Joe Lynch Talks Holliston and More – Part 2
Steve Barton
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If you’ve been following along with our “Holliston” interview series, you’ve read our conversations with Adam Green, Corri English and Laura Ortiz. Today we bring you Part 2 of our exclusive, and very personal, interview with the hilarious Joe Lynch.
You can follow these links to check out the previous interviews with Adam Green (Part 1 here and Part 2 here) and Corri English and Laura Ortiz. And if you missed it, here’s Part 1 of our interview with Joe.
In addition to the traits of the characters on the show we discussed with Joe in Part 1, the “Holliston” dialogue has been kept as true to reality as possible. “Adam and I always talked about the way we wanted the language of the show and the diction of the show and the word play of the show to be as organic to how we talk as possible. For example, we were at the Hatchet III premiere with our filmmaker and journalist buddies, and if you could take a tape recorder to some of these conversations, you’d think we were writing dialogue for “Holliston.” There’s a lot of backhanded humor and some gross-out stuff laced with random quotes from obscure Asian horror films. We all know we get each other, but it’s this shorthand that we really respect, and we thought, ‘Why not use that kind of diction in a TV show?’ Just like “The Big Bang Theory” does when they’re talking about Mensa and Star Wars and Flash Gordon and bazinga, and they’re not doing it in a way that panders to the audience. It’s just if you get it, great; if you don’t, you’ll still get the story. But the people who get these jokes will adhere to it more. And we thought that’d work just as good with the horror world. If I saw “Holliston” as a fan and I saw these guys talking about Horace Pinker, I’d be a fan for life because they’re speaking my language.”
By speaking the language of their fan base, the reception from conventions has been outstanding. “When we talk to people, it’s like guys will come up to me and punch me in the shoulder and be like, ‘Hey, how ya doing, pal?’ And I’ve never met this person before in my life,” Lynch said. “There’s just this oneness that the cast exudes, and I think when fans watch the show and feel like the fifth, or seventh, member of the cast, then we’ve done our jobs.”
When not cracking up audiences in “Holliston”, Lynch has plenty of projects to keep him busy. “I’m in pre-production for my new feature, which I’m directing and co-wrote, called Everly, which is a hardcore action thriller,” Lynch said. “It’s essentially… well, you know how you always hear an action film is Die Hard on a boat or Die Hard at Denny’s or Die Hard at the DMV? Everly is Die Hard in a room. It’s about a woman who’s trapped in her apartment. Her Yakuza boyfriend finds out she’s an informant and sends all of his goons after her. And the uniqueness of the movie is the fact that the camera never leaves the apartment. It’s always stuck with her. So the entire film takes place in this one space. Thus, Die Hard in a room. Or if you took the last 10 minutes of Leon the Professional and stretched it out over 90 minutes, that’s the movie.”
And just who is going to be featured in Everly? Get a load of this. “It stars Salma Hayek, which is pretty amazing,” Lynch said. “And we’re going out in a couple of weeks to start shooting.” Everly, keep an eye out for it.
Finally, when the name Joe Lynch comes up and you’re not talking about “Holliston”, the conversation will almost certainly eventually come around to an infamous film directed by Lynch (no, we’re not talking about Wrong Turn 2). We mean of course Knights of Badassdom. Lynch was kind enough to let us in on a few of his struggles with the film. ““Holliston” essentially saved my life,” Lynch said. “This is something I haven’t really talked about that much in interviews, but of course the elephant in the room is, ‘What’s going on with Knights of Badassdom?’ I’ll be the first person to say it. That film is unfortunately stuck in stasis for now. Making KoB was a great but very challenging experience, and the business decisions that have been made thus far regarding its completion and release are totally out of my control.”
So truly, “Holliston” and now Everly have helped Lynch deal with the incredible negative pressures that developed from the Knights of Badassdom issues. “There’s nothing better to pull yourself out of a creative rut like I found myself in than to do something else creative,” Lynch said. “Whether it’s something completely divergent from what you’re doing or even down to drawing with crayons and having something else to do as an outlet, just so you’re not thinking about that one unfortunate situation. Because it sucks when commerce messes with art, but it happens all the time. I’m not saying Knights of Badassdom is MoMA or LACMA worthy, but it was something that I thought was very artistic AND commercial, and it kills me every day thinking that it’s not out there and not out there in the way it should be. But hopefully that works itself out. But until then, I thank God that I have Everly and thank God I have “Holliston” and these other great opportunities where I’m able to express myself. I don’t know what I would have done without them.”
We all wish Lynch the best as he moves forward with Everly and his other exciting projects.
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