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Episode 91 Blayne Weaver
35 Plays7 days ago
🎙️✨ This week on Sharing the Magic, we sit down with the multi-talented Blayne Weaver actor, writer, and the voice of Peter Pan himself! 🧚♂️✍️
From voicing one of Disney’s most iconic characters to writing and directing heartfelt indie films, Blayne shares his journey through storytelling, creativity, and the childlike wonder that keeps us all “never growing up.” 🌟
We talk about:
• Finding the balance between classic and modern storytelling
• How Disney magic shaped his career and craft
• The lessons Peter Pan still teaches us today
🎧 Tune in, dream big, and remember; second star to the right and straight on till morning!
Follow 👉 @sharingthemagicpod for more conversations with the storytellers behind the magic. ✨
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Transcript
Introduction to 'Sharing the Magic'
00:00:01
Speaker
Welcome to Sharing the Magic, the podcast that sweeps you away into the enchanting realms of Disney. Each week, we're joined by a special guest, be it a magician casting real-life spells of wonder, or a Disney expert revealing hidden secrets in the heart of the happiest place on Earth.
00:00:21
Speaker
Together, we'll venture down glittering paths, uncovering tales of daring heroes, legendary places, and whimsical wonders that make Disney sparkle.
00:00:32
Speaker
So prepare to be enchanted, delighted, and transported to a place where dreams dance, fairy tales breathe, and the magic is real.
00:00:45
Speaker
Ladies and gentlemen, welcome back to another wonderful edition of Sharing the
Host Introductions and Disney Connections
00:00:50
Speaker
Magic. I am your co-host tonight of sorts, James Kemp. ah We have a wonderful panel, we have a wonderful guest tonight. I'm excited about this guest, I'm going to leave my excitement to the side. I'm going to pass it to the other host and go around this mighty circle. we'll start with Ashley first in no particular order. Ashley, how are you doing?
00:01:09
Speaker
I'm great. i'm glad to be here and I'm looking forward to hearing his story tonight. Peter Pan was one of my favorite Disney movies growing up and still is, so I'm ready to geek out. You know, that's me too. As if, you know, since we're going to be going to YouTube, i I'll put him up on the screen. have a miniature Funko Peter Pan right here.
Two-Year Anniversary Celebration
00:01:27
Speaker
Just for the simple fact that Peter Pan is my all time favorite ah Disney movie and character. So I'm super excited to have our guests. ah Let's go to Josh.
00:01:37
Speaker
Josh Dunn, how are you doing? What's going on, everybody? I am fantastic. Super pumped for tonight's guest. Hopefully he takes it easy on my love for pirates. It's nothing personal, but I do love pirates. So I'm excited. I'm excited to play on and hear a story and get this thing going. And happy two years to guys also.
00:01:57
Speaker
Side note. Oh, yeah, we we are happy two years here at Sharing the Magic. So thank you, Josh, for throwing that out there. And we're going go to one of the OGs of this cast. Lisa, how are you doing?
00:02:09
Speaker
Hi, everyone. I'm checking in from Indianapolis. Lovely rainy weather here in the Midwest. I'm very excited to hear from our guests tonight.
00:02:20
Speaker
And i especially can't wait to hear about the voice acting portion of it. as Yeah, I i mean, as as many of you know, oh you hear my dog in the background, Lucky's going off and hear something. Sorry, guys.
00:02:34
Speaker
But so I have the voice acting part of it too is amazing and I love it. And won't pass it over to Dawn though and see how Dawn's doing. Dawn, how are you friend? Hi, I'm Dawn from Houston, Texas. And i just rode Peter Pan's flight when I was at Disney world just about a month ago.
00:02:52
Speaker
So that speaks volumes because i had a, it used to be called fast pass, but now lightning lane. So I used my one lightning lane for Peter Pan's flight. So that just shows you what how much of a fan I am.
00:03:05
Speaker
Nice to meet you. Man, the excitement
Rachel's Disneyland vs Disney World Preference
00:03:08
Speaker
just keeps building and building and building. And I i i saved Rachel for particular reason. and you her Her picture is of her and Peter Pan in Neverland.
00:03:16
Speaker
So Rachel, how are you doing? i am doing great in Pensacola, Florida. I am looking forward to talking to our guest tonight. um I do love Peter Pan. He is one of my favorite characters to meet at the parks, both Disneyland and Disney World.
00:03:32
Speaker
I think I like Disneyland a little bit better though. Not sure. um And I'm also looking forward to learning about our our guest's new movie that just came out recently.
00:03:43
Speaker
So thanks. All right. i' I'm really excited about that too. And before we get going over to Jeff, I'm again, James Kemp. I'm coming from Washington state. We're actually having nice
Jeff's Voice Acting Passion and Goofy Anecdote
00:03:53
Speaker
weather. weather I like, I said, I'm super excited for this guest, but I want to push, push Jeff a little bit and have him do his thing.
00:04:00
Speaker
but So Jeff Shaver, are you doing, buddy? I'm doing so good. I geek out anytime. Oh, man. Voice acting. i didn't find it It found me. It was so weird.
00:04:13
Speaker
um I grew up um just watching Disney movies. And and ah my great cousin. All right. You all heard this a million times. Sorry, everybody.
00:04:26
Speaker
My great cousin was Pat Buttram. The evil sheriff. Well, not man. Well, I grew up knowing that, you know, if that's your great cousin. That's your great cousin.
00:04:39
Speaker
I said, well, boy, and I would geek out. I would watch Disney movies. I would watch everything and go, who's the voice of this person? That person's the voice of this person and this person.
00:04:51
Speaker
I connect those dots all the time. Well, you know, like years went by and, and um you know, Pat Budger. Well, go i eventually, long story short, i I love the voice of Goofy. And not just not just like Penta Colvec or, you know, who wait I love Bill Farmer.
00:05:12
Speaker
He is my Goofy voice. We've had we've interviewed him a few times. and And I got to tell you, he is, I just... you know, I call him Satan Bill in my house because I've met him a few times. And, and, but the, here's what happened. This is why love voice acting is because it just, it found me very late at night.
Blaine Weaver's Peter Pan Journey Begins
00:05:33
Speaker
I stay up sometimes really too late, like 3 a.m. being like, label sheriff, now you're up and down, gorsh, now you're up and down.
00:05:44
Speaker
And then you sort of get goofy. So I would love to, um since you're,
00:05:52
Speaker
Would you do me the can I do the honor of introducing you ah in my goofy voice, if that's okay? Sure. Okay. All right. I'll do my best. I don't know how good it'll be.
00:06:03
Speaker
I wrote this earlier. yeah Oh, gosh, everyone. We got a real treat today. Well, our guest is the one and only.
00:06:15
Speaker
Blaine Waver. Well, he's a super talented feller. Full actor, full writer, director. And a real nice guy, too.
00:06:26
Speaker
and So sit back. Let's give him a big, oh warm welcome to Blaine. And away we go.
00:06:37
Speaker
yeah of Thank you, Goofy. um My pleasure. It's lovely to be here. Thanks for having me, Dan.
00:06:48
Speaker
Very nice to have you. And just thank you for for being here. and And what an honor. so Thank you very much. That means a lot. I'm i'm excited.
00:06:59
Speaker
Let's talk. Let's go. All right. So here we are. Okay. whoi So I'm going to be the ghost host tonight. So I'm going to... Usually I domineer these conversations sometimes.
