Kurt Yaeger – Quarry

By: Lisa Steinberg

Q) We have to say, we miss seeing you on “Sons of Anarchy.”

A) Kurt Sutter put me on the show and that was one of the best things to happen in my career. He is an extremely kind person who made that happen. I got to work with all of the other cast members who were good guys. There was a great storyline and the writers are awesome. What I have to give it to are the fans because even though I played a more despicable character and a smaller character, everyone still goes, “I hated you! I love you for it!”

Q) Please tell us the premise of “Quarry” and about your character.

A) It is a period piece set in the 1970’s about two guys who come home from Vietnam at a time when veterans weren’t treated too well. They are dealing with all of those problems along with PTSD when it wasn’t even defined back then. It was just called “shell shocked.” So, those guys didn’t have a lot of help and we’re still seeing a lot of that with our guys today. The show is about these guys who come home and can’t find work and aren’t treated very well. They can’t find work and end up becoming contract killers through a series of circumstances. It’s so visceral. The set design is amazing. It’s the best set design I’ve ever seen. I felt like I was in the 70’s, even walking around set. The writing is amazing. The shooting by the DP and the camera guys…My friend Bud is one of the camera men on the show and does such an amazing job. There are these long, long takes that make you sit and feel what the characters are experiencing instead of being a viewer. It’s really, really awesome how it was directed.

Q) What was the original breakdown for your character Ricky?

A) I think every character kind of changes with an actor that comes in to play it. Each actor brings in something unique. For my character, Ricky, he was described as deplorable. He is a nasty, rough around the edges, scumbag. I had not only get into the headspace for the kind of person underneath that, but I wanted to also bring something that sort of makes you feel for him at the same time. I didn’t want him to just be a guy who came after anyone as a killer and murderer. I wanted him to have the right motivation and I think that comes through the well written dialogue while also taking certain dialogue and making it a little off the cuff or funny – making it real. In those situations, no human thinks that they are wrong. They all think they are right in some capacity. I wanted to bring where he thought he was right to it so it made it more human and more relatable. When you play a character from that perspective I think it gives the character authenticity and comes across on screen.

Q) What have you found challenging about the role?

A) Actually, looking back on it, it would be getting the character out of me. [laughs] You become a little bit more empathetic towards someone like that and start justifying certain behaviors. You see how you could fall into that trap very easily. I had real facial hair so the stuff you see on camera is my facial hair. The slick back hair. I adopted the mutton chops and the Fu Manchu mustache. I put on certain clothes and glasses that even when I was walking around certain parts of New Orleans people looked at me as if I was the danger. There is some power in that. You are like, “I’m just an actor! That’s crazy!” I think the hardest and most challenging part of being an actor is that sometimes it takes time to shed all of that. It helps to reevaluate who you are so it is good, too.

Q) How does the show fit well on Cinemax?

A) They are really able to get in some dark territory. There is a lot of authentic physical interaction between characters. There is a lot of nudity. So, that lends itself to feeling real. It doesn’t look like anything of it has been glorified. It’s more like the camera has been set into a world and you just get to watch. So, it is a little voyeuristic. But with Cinemax, they are really trying to take steps to showcase that they are a legit player in content creator. With “Banshee,” “Outcast” and these shows people are like, “What are they showing?!” They really have to take a look at Cinemax for its artistic push. I think it is almost like “Sons of Anarchy” where it brings you into a world where you start to be invested in because the characters are relatable because they have problems and mistakes. It’s not prosaic ones where it is like “Oh no! I made that mistake again!” It’s a progressive mistake where they make a mistake and when they fix it that just creates a new problem. So, they wonder how this is getting worse. I think with what Cinemax does is that they are really able to get towards the heart and soul of what humanity is more about instead of solving a crime each week. That’s really good, I think, for a lot of people who have just the desire to escape their lives and watch a couple hours of TV. Sometimes you want a little more out of life and I think that’s what Cinemax is bringing people. I think it spurs a little more thought that way. It’s a little more thought provoking. You should turn the TV off and have a conversation with people who are watching it with you.

