Michael Cassidy – Breaking Fast

By: Lisa Steinberg

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

A) I just finished three episodes on a new Syfy channel series called “Resident Alien.” It’s a new kind of cool funny alien show. It’s my second alien show in the last few years. Prior to that, I played a serial killer on the ABC cop show “The Rookie” at the end of last year.

Q) We’re seeing you now in the indie film Breaking Fast. How was your character Kal originally described to you?

A) [laughs] I read the script and…I can’t remember how he was described to me. I think I read the script before anything else. So, I always sort of felt like Kal…My initial impression of Kal and the thing that I responded to about Kal was that he is going through a big change in his life. He’s recently quit drinking and he’s sort of changes friends or interacts with his friends. At sort of the least convenient time for him, he falls in love and meets someone that just completely changes everything for him. I kind of feel like that’s the way it works. [laughs] It was really realistic to me and I think that’s the first thing I responded to about Kal and this world.

Q) Where do you think the chemistry between Kal and Mo stems from?

A) It was great. We got to rehearse on this film for three days, which is like nothing but in film and TV more than ten minutes of rehearsal before you shoot it is luxurious. So, three two-hour sessions of rehearsals is like the equivalent of doing a whole a movie together prior to doing the movie. [laughs] It was really great and we [Haaz and I] had never met each other prior to this, the first few days before we started shooting.

Q) What makes their connection so fast?

A) I think that Kal is attracted to the strength of Mo’s faith and the otherness…Mo (Haaz Sleiman) is outside of the scene that Kal is in. Even though they run into each other at smack dab at the center of the scene, I think Kal immediately sees that Mo is far outside. He doesn’t drink, he dresses differently than the people at the party. As they start to spend time together that first night, he learns very quickly that he is a man of faith and he only really goes out with his friend Sam – if at all. Kal is someone who has spent a lot of time in the scene and is trying to get away from it, but doesn’t really know how. I think that’s the initial point of connection. As they grow more intimate, Kal is really attracted to Mo’s physicality and the sort of depth of his relationships with his family, which is really different from Kal’s relationship with his family. Then, I also think that Mo is very funny (sometimes intentionally and sometimes unintentionally). I think that’s another big turn on for Kal.

Q) What advice did director Mike Mosslam give during filming that you took to heart?

A) Yes. The best thing…My favorite thing about working with Mike is that he is so enthusiastic about the people he has around him. So, most of the time Mike was either verbally or sort of emotionally encouraging me to be myself, which is kind of the best boss you can have. [chuckles] Someone who is like, “You’re here for a reason. I’m lucky to have you,” or “I’m happy to be around you. I’m tickled this has all come together. Now, we’re just going to shoot it.” And he’s like that with everyone. It’s not just the actors, but he’s like that with the crew, his co-producers, etc. That is the way that he is – he is an enthusiastic, supportive force for authenticity more than anything else. And that just completely set me free as an actor.

Q) What were some of your favorite scenes to film or to see on screen?

A) I would say that my favorite scenes to see on screen were the ones that I am not in because I wasn’t there and I didn’t know what they would look like. I am in say half of them or maybe a little half of them. So, by far, my favorite stuff was to watch the Sam and Mo scenes and the Mo with his family scenes. I wasn’t there for those, so I didn’t know how they came together. That was really cool. My favorite scene to shoot is when we were underneath the umbrella because night shoots are so hard on everybody. That was a week where we were on a sleep schedule where you were coming into work at 5PM and working until 6AM or 7AM. It’s just hard and it was raining. Rain is really tricky when you’re shooting outside. It’s hard on the crew and everybody. I think everyone came together really nicely. We had a shoot a lot of pages. In those scenes there is a lot of talking. The camera is on someone’s body for a long period of time and it’s all just really hard. I was really proud to be a part of a crew that just kind of came together and did it – did it wet and did it tired. I’m always inspired by how hard people work in this business and this film was no exception.

Q) What do you hope viewers take away from watching Breaking Fast?

A) What I responded to in the script, over all, (aside from the role I was going to play) was that it was a film about how the things that we believe about – whether it is based in faith or based in family or based on prior experience – can be changed. The connection we have with a person is bigger than the story that we tell ourselves about who they are. I think that this film is about that and I think that has been the added benefit for my life for having worked on it.

Q) The movie is headed out on the festival circuit. Are you excited for the fan feedback you’ll be receiving to the film?

A) Totally! I’ve been to Outfest a couple of times before, once to see a friend’s film. I had a short film in the Short Film competition. So, I know people that volunteer there and some of the other filmmakers and it is in LA where I live. So, it’s all very comfortable and a good time. I’m really glad that the film is being shown so close to the community – the geographical hotbed where it was shot. And the community that it represents! That’s very important to me that it be embraced and it’s a great honor for the film.