SLIFF 2017 Interview: Actor Patrick Fabian – Star of DRIVERX

DRIVERX screens Sunday, November 5th at 3:15pm at The Tivoli Theater (6350 Delmar Blvd, St. Louis) as part of this year’s St. Louis International Film Festival. Producer Mark Stolaroff will be in attendance. Ticket information can be found HERE.

Skidding into middle age, a stay-at-home dad must drive for an Uber-like ride-share company to help support his working wife and two young daughters. Leonard (Patrick Fabian of “Better Call Saul”), a middle-aged man living in the suburbs, has lost his mojo. It’s been two years since the demise of his record store, and now he’s a stay-at-home dad taking care of two young daughters while wife Dawn (Tanya Clarke) works during the day. With both kids now in elementary school, he’s been interviewing for jobs, but     

record companies aren’t looking for a 50-year-old music lover with a knowledge of classic rock and pre-’80s hip-hop. With their savings now gone, Leonard decides to sign up to drive for DriverX, a popular ride-share company. Leonard is now employed, but low pay and wild LA nights put an even greater strain on his marriage. “DriverX” — which is inspired by actual events — captures the essence of what it means to be a middle-class American in today’s rapidly changing times. The deep cast includes Melissa Fumero (“Brooklyn Nine-Nine”), Max Gail (“Barney Miller”), and Oscar Nuñez (“The Office”). The film is the fifth feature by award-winning writer-director Henry Barrial, who’s a two-time SLIFF alum (“Pig” and “The House That Jack Built”).

Actor Patrick Fabian took the time to talk to We re Movie Geeks about DRIVERX before its screening at The St. Louis International Film Festival.

Interview conducted by Tom Stockman November 2nd, 2017

Tom Sockman: Your new film is called DRIVERX. I watched it a couple of nights ago, on my computer.

Patrick Fabian: Cool! How does it look on the small screen?

TS: Looked great! It’s a slick flick. Where was that filmed, LA?

PF: Yes all in LA. And all the driving was done by me. There was no green screen used. Everything going on was me not trying to kill the actors with the car.

TS: Do only beautiful women live there? About 10 women get into your car throughout the film, and each is more beautiful than the next.

PF: Right. I wasn’t aware of that when we were filming, but when we were screening it I noticed that as well. I guess everyone in Los Angeles is issued a green juice card and a gym membership. It’s a requirement.

TS: When you got this role, did you take on a job as an Uber driver to get experience, like DeNiro did back in ‘76?

PF: I thought about it, but I didn’t at all. The whole point of the movie is that he’s never done it before. I had never even been in an Uber, so it was a completely new experience for me. Henry Barriel, the writer and director of DRIVERX, had experience as an Uber driver, so he just let his script lead the way.

TS: What drew you to this script?

PF: There’s a lot of touchstones in the film that apply to me, being on what I call the “wrong side of 40”. The music you like doesn’t fit anymore. The jokes you make aren’t ironic or funny, they’re going over the heads of everybody around you. All the barista’s in the world are calling you “sir”, and you’re wondering why. I recognized that ennui of middle-age and couple that with dealing with the world when the rules have really changed. Between books and records, and even movies and TV, my own business, things have really flattened out and globalized and things become worth pennies on the dollar. How do you readjust, and re-calibrate, and find some satisfaction in your existence? This touches on those themes. I think there are a lot of moments in this film that are not necessarily spoken, but show that sort of peering over the abyss a bit.

TS: Sounds like you could relate to Leonard, the character you play, on several levels.

PF: Yes, and by the way Henry Barriel and I are both married, so it doesn’t mean that everything in the relationship that we see on screen with my wife played by Tanya Clarke, is a direct tie-in to our own particular marriages. However, anybody who has been married or has been in a long relationship, there are certain things, you can call them clichés if you want, that are part of the human experience.

 TS: I can relate to Leonard as well. I collect vintage movie memorabilia just like Leonard collected old records. I could relate to the scene where you tell your wife that your collection is worth tens of thousands of dollars, and then you go to the pawnshop and the guy offers you $800. That was depressing.

