CooperTalk

Steve Cooper talks with actor Jessica Tuck. Jessica best known for her performances on television as Megan Gordon Harrison on the ABC soap opera One Life to Live, Gillian Gray in the CBS drama series Judging Amy, and as Nan Flanagan on the HBO series, True Blood. She has appeared in a number of films, most notable are Secretary and Super 8. She also appeared in High School Musical 2, High School Musical 3 and Sharpay's Fabulous Adventure. During her career, she has made over 50 guest appearances on television shows, including Murder, She Wrote, Seinfeld, NYPD Blue, The Nanny, CSI: Crime Scene Investigation, Grey's Anatomy, Boston Legal, Castle, Private Practice, Revenge, Drop Dead Diva, and Scandal and had the recurring roles on Murder One, Sunset Beach, Saving Grace, Days of Our Lives, Grimm, and Twisted.

Steve Cooper talks to Writer/Director Steve Skrovan. Steve has won two Emmys for Everybody Loves Raymond where he served as executive producer and writer. He has also held the same position for the show Hot In Cleveland, Til' Death and many others. He was a staff writer on Seinfeld and co-wrote and directed the documentary An Unreasonable Man which is about Ralph Nader and also directed the feature Fred & Vinnie. He got his start in comedy where he made many TV appearances in the early 90's. In the last few years he has developed Everybody Loves Raymond in Russia, Israel and most recently India. 

Steve Cooper talks with Chris Wyse. Chris stops by the studio with fellow Owl band member Jason Achilles Mezilis. You’ve definitely heard Chris's bass playing. It’s an inimitable, infectious rumble that has resounded through recordings from the likes of The Cult, Ozzy Osbourne, Mick Jagger, Tal Bachman, and countless others, as well as his own heavy alternative trio, Owl. Utilizing both electric upright bass and bass guitar, Wyse is a versatile, vibrant, vital player whose musicianship is as unique as it is unmistakable. He recently has been touring with Ace Frehley as well as writing songs and doing live shows with Owl. 

Steve Cooper talks with former child actor Rodney Allen Rippy. Rodney appeared in TV commercials for the fast-food chain Jack in the Box in the early 1970s, as well as in numerous roles in television and movies. In the advertisements, Rippy was seen trying to wrap his mouth around the super-sized Jumbo Jack hamburger. The tag line "It's too big to eat!" (pronounced "It's too big-a-eat!") became a catch-phrase. Another spot showed Rippy giggling while singing the song Take Life a Little Easier, which was released as a single by Bell Records in the fall of 1973 in the wake of the commercial's popularity. He subsequently had guest-roles in many popular television shows, including The Six Million Dollar Man, Marcus Welby, MD, Police Story, and The Odd Couple (where Rodney played the owner of the building where Oscar and Felix lived). He also appeared frequently on talk shows such as The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson and Dinah's Place with Dinah Shore and had a co-starring role on the CBS Saturday morning children's show The Harlem Globetrotters Popcorn Machine. He now is a partner in the film production company, Bow Tie Productions, and spokesman for Hurricane Housing Relief. He worked at KABC-TV in Los Angeles, California. A resident of Carson, California, he has served as Master of Ceremonies for the Carson Relay For Life. He is also a national director of marketing with Metro Networks.

Steve Cooper talks with actor Tony Amendola. Tony is an American actor who is best known for playing the Jaffa master Bra'tac in Stargate SG-1. Amendola is also known for his recurring role as revolutionary leader Edouard Kagame of Liber8 in the television show Continuum. He is currently playing a character on ABC's Once Upon a Time as Pinocchio's creator/father, Geppetto. Major movie roles include Blow, The Mask of Zorro and its sequel, The Legend of Zorro (as separate characters). His television guest appearances include Stargate SG-1, Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman, Seinfeld, The Practice, Space: Above and Beyond, Charmed, The X Files, Angel, Alias, CSI, Star Trek: Voyager, She-Wolf of London, The West Wing, and the short lived show Kindred: The Embraced. He also appeared in Dexter where he played one of Dexter's mother's killers.

Steve Cooper talks with actor Anthony Azizi. Anthony is mainly known for his television work. He has had recurring roles on 24 as terrorist Mamud Faheen (Season 2), on 24 as Rafique (Season 4) and on Commander in Chief as presidential aide Vince Taylor. He was also a regular on the short-lived television series Threat Matrix. He has also guest-starred on Single Ladies, Criminal Minds, CSI: Miami, JAG, Gilmore Girls, The Shield, Sons of Anarchy, NYPD Blue, The West Wing, Veronica Mars, Desperate Housewives, Lost, Prison Break, The Mentalist, Leverage, NCIS and Chuck. He also starred in the 2002 film Phobic and the 2008 thriller Eagle Eye. Recently he was a co-star of NBC's American Odyssey.

Steve Cooper talks with actor Todd Stashwick. Todd started his career in improve in Chicago and then moved to New York. Soon work in television and film drew him to Los Angeles where he shot several pilots, series and recurring work. He has been seen in such films as You, Me and Dupree, Surfer Dude, The Air I breathe and Live!  Most notably he can be seen as Dale in the FX series The Riches opposite Minnie Driver and Eddie Izzard. Seasons 1 & 2 available on DVD. He also played the replicating carny Eli on NBC's hit series Heroes. He appeared on a fan favorite episode of the CW hit Supernatural portraying Bela Lugosi's Dracula which has gotten him invited to conventions here and in the UK. His career has been varied between both comedy and drama, playing villains and monsters in shows like Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Boston Legal, Star Trek: Enterprise and all the Law & Order incarnations as well as Still Standing, Dharma and Greg, Will and Grace and Curb Your Enthusiasm. Most recently he was a recurring character on The Originals and currently is co-starring on the series 12 Monkeys.