00:07:13
Speaker
But... um Well, I know we probably have a lot of people that want to talk to you. And so I'm going to shut up a little bit. Let's just start with the basic like we normally do, Jeff. Let's go with, the you know, how did you get Disney and the love of Disney come about? I mean, everybody has a everybody on this podcast has a love of Disney. We all had it start somewhere in our life.
00:07:34
Speaker
So how did Disney come about in your life and lead you to where you are now? You know, like I always talk about acting, anything really in the entertainment industry, it doesn't follow a straight path. You know, it's very rarely, you know, it's like ladder runs, you know, it's more like chutes and ladders, you know? So you're going all over the place based on ah the butterfly effect or wind or whatever.
00:07:56
Speaker
And um my love for Disney has almost like a cosmic connection in my life because ah when I was a kid, started theater when I was five years old. um And it became my, ah it was my t-ball, my Boy Scouts. Like when all the kids were doing other things, playing soccer, I was ah wearing tights on the stage, ah you know, ah singing Disney songs because I was doing children's theater at a theater in Shreveport, Louisiana called the Peter Pan Players.
00:08:27
Speaker
And what they would do would they would specifically it was children's theater. So there were lots and lots of Disney versions and whatnot. um My first play was Mary Poppins. And so I'm five years old and I'm due. I wasn't Mary Poppins. i I was a turtle who couldn't dance very well. Surely you remember the turtle in Mary Poppins? Of course. My favorite. Okay. Let's just say it was a supporting character.
00:08:50
Speaker
ah but um for Disney comes from getting to do those shows and watching the movies and stuff as like inspiration or research, as you call it.
00:09:02
Speaker
um But it made me feel like I was a part of it from something, such a young, young age, right? And my favorite growing up was Peter Pan. um And when I was about eight years old, I got to play Michael up in the musical Peter Pan. So I got to fly and everything, you know, and it was crazy. And I was, ah as I was eight, I was probably,
00:09:23
Speaker
uh, seven years younger than my, the next oldest youngest person in the, in the cast who was playing John. And, uh, I loved it. I love the pirates. I love the swashbuckling.
00:09:34
Speaker
And I remember saying to the director, who was also the creator of the ah children's theater. I'm like, what I'd really like to do is play Peter. And she says, well, Peter is always played by a woman. So, and I'm like, eight. So I'm like, well, I'm going to do it. I don't care.
00:09:48
Speaker
And, uh, and She remembered that conversation years, years, and years later when I booked Peter Pan, um which is also like the the cosmic story kind of goes into that as well.
Voicing Peter Pan in 'Return to Neverland'
00:10:01
Speaker
So I'm in Los Angeles. I'm a working actor. um I'm writing movies and I'm i'm doing my first ah movie that I had written at that time, a movie called Manic.
00:10:13
Speaker
And i was just looking for more work. And i was I went to my agent's office. You know, sometimes you just pop in. ah That's where you used to before the Zoom. You would just pop in to remind your agent that you were alive and wanting to work.
00:10:27
Speaker
And I happened to walk in on this one day. I went to her office. I'm like, I haven't auditioned there for anything in a couple of weeks. And I just wanted to remind you that I'm here. And she's looked at her table and she picked up a piece of paper and handed it to me and said, go down the hall and audition at the voiceover department for this.
00:10:43
Speaker
And I went down there and they were doing voice casting, voice matching for Peter Pan Return to Neverland. So they were looking specifically because I was 3, 24 at the time.
00:10:55
Speaker
ah They were looking for someone to voice match Cubby who in the original Peter Pan film ah had a voice very much like Goofy. He was a grown man doing, you know, oh, hey, Peter, you know, that kind of thing. Oh, hey, Peter, nice to see him you.
00:11:10
Speaker
See, you could have booked it. I couldn't. Dang it. Because I started started to talk to do my audition and I just felt so self-conscious. I'm like, I can't really do this, but I can do Peter. Like I can hear Peter's voice in my head. I've seen the movie so many times.
00:11:24
Speaker
And they said, yeah, sure, whatever. Here, ah audition for Peter. So I did it. And they were really in a hurry to get rid of me. And I left and about six weeks later, I got a call from the voiceover vision of my agency.
00:11:38
Speaker
And they were like, this Blaine Weaver? And I'm like, yeah, like this is so-and-so agency. Are we representing you?
00:11:47
Speaker
Acting department down the hallway. And they're like, we have no idea who you are or why you came into the voiceover agency, but you have a callback for this. ah So present you now.
00:11:58
Speaker
Go into Disney tomorrow. But yeah, they had nobody had made a note about it or anything like that. They just said that they got a call back for Blaine Weaver and they had to look me up online to get my phone number. And so if I hadn't have gone in that day, I wouldn't have... have At audition.
00:12:14
Speaker
And if they couldn't have found me, I wouldn't have gotten callback. And then i booked it. And I've been doing it since Return to Neverland, which was 2001. two thousand and one So it's been an amazing gig.
00:12:26
Speaker
It's, you know, obviously just as an actor, it's been an amazing gig. As a person, it's like just the joy of my life to get to play this iconic character, be a part it. of the Disney family as it were, and just to ah see so many people that it affects. you know One of the funniest things is every time I have a friend with kids, they try to explain to the kid that I'm Peter Pan, the kids don't get it.
00:12:48
Speaker
But when the kids are like 19 and they watch Return to Neverland over and over and over again when they were kids, then they get it and they think it's super cool. So that's my favorite.
00:12:58
Speaker
ah But yeah, that's that's the crazy arc and the Peter Pan that has ah luckily ah been a part of my life for a very long time. Well, here's my burning question. and I'm going to turn it over after this, but that it segues into what you said. So when i well, did my research on, on, I love Peter Pan so much. It's one of my favorite, if you, my top, like Robin Hood, Peter Pan.
00:13:26
Speaker
um I don't know why i just. No, but mine's the exact opposite. Peter Pan and Robin Hood was my second favorite. I love that, sir. They're close to the hat to your cousin. Well, no, my cousin was the evil share for Nottingham. But my true love is like Robin Hood.
00:13:42
Speaker
and but I think Peter Pan is really close to Robin Hood. They're both like I i used to watch the Arrow Flynn Robin Hood movie. But, peter you know, he was ah he was whimsical. He was ah charismatic. He was loving. he was.
00:13:58
Speaker
But Peter Pan sort of. Yeah, Peter Pan is. ah Just a wonderful character, I think. Now, I know... Love for adventure, that's for sure. love oh yeah.
00:14:10
Speaker
And to the point, like, I used to read all the, like, Jay and Barry, to die is the greatest adventure at all. That's how much it, like, it punched the adventure of of Peter Pan.
00:14:23
Speaker
He loved adventure to the point where it's like, to die is the greatest adventure ah of them all. Wow! Well... Well, that'll shape your life a little bit. Yes, you will. I know you, ah i from here, correct me if I'm wrong, but it seems to me like you loved Peter Pan before you became Peter Pan.
00:14:46
Speaker
Totally, for sure. might Tell me about that. How did it shape your, and then you got to be Peter Pan. and Yeah. It's kind of like booking James Bond, right? you know It's like, it's this iconic character that everybody knows.
00:15:00
Speaker
and you know that you're not the last one and you're not the first one, but it's just a really cool place to be. You know what i mean? And like there's no character i would rather play.
