Richard Bakewell discusses his film Roswell Delirium, which explores themes of trauma and childhood trauma. The film incorporates 80s references and draws parallels to real-world events like the COVID-19 pandemic and the Cold War. Bakewell shares his casting process and highlights the talented cast, including both established actors and up-and-comers. He also discusses emotional and impactful moments on set, particularly scenes involving Ari and Kylee. Bakewell hopes that audiences will have an immersive experience with the film and that it sparks conversations about mental health. The conversation covers various aspects of the film and its impact on mental health discussions. It emphasizes the importance of open dialogue and addresses the issue of male mental health. The closing remarks provide updates on the film’s release and upcoming screenings.
Roswell Delirium explores themes of trauma and childhood trauma.
The film incorporates 80s references and draws parallels to real-world events like the COVID-19 pandemic and the Cold War.
The casting process involved a mix of established actors and up-and-comers.
Emotional and impactful moments on set contributed to the overall experience of making the film.
The film aims to provide audiences with an immersive experience and spark conversations about mental health. Family films can serve as a catalyst for important dialogues about mental health.
Addressing male mental health is crucial and should not be dismissed with phrases like ‘man up’.
Patience is required for the release of the film, but the end result will be worth it.
The film will be screened at various locations, including the Chinese Theatre in Hollywood.
Richard Bakewell (00:02.41)
This is Richard Bakewell and you’re watching Chris Gordon Hell Blazer Biz.
Chris (00:21.075)
Everyone, as you have heard, I am here with the director, Richard Bakewell to talk about his latest film Roswell Delirium, which I have seen and I actually really enjoyed it. It’s got a very poignant theme running throughout and quite a hard hitting storyline as well, Richard, to be fair. So, you know, when, when you, when everything, I’m not doing any spoilers, but when it hits you, it’s, it is, it hits quite hard because it’s hard to explain without giving a spoiler, but the content and the story of and trauma.
I think you explained it yourself on one on an article I’ve seen where it brings out trauma and childhood trauma and how people deal with things like that as well and it’s very cleverly done throughout the entire film and it peaks right at the end.
Richard Bakewell (01:33.462)
Thank you, yeah, it’s like one where you have to watch all the way through because there’s a lot of hints along the way and if you miss one, you might not realize what’s happening to the very end.
Chris (01:44.291)
Exactly, exactly. And, you know, as I say that you can see it, there’s, again, it’s hard to do one of these interviews and don’t spoil the film for people who haven’t seen it yet. But, you know, you do, you do get this, the theme and the general gist and, but the way you’ve actually, you know, there’s questions here directly, I’m kind of going off my tangent again, but the way you’ve created the film and the vision for the film, like you say, you’ve put little drop hints all the way through, it’s so cleverly done.
Richard Bakewell (01:54.719)
Yeah.
Chris (02:12.799)
Uh, because it makes you think, like I said to you just before, I was busy writing notes because I was thinking and I was like, I was trying to work out where the, where things were coming from, ultimately missed it the first time around. That’s what I ended up doing the second time around because I’m I was too busy trying to work it out in my head and, and got it. But it’s, it’s very cleverly done and very well acted as well. You know, you’ve got a great cast in there as well from, you know, some newcomers along there, which are.
which are great and it’s really nice to see that everything came together like that.
Richard Bakewell (02:43.975)
Yeah, that was always the worry I had in the beginning was, here I have all these iconic actors and then all these up and comer actors, you know, and then, but I think they all acted together beautifully and like, there was no one who was any weaker. I think everybody helped elevate each other to be better. So I think that was the great thing about the cast is they all acted better because they knew their co-star was this much better so they were always trying to like elevate themselves.
Chris (03:12.883)
Definitely. I mean, Kylee did a fantastic job as well. The emotion that, you know, playing Mayday, excuse me, she was the emotion that she could portray from her character was great. And obviously, like you say, with Ashton and everyone else in there. And then you’ve got this more well-known people, Sam Jones and Anthony Michael Hall as well. It’s just a lovely cast that comes together like that. It’s just and it. Like you say, I think they feed off each other. I spoke to.
a while back, a lady called Erin Burns, Erin Elizabeth Burns, and she’s very independent, but she managed to land a film with Samuel Jackson called Cell. I’m not sure if you’d seen it. But then she explained the dynamics of obviously like we got Anthony Michael Hall, you’ve got Sam Jones, who are more established, the way they could just feed and work and everyone worked together as a really solid unit and fed off each other. Because everyone’s got something really good to bring to the table no matter where you are. So, you know,
It’s just I’m blabbing. I’m babbling. I apologize. It’s just I’ll cut that bit out. It’s just it’s just really, really good.
