Friday 8 March 2013

Video: Ralph Cole Jr talks about K-11 with Celebified



Source Celebified via @KatzPR and @ralphcolejr 

New movie still, shared by Kate del Castillo, featuring Mousey



Crystal, Sledgehammer in the background listening to Raymond Saxx talk to Mousey. 

Kate del Castillo talks to ShowBizCafe about K-11


Perhaps the most popular and talented Mexican actress in cinema right now is Kate del Castillo. Her versatility to do theater, television and movies, in Spanish or English, has positioned her for a bright future in Hollywood. 

Her latest movie is “K-11” from novice director Jules Stewart, Kristen Stewart’s mother. del Castillo plays Mousey, a transgender inmate who is volatile and territorial. I had a chance to converse with Kate for 20 minutes about the broad spectrum of her career, but also deep-dive into questions of where does this K-11 role ranks in her career, her encounter with Twilight’s Kristen Stewart, how Hollywood perceives her, her discomfort with comfort and if that “La Reina del Sur” novela is ever going to be made into a real theatrical movie by Universal Pictures. 

ShowBizCafe.com (SBC): Thanks Kate for your time. Why did you want to play this role?

Kate del Castillo (KC): Oh my God, for so many reasons. It’s a once in a lifetime opportunity. These are the roles that as actors and actresses we kill for, these opportunities [don’t come] often.  It’s also amazing that the director, Jules, that she casted a woman. The easy way to go is just to cast a man and that’s it. I am very thankful for her thinking outside the box and giving me the opportunity so that for me is awesome. This is the kind of role that gets attention and that you can really play and have fun.

SBC: How did you happen to get on Jules Stewart’s radar?

KC: You are going to have to ask her because I still don’t know who is the angel that I have to thank. I don’t know, I think she saw a picture of this show I was shooting in Colombia called “The Queen of the South” (La Reina del Sur) and I play a bad ass drug dealer [who] becomes the biggest drug dealer in Spain, so she saw that picture, I don’t know, that is what she is telling me I’m not sure about it. She decided to call me -- she saw my other movies, she saw “Trade” and she saw “Julia,” -- and she asked me to meet with her and I was so nervous because I read the script and I thought: “this is amazing, but I just don’t understand where I fit in this particular script.” When she told me she was blown away and I met with her and we fell in love with each other and that is the way it happened. 

SBC: This role seems to be a demanding and mentally tough role to get your arms around. What kind of exploration did you have to go through to “become” a transgender?

KC: It’s really hard to answer that question because actors, I don’t know what happens it’s just a switch that we just move, of course with a lot of research.  Not everyone can open up and tell you what they’ve gone through, but I was very lucky to find a couple of transgender people who helped me out a lot. That on one side, on the other side I did research on the web, I read so many books – the time that I had also, we are always going to want more time to prepare as actors – I did whatever I could. 

I am a woman who’s been always kind of a tomboy, so for me, it’s funny, but the hardest part was to get in touch with my feminine side! Sometimes transgender persons, guys who are becoming women, they are very feminine, very very feminine, so that was the hardest thing for me.

SBC: About this character, you have said you are looking to grow as an actress. What kind of growth do you eventually want to be able to achieve that will ultimately satisfy you? What is your ultimate goal as an actress?

KC: I don’t think I have a specific goal; I just want to work on interesting projects like “K-11.” I don’t know if it’s going to have a big audience, I don’t know if it’s going to be a breakthrough, but for me it’s a once in a lifetime opportunity. That’s what I’m looking for and that’s going to make me grow as an actress, it challenges me. I have to have risks in my career, I don’t want to be in my comfort zone, that’s why I left Mexico and I left my comfort zone which was very comfortable in many ways, much more economically speaking. I left all of those things because I wasn’t happy. I wanted to grow as an actor, and have fun, and play with things, and be challenged and work harder.

SBC: Would you say that this is the best role you have ever had?

KC: Without a doubt, this is the best role I have ever had. Because it is something that I would have never thought of, it opened my mind so much and I grew as an actor, I grew as a woman, I grew intellectually, I learned so much and I am very ashamed to say that I was so ignorant about the whole transgender [world]. I heard about it, but I never really dug into it, it’s huge and it’s so sad sometimes because these people go through so many things and so many changes and so much bullying, so all these things made for me the perfect opportunity to grow in so many ways. I feel very thankful with Jules and the opportunity of playing a transgender and with all the people who helped me out. 
I don’t what is going to happen with the movie, I don’t know what is going to look like editing wise because you know, they can change everything, I just did my best and it’s not on my hands then what’s going to happen with the entire movie, maybe nobody is going to watch I, but for me I did my best and that is what I take home. 

