Interviews LIVE Dillon Casey with DJ Forrest

Project: Torchwood:   Have you been to any of the Torchwood Cons at all?

Dillon: I haven't no, I didn't think although the scene we did on the show, I didn't think my part was big enough to make it to the conventions.  Maybe they were, I don't know.

Project: Torchwood:  There have been people who have been in the show briefly and they are doing all the circuits.

Dillon: That's true, it's a very cool show too, I mean Torchwood is very hardcore and the fans love it

Project: Torchwood:   How much preparation did you have to do for the role of Brad especially with the naked scene with Jack Harkness? 

Dillon: Doing the scene with Jack Harkness?  I honestly do as little preparation as possible, it’s like doing a love scene with either man or woman, you don’t want to over think it, you kind of want to go in, go for it, see what happens. 

John was funny though, actually what was funny was that, I didn't know that I was going to do that scene when I got that part, they said that I had to get intimate, then it wasn't until I got to a wardrobe fitting that they said "You've got to sign your nudity waiver."  I said "Why do I have to do that?"  They said "It's for your sex scene with John."  I said. "What the hell you talking about, sex scene?"  So I just thought oh shit,I'd just go for it. John was really funny, John was such a professional; he made it really easy I didn't do much preparation for it, just sit ups and push ups.

Project: Torchwood:  If there was another Torchwood role, or if Brad was brought back into Torchwood would you consider taking it?

Dillon: Yeah I think I would, I mean I wouldn't necessarily just want to just be having sex with John. "Ok John is to have sex now let's bring in Brad." (we laugh) You know give him a good reason to come back. I mean it's a great show and the fans are incredible so I loved being a part of it.  Maybe an alien or something?

Project: Torchwood: When you came onto the set of Torchwood, were you given any pep talks by any of the cast?

Dillon: I wasn't really given any pep talks. John was worried, well not really worried but he wanted to make sure I was comfortable doing it and all that and I said, "Don't worry about that I'm going to make you feel uncomfortable".  (laughs) But he said to me, he kind of recognised that we had the same kind of sense of humour that nothing is off limits so he said right before a take.  "Dillon, just so you know, I might get an erection."  I thought if he didn't get an erection I'd feel insulted.

Project: Torchwood:  In relation to the After Elton comment that sparked a row with Ianto fans and the homophobe comment.

Dillon:  I would never touch that relationship there were a lot of people saying ‘This Brad is going to take Ianto's place’, or ‘Who is this Brad guy he's nothing compared to Ianto’. And it kind of spun into this but, I never said anything I just came in to play the part. It’s just one of these shows that are kind of hardcore and people sometimes get confused between what's real, they start seeing Jack as real.  I'm not there to mess anybody's character. 

Project: Torchwood:  When we see people on the screen, we don't see them as the actors. Like say yourself and John we just see the characters.  Well that's all I see, when people start taking it all a bit too far you think what's going on here?

Dillon: I only see Harrison Ford as Indiana Jones

Project: Torchwood:  Yes definitely or occasionally Han Solo

Dillon: Yes or Han Solo but not as Harrison Ford

Project: Torchwood:  So you liked Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade?

Dillon: I love all of them but not the last one.  I saw the Last Crusade at the theatres.  That's a good one to see.

Project: Torchwood: How did you get into filming with you and your brothers, what started that off?

Dillon: What started that is we've always kind of been performers I guess in a certain way.  When we were younger I got in trouble in class, Conor would get in trouble in class, Lyndon would be a little quieter, teachers liked him a little more but he was always a little more outgoing, funny, so I guess that's why he's the guy whose behind the camera more.  But when we got older we just sort of went our separate ways.  Conor was a tennis player, I went to school with the Guild in Montreal and Lyndon actually went to film school.  And even though acting was a thing I'd always done, and writing was something Conor had done we never really thought of it as a career choice.  So when we all decided to get together to make a movie and won the film festival, a short film that's called The Rare Affair, it's on Youtube, we won it and we had a lot of fun doing it and I decided to give acting a shot at that time. And Conor was not sure at what he was doing and at that point we kind of just made that unspoken contract between us that’s sort of "I'm not going to back out until you do."  Whenever we get the chance we get together and film something and we try to make something and although the process can be a really difficult as its hard to get us all in the same room it's hard to get us all on the same page but when we actually finish something its, you have to be really good so, we really have to recognise that, and we recognise that we need to keep making films.

Project: Torchwood:  Did you thank Conor for me on which camera to get for film-making? I put a question up on Twitter about which camera to use for making short films, and he'd suggested the Canon.