Richard Bakewell (04:16.473)
No, no, not at all. But no, I mean that is the hardest part as a director is like when, you know, a lot of times you’re doing something like this, you don’t have, you know, Nicole Kidman, Naomi Watts, you don’t have a De Niro. So you rely on people who, you know, fit into your budget and into your world. And then you’re always worried, okay, are they going to perform when the camera’s on them?
they don’t step up, they kind of crash and they’re scared because all the cameras and the eyes were on them. But there wasn’t one person, one actor or actress who crumbled, I mean, if anything, it was like I had to like cut out stuff that was in the script because I’m like, it’s too long now because they were all so good. I’m like, wow, I wish I had more, I always said I wish I had more scenes with Kylee, Kayden and Georgia because they were so good together, the chemistry they had, the humorous side of the 80s, but like,
Chris (04:43.537)
Mm-hmm.
Chris (05:04.497)
Mm-hmm.
Richard Bakewell (05:10.786)
They were just so brilliant together and I’m like, I couldn’t have asked for a better cast.
Chris (05:16.939)
definitely. I mean, they say the humorous side of the 80s was because you know, the Kylee Mayday’s days character keeps dropping in all these little phrases from films. I mean, I’m a child I was born in 70s. I was child of the 80s. I was like, it was it was nostalgic because I was all the you know, she and I’ve got a bad feeling here. And I was picking up from Star Wars, you know, things like that. It was just brilliant.
Richard Bakewell (05:25.792)
Right.
Yeah.
Richard Bakewell (05:39.594)
Oh yeah, you know, like that was the whole point is like when I wrote it, it wasn’t an 80s movie at first and then it was like, okay, now I feel like we can make this an 80s movie and then I’m gonna stick in Easter eggs and I, and if people really pay attention, the third shot of the movie on the ham radio says 8675309, which is a note in an 80s song called Jenny Jenny, who can I turn to, you know, so it’s like, there’s the Easter eggs all along the way, there’s Star Wars, there’s a couple of Star Wars references in there, you know, airplane.
Chris (06:02.452)
Right.
Richard Bakewell (06:09.538)
Top Gun, you name it, but like, I wanted to all feel like real dialogue because you know, back when I was a kid, people used movie quotes and song lyrics as part of the conversation because it was so catchy, you know, and it just became part of your everyday life.
Chris (06:18.527)
Mm-hmm.
Chris (06:24.287)
Definitely the Top Gun ones as well I picked up on. I remember saying them when I was a kid. You know, like you say, it’s just that’s how things were. And the life could be a dream and you know, she’s going shabum. It’s just perfect. It’s just absolutely perfect. So with the casting again, just the question regarding the casting, how did that process unfold? What were you looking for in your lead actors?
Richard Bakewell (06:31.052)
Yeah.
Richard Bakewell (06:39.604)
Thank you.
Richard Bakewell (06:48.498)
Well, you know, it was, I tell you, it was the hardest part of the movie was casting because we still, we’re in, you know, kind of like the end of the pandemic, you know, in 2022. And I couldn’t get a casting director out of the house. They wanted to do it all on Zoom. And I’m like, absolutely not. I have to do it in person. I need to be there to see all the, you know, the actors and adjust them and work with them. I can’t really feel chemistry and screen presence on a video call. I just, this doesn’t work for me, sorry.
Chris (07:05.564)
Mm-hmm.
Richard Bakewell (07:16.93)
And so I brought in Kylee and Ari and Glenn and Larissa to kind of help with the casting, who are producers on the movie. And I had Ari and Kylee already as the leads. They were always gonna be the lead too. I mean, I wrote the film for them both, never knowing how big the film would get. And then Ashton came in as a wild card and we were gonna put someone more famous in that role.
Chris (07:26.389)
Mm-hmm.
Richard Bakewell (07:45.05)
We were kind of looking at other people, but then she came in and delivered such a powerful performance that when she left, everybody in the room goes, go out there and stop her and tell her she’s got the role. I’m like, absolutely not. I gotta make her wait a couple of days because I gotta figure out what I’m gonna do now because I plan on having somebody else play that role, but now she just killed it. So I’m like, I can’t give it to anyone else. And then, so that became the way we started to maneuver. And then we…
Chris (07:45.137)
Mm-hmm.
Chris (07:57.247)
Hmph. Yeah.
Chris (08:02.592)
Mm-hmm.
Richard Bakewell (08:13.662)
Luckily, like in the first day of casting, we cast Caden in Georgia and Sage and Tori and Connor. And then the second one we know we cast Ashton and Roman and MG. We just got so many talented people, all the up and comer child actors. And I definitely couldn’t have done it if the parents weren’t trusting of me. I’m sure they all looked me up and who I was and who’s this crazy guy doing in-person audition.
because nobody was doing that. And then, you know, as we’re casting these other smaller roles, we’re looking at all these 80s people for bigger roles, and that took some time. And, you know, as I say, sometimes in Hollywood you have to like put the mirrors up and let it smoke a little bit because you have to lie a little bit to get people to sign on to your movie. And, you know, you kind of have to like trick them a little bit and say, oh, I have so and so attached. Even though when you don’t, you know, you have to like kind of work them a little bit because nobody wants to be the first.
