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Peter Jae — actor, Bronx native, K-Town adopted legend, and the lead of The Workout — joins James and BJ to talk bouncing his way from LaGuardia to LaLa Land, going viral before Asian representation existed, meeting JCVD on day one of Darkness of Man, nearly losing his teeth on a Chris Hemsworth fight scene for Black Hat, and why 22 years in the business taught him that finding your authentic voice beats chasing the smoke every time.
The Tracksuit Podcast is media industry professionals sit down with fellow creatives, filmmakers, and experts for wide-ranging authentic, unfiltered conversations about the entertainment industry - covering everything from the business of entertainment to the unexplained. Hosted by BJ Hendricks and James Cullen Bressack.
BJ: Welcome
James: to The Tracksuit Podcast! What's up everybody and welcome to The Tracksuit Podcast. This new episode we have an amazing guest, Peter Jay, an awesome actor and Bronx native.
Peter Jae: What up? What up? And also the lead of
James: my movie, The Workout, and also the main bad guy in my movie, Darkness of Man, which you can catch right now on Hulu, The Workout, you can catch on Tubi. Peter, welcome to the show. Thanks
BJ: for having me. Thank y'all. I forgot you was in Darkness of Man. I know, right? Yeah, that was the first.
Peter Jae: When you said and, I was like, what?
James: You forgot that one. That was the first one we did. That's how it all started. Yeah, yeah, yeah. You
BJ: were excited about them Knicks. Oh, hell. I
James: told him I was going to ask him that, but it's crazy. It's good that
BJ: you did. We got
Peter Jae: to talk about it. Yeah.
BJ: That's some wild shit, dude.
Peter Jae: No, honestly, like, even, like, as a Knicks fan, you're always, like, the most negative, skeptic, pessimistic person. Like, we're so used to, like, disappointment and heartbreak. So, like... I'm starting to believe, really believe now. I was just taking every victory.
James: Y'all just swept the last series.
Peter Jae: And a previous series, right? Yeah. So
BJ: it's like. Yeah, back to back. That's right.
Peter Jae: The way we're playing right now is like giving me a lot of confidence, a lot of hope. But I'm still always in the back of my mind just prepared for the worst. But it's been like
James: 20 years. Like it's like they haven't been good since Patrick Ewing.
Peter Jae: Yeah, 94. The last time I remember we got really close was 94. That's when Jordan was gone.
James: Yeah.
Peter Jae: You know, and then I remember like, you know, we were trying to make the most and capitalize. But, you know, Olajuwon was, you know, no, no, no. He was the Rockets. It was their time. I hope a
James: championship comes back to New York because Lord knows I've been waiting for my Yankees to win again.
Peter Jae: Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. That's happened in my life. Waiting
James: for my Yankees. They used to always win when I was a kid. Yeah,
Peter Jae: exactly.
James: It's amazing to me that... Probably arguably the best baseball player in the world right now is Aaron Judge other than maybe Shohei Otani. And Aaron Judge playing the longest to have no championships is crazy. Yeah,
Peter Jae: but... I know it's gonna happen.
James: Oh, it's gotta. It's gotta. It's gotta. I mean, I don't know. The Dodgers ate him alive. That was so horrible to watch.
Peter Jae: Secretly trying to
BJ: come over to the Dodgers and be like, fucking stacked ass team. I saw it
Peter Jae: around surrounded by a bunch of Dodger fans. Oh, you were there? Yeah, I'm always, I'm so used to being, I used to bounce and do security at the Dodger bar, shortstop. Oh yeah, shortstop. I worked the door there for 10 years wearing my Yankee hat. You know how many guys, you'd be like, hey fool, you know where you at? And I'm like, yeah, hey fool, you want to come inside? And they're like, all right, all right. And then I always have to check them. I'm like, yo, bro, if you move to New York, would you wear a Yankee? He's like, fuck no, hell no. And I'm like, there you go. He's like, all right, fool, all right. And then we came cool with it. Come on,
BJ: man, I can't do that. I see you're in New York City a lot. How often are you over there?
Peter Jae: Oh, I go back every six months. Oh, got it. I get homesick. People, they joke about it. They say, oh, you're Angeleno now. I'm like, honestly, if you come from a big city and go to another big city, you're always going to be that city because that city has such an impression on you.
BJ: So you got a lot of family there.
Peter Jae: Oh, I got everyone back over there. That's awesome. I have two nephews now, too, so I want to make sure that they know who I am because, you know, in Asian culture, everyone's an uncle and auntie. So I'm like, I'm your real uncle. Like, you know what I mean? Like, blood, like, you know.
James: I feel like that's probably why we get along so well. It's like you got like an East Coast vibe and like I was raised by East Coasters. So like I just, I just, I just like East Coast people. Got the Yankees tatted on you. Yeah, Yankees
BJ: tatted right here, man. He also got a fucking Heinz tattoo, which for the longest time I didn't know James had until I was like, yeah, you got a Heinz tattoo. Yeah, yeah, well people
James: gotta know I like
Peter Jae: ketchup, man. Oh, it's just for the love of ketchup. It's just for the love of ketchup. I thought you were from like the royal family of Heinz. No, no, no. Like John Cherry, the
James: politician. This is my
Peter Jae: arm of all
BJ: things
James: I like.
BJ: Oh man, that's crazy. Yeah, that means all four of us, including our director James, all of us are from the East Coast. Oh, I thought you were about to
James: be like, all four of us, including my director James, likes ketchup. Loves
BJ: ketchup. A lot of you were like, you fucking found that fucking pickle ketchup the other day and I was like, damn, jealous. Oh,
Peter Jae: there's a pickle ketchup? Yeah, it's good. Something about pickle would... Do you guys do like, you know, people do Jameson shots with picklebacks? I
BJ: talked about that. Yeah, I
Peter Jae: love picklebacks. I try to do that at the bar that I work at now and I try to bring that and we just throw out pickle jars and just eat pickles because no one was going to catch on. Oh, the pickles are great. Now people are catching on and we're like, I don't know if it's going to catch on, catch on. I love
James: Jameson picklebacks, but actually the bar you work at is sick. I've been there a few times. It's awesome. What bar is
Peter Jae: it? It's called Cafe Blue, K-Town.
James: Peter is like a local celebrity over there too. Everybody over there loves him. It's
Peter Jae: amazing.
James: The entire clientele list of anybody who goes to Cafe Blue bought every single ticket to go see the workouts. I had two
BJ: extra seats and you was like, I'll take them right now.
James: We had the workout for people listening. We had the workout playing at the Alamo Drafthouse in downtown LA and we kept having to add showtimes because Peter's friends bought every single ticket within like two minutes. It would sell out over and
Peter Jae: over and over again. You know what it is? It's like K-Town. It became my adopted hood. Because I felt like, well, one, when I first moved out there, we did this web series called K-Town Cowboys that became a hit. That's what I saw of you.
James: That's what I cast you off
BJ: of was K-Town Cowboys. It was like a web
Peter Jae: series. We released it in 2010. So like, what, 15, 16 years ago. And it became a hit. It was viral because I didn't realize back then there was no Asian content. It played South
James: by also, though. They played us out. We did a movie. It
Peter Jae: snowballed into a movie that we did at Southwest. And I realized how much like the Asian American community, whether you're Korean, Vietnamese, Filipino, Chinese, had no voice. And whenever we were represented on TV, it was always like playing stereotypical roles or doing martial arts. You could whip everyone's ass in the room, but you can't have a conversation and win a debate, you know? So it was kind of like people were just like, it's just snowballed because people just were seeing us playing football. Normal regular people, just being regular people, no matter what race you are, you're just out having a good time trying to hook up with chicks. Like, you know, like, and so how many, you know, everyone can relate to that, you know what I'm saying? So like, just whatever, hooking up, like, you know what I'm saying? So, so it was like, it snowballed into what it was. And, and, and, and, and so I became like K-Town adopted, like, you're our guy. They follow my career and they still root for me. Even when I feel down and depressed, people are like, what's going on? And I'm like, what are you working on? And I'm like, oh man, don't ask me that, man. Things are slow. But they see something in me that I don't even see in myself sometimes. I forget. I mean, you're
James: unbelievably talented, man. I've cast you in two movies in two major roles.
