INTERVIEW: Justin Matthew Sargent takes on lead role in ‘No One Called Ahead’
Photo: Justin Matthew Sargent stars in the new musical movie No One Called Ahead. Photo courtesy of No One Called Ahead / Provided by Emily McGill Entertainment with permission.
The new movie musical No One Called Ahead stars a bevy of Broadway stars, including Justin Matthew Sargent, of Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark. He plays Ben, a man who is visited by several women from the great beyond. What ensues is hilarious, touching and revealing.
Joining Sargent in the movie are Storm Lever, Lora Lee Gayer, Ann Harada, Morgan Weed and Pamela Winslow Kashani. No One Called Ahead, written by Paul Gordon and directed by Tim Kashani, is now available for streaming.
“I got a call about four days before we started production,” Sargent said in a recent phone interview. “It was a very quick turnaround for me. As far as I know, a couple of the other cast members also were notified just a few days before the production.”
This quick turnaround didn’t leave much time for him to digest the character and the unusual plot, but he’s a trained theater actor, so he rose to the occasion and joined the cast on the journey. As he discovered the piece, he realized there was a tremendous takeaway for the audience.
“There’s a very important message in this piece, especially for artists, which is, is the art that I’m producing, is the thing that I’m presenting to the world ever going to be seen,” he said. “Is it going to be recognized? Is it going to be appreciated? That’s a very real thing for most actors to feel pretty much on a daily basis, so it was quite easy to tap into that part of myself to bring that out in Ben.”
Sargent called the production of No One Called Ahead the most ambitious and challenging shoot and creative process of his life. All told, it was seven days of filming, which meant the cast went through 12 to 17 pages per day.
“Typically on a film or TV show you’re shooting five to seven pages a day, so it was a lot to retain in a very short amount of time,” he said. “But everybody worked their asses off to make sure that things got done. … Everybody in the cast and the crew and the production team were just unbelievably professional and worked very, very well together.”
No One Called Ahead is an interesting amalgam of theater and film. It was shot in a theater and has a theatrical feel, but Sargent and company needed their emotions and actions to register on screen, not for a live audience.
“As far as the creative muscles, they’re very similar,” Sargent said of the theater and cinematic worlds coming together. “The bottom line for me when it comes to acting is make sure that you’re always telling the truth. We were shooting something for the audience to see me up close, so, of course, that truth has to be a little less proclaimed. It has to be a little more subtle. It’s an interesting exercise for me because I had never shot a musical in a more realistic setting.”
By John Soltes / Publisher / John@HollywoodSoapbox.com
No One Called Ahead, featuring Justin Matthew Sargent, is now available to stream. Click here for more information.