Chris (08:44.981)
Mm-hmm.
Richard Bakewell (09:12.534)
to sign on to a movie where they don’t know the director or anybody else. So, but once we got Sam Jones, everybody kind of fell into place. We got Dee Wallace, Lisa Whelchel, Reggie Johnson, then we got Michael at the end. And I really, I tell everybody, I really feel that Michael signed on to the movie because he saw Ashton’s performance and they worked together like three and a half scenes.
Chris (09:15.999)
Right.
Chris (09:35.932)
Mm-hmm.
Richard Bakewell (09:39.758)
And you know, I think sci-fi scares people sometimes, when he saw her act, he knew that this was not gonna be a campy movie, he knew we were very serious. And I think that really sold him, because sci-fi sometimes, when you say that word, people are like, oh my God, it’s gonna be a horrible movie, and it’s gonna be straight to video, and it’s gonna be horribly acted, but I think people saw her, like Michael, and they said, hey.
Chris (09:58.858)
Yeah
Richard Bakewell (10:06.834)
I see what you want to do. I know that you have a vision and it’s not this campy movie. It’s a very thoughtful, humorous, Easter egg, nostalgic, emotional roller coaster movie.
Chris (10:18.335)
Brilliant, fantastic. Their scenes are very good, you know, between the two of them, they really work so well together. And they’re very powerful. You know, I’d say that’s part of the whole ethos of where you’re gluing the film together is those scenes and yeah, Ashton’s just superb. She really was in that. Fantastic. So what was the initial spark or idea that led to the creation of the film?
Richard Bakewell (10:42.114)
Well, you know, it’s kind of twofold. One was, I did a documentary years ago about kids doing their bucket lists, and one kid had cancer nine times, and unfortunately, he basically collapsed in the snow when his mom and him went skiing, and she told him in the hospital, if you wanna go, you can go. And I thought that was so powerful for mom to be that brave, knowing her child is actually dying now.
because she thought he was never gonna die, he kept beating cancer. And I was like, wow, she did everything she could, the doctors couldn’t save him, no one could save him. And when she gave him permission to go, he went. And I thought, wow, what if there’s a place where you could bring a sick one, a loved one who was dying and bring them to the aliens to save them? This was a crazy idea I had because I’m like, well, she did everything for Justin, but it wasn’t enough.
But what if the aliens could save him? So that was kind of like a conceptual thing I just thought about. And then, you know, I did a lot of research and for me, when I’m writing, I really have to dig into my own life and to my own trauma, things that I’ve experienced. You know, the movie is like a metaphor for mental illness. And, you know, I have been with some people who were mentally ill and they weren’t that-
Chris (11:44.627)
Mm-hmm.
Richard Bakewell (12:07.146)
like really that severe in the beginning, but then things happened where they had mental breaks and it was having to go to psych wards to see them and see a different side of them. And so really like those two worlds kinda combined in a script and then I just really kinda dove into my own life and basically kinda wrote a story that I already survived to live through more or less.
Chris (12:32.335)
All right, because there’s a lot of personal stuff in the film there as well. I mean, it touches a nerve because I’ve had similar experiences with family members and stuff who’ve ended up in that situation and it is very hard. For everybody. I mean, obviously for those, for those going through it, but when you’re a relative or a friend and you know, you do go and see, you can see the deterioration every time you visit. It takes a lot. It takes a lot of courage and a lot of strength.
Richard Bakewell (12:59.462)
Oh no, it does. And it’s hard to watch somebody decay. I remember there was someone I was with years ago and her best friend once said, I don’t think we’ll ever see her again. I think that person’s gone. And sadly that was true. Mental illness is something like once you have that first break, it just keeps happening and gets worse and worse over time. And there’s really no way to stop it, unfortunately. And it’s hard to…
you know, try to like live your life. And then it’s like, you really care about the people that you are, you know, that you’re with and care for. And sadly, you know, I, you know, it’s like, you can only do so much. And then it’s like, you know, I, at some point you have to kind of step away, I think, from people, even though they need you, you know.
Chris (13:47.859)
Yeah, yeah, definitely. And again, it’s that inner strength to do that, which is what’s needed. And again, portrayed in the film, it’s a powerful message. And that’s one of the things that really hits you within Roswell Delirium there. You’re talking about using your own life experiences as well, but you’ve also used world experiences because that’s something else which I thought, like you say, with all your Easter eggs and the clever, you’ve related it. Now,
I picked up obviously this thing’s back from the 80s, the Challenger, which I remember seeing in school. Well, I wasn’t in school because it was, it was the early morning US time. So by my time in the UK, I was, I was at home in the evening watching it, but that was a massive, obviously, part of being, being a Skyfire and being Roswell centered around there. It was fantastic. But I wanted to mention, cause I picked up because obviously it’s been the nuclear blasts and things, but I was drawing up the parallels with COVID quite a lot. And I could see that because obviously
They were talking about the lockdowns and the wearing of masks and things, you know, quite the way throughout. And that’s one of the things I was writing. I was like, actually, you know, even though it’s set in the 80s, I was still thinking you’ve managed to draw in current events that people relate to. And they’ll be able to put that in, which I’ve obviously done, and put that into the context of what you’re watching the film as well.
