Amidst a smoldering battlefield under the desert sun - An interview with James Leatherman
Synthetic Human Web Exclusive 03-28-2011 | Written by: SHP Staff Writer | James Leatherman's Website
James Leatherman is a man of many talents, and many faces. James has enjoyed a long-standing career as a voice over artist in New York and Phoenix, in addition to multiple appearances on stage and screen. He has been featured in 15 films in the last three years, two of which won him awards for Best Actor. He is a well-known talent in the Arizona film community, but even if you're not an insider, you've certainly seen his face on your TV screen, and heard him speak on the air.
I started taking acting classes and doing theatre to help me with my voiceover career. I was just trying to make more money. Then I signed with Ford/Robert Black, and I concentrated on trying to book paying commercials. Originally, I was just trying to supplement my income. But as I started doing film, I realized that I got a tremendous amount of satisfaction in conveying the truth, even though that is the very skill we actors struggle with most. I think the most important thing is that I don't like to stay in my comfort zone, and that drives me to try to represent the human condition in ways that I don't myself yet understand.
Growing up in the Catskill Mountains on a small dairy farm as the younger of two brothers meant that James could enjoy an idyllic youth without the worst of the farm chores. Riding mini-bikes, camping in the woods, collecting maple sap, swinging in the haymow, and all sorts of activities constantly fueled a kid's imagination. But when James was ten, his brother moved out, his parents divorced, and the farm failed. With his mother working double shifts as a nurse, things changed rapidly.
James spent the remainder of his adolescence alone on the mountain, twenty miles from civilization, caring for his aging grandfather. He didn't play sports or hang out with a lot of kids, and used what little free time and money he had to build a makeshift recording booth. It was born out of hard work, a few miscellaneous electronics, and his desire for creating imaginative characters and improvised dialog.
My best friend lived in the Bronx, and when he came up to the country with his folks each weekend, he would bring tapes of the best bits from the Z Morning Zoo (from Z-100 in NY). So we would do our own bits and mock interviews, and later we did short action films. The weekends were the happiest times when I was growing up.
The practice proved useful upon attending Syracuse University. As an on-air personality and production director for Z89-FM, he honed his skills for voicing and producing radio spots on campus. After college and a brief stint fixing chainsaws and diesel engines, James joined the Information Technology profession, landing a job with General Electric. For the next ten years, James voiced dozens of radio and TV spots in New York and New England while climbing the ladder in corporate America.
I'm inspired by the work of sublime actors like Kevin Spacey, Michael Caine – anybody who's a craftsman first and a celebrity second. But my work ethic is influenced by my uncle, who was a tugboat engineer. He spent most of his career in a ship cabin bunk, reading. And when he got home, his shop was a carefully arranged storehouse of disparate parts and a mind-boggling array of tools. He was always using everything in his possession to fulfill some task. He was a craftsman with artistic sensibilities. I miss him every day.
James moved to Albany, New York. He met a wonderful girl and they got married. They built a house in the country. And then, one snowy day after Christmas in 2005, stuck in a drafty government building on a long-term contract, James called his wife. "We're moving to Arizona." To her credit, her response was simply an understanding "OK". There was no job waiting in AZ, and no real plan – just an insatiable desire to move onward. Soon after, the boxes were stacked, the house was sold, the car was packed, and off they drove, 2800 miles to Chandler, Arizona. That's where his acting career truly began.
Arizona for acting? Really? Well, obviously summers are brutal. But other than that, I think Arizona has all the land and architectural features that you can find anywhere else in the country, except ocean, so there's a wide variety of film production. Commercially, there is always much less opportunity than LA or NY, but for someone like me with a fulltime career, a little less volume is actually a good thing.
It's really the networking that makes doing film here so rewarding. Organizations like IFP and A3F and the PFF give young filmmakers a place to shine. As actors, we get to work with some really dynamic teams. For me, the Arizona advantage is the people you meet in on set, acting class, or in auditions. This is a really close-knit community, and everyone cheers on everyone else. You don't get that in LA.