Steve Cooper talks with actor Bruce Nozick. Bruce has been acting for over 30 years and has amassed over a hundred credits. Some of his movie appearances include The Wanderers, The Souler Opposite, Mystery Alaska, Along Came Polly, God Bless America and Hurt. His numerous television appearances include guest starring on popular series such as E.R., Ally McBeal, Judging Amy, Without a Trace, Six Feet Under, Entourage, Days of Our Lives, Bones, Criminal Minds, Weeds, Hawaii Five-O, Franklin & Bash and The Last Ship.

Steve Cooper talks with actor Scott Lowell. Scott is best known for his role as Ted Schmidt in Showtime’s popular and critically acclaimed Queer as Folk for which he was twice nominated for a Prism Award. He moved to Los Angeles in 1998 and quickly found himself busy in a number of successful commercial campaigns, guest roles on sit-coms and a lead in a sci-fi television film. He has appeared on stage at the Williamstown Theatre Festival, Berkshire Theatre Festival, Eugene O’Neill Theatre Center, A Noise Within, Pasadena Playhouse, The Furious Theatre Company, Artists Repertory Theatre (Portland,OR), in a number of independent films and on the television series Bones where he has appeared as Dr. Douglas Filmore in multiple episodes as well as many other series including CSI, Castle, CSI: NY, Heroes, NCIS, Criminal Minds and Leverage. He also has various voices in the animated series American Dad and recently appeared on Broadway and in London with Bradley Cooper in the stage production of The Elephant Man. 

Steve Cooper talks with actor Joanna Going. Joanna appeared in soap opera roles in the late 1980s, most notably as Lisa Grady on Another World from 1987 to 1989. She went on to portray lead character Victoria Winters on the 1991 primetime series Dark Shadows. She later starred in short-lived television series Going to Extremes and guest-starred on Columbo, Spin City, The Outer Limits, and Law & Order. She has also starred in the number of feature films. She made her film debut in Wyatt Earp and later had major roles in Eden, Keys to Tulsa, Inventing the Abbotts, and Still Breathing. Her biggest role may be in the 1998 film version of Phantoms. In the 2000s, she starred in several television films and guest-starred on CSI: Crime Scene Investigation, Criminal Minds, and Mad Men. She also appeared opposite Sean Penn in the 2011 film The Tree of Life, her first role in a major motion picture since 2003's Runaway Jury. In 2014, Going starred as First Lady Tricia Walker in the second season of Netflix political series House of Cards. She later was cast in the DirecTV series Kingdom.

Steve Cooper talks with actor James Morrison. James I best known for his role as Bill Buchanan on Fox's hit series 24. He is a highly accomplished stage actor doing theatre for over 30 years and winning many awards including three Drama-Logue trophies in Los Angeles and recently directed the documentary Showing up. His numerous television credits including Brooklyn Nine-Nine, Quantum Leap, L.A. Law, Frasier, Space: Above and Beyond, The X-Files, Six Feet Under, The West Wing, NCIS, The Mentalist, Suits, Hawthorne, Those Who Kill, Blue and Revenge and has appeared in films such as Catch Me If You Can, Raspberry Magic, Jarhead and Falling Down. 

Steve Cooper talks with actor Amy Hill. Amy may be best known for her involvement on Margaret Cho's short-lived sitcom All-American Girl in the role of grandmother Yung-Hee better known as Grandma or Grandma Kim. A little after All-American Girl was cancelled she would later be cast in the role of Kay Ohara on Maybe This Time which would eventually lead her to be working and co-starring with TV legend Betty White and former All American Girl co-star Ashley Johnson. Some of her notable films that she starred in would be Max Keeble's Big Move, Big Fat Liar, The Cat in the Hat, Let's Go To Prison, Lilo & Stitch, and as Dr. Barrenbottom in 2013's Big Gay Love, but her most notable film role was as Sue in the film 50 First Dates. She has had many notable guest starring roles on shows such as Night Court, Six Feet Under, Desperate Housewives, King of the Hill, The Sarah Silverman Program, and My Wife & Kids and has had many notable recurring roles on TV shows as well such as the lesbian daughter of D. L. Hughley's neighbor (played by Pat Morita) on The Hughleys, The upstairs neighbor of Monica and Rachel on Friends, Mrs. DePaulo on That's so Raven, Mama Tohru on Jackie Chan Adventures, Mrs. Hasagawa on Lilo & Stitch: The Series, Penny Candy on The Puzzle Place, Mah Mah the adopted mother of Francine on American Dad!, Dr. Lauren Brown on General Hospita, and Suji on The Naked Truth. In the final episode of season six of Seinfeld, she played the part of Frank Costanza's long lost girlfriend during his Korean War service.

Steve Cooper talks with actor Jerry Hauck. Jerry is an LA based actor who has been performing in TV, Film, and commercials for 30 years. His numerous sitcom credits include Murphy Brown, Seinfeld, Everybody Loves Raymond, That 70’s Show, My Name Is Earl, The Middle and Hot in Cleveland. No stranger to dramatic TV as well, he has appeared in popular shows such as LA Law, ER, Six Feet Under, House M.D., Monk, and Scandal. His feature film credits include I'll Do Anything, Cobb, Garfield, Matchstick Men, and Saving Mr. Banks. Still busy as ever, this year he has been seen on True Detective, How To Get Away With Murder, It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia, Blunt Talk, and the acclaimed docudrama, Soaked In Bleach.

Steve Cooper talks with actor Michael Bunin. Michael is an American actor perhaps best known for playing the role of Kenny on the TBS sitcom My Boys. A prolific and highly successful commercial actor during the early part of his career, starring in at least 50 national commercials, the transition to the single camera comedy on TBS was a natural and seamless next step. He has also guest starred on several hit TV shows including Scrubs, Bad Judge, Mad Men, Modern Family, Perception, iCarly, Rules of Engagement, Law & Order, CSI: Crime Scene Investigation, Crisis and Masters of Sex.