Richard Bakewell (15:05.742)
Sure.
Richard Bakewell (15:09.47)
Yeah, no, you know, I wrote it as a short film in 2019. And then, you know, we were gonna film it as a page script called the Roswell syndrome. That’s what it was called. It was like foreseen, that was it. And, you know, I had gone scouting at Riverside to find a hospital in a desert and I locked all the locations down and then March happened to 2020. And then everything just stopped, you know, we couldn’t film. I mean, we could have, but.
Chris (15:20.881)
Mm-hmm.
Richard Bakewell (15:38.834)
The hospital said they’re no longer going to allow us to film because they needed to keep the beds ready for people who were coming in. So I just then decided, well, I’m going to make it into a feature. And when I was writing it, sure, I was writing in my off time, but I’m also living this experience where you have to wear a mask. Even if you’re running outside trying to stay healthy and keep in shape, people are in their cars yelling at you and screaming at you to go back in your house.
Chris (15:44.81)
All right.
Chris (16:00.169)
Mm-hmm.
Richard Bakewell (16:07.87)
and you just want to stay healthy. And it’s like, I’m not hurting anybody. I just want to exercise and keep up my strength. And I’ve seen a lot of that and all these kind of like back and forth and just really like friendships kind of like derailed because some people went over the edge with some of the things and their beliefs. And for us in California, where I live, you had to wait in line sometimes an hour to go in the store and get groceries. And…
Chris (16:08.473)
Yeah.
Chris (16:13.617)
Mm-hmm.
Richard Bakewell (16:35.682)
there was no guarantee that there was gonna be anything in there for you. Like I remember like trying to find eggs and that was like impossible. Like it took me two weeks to find eggs at one point and then you’re going to buy two at a time, you know? And so like I really kind of drew those parallels of COVID because you know, it’s like something I think people can relate to. Like I know there are movies that have been released where they really, they kind of spend the era in COVID and they don’t do very well, but I was like, well, I don’t want to preach. I don’t want to like.
Chris (16:47.582)
Yeah.
Chris (16:53.982)
Mm-hmm.
Richard Bakewell (17:04.074)
make you feel like you’re in COVID again, because people don’t wanna be reminded of that terrible time. They know it happened, they don’t wanna think about it. But like, I feel like, well, in this movie, I kind of make a couple of reference jokes, like Caden is in school and talks about, you know, having to have plastic on the windows, wear masks and couldn’t get toilet paper. And that was kind of a joke, you know, because people, of all things to buy in bulk and sell out with toilet paper, it’s like, you know, it’s like…
Chris (17:09.044)
Yeah.
Chris (17:26.351)
I have a tough toilet paper at this.
Richard Bakewell (17:29.378)
There are other ways to use the bathroom. There’s paper towels, there’s washcloths, there’s other stuff, but people just went crazy for toilet paper, and I thought that was just the most humorous thing, and people for a year bought me toilet paper as a gift, you know? So even after the supplies were restocked, I still got toilet paper for a year, so.
Chris (17:45.239)
Yeah. That’s one of the things I laughed at because we had it in the UK, but I think the US, it really hit the US for the toilet paper side of things because you’d see all these people coming out with their carts filled, you know, the cars and trucks filled and it was like, why? You know, seriously, why are you, what are you eating that demands that much toilet paper?
Richard Bakewell (17:54.325)
Oh yeah.
Richard Bakewell (18:01.479)
Yeah
Richard Bakewell (18:06.998)
I know, I’m like, you know, there’s other ways, you know, if, you know, you could just buy a bidet and save the day, but you know, people, yeah, but people are really so obsessed with the toilet paper and I thought that was just the biggest joke of the whole pandemic.
Chris (18:13.317)
Yeah.
Chris (18:20.987)
It was definitely and I say that the way you’ve brought that into the film as well and made it in the context of obviously the nuclear blasts going around because you know, touchwood. Thankfully, no one’s experienced that. Well, they have in World War Two obviously have in Japan, but no one since has experienced that. And I also thought the parallels are quite I’m not going to get into politics, but there were some quite parallels, obviously, with the Soviet because it was back in the 80s. It was very much the Cold War and
Richard Bakewell (18:35.638)
Right, yes.
Chris (18:47.851)
kind of feels without going into it that that’s where we are again now so it is a very current sort of feeling about it even though it’s
Richard Bakewell (18:53.81)
Oh no, and it’s funny when I wrote the script, I kinda like made an alternate 80s world, and I based the script kinda like on the idea that the Soviet Union had really sent nuclear warheads to the US because Lisa Whelchel plays a teacher in the school scenes, and she talks to the kids about the Able Arch or 83 drill, which is a real drill where they evacuated the president and did a full on like.
