Eric Allan Kramer – Lodge 49

By starrymag | August 19, 2019

By: Jamie Steinberg

 

 

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

A) I’m actually part of “On Becoming a God in Central Florida,” which premieres on Showtime on the 25^th. I have a small recurring on that. Then, just some other guest spots and stuff.

Q) What can you tease is new this season on “Lodge 49?”

A) I think what’s exciting that it’s a much deeper dive into the characters this season. You really find out a lot more about the lodge members. And this season is called “The Impossible Dream.” It teases quite an adventure by the end of Season 2.

Q) How was your role of Scott Miller originally described to you?

A) You know, he wasn’t. When I first read for Scott the only thing that I had to go by were the sides. So, I hadn’t even really read a script yet. But Jim Gavin is such an amazing writer that just in reading the sides alone, for the two scenes that I’d read when I auditioned, the character seemed incredibly full in my head. It’s not often goofy character actors like me get a chance to play characters like this. So, I got very excited by the audition. I felt very comfortable with the character from the very beginning.

Q) Was there anything you added to him that may not have been scripted?

A) I think yeah. I think as the world became more known, as we got further along into the stories, yeah you find out. I found out a lot more about Scott, particularly a lot coming (of course) with his relationship with Connie (Linda Emond) and what that meant in regards with the lodge with Ernie (Brent Jennings). It all had a very big impact on his life. So, the character itself was really forced throughout the course of Season 1 and especially in Season 2…The character was forced to really look at himself and try and figure out what made him tick and why he did the things he did and why he does the things he does. So, a lot of that there are a lot of sides of Scott that come out in Season 2 that even surprise Scott.

Q) Is there much room for improv with the dialogue?

A) Jim has written such a rich full world that there isn’t really a lot of improv on set because there isn’t really any need to. We all really enjoy what is on the page. We actually have a lot more fun exploring that than we do trying to take it off in different directions. There is really not much for us to comment on because what is there is already so great.

Q) What were some of your favorite scenes to film or ones that are coming up that you can tease fans to look forward to?

A) I think what I really like about Season 2 (and this isn’t really giving anything away) is that we get to a point where we start to focus on the lodge as a group of people. All of these sorts of individual storylines that have been going on in Season 1 and continue in Season 2 all come together and converge for a great common cause for the lodge.

Q) Was there someone in the cast that in Season 2 you were hoping to work with more?

A) There is a relationship with Ernie that I very much wanted to explore and as it turns out in Season 2 Scott and Ernie really try to figure out who they are to each other because they obviously share a very complicated history, from everything to wanting to be Sovereign Protector to their relationship with Connie.

Q) The cast has such innate chemistry. Did it show in a chemistry read or was it just apparent while working together?

A) Some shows just work like that. That’s the kind of thing that you can’t really plan for. Every once in a while, you find yourself on a show where the cast is just incredibly comfortable with one another and you suddenly find yourself in a group of people that you really look forward to driving into work to see and this is one of those shows. I just feel incredibly lucky to be a part of this. I find it’s just a great script and I get a chance to work with great actors. That’s just a perfect world in what we do.

Q) You have great comedic timing. Is it something that’s always been a natural ability for you?

A) Comedy, for me, always felt natural. [laughs] I would like to think. It really has been the majority of what I’ve done over the course of my career. Sitcoms have been a large part of my resume. So, I’ve always felt very comfortable in comedy and I love comedy. There really is nothing better than getting the opportunity to make people laugh.

Q) What do you think it is about the show “Lodge 49” that has made it such a fan favorite series?

A) I think the best comedy comes from things that are relatable and situations that are anchored in real life. I think that’s part of what makes “Lodge 49” work and why it’s a show that is so attractive to most people. The comedy comes out of real situation that people find themselves in. It comes out of real emotion and real struggles and real awkwardness. I think that that is a large part of the appeal to the show.

Q) You have had an incredible career! What have been some of your favorite projects that you’ve worked on?

