Dan Payne – Til Ex Do Us Part

By: Jamie Steinberg

Q) What are the recent projects that you have been working on?

A) I was really happy to finish up the third installment of the Disney Descendants franchise recently. I love that because it’s something my boys can watch. I just found out we got greenlit for two more installments of Aliens Ate My Homework movie that is coming out. I’m working with two of my buddies on our second feature. We got together and worked on the movie Devil in the Dark, which was a thriller that came out last year. We are extremely proud of it and you can catch it on iTunes. We are not working towards our second one and getting ever closer. Things are wrapping up right now so I’m excited to say that is greenlit and we’re moving forward there. I’ve kind of switched over to producing while also always being grateful to be on set. Any day and every day on set is a great day.

Q) Please tell us the premise for your Lifetime movie Til Ex Do Us Part.

A) From my character’s perspective, I feel like it is a man trapped in two worlds unbeknownst to him. One is a web of deception that he, because of the goodness of his soul, is unable to see it for what it is and navigate it for what it is so he trips all over himself trying to get back to the one thing that matters, which is his wife and daughter. I loved my character because he had to deal with two worlds.

Q) Was there anything you added to your character, Kyle, that originally in his breakdown?

A) Height? No, I’m kidding. [laughs] Danny Boyle was so cool. He’s like a chilled-out surfer who was completely in control and nothing phased him. His surfer, kind of chill mentality set the tone for everybody, so I think it allowed me to bring in a wider range of sensitivity and anger, which I’m grateful to Lifetime for because of the parameters of what you can do with the depth you can express and go with your characters based on the situations. It’s a little broader of a network than some others so it was quite nice. And Danny was wonderful at helping us find the range. So, I guess hopefully I brought a little bit more oomph…Actually, I don’t know if I brought anything else because honestly Danny Boyle was so great at bringing out what we needed for the story in where we were and what we were shooting. Then, Kelly Sullivan and Anna Van Hooft are so unbelievably talented and present that it was effortless and seamless to fall into the character in whatever was going on in the scene you were working with them. It was just fantastic. I really appreciated their amazing talent and presence. You could be so present that you could just go without having to force or fabricate anything.

Q) Were you familiar with any of your costars before working with them on this film?

A) I knew of Anna. I had heard about Danny Boyle because one of the guys I’m producing with had met him at an interview about a film and had mentioned how cool he was and he actually was even cooler than he had mentioned! Anna is someone I know because she’s a local to Vancouver. She’s very highly respected and crazy talented. So, I knew of her and I was just grateful to get some time to get to know her on a better, more personable level. Kelly was just a surprise and awesome.

Q) What advice did director Danny J. Boyle offer that you took to heart while filming?

A) I do remember one specific moment where he said, “Don’t be afraid to get angry and stand up for yourself.” Because the character is kind of caught in a world where he is feeling maybe a little bit guilty and a little bit lost. I know me, Dan, is a big old sensitive softy, but I was playing with the essence of trying to make things softer, fix things and make it right. But he said, “This character has to have a backbone so don’t be afraid to be angry. Don’t be afraid to stand up for yourself.” That’s when the range of the character kind of came to light and I’m so grateful for that because I was trying to navigate through what I thought was the bulk of the character’s desires and drives, but he gave me a whole other world to play in and it just added so many different elements and so much fun. Kelly and I got to have some good spats on camera that were just so fun to have.

Q) How did you shake off such a dark character at end of shooting?

A) Again, I guess if you didn’t have a relationship with your cast members and a trust in your cast members it would be difficult because you wouldn’t be able to know where the acting and the film world started and ended and where the reality started and ended. And with them because they are so talented and, like I said, made things so effortless because they were present you could really sink into a scene. Then, there is this euphoric state that you have afterwards you recognize is because you got to go somewhere you wouldn’t normally be able to go. It was out of the graciousness of them being there for you and with you. So, it was a hard awareness of the fact that I was in a scene and you got to completely indulge in it and then come completely out of it. So, it was cathartic in that you could do it and drop it all in the scene and then come back be like, “Alright, we just yelled at each other and now I feel great and I want to hug you because you let me yell at you.” [laughs] We got to yell at each other though at the end and say, “That was awesome!”

Q) What scenes did you find the most challenging to film?

A) To truly go to a place where you realize what you’re jeopardizing for a brief and probably unexpected moment…That was just tough to do because you want to do right by this woman and try and hold on to my wife because she is the woman I love and the one I want to be with. Then, recognizing I might have completely blown it up and jeopardized that.

Q) You often take on light, comedic, family friendly types of roles that draws. What draws you to these kinds of characters?

A) I love the notion of hope and love. And I love making people laugh when I can. If they come together in a film it just makes sense. It’s part of what I hope my wife loves in me – that sensitivity and goofiness. As I’m getting older, I think I’m finding myself in a lot more movies with darker stakes I guess. I did a Hallmark movie called A Time to Dance and the whole thing was about a divorce that in the end never really happened, but it was dealing with the fact a couple had grown apart and decided to part ways. Due to the fact their daughter announced her engagement at the same time they were about to announce their divorce they put it off and then they found each other in the interim. It was a lot of things to work out and stress. Then again, I just did this Devil In the Dark movie with my buddies. That character was stoic and a bit of a smartass who is the kind of older brother who is a bit dark. He has a darker part and a lot of demons inside that he has to deal with. I’m starting to find myself more and more in these less rom-com more darker roles and I’m grateful. And I’ll say this yet again, every day on set is a great day. If I get to go around being a bit goofy or if I’m playing around with the darker side of things, it’s exciting.

Q) You are a part of social media. Are you looking forward to the instant fan feedback you’ll receive to the movie?

A) I really am! I’m always excited to see what the fans take is on things, good and bad. You have to take everything with a grain of salt and just try to do everything the best you can. But this one will be interesting to see what people think because it’s not the usual. Like you were saying, it is not my usual M.O. so it will be interesting to see how this is received.

Q) Is there anything else you want to be sure we share with our readers about Til Ex Do Us Part?

A) It’s unbelievably easy to fall in love with Kelly Sullivan. Danny Boyle is the dream surfer director that you could ever ask to work with. He was extremely supportive of this one being a little bit more collaborative than usual. So, overall, I couldn’t ask for a better experience. The crews in Vancouver are world class. We had some huge crushing days and there was never a real stress with Danny Boyle and the unbelievable crews on set. The impressive and talented cast they put together made it a phenomenal experience all around. Those are all the elements I’m grateful for and hopefully the end quality is an expression of all that greatness.