The Movie Waffler Waffling With...actor James Wilder | The Movie Waffler

Waffling With...actor James Wilder

With his latest movie, 3 Holes and a Smoking Gun, out now, actor James Wilder (Melrose Place, Murder One, Models Inc.) chatted with TMW.



Interview by Schyler Martin


How did you start acting?

I was a street performer writing a one-man show in the San Francisco area when I was 11 years old, that’s how it all started. That was my introduction to acting.

What projects are you the most proud of?

I am most proud of Murder One from Miramax; a project called Flypaper; another called The Coriolis Effect and 3 Holes and a Smoking Gun.


How did you prepare for a role as nuanced and as intense as Bobby Blue Day?

Finding the psyche of the character and determining what his conflict is, why and with whom. And of course, using the screenwriter’s story as the guideline for that.

What drew you to 3 Holes and a Smoking Gun?

It came to me in a peculiar way. I was at a restaurant called Hemingway’s and a writer approached me with a screenplay to play a writer. It was an odd scenario and that drew me to read the script. When I did, I thought it was a great opportunity to do a great character portrayal.


Do you feel like the film has anything real to say about the nature of the entertainment business?

That asks the age-old question, does art imitate life or does life imitate art? I believe both are the case. I tried to keep to the realities of real life human circumstance and a scenario of heightened circumstance because a film is usually a “slice of life” (but that life experience has to be interesting enough to watch for 90 minutes).

What's next for you professionally?

A film about two primary characters living out their life in a virtual reality format.