Dillon: What I use is this (raises up slim normal camera like a Nokia) it’s a flip camera and if it’s for filming Living in LA I use this. And I've got another camera that I use. My brother Lyndon bought a Canon SP or something like that when we all get together to make something with a bit more  money in it. We use that, or we rent a red camera for ShirtGun Guy I don't think you've seen that. It's an awesome film; I need to get it online some time. It's one of those things where you have to put in your own sound.

Project: Torchwood:  I love writing.  I have a few projects but I keep editing it and I hate reading over the same passages all the time, so I put it to one side and work on another project, then again leave it, then wind up procrastinating on Twitter for another 6 months. (both laugh)

Dillon: My brothers are the same way when they write, I have to be the one to tell them to stop writing, it's good, it’s not going to get any better, and it’s just going to be different.  There's a point where someone needs to take it away from you, like make the film.  If I ever need advice, if I want advice on which camera to use? I don't know.  Just find a way to make it, just go and focus all of your energy into making this film and do that, call in as many favours as you got.

Project: Torchwood:  Thank you for that

Dillon: You're welcome, it’s always worth it. People always love to see themselves on camera, so if you say, I'll put you in this movie if you help me make it. If you're looking for funding have you ever been to http://www.kickstarter.com try there for funding. You pitch your project online and people donate money.

Project: Torchwood:  What was the first ever audition you went for and how old were you?

Dillon: Good question.  The first ever audition I went for I was in Grade 4 and it was Joseph and the Technicolor Dreamcoat.

Project: Torchwood:  I think everybody went for that one

Dillon: I think I got killed in the first 5 minutes; I was wearing a goat thing over my face. The first TV audition I think it was for a Canadian TV show called System Crash where I think my Mom saw the ad in the paper and she said "You like acting why don't you go and do this?" and I went down and did an audition, and I did a monologue from the Jerry Seinfeld comedy bit and I totally misinterpreted what they really wanted from it. They wanted an acting monologue and I went there and did a 'What's the deal with aeroplane peanuts?' But I got the part.  I think I was 15/16 years old.

Project: Torchwood:  So were your folks keen on you following an acting profession or did they want you to follow in their footsteps?

Dillon: Nobody wants their kid to be an actor in the film industry, not because it's a matter of being ashamed of their kid.  It's a matter of it being such a tough industry.  It’s hard to get by.  It’s hard on you mentally so my parents support the hell out of me and they support all of us in this industry.  My dad even wanted to be in our movie but he works a lot and it’s not a 9 to 5 job you know, it’s a lot of up and down so as much as they support us, they say if you're not happy then go and do something else. They always want to help us, and if we leave it too, they'll support us either way

Project: Torchwood:  Did you have any celebrity crushes when you were growing up?

Dillon: Princess Leia.  But I liked her before I knew what sex was all about also.  My celebrity crushes happened much later in life, like now

Project: Torchwood:  Ok so who do you have a crush on now?

Dillon: Jennifer Lawrence is really sexy, Mila Kunis is really cool I'd say I have crushes on those two girls, and I’ve always loved Clare Danes, I’ve always thought she was great.

Project: Torchwood:  Knowing how hard it is in the acting profession and there's periods of resting what other jobs did you do in between acting when you were starting out.

Dillon: When I started out I wasn't acting full time, so in between acting I had a job mixing concrete and digging out post holes for fences, I had a job as a painter, I had a job as an usher at a movie theatre.  Hey, when I moved to LA I got a job as a tennis pro, I lied my way into being a tennis pro for a couple of months then I'd stop showing up to work because the hours didn't work.  I was selling nutritional supplements till I realised it was a pyramid scheme.  I do  a bit of Martial Arts in Los Angeles. I'd do their cardio and kung fu class; I trained a class in order to get free training.  In LA if you don't have money, the good thing about Americans they're willing to work for services. They're willing to give you stuff if you need something for services, like if you do this for me I'll do this for you.  So I'd help my acting coach out by getting him students then I’d get extra coaching. Or I'd teach the class so they'd still train me. That’s pretty much it I guess.

Project: Torchwood: How many months are you recording Nikita for?

Dillon: It's a nine months shoot. 

Project: Torchwood:  What was it about the script in Nikita that hooked you in? 