BJ: We've done nothing but talk about you when we saw the workout. That workout shit's wild as shit. It's so good. I'm
Peter Jae: proud of all of us that worked on it.
BJ: I mean, I would imagine I hadn't seen the K-Town Cowboys. It was good, obviously. I cast him after seeing it.
Peter Jae: I'm playing a comedic role in that. There's no action in there. I'm not kicking nobody's ass.
BJ: The workouts are emotional range of craziness,
James: though. He has serious screen presence. Oh, thank you. Trying to get them girls.
Peter Jae: Nah. But you know what I realized for me? I kind of always feel like I've been doing this for 22 years and haven't gotten my break. And I always feel like back in the, you know, you were like 90s and 2000s. I feel like a mixtape rapper where the community knows, but the industry doesn't know still. And so when people say to me, hey, don't forget the little people when you blow up. And I'm like, I take offense to that because I'm like, I spent most of my life just being, first, I don't like say little people. I'm just us real folks, you know what I mean? And I'm like, man, I'm representing us like every day, even on screen as much as I can. I'm not, come on, look at me. I'm not no like, you know, polished, you know, fancy guy or like, you know, walking those stages, whatever. Like, I'm just a guy that's going to the... When I go home, the first place I go is Loco Bodego, the Chinese food spot. Not a fancy spot, but I need my MSG and my lunch special life coupon and my Coke and just down and down and get my stomach grumbling. And that's where I go because that's my comfort food. That's
James: badass. He did like wearing a suit in Darkness of Man, though. Oh, yeah, yeah. I wanted to keep those suits, by the way.
Peter Jae: I got to keep everything but the suits. I was like, I had to get the suits back. You had to get the
James: suits. They're just in storage. I could give them to you. Yeah, you look great in that situation. Yeah, and
Peter Jae: I got to wear multiple suits. Yes, thank
James: you.
BJ: James gave me a cool scar right on
Peter Jae: my skull. He closed up like, oh,
BJ: he didn't have those scars before. That's awesome, man.
James: So let's talk about, so when did you come out here from New York and were you acting in New York before you came out here or was that something that started once you came out to L.A.?
Peter Jae: So I've always been an artist. I went to, I don't know if you guys know New York High School, but I went to LaGuardia High School for the arts and it opened up my eyes to like, just wow, I could like, this is real. And then I got, I was going to FIT. I was doing, I studied menswear design, believe it or not. That's why you like those suits.
James: Yeah, I love them. I respect Taylor made. You're going to
Peter Jae: tailor that yourself. But then I realized that that wasn't for me and I always wanted to be active, but I never believed I could because I never saw anyone like me on the big screen. So I was just like, I can't believe it. But then my boy gave me the book The Alchemist. I read the book The Alchemist and I was like, whoa, I was like, I was on the train reading this book like, oh my gosh, like it was just speaking to my soul. And I'm like, man, you live once, like go after what you want. So I started my own greeting card company with my friends. I was doing that. I was bouncing at a lounge in Lower East Side. And the thing about New York is when you're an actor, so I started acting and I was grinding and I just got my friend's camera that took, you know, bootleg photos and got my head shots. I was just going to mandy.com, go wherever, student films, Columbia, NYU, just like, no one's going to tell me, no, I don't care. I'm learning. I'm learning through my mistakes. I can't afford acting classes. I was just bouncing, you know, and in New York, And the grind is different because in LA, everyone's in the industry kind of, you know? And so everyone's kind of doing that during the week. In New York, it's a hobby. People aren't really acting or directing and stuff like writing scripts. So everyone's doing that on the weekends while they do their day job because it's so expensive to live out there. So I was doing security, bouncing at the lounges, working at night. So I was literally going days without sleep. So I literally wake up in the morning, shower, go to set, be on set till... Over 12 hours because, you know, there's no rules on student films, indie films or whatever. Or, you know, whatever. And then go to work. Be there till like 4 in the morning because everything closes at 4. Get home at 5, 6 and then just wake up, shower and just go. And I'll be up for like days. But it fed my soul. Like, I knew that this is what I was doing because I felt purpose in it. Like, this is like my calling. That's what I felt at the time. And I was like, nothing's going to stop me. And I was like, this is the New York grind. And then so eventually I had two brothers that I grew up with that they passed away back to back and I was lost and they believed me. They used to drive me from Queens to Brooklyn for an audition or shoot in Jersey, pick me up and they believed. So I was like, I got to honor them. And I came out here. I did not want to come out here. No disrespect to LA, but I'm such a New Yorker. I didn't even drive before I came out here. I was the worst Asian stereotype in the streets. Like, bro, 10 o'clock, I had old ladies giving me the middle finger. I'm like, oh my God, I'm so sorry. I'm like, you know, and so I came out and first two years was scary. Like, you know, but I got my footing and I love LA, man. Like, I got love for LA. I love New York. But I don't hate L.A. I got love for L.A. too. I love New York too.
James: I'm going back to New York in about a week for Tribeca. Oh, nice. So I'm really excited. I got to go back at least once or twice a year. Yeah, you have to.
Peter Jae: I go back every six months. I get so homesick. And I start
BJ: losing it. It's like a Snickers commercial.
James: I just got to go back to New York. I got to go back and get good
Peter Jae: pizza. I
James: got to get good pizza, good hot dogs. Yeah, you got everything. You going to see your
BJ: family while you're out there?
James: Of course. If I don't check in with my family while I'm in New York, they will murder me.
Peter Jae: Are they scattered all over New York?
James: Yeah, so my cousin and his family, his kids and his wife and stuff, they live on Long Island. I was just going to say Long Island. I don't know why. And then my uncle lives in Rockland County.
Peter Jae: Okay, more upstate, right? Yeah,
James: yeah. And then my aunt lives in the East Village.
Peter Jae: Okay, yeah, they're everywhere. You got people in the city. And then
James: my other cousin lives in Brooklyn.
Peter Jae: All right, yeah, yeah. Then you're everywhere. You're all around.
James: Yeah, so also I was telling them because I'm going out there for a movie that I produced that's premiering at Tribeca and The Leader. Check it out. And... And I was like, I'm going to book a hotel because I'm going to all these parties. And they were literally like, if you choose to stay in a hotel instead of one of our places, we will be so mad at you. And I was like, I guess I'm not booking a hotel.
Peter Jae: I'm like, damn. You got family in the East Village, Brooklyn. Yeah, I was like, oh man. That's a Jewish community. Yeah,
BJ: I was like, man, I really
James: wanted that hotel. Where do
BJ: you go to eat out there, man? Because I thought the Jewish delis are... Cats is, baby. Oh, yeah. So I
Peter Jae: used to bounce right across the street from cats. Oh, yeah. Adjacent to cats. I used to see cats all the time.
James: Yeah, cats is fire.
Peter Jae: That's where you get them pickles, bro. Yeah. But we actually have a
James: better K-Town here than they do in New York.
