Supernatural Legend: Translated Interviews with Antonio Cupo and A.J. Buckley

Here’s something very special from our good friends at Supernatural Legend, a fan site in Italy. Giuseppe has been kind enough to share the English translated versions of these interviews with us! They are currently on the the Supernatural Legend site in Italian. The first interview is with Antonio Cupo, who recently did a guest stint in 7.19 – “Of Grave Importance.” The other is someone we know well here at The Winchester Family Business, A.J. Buckley, Ed Zedmore of The Ghostfacers.

The interviews are below in their entirety. Enjoy, and a big thanks again to Giuseppe and Supernatural Legend!

The Italian-Canadian Actor Antonio Cupo interviewed by Supernatural Legend staff, about his starring guest role in tv series ‘Supernatural’! – 04/28/12
Hey Antonio, I”m Giuseppe the founder of the Italian site dedicated to the show, Supernatural Legend (www.theotherlife.net/supernatural) and on behalf of the entire staff of the site, we receive compliments on your performance in ‘Supernatural’, really an excellent performance. Besides, we also want to thank you for giving us this wonderful opportunity to ask you a few questions. Please, note that you can answer in your own way taking as much time as you like, everything you say will be of great interest to us.

When did you get the starring guest role in “Supernatural”? Explain what was the process, from start of the audition to the shoot on the set!
Great! Great fans of ‘Supernatural’. Thanks for giving me the opportunity to talk to you all in Italy, about my character Whitman Van Ness on the show. The episode 7×19 of the series, is called “Of Grave Importance”. And, if you have not seen it yet, you can easily find it online. First of all, I thank Giuseppe Columbanu (founder of SL), which manages the Italian site for Italian fans of ‘Supernatural’. I’ll try to answer all the questions fully, and then if things were not clear, I’ll clarify them later. I got the audition because at that time I was in Vancouver, (I was born and raised there). I was there after my last experience on a set in Canada; in a series called ‘Bomb Girl’ we shot in Toronto. I came to Vancouver for Christmas and I had this excellent opportunity to participate in the audition for “Supernatural” as Whitman Van Ness. I entered the room where the crew and the director were, and I made my audition, even though it is always difficult to do this type of character acting involved in science fiction, with special effects in the background. There are things that you can’t do with force of your acting. You can simply enter the room, know your lines and be prepared … but nothing else comes through. For example, the ability to feel the power to put your hand inside a human body and to suck out the energy, or to feel being burned, to be feel being killed is a most diabolical way, is not always easy to portray such a role [laughs]. However, when the other actors and I came to audition for the character, the members of the crew told us that it was one of the most important end-antagonists, which would appear in one of the last episodes of the season. In addition, there would be many other opportunities act because the show is been going for seven years. So you never know what it might come, even as you hope to keep on going. I frankly have always wanted to join the cast of this show and in general a show of this kind, and, fortunately, this was my chance. One thing you may not know is that the house of Van Ness Whitman actually exists in Vancouver is a house of about eight thousand square meters and is situated in the nicest part of town, called Shionecy. Besides, many years ago we shot a film there Saint Sinner – for Universal Pictures Germany. Going back to the episode, many scenes were shot in studios and in various other locations outside of Vancouver. At the time it was very cold, it snowed for several days before and after the shoot.

This was not the first time you participate in an American Tv series, what can you tell us about the experience in ‘Supernatural’, and in general the show and the crew?
Yes, it is not the first time that I play on an American set, because I was born and raised here in Canada and I started my career here. Even though I was been seven years in Italy to shoot a few films, I actually knew that I wouldn’t stay there for so long. But you know, Italy has its way to captivate you, always giving you great food, great friends, and Italians are a wonderful people … well, Italy is one of the best countries in the world, there are million of reasons to stay there [laughs], so I stayed in Italy for so long. This year I returned to Canada to continue some of my work and be with my family a bit after being away. Getting back to the question, I went a bit ‘off topic” [Laughs]. You know, in America we have super professionalism, we have many people who do this work, there’s people working with different crews, creating a lot of competition and a professionalism second to none in the world.