Steve Cooper talks with actor Beth Littleford. Beth won widespread notoriety during her four years on The Daily Show. She ultimately left for network television spending two years on ABC's Spin City. Other series regular roles include Nancy Blaford on Method and Red and Suzanne Berger on The Hard Times of RJ Berger. She has had recurring roles on Desperate Housewives, Rules of Engagement, One on One, Life with Bonnie and the Cleveland Show. She has guest-starred on many others shows including The Mindy Project, CSI, CSI: Miami, Melissa and Joey, Frasier, The West Wing, Boston Public, Still Standing and Without a Trace. In the past she was a fixture on shows like Politically Incorrect, Hollywood Squares, Talk Soup and most I Love the...shows on VH-1. She recently starred on Disney's hit sitcom, Dog with a Blog which has received multiple Emmy nominations and has been in numerous national commercials.

Steve Cooper talks with comic Brian McDaniel. Brian can be seen in the new Entourage movie, as a regular contributor on CBS’ The Talk and of course he was a correspondent on TMZ for 8 years. He grew up in Prince George's county Maryland, riding the bus to school where comedy was the ultimate factor in deciding social status. Mostly, he just tried to avoid being embarrassed by the popular kids and the foul­mouthed big­banged girls that followed them. But he was learning by osmosis, picking up on what was funny and what was just swagger, which jokes made everybody laugh, and which ones just unified the cool clique in their superiority. He couples this experience with the pop culture expertise of a TMZ veteran to write material that's incisive, ridiculous, and surprising that he performs all over the Los Angeles area and on the road.

Steve Cooper talks with writer/host/gossip columnist A.J. Benza. A.J. is a regular contributor to Playboy and Penthouse. He was New York City’s most celebrated gossip columnist in the 1990s, writing and editing both Hot Copy and Downtown columns for the Daily News (New York). He also continues to be a regular on the Howard Stern Sirius radio show. His television credits include hosting and producing E!’s Mysteries & Scandals, co-hosting Game Show Network’s highest-rated series, High Stakes Poker, and creating, producing, writing, and hosting his own late night talk show, A.J. After Hours. He recently released a critically acclaimed memoir title 74' and Sunny.

Steve Cooper talks with actor Richard Gunn. Richard is best known for his starring role in James Cameron's Dark Angel for which he won a People's Choice Award in his early 20's, after taking a break from the entertainment industry to live on a ranch for several years in his 30's, he is back and has now become a critic and fan favorite as the iconic hero Chief of Police John Sanders in the cable hit Granite Flats opposite Christopher Lloyd, Parker Posey, and Carey Elwes. He also had a recurring role on Hemlock Grove and has guest starred in many shows including The Mentalist, CSI: Crime Scene Investigation and Dexter.

Steve Cooper talks with actor Brett Cullen. Brett's lengthy and successful career started with his first television series, The Chisholms. Since then he has appeared in such TV shows such as  The Incredible Hulk, Tales from the Crypt, M*A*S*H, V, Matlock, Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, Ally McBeal, Walker, Texas Ranger, Once and Again, Without a Trace, Cold Case, The Mountain, Monk, CSI: Miami, NCIS, Desperate Housewives, Pepper Dennis, Lost, Ghost Whisperer, Private Practice, Ugly Betty, The Mentalist, Castle, Damages, White Collar, Burn Notice and Friday Night Lights and in 2013, Cullen was cast in the television series Devious Maids and in 2014 Cullen had recurring roles on the television shows Revenge, Criminal Minds, and Under the Dome. He has also appeared in the HBO mini-series From the Earth to the Moon and numerous movies including The Replacements, The Dark Knight Rises, Apollo 13, Ghost Rider, 42, Red Dawn, The Runaways, Gridiron Gang and many, many more.

Steve Cooper talks with actor Jillian Armenante. Jillian is best known for playing the role of Donna Kozlowski on the TV show Judging Amy. Her feature-film credits include Contagion, Bad Teacher, A Mighty Heart, North Country and Girl, Interrupted. On television, she has made guest appearances on several shows including Shameless, Medium, Party Down, Castle, The Closer, Private Practice, Grey's Anatomy, Las Vegas, ER, Six Feet Under, The West Wing, and Northern Exposure. Also very active on stage, in Seattle, she was a member of Annex Theatre for eight years, where she appeared in The Fatty Arbuckle Spookhouse Review, Bessemer's Spectacles, Tattoo Girl, and Hamlet The Musical. At Annex, she directed Triplets In Uniform, Exquisite Torture, and Running From Boomerangs. She was the Associate Artistic Director for Alice B. Theatre where she produced Pretty, Witty and Gay and Memory Tricks by Marga Gomez at the Broadway Performance Hall and she played Melony in a stage version of The Cider House Rules which was performed at The Atlantic Theater in New York City, the Seattle Repertory Theatre, and at The Mark Taper Forum in Los Angeles. For this role she was nominated for a Drama Desk Award, received a Garland Award and a Theatre World Award for Debut on the New York Stage. The show also received a Theatre L.A. Ovation Award for Best Production in a Larger Theatre. She currently is a recurring character in ABC's Fresh Off the Boat and stars, produced, directed and co-wrote Kittens in a Cage. 