Peter Jae: Oh, yeah, yeah,
James: yeah. I mean, Chinatown is incredible over there, but Arcade Town is amazing. I always
Peter Jae: tell people, I always feel like Atlanta is like black Hollywood, right? And LA is like LA. I don't mean Hollywood in that term, but like Hollywood where you feel an identity. When I came out here, I felt different. Like, cause there's so much Asians that have been here forever. Like you have Japanese, like Chinese, North California, San Francisco with the railroads, like, you know, like over a hundred years ago, hundreds of years ago. You have Japanese internment camps where like they were put into jails, like pretty much like, you know, and then you have the roof, the Koreans with the riots and the rooftop, like, you know, there's a, the rooftop Koreans, like there's a history of like, like we, we've, we've earned our, our name. Like we've earned our right to be here. You know what I'm saying? So like, I walk around like, damn man, I'm Asian. I don't feel like I feel like in New York. In New York, you feel like you have a chip on your shoulder. You have to represent like that. Ready for somebody to just say ching chong, ching chong. And strike your hands up. But like out here, it's like a respect. Oh, for sure. I went
James: to a predominantly Korean middle school. I was at John Burroughs, which was mostly Korean. And that's how I learned so much about Asian cinema because I would get burned copies of DVDs. Once my Korean friends learned that I liked Asian movies, they would just every day hand me a different movie burned on DVD and be like, watch this, watch this, watch this. And so they'd give me like Shilmido and like Oldboy and all these crazy Korean movies. And I was like, that's how I started learning all these crazy Korean movies. That's crazy. To me,
BJ: I lived in Little Armenia for years upon years here in L.A. But then it was adjacent to K-Town. So that's where we ended up. What I knew about K-Town is the karaoke spots. Anytime you go to karaoke spots, that'd be the deal.
James: Not to sound ridiculous, but my favorite karaoke spot in K-Town is actually not a Korean karaoke spot, and it's Brass Monkey. Brass Monkey's awesome, and I also love it because, not to get them in trouble, but I went there on a fake ID when I was younger, and I became a regular there while I was on a fake ID, and then I eventually... Celebrated my 21st birthday there. And they were like, wait, why is everybody saying happy birthday to you? Like happy 21st to you. And I was like, by the way, my name's James, not John. I've
Peter Jae: been coming here for four years.
James: And they, I mean, like, you know, hindsight, but it was hilarious. That was older owners and it's been over, you know, 20 years. So I'm sure they won't get in trouble. We went there together, right? Yeah, I love Brass Monkey. Yeah, it's
BJ: the best. They have a lot of, they have a lot of Korean workers there though. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. But,
James: but it's, but it's a, it's a fun one, but I do like the private room ones and we did shoot, we did shoot in pyramid, right? For a shrine, a shrine, shrine during, uh, during, uh, darkness of man. Yeah. Well, we did more than
Peter Jae: that. That
James: was, that was your den. That was the first day of shooting for you. Right.
Peter Jae: Yeah, James, what a great way to throw me into the fire. The first day is like my first scene and it's like the last scene of the whole movie.
James: It's like super monologue and
Peter Jae: everything. I'm meeting like one of my childhood heroes, John Carl Van Dam for the first time. There's no introduction, you know, standing in as like a stunt double. I'm like... He looks like John. Todd Claude Van Damme. He's right, Todd. Yeah, Todd Claude Van Damme. Fuck, man, I had the same
BJ: fucking situation you had. When I first was on set, the first day I had things, it was with John Claude, my scene was. But then Todd walked through all the trailers and everything, and I was like, damn, that's John Claude right there. And I was like, all right. And then here comes John Claude in like a full fur coat
Peter Jae: or whatever.
BJ: I was like, oh no, different. John Claude. I was like, oh shit. And then he did like a little karate kick on somebody just fucking around. And I was like, oh shit. Todd's a little bit smaller. But Todd's fucking amazing though, man. Todd's great. That was an interesting situation just meeting somebody that you were super, super fans with as your first scene. And that was my first scene. I've been in a few bigger movies, but that was probably like, I don't know, my mom was probably the most excited about the John Claude. I mean, yeah,
Peter Jae: everyone from our generation, like in a bond. Yeah.
BJ: And what was your scene like working with him to start off with?
Peter Jae: It was cool. Honestly, I thought I messed up because like I was just, I have like this long monologue. And then when I turn, I thought I was expecting to see Todd because we had done it a few times. And then I'm like, wait a minute. That's not Todd. That's actually JC. So I was like, oh, shoot. And I was like, oh, and then I just say my monologue. And then after I say my part, he's looking at me and I was like, oh, man, there I go. Messing up, you know, not knowing my lines. I'm just stuck, you know, and then he kind of looked and it was just kind of, you know, and then and it got more intense. I was like, oh, man, he's really getting in. And then I realized and I hear James. All right, cut. And I was like, oh, what happened? And then it was like, oh, he didn't, you know, he forgot some of his lines. I was just like, oh, thank God it
BJ: wasn't me. John Clyde made me feel so fucking good on that movie, dude, because I was scared because I was like, fuck, that's John Clyde. And I was a little bit intimidated on the situation in front of him. And then I delivered my stuff and then John, like James calls cut and then John looks at me and John goes, you know my lines. And I was like, yeah, I actually do. And he, like, we talk about it and he was like, and then he was like, man, I fucked up. And I was like, yes, there's nothing better than somebody who's way fucking bigger than you fucking up a little bit on their lines and being like, yo, I'm just a regular person too. You know what I mean? It's
James: surreal realizing that, like, it's, when you're working with actors, it's just human beings and just actors. I've talked about this a few times, but, like, I think that it's important, like... As a director, I always try to not be intimidated by working with bigger names and I just treat them like, you know, I treat my actors very well, but I treat them like another actor on set. And I think that that works because a lot of the time they, you know, I think if you are afraid of them and you're kind of stepping away, they kind of go into that. But if you start treating them like a normal person, you start to realize, yeah, they... They still got to learn their lines like everybody else. There's so much that you have to think about that this is still an actor doing their job. And you can see what makes them magic, but of course they're going to miss a mark sometimes and stumble on a line and all that stuff. Unless they're Mel. Mel gets everything. I was going to say, no, no, Mel. The whole time I was
Peter Jae: thinking, I just see Mel Gibson.
James: No, Mel Gibson. And also, I will say, another one who... Nails it every single time is Kevin Dillon. He knows his lines. It's insane how much... Kevin Dillon will not only know his lines, but he'll know your lines.
BJ: Yeah, he was fantastic.
James: Yeah, he's just like... Kevin is just in it at all times.
BJ: He's fantastic. But yeah, it's awesome, man, just seeing that you normally growing up, you just see these people's finished product and you're like, damn, that shit's solid as fuck. There ain't no mistakes. Continuity's great. Everything's fantastic. And then you get on set with them and they're like, a regular person. I was just like, holy shit. And it makes you just feel so good because then you can actually do your stuff. Because you're like, shit, I'm not messing you up, screwing your big performance up because you're the lead in the whole movie. It's a nice thing to have that happen. I mean, I just did a movie with James, Complex Texas, and I have a shootout with Kevin Dillon, which wasn't planned to begin with. And then when I got there, they were like, here's how this is going to go. And I was like, what?
James: A shootout with Entourage? Don't give me another shootout with
BJ: Entourage on this deal. And so I was super excited about it. But man, he was so pro the whole time. It was just spectacular. And he's also one of those dudes that talks to everybody on the crew. Oh, that's dope. Which makes everybody feel like, you know, you're not better than.
Peter Jae: Yeah, it must be so hard for him, too, because he's so imprinted as drama, Johnny Drama, and he did such an amazing job, and you just tend to think that he's going to be like that, right? But I don't know how he's in real life.
James: Kevin's one of the nicest, chillest dudes in the world. Actually, you guys would probably become best friends. He is, right? You don't get that You guys would be like besties. He loves New Yorkers. You guys would get along really well.