Dillon: Well I mean Nikita is a great show; Sean Pierce was a great character to play.  Wasn't really a time in my career where I had a choice. Yeah when I went and got the audition, I was like yeah great I've got a job! When I read the breakdown for Sean Pierce and knowing the situation I was in, I don't know if you read about that, I was going off on a trip with my Dad and my family and I wasn't really planning on getting any work.  When you don't plan on sort of putting any pressure on yourself, so when I went for the audition of Sean Pierce I kind of knew this character suited me kind of well.  I knew about this character for a while. In the audition I was very relaxed and I walked out of it knowing I was going to get the part. I kind of put a piece of myself into it, he starts off very straight but what's nice is that the writers are very relaxed there's nothing set in stone they let the show roll very organically!

Project: Torchwood:  Is it similar to the film Point of No Return?

Dillon: Only that they take the film as the back story and it’s the sort of world that they're in it’s a different world, it’s their interpretation, it’s like a different Batman world, a different Spiderman world, it’s their take on the world of Nikita.

Project: Torchwood:  What genre do you prefer to act in or are you open to any?

Dillon: I don't know if you have genre that you prefer.  I was in a horror movie a few years ago which I had a lot of fun doing because you can kind of do whatever the hell you want as long as its ground in some kind of reality of a horror movie, you can be crazy, serious this and that or you can be funny.  I love comedy but when you think I'm not a funny person it becomes a high pressure situation, you think, oh shit, I have to be funny even though I'm not a funny person, so I think comedy can be a really tough thing sometimes to do.  For me I love any kind of genre, to me it’s all about the script and not about the story.

Project: Torchwood:  Ok Kirsty Price asks: Having recently seen you in the recent blockbuster The Vow, and seeing your work what would you consider to be your best work to date besides Torchwood?

Dillon: (laughs) Besides Torchwood? My best work to date I don't know, maybe Creature probably. The horror movie I did called Creature, other than that probably the movie with my brothers that I did called Three Wireless Men, that I kind of went a little crazy on.  Certainly that was the best movie, but the one I had the most fun in Creature as a character and I had the most fun in Three Wireless Men.  Oh no no I tell you there was a short film we did called Captain Coulier which was about a space captain, if you've seen that one. I play this alien called Fred, you can't tell it’s me, I have yellow make up on I've got tentacles, I have a big prosthetic chin, that was probably my best work as an actor as that character.

Project: Torchwood: Can you actually see this on Youtube?

Dillon: You can see it on Youtube, also Casey Brother’s website

Project: Torchwood:  We've been following on Facebook the Only I film that you feature in, what is that about?

photo taken by Susan Mazur

Dillon: I play a character who wants nothing more than to be a professional fighter for a living.  It's all about the gritty world of mixed martial arts.  I don't know, how big is mixed martial arts in the United Kingdom? It's big in Canada and big in the US.  It's not even about a guy who’s a professional, it’s really a guy who gets the chance of becoming professional and its all underground, underground, underground it’s just what it takes for a guy to want to actually beat people up for a living.  He's a pretty looking guy who comes from nothing.  He doesn't look like a fighter doesn't look like he can fight but he trains his ass off to get a shot at a contract to become part of an amateur circuit of fighters. If you've ever seen Rocky I'm the guy he has to beat in order to get that contract

Project: Torchwood:  Did you have to do a lot of physical training yourself to look the part for it?

by Maja Zonjic courtesy of Tenth Day Pictures

Dillon: Well you know because of Nikita and because of my everyday life I'm into staying in shape and working out and all that anyway, so I was already in pretty good shape when they wanted to cast me as I was into that.  I had some mixed martial arts training but it had been a while and I'm not going to lie to you, the fight scenes that we did were probably the hardest things I've ever done in the film ever.

Project: Torchwood:  Those shots that were shown on the Only I page was that your fingers or was that part of the scene? 

Dillon: Brendan Fehr he was in the series Nikita he was also in a series called Roswell he was doing a scene where he was punching through a wall.  On some sets you've really got to do what the script says you're to do...so that's from him punching the wall.  I have some scenes where we're all kind of beaten up after a while.  It was really tiring and at times it was hell but all the things when you're driving home afterwards and you're dead tired and you're proud of it so...it's good.

Project: Torchwood:  What nicknames do you have and why?

Dillon: My older brother used to call me Dildo when I was younger

Project: Torchwood:  I'm not even going there

Dillon: I don't have a nickname, I notice that people like to call me Dillon, people that don't like me call me Casey, I don't know why that is.

Project: Torchwood:  If you could pick a role in any movie past or present what would it be?

Dillon: Indiana Jones, but I wouldn't want to take the experience away of watching that but if I could be anybody it would be Indiana Jones, or the Godfather.

Project: Torchwood:  John Barrowman is a bit of a brand fanatic, what is your favourite brand of clothing?

