American actor Walton Goggins is starring as imaginary pitchman John Bronco, in a new short film directed by Jake Syzmanski.
Perhaps best known for his roles in The Shield and a pair of Tarantino projects, Goggins has graced both the big and small screen during his decorative 30-year career in Hollywood. His newest project, John Bronco, sees Goggins star as the aforementioned pitchman, who managed to catapult the Ford Bronco and himself into the national limelight with his magnetic energy and crazy antics. With a run-time of 36 minutes, this is Goggins’ second short film project after 2001’s The Accountant.
The short film follows the unbelievable rise, fall and redemption of Bronco through the late 20th and early 21st centuries. Produced by Imagine Entertainment, the short is based on the book Untamed: The John Bronco Story. When directing the film, Syzmanski focused on telling the hypothetical story of the greatest pitchman to ever live. Goggins’ magnetic performance of the titular character seamlessly brings John Bronco’s spirit alive to the audience.
We had the opportunity to chat with Walton touching on his storied career and how he developed his take on the character known as John Bronco.
The Knockturnal: You have had such a storied career as an actor with such a large filmography what is your strategy for getting into character for each different role?
Goggins: Everybody has their own way of going from the real to the imaginary role. For me, it’s always what Anthony Hopkins says, you read the script 250-300 times and you turn yourself over into an imaginary set of circumstances. What was on the page was so good and so funny, but also heartfelt and honest. That was it, how do you play an iconic pitchman? Just believe you’re an iconic pitchman.
The Knockturnal: How was it creating a mockumentary on a character that never existed? Did you use any real-life characters as your inspiration?
Goggins: Burt Reynolds is really the biggest comparison that I can make. Over the course of my life I have met so many amazing larger than life people that can make you laugh and can make you cry. They are as magnetic as John Bronco and light up a room whenever they walk into it.
The Knockturnal: A part of this story centers around fame before the internet. How do you think this story would be different if the Bronco came out today?
Goggins: Well I’m not sure that John Bronco would have happened today. There are so many other things competing right now that the slice of the pie has become so small I don’t know if that’s possible today. Maybe it is. I’ve benefitted from it the way everybody else has. There is a certain magic that is lost with all the information at the tip of your fingers. I like to travel personally and go way out there without cellular service. That is one of the only times that I feel truly present. I think the same thing would apply to John Bronco in 2021. I think he would’ve been very different. He probably would have been doing Tik Tok videos.
The Knockturnal: How did working on John Bronco compare to some of your past projects? Is this the shortest film you’ve worked on?
Goggins: I never really compare anything with anything else because each experience has its own merits. I have done a short film before my partner wrote and directed it and we won the Academy Award for it. Those are my two short-format things and it was fantastic. The hardest part about the last day of shooting John Bronco was the fact that I wouldn’t get to play John Bronco again.
The Knockturnal: How was it working with Jake Szymanski? I know he has worked on some rockumentaries for HBO in the past.
Goggins: Jake is a freaking unbelievably talent guy and has been around for a long time. He has a queue of fans that extends around several blocks. He’s just a lovely person and I hope you get a chance to take to him. He’s just so smart and his brand of humor has just really evolved, and I just dig it. For him, it’s always about story. We’re not just making a comedy; we’re making a story about the greatest pitchman to ever live.
The Knockturnal: With such a robust catalog spanning from film to television, which would you say you prefer? And how do you say they differ in developing a character?
Goggins: I love both. I think any actor worth their weight in salt would love both. The one thing about television, I came in with the shows The Sopranos and The Shield. No other actor had been given the opportunity to explore a character in a serialized format for 88 hours. That was extraordinary what all of those filmmakers and writers did on The Sopranos and The Shield. Who knew that’s how rich that experience could be. I love dipping in and out of a movie that lasts two or three months in some really cool location. But you never get to do in a movie what you can do in over 80 hours on a serialized drama television show. I’m just grateful that I get to seamlessly flow between both.
The film hits Hulu 10/15!
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