James came to the attention of Synthetic Human Pictures in 2008. He had a brief, yet essential role in Synthetic Human's political satire I'm Voting Republican. Amidst a smoldering battlefield, under the desert sun, James' stern characterization of an overworked soldier in Iraq was seen nationally on Fox News, MSNBC, and by over 4.5 million viewers online during the climax of the last presidential election. He was so convincing in his uniform, with his disciplined demeanor, that many of the crew thought that they had hired an active duty officer for the role. However, off-screen James had the crew in stiches with laughter and lots of good-natured ribbing.
I was always accused of being a ham, at home and at school. I'm uncertain of the moment I knew I wanted to be an actor, but maybe it was as the 'The Elephant Child' in first grade. That's probably going out on a limb. As far as knowing that I wanted to dedicate a portion of my life to acting? I guess it was just after starting my first musical, which was A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum at Scottsdale Desert Stages, a few months after I came to Arizona. I was severely hooked on performing after the first show.
With years of film and stage performances behind him, James began to realize that he was being recognized for his ability to master "the regular guy" character. He used this to his advantage, while also surprising his directors with his tool chest of facial expressions, voice characterizations, and physical comedy.
Most actors want to do characters that stretch them in some way. But I've turned down auditions where the guy is a pedophile or something similar. That's mostly because I didn't feel like I had the skill to do it in an interesting way. No – actually, I just didn't want to be a pedophile. But really, you have to be able to identify with your character, and I only complain if the guy doesn't seem to be real in some way. But that almost never happens for me, because I get to work with some really amazing writers in this area.
I'd have to say that my favorite character so far has been Simon Craig from the Strong Brain films. It probably helps that the role was written with me in mind, at least after the first film. He has trouble being expressive. He is prone to weakness of will. He never fits in with any group. But he has this latent internal power that he's afraid of, so he reluctantly uses it to make money and help others. Kinda like my software career, really.
One of James' latest roles is that of 'Joe' in Kevin R. Phipps and Joel Kaye's steampunk fantasy series, Mantecoza. The story, written by Susan Kaff and starring Aaron Ginn-Forsberg and Katherine Stewart, revolves around an average office worker who is catapulted into the mystical world of Mantecoza, where he struggles to fulfill his destiny to become a wizard. The skilled and professional crew and hard-working, talented cast have worked some extreme days in the pursuit of meeting tight deadlines.
I'd have to say that one of the toughest shoots I've been on was Mantecoza, last summer. We started the day at 6am, which is not my time anyway. I spent the morning running out of a bathroom in full armor and throwing myself on concrete over and over. Then for the afternoon, I ran around in the sun for a few hours in the same armor, which is pretty much just hard, black rubber. Then a big guy with a broadsword hit me in the head repeatedly until I felt like my spine was dislocated. Somewhere in there, we had tacos.
So just what kind of roles does James Leatherman really want to play? Perhaps something to do with hockey, as the sport is foremost on his mind. He also jokes that the role of 'Kunta Kinte' should have gone to him instead of LeVar Burton. Or that he should take on a Hong Kong-style wire-flying martial arts comedy.
I like movies about space, superheroes, robots and martial arts. If you can combine the four then I get really excited.
Actually, I enjoy watching Cary Grant for his natural style in the 1940's and 50's, which was something unique for the period. I respect Humphrey Bogart in The Maltese Falcon. I think I'd like a crack at roles like that. They are iconic films and performances, but no one can deny that those movies would be different if they were made today. The goal would be to make those kinds of movies, but filtered through our present sensibility – grittier and more organic. I'd love to take on that kind of challenge.
James has several new projects in the works for 2011. You can learn more about them at his official website: jamesleatherman.com
End of Article. © 2011 Synthetic Human Pictures. For display on synthetichuman.com only.