00:15:11
Speaker
Like, I feel like this for me is like, you know, it'd be like, um i don't know yeah if I was playing some other character and I'm like, you know, I would love to play Peter Pan. Yeah. It's not like that. This is the part that like, I would feel like I was born to play.
00:15:24
Speaker
I, I'm very, uh, I'm very big into being youthful and living life to the fullest and leaving it all on the field. And that's Peter.
00:15:36
Speaker
And, um you know, I have been ah i have flaws where I sometimes speak before I think. And, um you know, but I'm always genuinely me.
00:15:48
Speaker
And I think that's the the heart of Peter is that he never pretends to be anybody else. um Sometimes you've got some misplaced confidence on that. But ah but yeah, I love it. it's I mean, there's no other place I'd rather be. So I can consider myself incredibly lucky.
00:16:03
Speaker
And it's just so much fun. Like, tell you what could I possibly complain about? i that It's amazing. So I'm going to tell you um my first.
00:16:14
Speaker
i So I watched Return to Neverland. And I'll tell you, it wasn't it was, oh, gosh. OK, I'm dating myself. It was probably like 10 years ago or whatever.
00:16:26
Speaker
Never watched it. But I was sitting. I remember the day and the moment I watched it because I love Peter Pan. and Everyone's like, Jeff, you know, Peter Pan, you got to grow up sometime. I'm like, we'll see.
Jeff's Reaction to 'Return to Neverland'
00:16:40
Speaker
Well, I love Peter Pan. Peter Pan is like Robin Hood, like goofy, like just has a place in my heart. Well, I, you know, something new, Peter Pan, I had to like sit down, slow it down and go.
00:16:56
Speaker
Well, before I introduce something new, I, ah well, it has to be the right place. So I was sitting on my, mu I took a plane ride and I was visiting my family. i was on my mom's couch, you know, a few states away. I said, I'm, well, I'm bored. I'm going to watch. I'm like, oh, Return to Neverland.
00:17:20
Speaker
And I watched it and went, pretty good. pretty good and that's high praise because you know oh no i'll take it compared to compared to a uh you know a masterpiece job and i was so freaking scared to watch that movie because it was like well it was it you know this is this is saying sacred for me you know i grew up with the but boy
00:17:52
Speaker
Like I watched it and I thought, well, this is just wonderful. This is great. This was good. and it was so like, i I think I'm going to watch this again.
00:18:03
Speaker
and it's those little boy moments. Like you're scared as a little child to go, oh man, I don't want to watch this because I'm scared. i i But to watch Peter Pan in it, to feel like Peter Pan and to hear the voice of Peter Pan was just wonderful.
00:18:21
Speaker
And I love that freaking movie. So thank you, Farstruck. I'm happy you're here. I'm gonna turn it over right now to our guests. And our I mean, by guests mean hosts, sorry.
00:18:37
Speaker
Lane, I have a question for you. um sure So you took up the role of Peter Pan in early 2000, correct? Yeah. yeah And what where were you at?
00:18:49
Speaker
I know you were in New York. for a little bit. Did you move from Louisiana to New York? And what what did you do in that timeframe before you found Peter Pan?
00:19:00
Speaker
No, yeah, that's a good question. My my good career is yeah a very strange, but like ah just me trying to file my taxes is always the most confusing thing but the that accountant has ever heard in their life. So I graduated high school in 94, Shreveport, Louisiana, Bossier City, Louisiana, actually.
00:19:21
Speaker
And by that time, I had already started working a little bit as like a teen actor. Right. So I did a couple of TV movies. um at that, like that I had pulled out of school to go and do.
00:19:32
Speaker
So I, which way to tell this is that's the most interesting. So ah the the second movie that I did when I was 18, this was the summer after my senior year of high school.
00:19:42
Speaker
I did a Western called The Good Old Boys that was directed by Tom Lee Jones and Matt Damon played my older brother and Sissy Spacey played my aunt and Frances McDormand was my mom. And it was kind of like,
00:19:56
Speaker
It was like kind of like, again, cosmic life school just for me. Like all of these people, we were in Alpine, Texas, in the middle of nowhere. And they had no choice but to hang out with me ah because we were, you know, the the like seven professionals in this small town filming this movie.
00:20:13
Speaker
And I learned so much. And I had this just really great experience doing it. And from that, I picked up a couple of things that really influenced my life, one of which was that Frances McDormand and Terry Kinney, who played my parents, both lived in New York and they were talking about theater all the time and, you know, stuff that I had never I'd studied theater since I was a little kid. But what I was studying was like box step and, you know, how to do, ah you know, community theater. And they were talking about, um you know, ah Miller and ah Shakespeare and stuff that I had never really touched on before.
00:20:48
Speaker
um We were on set also in that Western with Sam Shepard, who I knew from the Pelican Brief and Matt Damon was talking to about theater. I'm like, oh, you write plays too? Just the amount of things that I didn't know at 18, you know, and luckily I was surrounded by these really incredibly talented people who kind of told me in the kindest way possible that I didn't know anything about my craft. So right after I did that movie, um I moved to New York and I went to an acting conservatory um for a bit.
00:21:19
Speaker
um And it was that was a crazy. I loved New York. I had this this romantic love of it. But about six months after I was there, the cowboy movie came out in Los Angeles. And I thought it was time for me to go there and try to catch that wave. So I left New York after about six months, moved to l L.A., um got an agent and all that jazz from the cowboy movie.
00:21:41
Speaker
um And at this point, ah Like I'm in LA, I'm doing commercials, I'm doing guest stars, I'm doing all of of that kind of thing. And i was so inspired by working with Matt Damon, who at the time was writing Good Will Hunting with Ben Affleck. So I got to read like a very early version of that script.
00:21:59
Speaker
And again, just like I was talking about the New York experience, it was inspiring to me and I wanted to be better at what I was doing. So I and a buddy, we wrote a script ah to try to you know write parts for ourselves.
00:22:13
Speaker
And somehow that movie got made and it got into Sundance and it became this, you know, real thing. So all of a sudden I became a screenwriter and that was all the time before Return to Neverland. I booked Return to Neverland and I remember being at the ah recording studio And they were like, i you're out of town next week. And I'm like, yeah, my first movie is going to Sundance. And they're like, what?
00:22:36
Speaker
What else do you do? And I'm like, I write as well. So that that's what I was doing in that time. And what what's funny is um it took two years to record Return to Neverland. So it's probably 1998 or something like that that I was messing with that.
00:22:51
Speaker
And um that movie that I did film, Manic, ah while being heralded was a really painful filming experience because I didn't get along with the director and, ah I never wanted to
Blaine's Directorial Debut with 'Outside Sales'
00:23:05
Speaker
direct.
00:23:05
Speaker
Like as an actor, I wanted somebody to call me and give me a part and then, you know, just tell me what to do. And it that made me want to be a director because I so didn't enjoy the experience with this director. So what I did was I took the ah money that I had made from Return to Neverland's release and I financed my own first film as a director called it Outside Sales, which is not a good financial move to make, just FYI.
00:23:31
Speaker
um Should really invest that money better. But it did make me a director. And since then, I've directed eight feature films, you know. So yeah I don't know if I would be there without Peter Pan because I don't think anybody would have bet on me if it wasn't me, if that makes any sense. Yeah. And we're, you know, we're Disney podcast. And so we we these are the stories we want to hear. And so like is Bobby Driscoll, right? The first he was.
