SXSW 2014: ‘Two Step’ Interview

By Jordan Gass-Poore’

I spoke with some of the cast of Austin-shot movie Two Step during SXSW 2014, including stars Skyy Moore, James Landry Hebert (my fellow French last namer) and recent Austin transplant Beth Broderick of Sabrina, the Teenage Witch fame, which I would watch religiously on ABC’s TGIF (remember that?) as a child. I also interviewed former and current Austinites, Two Step star Ashley Spillers and the movie’s writer/director Alex R. Johnson and composer Andrew Kenny, respectively.

KTSW: Beth, I was looking through your filmography and I wasn’t sure if you had filmed in Austin before.

Beth Broderick: The film I did right before this, A Relative Stranger, shot here, out of L.A., but it shot here.

KTSW: And what year was that?

BB: Just now. It was the summer so, like, August, July, August, before I started this one, but they were not Austin based; it took place here, it took place in Texas. When I first moved here I was on a television series called Lone Star, it shot in Dallas. Of course, brilliant, which is why it didn’t go; it was fantastic. It didn’t go, so, of course, it was cancelled. But I really love working in Texas. I keep telling my agents in L.A.: “Is there anything shooting in Texas?”

KTSW: What is it about Texas?

BB: I love my life here. Ya know, I lived in L.A., and I still have a place there, but I just came to visit a couple of times and thought, “That’s it. I’m movin’ there.” And it’s been great. It’s a wonderful dream. I’m two-and-a-half hours from everywhere that I go: D.C., New York, L.A., Chicago.

James Landry Hebert: I would even say that Austin was a character in the movie.

BB: Austin was definitely a character in the movie.

JLH: Austin was my favorite character.

KTSW: Not your own?

JHL: Naw. Oh, I hated the guy, but I love to hate that guy.

KTSW: But that brings up an interesting point though, playing a character that you hate, I would find it difficult if I couldn’t find any sort of connection between myself and that character.

JLH: Ya, ya, that keeps comin’ up a lot, and there was a lot of that. When I first read the script I really identified with the James character that Skyy played, having suffered a lot of loss as a young man and I could just relate to him. I was like, “Godd**n, I wish I was younger so I could play that role, but Webb sure is perfect for me and that would be a lot of fun.” And what happens with Webb and Amy (Spillers), you know, I had just went through a very different breakup before that, but I thought, “What a great opportunity to use that tragedy … turn a bad experience into a good experience,” which is kind of the basis of my entire craft, you know, using all that stuff and putting it on screen, it’s like art therapy.

BB: Ya, I think it’s fun to be the bad guy. I love when they let me be the bad guy.

JLH: It’s so fun, it really is.

BB: It’s absolutely a blast. I did a horror movie where they; I’m so evil, and at the end they cut my head off and the whole audience applauded. My mother was just devastated. She was like, “They applauded.” But it was so much fun. Great fun.

JLH: Ya, it’s pretty funny after the screenings when you play roles like this people come up and they’re like, “I hated you,” with a big smile on their face. And I’m like, “Thank you,” question mark. So, I’ve sorta been out to prove that I’m not such a bad guy, regardless of Webb’s, you know, unredeemable actions.

KTSW: Patrick Cassidy (one of the movie’s producers) said that he went to college with you, is that correct?

JLH: He is my oldest friend in the movie business. We have been trying to work together for many years. In fact, he offered me a role in “Boneboys.” We weren’t actually able to connect until now because of scheduling or … I mean, as soon as I read this script, I think like everyone, a testament to Alex Johnson’s writing, we were just like, “Yes.” … And when (Cassidy) sent me this script, for all those kismet reasons I told you before, it just seemed, like, meant to be. And then I came to Austin for the first time, well, second time; my first movie “Skateland” came to South By in 2010 and I had the most incredible experience of my life, it was also a move for me and my first festival, like, I was just really excited and fell in love with Austin then, so coming back to shoot this… I mean, I wanna move here.

KTSW: And what college did y’all go to?

JLH: We went to LSU.

KTSW: I wanted to ask you about your first time in Austin.

Skyy Moore: I think that it’s amazing how much there is to do in this city. I live in Dallas and Dallas is a lot snobbier than Austin. There’s not as much going on in Dallas. People kinda keep to themselves. Austin seems, even without South By, Austin feels like a festival: there’s always people linin’ up for somethin’, puttin’ their $20 down for whatever. I like Austin a lot.