Steve Cooper talks with actor Willie Garson. Willie is best known for his roles as Stanford Blatch on Sex and the City and as Mozzie in White Collar. His other television appearances include Mr. Belvedere, My Two Dads, Coach, Quantum Leap, Monk, Boy Meets World, Girl Meets World, Ally McBeal, Party of Five, Star Trek: Voyager, Special Unit 2, Just Shoot Me!, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Friends, The X-Files, Cheers, Yes, Dear, CSI: Crime Scene Investigation, Pushing Daisies, Stargate SG-1, Wizards of Waverly Place, CSI: Miami, Mental, Spin City and Taken and co-starred in the 2007 HBO series John from Cincinnati. He has also appeared in three movies from the Farrelly brothers—Kingpin, There's Something About Mary and Fever Pitch. His other film credits include Groundhog Day, Just Like Heaven, The Rock, Fortress 2: Re-Entry, Being John Malkovich, Freaky Friday, Labor Pains, and Out Cold and made a cameo in the end credits of Jackass Number Two, with the full context of the cameo being explained in Jackass 2.5.

Steve Cooper talks with actor/producer Natalie Burn. Natalie is a fast-rising Hollywood actress, dancer, Prima Ballerina, choreographer, fighter, writer, singer, composer, model and a producer who has a resume that is genuinely unique. Currently starring in Awaken, a feature film that she created and produced, co-starring Darryl Hannah and Edward Furlong, Burn has also recently had key roles in Expendables 3, Killer Mermaid, Mechanic Resurrection and lead roles in Karla, Downhill and Ghosts of Garip in addition to prominent spots in several Russian films like Brigada Naslednik and several TV series like Petrovich in the last decade. 

Steve Cooper talks with actor/comic Stephen Kramer Glickman. Stephen is best known as Gustavo Rocque on the Nickelodeon television series Big Time Rush. In 2007, he was cast as Shrek in Shrek the Musical that opened on Broadway. He hosted the popular YouTube show Equals Three for one day while Ray William Johnson was out recording his album as the persona YourFavoriteMartian also found on YouTube. He has also voiced Billy Bob in an animated web series named "Trailer Trash" produced by Stupid Factory Studios and Titmouse. He runs a clothing line called Giant Creature whose proceeds go to help anti-bullying, appears at the top comedy clubs in LA regularly and co-hosts the popular podcast #DateFails.

Steve Cooper talks with actor Deirdre Lovejoy. Deirdre is best known for her role on the HBO television series The Wire as Rhonda Pearlman. A familiar face to stage, she appeared recently on Broadway in the sold out run of Nora Ephron’s Tony Award winning Lucky Guy, starring Tom Hanks and has other Broadway credits including John Guare’s Six Degrees of Separation plus numerous Off-Broadway and regional theatre credits. She has also appeared in the series Girls, Orange is the New Black, Bones, American Horror Story, Body of Proof, Private Practice, The Forgotten, The Medium, Criminal Minds, Lie to Me, The Closer, Nip/Tuck, Saving Grace, Strong Medicine, Outlaw, Close to Home, Shark, The Protector, The Lion's Den, The West Wing, Law & Order, Law & Order Special Victims Unit, Law & Order Criminal Intent, Cold Case, Close to Home, Numbers, Without a Trace, Brothers and Sisters, Eli Stone, NYPD Blue, Ed, Third Watch, Perfect Murder Perfect Town: The Jon Benet Ramsey Story, The Kennedys of Massachusetts and many more and films including the upcoming Billy Lynn’s Long Halftime Walk (directed by Ang Lee), Thirsty, Step Up, Bad Teacher, The Stepfather, Lionhead, The Talented Mr. Ripley, Gloria and Eric, Thirteen Conversations About One Thing, Random Hearts, Sour Grapes, Shaft, and The Freshman.

Steve Cooper talks with actor Lori Alan. Lori is perhaps best known for her award-winning voice-over work. Recently honored by her peers at the First Annual Voice Arts Awards (the Academy Awards for Voice-Overs) she took first-place prizes for Outstanding Body Of Work and Outstanding National Television Commercial. She starred as Diane Simmons on Family Guy, Pearl the Whale on SpongeBob: Squarepants, and Sue Richards, The Invisible Woman, on Marvel Comics' The Fantastic Four, among many other fantastic animated roles (Monster's University, Toy Story 3, Despicable Me 2, WALL.E, Henry Hugglemonster, Metal Gear Solid, Cow and Chicken, Animaniacs, and Futurama) and a long, successful commercial career. She also has firm roots in theatre, where she's thrived for over three decades. She most recently mounted a smash solo show, Lori Alan: The Musical, and appeared alongside Paul Reubens in The Pee-Wee Herman Show. Of her role as Queen Celia in the hit musical Sneaux!, Backstage West proclaimed, "Lori Alan might give Carol Burnett pause!" She originated the role of Mae in the award-winning musical Reefer Madness, a performance that earned raves from Kenny Morse of CBS Radio, who called her "a standout whose talent will take her very far". On TV from roles on the gripping Showtime drama Ray Donovan, to the hilarious Comedy Central gem Workaholics, to the deliciously naughty Desperate Housewives, her energy and natural essence flow effortlessly from genre to genre. A true character actress in every sense of the word, when Lori speaks, the world listens. She delves deeply into her material, emerging with the power to make the audience laugh and cry in the same moment. Her television career has flourished with appearances on Bones, Southland, CSI, 90210, Law and Order (both LA and the original), and every other show imaginable.

Steve Cooper talks with actor Elaine Hendrix. Elaine currently stars in the FX comedy Sex&Drugs&Rock&Roll.  She’s also been in many movies including The Parent Trap, Beverly Hills Chihuahua 2, Inspector Gadget 2, Superstar, Romy & Michele's High School Reunuion. She is a familiar face to TV too, appearing on hit shows such as Two and a Half Men, The Client List, NCIS: Los Angeles, Castle, The Mentalist, Criminal Minds, and CSI: Miami to name a few and she recurred on the new Beverly Hills 90210 as well as two years on the critically acclaimed CBS series Joan of Arcadia and has been in three holiday TV movies: Anything But Christmas, Mr. St. Nick and The Munster’s Scary Little Christmas.

