My first recollection of actor Courtney Gains, well, I was nine years old and all though young I had a taste for the scary movies. I remember a plethora of corn, some creepy kids, a weirdo in a black hat walking about with a high pitch voice, and a long red haired guy with a big ass knife who scared the piss out of me! The bad ass with the curved blade was better known as Malachi, the movie was Stephen King’s, “Children of the Corn”. And now twenty-five years later, when I drive by a corn field, I still get the creepy crawly feeling that my car may break do wn and some red haired kid is going to chase me down and hack me up.
But luckily for me as well as the many that live in the Midwest around the corn fields, the scary red haired teenager, was just a character, and is now a grown man with over seventy acting credits to his name. That being actor, and a damn good one at that, as well as producer and musician Courtney Gains.
In the twenty-five years that Gains has been an actor, he has starred or co starred in some great unforgettable flicks. His resume consists of credits in movies such as “Back to the Future”, “Colors”, “Memphis Belle”, “Can’t buy me Love”, “ Sweet Home Alabama ”, and now the Los Angeles native has a new movie about to come out on DVD entit led, “Benny Bliss and the Disciples of Greatness”.
In this exclusive interview conducted by Convicted Artist Magazine, I got to sit down and chat it up with Courtney Gains, who like I said before in the past scared the hell out of me, but in reality is a real down to earth pleasant fellow.
Read on as Courtney touches base on his upcoming events, as well as hitting up the past flicks getting his thoughts on the characters he played, enjoy.
Benny Henderson Jr.
First off, what has been going down in the world of Courtney Gains?
Courtney Gains
Work wise, the big focus for rapping up the summer is our campaign for a movie that I starred in and produced, “Benny Bliss and the Disciples of Greatness”. That is a rock and roll comedy with an anti technology message, all the music is live, I front the band and wrote four of the songs so I am pretty pumped about it. It will be out on DVD September 29th so we are rapping up in putting our final campaign and get the word out.
BH
I have seen the trailer to the Benny Bliss movie, honestly I laughed my ass off just watching the trailer. You were funny as hell, reminded me of Elvis with your attire.
CG
Actually it is Elvi s meets Evel Knievel.
BH
How did you come up with the concept of the Benny Bliss character?
CG
It was sort of a happy accident, the guitar player in the movie, who is actually of one producer’s, Michael Hateley, he was in a real known band in LA in the 90’s called Extra Fancy. They had stuff on VH1 and MTV. They were kind of a real respected band out in LA. We had the idea that actors don’t get any love in the music industry, why no invent characters. We were putting together four songs, and at the time I was in this NBA Entertainment basketball league, sitting on the bench laughing at these guys who had egos. I hit it off with Martin Guigui with whose company is Sunset Pictures. We just hit it off, and got together for breakfast and come to find out he had an extensive music career on the east coast playing with people20like Etta James and Johnny Lee Hooker and so on. The bottom line he listened to the music and liked it, we asked him to come play keyboards on it, he did and it killed. That literally led to making the movie, it was kind of like a happy accident.
It was one of those things, we had a blast making it, it is probably the most fun I had making a movie in years. Our goal is to make a trilogy. We have to get this one out and recoup our basic funds for our investors, they said if we can do that they will be happy to throw more back in the pile and make another one. So they are giving us every chance to do a trilogy, which is very cool of them. Now we just have to pump the word sell dome DVD’s.
BH
I know you cannot do an interview without somebody bringing this movie up. But how I came to know you, you scared the hell out of me. Of course I am talking about “Children of the Corn”, which is in my top ten of scary movies. </ o:p>
CG
Oh yeah of course, there is no way I can live that one down, especially with the twenty-fifth anniversary Blue Ray edition coming out this year. For the twentieth I did a commentary on it. I think it will be the same commentary but just on Blue Ray. Twenty-five years later and it is still a cult classic.
BH
One of the great ones, anytime I drive by a damn cornfield, I think if the red haired guy.
CG
(Laughs)
BH
Just being honest bro, you scared the hell out=2 0of me.
CG
I hear yah, that character has been voted one of the top fifty horror characters of all time that is with no make-up and no gimmick. I a, proud of the accomplishment at this point, it has really taken a life of its own.
BH
You have been in other movies as well, which I do not tell a lot of people, but it was “Can’t Buy me Love”.
CG
(Laughs) Don’t want to admit that you like the chick flick, huh?
BH
Oh, I loved that show bro and I am serious, one of my favorite parts is when you had the line, “You shit on my house!” But there was another movie that I also really enjoyed; I believe it was “ Desolation Canyon ”?
CG
Oh yeah you saw that, that was a Hallmark western that I did a couple of years ago with Stacy Keach, who I have been in with a couple of things with. Number one he is a great actor, but he has done a lot of westerns, he has done just as many westerns than I have done almost in over all films. He broke in doing westerns with Ford back in the day; he goes all the way back. That actually did really well for hallmark, when it aired it got a 2.1 in share which would be the biggest watched show on cable TV that night. That is pretty amazing; I had a really good time doing that.
BH
You also had one out that I enjoyed, I cannot exactly remember=2 0the title, but you were a killer of course, and somebody was trying to get gold?
CG
Yes, it is called, gosh I think it was originally called “Fool’s Gold”, ah man.
BH
That is sad when you have played in enough movies that you cannot remember all of them. (Laughs) but actually I guess that is a good thing.
CG
Man sometimes it happens, I have to go on the IMD and look at it. There we go; it was called “The Killing Grounds”.
BH
I remember you had a part in the end that I thought was funny as hell, you had the lady.
CG
Barnes, a good actress, we went at it in that scene, she was great, she was a real trooper. She was like this do this, but it was funny in the scene where I was choking her out, she finally started tapping me telling I was going too hard, because she was the one really telling me to go at it. I really did not think that I was squeezing that hard, but the next day her voice was really horsed. I felt so bad. (Laughed)
BH
The funny part was when the cop told you to let her go and you replied, “She isn’t dead yet”. Something like that.
CG
I ain’t done with her yet I think was the line. That was really a good bad guy role, me and Anthony Michael Hall, which was a lot of fun; I had a really good time making that movie. I think that was one of the best bad guys I played in a long time. I love d that last scene. At the end when they shoot me, it was a low budget film; we only had the budget of one set up of the scene. They randomly put the squibs in the chest, and I thought how am I supposed to react to random, you know what I mean? So I talked them in to letting me get that sequence put together the way I wanted, I talked about wanting to get in my shoulder first, then the legs, then chest. I walk up several feet and walk back which is very tough on the camera men, they had to make a full adjustment, then slide in this thin mat that I fall on, when I walk forward they slide the mat in, then I fall back. It was complicated and it was a one shot deal, I know the stunt guy was kind of worried about it because the mat was thin and I could hit my headBut, I totally nailed it, and it was one of those times when the crew goes ballistic and gives you applause. It was awesome, that whole sequence of getting shot was a one taker.
Writers Note: Stay tuned to Convicted Artist magazine for part two of the interview with Courtney Gaines and he continues to touch on his acting career, as well as speaking on his music endeavors. For now check out his website at www.courtneygains.net
