It’s been several years since we last spoke, but I recently got to chat with my old friend Joseph Aviel who plays the character Silva in the new Beverly Hills Cop movie, Axel F.
Fan reaction to the new Beverly Hills Cop, I think has been resoundingly positive, and ranked up there with the first two.
Yeah, especially with the audience, with the fans. Critics are very hard to please, because they’re judging by criteria that mostly people don’t care about. And they’re looking for movies that are going to win Academy Awards. But I think Jerry Bruckheimer and Eddie, and the producers as a whole, they did this not only for economy, but as a labour of love, and they loved the franchise.
I can’t believe it took so long to get another Beverly Hills Cop movie, so I’m glad we finally did. I think it’s like 30 years since the last film?
Yeah, 30 years. God, that’s crazy.
How did you get involved with Axel F, and what made you want to get on board?
Well, living in Florida, it’s rare to get an opportunity to be in a movie of that size, because most of the time, casting directors or producers will pull from people that they know, friends, acquaintances, right from Los Angeles. And for roles such as the roles that James and I had, you have thousands of guys right in Venice and Santa Monica that can do it. So, when my agent sent me a notice to audition for this I have a little studio set up in my garage. I went down to the garage, and my wife tapes me, and we sent it in to Mark Malloy and the producers. Not sure which ones watched it first, but four days later, I got a call back from Mark, and he wanted to see more of me and give me direction on some of the lines, which are minimal lines, but I guess he’s looking for attitude and look. There were thousands and thousands of guys going for these two roles. Mark’s from Australia. This is his first feature film, so I think he had the attitude of “let’s just go for who we want rather than who’s local or who’s on these lists”. This business is extremely competitive, like through the roof. I think it’s like 95% plus SAG actors don’t make a living. They don’t have enough money to even have insurance. To get a role like this is really, really a blessing. And James and I met on the set, and we were like, “there must be a reason we’re here”. We discovered many reasons we were there. But yeah, to be a Florida actor and James from Canada, but lives in Hollywood now. It was such a cool thing. Mark was a pleasure to work with and Jerry Bruckheimer was awesome. Everybody was cool. Mark Pellegrino, Kevin Bacon, Taylor Page. There wasn’t any one person that was negative.
Yeah, like you said it looked like it was a movie that was just a labour of love.
Everybody involved loved the franchise and just wanted to have a good time. And I just thought that jumped off the screen in it. The stuntmen, the crew, the PAs, everyone was smiles. Constantly, they knock on your door on the trailers. We left people hugging and stuff. It’s like the ultimate fantasy set conditions. I think it comes through in the final product.
In the movie, you play Silva. How did you prepare for the role mentally and physically? Did you have to undergo any new kind of training for it?
We didn’t really know what was going to happen when we got there. We were there. We had 45 days for our parts to be slated. So, we were off and on for three months. Two weeks here, three days there, two more weeks. Then we shot like that. I made about eight trips back and forth from Florida to L.A. and we learned as we went; they would have James and I run for hours. “You’re going to run down these stairs and then across that parking lot, take a turn, and then run up that alley” and so we would do it. Then it’s like, “okay, take a little rest and do it again”. Well, James is 50. I’m 60 and we’re wearing dress shoes and suits. There was really no way we could have prepared for that. But he works out. I work out and really, the only way to prepare for that is to run around in dress shoes on concrete (laughs). And that’s just not a way to train. But the last day we were running down the main avenue in Rodeo Drive, I already had a groin pull from taking turns over and over and over. And that’s okay. I taped it up real strong with some tape. And then we’re going past Louis Vuitton and whack, a hamstring broke, a part of it and rolled up into my butt. So, that was it but thankfully, Mark had gotten all the footage he needed for that day and we had a two-week break. I went home and had it worked on and did the hot tub and went to the beach and massaged and stuff like that. So, when we went back, I was able to complete the shoot. Yeah. Sprinting and long distance, like 100-yard dashes in dress shoes, not recommended.
No. Not on my to do list. Do you like to do as much of your own stunts as possible?
Yeah, I had a really good stuntman. James had Danny Epperson as a stuntman. Our stuntmen were able and willing to do anything. But James and I, we wanted to do all the stunts ourselves. Keep it as clean that it’s us. As close as guys can get to you, it’s hard to get exactly. And plus, we enjoyed it. So, our guys, sometimes they would do stand-in stuff when we weren’t on the set there. But we did all the shooting stuff ourselves, all the stunts. Even our own driving, precision driving in Chinatown, that was cut from the movie, that part. But we did a lot of driving. And that was fun. In live traffic.
Oh yeah, that would have been.
Yeah, it was a blast.
Actually, following on from that, where you just mentioned it was deleted. What kind of scenes were deleted? Anything that you regret?
Well, quite a few shots that would have shown us more head-on. Because in the original concept, I carried the Rambo knife the whole movie. In my belt. In the movie, I put it back on the stand and then we run out of the office. But in shooting, I stick it in my belt and I have it the whole movie. So, I suppose they changed that conclusion a little bit which is fine, but I still had to run with a gun and a knife the whole time. That was interesting for me, because that cut out quite a bit of footage. And then a lot of driving, a lot of precision driving, chasing Eddie through live traffic on a beautiful sunset. I could send you some pictures (see below). You could see it was just gorgeous. I think they used some of that footage for other scenes.