00:23:58
Speaker
How did you. So I have like two questions. One is. um Well, that's, you know how, if I had a dollar for every time it was like during the the process of going through a Disney movie, it was traumatizing. It was awful. You know, that, that, that is typical. That's not something out of the ordinary. and And that's not, that's not a story that we shy away from. And, you know, we don't want to, we're not here to like, you know, um,
00:24:27
Speaker
I don't know, but we're we're here to hear your story. um But so it seems like there's some tension. So like you, you love Peter Pan, Bobby Driscoll, you know, you how did number one, how did you study his voice?
00:24:42
Speaker
How was that process for you? But when it was time to go to the recording booth, um what was that sort of dissonance like? And I don't think that's a bad story. I think a lot of times, yeah you know, we ah we, like, it could be me. yeah Like, I love goofy gorge, but then when you're in the, well, that was for Bill Farmer, too, you know, in a goofy movie.
00:25:05
Speaker
So he he, you know, and they they threatened to... ah replace him with with just modern day movie actors. and And well, it wasn't a very loving process. And so, and I always say story shapes life. And so for someone like me or our listeners, well, part of it is, you know,
00:25:28
Speaker
you must have done so so much hard work to, you love Peter Pan, you love the voice. You were the voice. fooled me. Like it was not not fooled me. You were the voice.
00:25:39
Speaker
When I watched it again, i'm like, oh, this this is Peter Pan. and And, well, but then, like what you said, the process, there's things beneath the surface that are, ah you know, there's stories there, too. so but Sure, no, totally.
00:25:59
Speaker
I'll say this. Like, just to be clear, like, ah my, everyone I've worked with at Disney has been great. Like, it has been ah dream experience. There are issues that always make actors ah can be traumatic for actors, you know, because so much is at stake. You know, it's not just the amount of money, which is intense, you know, on on that side, on the Disney side of it.
00:26:23
Speaker
But it's also the keeping the integrity of the characters. You know what i mean? Like ah one thing that I've always really respected is every time I do a Peter Pan recording, whether it's for you know ah Disneyland Paris or it's for the ships or it's for a video game they always ship out the same 1950s style recording microphone ah because it has kind of a tinny thing to it it's the something like that but it's so classy that they take that effort you know what i mean and it doesn't matter where we're recording they'll ship it out there
00:26:59
Speaker
um So yeah, that was a dream. The independent film I did for Sunday, that was not a dream. ah Disney has, from the very beginning, has been, ah what what's the right way to say it? Protective of me as an artist.
00:27:11
Speaker
Good. Right? While also doing what they have to do, right? So ah what the stress that I had under Return to Neverland is we got I got the role and we did two weeks of recording all together with um you know the actress playing a Jane and Corey Burton doing the amazing, you know, Captain Hook that he does.
00:27:34
Speaker
um We had the original Wendy reading Wendy, which was insane because she's like, she talks and it's like, Alice in Wonderland. i'm sitting here with Alice in Wonderland. um And then ah after that two weeks, they fired everybody but Corey Burton and myself.
00:27:52
Speaker
wow And ah so that was amazing.
00:27:57
Speaker
I also felt so lucky just to be in the room, right? At at this point, i kind of decided, all right, what they're probably going to do is keep me and record and make the movie and then replace me with Michael J. Fox or something, you know, they'll probably do like what they do with most of the big, you know, once it's coming out in features, it's normally like, I just done this indie movie with Joseph Gordon-Levitt when he did, you know, a treasure planet.
00:28:23
Speaker
So I'm like, that's what I was thinking of they were doing. So I just took it and I've done so this was so few things in my life, just so you know, but like, I just take it as a win every time they call me.
00:28:33
Speaker
And like, I don't count on anything. Uh, Normally um I get very excited. I get, I can, you know, with this, I was just like, this is never going to come out with my voice in it. So I just need to be okay with that and just be stoked every time I get to go in and play.
00:28:48
Speaker
And then I didn't realize it was actually going to be me until I saw the trailer. um And that was a big day. Like I got, remember getting, like tearing up, you know, because it's like, I really didn't think it was going to come to fruition.
Working with Disney on New Projects
00:29:03
Speaker
um But yeah, and like that movie the movie coming out was kind of just the beginning for me because they would call me in for all kinds of things, whether be toys or, like I said, you know fireworks displays or whatever.
00:29:15
Speaker
And they were always so kind. And what's weird to me about this process is that you so seldom sit in the same room with the people that you're talking to. you know Usually they're in another state or country and you yeah I've got my cans on, and they but they always know me.
00:29:32
Speaker
Blaine, how are you? buthpabye It's like, I know you were doing this last time. It's like, and they don't realize that like, I have no frame of reference for who they are, except for a name, you know? ah So, but they've always been lovely. And again, they're so enthusiastic about the iconography, about keeping it,
00:29:50
Speaker
consistent for the kids you know that that's the thing that i most respect is like you get artists into a seat and probably the worst the first thing they want to do is change things uh the first thing they want to do is put their thumbprint on it you know that's certainly how it works in independent film when you get a note from the studio it's about that studio person wanting to be like this is my idea you know and When it comes out, i'll be able to say, that was my idea.
00:30:12
Speaker
And in Disney, it's not that. They want it to be seamless. They want it to feel like it should feel. Just that that that vibe that we all know. We don't know why it feels like Peter Pan, but it does.
00:30:24
Speaker
You know? Oh, well, that that's just what I told you. It was like, when I watched it, was like, it just feels like Peter Pan. That disarmed me. i was, I went in like a smug.
00:30:37
Speaker
I don't know. was It was that long ago. But I'm like, hmm. Well, and then it broke my heart. I'm like, it felt like Peter Pan. I can tell you where I was when I watched it. Yeah. I was laying in my my rack Iraq in 2004 when I bought it from the bootleg shop that we get all our movies from.
00:30:56
Speaker
like, I need an uplifting movie. You've been getting bombed for like 52 straight days or whatever it was. I'm like, i need something uplifting. And to hammer home ah your point, i because being a huge Peter Pan fan and knowing the Bobby Driscoll story and reading the books, I needed something. And I didn't feel like I was missing Bobby Driscoll. I felt like Peter Pan had never changed, like you were saying. There you go. That's how I felt, too. But to be transported away from the middle of Saudi Arabia and out there the middle of a desert back to Neverland the way I never thought I would at that time, you know.
00:31:31
Speaker
yeah It's something amazing. um being Also, I have just filmed my first short film. I get what you're saying about putting betting on yourself and putting your money. and It isn't the best investment. What was it like? You know because you said you're kind of doing them both at the same time. What was it like juggling both you know an investment like that and then this seamless idea of I'm being i'm recording my voice for Peter Pan?
00:31:59
Speaker
So how did those play hand in hand? That's a good question. Like the that you would think that it would be um in conflict. It was, you know, it it arguably was the best time of my creative life. You know what I mean? It's like I get to do this thing that touches so many human beings. I mean, the fact that you bought that in Iraq, you know, from like this, you know, part of like ripped movies.
00:32:26
Speaker
That's crazy to me. That is crazy, right? that That level of being able to affect somebody is like is not normal, right? like You make an independent film, you're lucky if 50,000 people ah you know in America see it you know because of that reach.
00:32:45
Speaker
So I'm getting to do this thing that hits everybody, and then I'm doing this small, artsy, like... artsy like or what a little self-indulgent probably, but like an artsy indie film, you know, at the same time, i felt like I had the dream, you know? And ah yeah, yeah.
