Smokin's Aces VIP Party Blows Up In Sacramento
01.16.07

Joe Carnahan (JC) walked thru the newly redesigned Wells Fargo Pavilion an hour late.  Luckily, my cab was late too and we walked in together. It was now or maybe later, and maybe later ain't good odds when you have one of the hottest commodities in Hollywood, just steps from his party in Sacramento.

The Sacramento Theatre Company hosted a benefit and pre-party to raise money for the John T. Holley Foundation where attendees mixed it up with the man and his people, Jeremy Piven (Aces), local actor Chris Holley and stunt coordinator Ben Bray.

Interview with Joe Carnahan:
Director/Screenwriter

Sacvibe (SV): Hey Joe, can we do an interview for Sacvibe.com?
JC:  You guys like a punk house mag or what?
SV: No. We are indy, we interviewed NOFX a few years ago. We cover local music, national acts, local acts. I understand you interned with Mary Anaya over at the Sacramento International Film Festival?
JC: Yeah, I did indeed brutha. Not at the International Film Festival, I was at Sac Access, Sacramento Access (local cable).
SV: How did you go from doing local stuff, the Octane Stuff. 
JC: Yeah, yeah.. With a combination of luck and hustle is what it comes down to.
SV: Luck and hustle, so that’s the title of your next script?
JC: Absolutely. That’s it, hustle and luckflow. You know what it was man? Listen, it was grinding it out. I went to Sac State, I graduated from Sac State.
SV: They have a movie major out there?
JC: Yeah, film studies. So, it was really just stayin’ on it. 
SV: You’re a screenwriter. 
JC: Yeah, originally. I studied at San Francisco State and Sac State. My very first script was a thing called Siege that no one would ever read. 
SV: It was produce though? 
JC: No. My first produced script was Blood Guts (Bullets and Octane, 1988). My 16th script I had written was Narc (2002), it took a long time. 
SV: awesome movie by the way. 
JC: Thank you brutha. Yeah. It was quite a long road. 
SV: How do you feel about this movie out tonight? 
JC: I think it’s amazing. I love it, I can’t complain. 
SV: Is this a national circuit you’re doing? 
JC: No, uh, yeah, we just got done with the national circuit, yes we did. San Francisco, Seattle, Atlanta, Chicago. It was amazing. A tremendous amount of enthusiasm. 
SV: See you at the movie?
JC: Yeah.

Sacvibe interview with local actor Christopher Holley below trailer.
Official Smokin' Aces site (one of the best we've seen for any movie)

SV:  I'm not trying to put you somewhere else, but let's rewind.  I think the first time I saw you, you were wearing a suit workin' the door at K-Bar (nightclub). And now you're in a UA movie. How did you go from working as a bouncer to movies? 
Chris Holley (CH):    While I was working at K-Bar, I was a local actor.  I didn't tell anybody about it because, you know, I was just doing local commercial.
SV: Who did you start with?
CH:  Cast Images. 
SV:  Chandra Bourne?
CH:  Yeah, Chandra Bourne.  Cast Images, Boom Talent, Models for Talent in San Francisco was my Bay Area representative.  After K- Bar, I worked at Avalon Night Club.  One night Joe Carnahan, film director from the movie Narc, was in line and I recognized him.  It's unfortunate.  A lot of times, audiences will recognize actors, but not so much the directors.  I really liked this movie Narc, and I had the DVD..
SV:  Did you have anything to do with that?
CH:  No, no.  I just saw him and knew he was in Sacramento.  Being an actor, I want to support local homeboys that's doing good.  So I was outside in front, I was like, "Yo, that's Joe Carnahan, he's director of Narc and he's standing in line."  So I asked my boss, "Yo, can I take care of dude right there, that's a Hollywood director right there."  They were like, yeah, yeah.. go ahead.  So I did.  I was like, "come in, I loved your movie.."  Our relationship developed over about a year, because anytime he came back to town, he'd say, "Hey man, I have this movie I think you'd be great for, but I'm not working on it right now, but when it comes up, I wanna get you in for an audition."  I was like, "Hey man, don't play, because I really act."  He had no idea at that moment that I was an actor.
SV:  You're talking '04 - '05?
CH:  Right, right.  2004. And so I gave him my head shot and resume and he was like, "Hey I need to see some of your work on film, tape, your reel."  I got that to him and he said, "Hey man, you're really talented. We gotta make this happen, I want you to audition for my movie and landed the position of BB. 
SV:  Who is BB?
CH:  BB plays one of Jeremy Pivens bodygaurds, him and common are the body guards.
SV: Jeremy is the rat?
CH:  Yeah, Jeremy Piven is the star of the movie.  He snitches out the mob.
SV:  Did you go down to Hollywood and do some set work and then they shipped you up to Tahoe?
CH:  Yeah, I was in Tahoe on screen, did some shooting in L.A. and Vegas.  It was like a whole month of shooting, like Alice in Wonderland, or I should say, Cinderella.  It was like the beat of Sacramento actors and then we go to this major Hollywood production, and get a trailor, a lot of us in Sacramento, you knowing being an actor, being a business owner, it's like we gotta cut corners where we can, so when you get a Hollywood production, when they got millions and millions of dollars, they're like, "here's your trailer, here's your assistant..  this is all for me? I'm like first class."
SV:  You want the soy latte..
CH:  Exactly, for real.  It tripped me out.   They're like what do you want to eat? I'm like, "what can I have?"  They're like, "Whatever you want."  I'm "steak and eggs."  It was a surreal experience.
SV:  They'll send a runner from The Apprentice cast to go get it.  Last time I saw you, we were in Denver.  It was crazy.  You were flying back from New York and couldn't say much then, what can you tell me now?
CH:  I have 4 movies coming out this year, the second one I filmed was called Pride and Glory with Ed Norton.  I play Ed Norton's ex narcotic partner.
SV:  So there we were in Denver, not only in the same airport, but in the same line going back together to Sacramento.  Now if this movie does well, you won't be working at any more bars..
CH:  Bouncin' days are over, Chris can't get into any more fights.
SV:  So you used to brawl?  You know we watch the movies and we see these dudes throwing punches and say, "that faggot ain't hitting nobody."
CH:  Right, right.  A couple times, we had to get into fisticuffs for real.
SV: But you don't play, you can put it down?
CH:  Yeah, I got a black belt in martial arts, I do some grappling.
SV:  What do you do?
CH:  Tang Sou Dao. 
SV:  I never heard of that, what the hell is that?
CH:  It's Korean Karate.  Most people know Tae Kwon Do. 
SV:  Did you use any of that in the movie?
CH:  Nah, I didn't get in any fights, I get killed in the movie.