I grew up listening to Meat Loaf with my family.
I was pleasantly surprised when I saw his performance in “Fight Club”, and since seeing that movie, I’ve wanted to work with him.
I almost got my chance with “Shoot Heroin”.
Meat Loaf was one of the first actors I talked to about casting for the movie. He is considering playing Police Jerry in a story that will eventually be played by Garry Pastore (who has won awards at numerous film festivals including the Garden State Film Festival and the New Hell’s Kitchen Film Festival). York).
I personally reached out to a Meat Loaf representative and told him about the film and its mission to shed light on the opioid epidemic that is killing thousands of young people each year. His agent was friendly and open to the idea of Meat Loaf (or “Meat” as he called it) in the supporting role.
We don’t have a big budget, but I told my agent that I would do what I could if Meat Loaf resonated with the role. It was actually on my 28th birthday a few weeks before primetime photography began that I received a call from this familiar agency.
The man said, “Hold the meat… he wants to talk to you.”
I am extremely pleased and surprised because often until everything is resolved in an agreement, I often do not have the opportunity to speak with the talented person.
I heard a little hoarse, “Hello…this is Meat.”
I was a bit speechless, and all I could say was, “Hi Mr. Meat Loaf – I’m your lifelong fan.” He was very kind on this call and we talked for almost an hour.
He absolutely loves the actor Jerry (who is one of my favorite characters I’ve written). He said he knew people like Officer Jerry growing up and how much they wanted to be liked and not be alone.
At one point during the call Meat Loaf even cried because he wanted to play the part so badly (with news of his passing that would be his last). He asked some physical questions while playing this ruler. The singer noticed that during one of the first days of filming, there was a run scene in which Jerry was trying to stop Adam (played by Alan Powell) from being filmed at my West Branch Area School District high school.
Meat Loaf informed me that for the last year or so, he has been mostly bedridden because of all the back pain he is experiencing. He said he would have to check with his chiropractor about releasing him and get permission to be in our movie.
My head was spinning. How can I rewrite the script to make it less physical? It’s up to Police Jerry to devote himself throughout the story to trying to save Adam and the town as the world around him burns down. This is an absolutely important casting decision and I look forward to working with one of my favorite artists on my fourth feature film.
I even called the local chiropractors to have them come over to the set and stay close to Meat Loaf’s accommodation to keep him healthy and pain-free during filming. Meat Loaf and I had been in touch for about a week and he finally told me he couldn’t commit and he wasn’t enjoying it.
I was exhausted.
Meat Loaf Helped Editing ‘Fight Club’ With David Fincher: ‘We’ll Sit There and Watch 40 Times’ https://t.co/VhKQTo1VtJ
– Variety (@Variety) January 21, 2022
Now, as filming was about to begin, I spoke to my crew, who came and, thankfully, connected through my 2nd AD, David Catalano, with the actor. crew will bring beloved Officer Jerry to life in the pre-camera days.
Filmmaking is always an incredible experience, and I’m sad that I never got the chance to work with Meat Loaf. I always hope to work with him on some other film in the future and even wrote a few scripts with him in mind.
Thank you for your kind words, your songs and your artistry, Meat Loaf. I am so sad to see you go but thank you for everything you have given us.
Spencer Folmar is the director of the upcoming “Shooting Heroin”, “Gene Generation Sins”, and the upcoming “Bonhoeffer: Holy Traitor”.
