Interview With Actor Dan Butler

Dan Butler has had a interesting and varied career as an actor, such as a role in 1992's 'Silence of The Lambs' but now he's in the director's chair for the interestingly titled "Karl Rove, I Love You.

Dan Butler has carved a niche for himself in television history as the womanizing Bob 'Bulldog' Briscoe on the popular series Frasier. Dan took time from his hectic schedule to talk with me about his film 'Karl Rove, I Love You, an independent movie that has been making waves at the many film festivals where it's been shown. If you get a chance to see this nifty gem of a film, by all means do yourself a favor and rent it the next time you're at the local video store. You will not be sorry. JV: First off Dan, what was the inspiration for your film Karl Rove, I Love You? DB: Oh gosh, I think I had a dream one night about the basic idea of falling in love with Karl Rove. The idea cracked me up so much I thought," Well, I gotta follow this through." JV: Seeing as how the movie has garnered quite a few awards at the film festivals, it must be satisfying for you as one of the creative forces behind the film. DB: Yeah, it is gratifying. I'm proud of the film and everyone in it. It's the kind of movie I would like to see because I really can't share it to many others and it keeps surprising you. So yeah, it is gratifying. JV: What I liked about the film is that it's point of view seems balanced. You don't just go after conservatives, you go after liberals as well. Where do you stand politically? DB: I guess I would tend towards liberal, but I sort of bounce all over the place. At that time, when we were first coming up with the kernel of the idea, which was 2003, people were just screaming at one another and making very little sense and not really listening to one another. Of course, here we are in the health care screaming matches, so I guess not much has changed. JV: I like the fact that the movie's documentary feel to it. Do you think some people might take it seriously? DB: Well, a lot of the festivals in other countries, they laugh at certain things but they focus more on the conspiracy theory parts of the film and the George Orwell/Orwellian parts. But everyone can take it the way they want to. I find it funny. JV: I did enjoy the conspiracy aspects of the film. DB: It sort of bounces all over the place. I poke fun at myself. Everyone in it is slightly fictionalized versions of themselves. Obviously it's not a full fledged documentary and I don't think it's a mockumentary. We tend to call it a faux documentary because I think it's it's own animal. We just wanted to illuminate what is the truth? What is a lie? What is the story that you've told so many times that you just start believing it yourself? I think anyway it's taken, it's a success. JV: Is this the your first time in the directors chair? DB: For a feature film, yes. JV: You not only acted in the film, you also directed,co-wrote and produced it. What was it like wearing so many hats? DB: It was just fun. It felt like being a kid again. You know," I've got a barn let's put on a show." I worked very closely with Phil Leirness who's my co-director and DP(director of photography), so the main focus was we wanted it to seem authentic. Though Phil knew what the specific scene was, we're talking technically here, he really didn't want to anticipate shots. Which is something you want to do in any other movie. In each scene I really didn't tell the people how this fit into the fabric of the whole film. They were very clear about what they wanted in the specific scenes, but they really didn't know how it quilted together until they saw the first screening. JV: Do you think that you'll be directing any movies in the future? DB: Well, that would be fun. (laughter) Right now I'm focusing on a play I'm writing, but yeah, I could see that. My tastes keep bouncing around so I do this, I go over and do something completely different. But that would be a lot of fun.