M. Emmet Walsh in ‘Outlaw Posse.’ Photo: Quiver Distribution.
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Actor M. Emmet Walsh has died at the age of 88.
He was known for movies such as ‘Blood Simple’ and ‘Blade Runner’.
‘Knives Out’ director Rian Johnson is among those who have paid tribute.
M. Emmet Walsh, a reliable, fondly appreciated character actor known for corrupt cops, deadly crooks, and zany comedic performances, has died days short of his 89th birthday.
The actor’s manager Sandy Joseph and publicist Cynthia Snyder announced his death on Wednesday. Walsh died on Tuesday in St. Albans, Vermont, following cardiac arrest.
Here’s Snyder’s statement:
“In a remarkable career spanning six decades on stage, in film and television, he became widely recognized for his standout portrayals of such memorable characters.”
M. Emmet Walsh: Early Life and Career
M. Emmet Walsh in ‘Critters.’ Photo: New Line Cinema.
Born in 1935 in Ogdensburg, New York, Walsh was raised in Vermont. He kicked off his acting career in typical fashion, with guest roles in TV series in the 1960s and 70s, but unlike some of his peers, he continued to juggle big and small screen jobs throughout his life (his most recent small screen appearance was 2022’s ‘American Gigolo’ series.)
Early TV gigs included small roles on shows such as ‘The Doctors’, ‘All in the Family’, ‘Ironside’ ‘Bonanza’, ‘The Waltons’, ‘The Rockford Files’ and the pilot of ‘The Bob Newhart Show’.
His first cinematic appearance was in an uncredited role in 1969’s ‘Midnight Cowboy’ but he got his initial credit on ‘Alice’s Restaurant’ the same year.
Walsh has long been considered a reliable supporting performer –– so reliable, in fact, that legendary movie critic Roger Ebert once coined the Stanton-Walsh Rule, which held that “no movie featuring either Harry Dean Stanton or M. Emmet Walsh in a supporting role can be altogether bad,” though he admitted it wasn’t an infallible rule.
Walsh had his own rule when it came to his career:
“I approach each job thinking it might be my last, so it better be the best work possible. I want to be remembered as a working actor. I’m being paid for what I’d do for nothing.”
M. Emmet Walsh: Tributes Paid
Director Rian Johnson, who worked with Walsh on ‘Knives Out’, was among those who paid tribute via social media:
Emmet came to set with 2 things: a copy of his credits, which was a small-type single spaced double column list of modern classics that filled a whole page, & two-dollar bills which he passed out to the entire crew. “Don’t spend it and you’ll never be broke.” Absolute legend. ♥️ pic.twitter.com/hP8Ml1fBGi
(L to R) Mario Van Peebles and Mandela Van Peebles in ‘Outlaw Posse.’ Photo: Quiver Distribution.
Moviefone recently had the pleasure of speaking with Mario Van Peebles and Mandela Van Peebles about their new Western, developing the screenplay, returning to the genre, if it is a sequel to Van Peebles’ 1993 movie ‘Posse,’ playing father and son on screen, working together on set, putting together the terrific cast, preparing for their roles, and if Allen Payne’s final line is a ‘New Jack City’ Easter egg.
You can read the full interview below of click on the video player above to watch our interviews with Mario and Mandela Van Peebles, as well as John Carroll Lynch, William Mapother, Jake Manley, and Amber Reign Smith.
(L to R) Mario Van Peebles and Melvin Van Peebles in 1993’s ‘Posse.’ Photo: Quiver Distribution.
Moviefone: To begin with, Mario, can you talk about returning to the Western genre with ‘Outlaw Posse,’ and do you consider it just a companion piece or an unofficial sequel to 1993’s ‘Posse’?
Mario Van Peebles: I would say companion. Like you saw Clint Eastwood in multiple spaghetti Westerns, this one has its own thing. Now, let me just say this, when I did ‘Posse’ 30 years ago, my first Western, my dad (Melvin Van Peebles) was around, and my son wasn’t born yet. When I did ‘Outlaw Posse’ recently, my dad wasn’t around, and here Mandela is. When I wrote the script, I was thinking about that Johnny Cash song, ‘A Boy Named Sue,’ about a boy who has got a challenging relationship with his pop. I thought, “Who better to play my onscreen son than Mandela here?” So, here we are again.
(L to R) Mario Van Peebles and Mandela Van Peebles in ‘Outlaw Posse.’ Photo: Quiver Distribution.
MF: Mandela, what was it like for you to be directed by your father?
Mandela Van Peebles: It was a lot of fun. We have a relationship where we get to wear many different hats, and this time around, we got to wear cowboy hats, ride horses, and basically enjoy life in Montana together. So, the experience was great. We’ve been father-son on set before, where he’s directed. We’ve been father and son where we’ve both been acting. This was one of the ones where we got to do both together, and that’s a lot of fun. The stunts, doing that was also a blast, because it’s an indie. So, a lot of the effects, a lot of the things you see on screen were as practical as can be. ‘Outlaw Posse,’ it’s a Western, but the genre is very much still relevant to what’s going on today, as far as the issues we’re touching on in the film.
