Show Notes
You know we love Supernatural here, and today we have the insane pleasure of speaking to the one and only Jim Beaver, who plays Bobby Singer on the show. He's also done a WHOLE lot more, like star in Deadwood, consult on Hollywoodland, and the list goes on! Check it out!
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Jim Beaver Interview
[00:00:00] Kenric: welcome back guys today on the show. We're super excited because if you're a fan of supernatural, uh, maybe. Deadwood. And maybe you follow his exploits on talking about George Reeves in Hollywood land, then you'll know exactly who we're talking to. Jim Beaver. Thank you so much for coming on.
Jim Beaver: It's my pleasure, man.
Kenric: You have, you've been a working actor for a very long time
Jim Beaver: now. Yeah. What's that about?
Kenric: I don't know. Some somehow you made it. What's the secret sauce?
Jim Beaver: I don't know. I don't know. Well, part of it is just, uh, you know, living long enough to my competition died off.
Kenric: I have to thank you because you were in the Marines.
Uh, in the late sixties, early seventies, my grandfather was in the Marines. My father was in the Navy. So of course he gave you rides to where you needed to go.
Jim Beaver: Uh,
Kenric: my grandfather was in, in the twenties and I just got his photo album for [00:01:00] my sister. I used to look at it when I was like I'm 46. And when I was like five or six years old, I used to crawl any of my dad's bed.
Pull out this old leather bound with a big bulldog on the cover. A Marine photo album and see pictures from the 1920s and my grandfather and China, Japan, the Philippines. It's amazing. It really is. And so anytime I meet somebody else that took the plunge to be a Marine, I'm always impressed because you guys are the first to be there, you know?
Jim Beaver: Well, um, I was usually the tail end of the first to be there still. Uh, no, I appreciate it. Thank you. Um, Being in the Corps was, uh, a major turning point in my life and, um, uh, had a lot to do with who I am today. And, uh, I'm, I'm very grateful for my time in.
That's good.
Kenric: I mean, [00:02:00] I, when I got out of high school, I told my mom, I stick, I'm going to join the Marines like granddad and, and, uh, She was like, no, you're not. And I'm like, yeah, I think so. She goes first. You're too doughy. I don't think you'll make it. And second she's brutally honest. Second, she goes, your, your, your, both your sides of your family have all been in some kind of, of.
Military since the civil war. So either from my side or your dad's side, and they all fought in Wars, your grandfather lost his arm at in-between world war one, world war II, him and his buddies got really drunk, stole the MPS Jeep and they rolled it and hit a tree. And he lost his arm. Yeah, it was like 1926, 1927, somewhere around there.
And they, but they gave him an honorable discharge, a medical discharge. No, not honorable medical discharge, which is totally different. Cause nowadays they would have been court-martialed and everything, but, uh, she was like too much of your family has already given enough. So
Jim Beaver: you're
Kenric: going to call
[00:03:00] Jim Beaver: it's funny. My mom said, yeah, go ahead, Joanne. It was pretty funny.
Kenric: So your time, once you got out of the military, you decided to be an actor. What was, how did you come to this conclusion? And what was your parents' reaction when you said I'm going to be a working actor I'm going to make this
Jim Beaver: work? Well, um, I was, uh, I hadn't, I hadn't planned on it.
I don't recall ever really thinking about it as a career, um, until after, after I got out of the Corps. Yeah. Um, but, um, I went to college after, uh, after I got out and, um, um, trying to buy a, um, I happens to answer lock or whatever. I, uh, [00:04:00] I got invited to, uh, join the, um, the school's drama department. Yeah.
And, uh, And I did a play and I thought this is the most fun I've ever had. And, um, I thought that's, uh, th this is the game for me. Um, it didn't, it didn't really occur to me that, um, you know, I didn't think it was going to be all that difficult. Right. Um, and, um, um, and it wasn't, uh, all that. If you're going to only throw me about 15 years to make a dollar.
Um, but, um, yeah, my, uh, you know, my parents were very, they were very supportive of what I was doing in the sense that, um, they, [00:05:00] they, they liked, they liked to come in to see me in plays and, uh, um, I don't, I don't recall a lot of active discouragement, uh, not necessarily a lot of active encouragement. Um, I think probably they, they were just happy that I was thinking about doing something
Kenric: passionate about something
Jim Beaver: and, uh, um, I don't know that, um, yeah.
I don't know that I had much sense of direction. Otherwise, if I hadn't found this, uh, there wasn't anything in particular I wanted to do. I was very interested in film history and, um, it had been sort of a hobby since I was in high school. And my kind of vague thoughts were that I would. Pursue that, [00:06:00] but, uh, I also knew that there wasn't any money in that and, uh, um, that I wasn't, it was going to be a very hard thing to, uh, make a living at.
Um, so I chose, chose something even harder, uh, and, um, uh, Yeah. You know, it was, uh, but from, from the very first year in college, I thought this is what I want to do. And I was by that point, I was 21 years old. And, uh, it was really the first time I ever knew this is exactly what I want to do. Oh, that's cool.