Dillon: What's my favourite brand, I don't know.  I know there was a cool store in London called All Saints I got a cool jacket there.  I wear Diesel jeans but I wouldn't say they were my favourite brand.

Project: Torchwood:  I suppose it’s whatever is comfy

Dillon: Yeah or whatever someone says I look good in

Project: Torchwood: John Bond Winstone asks - What were your first thoughts when you saw John Barrowman naked?

Dillon: I never saw John Barrowman naked.  He was wearing very tight fatigue underwear at the time.  I had to get more naked than he did. So my first thought of this guy was 'This guy's an asshole I have to take my clothes off and he doesn't!’ (We both laugh)

Project: Torchwood:  Doreen Freitag asks: Did you know about Torchwood before you were cast for the role of Brad? If not did you watch the seasons before the role to see what kind of show it was? Do you like it and are you really proud of being a part of it?

Dillon: I knew about the show yeah, I'd been out for a drink with one of the lead characters a few months before so I knew about Torchwood; I'd done a little research on the show. I knew about Doctor Who because I remember Ricky Gervais making fun of Doctor Who on the show Extras, did you see that?

Project: Torchwood:  Oh yeah, the giant slug?

Dillon: (both laugh) I was like ‘Oh shit am I going to be on that show?’

Project: Torchwood:  Doreen also says that you made a pretty deep impact and she loves your cute smile at the bar 

Dillon: Thank you Doreen

Project: Torchwood:  Zena Yoon asks if you invented any kind of back story for Brad?

Dillon: No I never think of about that, I try to just show up and do the job

Project: Torchwood:  Going back to Nikita and Sean. Did you have to do much research for the role, any military training?

Dillon: I never did any military training I didn't go to boot camp for training or how to use a gun I just turned up on set and they gave me a gun and said 'Action.' But on my own I did a little bit, I kind of grabbed every bit about Navy Seals, see how they think and of the choices they have to make, I read a lot of the Lone Survivor books about the Navy Seals.  I listen to a lot of books on tape I want to see where they came from, but I’m not a method actor, I don't tread water or get into character I wanted to know what these guys were like, especially as the Navy Seals are pretty heroic people

Project: Torchwood:  Would you ever film anything over here in the UK?

Dillon: Oh yeah definitely, if I had the chance sure.  Maybe a Bond film

Project: Torchwood:  What kind of music do you like?

Dillon: It changes all the time, I love Joy Division I like the top 40.

Project: Torchwood:  So when you're writing or scripting something up if you had a piece of music you wanted that would set the scene...or do you not do things like that?  Usually if I'm trying to write something like a fight scene, I've usually got Gladiator or Pirates of the Caribbean playing.

Dillon: They're pretty similar. The Pirates of the Caribbean and the other are pretty close.  I'd say the music makes the movie for sure. Like when I'm doing Living in LA I shoot it and then sometimes after I've filmed it I'd have some song that gets to me that I know is quite right I wouldn't say it goes hand in hand when you're writing.  That can help with your acting too, in a scene listening to a song inspires you in a way again.  Yeah like all those parts it’s finding a way for them to go together, finding a way to connect them.

Project: Torchwood:  Do you have a pet?

Dillon: I used to have a dog name Meg but not any more

Project: Torchwood:  Do you train regularly?

Dillon: Yeah I go the gym 5/6 times a week, it changes all the time I mean as much as I say I’m not a method actor I'm not but for the Sean Pierce thing, for the Navy Seal, I try to be able to run like they run maybe that way I can.  I've been training regularly since I was 17 years old it used to be pure weight lifting now it’s more like cross fit style you know like running, push ups, sit ups that kind of thing.

Project: Torchwood:  Who’s the joker out of the three of you?

Dillon: Out of the three of us, the funniest and the quickest is likely Conor the oldest. Conor is the guy who can push anybody's buttons and get any kind of emotion he can get out of them at the drop of a hat so if he wants to piss you off he will just decide to.  Within 15 minutes he will get you, he will know how to bug you, he's the quickest, and he’s the oldest for the wit.  He's born with it. Lyndon is the guy who will sit there quietly not say a word at all you'll not know what he's thinking, then he'll come out with a comment that will be brilliant and you'll be like 'What are you talking about?'

Project: Torchwood:  So are you the youngest?

Dillon: The middle. 

Project: Torchwood:  Thank you so much for the interview

Special thanks to Dillon Casey for the interview, to Only I production team and Tenth Day Pictures Inc for the use of their photographs, for Google and BBC for the photos regarding Miracle Day and to Kirsty Price, John Bond-Winstone, Doreen Freitag and Zena Yoon.