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THE
LONG TRAIL FROM
DEERFIELD TO DEADWOOD
FORMER ESM COVER BOY GREG CIPES' HOLLYWOOD SHUFFLE By Matt Pruett Imagine,
one day you're a sponsored kid with no greater responsibility
than the next ESA contest at the Pavilion in Boca Raton. The
next you're a movie star, rocking out on the LA club scene with
otherworldly celebrities, trading kisses on the silver screen
with Tinseltown dream divas, and gaining trade tips from some
of the industry's most revered directors. Coral Springs, FL's,
Greg Cipes--a former ESM Who Da Guy who graced our cover
busting a slob air six years back (Vol.7, #13)--is living testimony
that you can never spread yourself too thin when attempting
to claw through the dog-eat-dog motion picture industry--a world
so stylized and cutthroat, it makes competition surfing look
like a drum circle. His surfing achievements peaked with a third-place
at the U.S. Championships, but Cipes' acting career is in overdrive
these days. A regular on such series as Gilmore Girls
and the voice of several cartoon characters, on top of commercials
and high-dollar film projects, Greg most recently brought to
life (and a few episodes later, to death) the character of Miles
Grifter on the critically acclaimed HBO Original Series Deadwood
(a Western-style Sopranos, if you will), and has since
landed a heavy part in the upcoming, widely talked about The
Onion Movie. We caught up with Greg between gigs at his
beachfront Santa Monica, CA, home to talk to him about past
and present roles, Hollyweird eccentrics, and how relevant surfing
is now that he's moving towards headliner status.
ESM:
After you scored our cover back in 1998, you dipped out of the
surfing world to find yourself in a different spotlight. You
were taking acting classes, had just filmed a PowerAde commercial,
and POOF, you were gone. What happened?
GC:
In Florida, all I did was surf. The commercials were just side
work to put flow in my pocket and allow me to go surf places
like Costa Rica. But I realized I had this other fire inside
of me, so I had to pursue it. I was going to go to school for
directing, but the agency I had was here and within two weeks
of being in California, I booked my first Warner Brothers pilot
with Dan Cortez and Amy Yazbeck. Then I got another one right
after that everyone said was the most for-sure pilot ever, a
Gilmore Girls spin-off that would get picked up for eight
episodes. I played this surfer kid who lived in Venice. And
the set was right down the street from where I lived, too, so
I could walk. Then at the last second, a money thing happened
and they dropped the whole thing. Pilots come and go like that.
ESM:
That sucks.
GC:
Yeah, that was a dream role--skater, surfer, musician--but I
was able to network and create this family of people, and keep
working with them. From there, Warner Brothers hooked me up
with Teen Titans, which is #1 on The Cartoon Network
right now, and I play "Beast Boy." Momentum started, and I got
three animated series on The Disney Channel and tons of TV guest
spots.
GC:
It's more focused. When you're doing on-camera work, you
can subconsciously rely on outward visuals--the way you look,
the way you dress--but you can't hide behind anything with the
voiceovers, so it's gotta be totally on every time. I'm a regular
on four series now. And it's cool because I don't have to go
through makeup. It's the best gig in Hollywood, actually. It
allows you to do a million other things, because they're only
three hours at the most, and then your whole day or week is
free. Above all, though, you're making kids happy, and there's
nothing better than that.
ESM:
And you've advertised everything from Chef Boyardee to Playstation
2. Are commercials crucial in helping make ends meet? GC:
I'd have to say Club Dread, even though my role in
it is really bad [laughs]. It was great because they
flew me down to this private island in Mexico called Melaque,
about four hours south of Puerto Vallarta. It's this beautiful,
five-star golf course, Mafia-owned place that the government
took over. They flew me, Bill Paxton, Brittany Daniels, and
a couple others down there, and gave us our own houses with
jacuzzis and pools right on the beach. There's two pointbreaks--a
left and a right--that come into this cove out front. I was
there for a month and a half and only shot three days, for an
hour each day. The rest of the time I got to surf the best waves
I've ever caught in my life.
ESM:
A lot of your jobs tend to play upon your youthful exuberance.
Do you feel that could pigeonhole you as that particular typecast--the
wide-eyed, ADD kid with a skateboard?
GC:
Yeah, it does sometimes. It's very hot-cold here, so when you're
booking a bunch of things that are similar, a lot of the casting
directors only see you in that light. I was doing back-to-back
comedic, surfer/ skater/ hippie roles, but then Deadwood
broke that mold and helped me get into rooms I normally
wouldn't be able to.
ESM:
Exactly. It wasn't until your character, Miles Grifter, was
introduced on Deadwood that we actually took notice of
your skills. How was it going from family-oriented network TV
to an ultra-graphic, mature audiences-only HBO Western?