Was there any moment that you improvised?
There was a little bit. I believe that was an improvisation when James calls Eddie a slippery bastard on top of the steps. When he goes down the steps in the cart there. And originally James said, slippery little bastard. They cut out “little” so, that was good. That is a little derogatory (laughs). But I think James improvised that and other than that, no, we were not given liberty to really go off. Eddie did. Eddie did a lot of improvisation. In fact, I hope someday they release the bloopers because when he originally came up to us on that rooftop scene at the club. Or not a club, but like a party on the rooftop he called James and I some beautiful nasty things that I think the audience would have gone nuts. But it might have been too much for the common audience. The common crowd because he called us things only, he could call us If you get my meaning (laughs) but it had everyone laughing. I mean, Taylor was laughing. Bacon was laughing. The director was laughing. He did that like three times and they cut all that out.
Oh, that’s too bad. Maybe bloopers someday. How was working with Eddie. What’s he actually like in real life?
Super mellow and quiet. And just so… Like he’s reserving and preserving his energy all the time. Which I totally get. Because all the weight is on him and every scene is him. And on a movie set, your adrenaline is already going so high. That if he was to be the excitable, entertaining Eddie at every moment he wouldn’t make it three months or four months. He lasts like three weeks. But he was always kind. Never pushy. In fact, in the office scene, they had a couple ideas that he wasn’t really crazy about at first. And instead of saying, “no, no, no, no” he just kind of walked around a little bit. Put his hand on his chin and looked at the director and said, “yeah” and they got the message. “Okay, we’ll do that”. So, absolutely respectful to the crew and the director. So, yeah, Eddie and his stuntman. Eddie’s stuntman and Eddie’s stand-in. Terrific guys. They work with him all the time and they’ve got a great gig because wherever Eddie goes, they go. And I can see why. They’re tough guys.
They have to be. It looked like in the film, a lot of the action was done practically. Do you prefer doing things practically rather than visual effects?
Yeah, the stunt team, 5150 Mike Gunther and his team. They’re just some of the best in the whole business and they know what they’re doing. They take their time. They’re very safe. I think probably over 95% of the stunts were practical. If they weren’t, they were mixed in. They were kind of merged with practical things. Some of the blood splatter seems to be just from my opinion, some of it doesn’t seem to be squibs. But I think some of it was too.
I think they don’t use squibs so much anymore. I think they tend to do it mostly digital because squibs are quite expensive.
Yeah, that’s probably the case because they didn’t look like squibs to me. I know James, when he got shot, he didn’t have any squibs on. Yeah, the cars and even that car going off the parking garage, that was all real.
Yeah, you can tell. You did a lot of your scenes alongside James. How’s your relationship with him? And how did you just spend any time with each other to bond?
Oh, yeah. I was introduced to James initially by a text from Andrey Ivchenko. He wrote to me and said, “hey, one of my friends is on the movie, a guy I know” and he sent me James’ IMDb. So, I was curious and I looked and I thought, “oh man, this guy’s huge”. And James is like 6’6″ and I’m 6’3″. But when I stand next to him, I feel like I’m 4’3″. It’s just that’s how much difference it looks, especially at different angles and wearing different shoes and stuff. I’m not used to being the short guy on any film, but when I met him, he came into my trailer and sat down and we started to talk. And he saw I have a Bible always with me. He asked me, “what is that?” And I told him and we started talking about the Bible. Over the next month and a half, we just would have Bible studies in my trailer in all our free time. We wound up going to church together. One of his sons was born during shooting and he asked me to be Odin’s godfather. So, we became closer than brothers, like spiritual brothers and we still are. Whenever we see each other, it’s all hugs and love. And we got to worship together at church. And Taylour Page went to the same church we went to. There were times in the hair and makeup when we had four or five believers at a time all talking about Bible. And, people wouldn’t think that.
Yeah, it’s rare in Hollywood. I love that you’re still in touch with Andrey Ivchenko, because I’ve been interviewing him a few times as well. I love just seeing how you guys have grown and grown since I first started doing this 12 years ago. Seeing him in Stranger Things and you in Beverly Hills Cop. I thought this was great just seeing you guys thrive like this.
Yeah, Andrey’s the best. I love Andrey. He and James and some others, we’re like a family that’s separated from miles, but not by heart. And, we’re all getting older. But if we keep working out and hanging in there, we might actually get somewhere. But we’ve all come a long way. But Andrey’s been fantastic. He’s got a lot of talent. He’s forged the longest road of any of us. James has too. James from Canada to Hollywood. But Andrey is from the Ukraine to Israel to London to Canada to Hollywood. And now to Arizona, which is a wise move to get out of L.A. But that’s a long way to go. He deserves everything he has and more.
Absolutely. You both do. I mean, you both worked hard for it.
Mike Grundy as well is from Australia. Hollywood’s full of people that have put a lot of sweat, tears and blood in. But, there’s no complaint. Anything we get is just pure joy.