Chris (19:01.521)
Mm-hmm.
Chris (19:14.089)
Yeah.
Richard Bakewell (19:22.39)
almost a precautionary evacuation to see how that would work and shape up. And that almost set off an attack by the Soviet Union because they thought the US was going to attack them first and they were getting out of here. So when I wrote that, it’s like, oh, here’s these things are really kind of like playing a part. And then they were seeing it with the Ukraine. And I was like, well, I don’t know how. I was always scared of the Russians invading us and nuclear weapons.
Chris (19:25.233)
Right.
Chris (19:36.968)
Mm-hmm.
Chris (19:41.221)
Yeah.
Richard Bakewell (19:51.734)
Ukraine so maybe we’re okay, but you know it’s like there’s still that possibility So I got the warhead so anything can happen But you know I really tried to like write it as like well What if this could happen and if that did happen the Cold War would not exist it would have been the hot war and that You know who knows what would have been left of the US. I mean it probably been Only like a some small desert cities more or less
Chris (20:03.902)
Mm-hmm.
Chris (20:09.069)
Yeah, exactly.
Chris (20:15.679)
probably the same with the UK as well because I think we’ve got more stored over here. The US has shifted them all in the UK. But you’re right, I mean, that’s the I’ve had the same feeling as well, by the way, about seeing when you see the news and things and you think, you know, they’ve got might have the strength and everything like that. But then the Ukrainians, you know, bless them, they’ve really held out and it’s amazing the strength of again what
Richard Bakewell (20:17.866)
Yeah. Oh yes.
Uh huh. Hehehehe.
Chris (20:45.059)
know, when you didn’t go into politics of looking after your own home and everything like that.
Richard Bakewell (20:49.134)
Right. And you know, and that’s the thing too, like, because I come, you know, when I was younger, my twenties, I used to box, you know, as an amateur boxer for a couple of years. And, you know, I saw I followed boxing all the time. It’s my favorite sports. And to see like the Ukrainian boxers give up their profession and go over there to help their country. It was like, that’s a hero, whether you live or die, whether you pull out a gun and you shoot other people or whether you just help other people. That’s a hero. And like, I don’t think those people get credit enough, you know, they give up everything.
Chris (20:56.063)
Mm-hmm.
Richard Bakewell (21:18.282)
risking their life for their people, pretty powerful.
Chris (21:18.461)
Yeah.
Yeah, one of them is a mayor of one of the towns, isn’t he? Is it mayor of Kyiv I can’t remember. What is it? Is it the Klitschko Brothers? Is it the Klitschko? Yeah, I can’t remember. Yeah, yeah, but I know exactly. Yeah, that’s it. Yeah, yeah, it’s amazing. You know, like you say, the dedication of the feeling of protection on that one as well. It’s kind of diverse and away from the film, sorry. But it’s kind of bring us to this. Well, yeah, it’s.
Richard Bakewell (21:25.286)
Mm-hmm. I think so. Yeah, I think so. Yeah Let’s go. Yeah, let’s go. Yeah. Yep. Let’s go. Yeah
Richard Bakewell (21:45.558)
No, no, but that is part of the film too, the Soviet Union. Yeah, it’s all part of the film, you know.
Chris (21:51.931)
It is because, you know, again, that’s the kind of thing I feel is happening. That’s someone over there once that Soviet Union back again. And that’s quite plainly obvious. And so we are, we’ve gone back, oh my God, it’s 40 years, isn’t it? In the 1980s. Oh my God. I keep forgetting that 40 years. I’m so old.
Richard Bakewell (22:07.614)
Yeah, about 40 years.
Richard Bakewell (22:12.73)
No, no, you’re not. No, it’s funny like you know one of the like, you know when the last shots we ever did was a shot of the Soviet Union flag blowing in the wind, you know and we did that way up in Kanoga Park and it was funny we did that shot because all these cars were driving by and they were seeing this like Soviet Union flag blowing in the wind and Camera filming, you know and people would stop and slow down almost cause accidents because they were like what?
Chris (22:27.53)
Mm.
Chris (22:31.889)
Right.
Chris (22:35.647)
Hahaha
Richard Bakewell (22:41.602)
the heck is happening? Are they invading now? Are they invading the US? Because it was during the Ukraine time, so I’m like, people were really scared when they saw that flag blown in the wind. It’s kind of funny. I’m like, let’s get these shots and get out of here, you know, before people start getting worried and bringing guns, you know.
Chris (22:44.207)
Everything.
Yeah. All right.
Chris (22:55.452)
Yeah, yeah, before…
Yeah, yeah, very true. Yeah, especially out there. It could turn very nasty very quickly. Can you share a moment of the film on set a moment on set that encapsulates the overall experience of making the film? Is it possible to just name one or
Richard Bakewell (23:06.231)
Yes.