GC:
You feel it the first moment you walk on the set, like "Damn,
this is the real deal." HBO gives the creator, David Milch,
the green light to do whatever he wants. So you feel that freedom
right off. I don't think many people get to experience a situation
like that. He'll give you four pages right before you start,
tell everyone what's going on, then be like, "All right, do
what you want." You're thrown right in, and he makes you rise
to the occasion. It's do or die--and you gotta do.
ESM:
Weren't you a bit bummed when your character got shot in the
face like yellow-bellied pig scum?
GC:
I was! When I first landed this role, it was supposed to be
three episodes and maybe more. So I was like, "Sweet, I get
to really grow with this character and hopefully keep going
for 10 or 20 episodes!" The girl who played my sister, Kristen
Bell, booked a big movie at the same time and the schedule called
for her to leave the country for two months. She went for that
instead of the series. But originally, she wasn't even supposed
to be my sister, but my wife! We were going to have sex scenes
and everything! But it got cut short...
ESM:
Bummer! So if you yourself could shoot down any Deadwood
character, who would it be and why?
GC:
The dude who shot me, Cy Tolliver, for sure.
ESM:
And your production company, House On The Hill Pictures? How
did that come about?
GC:
I started it with with my old roommate. We're making independent
feature films, and our first, Who's Sherman, is a comedy
we shot on digital, then re-mastered and re-colored it. We're
almost done with a full-length film called Escondida,
which you know is a wave in Costa Rica. Many aspects of the
film are taken from my life: this Florida kid goes to Costa
Rica, falls in love with this girl, and his best friend gets
framed for murder and goes to jail. My character has to win
this surf contest to get him out. It's kinda like The Karate
Kid, where there's that bad boy karate team. There'll be
this bad guy surf team.
ESM:
And going back to surfing, where's your local spot, so to speak,
out there?
GC:
Right in front of my place in Santa Monica, a place called
Tower 22. It's a beachbreak that's deceiving from the road.
It's usually two or three feet bigger than it looks, so people
drive right by. It's not the sickest wave, but it's like my
own private wave pool. And coming from Deerfield Beach, where
it's flat a lot, to a place that usually isn't less than head-high,
and get it to myself--that's something I always dreamed about,
being able to catch one barrel and then go to work.
ESM:
When was the last time you surfed back East?
GC:
Last Christmas, I came home and caught a north swell at Boca
Inlet, a place where I had so many magical days--beautiful,
blue, warm water. I love Florida and it will always be my
home.
ESM:
Do you ever feel an obligation to accurately depict surfers
in your roles?
GC:
A lot of times when I'm in situations that involve surfing,
they actually ask me because they know my experience. If the
role calls for me to be a kook, then I'll be a kook, but there's
no way I would ever misrepresent the surf culture. It's my
soul and I gotta be true to it.
ESM:
Tell us about your role in the upcoming The Onion Movie.
Supposedly, yours is one of the main characters.
GC:
I play a hippie diplomat named Chad who's discovered by the
FBI at a college rally. He's just this guy who's stoned all
the time and wants peace in the world, but has no idea how
to make it happen. It's a pretty funny part.
ESM:
Got any of your own "True Hollywood Stories" you'd like to
share with us?
GC:
For me being this kid from Florida, there's definitely a lot
of weird shit that goes down in Hollywood. It's true about
that casting couch stuff, and people have brought that to
me--even guys! Like--(famous comedic actor)--, that dude loves
me way too much! One time, I'm in the bathroom and he follows
me in and locks the door. And he says, "Let me see your..."
I'm like, "Hell no, get away from me!" Just full on sexual
harassment shit. Everywhere I go--charity events, parties--that
guy's always up in my grill.
ESM: Nightmare! What kind of advice can you give to someone wishing to pursue acting? GC:
If you really love it, even if you don't understand it at
first, inform yourself about techniques and methods and then
implement them. And don't stop there. Get another book, take
classes, and you'll wind up creating your own method. There's
no trick to getting into the business, other than preparation
meets opportunity. There's industry in Miami and Orlando,
so do extra work. It sucks, they treat extras like cattle,
but you've gotta start somewhere. Then one day, a director
will say, "Hey you, I got a line for you." You also wanna
become SAG (Screen Actors Guild) as soon as you can. That
was the first thing my grandparents, who are old SAG actors,
told me. It's the union that protects you as an actor. You
can't be treated like shit, even as an extra. You're taken
care of.
ESM:
If you could choose, would you take an Oscar for "Best
Actor" or the ASP World Title?
GC:
[Laughs] I don't know, man, let's just say everything
I do, I do so I can surf. It's still my truest connection
with Earth. A big-budget Hollywood movie will never be as
good as being out on a head-high, glassy day.
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