Michael Gross Speaks the Truth About Burt Gummer and Tremors 5
Matt Boiselle
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While many of us children of the 80’s will forever remember Michael Gross as the pacifist pop on the long running “Family Ties,” as soon as we turned the corner into the 90’s, he became the paranoid, gun-totin survivalist known as Burt Gummer from Tremors.
Now, with the release of the fifth installment of the Tremors franchise on the horizon, we had the opportunity to speak with Mr. Gross to discuss his role, the film, and a hairy outlook for the future – settle in and enjoy!
DC: Can you give us a brief description of this film, as well as what’s going on in Burt Gummer’s world right now?
MG: I found this particularly interesting because Burt has been going on a very low-tech way about trying to start his own endorsement of a certain set of products – Burt’s Bullseye Brand. Frankly, he’s in way over his head, and somebody comes into his life and says that they think that this person can help you sell your brand, and do a better job than you’re doing, and kind of foists themself on Burt, and about that time, he hears from someone in South Africa that they have a monster problem over there. So Burt decides to head over along with this new addition on the promise that if he takes this person along, they’ll give him a specific piece of weaponry: an HK-91, which he had lost to his wife many years ago – so he agrees to let this man come along. It’s a challenge to say the least – these two do not get along, and they operate on different frequencies, and Burt of course operates on a frequency all his own (laughs), and almost anyone would be a problem for Burt because he is, by definition, a loner.
As these two become more and more enmeshed in their South African adventure, there’s a secret that’s revealed in the course of the piece, and Burt is challenged more than he’s ever been before, mainly because aside from being a technological and monster challenge, it’s an emotional one. In that respect I find it a very interesting piece because it takes Burt out of his comfort zone.
DC: How was the filming? Was this one of the more physical installments of the series that you’ve been involved with?
MG: I don’t know if it was more physical, or I just got hurt more – in Tremors 3 I tore a knee ligament and had to have surgery – running over uneven ground at night, and I tweaked it a certain way, and it sort of blew on me. I’ve been hurt before, and in this one I gashed open my leg and broke a rib – a number of sprains and strains (laughs), which is frankly all part of the action/adventure world! I’ll try to be more careful next time as this thing goes!
DC: How far could you see this series going, and if so, where would you like to see Burt’s character heading?
MG: I love the evolution of the monsters, of course – so we want to see that, and if this happens again, I want to do it right. I don’t want to do JUST another Tremors – I want to stay true to the franchise, true to Burt, and give it that wacky feeling that Tremors movies are supposed to have, with a mix of horror, dread, real threat, comedy, and wide open spaces – it’s almost a western in its own way. Even though this is in South Africa, it’s still got that same outdoorsy feeling. People have asked why don’t we have the graboids in the city, and it doesn’t feel like an urban-type of horror – it’s in these wild places. Things happen when we’re cut off from help, and the characters ultimately have to work on their own initiative. I would like to see Burt explore more emotionally, which is probably the most difficult thing he has to do – he’s very good with technology and facts and figures, but he’s not good at expressing himself emotionally – he just gets pissed off.
DC: Lastly, after the release of this film, what’s coming up for you down the road?
MG: Something completely different! (laughs) Meredith Baxter, my former co-star on “Family Ties,” and I just got back from several weeks in British Colombia filming a new Lifetime Network movie; in fact, it’s going to be their big holiday Christmas movie. We’ll be playing Mr. and Mrs. Santa Claus – we’re at the North Pole, and most of the movie takes place up there in Santa’s chalet and workshop, and it really turned out to be a lot of fun – I hope it becomes a Christmas classic. They fattened me up with fat padding and a gorgeous, flowing, 100 percent yak-hair beard – my Burt mustache had to come off. I’m pretty much unrecognizable in this film but just had a wonderful time, and that will be coming out in December. I’m also working on a series in Canada that unfortunately only shows on Canadian TV, I believe – it’s a family show where I play a grandfather, and one of the grandkids is animated – it’s technologically a lot of fun, and it’s called “The Stanley Dynamic” – it’s a lot of fun. And I also have a Facebook page where I post a lot of stuff – it’s Facebook.com/ActorMichaelGross – I talk about everything show biz related and also post a lot of unseen personal photos from Tremors.
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