You have shot some scenes with the three actors, Jared Padalecki, Jensen Ackles and Jim Beaver. Can you tell us how it was interacting with their characters?
[Laughs] More than the characters that I find really interesting and well-characterized, I was struck by their personality… I can say that I was glad I met them. It makes me smile thinking about that, because Jared Padalecki and Jensen Ackles are absolutely two amazing and talented actors, absolutely. More than anything else, I found they were very excellent off-stage comics. They made us laugh on set. We had a wonderful time… They have a way of treating all people in the same nice way, with the same respect regardless of what their job is. Their respect is the same whether they are talking to a walk-on performer, a technician, a guest star or an actor who has been there for many years… or makeup / hair performer and all other members of the many departments that are part of the set, here … they treat them all with the utmost respect. It”s the thing that I found really wonderful. Same goes for Jim Beaver, more serious as a person, but also very kind in the same way. All of them have the ability to put you at ease. They are great people. When you work with someone, it is normal to say nice things about them. You say things like: “beautiful people … Fantastic, etc’ but honestly, this experience is really wonderfully above the norm, really beautiful… and a true family.

Are you a fan of American Tv or you are more for cinematographic Films?
I recently watched some shows on tv, like “Breaking Bad,” “Lie To Me,” “Californication,” you know. I like the shows, because they’re like feature films, mini-films, one after another with a history that develops in episodes, so I really like them. Until I got the part in ‘Supernatural’ I had never watched them, mostly because I was focused on other things and I did not watch much TV. I did a lot of theater, I wrote songs, I have my band … you know, I try to devote myself to other things and not just my job [Laughs]. But I must admit I really like those series, certainly I cannot deny that I like movies very much, because being an actor would not mind that my films to be remembered forever in the history of cinema [Laughs].

Having worked in both Italy and the United States, can you tell us the difference between Italian and American productions, the positives and negatives of both?
In addition to what I said before, I think that in Italy you laugh a lot, you joke a lot on the set. I like this idea of creating a sort of working family even on the set. I can also say that on the set of ‘Supernatural’ the same thing happened,, it is really a working family, because after seven years running, you certainly know each other very well, and it’s nice to be part of that family, I have experienced it. I think I answered all the questions; if there are others, send them to Giuseppe, so we can organize another video interview. Finally, I send a super “salutone” to all Italian fans of “Supernatural” and especially to all the visitors of the Italian Supernatural Legend Site. (www.theotherlife.net/supernatural). Thanks and hope to see you soon. Ciao!

Supernatural Legend links
Here the link of the video interview: http://youtu.be/eboWGTvdn6M
The historian of twitter where the actor cites: http://www.theotherlife.net/supernatural/sito/press/twitter_fb/antoniocupo.jpg
Section on our website & Italian Translation: http://www.theotherlife.net/supernatural/interviste_attori.htm