BJ: He's spectacular. Super sweet. Super nice. Just really appreciative of everybody who's doing work on set. He's been around
Peter Jae: forever. Was he in Full Metal Jacket?
James: He was in The Blob, he was in
Peter Jae: Platoon. He was like 17 when he did
James: Platoon. That's what I'm saying,
Peter Jae: Platoon, like the 80s. I didn't know that. Yeah, he goes way back.
James: He was in the Doors movie. He's been in so many things. I got to
BJ: branch it off because I want to know, what was it like doing the hot seat? Because it seemed like that movie is mostly Kevin Dillon and Mel.
James: So here's the thing. It really happened in a really beautiful way because Shannon Doherty was in the movie. I'm really close friends with Shannon. I was really close friends with Shannon before she passed. And then Eddie Steeples, another really great friend of mine from My Name is Earl, he played Mel's partner in it. And then the other person was Michael Welch. Who I've done like six movies with and is a very close friend. And so I had all these really close friends on the show that were great actors. And when I first met Kevin, we hit it off amazingly. And Kevin had just wrapped a movie with Mel. And so when Mel came out, Kevin was like, yo, this is our director. He's awesome. And was talking me up. And so by the time I met Mel, Mel was like, oh, cool. And we became friends. And me, Mel, Shannon, Kevin, Michael Welch, and Eddie would just go out to dinner every night after we finished filming. Damn. So
Peter Jae: Mel was a part of this already? He was already a part of the project. Yeah. I got
James: hired. Mel was already attached to the project when I got hired. I was asked, hey, do you want to direct a movie starring Mel Gibson? I don't know why I thought you wrote
Peter Jae: and directed. No, no, no. I was
James: asked if I wanted to direct a movie starring Mel Gibson. And I was like, yes. Is that a trick question? I got to think about it. Is that a trick
BJ: question? And then that was after the Bruce Willis stuff.
James: Yes, it was right after. And actually, Chad Michael Murray was originally going to play the Kevin Dillon role, but then scheduling didn't work out. And then Kevin came in and, you know, I've fucking loved both Chad and Kevin, but it was very awesome to meet and work with Kevin. I'm a huge fan of Kevin's work and Kevin as a human being. Damn, that's dope.
Peter Jae: How do you compose yourself when you work with all these, like, I mean, you have to just remind yourself they're a human being, they're a human being, they're a human being. I remind myself that they're a human being. But it's like,
James: you know, it's one of those things like, so the first time I worked, I'm working with Mel, like, you know, I was asked during Hot Seat, like, hey, you know, when do you have time to talk with Mel about the script? And I was like, well, he's my lead actor. I can be available for him anytime, I said in the email. And so the response came back from his assistant, like, good answer with a smiley face. And I was like, okay, cool. So I don't know, like, what does that mean, right? And then literally like two hours later, I get a call from the line producer and he was like, did you tell Mel Gibson that you'd be available for him anytime he needed? And I was like... Yeah. Why? Like, did I do something wrong? They're like, well, he canceled his flight for next week and he booked like a flight on his own through Southwest. He's arriving in two hours in New Mexico. And I was like, what? He came out a week early and just sat with me every day talking about the script, looking at my shot list, like looking at what I was doing. And like we we just became homies, like going through everything. He flew out early.
Peter Jae: That's
James: And just because he's like, oh, you said you're available for me? Then I'm coming.
BJ: On Southwest?
James: Yeah, he flew out Southwest. Literally like one of the times I was like, one of the days I was like, you know, like this. And he was like, oh, you're hunting your back. Hold on. And he like walked behind me and like lifted me up and like cracked my back. And I was like, that felt good. Like that worked. I'm like, what the? Mel's
Peter Jae: just a normal dude. Yeah. I mean, because he's a director himself, so he knows all the pressure, all the weight on
James: your shoulders. I mean, I picked his brain so much about how he pulled off some of the stuff in Hacksaw Ridge, what it was like filming Apocalypto. Braveheart was incredible, but honestly, I think Apocalypto is the most fascinating movie for me that he made because for me, you're making a whole movie in a dead language. I would have been like, what the fuck is being said? He created such tension and really it was awesome. Phenomenal director,
BJ: for sure. Peter, who's the most... I mean, I get intimidated when it's bigger actors until it's chill and stuff until you know how to deal with them and stuff. Who's the most intimidated, too intimidated you've been working with somebody big or your favorite big actor to work with?
Peter Jae: You know who was one of the nicest guys I met? Chris Hemsworth. Oh, wow. Yeah, because you did Black Hat. Yeah, yeah. We have a fight scene and Michael Mann was very stressed that I was going to say that day, but that entire shoot... He was just like not having it and you know as you know someone that doesn't have a name or anything you kind of like and doing stunts I had an acting stunt role and I had to you know he throws me over this table into like a real table and I smash into a crash into like a fake plastic you know I mean sugar coat table and stuff. But it wasn't coming out right. And I just go back and forth to get direction because it's a long scene. It's a lot of work. And he just didn't know what he wanted to be like, all right, we did it a lot. And then one of the takes, Chris Hemsworth slips. And then my face goes right into the table and I could have lost all my teeth or whatever. But as an actor, not really a stunt guy, because I do a lot of action stuff, but I respect stunt guys so much. You never want to show pain. So I pop right back up, my face is like throbbing like this. Let's go again. He's like, no, everyone's like, even the
BJ: stunt coordinator was like, oh, whoa, whoa, come on. You're right, safety first.
Peter Jae: You know, safety first. I'm like, no, I'm good. I'm good. And they were like, they looked at my eyes. I followed my eyes. I was like, all right, tough son of a bitch. All right, cool. But Chris, like, while I'm getting yelled at, Chris would be with me. That was totally my fault. I'm not going to throw him under the laws, but he was just such a cool dude. And then off screen, like, you're talking to him about acting stuff. And he's just like, man, like, what do you do for your traps? He's just such a real dude. Like you said, like we're saying, he's a human being. And we get so caught up. And then one of the days... They were shooting all over K-Town because Michael Mann loves K-Town. Like, you know, like he feels like it's LA noir, you know? And so, so he was shooting right in the parking lot of where I was, where I bartend. And so, and what we shot was a block away, a couple of blocks away. So we're shooting in there. And then it was like, and I told everyone I was working on Black Hat, but no one believes you, right? They're like, shut up bartender, make me my drink, Jameson Ginger, right? Whatever, right? So I'm like, whatever. And then next to you, everyone's like, oh my gosh, they're shooting a movie in the parking lot. And I'm like, oh, Thor's outside. Like Chris Hemsworth. I was like, oh, that's crazy, right? And I stepped out and I had shot with him like a couple of weeks before. I forgot how long. But then I was like, in my mind, I'm always like, oh, they forget. They forget you. They meet so many people. And I'm like, hey. And then he's like... And I'm like, oh, like, what up? And he gives me a big hug and he makes me look so cool. And right next to us, the restaurant right next to us, they were doing the holding. So they were doing all the makeup and no one could have security over there. And I'm like, oh, he goes in and he's like, you want to come inside? And I'm like, yeah. And I go inside and everyone's looking at me from the window like, oh my God. I'm like, yeah, look at you suckers. I told you I knew him.
James: And he was
Peter Jae: just so cool down
James: there. That's
BJ: awesome. Fucking cool.
Peter Jae: It gave me so much more confidence in like just meeting, you know, successful, like, you know, people. And
James: that's Black Hat.