Mario Van Peebles in ‘Outlaw Posse.’ Photo: Quiver Distribution.
MF: Mario, can you talk about developing the screenplay and the themes that you wanted to explore as a director?
Mario Van Peebles: One of every three cowboys was Black. The very named cowboy, they gave to Black guys as sort of a derogatory term, and they used to give them the dirty jobs. They said, “Take care of the horses, boy. Take care of the cow, boy. Where’d those cowboys go?” The white guys liked being called Rough Riders, which is a cool name. But once Hollywood started to glorify cowboys, then they brought in white actors to play them and even to play Native Americans. So, the Westerns we grew up on were more whitewashed than the reality of what the West was. Before women could vote, you had Stagecoach Mary, who’s a badass sister with a rifle and a stagecoach and a deal with the US Postal Service. She’s played by Whoopi Goldberg and played well. At the end, you go, “Wow, she looks like the real Stagecoach Mary.” So not only do you see the real diversity of the West, but you see the pictures of the real people that we’re portraying at the end. I always love that, truth is stranger than fiction, right? When I did ‘Heartbreak Ridge’ with Clint Eastwood, he talked about the incredible diversity, which is why, in ‘Unforgiven,’ he put Morgan Freeman right there, because that was the ratio of cowboys. It’s fun to get it out there and say, “This is more the reality than what we’ve been seeing, and we can learn from it.” As the French say, the more things change, the more they stay the same.
(L to R) Mandela Van Peebles, Mario Van Peebles and Amber Reign Smith in ‘Outlaw Posse.’ Photo: Quiver Distribution.
MF: Mario, can you talk about what it means to you personally to have had this opportunity to work with your son, as well as putting together the rest of the talented cast?
Mario Van Peebles: Well, working with him is fun. It’s a dream come true. We wrestle, we play, we laugh, we agree sometimes, we disagree sometimes, but I think, when I’m directing him, he knows that it’s coming from a place of love. Because when you hit the ground running, you want to know that everyone knows their part. Well, one thing I know, he knows how to play my son and I know how to play his dad. So, we’ve been practicing that for a few years. But also, what I try to do as a director is I like to give the foot rub I want to get. What does that mean? That means that John Carroll Lynch is going to get a great introduction as the big guy with the little bird. No animal’s ever lied to him yet. Whoopi Goldberg’s going to great and M. Emmett Walsh and Neal McDonough. So, you’re going to get great actors in even just cameo roles that are going to come in. I like to look at an actor and know that they know way more than they need for that character, that there is an intelligence there that I get. I think, when you’re that kind of filmmaker, and you say, “My own ego can get out of the way, because I don’t care about that. I want the movie to be great. If you can bring some great secret sauce and we can collectively bring the generosity, let’s do that and let’s get in the saddle and make it happen.”
Mandela Van Peebles in ‘Outlaw Posse.’ Photo: Quiver Distribution.
MF: Mandela, can you talk about preparing for this role?
Mandela Van Peebles: Yeah, the prep work was fun. We spent, what was it, around two months, just being in that environment, being in the wardrobe, seeing that landscape and that just puts you in the head space to make a Western. The wranglers, who helped us out, they were great and professional. We got plenty of time to basically, I like to call it free riding, but practicing. I got to ride horses as much as I wanted, and that’s a win for me. I had a great time. The stunts were fun. We did our own stunts. It was all kind of great stuff. Shooting a lot of the old guns is very different than modern guns.
(Center) Allen Payne in ‘New Jack City.’ Photo: Warner Bros. Pictures.
MF: Finally, Mario, actor Allen Payne’s last line in ‘Outlaw Posse’ is a callback to his famous line from ‘New Jack City,’ “Am I my brother’s keeper.” Was that line originally in the script, or was it a ‘New Jack City’ Easter egg that was improvised on set?
Mario Van Peebles: Totally. No one’s gotten that yet, but there’s a lot of things that, if you watch this movie, there’s some layers, even from the Native American brothers and sisters that are in this movie. But yeah, when I brought Allen in and we talked about that, I was like, because what we were saying is that, in that tunnel, when we all dropped the peyote, and again, in Westerns, you don’t typically see that, but I was like, “Oh, I always loved that scene in ‘Easy Rider,’ where they get stoned, and you see this different side of them.” So, Allen Payne’s character sees his mother alive, and his mother said to him as a kid, “A Black man will never get any respect, unless he’s got money, unless he’s got gold.” So, he has this whole thing, and yet, Chief has respect from a multiracial group of people, which is kind of a mindblower to him. Then, he’s like, “But you’re supposed to be my keeper.” So, Allen and I were unpacking that character and saying, “Let’s bring these levels.” So, I’m glad you noticed that.
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What is the Plot of ‘Outlaw Posse’?