00:33:06
Speaker
It's, ah I would love to be doing that now. Like if a good year for me is getting to do like a guest star on a TV show or something and then going off and doing a play for something that maybe 40 people see, you know what I mean?
00:33:19
Speaker
that That's the kind of stuff I love is to be able to do it all. Yeah. That's awesome. Josh, I know you have a question, buddy. No, wait, wait, no. Don. Don. Don.
00:33:29
Speaker
yeah gone Sorry, i Don. My bad. My bad.
00:33:34
Speaker
Oh, Don, you're muted. Oh, no. Unmute yourself. course I'm sorry. This is where we edit. forward sit there where we And this edit. Okay, now.
00:33:45
Speaker
there go on yeah you're tired yeah You and Walt Disney have something in common. Well, more than one thing, but he also was in a play ah as he played Peter Pan in a school play. I don't know if you know that.
00:33:58
Speaker
I did not know that. That's amazing. That's really cool. And he was drawn to the fact of the never grow up. And also that quote, i guess he was. but Yeah, yeah, obviously.
00:34:10
Speaker
But um his famous quote, we all know. um So it just to reiterate, I can say, you don't know. no tell me Okay, you're going to have to do it. I want to know.
00:34:24
Speaker
I'm telling you, that's the real trouble with the world. Too many people grow up. a And you've seen it painted and on the signs and I've seen it at Epcot when they're doing construction. And I've taken pictures with it because I love that quote.
00:34:37
Speaker
But the question I want you to ah answer for that our audience that doesn't know, because we heard that you took two weeks to record your voice. So the way my brain works, and i always want to know,
00:34:48
Speaker
there was cgi and also um digital uh i guess sketches for this particular movie but when you're doing the voices are they matching your voice later to the drawing because i know that they use the cgi for the pirate ships and things like that but when you're doing the voice with the i guess you have a script and you're reading they later come back and match the drawing and how does that work and do you work with the artists on anything Yes, to that's a great question. ah Well, I'll say this. the The two weeks that we recorded the original script, um we then from that point on re-recorded everything and the scripts were constantly changing. There was this big thing.
00:35:29
Speaker
at first, it was supposed to be a straight to video sequel. And then ah somebody higher up started liking it and thought it would be good to you know actually become a feature. And once they did that, they put a lot more money into it.
00:35:45
Speaker
So the script kept changing constantly. And ah we would see things. And like I said, we recorded for like two years of like coming in. Sometimes it would be one line. Sometimes I'd be there for three days. um they replaced the Jane character ah to this lovely actress named Harriet Owen who lives in London.
00:36:06
Speaker
So we would have to schedule times to record where both of us could be there with it out being three o'clock her time, right? So we would go and we would record several hours at a time um But very few times did I see anything other than sketches. Like they would show me whatever they could to give me the idea of like the level of intensity or, you know, it's like, this is fun, you're just having fun flying around. Or this is you and Hook, you know, getting into it.
00:36:36
Speaker
And they would sometimes have the clip that they are keeping into the new dialogue so that I could hear what I'm matching intensity-wise.
00:36:47
Speaker
um but they recorded me a couple of times to have a frame of reference for like expressions and stuff. But, They were obviously trying to match the original. You know, they weren't trying to give it any Blaine Weaver-isms.
00:37:00
Speaker
ah But it was neat. And they did most of the, I want to say that the animation happened in Australia, somewhere very far away. So I rarely got a chance to see it in progress.
00:37:12
Speaker
They would just give me what they thought they they could in order to get me to the right place. Does that make sense? Yes, I can completely see that. So they're kind of directing you, kind of like how they use the green screens there. And and they're like, there's a dragon in front of you. They're kind of that to you, except your voice.
00:37:28
Speaker
And the voiceover directors are the best at that. and They're the best. They're like, and you're coming up on Captain Hook and he pulls his sword and you go three, two, one. i love it. Oh my gosh. it must be exhausting to get that right expression.
00:37:45
Speaker
I was saying video games. Video games really take it out of you in a way that you wouldn't think. yeah I've been doing this for a long time, but then video games, it's like, grab that sword, grab that Tinkerbell, grab that. you know It's like whatever's happening on the screen, you have to give them a hundred different options for it.
00:38:04
Speaker
I've learned over the years to put my crows at the end of the day. And ah you know the more excited it is, end of the day. So that we don't yeah burn out the the the the lungs before that.
00:38:17
Speaker
that's right Love it. did One last question and then I'll pass it on. But so when the ride ah or the attractions do a remake or any kind of new technology, are you doing the voice for the ride or the attraction?
00:38:31
Speaker
Yeah, that that's me. i don't I don't think they've ever changed the ride, that the actual Peter Pan's flight, because it's part of the classicness of it. But um yes, I've done ah ah fireworks displays. I've done PhilharMagic is a thing that's at Disneyland. yeah.
00:38:47
Speaker
And that's me. Um, so whenever, and I've done several things at other parks that I've never gotten to hear, but I'll tell you one thing that was really cool. I went on a Disney cruise one time, for my birthday and, ah we were at dinner and ah it was one of these really cool restaurants that had all these black and white drawings of the characters on the wall and ah dessert. They all come to life and they- Yeah, animator's palette. Is that what that's called? All right. Yeah. Great. We were sitting there and it was literally my birthday, literally, you know, on my birthday.
00:39:19
Speaker
And I hear me and I'm like, like what is that and then look up and Peter Van's flying around talking and I'm like I don't even remember doing this but that's me and of course we're trying to tell the waiter and the waiter's like okay buddy sure you want dessert or not you know that kind of thing more like no more wine for you well it's like you go in there you have no idea what they're talking about they're like you know no time to come alive and I'm like all right I'll do it sure I don't know what we're talking about but yeah Well, we've interviewed um a lot of, you know, some voice I love... I'm not a voice actor. I'm an amateur voice actor. I just... i have I'm a one-trick pony. I just do goofy and half butt trim. That's all I do. That's all I do.
00:40:04
Speaker
um But we've been very fortunate on this podcast to have, like, Caitlin Robrock, who's Minnie Mouse. and But she... really goes So I've asked these sort of questions, you know, your own voice.
00:40:20
Speaker
And so when when it like pierces through the radio, you're like, oh, that's me. Yeah, that's what nobody else can tell that. That's true. Right. So everyone just, oh, that's Peter Pan.
00:40:33
Speaker
Like, or for me, I'd be like, gorge, I'm goofy. I could tell a little nuance that I do. That's not like Bill. I stink.
00:40:44
Speaker
I'm the worst. i'm I don't deserve this job. I don't. Well, that's voice acting. yeah And so to hear yourself on like nuanced on a radio up above and you're like, well, it's me. And you're like, nobody else around you knows this. Like nobody else can right cares or knows you.
00:41:05
Speaker
Well, it takes voice acting is so it's beautiful. It's intricate. It's art. It's it's ah and it's very intimate because you're not only intimately studying another person's voice their mannerisms their their delivery their ups and downs and their you know but but it's also you're injecting your own story your own voice and only you when you hear it up above can hear your own and how funny is that that you can be like oh that's me and then yeah like wait what you're like sp
00:41:47
Speaker
yeah I don't know where I'm going that. just tell me tell me more about that. because i think this is The more you know me, the more you can tell when it's me. And people have a ah get a big kick out of it. you know Because they're like, I kind of didn't expect to be able to recognize you. But it it's just you only higher and like with a 1950s accent. And I'm like, yeah, it is. But you know I'm not somebody who really...
