocks! Absolutely- being "Daddy" rocks, because
you get to make a mess too!
VV: That's right.
B: All right, well, thanks for your call!
Melissa: Thank you!
VV: Thanks for calling!
B: All right, I know you gotta cut loose here pretty quick,
and I appreciate the time that you've spent with us here at Kiss 96 today.
VV: Hey, Bill, appreciate your support of the show.
B: Absolutely, and again, if there's anything that WE can do,
here, as a radio station to help out, let us know. I
mean that, I absolutely do.
VV: I will! We'll
see. I'm gonna let the dust settle and sort
of see where things are and see how people who own the show feel about it in a few months. But I'll let you know if there's anything you can
do.
B: Sounds good. I'll
tell you what, hang on for just a minute I want to talk to you a little bit. We're going to play some of those things that we
do on the radio, that keep the light on and the tower lights going and all that stuff, and
get right back to music and a little bit more with Vince Ventresca before you head out,
okay?
VV: Okay!
(edit)
B: And one more time before he goes, because, you know, it's
been such a cool afternoon- Vince Ventresca from "Invisible Man" is on with us
here on Kiss 96, and Shelly is calling from Brainerd today.
Shelly: Hi!
VV: Hey Shelly!
Shelly: (laughs)
B: Now, Shelly's the girl that DREW on you...
VV: How could I forget that?
B: She drew on you out in San Diego...
Shelly: In permanent marker, no less! (laughter)
B: And I just gotta say- you're a very brave man, Vince
Ventresca, to let anybody draw on you, especially this Shelly character. (laughs)
VV: Well, you know what?
No one had ever offered and I wanted to try it.
B: Oh my word. She
scares me when she gets into that thing where she starts drawing on people's arms, I
don’t know. (laughter)
VV: No, it was very... it was very impressive!
B: Well, of course, this is probably one of the last times we
get to talk to you here before you have to head out, but I just wanted to again say thank
you for giving us a chance to talk with you about the show, and on the radio here with all
our listeners in St. Cloud and the central Minnesota area, and anything that we can do to
help you out, find a new home for the show, whatever- you let me know and if there's
anything I can do I will.
VV: Absolutely. And
it's been fun. I mean, literally, my
favorite thing to do is to sit around and talk about "The Invisible Man,"
unfortunately my wife won’t listen to me anymore (laughter) so it was nice to be able
to call someone and chat for a while! And as
far as the show, I mean, stuff like this I think is great, just to keep awareness, and the
show is coming out with five new episodes the first of the year, so hopefully the show
will still grow. I mean, people are still,
you know, it's still opening, it still hasn't even opened in countries that it's being
translated into, so I think the I-Man world is going to grow and grow for a while.
B: Shelly, do you have a question for Vince today?
VV: Well that's easy!
Shelly: You kinda caught me off guard here.
B: You're kooky, I love that! Very
fun stuff, thanks for calling. And Vince-
thank you.
VV: Thanks so much.