A.J. Buckley intervistato da Supernatural Legend al ‘Roma Fiction Fest’! – 20/10/10
Supernatural Legend’s staff (www.theotherlife.net/supernatural) has met him July 5th in Roma, at “Roma Fiction Fest” we”re talking about A.J. Buckley, who plays Ed Zeddmore, Ghostfacers’ leader in the “Ghostfacers” web spin-off. What could we do other than organize a meeting (first on AJ’s Twitter) and video-interview him exclusively for Supernatural Legend users? We”d like to thank AJ Buckley for giving us a chance to meet him, he”s been very cool! Thank you!
SL: Hi, how are you?
AJ: Yeah, I’m cool, I’m so tired. It’s been a long week because of my responsibilities as international jury president, it sounds so cool, it is cool. There’s a lot to do and it’s a big honor.
SL: First of all, our webmaster, Giuseppe, has told me to thank you for meeting us. When I read on you Twitter account you were gonna be in Italy I said, “Oh My God”. Speaking of fansites, what do you think about fansites webmasters” work about TV series?
AJ: I think it”s awesome, I think if we hadn’t you guys, Ghostfacers would never have been on air, would never have existed. When we first appeared in “Hell House” episode, we had had a great response from fans asking us – (behind the scene the coffee”s here do you want something? A coke, anything? Are you sure, you okay?) So, I think that without the fans, without your ability in chatting, in blogging, we wouldn”t exist, a lot of show wouldn”t exist. I think Studios are realizing your power, they”re getting closer to the audience, they”re considering what you want, what you like and don”t like, so you”re as a character of the show as we are.
SL: Did you know Supernatural before the casting call?
AJ: Yeah, because David Nutter, who directed the very first episode, is like a father to me, when I moved to Los Angeles he”s the one who taught me how the things work , he”s been a very important person in my life, so I knew about Supernatural way before, I knew they were shooting the Pilot, I knew when they cast Jared and Jensen, David was so happy about them and when the time came to cast the episode “Hell House”, cast director didn’t want to see me, he said, “No, AJ’s not the type, he can”t act like a douche, he can’t be a nerd”, and my agent told me no. So I called David Nutter and he said they’d like to let me try, why did they think I couldn”t be a douche? I had never done that, never. So David told me, “Let me try and do something.” He called Eric Kripke and Kripke said, “Let him try.” I did it and I got the part. I met Travis when I got to Vancouver and as soon as I was there everything went boom!
SL: Do you want to sip it? (about the coffee)
AJ: I mix it. (about his coffee)
SL: Ok, can you tell us something about Eric Kripke and the rest of the crew?
AJ: During the first episode, “Hell House” and “Ghostfacers” we haven”t interact much with Eric Kripke, but after the “Ghostfacers” episode me and Travis, who loved our characters, went to Kripke and told him, first we called Phil, Phil Sgriccia, who also directed Ghostfacers and told him, “Listen, we love these characters, they”re our favorite among all we played in our careers, how can we go on and play them, can we shoot a video, can we write something?” So Phil called Eric and a couple of weeks later we got a phone call to meet Eric. We got there and we faced about fifteen people in a room. I was in my shorts and in my T-shirt, I didn”t know what to expect, there were Warner Bros bosses and I was struck. We sat down and they told us they were thinking about doing a show with us, a spin-off, they asked us what we were thinking, we were so happy and they asked us if we wanted to write it by ourselves. We said, “What?” Okay, me and Travis were so excited. Then at Warner Bros things changed, the economy went up and down, they didn”t know where to put the show, if in television or on the web. Form that meeting to the first Ghostfacers” cut a year and a half went by. So me and Travis had a year and a half to write our material, to put it on YouTube, Travis opened a blog, we did everything by ourselves, working with our money and investing on these characters to bring them to life and to keep in touch with you guys so we got a call from Warner Bros last November, they asked for the first script by Christmas, we started to shoot in January and be broadcasted around the end of February because they needed to cut Supernatural Fifth Season DVD. I have to say, I’m so sorry you didn’t get the chance to see it here in Europe, it’s been so frustrating, we really wanted it but there has been a lot of politic involved for people to see it, it’s been really frustrating, of course they were promoting it in the U.S., but we did what we could. I don’t know what happened but it’s been put into the Fifth Season DVD. You’lll get it soon too, right?
