Movies & TV / Columns

Tim Gouran Talk w/411 About His New Movie Danger Diva

August 13, 2018 | Posted by Bryan Kristopowitz

The 411 Interview: Tim Gouran

TimGouran1

Tim Gouran is an actor who has been acting, according to imdb, since at least the year 2000. He has appeared in movies (Worst Laid Plans), on television (shows like Leverage and The Librarians), and has done voice work for various video games, including F.E.A.R: First Encounter Assault Recon and Shank. Gouran’s latest movie is Danger Diva, written and directed by Robert McGinley. In this interview. Gouran talks with this writer about making Danger Diva and his character Stanley Arkoff, his acting career, and more.

**

DangerDivaPoster

Bryan Kristopowitz: How did you get involved with Danger Diva?

Tim Gouran: I was lucky to get a call from an old friend of mine, Brian Faker, who was attached as a producer and actor, to come in to audition. I really enjoyed the parts of the script I was sent and thought “Wow, I have no idea what this guy (Stanley) is talking about technically, but I do love his passion.” Molly was already attached and I had seen her band Thunderpussy a few times live, so I was kind of a little rockstar star struck. We did the scenes with Stanley and we seemed to really hit it off and it was really easy in terms of connecting with her and convincing her to trust me. She’s so open and honest in life and on the screen. Robert had really great insights into their relationship and just what Stanley was about and that was hugely helpful. It only dawned on me after the audition that my wife Sharon and Molly had known each other while growing up in Idaho. I got the call either that day or the next offering me the role. Then I got terrified. Anthony Hopkins says “The best thing is the phone call, then you realize how much work is ahead of you.”

TimGouran2

BK: How did you approach your character Stanley Arkoff? Is Stanley truly a bad guy or is he just misguided?

TG: I felt that Stanley was really just trying to do his best to be helpful to others, but of course also being able to either cure himself or pass his consciousness on to his child. Personally I know that he’s being very manipulative and selfish but I can’t look at him like that. I have to look at any character I play in a light that is best for them. Stanley really believes what he is doing is good and just and helpful to others. He just gets to reap the benefits.

BK: What was it like working with Ray Tagavilla, who plays Stanley’s assistant/collaborator Dr. Calvin Yamachi?

TG: Ray and I have been lucky to do a few projects together, and I’m honored to call him a friend as well as scene partner. The great thing with Ray is his absolute fearlessness when it comes to his acting. I respect the shit outta him as an actor as well as a person. We do very well together because I think doing some stage work we’ve come to trust each other to give the other what they need. We played brothers in Sam Shepard’s play Lie of the Mind, which is one of my favorite stage experiences. He’s so giving and present and also very playful and able to change things and to react when I do. He’s always one of my favorite actors to not only work with, but to watch as well.

BK: How did you initially react to the technology on display in Danger Diva? Did it scare you? Did you understand any of the technical jargon that your character or Dr. Yamachi use in the movie?

TG: Oh boy, that was really hard for me. The technology aspect. I’m by no stretch of the imagination a tech savvy person that jargon is totally foreign to me. I’m fortunate to say I’ve done my fair share of Shakespeare and I’ll tell you I find that 10 times easier than any tech talk. Robert was great in explaining it to me, but ask anyone, I had a really hard time because I don’t understand it and I have a really rough time making it mean anything to me.

BK: What was it like working with director Robert McGinley?

TG: Robert was a dream. He has this great vision for the whole story, but has an innate ability to see what actors need. He can take an actor who needs very specific notes and give them what they need, and then turn around and let an actor like me try a whole bunch of stuff that will no doubt end up not being used. He’s extremely sensitive and smart, and I think that comes through in his directing. The nice thing, too, is that he is the writer, so I was able to ask not only questions as a director, but to a writer as well. He made a difficult shoot really easy.

BK: How did you get involved in the video game voice actor business? How is working on a video game different than working on a movie? How is it the same?

TG: I’ve always been told I have a face for radio. I kid. Kinda. I think when I signed with my agent Topo Swope she heard something in my voice that people might be looking for. So I just audition in the comfort of my own home, trying to pick a time that’s the least noisy, which is sometimes hard when you have 2 cats. I’ve gone through phases as a voice actor where first it was the slacker dude, then hero ala Kurt Russell in Escape from New York, and now I’ve kinda settled into character actor roles. As for the similarities, it’s really about finding what the character needs and wants from the situations they are in. It’s always a great time to just really let the words do the work.

BK: Who are your moviemaking heroes?

TG: Being an actor I have the tendency to focus mostly on the performances and less on the overall film making. As far as actors go, I’ve been a bit of an obsessive fan and believer in Gary Oldman since seeing him in Sid and Nancy when I was a teenager. Helen Mirren is just amazing, Cate Blanchette, Robert Duvall, Gene Hackman are actors who can play just about anything, and are more concerned with what their part in the story is rather than what the part is. Directors; I love Mike Leigh, Scorsese, John Cassavetes. And I love Shane Black.

BK: Any upcoming projects you can tell us about?

TG: Nothing film or TV wise on the horizon. A play in the early winter.

TimGouran3

BK: Would you, personally, want to live forever, similar to the way Stanley tries to live forever in Danger Diva?

TG: Hell no. I like that I have an exact amount of breaths in this life and intend to use every one of them. I think it would be really lonely. Outliving all the people you love over and over. Also I think death has a way of making us equal in a big way.

BK: Who is a better virtual racquetball player, you or Ray Tagavilla?

TG: Shit, Ray by far. I’m in better shape than he, is but he spends a lot of time on his Oculus doing virtual things, and I have a hard time writing an email.

**

A very special thanks to Tim Gouran for agreeing to participate in this interview and to david j. moore for setting it up.

Check out the official Danger Diva website here for further movie info and upcoming release date info. You can also check out Light in the Attic for movie and soundtrack release dates, too.

Check out the official Danger Diva Facebook page here and Instagram page here.

Profile image courtesy of Tim Gouran. All other images courtesy of Robert McGinley.