Hi guys! Melissa here with an exciting new tale. THE WHOLE BANANA, an indie comedy slated to release in 2013, just wrapped up filming… and I had the chance to ask Kevin Sorbo, Kristy Swanson, Stelio Savante, and director Stephen Wallis a few questions.
In THE WHOLE BANANA, A Greek god (Kevin Sorbo) helps a struggling artist (Kristy Swanson) with her lagging love life. Dominique Swain plays Swanson’s best friend and confidant and Stelio Savante portrays Swain’s long suffering husband. Matthew Perry will play Apollo, brother to Sorbo’s Hermes. Clint Howard (The Dilemma, How The Grinch Stole Christmas) and Sienna Guillory (Resident Evil) play Fran’s fellow nicotine anonymous addicts. Brought to the screen by Magik Shoppe Pictures, Stephen Wallis (Rain from Stars, The Wicked Within) directs and produces along with John Bennett Perry, Stelio Savante and Tom Fox.
All stills are photo credits courtesy of Lisa Villasenor.
How did you become involved in THE WHOLE BANANA?
KEVIN SORBO: Stelio Savante, producer/actor, brought me the script an d offered the Hermes role. Laughed out loud the entire read and jumped on board.
KRISTY SWANSON: I read it and I liked it, I liked all the characters and my own “Fran”. I thought it had the potential to be a fun quirky and sweet film.
STEPHEN WALLIS: I became involved in The Whole Banana back in 2003 when John Perry, Matt Perry, Tom Fox and m yself produced the play at the Court theater in los Angeles. Deb Norton, the writer was also the lead in the play and I found it to be such a fun and rewarding experience. John and I kept in touch for several years and always looked for an opportunity for us to be able to turn it into a film. Luckily the fates aligned and we were able to put it together over the past few months.
STELIO SAVANTE: Director Stephen Wallis offered me a role and I read the script & accepted. I also told Stephen that some of my friends would be great in certain roles. Once they joined the cast, I became an official producer and also got my agency to package the film.
Despite the amazing ensemble cast, this is still an indie film… What was the biggest challenge while filming?
KEVIN SORBO: Indies are always tough to shoot. Money is key issue. The schedule to shoot is another problem. Usually not enough days to shoot what you want to shoot, so everyone really has to band together and use every minute on the set in an organized, efficient way.
STEPHEN WALLIS: Excellent question. We’ve been very blessed with this cast. But because we’re such a small film we’ve certainly had our chall enges. I think the hardest thing for me was to give it a “big picture” feel to it visually that measured up to the talent of the cast. In a lot of ways, the film was built as a large budget feature in that we have Greek Gods and at a certain point some very dramatic ev ents. I think having a talented DP and a great crew really helped us overachieve with the look of the film as well as obviously overachieving on the strength of the performances.
STELIO SAVANTE: Independent film always has challenges like budget and schedule so we all worked hard to make this possible because of how much we believe in the project.
With such an ensemble cast, how was the dynamic on set?
KRISTY SWANSON: I really enjoyed our cast A LOT! Super wonderful, talented and loving people. We had A LOT of laughs
KEVIN SORBO: Set was fun. Crew easy going. We had a lot of laughs.
STEPHEN WALLIS: The cast was lovely. I’ve been very lucky in my career to have always had talented actors in my films but I’ve also been lucky getting some really nice people as well. Kristy and Kevin are so genuinely nice and gracious, and Dominique so sweet and giving that it was truly fun coming on set every day. Many of the actors are long time friends of Stelio and some are friends of min e, so it was a joyous set from day one.
STELIO SAVANTE: For me personally it was great to be able to work with so many friends and we had some very memorable shooting days with a lot of laughs.
What makes THE WHOLE BANANA stand out from most indie comedies?
STEPHEN WALLIS: I think the film stands out in that it’s really about learning to stand up for yourself and to embrace life. A lot of films say they’re about that, but I t hink our film genuinely proves it. We don’t follow conventional storylines. We stretch the genre a bit and I think it’s a film that people will be able to relate to. Plus I think it’s funny as hell.
KEVIN SORBO: It has me in it!! Seriously, the cast was great! Professional, talented group of folks on both sides of the camera. Extreme low budget. Everyone worked basically for free. This was a true indie and the team came together and ga ve their all!
KRISTY SWANSON: I can better answer that question after I see the Film : ) But at the moment, I guess I could say that….We have Hermes the Greek God and Tap Dancing in our indie. Dunno if anyone else could say that….I’m just sayin.
STELIO SAVANTE: Most small indies do not have a cast like this, so the level of professionalism and performance from a strong cast and crew made it one to remember.
The plot revolves around struggling artist Fran (Kristy Swanson) who is so discouraged by the men in her life, that she frequently prays to Greek god Hermes(Kevin Sorbo). Taken by her faithful appeal, Hermes ventures into Fran’s life and sweeps her off her feet. Unfortunately for Fran there is a two week limit on Hermes earthly vacation. Domenique Swain plays Swanson’s best friend and confidant and Stelio Savante portrays Swain’s long suffering husband. Matthew Perry will play Apollo, brother to Sorbo’s Hermes. Clint Howard (The Dilemma, How The Grinch Stole Christmas) and Sienna Guillory (Resident Evil) play Fran’s fellow nicotine anonymous addicts.
Brought to the screen by Magik Shoppe Pictures, Stephen Wallis (Rain from Stars, The Wicked Within) directs and produces along with John Bennett Perry, Stelio Savante and Tom Fox.