In 1908, Chief (Mario Van Peebles) returns from years of hiding in Mexico to claim stolen gold hidden in the hills of Montana. In his quest, he reunites an ensemble of fresh & familiar faces – together they fight off Angel (William Mapother), whose rationale to the gold leaves a trail of deception and dead bodies.
‘Dotty and Soul’ revolves around hot shot entrepreneur Ethan Cox (Adam Saunders), who appears poised to sell his self-driving car company and make his investors filthy rich. But when his problematic Halloween costume gets tweeted, the ensuing social media firestorm nearly ends Ethan’s career. Desperate to figure out a way forward, Ethan hatches a plan: he will hire a 71 year old snack cart vendor, Dotty (Leslie Uggams), to pose as his company’s figurehead, with Ethan still managing from behind the wings. But when Dotty decides to no longer play the straw man, and starts expressing opinions of her own – everything changes.
Moviefone recently had the pleasure of speaking with legendary actress and singer Leslie Uggams about her work on ‘Dotty and Soul,’ her character, Dotty’s relationship with Ethan, working with writer, director and actor Adam Saunders, the message of the movie, and preparing to reprise her role as Blind Al opposite Ryan Reynolds and Hugh Jackman in ‘Deadpool 3.’
Leslie Uggams in ‘Dotty and Soul.’
You can read the full interview below or click on the video player above to watch our interviews with Uggams, Adam Saunders and David Koechner.
Moviefone: To begin with, Dotty is quite the hustler in her own right. Can you talk about your approach to playing the character?
Leslie Uggams: I loved the script as soon as I read the script. I loved Dotty. I think people think that people get a certain age and therefore they don’t have many thoughts. She’s in her little world, but she knows how to navigate. Then she meets this wacky guy and he awakes the giant in her and he thinks, “Oh, I’ll be able to manipulate her.” Then all of a sudden he loses control. But he realizes, “Oh my goodness, I think I did the right thing because she’s really smart,” and you never know where your path is going to take you. She gets an opportunity and she gets to have a wonderful relationship with him, and they learn from each other.
MF: Ethan is a hustler too, and he seems to meet his match in Dotty. Can you talk about their relationship and the true friendship and respect that begins to form between the two of them?
LU: Well, the thing is, the hustler is trying to out hustle another hustler, but she manages to one up him each time. Through this, he begins to realize, “Oh my God, maybe I can learn something from this woman.” Plus all of a sudden she realizes, “Wait a minute, I got an opportunity here. Let me go with this. Let me work it.” She has some brilliant ideas and they form this wonderful relationship. But also she teaches him, “Stop trying so hard. Stop trying to be somebody you’re not, because you are really bright. Look what you’ve accomplished. What is all that stuff that you’re wearing?” Stuff like that. She gets him to come down to earth and he helps her finally fulfill the dreams that she wanted. It took many years, but it’s never too late.
(L to R) Adam Saunders and Leslie Uggams in ‘Dotty and Soul.’
MF: What was it like for you working with Adam Saunders, not only as an actor, but also as a writer and director?
LU: We had a great time. We did a lot of improvisation, a lot of times. But we were in tune with each other. From the time I met Adam, we clicked. So being on the set, if an idea came that was better, a line that was better, we went for it. It was a happy set, and everybody, even when we weren’t shooting, we were laughing. That’s a great way to work.
MF: The movie deals with some very serious subject matter, but is also a comedy and is very funny. What was it like for you to have an opportunity to be in a film that is very entertaining but also has an important message at the heart of it?
LU: Well, it’s interesting because when we started filming the movie, we were kind of ahead of what was really happening. Then we got shut down because of the pandemic and we didn’t go back to it till a year later. All of a sudden, the world had caught up to what we were talking about in the movie. We realized that there was a scene that Adam wrote after we came back that was necessary that wasn’t in it originally, but with what happened to (George) Floyd and all these things, we had to address some of the seriousness that was going on in the world. We talked about it, and it turned out to be a wonderful moment. It’s not funny. So therefore, there were certain things that we had to address and it was wonderful. It has a message that talks about those kind of things. So even though it’s a comedy, life happens and we don’t go around laughing every day, especially nowadays. So therefore, it was wonderful to have this teaching moment, that’s what I call it.
(L to R) Ryan Reynolds and Hugh Jackman discuss Marvel Studios’ ‘Deadpool 3.’ Photo courtesy of Ryan Reynolds YouTube channel.
MF: Are you excited to reprise your role as Blind Al in ‘Deadpool 3’ opposite Ryan Reynolds and with Hugh Jackman playing Wolverine?
LU: Well, I’m married to an Aussie (Grahame Pratt), so I’m used to those Aussies. I’m not nervous about anything. Of course I just love Ryan, and so I’m excited. I’m really excited about it and Blind Al, she cracks me up. She’s funny.
MF: Finally, do you have any fun memories of working with Jim Henson and the Muppets on ‘The Muppet Show’ in 1979?
LU: I loved it. Oh, it was so much fun doing that show. I thought they were real people. I don’t care what you say.