SL: No, we”re waiting for the Second Season DVD, we”re stuck with the First Season one, I’m sorry.
AJ: Oh, I”m sorry, but you”re doin’ a good job and it’s important. You”ve got to fight. All Europe can see your website? All Europe?
SL: Yeah, all the world, sometimes we hit 3.000 visits per day. So, the big question is: Supernatural”s Jared and Jensen. How”s working with them?
AJ: I can only say they’re dicks. I could kick their asses. Me with a hand and Travis with a leg, I’m not scared. Come on, bitches. No, they’re great, they’re the greatest guys in the world, they welcomed us so well when we got up on set, we stole their light. Since they’ve arrived, Ghostfacers rule. You know, you can’t, you can put baby in a corner we came and we stole their light and they took it so well. We laughed, mostly with Jared, you can”t shoot a scene with him. Once, during the Ghostfacers episode, I made up my line cause I couldn”t remember it, he fell on the ground laughing, he got out of stage, thrown himself on the ground and laughed for five minutes. He”s a big guy so his laugh is as big as him.
SL: Yeah, we met him at the Italian Supernatural Convention (Jus In Bello).
AJ: Ghostfacers would love to be a part of the Italian convention.
SL: Oh, we’d like it .
AJ: Yeah, we”d like to be part of every one of them, every one.
SL: So, we’ll vote for you.
AJ: Yeah, let them know, we want to be there. When is the next one?
SL: From April 8^{th to April 10th}^{AJ: Yeah, we”d like to be there.}
SL: We can call the girls and ask for you.
AJ: Yeah, me and Travis would love to be there.
SL: So, yesterday during the Festival you said Ghostfacers might return.
AJ: Yeah, with Eric doors are open, the talking with him. I’ve got to say this before answering. We had a chance to worked with Eric during “Ghostfacers,” he”s the greatest guy in the world, he”s the leader and the chief of the team, he’s always full of good ideas, as a writer, so every time we sent him something we were always unsure, hey, what do you think? We always waited for his email to see his reaction and he always answered: “I love it, it’s awesome!”. Me and Travis were always stunned cause we didn”t know what we were doing. Then two others great writers came in the team, Patrick and Chris, showrunners of other two shows, great guys but, mmm. What was the question?
SL: We”ll see Ghostfacers again?
AJ: Oh, yeah! Eric wanted us to be in Season Five, we created an episode with some kind of shapeshifter, the boys and the Ghostfacers, he liked the idea but the end of the world was coming, the Apocalypse, so he thought where we could possibly fit in to make sense but then he said this was “the end year”, so, the talking was hypothetical but I think the idea was that. “We might return”.
SL: Yeah, “cause you lighten up things when you”re there
AJ: Yeah, when you’re sad, call us.
SL: Do you think we”ll se the Ghostfacers in TV with a show of their own?
AJ: We hope, we really hope. Today we”ll know, Los Angeles time, 6 am, so what time would be here? 8 hours back, so…
SL: 3pm
AJ: In two hours we”ll know if we got an Emmy Awards nomination
SL: I think it”s 6 hours in New York and 9 in L.A.
AJ: 6 hours, maybe we”ll know in an hour
SL: What”s the time? AJ: 1pm
SL: 1pm.. so it means New York is 6 hours back and L.A. 9
AJ: So, we”ll know soon. Maybe we”ll get an Emmy Nomination, it would be awesome. It’ll be hard but… there”s a lot of interest, we had a lot of interest, it’s funny “cause I’ve been in a big show like “CSI:New York” but when I travel around the world I always meet Ghostfacers fans, so to me, this morning I”ve sent an email to our group. The other day, we were in a place in Rome and someone did the Ghostfacers sign, that”s what happens, it’s really awesome, it’s a great experience.
SL: Did you know Misha Collins said he”d like to be part of Ghostfacers?
AJ: We did something with him.. yeah
SL: The second part of the question is: Giuseppe asked me to ask you if you can give some advice to Misha?
AJ: No. Misha called us and told us he wanted to be part of our team, he said, “I’d like to part of the Ghostfacers.” We called Eric and we thought about an episode, the title would have been “Interview With An Angel,” it’s really fun, but we can”t release it now. We want to broadcast it during some convention, it’s about 6 minutes long, there’s us and Misha too.
SL: Misha will be in Rome the April for our convention
AJ: That’s it, ask him, we hope to be with him. That guy”s so funny. Really funny.
SL: We hope Misha will be at next convention, we don”t care about Jared and Jensen, we know we want Misha, he always jokes. So, it’s been difficult in “Ghostfacers” to act and to direct simultaneously?