Richard Bakewell (23:18.89)
Well, you know, like I tell you, I really, I mean, I have a lot of moments, but like, I really enjoyed every moment I had with the child actors the most. And it’s hard, I hate saying child actors because they’re teenagers and they’re so, they’re like mini adults, they’re so smart and I’ve hung out with them all a lot, you know. You know, like, my favorite stuff is the humor because there’s not a lot of humor in the film, but it’s just kind of sprinkled in there to give you a breath every now and then.
Chris (23:30.077)
Mm-hmm.
Chris (23:37.777)
Yeah.
Richard Bakewell (23:48.874)
And one of my favorite actors in the film is Roman Smith, who plays Jeremiah. And this kid, he came in to the audition, he was 10 years old, and he killed it. And I said to him, hey, look, you live in Oregon. I don’t know that you can come here and do the movie because we’re not gonna shoot in sequence, you’re gonna have to stay in a hotel for a week. And we only hire LA people, we’re not putting up people in hotels. And he goes, don’t worry about it, I’ll be there.
Chris (23:48.969)
Mm-hmm.
Chris (24:12.497)
Yeah.
Chris (24:17.119)
Mm-hmm.
Richard Bakewell (24:19.362)
If I get cast, I’ll be there. I was like, he’s 10 years old and so smart. So when we did the ham radio scenes in the garage, the very hot days, it was like August, it was like 100 degrees. So everyone’s dying and sweating, this melting. And I just loved the professionalism of him and Kylee together in this hot garage. And also it’s like the kid has to like swear in the movie and he hates to swear.
Chris (24:33.556)
Yeah.
Chris (24:48.649)
Mm-hmm.
Richard Bakewell (24:48.874)
He hates saying any cuss words, he says a couple of them. And I just really enjoyed teasing him, getting him to say a word in a certain way, because then he just would laugh and get all embarrassed and his cheeks got all red. And then it’s like that helped us bond, director and actor, and I got better takes out of him because of that. And that’s what I kind of do with a lot of these actors is I…
Chris (24:58.196)
Yeah.
Richard Bakewell (25:15.666)
I joke around with them a little bit. Once I know I have the scene locked in place and we’re good and I’ll just take a moment and I’ll mess with them. I mess with D Wallace too at the very end. And it’s like, that’s just how I am. And I feel like you get a better performance out of these actors when you kind of joke with them a little bit and put them at ease. And I just really enjoyed like the times in the garage, all those ham radio scenes. They were difficult because there’s so much happening and the continuity with the buttons and everything.
Chris (25:19.275)
Mm-hmm.
Richard Bakewell (25:43.638)
but just the joy, like when it works, you know, and like, and he helped make those scenes work and brought them to life, you know, and it’s just, I mean, one of my, some of my favorite stuff that we did, even though it’s very simple, but as you know, it’s simple sometimes, it’s most difficult.
Chris (25:59.471)
Yeah, yeah, exactly. The rubber ducks brings to mind as a little ducky. Yeah, rubber ducky.
Richard Bakewell (26:03.594)
Yeah, Rubber Duckie. And I think that was like an 80s, Aspen Elskid or something, because I kept hearing in my head, I remembered something of Rubber Duckie, you’re the one. I don’t know where that was from. Might have been Muppets or something, but like, so I put that in the script. I don’t know where I remember that from, but it’s somewhere in my memory. I don’t know why.
Chris (26:23.443)
Mm hmm. I think I can probably I don’t know if it’s true if it is, but it’s blazing saddles. Heady Lamar is in the bath and he’s got the little duck in the bath and he’s getting little ducky and he’s talking to the duck. So I’m just wondering.
Richard Bakewell (26:31.803)
You might be right.
Richard Bakewell (26:36.03)
You might be absolutely right, yeah, because there were other references from Blazing and Saddles and my dolls are too hot for this movie, so I can’t, you know, that might be too much, you know, yeah.
Chris (26:43.571)
Yeah. Yeah, make it an R rated film.
Richard Bakewell (26:47.858)
Exactly, trying to keep it PG-13, you know, so…
Chris (26:51.043)
Yeah, yeah, I think if blazing saddles got made today, you’d have the front and the opening credits and then the end.
Richard Bakewell (26:57.43)
Oh yeah, it’d be a five minute movie, you know.
Chris (27:00.259)
It would be a brilliant film. A very good film. So following on from that last question, what’s the most emotional or impactful moment for you during the making of the film?
Richard Bakewell (27:02.517)
Oh yes.
Richard Bakewell (27:11.106)
Well, they were two. Day four, we filmed at the hospital with Ari and Kylee. And as a director, you have to sometimes work with your actresses or actors in a certain way. And you can’t really micromanage them. You have to let them know what you’re expecting and get out of the way. And that was what I wrote.