Peter Jae: Black Hat. Yeah, man. I'm going to rewatch that now. How'd you get into stunts? You know what it is? I never wanted to get into Sunset because I respect Sunset. I never did martial arts growing up. I only mimicked it because... You got into some
James: brawls being a bouncer. Don't lie to me. Of course, of course. But I
Peter Jae: never formally... I was a broke kid growing up in the Bronx. So we couldn't afford... I couldn't afford like classes, Taekwondo and all that stuff, martial arts, but I always mimic and I always wanted to like get it right, you know? And then naturally I just worked out, you know, just wanted to bulk up and then I'm a taller guy. So I like, I started getting all this work. I just, you know, I just met so many cool people, directors, stunt coordinators, stunt guys. And... Yo, stunts is cutthroat. That's a hustle. There's so many people trying to get it. And they don't really have an agency really that pushes them. So it's all about hustling and relationships. And so one of my friends, Lin Oden, he's a stunt coordinator. He's a director now. But I met him. He took a liking to me. He put me in Olympus Has Fallen. And he just came to the groundwork. He was like, you know, don't have no ego. There's a lot of guys here that are competing for stuff. Just tell them you're my guy. Just be cool. And then next thing you know, I just met all these friends. And I started really like... I kind of started seeing tribes in the stunt world of people that mess with each other, people that don't. And I knew, I met all the Asian American, like, and Asian stunt guys, like, not all of them, but a lot of them, because Olympus is Fallen is about Korean, North Korean terrorists and Koreans. So it's like, they got everyone, they got the troops. So I met everyone, the best of the best, some legends. I was like meeting people. I was like, oh my God, Simon Reed, best of the best. I know all your lines from best of the best. I like followed all your movies. He worked with
James: his, uh, on darkness. Oh yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.
Peter Jae: I'm like, you know, and so I'm like, man, I'm meeting all these people and I got real relationships with them and they're working all the time. They're so in demand. So, and a lot of times when, you know, sun guys, It's about like hustling. So you get your friends. So a director be like, oh, I like you. Do you have any four other guys that look like this? And so they just hit up their friends because they want to work with their friends and put on their friends. But if people don't like you, they're not going to hit you up and be like, yo, man, yo, what's up, jerk? Like, I hate you. Like, you want to do this job? I mean, I mean, they would, but like, you know, it's like, it's not like with a smile. Yeah, but you also
James: have people that are like pushing you out there because I remember I was looking for like a Korean actor for Darkness of Man. Right, right, right. And I had three different people send me...
Peter Jae: Oh, really? I didn't even know that. Yeah,
James: send me your stuff. One of them being Shane, you know? Yeah, yeah, yeah. Shane, my boy. Yeah, but Fiona, Shane... Fiona and Shane both sent me your stuff.
Peter Jae: I think Fiona's Shane's friend. Oh, yeah. Yeah, from a showcase that they dated, ABC showcase together. But yeah, yeah, yeah. Oh, that's dope. I didn't even know it like that.
James: Yeah, yeah. And so I'm like, all right, all right. And then so I called Peter and I was like, let's, you want to play this role? And then we met at Soho House.
Peter Jae: That's right. That's right. That's right. That's right.
James: That's
Peter Jae: right. I mean, and I always try to say like, I don't, because people are like, oh, you're a stunt guy. I'm like, oh, no, I'm not a stunt guy. And not to disrespect stunt guys. I'm an actor, but then like, I respect what these guys do so much. They train and they're fearless. But he
James: did do 100% of his own stunts in the
Peter Jae: workout. Yeah, yeah.
James: All those fight scenes are him.
BJ: Yeah, you and Josh Kelly both did, right? Yeah, yeah, yeah. I mean, Ashley, too, I imagine. Yeah, we
Peter Jae: all did our stuns.
BJ: Have you filmed anything outside the country?
Peter Jae: I got to shoot something in... Wasn't
James: Olympus' Fallen Out of the Country?
Peter Jae: They shot, I didn't go outside the country. They were all over Asia, you know. But I got to shoot like this little indie film in 2008. I got to go to China and Hong Kong and Macau.
BJ: What?
Peter Jae: Yeah, so I got to go there for like two weeks and first time in Asia and that. And I helped my friend shoot his movie in Korea, helped produce that. But I wasn't really shooting in front of the camera. My Korean's getting better, but like not as good to get.
James: So what was it like being the lead of an action movie? Just being a lead in any movie.
Peter Jae: It was honestly, it was a blessing. It was such a blessing. And of course, when you called me with all the hiccups, I was just like, oh, and it was more challenging. But I was like, man, this is for some reason, the challenge of it was more. I don't know, made me feel more like, more for it. Like, more like, I'm like, oh man, like, the obstacles, when you hear, you know, if it's indie and all that stuff, you just hear challenges and obstacles, and you're like, man, let's see how this works out. Like, I have faith, like, you know, and I have faith in you as a director. Peter didn't
James: believe the movie was real until it was finished.
Peter Jae: I always tell the story, but at the first time he hit me up about being the lead, I was like, I thought you were doing an Asian movie. And it sounds so stupid, but I really thought, I was like, you're doing in Asia? We're going to Asia? And you're like, no, man. I was like, what? You know what I mean? I was just like, well, why am I the lead? And you're just like, no, man, I see something in you. I could be wrong, but I was like, no, don't be wrong. Don't be wrong.
James: But was it cool seeing like a poster with your face on it? Yeah, honestly. And then I told
Peter Jae: him, the first thing I told him too, I was like... I think my face is just too big. Like we should enlarge everyone else and like make me like, like, it just, I didn't, it didn't feel, it didn't, it doesn't just, I don't know. I don't know how, maybe, you know, trauma from, you know, the industry. I don't know. Like you sound stupid, but like, but it was, it was, it was dope. Even when we were doing the, um, the photos too, like. For each movie, even for Darkness of Man and The Workout, like, all right, Peter, get in the middle. I'm like, I'm trying to get off to the side. I'm like, nah, man, you get in the middle. Like, no, you need to be in the middle. And like, I know you're trying to be humble, but just get in the middle. Yeah, it's following your
James: story the whole time. Yeah, yeah, I
Peter Jae: know, I know, I know. But no, it was such a blessing. There's so many actors that I look up to that are successful that never got to even star in their own film. I'm like, oh man, I got to star in a film, be the lead. So much responsibility, but I love that weight.
James: Yeah, and was it fun wearing a chess camera?
Peter Jae: That was fun, too. I was learning so
James: much.
Peter Jae: I have so much respect for filmmaking on the other side behind the camera. I have so much respect for you guys. You guys don't sleep. You guys are constantly like, I don't know how you sleep.
James: Yeah, I was going to say the thing that I remember was one of the most rewarding moments on the movie, and I thought it was a lot of fun, too, was just how excited you were when you got that wrench.
Peter Jae: Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah,
James: yeah. The strip club scene, he has a wrench and Peter was just like, it's all connecting now. I got this wrench.
Peter Jae: It was like the hammer, the Thor of Hammer. Yeah.
James: I
Peter Jae: mean, the Hammer of Thor. Yeah,
James: yeah, yeah. But he was like, oh, this is a wrench. And he was just like so excited. He's like, I'm going to hit the pole with the ram. Yeah. Oh, man. Yeah. He was like, that's it.
Peter Jae: It was just clicking to me like this. I'm losing it now. Like, I'm not even going there with handguns. I'm going there with a I'm like losing it. Like I'm just going to fuck everybody up with this wrench. Yeah.
BJ: Yeah. You're right though. Like that, that movie out of all the movies that I can think of, that is the most intricately shot where we were talking to Josh Kelly here recently about it, where we were just like, that scene that we did in the hospital where everybody had to hit those marks. Oh yeah. Everybody, if you, if one person messed up, then it all went back to one every single time to have to do it. And that was probably, I've never had to do that kind of thing where
James: it's that. In the most me fashion, I was making a more ragtag smaller movie because we were dealing with the strikes and having ended and all that stuff. And so we were doing that and of course I decided to make it the most complicated thing I could possibly do. Because any scene we have like... 20 cameras going or something like it's, it's, it was, it's definitely from a filmmaking standpoint, the most complicated movie I think I've ever made. And like, I, I do not even understand how RJ went through all that footage. I'm just like,
Peter Jae: there were cameras. I didn't even know what it
James: was. I had 20, I, you know, like sometimes 20 cameras going, but I only had monitors for a max of four. So I could only see four cameras.