AJ: It’s been so difficult. I was so stressed I got me strange pimps on my face with long hair. I’ve had one here and one there. No, it’s been stressful because we didn’t have much time and money to shoot this product, we believe in it, the result has been great, there’s the chance to be back, so, Me, Travis, Patrick and Chris has been completely absorbed by it, we are so proud of it.
SL: What do you think it”s better? Movies or TV?
AJ: I think toady things have changed, with the new media. I mean, you can watch a movie on your iPhone, I watch them on my Blackberry, so I think there”s no difference between a television star and a move star, because before you could watch movies only in theatres and watch tv show only in TV, but now there are so many ways for people, you can access everything everywhere. So, I think for me, as long as I work, as long as my star shines, I don”t care. The difference”s subtle.
SL: Do you have any future projects?
AJ: I”ve got a couple movies. One”s “Christmas Mail” and I”m so proud of it, there”s Ashely Scott in it. I play a mailman who falls in love with a mysterious girl who writes letters to Santa Claus, it’s a love story, we fall in love, very deep. And I”ll begin soon to shoot another movie, where I’ve got to save the world. Yeah, everything”s on my shoulder and the Armageddon is coming. It’s up to me, I”m not scared, see my muscles? So yeah, I”m a great son of a bitch.
SL: Among all the series TV, which one would you like to be part of?
AJ: I can choose? My favorite TV show is “Californication”, I love that show, I”d like to be part of it, this is a show I would be glad to be part of for sure. I”d like to get drunk and shoot and episode of “Barney The Dinosaur”, to dress like a velvet dinosaur, yeah, yeah, to plat the dinosaur, to go around and breaks things and say “What, Barney drank?”. Just an episode, with a drunk Barney. Just one.
SL: What do you do in your spare time? When you don”t work?
AJ: I dress myself like Barney.
SL: And you get drunk?
AJ: Yep. No, I’ve got a magazine, I’m a partner of a magazine, we’re in Louisiana, it”s called ‘SENE’, I write an article every month and I love to produce, to shoot, to create and I also like to be behind the camera as much as I love to be in front of it, so that”s what I do, I like so much to produce. I love photography, I”m a big fan of it. I like to spend time with my family, with my mom and dad, with my friends, I like to relax and I have parties like Barney.
SL: Where do you think you”ll be in ten years?
AJ: There, in the kitchen
SL: It”s so close to our birthplace, we”re from Naples, so it”s near
AJ: Are you joking? It”s my favorite place. Sorrento, Positano, Amalfi. I”m not joking, in ten years you can come and eat my pasta, by that time I’ll be able to do it and I’ll tell you eat, eat, eat, eat, eat.
SL: You could come to Florence.
AJ: I”ve been in Florence, two years ago. I liked it very much. And so Capri.
SL: Really? AJ: Yeah, I loved it, but there”s something about Capri, my God!
SL: We read on your Facebook you”ve been on a boat.
AJ: I”ve been on a boat, I went diving and I catch an oyster, we opened it up, I put some lemon on it and.. it was the first time, the guy we went with got some wine but in ten years I hope to do what I’m doing now. As long as I have fun like this, this is the time of my life, I’ve got a great family and great friends, I’m so lucky, so If I’ll go on and have success, I’ll go with the wind.
SL: What”s the first thing you do when you get home from work?
AJ: The first, I stretch myself, no, I”m not that flexible. Travis is, he does yoga.
SL: How do you know it?
AJ: We’re so close, no.. no, what do I do when I get home? Usually I throw myself on the couch and I love “American Idol”. Do you know “American Idol”?
SL: We”ve got something similar
AJ: It”s what I like to do best when I get home, if it’s on, to watch “American Idol”, if it”s been a long day, otherwise, I live on the hills so I go out and go climbing with my friend or they come home to me. I love UFC, so if there are some fights I watch”em. But, do things with my friends, you know.
SL: Do you have any fun experience to tell us?
AJ: In my life? You mean if I ever had some exciting experience? I mean, I’m here, it’s exciting, this is the craziest experience. Man, it’s difficult. I’ve got so many of ’em. I mean, I traveled, I love to travel. I guess every time I can travel and meet people. I think traveling is the best thing for me. Every time I get a chance to jump on a plane and travel. I love hotels, I like to stay there. I like the room service, “I want a biscuit” and they’re like, “Yes, Mr Buckley” and they come in with a “oh, thanks!”
SL: Do you have any supernatural experience?