Steve Cooper talks with actor Ken Davitian. Ken began acting full time in the early 1990s and spent the majority of his career being typecast as a short, fat, bumbling, and sometimes sleazy character in low budget B-movies before gaining small guest spots on television in such series as the HBO sports comedy Arli$$, The Shield and the HBO hit drama Six Feet Under. However in 2006, he would land a role that would dramatically change his life and acting career forever. He auditioned for a supporting role in the Sacha Baron Cohen project Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan. The part he was going for was that of Azamat, the stout, rotund production assistant to the naïve, yet endearing, foreign reporter Borat. It was reported that during the audition, he began reading lines in an Eastern dialect of Armenian, prompting a comically entertaining back-and-forth between he and Cohen. Cohen instantly demanded that he be given the part of Azamat. His performance became somewhat of a cult, comedic classic and led him to more roles in feature films like the parody Meet the Spartans, the spy comedy Get Smart, the Oscar winning The Artist and others. His TV credits include It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia, Hawaii Five-O, Two and a Half Men, Big Time Rush and Ray Donovan. 

Steve Cooper talks with singer Annabella Lwin.  Annabella at the tender age of fourteen, was one of the most photographed, talked about and popular vocalists in the early 80’s with her band, BOW WOW WOW, who enjoyed success with massive hits such as I Want Candy, Do U wanna Hold Me?,  Go Wild in the Country and C30, C60, C90, Go! As well as writing and recording original material as a solo artist, she has been a featured vocalist on numerous transatlantic dance favorites with Tony B (LA’s hottest radio dance DJ) the Utah Saints (England's’ most innovative and popular DJ Duo) and Jason Nevins (Run DMC remixer of Walk this Way.)
 Her songwriting/co‐production brought her collaborations with Guy Chambers (songwriter for Robbie Williams’ chart hits) and seasoned producers such as Michael Lattanzi (Mariah Carey, Paula Abdul, Sly & Robbie, Anastasia.) After doing a commercial for Nike, writing songs for movies such as Desperate But Not Serious (starring Claudia Schiffer and Henry Rollins) and partnering with Mike Bradford (producer of the hits Follow Me by Uncle Kracker, You Get What You Give by the New Radicals, American Bad Ass by Kid Rock) Annabella has written and recorded songs for film: Scandalous with Sir John Gielgud, Phoenix Point starring Angelo Moore of Fishbone and  Salsoul Queen Cecilia Noel, (Cecilia & the Wildclams) Thief of Hearts starring Steven Bauer (Scarface) and produced by Harold Faltemeyer and Sofia Coppola’s 2006 hit Marie Antoinette to name a few.


Steve Cooper talks with writer Candy Bennici and actor Taran Noah Smith. Candi spent eighteen years as a manager for her daughter who was an international model and her son Taran Noah Smith who played Mark, the youngest son on the hit show Home Improvement for eight years. Using this experience Candy's main goal is helping parents care for their children while acting or modeling and has been on several talk shows including Jim J. and Ann and Caryl plus Marilyn: Real Friends. She has also worked as a script supervisor. Taran has left acting but has pursued various endeavors including set design and also opened a Vegan restaurant.

Steve Cooper talks with actor Tim Russ. Tim's first professional job came while he was at St. Edward's University in Austin, when he appeared in a PBS Masterpiece Theater production, but he started to pursue acting full time in 1985. During that time he's been on many TV shows and movies - including The Twilight Zone (1985), Amazing Stories (1985), Thirtysomething (1987), Jake and the Fatman (1987), 21 Jump Street (1987), Beauty and the Beast (1987), The People Next Door (1989), Mancuso, FBI (1989), Family Matters (1989), The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air (1990), Tequila and Bonetti (1992), SeaQuest 2032 (1993), Dark Justice (1991), Murphy Brown (1988), Monty (1994), Star Trek: Voyager (1995), Melrose Place (1992), Any Day Now (1998), The Highwayman (1987), Star Trek: The Next Generation (1987) and Star Trek: Deep Space Nine (1993), among others. Along with his television experience he has also played in a variety of films, including Crossroads (1986), Fire with Fire (1986), Timestalkers (1987), Spaceballs (1987), Death Wish 4: The Crackdown (1987), Pulse (1988), Bird (1988), Roots: The Gift (1988), Eve of Destruction (1991), Dead Silence (1997), Night Eyes II (1991), Mr. Saturday Night (1992), Star Trek: Generations (1994), Dead Connection (1994), East of Hope Street (1998). During his comprehensive acting career he appeared in numerous theatrical productions including Romeo & Juliet, Barrabas, Dream Girls, As You Like It, Twelfth Night, Cave Dwellers among others. When not acting, he finds time for music and film producing. Songs sung by him are available on the CDs Only a Dream in Rio, Tim Russ, Kushangaza and Brave New World.

Steve Cooper talks with writer Jillian Lauren. Jillian is the author of the New York Times bestselling memoir, Some Girls: My Life in a Harem, and the novel Pretty, both published by Plume/Penguin. Some Girls has since been translated into eighteen different languages. Her new memoir Everything You Ever Wanted was just released in May. She has an MFA in Creative Writing from Antioch University. Her writing has appeared in The Paris Review, The New York Times, Vanity Fair, Los Angeles Magazine, Flaunt Magazine, The Rumpus, and Salon, among others. Her work has also been widely anthologized, including in The Moth Anthology and True Tales of Lust and she is a regular storyteller with The Moth and has performed at numerous spoken word and storytelling events across the country. She has been interviewed on such television programs as The View, Good Morning America and Howard Stern. She regularly blogs at MSNBC Today Moms, The Huffington Post and Jillianlauren.com, which was named a top 100 mom blog of 2012 by Babble Magazine.

