Fil-Am director casts Michael Berryman in sci-fi flick

Author: Boy Villasanta
Column: Entertainment

MANILA - It's not easy being different.

Then again, tell that to genre actor Michael Berryman who has used his uniquely different appearance into a successful career in Hollywood.

Who can forget Berryman playing the mental patient Ellis in Milos Foreman's 1975 Academy award winning film "One Flew over the Cuckoo's Nest"? Or how about his breakthrough role in Wes Craven's 1977 horror film "The Hills Have Eyes?"

Berryman, who has also been featured in "Star Trek: The Next Generation" and "The X-Files", is just one of the actors tapped by Filipino-American actor-director Ace Cruz for his science fiction movie "Outrage."

Cruz, a Manila-born artist who has done a number of local films for Viva Entertainment ("Mistah" with Robin Padilla, "April Boys: Sana'y Mahalin Mo Rin Ako" with brothers April Boy, Jimmy and Vingo Regino, among others), said he met Berryman during a social gathering in Hollywood.

He said Berryman, who is afflicted with Hypohidrotic Ectodermal Dysplasia -- a rare genetic condition which prevents him from developing hair, sweat glands or fingernails -- could be slightly intimidating at first glance but is very professional and sincere in person.

"The first time I talked with Michael, he was very professional and sincere. In person, he is the exact opposite of his bad guy image. Maybe because he was always cast as a sinister character in monster movies but in real life, he's a man of big heart," said Cruz in an exclusive interview at the Greenbelt 3 in Makati City.

At that first meeting, Cruz said he would remember Berryman if given the chance to direct a genre movie.

When "Outrage" was finally given the green light by executive producer Paul D'Agnese, Cruz called on Michael and handed him the script and call slip.

Cruz said Berryman earned $10,000 to play Obeah, a mountain mystic in the new movie. "He's such an amazing person," commented Ace.

Last July 30, "Outrage" was proclaimed Best Sci-Fi Picture at the Action on Film International Film Festival held at Pasadena, California. Aside from Berryman, the film also stars Michael Madsen (Sin City, Reservoir Dogs) and Natasha Lyonne (American Pie).

Madsen plays Farragut, an ex-Marine sniper who unleashes a wave of terror upon a group of friends (Natasha Lyonne, Katie Fountain, Ace Cruz and Derek Lee Nixon) who are on vacation in a mountain lodge. The friends escape into the woods, with help from a simple handyman, Bill (Pauly D), and a mountain mystic, Obeah (Michael Berryman), but the bloodthirsty killers are in hot pursuit.

Source: ABS-CBN News