'Backseat' gives quirky take on classic road trip
By Suzanne Hanshaw
"Backseat," an independent film completed in 2005, will premiere in Austin tonight after making its national debut two weeks ago in New York. The film previously racked up awards at festivals around the world, even winning the Audience Award at the Austin Film Festival.
The film, starring Josh Alexander, Rob Bogue and Will Janowitz, documents two 20-somethings on a road trip from New York City to Montreal in search of actor Donald Sutherland and, ultimately, themselves. Along the way, Colton (Alexander) and Ben (Bogue) encounter drugs, strippers, guns and a man who can only communicate via text messaging. And thus "Backseat" was born.
"I wanted to take your classic road trip film and take all those cliches you see in every film: a car breaks down, there's drugs, there's a meal at a diner, there's maybe a weapon. There are all these various things, but what if you take two socially awkward Asperger syndrome-suffering, ADD-suffering guys and put them in these situations?" explained Josh Alexander, writer, producer and star of "Backseat."
The Daily Texan had the opportunity to talk to Alexander about his experience working on the film.
Daily Texan: You wrote, produced and starred in "Backseat." Which is your favorite role?
Josh Alexander: I think that when you're a young actor and writer, you don't really have a choice but to produce your own work. All you can sell is yourself and a story, and you don't have a track record. I have an artistic spirit so I get very emotionally attached to whatever I do because I'm a writer and an actor. As a producer sometimes when there's a lot of fires to put out, it's very difficult to let that stuff roll off my back. They both fulfill completely different parts of me.
DT: Why Donald Sutherland?
JA: I can't really pinpoint when Donald Sutherland came into the movie, but I knew that they had to be going up to Montreal for a reason. I wanted Colton to be obsessed with an actor. In the 1970s, he was a major leading man-sex symbol-movie star. That picture in the movie is from a Playboy article on him where he's frolicking on the beach with all these women in bikinis. Everyone thinks he's a great actor, but also some people develop a weird obsession with him, so I knew it had to be that type of an actor.
DT: What are some of your upcoming projects?
JA: I played a wonderful small cameo in this movie called "My Best Friend's Girl" with Dane Cook, Jason Biggs and Kate Hudson. I play a very flamboyantly gay and effeminate fashion stylist, Burt. I did a movie this fall called "Made for Each Other," and I did ["Goyband"] where I play a Russian Jewish bodyguard with a thick Russian accent and a mustache. So, I've gotten to do some really fun, cool roles in the last six months.