00:42:11
Speaker
two kinds of actors, right? You've got the Daniel Day-Lewis who kind of disappears and becomes a different person. And you have like the Robert Downey Jr. who's like some version of Robert Downey Jr. You know what i mean? It's like, this is and Jack Nicholson. It's always still got this essence of Jack Nicholson, but he can become, he can take his personality and aim it towards what we're doing. And I think I am the ah latter, ah but I love that I fit into that Peter Pan mold and, ah you know, happy to do it as long as they'll have me.
00:42:44
Speaker
All right. I had a question. i know that you brought up PhilharMagic, and that was one of the areas that I wanted to go into since um we hear your voice saying those iconic words.
00:43:01
Speaker
Do you mind saying them on the podcast? what What do I say? Did I say, here we go? Yes.
00:43:08
Speaker
It's just, here we go. So yeah, we all know that saying right there ah is iconic for Peter Pan. And um there are so many things that Peter Pan embodies.
00:43:25
Speaker
do you Can you think of anyone that portrays like a modern day po Peter Pan, like real or not? Good question. modern day Peter Pan. i I mean, Peter Parker, maybe, you know, ah something like that. Maybe maybe a little Tom Holland, Spider-Man, who's wisecracking. I think he's more humble than Peter is.
00:43:53
Speaker
But, ah you know, that that not afraid to stand up for what's right kind of thing. I think Peter's a little chestier. Sorry.
00:44:05
Speaker
I think Pan is a little chestier than Parker is. But, ah you know, I like that comparison. That sounds like fun. Like the the the fight is ah important, you know.
00:44:16
Speaker
What about you, though? I feel like. Oh, Blaine Weaver, I mean, is what I meant. Yeah. Yeah. Modern day, modern day Peter. That's me. yeah well feel so yeah just want to say that the difference between the two peters with tom hollands was the reluctancy peter pan is a lot more like i'm gonna go get it i don't care and you know peter parker has to sit there and think a second he's like do i do this is this gonna make an impact on my internship with tony stark is this you know how's this all gonna play out so there's that reluctance less confident for sure yeah and it's like
00:44:51
Speaker
There's a line ah from Barry's book that's like Peter says, should we go on an adventure? Do you want to have tea first? Like, I love that. Is it tea adventure or adventure tea? Because either way, the adventure is happening. So it's up to you.
00:45:06
Speaker
You know, that's what I love. J.M. Barry. That was because I was a big fan of Peter Pan. And yeah. But then i read the books, J.M. Barry.
00:45:18
Speaker
And I'll tell you what. And it was like, oh, Peter Pan is not just he's not just like whimsical and funny and what. No, he like he's he draws lines in the sand. He's a moral person.
00:45:33
Speaker
And there's things that he says that's like, well, for one, death will be the greatest adventure. How, you know, how much do you care about that is somebody who takes their life seriously to be like life.
00:45:50
Speaker
yeah Well, if if I mess up and and if I die. It's fine. death might be the great thing. You know what never realized? You know, it's like you can listen to a song or something and hear it so many times since you were like nine that you totally missed the references that are happening, you know, even though you're grown person. Like, I've seen ah movies where I didn never got the joke.
00:46:13
Speaker
and At some point, I should have gotten the joke, but I didn't, right? Until like, you know, I'm in my 40s and I'm like, oh, is that what that means? I never got symbolism or the metaphor crocodile having swallowed the clock chasing the only grown-up.
00:46:30
Speaker
Yes. island It's like that the crocodile coming after Hook you know is death, time chasing us. And I'm like, I love that. is And I'm not kidding you. Time is chasing us all. discovered that like five years ago.
00:46:44
Speaker
Yes. After doing the role of Peter Pan for as long as I've done, it never occurred to me. was just like, yeah, swallow the clock. That's how you can hear it coming in my life. Time. ah The crocodile.
00:46:57
Speaker
The crocodile. the And and there's it's both. It's two. Slit major. I can't figure that out on my own. like that's ah That's embarrassing. No, no. It's not embarrassing at all. It's it's actually really profound.
00:47:13
Speaker
Well, nobody knows this. the the The clock comes from us all. Okay, maybe that one. But that you know what J.M. Derry does is it's ah it's a double entendre.
00:47:24
Speaker
it's It's both. The crocodile comes for us. The serpent. you know the The thing that breaks down is a symbol symbol symboly of like chaos and order. and And it's like, well, it's going to get us all.
00:47:40
Speaker
But then the clock is a ticking. And yeah boy. And Captain Hook is someone who's he's He's going against, he you know, oh we could could do a whole other podcast on this stuff. I know Ashley had a question, though.
Ashley's Cherished Disney Memory
00:47:57
Speaker
No, I just was going to share, like, a really cool story growing up for Peter Pan for, like, me. It's like, when I was little, like, my first Disney trip, I was, like, six or seven. We went to have breakfast at the, and disney sweat in Springs, but it was, like, the Empress Silly.
00:48:12
Speaker
And it was, like, a character breakfast on a, on the boat where like that's paddlefish now. And it was my grandfather's like 50th birthday or something special. And Peter Pan was always my favorite. So like we all had our Peter Pan outfits on just because we didn't, that was our favorite movie.
00:48:29
Speaker
And we got surprised. Captain Hook came and kidnapped our grandfather at the breakfast. And Peter Pan, like, rescued him and came back to the table and was, like, high-fiving all of us. It just, like, a special moment.
00:48:42
Speaker
And so when Neverland or Peter Pan, too, came to theaters, my grandma and grandpa were visiting. And I made my i took my grandmother to see it on, like, opening day at the theater. And it was just a special moment.
00:48:55
Speaker
Oh, that's fantastic. I love that. And my grandmother's like, wow, they like, both you she quick neither one of us could tell like the difference between your voice and like the original oh Bobby Driscoll's. It was was just really cool.
00:49:07
Speaker
And I think Rachel can probably attest that I always feel like the Peter fans in the parks are the most chatty. And most fun. They have permission to be, you know, all over the place. And I've always had fun.
00:49:21
Speaker
The ones on the boat. They definitely are. they a girl ash Unlike the Disney cruise lines, though, they they get into it, too. Like on Pirate Night, like Peter will come out and do like meet and greets and we'll be in line. You'll be in line meeting them. And then the next thing you know, Captain Hook sneaks around behind him with Smee.
00:49:39
Speaker
And then it turns into like a big battle. me it's It's pretty cool. That's awesome. Have you ever went into the parks and and talked to to Peter Pan and caught them off guard?
00:49:53
Speaker
i've never caught them off guard. i've I've talked to Peter Pan one time when I didn't tell him that i was a voice Peter Pan. I filmed an Instagram or TikTok or something like that. And I was just like, broad. He's no real Peter Pan.
00:50:08
Speaker
And then the other time I knew someone who worked at the park who made a ah photo op happen. And Peter was but you very funny. He was like, so you think you're me, huh?
00:50:20
Speaker
like yeah It was fun. It was fun. That's great. What did you think of Will Arnett's take on Peter Pan as Sweet Pete in the Chippendale film?