SBC: How do you think the Spanish community will react to this role because I don’t think they have ever seen you in anything like this, ever. 

KC: I think my fan base knows that I love change even physically, I like to do different kind of roles – I played a human trafficker -- I think they are expecting something different and challenging from me. On the other hand, Mexicans, I’m Mexican so I can only talk for Mexicans, we are very catholic and we are very, you know, I don’t even know what my parents are going to say. I think they’re going to be blown away.

But I think it’s probably going to give a lot to talk about and it’s definitely going to be controversial I have no doubt about it. The buzz is already there. I think, they know I’m an actress, they know I’ve been an actress since I was 9 and my father is a huge actor and they know I take this very seriously, it’s my life.

SBC: Did you get to work with Kristen Stewart? I heard she was in the movie and if you did, did you share any scenes with her?

KC: No, she was not in the movie. I think she did some voices only but I definitely met with her and she is amazing, she is a sweetheart, she was really nice with me, but I played many things with her brother Cam. Jules and her whole family are amazing; I wish [Kristen] would have played a role in the movie because she is a great, amazing young actress.


Read Kate's full interview at ShowBizCafe 

Thank you to for the heads up @PamelaPPI via @KstewAngel :)


Costume designer, Sarah Trost, talks about K-11 with the Fashion Institute of Design & Merchandising (FIDM)


Sarah Trost, whom you may remember from Project Runway Season 8, recently served as Costume Designer on the independent film K-11, starring Goran Visnjc and Kate Del Castillo, and directed by Jules Stewart. Since the film takes place in a dormitory located within the L.A. County Men's Jail that houses the transsexual and homosexual population, Sarah had the challenge of costuming from items prisoners are allowed within the dorm, such as t-shirts, socks, sheets, and dental floss (used for sewing.)

"Some items are dyed by means of Hawaiian Punch and mouthwash," Sarah explains. "It's quite an array of characters -- we even have a fashion show."


K-11 will open in limited national release on March 15, 2013.

Source FIDM






Tiny Lister talks to the San Diego Reader about K-11





You better scream, you better shout: 'Tiny' Lister is coming to town tonight to promote his latest film, K 11, which screens at 9:30pm as part of the San Diego Latino Film Festival.

'Tiny' is an imposing character actor who has appeared in something like 140 films. As I told him, he's the meanest, scariest looking m'fer on the planet, yet every time I spot his name in the credits my face breaks out in an ear-to-ear grin.

I spoke with 'Tiny' via telephone on Wednesday and he had no idea the film was screening this weekend. He's spending today with his daughter, but the night is free and clear. A call to Mrs. Lister earlier today confirmed it: 'Tiny's' coming!


'Tiny' stars as a child molesting convict doing hard time in an LGBT prison. K 11 was directed by Jules Stewart whose daughter, Kristen, I am told, made a big splash in something called Twilight. 'Tiny' loves the film and wants very much to support Stewart of whom he had nothing but glowing things to say.

One of the questions I was going to ask 'Tiny' was to single out the worst act one of his characters had ever committed on screen. After seeing K 11, I don't think 'Tiny' has ever played a character quite as loathsome as Detroit.

'Tiny' asked that he be allowed to leave the following message for San Diego film fans on The Big Screen:

"SAN DIEGO, PUT YOUR LIGHTS ON! SOMEBODY IS COMING TO THE SAN DIEGO LATINO FILM FESTIVAL ON FRIDAY. SOME PEOPLE CALL ME 'TINY' LISTER. SOME PEOPLE CALL ME DEEBO. SOME PEOPLE CALL ME ZEUS. LET ME TELL YOU, SAN DIEGO, THE MEANEST MOTHERF---ER IN THE WORLD IS COMING. DETROIT, FROM THE HIT MOVIE K 11 WILL BE IN SAN DIEGO THIS FRIDAY NIGHT. DETROIT IS COMING, AND HE F---S SATAN UP THE A--!"

I am so there!

God willing, 'Tiny' will join K 11's star, Kate del Castillo, Jules Stewart, and producer Tom Wright at Digiplex Mission Valley for tonight's screening.

I was going to run my complete interview with 'Tiny,' but decided instead to milk this for all it's worth. K 11 will be the premier feature when the Media Arts Center opens The Digital Gym, its new screening facility in North Park, later this month. More from Mr. Lister to follow.



NEW Video Clips: 'Becoming Mousey' and 'Ray Meets the Queen'




Opening on March 15 and directed by Jules Stewart, the follows Raymond Saxx Jr. (Goran Visnjic), a powerful record producer who wakes from a drug-induced blackout to find himself locked up in K-11, the [real] section of the Los Angeles County Men’s Central jail for gay and transgender inmates. Plunged into a nightmarish world ruled by a transsexual diva named Mousey (Kate del Castillo), Raymond is truly a fish out of water.