BJ: Which
James: means I made sure those four cameras were able to cut the scene at all times and everything else was bonus. That's
BJ: right, because you had to watch the cell phone stuff on the cell phone. Yeah. Where you're like, let me see
Peter Jae: it. Yeah, and you had to put a lot of trust in us too a lot of times too. You're like, I trust that you guys knew it. And I'm like, I don't know
BJ: if you should trust us that much. I don't know if I did. I was sitting over there
James: with an iPad watching the monitor. Not full
Peter Jae: trust.
BJ: You know what?
Peter Jae: With all the challenges, like, it was so much fun. I mean, I can only think of, like, one day. Well, I don't want to speak for you because I'm sure you're stressed all the time. But, like, for us, like, we would have never known. I mean, one day it felt like everyone felt the stress one day. Well, and it
James: also happened to be our biggest
Peter Jae: day. Yeah, yeah, yeah.
James: But I know exactly the day you're talking about.
Peter Jae: I feel like every production has one or more of those days and it brings everyone closer. Like, you know, I felt like even Josh, like. But
James: also I think the tension from that day really left once we decided we were going to come back and film the rest of the fight. Then it was like, okay, we don't have to rush through this fight. It's like the big fight at the end, which we're not going to give a spoiler, but there's a big fight at the end.
Peter Jae: A big fight in the end. Yeah, yeah,
James: yeah.
Peter Jae: That's the mansion fight, right?
James: No, no, no, no. That took two days to film and that was fun. The mansion
Peter Jae: thing was fun. And you know what? There's always the journey in the making of the film, right? And I remember that day, I was a little worried because when we were doing the fight choreography, I don't know if Josh was half-assing it or whatever, but I'd be like, oh, man. Man, the day before, you know, you always get panicked, right? You're like, oh, shoot. Oh, is this all going on? You just wake up and, oh, like, you know, that home alone Kevin. Oh, Kevin! Like, you know, you're just like, what? Did I forget about that? We forgot Kevin! And then I remember when we shot The Mansion, man, it was so fluid. Josh was like, I don't know what he did. He meditated or something, but he was just coming, bringing it. And then we had this synergy going. Yeah. Double Dragon. Yeah, that's when he was like, we're like Double Dragon. And I was like, you're right. We're like Double Dragon. And then it started coming into choreography because we were just freestyling so much of it. And Luke is just like, yeah, that looks cool. Let's go for it. And everything just kept on building and building. And then the hospital scene. We had a whole hospital. We were playing Manhunt in the hospital. When do you get that luxury of just having a whole hospital to yourself? I remember just walking around, just going to different rooms. Man, this is cool. I never saw this.
James: We didn't film at a hospital set. We filmed at an entire closed-down hospital. Yeah. And that was pretty awesome. And I know Peter gave everybody the scare of a lifetime. Oh, yeah, that's right. Because we were filming there on April Fool's, and so he decided to post a picture of himself in a hospital bed. Oh, man.
Peter Jae: Everyone cursed me out. I still have people that don't talk to me until this day right now. I'm just trying to talk
BJ: to you, man. I remember Josh Kelly would just leave. He would be done with his scene, and he'd go lay in a hospital bed. We didn't
James: talk with him about what it was like doing basically double-dipping, shooting and then shooting. Yeah, he was double-dipping. I remember one day
Peter Jae: when we were shooting at the second mansion, he was running lines on his computer with his whole, he has his method of memorizing lines and everything. He
James: was very grateful that Levi doesn't have to talk that much. In the workout. Yeah, I remember you saying
BJ: you had to, up front, you had to work around his schedule. Like, he would go to General Hospital, go do stuff, come to you, do stuff. That's fucking amazing, man. That's just super amazing, talented people, though. They can pull that kind of shit off. He's phenomenal.
Peter Jae: Oh, Josh is dope. Like, I remember first meeting Josh, too. He was all sizing me up and everything. Me, too. We're, like, literally walking towards David's apartment. Yeah. And as we're walking, and I see him, he has this big dub, and he's like, oh, he looks like a military guy. And he sees me, he's like... You Peter Jay? And I'm like, yeah. He's like, good to meet you. And he was all cold. And I was like, oh, this guy's the size of you right now. Like, so cool. And then we went to have, you were like, I want you guys to bond. Like, have a beer. And I'm like, oh, we're both not drinking. We're both kind of like on a break right now. So we had, we met at, um.
James: And Ashley doesn't drink. So like, oh. Yeah, Ashley doesn't drink. It works out. But first we
Peter Jae: met with Josh first. We met together first and we went, I forgot where we went. But then we like. We're just talking like, you know, acting like this, this drink is loosening us up. And then we went to, we went to Santa Monica. I forgot where we go. Barney's. We went to Barney's shop pool and stuff like that. And it was like, oh man, this feels good. It was real good.
BJ: Josh is definitely that person. Like when we, when we first did all that hospital stuff for the first time, before we went into the room, when we just had the, the, when you were waking up. James Cullen Bressack
James: That's Josh's brutal honesty. He'll say that, but he'll also say the opposite. And people will be like, you just told me it was fucking bad. Where's the joke? I didn't want that to happen. I didn't joke.
Peter Jae: Man, no one will believe Josh is an ex-Army Ranger. Yeah. He's such a down-to-earth like jokester too. Like he's just like, I'm like, even when I'd be like, yo, how do you hold this gun? He's like, all right, just hold it.
BJ: Come on, man. I don't need you to be a smart ass right now. I need you to get into Army Ranger mode.
Peter Jae: Like this,
BJ: like this, like this, like this. Show me. I could see that.
James: So you've had a pretty awesome career. You've done a lot of things. What would you say was like the most exciting projects for you? Like top two? And why were they both Darkness of Man and The Workout? No, I'm joking. No, The
Peter Jae: Workout is definitely one of them. Oh, for sure. I mean, being a lead and not only that, like it wasn't just all action. Like, honestly, my favorite part is just getting to speak to my daughter.
James: Honestly, when you called me...
Peter Jae: The monologues were great, yeah. Do you remember the script wasn't even fully fleshed out? Oh yeah, it wasn't. Because everything that I asked, it was just like, oh yeah, I want you to lead this film. I was like, all right, cool. But for some reason, he didn't sound confident. So I was like, how come you don't sound confident? I heard it in his voice and he was like, oh, but the only thing is we don't really have much money. And I was like, all right. And I was like, send me the script. He was like, that's another thing. We have like 16 pages. I was like, what? I was like, I believe in you, but how do you expect it? When do you want to get this done? It's like soon.
James: David and I wanted to write towards somebody that we were going to have. We wanted to know who we were writing for.
Peter Jae: Right, right, right. If that
James: makes sense. So that's why we wanted to cast you. So then we're like, okay, this is Peter.
BJ: I'm just honored
Peter Jae: the fact that you thought
BJ: of me. You know what I mean? I had me in mind for it. When this thing debuted at Fantastic Fest that year, I remember people being in the audience just kind of crying over your monologues and your heartfelt thing to your daughter. All I heard was David
Peter Jae: shouting out loud being drunk.
BJ: That's all I heard
James: out here. No, still. It wasn't just David shouting. Ah, yeah.
BJ: I forgot David was in the back. That was a rowdy night for sure. That was a rowdy
Peter Jae: night. Honestly, that to me was one of my favorites. Those monologues. And then again, of course, James make that day one.