Steve Cooper talks with actor John Ales. John is currently one of the stars of FX's hit show Sex&Drugs&Rock&Roll. He got his start as the host of MTV's Lip Service and then quickly started his professional acting career. He has been seen in movies including The Nutty Professor, Spy Hard and Nutty Professor II: Meet the Klumps and has appeared in countless TV shows such as Mad Men, The Mentalist, Longmire, Boomtown, Chicago Hope, CSI: Miami, Without a Trace, In Plain Sight, CSI: Crime Scene Investigation, NCIS, Beavis and Butt-head, Burn Notice, Rizzoli & Isles, Major Crimes and Ray Donovan. He also produced a documentary series with Hank Azaria called Fatherhood.

Steve Cooper talks with actor Marilyn Ghigliotti. Marilyn is best known for her role as Veronica in the indy classic Clerks. She initially pursued a career in cosmetology after graduating high school. But in 1988, she began studying at The Actors Training Institute located in New Jersey in the techniques of Stella Adler, Sanford Meisner and Lee Strasberg. She followed her studies there with time in community theater where she performed in many productions. It was in response to auditions for a student film that landed her her most notable role in Clerks. Since moving to Los Angeles in 1998, she has continued to pursue her acting career and has since appeared in several shorts and independent features. Aside from acting, she has also added producing to her credits with a theater production titled Bedroom Stories, a series of one act plays in which she also acted in with rave reviews. 

Steve Cooper talks with comedy Mike Rowe. Mike, as a teenager, started as a stand up comic in New York City where he performed at such notable clubs as The Improv, The Comedy Cellar and Caroline's. From there he landed a job writing jokes for SNL's Weekend Update and sketches for shows on MTV, A&E and Comedy Central. This soon brought him to Hollywood where he wrote on a comedy sketch show starring Martin Short. This led to his sitcom writing career where he wrote and produced shows for such stars as George Clooney, Ted Danson and with Eddie Murphy on his animated show, The PJ's. This launched his animation career as a writer and producer on such series as Family Guy and Futurama. Along the way he was awarded 5 Emmy nominations (with 1 win), 2 Annine Awards (with 1 win) and a WGA Award for his Futurama episode, Game of Tones. He was also co-exectuive producer on Comedy Central's animated series Brickleberry and a contributing writer on Danny McBride's animated series CHOZEN on FX. In 2013 he wrote and produced a documentary on The Improv comedy club. It starred many of the comics Mike started with like; Larry David, Ray Romano and Sarah Silverman. He still finds time to write The Comedy Central Roasts every year and he's a contributor to Vanity Fair magazine.

Steve Cooper talks with actor W. Earl Brown. W. Earl's first major movie role came as a dialogue coach in the film Backdraft teaching actors to speak with a Chicago accent. He also had a brief appearance on-screen in the film. One of his first higher profile roles was as Cameron Diaz's mentally challenged brother Warren in There's Something About Mary. His other film credits include Scream (1996), Being John Malkovich (1999), Dancing at the Blue Iguana (2000), and The Alamo (2004) among many other projects, including television appearances on Numb3rs (2006), CSI: Crime Scene Investigation (2000), Six Feet Under (2001), Charmed (2001), and The X-Files (1993). He is also the co-founder of the country band Sacred Cowboys, performing as a vocalist and guitar player. He joined the cast of the HBO western drama Deadwood as a star for the first season in 2004. The series was created by David Milch and focused on a growing town in the American West. Brown played Dan Dority, a trusted henchman to ambitious criminal and bar owner Al Swearengen. He remained a starring cast member for all three seasons of the show. He joined the crew of Deadwood as a writer for the third season in 2006. He wrote the episode A Constant Throb.

Steve Cooper talks with writer/therapist Leah Krinsky. Leah started out doing stand-up comedy in New York. After being a regular at all the city clubs and many TV spots, she shifted her focus to comedy writing. She started out on The Dennis Miller Show and then ended up on Dennis Miller Live where she was nominated for 6 Emmys and won 2. After years in that profession she focused on a different field and now is a licensed Therapist.

Steve Cooper talks with actor Keith Coogan. Keith is the grandson of legendary character actor Jackie Coogan, and began his acting career doing TV commercials -- his first gig was as a stand-in in a McDonalds TV spot -- as well various TV shows and made-for-TV movies. He did the voice of Young Tod for the charming animated Disney picture The Fox and the Hound. His first on-screen role was as the smitten Brad Anderson in the delightful teen comedy cult favorite Adventures in Babysitting. He gave a very funny and engaging performance as Christina Applegate's stoner layabout brother Kenny in the equally enjoyable Don't Tell Mom the Babysitter's Dead and was impressive as Jonathan Snuffy Bradberry in Toy Soldiers. Among the television programs Coogan has made guest appearances on are The Love Boat, Eight Is Enough, Mork & Mindy, Knight Rider, CHiPS, Starman, 21 Jumpstreet and Tales from the Crypt.

Steve Cooper talks with actor Larry Thomas. Larry is best known for his Emmy nominated role as the Soup Nazi on Seinfeld. His other credited acting gigs are on the TV series CSI: Crime Scene Investigation, Hot Properties, General Hospital, The Geena Davis Show, Martial Law, L.A. Heat, The Tony Danza Show, USA High, Beyond Belief: Fact or Fiction and many others and he has been in movies such as Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery, Postal and Paranormal Calamity to name a few. A very popular figure at Hollywood conventions across the country he also just released his first book, Confessions of a Soup Nazi that is about his career plus is a cookbook. 