PF: That actually happened to me. I walked into a record store in Los Angeles. I took out all of my CDs that had been packed up in my garage, maybe 3000 of them. I had to make this “adult decision” to get rid of them. I realized my children were never going to go through these boxes. So I took them to the record store, and that scene that you see in the movie is what goes on. I realize that I was the one of thousands, if not millions, of men of a certain age that bought records, cassettes, CDs, and then paid for the super-scrubbed digitized download of that same classic rock ‘n’ roll. Like, how many times do I have to pay the Eagles for their songs.? No wonder they’re rich! They’re rich off of me!

TS: I think Leonard had trouble relating to younger people. Here he has this cool record collection, and he knows everything about rock, and nobody cares.

PF: Yes, you can certainly see that on the screen in that Peter Frampton speech that I give. When I see that with an audience, everybody over 45 or 50 half-nods their head. But with the younger generation, that’s like lemons or oranges in their eyes. They don’t know who the hell I am talking about.

TS: Did you guys stick to a script, or was there some improv when you were filming?

PF: We had a script of course but Henry and I are good friends. We’ve known each other for about 20 years. When he was developing the script, we had good dialogue between one another, shared experiences. He was very generous about allowing me to make it my own, so we had a good collaboration. When we were shooting, there were a lot of times when he was in a trail car and our communication was limited, so he was very forgiving when I would go off the script. We found some happy accidents.

TS: You’re in every single scene. Is this your largest film role to date?

PF: That didn’t really dawn on me until I saw it. If you’re not a fan of me, or if looking at my face gets under your skin, it would be the worst movie in the world.

TS: I don’t think anyone will have that reaction. I have to confess that I don’t watch television at all, which is where most of your work has been, but I did recognize you from THE LAST EXORCIST. That was a good horror film, and you were good in it.

PF: Thanks, yes I’m standing here in New Orleans right now which is where we shot that. That was directed by Daniel Stamm. That was improv, much of it was really off the top of my head. That film was a great experience, really fun. And the film did really well. I got to be a movie star for a weekend. It open wide, they took me to Europe for the premiere. It’s great to be part of something that is really spooky.

TS: Do you prefer to work in television or the big screen?

PF: I’m a working guy. I thought I was going to be Brad Pitt, like most of my friends. We were all wrong. Only Brad Pitt became Brad Pitt. I’m lucky to be a working actor though. After 25 years, I’m psyched to have a job, and then another job. Right now I’m in Baton Rouge and I’m shooting a teenage zombie film. It’s called EAT, BRAINS, LOVE. I’d love to do  big features like The Transformers, but it’s so competitive and so crazy. I’m happy to keep working. I’d love to have a giant movie career, but I’m not even sure if those exist the way they used to. The nature of the beast has changed. I go on Netflix now and I see all of these movies that haven’t even been released, and I think, where did these things come from? I would love to be in a big western though. I’d like to be the sheriff. But I have no illusions.

TS: Where did you grow up?

PF: I grew up in Harrisburg Pennsylvania. I went to Penn State for undergraduate in theater, then went to California for a graduate degree in at Long Beach State. I stayed in Los Angeles as soon as I saw the palm trees.

TS: Who are some of your favorite actors when you were growing up?

PF: Paul Newman and Robert Redford in BUTCH CASSIDY AND THE SUNDANCE KID. That really caught my imagination. Also I saw THE MAN WHO WOULD BE KING which had some of the best acting ever. I haven’t even gotten close to doing those sort of things, but I did get the chance to work with Michael Caine on a movie where I was like number 465 on a call sheet. He was so generous and so nice, a real class act.

TS: Would you like to get behind the camera some day or just stick with acting?

PF: Yes, but my passion is not for creating the show. I like interpreting the story. I’ve been acting for 25 years, but I feel like there is still so much to learn. Also, as my friend pointed out, when you direct, the hours are longer.

TS: What’s next for Patrick Fabian?

PF: You can catch me on the TV show Lucifer this coming Monday. I’m also going to be on The Agents of Shield and I have a four episode arc on Code Black. DRIVERX is what we’re promoting right now, and EAT, BRAINS, LOVE probably next summer.