00:50:31
Speaker
Loved it. I love it. I think, again, I think, I always think of Pan as like, you know, ah James Bond or Superman or, you know, I'm more of a Batman guy personally, but I am totally okay with seeing multiple different Batman doing their thing. You know, it's like, put a movie with Michael Keaton over here and a movie with ah you know, what whatever vampire guy over here.
00:50:55
Speaker
And I'll go to both of them. Buy my ticket. And I love it. I love Will Arnett. I thought he was really funny in that film. And like, you know, I know there's a live action thing going on. I i say go for it.
00:51:08
Speaker
I love it all. Like I said, I won't be the last, not the first. I'm just happy that I'm in there at all. And but that particularly made me laugh. I thought it was great because being a classic Peter Pan guy and loving that character as much as i did, I thought it was just a great idea. And then all the little references from like the movies themselves and like you just brought up Australia and then the cartoons being shipped to a different country to be made. I'm like,
00:51:35
Speaker
Yeah, the hand-drawn cartoons were sent to different, for you know, it's so the the way they they've made him be the ultimate villain at the end but was like ah the greatest heel turn of all characters, and I loved it. as you turn i like that I still think it would have been better.
00:51:53
Speaker
Well, Arnett was, I mean, like, it was good, but, you Well, obviously it should have been me. That's what I was know, that's what I was thinking.
00:52:01
Speaker
Tell everyone. You know what's something that's cool though? Like just like ah in passing, like the, one of my first films that I ever directed, I did a short film called Losing Lois Lane, which is a very sophomoric, but I play Superman and Superman gets dumped by Lois Lane and is too depressed to save people anymore.
00:52:25
Speaker
um But it's kind of made in the the tone of swingers. So it would be like rated R, you know, languages, but um But um robin is Robin in my film is kind of like Peter Pan is in the film you're talking about. Well, Robin is just like cursing like a sailor.
00:52:40
Speaker
And like, you know, ah anyway, I digress. But what's cool is if you look up played Superman, my picture shows up there, along with Christopher Reeve and all of these you know people that have been in actual movies, right?
00:52:55
Speaker
And it's the same thing with Peter Pan. Now Will Arnett and I are next to each other, you know, when you look that up, which I think is what great company to be in, you know, Bobby Driscoll, you know, Will Arnett, Mary Lou Retton, you know, all of these people that have played ah Peter Pan.
00:53:12
Speaker
It's pretty cool. It's a great gallery to be in. Imagine being at a Comic-Con together on it. That'd be hilarious. That'd be awesome. That'd be awesome. Oh, man.
00:53:23
Speaker
ah Lisa, did you have another question? Well, anybody could have asked. I just was wondering when you're out and about and you're at Comic-Con or if you're just out um walking around shopping, do people or fans recognize you for your work as Peter Pan or ah many of your other roles like directing, writing, etc.?
00:53:46
Speaker
But what' happening that's a good question. I would say that people don't recognize me for the Peter Pan thing unless we tell them, right? The comic convention stuff. Everybody's there because I'm Peter Pan, right? That's why they they come. But I...
00:53:58
Speaker
i What's funny is I've gotten to a point, I've done a handful of conventions now, right? Where sometimes I'll show up and people know me because they've met me before at another one. So that's kind of cool, right? Like that's like a whole different fan base. That's like, oh, we met at this so-and-so. I'm like, oh, I guess that is only two states away. Did you drive in today? you know But you know, Disney fans, they will. They they love it.
00:54:24
Speaker
Absolutely. but As far as like being recognized for the other stuff, I just been around in this business for a super long time. So most of my recognition and stuff is not like um Joe public, you know, it's somebody who worked with somebody that I'm that knows me or, you know, like I have so many great, I've worked with so many great actors. And like, that's one of the things I love about directing is that you get to choose the great actors that you want to stand next to and, ah and work with. And I get, I use the same people when I get a chance to, but like,
00:55:00
Speaker
I've had such great luck with casting. So ah some of my favorite people are people that I've gotten to direct in movies. and They all have their own careers, you know, which like it's like a spider web, you know, of like, oh, I did this movie with Barry Bostwick, you know, 10 years ago, something like that.
00:55:18
Speaker
And Barry Bostwick did Grease on the opening of the Broadway production with Mary Lou Henner. And I did a movie with Mary Lou Henner because she called Barry Bostwick and said, do you like this guy?
00:55:30
Speaker
And he said, oh, you'll have a blast. And so Mary Lou Henner and I have this great connection. And in the middle, I did a movie with Richard Kind, who they both love. And I'm like, it's just this business.
00:55:42
Speaker
If you get to work, if you're lucky enough to work, you just run into the same people all the time. And it's such an interconnected web of humanity. And artists love other artists, you know? So it's like, it's, it's a real, it's like Facebook only if you up the egos and the, You know, and say, if I don't make friends with this person, I might miss out on the job.
00:56:04
Speaker
that i Yeah, no. Or learning the stories. You know, if i don't if I don't make friends with this person, you know, they they have something to teach me. And that's wonderful. Oh, my. god Absolutely. I'm finding that in the Portland scene too. Cause I live in the Portland, Oregon area ah by Vancouver and our, our independent film scene is very bustling. And I'm finding I'm running into a lot of same people the same mixers, the same, you know, things that we go to. And me, like I said, i just directed my first film. I didn't, I didn't want to act in it. I kind of fell into it because of kind of same thing. Someone dropped out. i' like, well, I don't have any budget.
00:56:37
Speaker
I have no choice. yeah James is like, James is like a, he's, he's, like serious he's going he's going into boys going out to the big outdoors tracing his awesome his boyhood and i from a director's standpoint what has been the most difficult thing that you have encountered on like a set a first day of shooting any like any actor issue because you said you've been able to choose the actors that you want but sometimes those choices don't always pan out do they
00:57:08
Speaker
No, no. Sometimes there's just like personality issues can, can be a thing. um Like I said, I've been really lucky. i I don't, I don't have any horror stories. I've got annoyance stories of like, ah you know, another, another couple of hours in makeup for this one, you know, that kind of thing. um But the most challenging things that I've had um,
00:57:34
Speaker
um when One of the reasons that I think directors use a lot of the same people is one, they they know what they're gonna get. They know the level of professionalism. They know the level of fun that they can have, but they also don't have to prove themselves that person again.
00:57:50
Speaker
And I feel like especially in the lower budget, like independent film range, somebody who has that face like like Mark Harmon was in a movie that I directed, it was my second feature.
00:58:02
Speaker
And he was risking a lot, like arguably more than the financiers of that movie, because his face is worth millions of dollars every week on a TV show.
00:58:13
Speaker
Right. And he knows that. And he also knows that no matter how bad I am at my job, this movie will probably get released because of his face. So there's an extra pressure on people who are bringing a name value to a movie. Right. They know I'm worth.
00:58:31
Speaker
this much money and you're not paying me that I'm doing this because I want the artistic experience which I love actors love to act and like when you find somebody who's like could literally just go to valley you know and you know have the white lotus experience you know uh and instead decides to sweat it out for 12 hours a day five days a week and make nothing you know those are my favorite people so like that's the pressure you have to but can answer your question you have to always win them over you have to convince them that this is going to be good and that's why it's so fun when you have like a connection like
00:59:14
Speaker
When working with Mary Lou Henner, she was never worried about whether I was good at my job because Barry and, ah you know, Richard had told her that it was going to be fun and that she was going to, you know, be happy.