BJ: He's like, all right, we're talking to your daughter. I was like, oh my God, James.
Peter Jae: But I felt really, I felt the challenge of it. I was like, you know what? This is going to set the bar. If I can't bring this, then we're just doing, we're just hobbying this. Like, this is just a hobby. We're just friends getting together. But we really need to believe in this. And I want to, I believe in this. Like, I believe like everyone, you guys writing this script, coming up with the story, you know, and we wouldn't be here if we didn't believe in this, right? So I was like, I need to believe in this. And you as a director, give me all the encouragement and everything. It was just great. Like, Everyone's energy was dope.
James: I actually always like to go with the hardest stuff first because I feel like once it's out of the way, everybody kind of breathes. Whereas if it's done later, it's that thing that's coming up that everybody's nervous about.
BJ: I
James: like to get it out of the way first so that everybody's like, okay. We did that. Right, right, right. It's now we could cruise. We're making a
Peter Jae: movie. We got this. Worst case
James: scenario, you could always go back and reshoot that. And you kept on saying, we
Peter Jae: had the heart now. We had the heart of the story. You kept on saying, we had the heart, so now we're just going to put... Yeah, it's like, we had the
James: heart. We can keep going. Did it ever
BJ: get bigger than 16 pages? The script? Yeah.
James: Yeah, of course. Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah, of course. I
BJ: was... I asked this question because I know a movie that he just did that is like very... The
James: Workout was like a hundred page script. It was like a legit full script.
BJ: That's why...
James: Why? Because when I sent you a script, you go, bullshit, bullshit, my line, bullshit, bullshit. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Because
BJ: you sent me the script and then go, but at first I think it was a few pages that you had sent me or whatever and was like, I want you to play this Dr. Ball and I was at the W Hotel in Westwood and I remember sitting with James, our director here, and I just look at him and I was like, I write James Bressen back. James Runquist. Yeah, James Runquist. We have to
James: clarify because there's two Jameses.
BJ: There's two Jameses. So then I write JCB back and I say, I say,
James: you sure?
BJ: Yeah. Because I was like, that's some hard ass lines right there for somebody to like learn. No, you called me and said, what's an embolism? Yeah, an embolism. I was like, an embolism. I was like, you really want my country ass to say embolism. Embolism? Embolism. So I thought that was great. But no, I never had read the whole script, which I don't do a lot unless it's needed on things. I kind of just concentrate on my stuff. Right, right. But James just did a movie that when the first piece of the script came out, it was bullet pointed out over maybe 10 pages of exactly what he was going to do for this crazy found footage movie that he just did. And I'll leave it at that because that's a mystery. Well, you
Peter Jae: definitely know how to sell the story because I don't really have the story, but you told me the... The overall story. And then you got me when you, and everything was like, oh, but everything was like, oh, motivation, motivation, motivation, motivation. And then when you like, and then you have this daughter and then you don't really get to raise. And then like, and the crappiest thing is like that you're losing your memory and then you have to do these. And I was like, oh, I'm sold right then. That's what really was like, I get to connect with this because people will be like, oh, I need you. Oh, you want to work on this movie? Yeah, I have this role for this bouncer and this goon. You have like one line and you just get, I'm like, oh man, how many times am I going to do this? Like, you know, I'm grateful for the opportunity, but I'm like, at this point now, after 22 years, I'm like, I want, I want to be able to like, I
James: feel like you have two pretty fucking cool roles with me though. I like that. Oh, absolutely.
Peter Jae: That's why when you call, I'm like, all right, what do you want?
James: Like, yeah, yeah, yeah. That's why you're here on the podcast.
Peter Jae: And the reason why I told you I sound like I'm not sold is because I'm always like, what's the catch? I'm always waiting for a catch, but there's always a catch. I'm like, all right. Is there a fight scene? It's usually that we don't have a lot of money. I'm just saying, I'm like, there's always a kid. But I'm like, oh, this is like, I'm the lead? Like, really? What's the catch? Like, you know what I'm saying? Like, what the script? And then now, like I said, 16 pages or something. The next day, it had like another 20 pages, another 40 pages. It was just cranking out. They knew the story they wanted to tell. It just wasn't on paper yet. I mean, you're
BJ: phenomenal at that, though. Like, you'll come up with like, even this bullet point script that he just did went from that to... A full-blown feature film in maybe two weeks. I don't know. And it was fucking crazy because he had it all down in his head for a thing. It's funny.
James: One of my friends was talking with me about this today earlier. Oprah Perry, who got our movie into Fantastic Fest. She's one of the programmers for Fantastic Fest. And I do my... Filmmaker's brunches with her, but she was saying, you're the only person I know that always likes to put out press or a post about your movie before you've even started to make it. And she's like, why do you do that? And I was like, I do that because I don't do maybe press, but I do it on social media. I announce that I'm doing something because if I don't do that, then I might back out on it. Right. But if I put it out there and say that I'm going to do it, then I have to do it. She's like, well, people have short attention spans. They forget that you did that. And I was like, yeah, but I won't. I'll look back at the date of where I said I was going to do something. And to me, I'll be like, nope, I have to do it. I told myself I was doing it.
BJ: You've got so popular now, though, that you can put those type of things out and then other big press rags actually push that shit before the movie's even made. Yeah. There's this one here. You've got, what, five or six articles out in really great things, the movies in post. This guy's got
Peter Jae: mixers bringing the whole Hollywood together.
James: People flying. Today on the Flatter James album.
BJ: Yeah, yeah, yeah. Don't forget tonight. Don't forget to bullet point that flattery. No, it is, man. I mean, you definitely have a way to be able to put things out. I mean, the workout the same way had just great press about it. But
James: also, if you want to meet me or any of the people that are on this show, come to my mixers once a month. Sometimes Aubrey will be there. Yeah, look for her.
BJ: She's phenomenal. Thanks. We got to get her on this podcast as well. Oh, she hasn't been on yet? No, no.
James: She's going to be on soon. She's going to be on soon. She's been waiting for her tracksuit to come in the mail. Her tracksuit. She wants to be themed.
BJ: If you could do any type of movie that you haven't been able to do yet, what would you want to do? I want to
Peter Jae: do more comedy stuff. People just don't expect me to... I love making people laugh and stuff like that. Josh said
James: too, you guys should do a comedy. With Josh, you can tell
Peter Jae: that he wants to do comedy. He's always cracking jokes.
James: You guys should do a comedy.
Peter Jae: I know you're looking at me still like... No, no,
BJ: no. I think you're funny as shit. No, no, no, no, no. Anytime. I've spent
James: time hanging out with you when we're not working. You're definitely funny. Me and
BJ: you cracked up at the workout premiere in Fantastic Fest. We was having a good time. Fantastic Fest was a blast. Oh,
James: yeah. We were laughing the whole time. This was your tracksuit from Fantastic Fest. Yeah,
Peter Jae: this was. When you broke someone's eye socket.
James: I forgot
Peter Jae: who. We have to
James: clarify, I was in a boxing match. I was in an actual boxing match. No lawsuits. We signed waivers, guys. We signed
Peter Jae: waivers. We came like the entourage.
James: Fantastic debates. Yes, I think I took it a little bit more serious than I should have. I actually sent a video today to Ashley because it came up in my memories of like, it's just a video David took of like in between rounds of the boxing match and like... Kevin is giving me a little bit of water, and then I turn to Ashley, and Ashley grabs my head and is like, focus. Blah, blah, blah. You're in a fight. And I'm like, I don't think it's that serious. She's like, no, it is. You're fighting somebody. And I was like, it's super intense. And I'm like, wow, I'm legit being cornered by a UFC fighter. Get it
Peter Jae: together. This
James: ain't the game. The side thing of the other guy who I was boxing against, Sam, who's a great dude, but he must have been like... I guess this guy's taking this way more seriously than I thought because he had nobody cornering him. I had a UFC fighter cornering me like, yo, you're going to...