Steve Cooper talks with actor Larry Thomas. Larry is best known for his Emmy nominated role as the Soup Nazi on Seinfeld. His other credited acting gigs are on the TV series CSI: Crime Scene Investigation, Hot Properties, General Hospital, The Geena Davis Show, Martial Law, L.A. Heat, The Tony Danza Show, USA High, Beyond Belief: Fact or Fiction and many others and he has been in movies such as Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery, Postal and Paranormal Calamity to name a few. A very popular figure at Hollywood conventions across the country he also just released his first book, Confessions of a Soup Nazi that is about his career plus is a cookbook. 

 

 

Steve Cooper talks with comics/actors Jamie Alcroft and Philip Proctor. Jamie and Philip are the stars of the YouTube hit Boomers on a Bench. Jamie has been entertaining audiences as one-half of the comedy duo Mack & Jamie for over 25 years. They had been working together for less than two years when the call came from The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson. His audience howled at their fast-paced bits, and they were asked back immediately. That and other TV appearances led to their own syndicated show in the 80s, Comedy Break with Mack & Jamie. They taped 125 half-hour shows in less than a year. He is also in the elite corps of LA Voice Actors. Having provided numerous voices for many National Commercials, as well as The Simpsons, Rugrats, Power Beach, Justice League, Adam Sandler's Eight Crazy Nights and scores of Video Games, most recently Gears of War I & II.

Philip was a member of the Firesign Theatre. He plays Rocky Rococo and Nancy in the Nick Danger series, attended Yale University, where he contributed to campus humor magazine The Yale Record and had voice roles in Pixar films, including Toy Story, A Bug's Life, Toy Story 2, Monsters Inc. and Finding Nemo. He has acted in shows such as Daniel Boone, All in the Family and Night Court and has lent his voice to shows such as Rugrats and All Grown Up! and to video games like Assassin's Creed, Adventures in Odyssey and Dead Rising. He also was the announcer for Big Brother season 3 through 6.

Steve Cooper talks with actor Randy Ryan. Randy worked in NYC theatre for 10 years before moving to Los Angeles. His first TV role was in the final episode of Sex & the City on HBO. He also played Julius Rice in Public Enemies and wrote Joy Division, a short film that debuted nationally at the Nantucket Film Festival and has appeared in dozens of hit TV shows. A US Army XVIII Airborne Corps veteran, he has been a spokesperson for the Farmer Veteran Coalition, which helps combat veterans reintegrate back into society through farming. In 2011 he joined Kelly Meyer, The American Heart Association and The California Endowment to lead Teaching Gardens to national prominence. The program fights childhood obesity by teaching children how to successfully grow, harvest and replant organic vegetable gardens in urban communities. There are over 400 Teaching Gardens in the United States.

Steve Cooper talks with actor Anthony Starke. Anthony is well known for his one episode role in Seinfeld playing the 3rd person-speaking character Jimmy,  as well as playing Jack on The George Carlin Show on Fox. His first screen role playing quadriplegic teenager Dean Conroy in the CBS Movie of the Week, First Steps and his first feature film was Nothing in Common. He also played Truman-Lodge in the James Bond film License to Kill and other movie credits include Return of the Killer Tomatoes, Repossessed and Nowhere to Run. On TV he has been a regular on series such as One Big Family, Suddenly Susan, The Last Frontier, Prison Break, The Magnificent Seven, Make It or Break It, Shake It Up! and Hand of God. In addition he has made numerous guest star appearances on series like Cheers, 21 Jump Street, Perception, Cold Case, Castle, CSI, Lie to Me, NCIS, Burn Notice, Mad Men and many more.

Steve Cooper talks with actor Peter Breitmayer. Peter started his professional acting career at Dudley Riggs BraveNew Workshop and worked in numerous professional Theatres in the Minneapolis area over the next eight years, did dozens of OC and VO Commercials, and landed roles in several Hollywood produced films shooting in the state including Drop Dead Fred, Jingle All the Way, Larry Nordic and The Stranger Within. He moved to LA in 1996 and has since worked regularly in television, film, commercials and VO, his most recent substantial role being Lt. Ben Schmidt in the Fargo series. Other recent notable roles were in Austin Film Fest winner Coffee, Kill Boss, NCIS, A Serious Man, The Changeling, Greys Anatomy, The Middle. Most people recognize him as the A-Nother Insurance Company idiot, Bill, in the Progressive Insurance campaign. He also continued his stage career, acting in award winning productions in LA as well as touring Nationally and to Dublin, Ireland with the long running hit show Triple Espresso.

Steve Cooper talks with writer Peter Mehlman. Peter's first job out of college was as a writer for the Washington Post. He slid to television in 1982, writing for SportsBeat with Howard Cosell. From 1985-90, he returned to forming full sentences as a writer for numerous national publications including The New York Times Magazine, GQ, Esquire, and a multitude of women’s magazines. In 1989, he moved to Los Angeles, where he bumped into Larry David, whom he’d met twice in New York. David, developing Seinfeld, invited him to submit a sample script. Having never written one, Mehlman sent a humor piece he’d written for the Times Magazine and got an assignment, which became the first Seinfeld freelance episode, The Apartment. Over the eight-year run of the show, he rose to executive producer and coined such Seinfeld-isms as Yada Yada, spongeworthy, shrinkage and double-dipping. In 1997, he joined DreamWorks and created It’s like, you know… a scathing look at Los Angeles. In recent years, he has written screenplays, a novel, and humor pieces for NPR, Esquire, The New York Times, The Washington Post, and The Los Angeles Times, several of which were published in his collection, Mandela Was Late. In addition, he has also appeared on-camera for TNT Sports and the Webby-nominated Peter Mehlman’s Narrow World of Sports, while also starring in his short film BLANK, for which he won best writing at the Los Angeles Comedy Festival.