AJ: Yeah, me and Travis got one when we were in England, for Ghostfacers convention in England. It”s true. I can’t remember the hotel name but we were near a very spooky place, it’s been so weird, really scared, we got out of room, we got our camera because we were shooting while there, we got our the rooms and all the windows were closed, it was pouring rain. We went down to dinner and when we went up to bring some equipments to shoot one of those big windows, you have to be very strong to open t, it was opened, the curtains were floating outside and the wind was blowing in. We were struck, it’s been scary.
SL: So, you do believe in these things?
AJ: Yeah, well, I believe it then, I was a little ashamed of myself, I peed my pants but it’s been an accident, luckily I had other trousers with me but let’s not talk about that
SL: Do you like other supernatural TV shows, like “Buffy” or “Charmed”?
AJ: They suck. They really suck. I mean, really, Buffy? No, Buffy’s hot. We called Buffy, one of our characters called Buffy “The Bufchad”, she’s so hot she’s bufchad. Everyone is in love with Buffy. She”s the hottest hunter ever.
SL: We”re talking about vampires. What do you think about “The Twilight Saga”?
AJ: I’m not joking, it really makes me sick. I think it’s the worst thing, I hate it, alright? I don’t like it, I think it’s horrible, I don’t understand it, I read the books and they’re not bad, but the movies are horrible and with all the due respect to the actors but they act like shit, really like shit. I don”t, I really don’t understand, I don’t understand. What the hell is people watching? Twilight, what the hell are Team Edward, Team Jacob. Team suck! (laughs)
SL: But the directors are so good AJ: Yeah, they”re very good, but the actors suck. The boy, what”s his name? he seems like trembling all the time.
SL: There”s a guy from Naples who doubles them, with the local dialect and he makes noises like…
AJ: Yeah, like this (he makes noises), I can”t stand him, I hate the whole saga, it makes me nauseous. If it was good, they”d deserve all the money they make but it”s terrible. Really terrible. Did I tell you I don”t like it? It”s so terrible.
SL: Let’s get serious, you worked with Kelly Carlson. She”s very popular thanks to “Nip/Tuck”, what”s been like working with her?
AJ: She”s been, we got the script thanks to my manager, we”ve got the same manager. My manager read the script for “Ghostfacers” and she liked it so much, we were looking for someone for the ghost part and my manager said, “Kelly would be perfect. The script’s so good, I think she could do it,” but there was no money, we didn’t see any money, not a single one, like, we can get you a coffee and a banana but not a good one. Well, she read the script, she liked it, she laughed about it, she had a good time, she watched the episode, we sent her the “Ghostfacers” episode. She told us, “It’s amazing, I”d like to be part of it.” We told her, “We got no money, you’ll stay in a cold and wet place, we’ll have fun, we’re crazy, we’ll laugh” and she said, “I don’t care.” She came, she”s been perfect, so sweet and down-to-earth and it’s been so good.
SL: Are you still in touch with the other actors? In your everyday life? Do you hang out with them? Do you have time to do it?
AJ: What do you mean, with actors in general? Yeah, many of my friends are actors I grew up with, some of them are even here at this festival. To be an actor is almost like to be part of a circus, because you travel, you meet this and that, you hang out with him and then it”s all over, you find yourself with other people, you hang out with them and then it’s over. You create a group of people and it’s always good to see them but when you’re over, you find another group. I love those people.
SL: Ok, we”re over, the last thing, if you can say Hi to our website, Supernatural Legend.
AJ: Good evening, ladies and gentlemen, my name”s A.J. Buckley of Ghostfacers. Ciao! Ghostfacers! (laughs)
SL: Ok, once again
AJ: Uh, are we ready?
SL: Yes AJ: Ok, Take two. Good evening ladies and gentlemen of Supernatural Legend, I made a mistake again, didn’t I? I screwed up (laughs)
SL: Let”s keep rolling (laughs) AJ: Ok, you can broadcast everything, don”t cut anything, ok? Don”t cut, okay? (Laughs). Good evening Supernatural Legend!
SL & AJ: Yeah! Whooo!!!
AJ: My name”s A.J. Buckley, Ed form Ghostfacers, I don’t even know what I’m saying (laughs) but thanks for your support. I hope the Ghostfacers to be soon in Italy and if you”ve got any ghost trouble or something like that, don’t call those Winchester dicks, call on us! (laughs).

It’s strictly forbidden to reproduce all the contents of this website with no mention of Supernatural Legend. These interviews are this website exclusive so all right are riserved.

Supernatural Legend links
Here the link of the video interview: Part #01 (^{http://youtu.be/wIpJcHJhtHU}^{), Part #02 (}^{http://youtu.be/fX6dIMg4Zk0}^{), Part #03 (}^{http://youtu.be/xlZZ2ete6z8}^{).
The historian of twitter where the actor cites: Facebook (}^{http://www.theotherlife.net/supernatural/sito/press/twitter_fb/aj_facebook.jpg}^{), Twitter}