The other we got to interview the cast and director of the new psychological thriller called Ultrasound which is out now on Itunes and VOD digital platforms. This interview is with Bob Stephenson. Hope you enjoy!
AJ: Well, Bob, thank you so much for joining me today. How did you get involved with ultrasound? Cause your character is kind of a bit of a bad guy in here. So was that fun to play at all?
Bob: Yes, it was. It was excellent. I loved it when I read the script because it wasn’t, wasn’t a, uh, overtly bad guy, you know, and it takes a little while to kind of understand, you know, is he, is he really bad? Is he just, you know, sad. He’s just manipulating people, but you know what? I don’t know. I loved it because it’s very subtle, you know, all his moves. I like your room by the way. All the posters. That’s cool.
AJ: Yeah. Thanks. Going back to that, your character, as you said, is very subtle, but it’s very complex too, with all that’s going on in the script. So was it all there in the script when it was in your character or didn’t you bring any nuances of your own to the character as well?
Bob: Yeah, I think, I mean, it was, you know, it was it’s in the script, but I think I brought a lot of nuance to, you know, there’s like some, there are some subtle changes that I felt like Art went through, you know, if he was angry, you know, you just, you saw it in his face. It wasn’t necessarily him jumping off being down and getting mad, you know, just like small little triggers that, if he was sweaty and scared or, frantic, I wanted everything to be pretty more minutia than, you know like he doesn’t show his cards too much. Cause I think that’s kind of the guy he is, you know?
AJ: Right. And you know, with your female partner in this, you guys manipulate a lot of people in here without giving too much of ultrasound away. What were some of the biggest jaw-dropping moments you had while reading the script with the tri and turns that ultrasound has?
Bob: Oh yeah. I mean, man, I would, I will give stuff away if I say that haha
That’s a tough one, but there, there are some big reveals that there are some big moments in there that I was really surprised at. I mean it’s suddenly a very physical movie, you know, a lot is going on. It’s not like an action movie, but there’s alike physically a lot is happening to each character. And so when, when those moments happen, it’s it, I was very yeah, it’s very taken by that. Especially once you see the movie, you know?
AJ: Yeah. I noticed that like, it was very demanding performance from everyone involved. So how was that like on set, witnessing everybody perform as well. And that had to be something to see also.
Bob: Yeah, it was Chelsea, everybody, you know, those mostly my scenes were with you know, obviously Vincent and Chelsea and, you know, the choices they made from day one, you know, we got on set and we all did our thing and that’s what it was. You know, we, there, wasn’t a whole lot of like, ah, this doesn’t work because of that, that, you know, it, we all brought what we thought for each character and it worked, it was, you know because we didn’t have a whole lot of time to shoot it. And, I think with Rob’s direction, it, he put together they’re great, tremendous team. It was awesome.
AJ: Yeah. And I was speaking to Chelse and Rainey earlier this morning and uh, I thought Chelsea crushed her performance in ultrasound and you two together were a great duo. So how was it like working with her on for sound?
Bob: It was incredible. I love Chelsea and we had trailers next door to each other, so we would just sit outside and, and talk and we didn’t meet each other until we were on set. So it was, we didn’t have a whole lot of time to get to know each other since then. We’re great friends. And, uh, but like I said, yeah, onset, you know, her choices and Vincent’s choices. And I sort of felt like I was the man who kind of had to, or character who kind of had to drive the boat. And so I tried to make some pretty strong choices that pushed scenes in certain directions and, um, just that’s was sort of my approach to it and yeah. Everything she did was great.
AJ: Yeah. And you know, this film premiered at the Tribeca film festival. So how did that film for you knowing that this film was gonna premier at a festival and that magnitude like Tribeca
Bob: Incredible. I mean, when I heard that I’m a big fan of film festivals and I’ve been to Tribeca a couple of times and it’s, it’s just great. What, a festival like that could do for a film and, you know, so prestigious and I’m really happy. And it was, people seem to like it. So it’s just great directly to be getting it out into the world, you know, I’ve been asked so many times like, well, when can I see it? When can I see it? Or where can I see it? I’m like, well, now you can see it everywhere. Right.
AJ: And, what were some of your favorite aspects of ultrasound when you did get to finally see it?
Bob: I mean, I love the music. I love the pacing. I thought the, the, a DP did an incredible job. I mean, for the shoestring we were shooting on, it was, it looks incredible. It, you know, you don’t necessarily know going into a movie if they, if they’re gonna execute you. I, you know, they’ve done a lot of, you know, lower-budget movies where you come out of it and it’s like, oh no, but this, I just thought every aspect I thought Rob was great on set and he is just been great through the whole process. And, um, yeah, I was really impressed. I was really impressed.
AJ: Well, thank you so much for joining me today, man. It’s been really fun and congratulations on ultrasound.
Bob: Thank you AJ. Appreciate it.