Q) Have you been getting any instant fan feedback to your work from veterans?

A) I have a lot of friends who are actually both veterans and active duty. They express their pleasure with this show and I guess their approval of it. So, I think it will do well in the military community in general. But a lot of these people rightly don’t like my character. [laughs] So, they still talk about the show, but they say, “You’re a great actor” and when I ask why they say, “Because you’re despicable and I know you really aren’t. It’s hard to watch you being bad, but you are so good at it.” At some point in my career I’ll get to play a good character. [laughs] I can’t say too much, but I do have a reoccurring role on “NCIS: Los Angeles,” which is starting to air now. I am potentially nicer, but also edgy…If people tune into that, people will see a different side to me. Having done multiple shows at the same time (like I’m also on “Shooter” and “Pure Genius”) – I’m going to be on five different shows throughout the same five month period. Therefore, I don’t know how many people will be able to say, “That’s the same actor.” I would love to do some good comedy though…where I don’t have to kill people.

Q) What can you tease about what is to come this season on “Quarry?”

A) They have put the first three on YouTube to garner more interest and have more people who don’t know about Cinemax check it out. That is really cool of Cinemax for putting it out there for free. It’s a big cost to them but it is very smart because it gets the young audience to go, “What is this?” I don’t want to say too much about where the series goes because I don’t want to give any of it away.

Q) Switching gears, talk a little bit about how you are advocating for actors with disabilities and what we can be doing to be better.

A) In the industry, I’ll be frank…I’ve been working with the Actors With Disabilities SAG/AFTRA committee for seven years. It’s going to take everyone doing their part to help out. For me, it helps me specially to have every single person possible follow me on all the social media channels. Not because it makes me more popular. Not because it is a good thing for me. Now, both of those are true. But what it does is it gives my argument within executive meetings a lot of weight. They are big players and they don’t want to hear from little players. What’s the point of my opinion if I have five followers? It doesn’t mean that I’m wrong. It just means it doesn’t carry a lot of weight. It’s show business so we have to have business being a big part of it. Being able to advocate with the disabilities community voice behind me allows me to make arguments to casting directors, writers and producers that I have such a huge following that I can bring eyes to your projects. When I bring eyes to projects, I can walk in and say, “Why don’t we make an agreement about casting?” They will ask what I mean and I’ll explain that I have a big enough following that I can tweet for free for your show and really bring the eyes to your projects. But I want to read the scripts when they come up and let me suggest a couple roles in the scripts that don’t call for someone with a disability and say that guy could be in a wheelchair.” All I want to do is be able to add this option of people with disabilities to play characters that aren’t disabled per se. If the role is a lawyer who is quick witted and charming or a woman and the character comes in for two episodes and speaks in a courtroom then what is the difference if they have MS or CD or are blind or use a wheelchair? What’s the difference? That’s what I’m really pushing hard for and the only way to do that is if I have tons and tons of followers. Really, the magic number is a hundred thousand on each platform. That is hugely instrumental. There are fifty seven million Americans that have some form of disability and less than one half of one percent of all words spoken on TV are from the mouth of a disabled person and yet we have a 20% disabled population in America. So, if I got just one percent of that then it would be 570,000 followers. It’s about getting everyone invested in at least one person who is working in Hollywood trying to make a difference so we can grow everyone else’s involvement.

Q) Are there other projects that you want to be sure fans know you are working on?

A) I’m doing a really cool web series called “Personal Space.” We are getting a lot of interest in it because we shot it way too many pages in too short of a time. The entire team came together and give it their all. It’s a really cool sci-fi series about people who are on a space ship on a mission to populate other planets. It’s about how they deal with being in close quarters for many, many years on end. It’s humorous and authentic. There are a couple networks (even just from the work we’ve done so far because it is not even out yet) who have expressed interest in wanting to take a look at it to purchase it, put on the network and go full series with it. There is a computer that is on set that is supposed to be the psychologist of the ship, but unbeknownst to the crew members back home on Earth the rights to the ship was bought by a reality show. So, they changed the psychology of the computer to create drama and conflict. It just gets really crazy, really quick!