For you, what would you say was the most rewarding part of working on the film?
Meeting James and his family. That’s the most rewarding because that’s the thing that will last forever and when Hollywood’s gone, Jesus is still there. James came to know the love of Christ during the filming of Beverly Hills Cop and so that’s the most important thing. Other than that, just tons of friendships. I got to hang out with Mark Pellegrino and we talked for hours about all kinds of things. He is a super intelligent guy. He really deserved more in the movie. They didn’t utilize him like they could have because the guy’s great. He’s a great villain.
Yeah. He’s the devil in Supernatural.
Yeah. It’s funny because Mark and I talked about the Bible and my daughter, she’s a big fan of Mark. I said, “I’m sitting here with Lucifer talking about Jesus” and Mark made a really nice video for my daughter. But Kevin made a nice video for my wife, too. I’m with these guys. My little daughter wanted a video with Joseph Gordon-Levitt, but he was more to himself because he had just had a baby, too. And he was concerned about COVID so he kept his distance, but he’s a great guy. Super friendly. I didn’t even know who it was when he came into the room because of the beard. He walked into the holding and I was like, “who’s this guy? Oh, that’s Joseph Gordon-Levitt”. But I’ve only ever seen him shaven with short hair.
How would you describe Mark’s directorial style?
I would say he’s got a really good balance of letting the second AD, letting the assistant director do as much of what isn’t necessary for Mark so that Mark can stay concentrated on the main thing. So, I’d say he’s a super skilled and mellow director. Never got crass. Never even looked disappointed. Some directors, they can smile at you and be biting their tongue at the same time. Mark never gave that impression at all. James and I talked to him at the screening, and it was just like, “man, Mark, you hit a home run. You actually hit a grand slam, and you should be getting all kinds of offers”. And he told us, “yeah, I’ve already got one. I’m already slated to do one”. They’re talking about Beverly Hills Five.
Yeah. It’s got to happen. I mean, the reviews are so positive. I think Mark, for his first feature, it’s the beginning of a really strong career in film. It’s too bad the film was only put on Netflix rather than the big screen, because I think they missed out not putting it out theatrically. I would have loved to have seen that on the big screen. I think it would have been a huge hit, too, because there’s not that much out right now.
Yeah. That’s how everyone felt, even people in leadership at the Netflix theater. They’re like, “that would have been great”, but Netflix, they’re the ones that made it possible. They bought it. So maybe someday it’ll get out into theaters and people can enjoy it that way. But I think Netflix is going to make a killing on this, with people signing up. It was nice for us, because we got to see it on the big screen, out there in Hollywood.
You must have to pinch yourself sometimes. You’re working with Eddie Murphy and Kevin Bacon…
Oh, yeah. Sometimes I do stop and say, “did that really happen”? But then I look and say, “yeah, I’ve got five million pictures about it, so it must have happened (laughs)”. But, yeah. I think it’s good as well for Florida actors and actors that live outside of the hubs. If you work a long enough time and keep going at it, it can happen. Doesn’t mean it will, because you never know. People work in this business for 30 years and never get a Beverly Hills Cop. Preparedness is the main thing. When Mark called me for the callback, I was in really good shape. I was in better shape than I am now, because I’ve been sick. I caught something on the plane. The guy behind me was just going crazy, coughing and sneezing and spitting up. And so whatever he had, I have it. But, yeah, preparedness is the key. And staying positive, because once you quit, nobody really cares.
Yeah. Like, oh, he’s gone. On to the next thing.
That is true. Yeah, keep a joyful attitude. Don’t let negativity and any criticism, just let it go.
I’m not sure if you’re allowed to discuss this or not, but what are you working on next?
Well, there, there are several films that people have asked me to be a part of, but they haven’t been funded yet, or if they have been funded, they haven’t been given a date to start, but there is one program that I’m about to start in a couple of days. I’m flying out to Las Vegas and that should be pretty much through October. And yeah, I can’t say anything about it other than right now, if I go to the beach or Costco or wherever, or the airport, maybe someone will say, I’ve seen you somewhere before. It happens once in a great while, usually by people like the lady that works with the Delta counter. But, after this program, I probably won’t be able to go anywhere and that puts pressure on because you don’t want to be known as the guy that sucked or was a disappointment. All you could do is do your best and walk in humility and faith and that’s what I have to do. That’s my challenge right now is to walk in faith and humility and being a man that’s used to being in control. If I’m out of any control, that’s the temptation is to take control and, that you can’t do that in this business unless you’re Marlon Brando and then you do whatever you want. So, I’m very excited about it and anticipatory. I’m going to miss my wife and kids because I have five kids, three grandkids and a beautiful, crazy, loving wife. And it’s hard to get away from that for even a day, but I think she’s ready for it and we’ll see what happens.
Well, all the best with it anyway, whatever may come.
When it’s over, we’ll get back together and I’ll tell you some wild stories on this one.
Oh yeah, definitely.
Hopefully, beautifully wild (laughs).
Alright, you take care and thanks for the chat.
Thank you!