Chris (27:36.646)
Mm-hmm.
Richard Bakewell (27:41.35)
I wrote that scene in the hospital with Ari and Kylee. I wrote that knowing of Ari’s experiences in her own life and her personal struggles with certain people that she had lost. And so I wrote that scene for her, knowing that I knew that performance would come out of her. I knew it would come out of her when she has to scream for her child, who is going through this emotional and traumatic moment and you know, and.
Chris (27:54.376)
Mm-hmm.
Richard Bakewell (28:10.07)
potentially dying. So that was a very hard day. And I remember the first take we did after lunch was a wide shot. And I wish I had it on a close-up, but we just did it as a wide shot. And Ari just went to another dimension in that moment. And she screamed and fought for Kylee and tried to get back into the room. And I remember when the actors pulled her out of the room.
She went into this crying fit and I was like, oh my God, it was so hard to listen to. And I tried to put my hand on her shoulder, but it was like, I’ve never heard anybody scream like that in my life. It was so haunting and I just felt, oh, she was in it. And it was like, oh, it was so amazing to watch. And it’s like, it was a hard day because we spent the entire day crying and just getting very emotional. And Kylee’s mom was crying the whole day. So it was really hard to do that scene over and over again.
Chris (28:50.996)
Yeah.
Richard Bakewell (29:07.266)
But it’s like, it’s such a, it’s the heart of the movie. It’s when the movie turns. It’s like, it’s when the emotional roller coaster really just goes down, you know, 100 miles an hour down that 300 foot hill. And then the other scene would be the last scene with Ashton and Ari in the jail. And you know, like I kept them apart the entire day. I didn’t let them see each other. You know, Ashton got her makeup and came in.
Chris (29:07.595)
Mm.
Richard Bakewell (29:33.618)
Ari had eight hours of makeup to age, you know, to be aged in like 10 years or so, you know, so she spent a lot of time on makeup and I kept them apart. So the first take is the first time they see each other the entire day and they hadn’t seen each other in probably three months. So it was very emotional and Ashton really just like it, the emotions ran so deep.
Chris (29:37.449)
Yeah.
Chris (29:48.398)
Right.
Richard Bakewell (29:56.982)
And she told me later, her hands went numb during one of the takes. She just went to a different place, and she just really went completely numb inside. And it was hard to watch those two back and forth. And I remember the first take, some of it felt a little too much. It felt a little too intense. It felt too, I’m like, well, I need to bring this down. So I remember sitting next to Carter, the DP, and…
Chris (30:01.983)
Wow.
Richard Bakewell (30:23.702)
you know, by the camera and I just like closed my eyes and I listened to their performances and I was like, how can I bring them to a more stable take because I feel like it’s just too emotional. And I sat there and for the last two minutes I had to kind of listen to it and didn’t even look at them. And you know, I was getting all teary eyed and it was just like, you know, you know when actors or they go to another level and you know when you’re…
Chris (30:35.595)
Mm-hmm.
Chris (30:50.975)
Mm-hmm.
Richard Bakewell (30:53.206)
the crew knows it too, because they don’t always pay attention. They don’t always, they’re on their phone, whenever they’re off and whatever, and making little side comments. And you know when they’re in it, they believe, they just saw something great, because everybody was just mouth dropped. And it’s like, yeah, we have a pretty powerful scene here.
Chris (31:01.138)
Yeah.
Chris (31:16.959)
it was, you know, that’s coming across from my side. It’s nice to hear that you all felt that as well when you’re actually making it. And I find that a lot with the films people speak to it’s you do find that the more you get into the film more against us, you know, like you get the Hollywood blockbusters where they barely speak to each other, they barely see each other, but you know, on a proper feature film like this, I mean, I’m sure I’m not going to say I’m sure you love the Hollywood blockbusters as well. You know, they’re great films, but
Richard Bakewell (31:36.856)
Yeah.
Chris (31:43.959)
you get more detailed, they’re more into the story. I love this kind of film where, because you can tell that the actors have really, they really are so much in the part. And like I say, the crew were also part of the film as you go along. And so it’s always nice to hear that there’s been that symbiosis between where they’re just everyone’s just like, wow, and stops and just to admire what’s going on.
Richard Bakewell (32:04.722)
Oh yeah, and like, you know, some of my favorite moments on set is like, you know, the DP is like an extension of me, you know, it’s like, you know, I give him my vision, my shot list and everything and we talk about the scenes and, you know, Carter, you know, he did a hell of a job and, you know, it’s like, my favorite stuff has been like, you know, we’re just, we’re rolling and we’re getting good stuff and then you can see him smiling and hear him laughing under his breath, you know.
That’s when I know things are working. It’s like when the DPS would come over to me and we have a little sidebar, I know something’s not working. But for the most part, seeing him always kind of smiling and just laughing after a take, then I’m like, I know we got something good here. Things are working.