A) Wow. I’ve been doing this way too long to narrow that down. [laughs] I mean, there were a few that jump out. Honestly, I can’t believe they still hire me after all this time. I can’t believe I’ve fooled them for as long as I have. There are a few projects that jump out. I did Robin Hood: Men In Tights with Mel Brooks back in the day, which was a very memorable film because I got to work with Mel Brooks and some of the greatest…My greatest times on that film were just sitting in Video Village just to grab a chair behind him and just keep my mouth shut and just listen to the stories. Everybody came to visit on that set from Sid Caesar and even Kevin Costner came to visit! It was just great just to listen to him and to just hear him personally talk about his life and his career. I also made a lifelong friend on that shoot. Matthew Porretta, who played Will Scarlet O’Hara, I met on that show and he and I have become just great friends. In a business that is sometimes a little transient…In a business where sometimes friendships only last over the course of a show, that was really great to find a friend in him. I did a show called “Down Home,” a short-lived television series with Judy Ivey, that I just loved. I just loved that cast. I just loved that group. That was one of the first casts that I’ve really been a part of that really felt like family. That’s a show that I still think about to this day.

Q) We’d be remiss if we didn’t mention our love for “Good Luck Charlie.”

A) Oh, I loved being a part of that show! “Good Luck Charlie” was the great experiment to see if Disney could put on a show that the whole family could watch together. What I loved about that show was that it just harkened back old family sitcoms. Just a really great group of people. The kids on that show were all just solid, wonderful kids and all very talented. My line for that show was I would leave my family at home and I would go to my family on set. For four seasons, we were the Duncans and that show gave me a lot of opportunities. I finally got to direct multi-cam for the first time on that show. We had a lot of cast dinners and get togethers. We still do. We still find time to get together and stay in touch. I stay in touch quite a bit with Jason [Dolley] and Bradley [Steven Perry]. It was a real family experience. And there are episodes in that show that I would put up against any sitcom on any of the big networks.

Q) One of your first major roles was in the movie Quest for the Mighty Sword. Talk about picking that project.

A) Oh my God! I can’t believe you brought that movie up! Oh my Lord! Wow! That particular project, I got a phone call out of the blue. I had played Thor in The Incredible Hulk Returns and that’s another one of my favorites…That was actually my first project when I moved to Los Angeles. I had done that and that I had aired. I got a call out of the blue asking, “Would you like to do this?” It meant a trip to Italy so I went on board blindly. It was all about the adventure, but that was…Yes, that was an interesting experience. As great a time as I had doing it, it’s certainly one of those…[laughs] It’s just…It’s one of those movies that people remember for different reasons.

Q) What did you enjoy most about working on The Gunfighters?

A) The Gunfighter was like my first real movie. I get killed early on in that, but for a while I get to be George Kennedy’s right-hand man in that, which was really cool. For someone sort of young and new to everything, it was pretty great. And we all got to be cowboys in Alberta, Canada out in the badlands. Sitting on horses in long rider jackets. It was just great fun!

Q) You were a voice in the video game Days Gone. Do you prefer on screen work or voice over?

A) I just like to work. [laughs] The great thing about Days Gone was it was my first video game – my first motion capture. Obviously, I was very new to that world. But, again, I just fell into a great company of people from the writers to the directors on down and some folks that had been doing it far longer than I had. And it was a great learning experience and a great chance to just play as an actor. There was this incredible freedom because you’re not breaking things down into individual shots. You can just play these scenes out and we would do pages and scenes every day. It was actually very exciting. And then to see the end result, what they are able to do by layering characters on top of your image, was pretty amazing stuff.

Q) You are a part of social media. Do you enjoy the instant fan feedback you receive to your work?

A) Yeah. Social media…I have a lot of issues with social media. So, I just try and keep it fun. I think because that’s what I put out there…For me, it keeps it light and enjoyable, which for me keeps me sane when it comes to social media and any kind of interaction that way. [laughs] It’s always great to have the chance to bring people to a project like “Lodge 49,” just because I think what we do with that show just makes it so enjoyable.

Q) What would you like to say to everyone who is a fan and supporter of you and the work you do?

A) I’m sorry for some of the stuff I put you through. [laughs] But I hope, overall, that I was able to tell some fun stories and make some people laugh occasionally.