BJ: Once we realized that he could have a couple of people entourage walk out, we was like,
James: all of us is walking out. And we were like, what is
BJ: happening?
James: Yeah, yeah, it was crazy. That
Peter Jae: was wild. Then he trained for the fight. Both of y'all did. Or did he say that he trained? I don't know.
James: I was sending you guys videos. I got a Golden Gloves champion trainer that trained me every day, two times a day. And I was doing sparring sessions. Because I didn't know how serious the fighting was. And I was like, I'm not going to look like a fool out there. And I'd never boxed before. I'd done martial arts, but I'd never boxed before. I did wrestling, karate, and judo as a kid. But I couldn't use that in a boxing match. And I was out of shape, so I needed to get my cardio up. So we were doing two one-minute rounds for Fantastic Fest. So every day I would do two hours of training with the coach. And then he would have me do... Five three minute rounds of sparring with actual boxers. And so I was just getting the crap beaten out of me for like a month and a half. And then, but like my cardio was like ready to go. So when we went, I definitely was ready for that. You
BJ: dropped crazy weight for that particular match on that deal. You were in good shape for that. I mean, I'm not saying you ain't in good shape now. You know what I mean?
James: Listen, listen, listen.
BJ: You know what I mean? We gotta get back to boxing. I know, hell man, that was proof right there that that fucking training for boxing without just doing that sparring that you were doing is like mass cardio.
Peter Jae: Yeah, you look good.
BJ: That's what we all should be doing, to be honest. Just being real about it. That one's all reflective right now. I know, I was that way. I couldn't lose something. They stare into the clouds. Hold up. Hold up. But like, so comedy. Yeah, I mean, Josh is the same thing.
Peter Jae: Yeah, I mean, I could totally see Josh doing comedy. You too? I would love to do comedy with Josh. No. But I have a script that I wrote that I'm trying to get out there and a show. I'm not really in the show, but like a script. I want to tell stories. Stories that I care about. Oh, yeah. You know, not everyone might care about them, but I know there's a kid... That's out there growing out that needs to see certain stories. And like, cause I think about the stories that I wish I saw when I was a kid that would have gave me confidence or just know, knowing that someone else is out there that knows what you're going through. And there's a story that can, like, that you can identify with. Like growing up, I didn't have a lot of stories. I was just like, man, none of these, I just, all the stories weren't, didn't involve me or like someone like me. So I just like, just fantasize all the time. You got a friend group
James: that likes to just pick up cameras and get it done. So you start talking to us, man. I got everything. I got
Peter Jae: everything. I'm working on a pitch deck. I haven't written stuff like that. You should also go to my mixer.
James: Find a way to be there. Is that a comedy thing?
Peter Jae: No, it's actually a drama. It's like Lucy based on my upbringing. It's not my story, but it's like inspired by things like in the Bronx. Shoot in the Bronx. Yeah, I was about to ask him.
James: You want
Peter Jae: to stay in the Bronx? Yeah, yeah.
James: My dad was from the Bronx.
Peter Jae: Was he from the Bronx?
James: Yeah, my dad was from the Bronx. He grew up on Allerton Avenue.
Peter Jae: Oh, yeah. Allenton Avenue. I know. I used to take the bus over there. 26 bus. Like, oh, man, I wish I would have had conversations with him. Yeah, yeah. I know exactly where that is. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Wait, he grew up there?
James: Yeah. Yeah, he grew up there until he was, like, 20. Oh, shoot. Then he moved out
Peter Jae: here?
James: No, then he moved to Manhattan. In the city. And then moved out here at, like, 28.
Peter Jae: Okay. Oh, wow. Was he always, like, writing and, like...
James: Yeah, well, so he was acting when he was in New York. And he traveled with the Playhouse of the Ridiculous through Europe. But then he moved to L.A. and he became a writer because he wanted to write towards stuff that he would act. And it just became, you know, his comedic style became just him writing.
BJ: Damn, that's dope. I know, right? Was he always into animation at all? How did that
James: come out? It's just his sensibility and sense of humor. It
Peter Jae: was more fit for
James: cartoons. It went that way, yeah. He wanted to write for late night TV. Oh, so he was
Peter Jae: always
BJ: comedy.
James: Yeah, yeah. Always comedy.
BJ: I mean, the majority of the scripts that you're about to do are comedy. Yeah. Oh, really?
James: Yeah. But... So, Peter, we are unfortunately getting to the end of the episode. What advice would you give to people that want to break into this business?
Peter Jae: Know your voice, your authentic voice, your real voice. Don't get caught up with all the smoke. What I realize is I see people that I try to like want to be like or compare myself to and I see them reach success and whatever and they look, some of them look miserable. Like all the things that I thought that I wanted, like the fame, the success, the recognition, all that stuff. And they look more stressed out and more like anxiety in them than ever. And I realized it's because now they've lost themselves and they're catering to like a whole different audience of people that have expectations and like want them to do this and that and the third. And I might not have reached their success and I might sound like a hater because at first I'm not going to lie. I was consumed with like this like that. He's like, man, how about me? But once I let that go and found faith, I was just like, I'm focused and now I found my voice back. And the workout really allowed me to be a kid at the sandbox again. And so that's why I'm the most grateful for the workout. Even K-Town Cowboys, it was just a bunch of friends. It just organically came. None of us now once thought about, oh, this is going to make it here. We're going to be able to do this and that and third. When we made the movie, different outcome because we were thinking like that because we had the success of the web series. And so now we're like, oh, we're going to do this and that. And that corrupted the whole project. And the workout, we had like nothing to work with, but our friends and talent believing in each other and just pushing each other. And I'm so proud of it. And maybe it didn't hit box office or whatever, all the accolades, whatever, but I'm proud of it. I can watch and show it to anybody and be like, this is what we did. And so, yeah, stay true to yourself. Don't get lost in the smoke.
James: I think in this business, staying true to yourself is so important. And if you create magic, especially with your friends, and you remember that we get to play pretend for a living. If we all get together and do something like that, I think it's really special. I think it's really special in a way that is unique. And I think sometimes we forget that in this business and we lose our voice because we're just trying to Adhere to somebody else's. And if you
Peter Jae: didn't have a voice, then you better recheck why you're doing this.
BJ: Yeah. And it's all, I mean, we've realized this, I've realized this over the last, you know, few years is like, it's all on who you surround yourself with for things. The people that you surround yourself with, if they're pushing and they're trying to grow and they're trying to help you grow and they're like clapping for you because you've done awesome things. Like that's the people that we really try to keep around all of us at this point. And we celebrate everybody's wins. But the
James: workout was a success and we actually have, you know, it's now turned a profit and I'm going to be sending out everybody a check. Oh damn, I didn't even know that. I wasn't even thinking like that. I'm sending everybody out a check. See the blessings that happen when you don't expect anything? We're officially in
BJ: profit. Where can you find Darkness of Man and the workout right now?
James: Darkness of Man you can watch on Hulu. The workout you can watch on Tubi. By the time this episode has aired, it will have
Peter Jae: released. And I didn't mean like workout wasn't. You don't have to correct yourself. I know what you meant. I know what you
James: meant. Don't worry. And yeah, Peter, where can people find you?
Peter Jae: Cafe Blue. At Peter J. N.Y. L.A. for Instagram. At Peter J. J. A. E. N.Y. L.A. New York to L.A.
James: Well, brother, thank you so much for coming on. I love you, man. Thank
BJ: you, bro. Awesome. We'll see you all next week. Thank you, Peter.
James: Bye.