Chris (32:52.107)
definitely. I mean, that’s your background as well. So you can see yourself and imagine, you know, you know what he’s looking for. And you know, you know, when he does that, because it’s you’ve done it yourself. You’ve been there yourself on that side of things.
Richard Bakewell (33:00.277)
Oh yeah.
Richard Bakewell (33:04.611)
Oh indeed, I’ve been there a lot, so…
Chris (33:09.043)
What would you like audiences to take away from the film?
Richard Bakewell (33:12.394)
Well, I really want people to feel like they got an experience. I feel like it’s a wonder. I just saw Oppenheimer again last week. That movie is an experience. It’s a journey. There’s a lot happening. It takes you on these emotional arcs. It’s done so well. I feel like these days, studio movies don’t always work out.
I think people care about the project. I think people really want to make a great movie. I don’t think everybody sets out to make a terrible movie. But I know like studio execs are always pushing people to shorten the days, shorten the shooting time. And they don’t care about one more take that’s gonna be better. They just wanna like, they wanna come under budget. That’s all they really care about, you know. And it’s hard to, it’s impossible to ever have a movie be good because there’s all these pressures, you know, to make a movie fantastic.
you know, whether it’s casting or whatever. So I really want people with this movie to come in and have a journey and kind of go back in time with the 80s and feel like nostalgia, you know, to feel like, wow, it feels like I’m watching an 80s movie with all these 80s actors and, you know, the music and I want them to feel that way. And then I want them to feel like they went on this emotional roller coaster where they didn’t know they were gonna go down this path where they thought,
Chris (34:25.938)
Yeah.
Richard Bakewell (34:39.434)
It’s a fun 80s movie. I didn’t expect it to get this way in turn and be a kind of like a psychotic thriller with a lot of drama. I wanted them to kind of walk away and at the end just talk about the movie because there’s a lot of things that happen and I always say to people it’s like when we had the premiere a couple months ago, everybody kept talking about the movie for days and days and they were all excited about it. And a lot of the reasons why was because they never saw the ending coming. They didn’t realize that was the ending.
Chris (35:01.253)
Mm-hmm.
Richard Bakewell (35:07.986)
And like I told him, I said, it’s about mental health. It’s really about the decay mental health. And I don’t think that’s something that we ever address in this world enough. It’s like, sure, we have homeless people and sometimes you might give them a dollar or buy them a sandwich, but like, there are so many people who are mentally ill in the world that just never get help. And it’s like, I don’t think we can help everybody, but I think this starting the dialogue because of, people have their own mental health issues and people they know. And I think that’s something people just need to really.
Chris (35:18.537)
Yeah.
Chris (35:34.612)
Mm-hmm.
Richard Bakewell (35:37.654)
kind of like maybe talked about afterwards. And I think with this movie, it’s a family film, so you can watch it with your kids and the parents can watch together. So I feel like that can open up some dialogues after, you know, they watch it together.
Chris (35:51.035)
Yeah, definitely, definitely. And it’s a good message to take away. And you’re right. We need to talk more about mental health. There was one film a couple of years ago, it was a film short, I spoke, I knew the director. They actually went to a film festival and they created an award after my show for him, which was like, yeah, in the UK. But it’s called Don’t Man Up. It was a lovely little film. And it was, you know, because you always say, you know, there’s all that, just man up and get over it. There’s mainly male mental health, but obviously it’s, you know, there’s a…
Richard Bakewell (36:08.706)
Hahaha
Richard Bakewell (36:16.98)
Yeah.
Mm-hmm.
Chris (36:21.255)
Roswell Delirium handles everything on that side of things. And before I wrap up, is there anything you’d like to say before to people who are watching or listening to the show?
Richard Bakewell (36:23.886)
Thank you.
Richard Bakewell (36:31.114)
Oh, no, I just want to say that I know everyone is very eagerly waiting the release of this film and You know, I want everyone is like, you know, they can just hang tight because we are working deals right now to have a streaming service Show the film in the next couple of months. So things take a little bit of time, but be patient But I think as you know, your patience will be paid off in the end You’d be very happy with the end result when you get to finally see the film. So
Chris (36:56.159)
Brilliant. And it’s also on February 24th, you’re going back to the Chinese theater in Hollywood.
Richard Bakewell (36:59.998)
Yeah, in six days we’re going to be playing at the Chinese Theatre 6, February 24th at 4 p.m. And then from there I think we go to Mexico, Chicago, Phoenix, and then Barcelona.
Chris (37:15.635)
to a nice one. Brilliant. I’ll just stop recording. Thank you very much, Rick. Or Richard. Sorry. Let me just, oh I’m not going to leave. Hang on, I’ll stop recording. No, I almost left the call.
Richard Bakewell (37:21.3)
I go with both.
Richard Bakewell discusses his film Roswell Delirium, which explores themes of trauma and childhood trauma. The film incorporates 80s references and draws parallels to real-world events like the COVID-19 pandemic […]
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