Complicating matters are a troubled young transgender named Butterfly (Portia Doubleday), a predatory child molester (Tommy ‘Tiny’ Lister) and the ruthless Sheriff’s Deputy, Lt. Johnson (D.B. Sweeney). Ray’s struggle to contact the outside world and regain his freedom seems impossible, so he must learn to navigate this new power structure if he is ever going survive and regain control of his life.

Breaking Glass Pictures and Libertine Films are releasing the movie March 15 theatrically and a VOD release. Fifteen cities around the country are slated to host weeklong theatrical runs of K-11, starting at New York’s Cinema Village, Los Angeles’ Laemmle NoHo Theater, Phoenix’s Film Bar, Columbus’ Gateway Film Center, and others on March 15th. The film will be available nationwide on Demand the same day.  Additional runs will follow in cities such as San Diego, San Francisco, Denver and Daytona.

K-11 also stars Jason Mewes, Tara Buck, and Jules’ son Cameron Stewart who makes his film debut in K-11 as Sledgehammer, while daughter Kristen Stewart (Twilight, On the Road) makes a special contribution.


Source Black Film



Wednesday 6 March 2013

Tiny Lister talks about K-11 with Dread Central


Excerpts from the interview:

Since making his feature film debut in the 1985 flick Runaway Train, Tommy "Tiny" Lister has worked on over 160 projects, quickly becoming one of the most recognizable character actors of modern cinema.

This Friday, March 8th, Lister's latest film, K-11, will be arriving at limited theaters nationwide. Helmed by first-time director Jules Stewart (Crank: High Voltage, XXX), K-11 also stars Goran Visnjic ("ER," The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo), Kate del Castillo ("Weeds"), D.B. Sweeney (The Cutting Edge, Fire in the Sky), Jason Mewes (Clerks I & II) and Portia Doubleday (the upcoming Carrie) and follows what happens inside a troubled portion of a Los Angeles correctional facility reserved for the homosexual and transgender inmates. In the film Lister plays Detroit, and while it's certainly not the first time we've ever seen the seasoned actor as a convict, it's perhaps his most nuanced performance to date.

Dread Central: Well, let's talk about your current project, K-11; I don't think we have ever seen you quite like we do in this movie. Was that the appeal of taking on a character like Detroit, that it allowed you to do some different things as an actor?

Tiny Lister: Oh definitely, that's why I wanted to do this first and foremost. I've had a lot of great roles, but you always want to do something different and challenge yourself in new ways which is just what I could do with a role like this. And Jules is such a beautiful soul; she really deserves to get recognition for the risks that she takes in this movie.

But I knew Detroit was a bad, bad man so I had to really commit to that in order to make that performance believable and it was hard to get inside the head of a guy like that. But if I'm going to play the devil, l'm going to play the best devil that I can. And this cast was so fantastic, too- I really loved working on this movie; Jules really did something incredible.

Dread Central: You mentioned that Detroit is a 'bad, bad man' but at certain points in K-11 we see a bit of humanity in him as well- was it hard finding that inside a character like this?

Tiny Lister: You know, that humanity- Portia's character was the only one that could find it really; I don't know if I necessarily did. In my mind, he was abused and spoke down to his entire life and the only time he's heard the word love directed toward him is when Portia says it and so it releases all of his anger and emotion in some really scary and emotional ways. I knew this was going to be an intimate performance for me to try and pull off, but I wanted to try and not be the criminal you'd expect a guy like me to be.

Look, I've built a great career around being a bad guy but in reality, I'm just a big baby. When you grow up in Compton, you have to get that 'look' down- you know the look I'm talking about right? My look (laughs).

Dread Central: Oh yeah, I know it well (laughs).

Tiny Lister: Good, you understand then that I have a character look that's become my trademark look and Jules just went for it in K-11 off of that look. Detroit is a very sick person and when he puts his will on you, it's never a good thing.

You know, a lot of people can't handle something this honest. Jules is a rebel and she's just so out of the box and that's what I'm looking for when taking on roles these days. More movies need to stir things up and I think we need more movies like K-11 being made. On the outside, our cast may look like a circus but we're a family and that was all due to Jules. Somehow she knew this hodge-podge of actors would click as well as we did.


Read the FULL interview with Tiny here at Dread Central's Indie Horror Month.


Thanks to @thehorrorchick and @K11OfficialFilm 

Tuesday 5 March 2013

Producer Tom Wright shares K-11 DVD details