00:59:25
Speaker
So that's great. It's really hard when it's somebody brand new and you have to be like, all right, yeah, I talk a little much and i get to do a lot of takes, but it's not because i don't know what I'm doing. This is just kind of my style, you know?
00:59:38
Speaker
Yeah. And with that said, well, here's here's where where I'm going. James, do you want to ask another question? No, I was actually very content. was just going to be like, yeah, I could tell you're like the that. The takes the take thing. I can. I was very strict on my takes. I was like, no, we're going to do like, you know, maybe five takes total. And that's because I need to move on. I only have three days to shoot this and I don't.
01:00:05
Speaker
and i that's the one thing that i only had one one that was like 12 takes because it was it was a night scene we had to get right so i i totally agree to that so everything you said it's all annoying stuff it wasn't anything movies are all about time it's about how long how much time i have my camera how much time i have this actor how much time i have my dp right so it yeah working out that time it's the bear but yeah you gotta you know It's like, if I want to spend all day tomorrow doing this chase scene, then I got to get out of this conversation scene right now.
01:00:36
Speaker
you know Right, exactly. The ticking clock and the yeah crocodile. Yes, exactly. <unk> I love it, Dawn. That's one way to say it.
01:00:47
Speaker
Yeah, no, I love it.
Perseverance in the Entertainment Industry
01:00:49
Speaker
James and and Blaine, just so wonderful to have you. here's Here's what, you know, we always say around. We always say here and this here, Barb's story.
01:01:01
Speaker
Oh, story shapes life. Story shapes life. And your story. We have listeners and our listeners. Your story shapes their lives, including mine and James. And we all have, you know, our own sort of lives. We're all different. and But you sharing your story helps us shape our own lives. And that is just so wonderful. And I'm starstruck.
01:01:33
Speaker
i mean, I don't know if you know this, but I'm like Peter Pan. I'm like Robin Hood, Goofy, Peter Pan. Anyone. Oh, man. It's the exact right response to have.
01:01:47
Speaker
What do you got, Josh? Blaine, I got one thing for you since we're wrapping up here let's here. We're about to close it out. To all the listeners out there, I hope this like helps motivate them. and i mean You're a big inspiration to a lot of people. so Blaine, I want you to finish this sentence for me.
01:02:04
Speaker
Blaine Weaver is still flying because... Oh, ah that's ah well, yeah you know what Churchill said, ah you know, never, ever, ever, ever give up, ah which fits into the Neverland, I think. ah But I think that's it. You guys, you got to go after it and and fight your hardest, you know, and I love what I do and I wouldn't do anything else.
01:02:31
Speaker
Awesome. thank you man i appreciate that answer thank you but so good yeah it's so good that you i love it it's so i mean look i just want to say back to the beginning if you listen to the beginning this podcast you can hear the persistence and the just like never quit attitude in the beginning where i'm going to go to my agent and check in and see yeah what's going on what's going on yeah what's going on and that role may have never landed if you weren't just banging those doors down like hey What's up? I think that's so true. And I think it has, people have to be reminded about that all the time. I have to remind myself, you know, that you, what you miss, what does Gretzky say? You may miss a hundred percent of the shots you don't take.
01:03:14
Speaker
um You know, that's, ah that's the thing. And it's so hard because I, the times where it doesn't work out, you know, like, I feel like ah hack, you know, I'm just, you know, begging this guy for work and, you know, but yeah, I also raise money to make, fun you know, feature films. And it's like, you gotta have those conversations and be shut down a million times before you get what you need. And then all of a sudden you're making a movie.
01:03:39
Speaker
and there's nothing better in the world than making a movie. I honestly, I, it's amazing. And if people knew how much fun it was making a movie, we would all be, you know, doing the same exact thing. So don't tell anybody, but it's, uh, it's addicting. Oh, it's so addicting. I appreciate that. judge though like i do Okay. Before we be, before we end anyone else, but we got Blaine Weaver here.
01:04:04
Speaker
anyway I have a question. I knew. Sorry, Blink. blink that was new because i that's what we but i was ready. Speaking of movies and directing, I know you have a movie called Miss Valentine.
01:04:17
Speaker
Is that out yet? or It is not out yet. Thank you thank you for my plug. i appreciate that. Where can I watch it when it comes out? too It looks like what just like my kind of movie, too.
01:04:30
Speaker
It's romantic comedy. It's set during a Valentine festival. It stars actress named Paris Burrell, who's famous from disney ah so some Disney shows, and young Mary Lou Henner.
01:04:43
Speaker
And it's ah it's a romantic comedy about ah a woman who was in a beauty pageant and ran off the stage and is now famous for freaking out during the pandemic.
01:04:54
Speaker
uh miss valentine beauty pageant but it's called miss valentine i'm not sure where it lives yet it's in the can uh as they say and uh we're looking for a home for it so it should be out soon but uh thank you for asking it's uh i'm very proud of it i think you guys will enjoy it i am excited for it too because i was looking over your phone friends i knew she had this teed was gonna was hoping she was gonna ask because was excited
01:05:18
Speaker
And we're not just a Disney podcast. Trust me. Like when I, you know, we all deep dive. We love our guests. And anyone anyone who is here, we typically, we just, you know, we're all starstruck. We're all cinephiles.
01:05:34
Speaker
Yeah, I love, well, when when I get a release date for Miss Valentine, I'll come back and we'll we'll talk Miss Valentine. Well, let's do that. That's a a very fun shoot that we did during an actual festival that was absolutely bonkers to film a movie during ah during this giant festival that they were having, but it's fun.
01:05:54
Speaker
All right. Well, just know that we're keeping tabs on you. If you keep tabs on us, we're the same. Where can we find y'all? Where can everybody find you? I'm on Instagram. Blaine with a Y. Weaver is an easy access. And BlaineWeaver.com, you can see reels and videos and all the stuff that I'm working on.
01:06:14
Speaker
Awesome. I just added you. I'll add you right back. I'm not creepy. promise. If you add me, you won't see anything weird.
01:06:26
Speaker
Just trust me. You put me on podcasts, I add you. That's the rule. okay and all right sounds Sounds good. Guys, this was great. Thank you so much. lane So wonderful to have you. and all right ah James, I think you're going to I'm going to close this thing out. Are we ready, guys? Are we ready to close it out for the night? All right. Yeah, let's do it. Well, you know, guys, it's been a lot of fun. We've had a wonderful guest, Blaine Weaver.
01:06:54
Speaker
Thank you again, Blaine, for coming and sharing your story. I've appreciated I know the guests are not guest, but our host tonight, Ashley, Dawn, Rachel, Lisa, Josh, and Jeff and myself all appreciated tales you told and you took us a little, you know, little bit into Neverland and into your world.
01:07:11
Speaker
and you know a little bit beyond and i'm i'm truly blessed to say that i got to talk uh to one of my favorite people i've ever on my bucket list i want to talk to i know everybody here is delighted to have uh been able to be a part of this as well so thank you blaine again for coming on thank you thank you yeah name if you la oh my god thank you so much it was a pleasure talking to you as well thank you good night guys have a good one good night
01:07:40
Speaker
Thank you for joining us for another enchanting episode of Sharing the Magic. We have magical conversations that are crafted to your ears. The Edutainment Show, where education and entertainment collide each week.
01:07:53
Speaker
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01:08:04
Speaker
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01:08:17
Speaker
Until next time, keep sharing the magic and rattle the stars.