Steve Cooper talk with actor Jim O'Heir. Jim is best known for his role as Associate Director Jerry Gergich in NBC's critically acclaimed comedy Parks and Recreation. A Chicago native, Jim has worked successfully in every medium as a well-known character actor. His ability to move easily between drama and comedy in role after role is a testament to his skill and adeptness. Upon moving to Los Angeles in the late 90's, he got rave reviews on stage in the cult classic Stumpy's Gang which garnered him a Dramalogue Best Actor Award. With his love for theater, he always made sure he continued his passion while on camera as well. But his work in TV and film kept him busy, as he's worked in over 60 different series, movies of the week and feature films. Having been cast in numerous pilots, he also worked as a regular character on two Comedy Central series, Strip Mall and Knee High P.I.  Other memorable portrayals were in Raising the Bar, Boston Legal, Without a Trace, Cold Case and Friends.

Steve Cooper talks with actor/writer/singer/musician Claudia Christian. Claudia is best known for her four year stint as Commander Susan Ivanov on the syndicated sci-fi series, Babylon 5. She got her start with a 1984 guest-spot on Dallas, which she parlayed into regular roles on short-lived series like Berringer's and Blacke's Magic, as well many guest-starring appearances in episodic TV on shows such as NYPD Blue, Nip/Tuck, Relic Hunter, Everwood, Criminal Minds, Castle and The Mentalist.  She made her feature debut as a exotic dancer whose body became host for an alien being in The Hidden, was part of the fine ensemble of Clean and Sober and was the lead in Hexed and has appeared in countless movies throughout her career. She also has recorded albums, written the popular book Babylon Confidential and is currently working on the documentary One Little Pill that deals with alcoholism and it's cure through the Sinclair Method.

Steve Cooper talks with actor William Morgan Sheppard. WIlliam graduated from the Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts 1958 before spending 12 years as Associate Artist with the Royal Shakespeare Company.  He appeared on Broadway in 1966 with Marat/Sade and later in 1975 with Sherlock Holmes. He won the Los Angeles Drama Critics Circle Award for The Homecoming in 1995, at the Matrix Theatre. He appeared in several episodes of different series of Star Trek, as well as the feature films Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country and in Star Trek. Outside of Star Trek, he is probably best known for his roles as Blank Reg on Max Headroom and Confederate General Isaac Trimble in the films Gettysburg and God and Generals. A few other movies and TV shows that appear on his resume are MacGyver, Babylon 5, It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia, The Prestige, Wild at Heart, Transformers, SeaQuest 2032, The Elephant Man, Cold Case, Alias, Gilmore Girls, Criminal Minds, American Gothic, Mad Men and many, many more. He has also lent his voice to many projects including Biker Mice from Mars, Gargoyles, The Legend of Prince Valiant, Mighty Ducks, Timon & Pumbaa, Medal of Honor, Justice League, Atlantis: Milo's Return and Civilization V.

Steve Cooper talks with actor Scott MacDonald. Scott is a veteran character actor with an extensive and eclectic list of credits in film, television, commercials, voice overs and on the legit stages of regional theaters across the U.S. and on Broadway. He has voiced or appeared in hundreds of national commercials and CD ROM games. He is one of a rare cadre of actors who have guest starred on all four of the modern Star Trek series as no less than 6 different creatures. He has performed Hamlet and Bullwinkle Moose on the boards, and even had a 7 year run as the lovely "Hilda" while wearing a dress in the long running Bud Light Ladies campaign which included thousands of personal appearances. Some of his movie and TV credits include a recurring role in Carnivale and guest-starring roles in Jarhead, Law & Order, Frasier, Jack Frost, Chicago Hope, The X-Files, The Practice, CSI, The West Wing, NCIS, Monk, JAG, Major Crimes, Mob City, Scorpion and many more.

Steve Cooper talks with actor/director/writer Michael McDonald. Michael got his start training with the Groundlings started working in television, landing guest spots on Seinfeld, Ellen, Just Shoot Me and News Radio before landing on MAD TV in 1998. During his ten-year run, he created several weird characters - most notably man-child Stuart Larkin, Marvin Tikkvah Rusty Miller, and The Depressed Persian Tow Truck Man. In 2007, he left MAD TV and went on to guest star on more television shows, including Scrubs, Desperate Housewives and Pushing Daisies and had recurring roles on House of Lies and Web Therapy and has been seen on the big screen in the hits The Heat with Sandra Bullock and Melissa McCarthy and Spy starring the latter. When not acting he directs TV working on sitcoms as including Scrubs, Cougar Town, Don't Trust the B in Apt 23, Save Me, Men at Work, Enlisted, Benched, Brooklyn Nine-Nine and Mike & Molly. He also tours the country when he has free time to headline comedy clubs.

Steve Cooper talks with actor/comic Kent Kasper. Kent was a New York City Assistant District Attorney in 1985 and then spent 14 years touring as a National Headline Stand-Up Comedian and making various TV appearances before coming to Hollywood to pursue a career in acting. Since then he has been a very busy actor who is constantly working. He made numerous appearances on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno and has been seen on Jimmy Kimmel Live! He has also guest starred on many popular series including Mad Men, Monk, Roswell and Rules of Engagement to name a few and has had roles in many movies including Husbands and Wives, City Slickers II: The Legend Curly's Gold, Apollo 13, Space Jam, Reno 911!: Miami and Rush Hour 3. He was Dr. Phil's Celebrity Lookalike on his television show for 5 seasons and has been featured in countless reality shows like Barter Kings, Tattoo Nightmares, Prank My Mom, Unusual Suspects, Reality Hell, 1000 Ways to Die and The Next Best Thing: Who is the Greatest Celebrity Impersonator. Despite his busy schedule he also teaches acting and gives seminars about the Biz part of Show Business.