And, um, so, um, I, you know, I think there were lots of times, uh, uh, that. My, uh, my parents I'm sure thought are, I wish he'd get a real job. Uh, mainly because I wasn't even [00:07:00] getting the, the, the fantasy jobs I was dreaming of. And, uh, um, uh, you know, it's, it's, uh, uh, I, it hasn't been, it hasn't been that many years since my mom.
Said something to me along the lines of, you know, they're hiring a dairy queen. Okay. Um, you know, I was, I was, I was, I had a really good career going, uh, uh, long before she stopped saying things like that to me. So, um, and, uh, you know, there are times I've thought that. You know, maybe I ought to check dairy queen out.
Um,
Kenric: Hey, free Sundays.
Jim Beaver: Yeah. Yeah. Um, I, you know, the, the fact is I decided to do it. I decided to pursue this career and I decided [00:08:00] that nothing was going to dissuade me from it. Nothing was going to, uh, uh, pull me away from it. And I found myself on occasion. Turning down, um, uh, opportunities that I thought would conflict with, uh,
Kenric: is that, is that almost like a typical bullheaded Marine, this is going to, I'm doing this and this is what I'm going to do.
Jim Beaver: I don't know. I think it had more, more to do with being a typical bullheaded. Six-year-old
Kenric: I love it.
Jim Beaver: Um, no, I just thought, I just thought if I'm going to do this, I've got to do it. I can't, uh, um, I can't get, you know, there was, there were a couple of fellows in college with me who were really, really good actors and, um, uh, and I was.
Kind of jealous of them because they got the lead roles all the time and I didn't. Right. And, uh, uh, and we all left [00:09:00] college, absolutely determined that, that we were going to have these big careers, but within. Uh, a very short amount of time. Both of them decided that, uh, they needed, uh, they needed the security of regular jobs more than I did.
And, um, now I'm sure I leaned on an awful lot of people over the years. Uh, but I never felt like I, I can't, I can't do this because I need to make a steady living. Um, Uh, spent a lot of time sleeping on friend's sofas and, uh, um, and, and doing crummy little jobs that I could leave at a moment's notice.
Right. And, uh, all because I just, just didn't want to let anything, um, you know, uh, take away from the direction I was going. Um, so
Kenric: I guess persistence and the [00:10:00] fact that. You can't leave anything to chance and if you're going to go for it, you have to go for it
Jim Beaver: wholeheartedly. Yeah, yeah, yeah. You got it. I mean, you know, and for a diamond, for a dollar.
Yeah.
Kenric: Yeah. When did you start really looking at George Reeves, his work and being influenced that you wanted to really dive into his career and what happened to him, uh, through playing Superman?
Jim Beaver: Well, I, uh, uh, you know, I grew up. Watching his, um, adventures of Superman show in the fifties and sixties. And, um, I mean, it was, um, uh, you know, for kids, my age of my generation, it was, uh, um, you know, it was a huge, huge, uh, cultural icon.
Yeah. And, um, and I was always like a lot of kids. From that time. [00:11:00] Uh, very curious as to, uh, you know, what the deal was with this guy who got, you got to play Superman on TV, what, you know, what's what greater job could there be. And, uh, and then he ends up, uh, dead at a young age. Uh, uh, extensively by his own hand.
And I, it was just, uh, it was just kind of a mystery that, uh, I wanted to know more about, but that was, that was pretty much as a kid. As I, as I mentioned earlier, I was really big into film history. Right. And, uh, and I had all of these, um, uh, Actors that I liked that I was interested in, uh, someday writing about just, just because I, I liked biography and I thought, uh, it would be fun and interesting to write about the lives of these [00:12:00] actors that I saw on television or at the movies.
And he was one of them. He was one of many. And, um, uh, and then in. Later years after I got out of college and actually, uh, uh, was, was, uh, pursuing, uh, writing film history.
I
Jim Beaver: had written a book on the actor, John Garfield while I was still in college. And, um, um, and I was writing for a magazine in New York that specialized in that kind of, um, material and.
Uh, one day the editor said, you want to, you want to, we've got a bunch of requests for an article on George Reeves. You want to tackle it? And I said, yeah. And I started digging. And the more I dug, the more I thought, I think there's a book here. And, uh, so I spent the rest of my life researching and, um,
Kenric: but the [00:13:00] Hollywood land movie came along and you ended up helping them, right?
Jim Beaver: Yeah. Um, they, um, Uh, they had, um, uh, they had, they had bought a script on a reach life, uh, or not so much on his life, but on his death. And, uh, uh, they were producing that there was a book that, um, claimed, um, Um, erroneously, I believe to have solved the mystery of what happened to him. Uh, and they, uh, uh, they purchased the rights to that I believe to, um, uh, basically to.
So they could do whatever they felt like doing and not have to worry about, uh, the people who wrote that book suing them. Um, and then, because they did not follow the, uh, rather fantastic [00:14:00] scenario of that book. Um, but they, the filmmakers really wanted as, uh, to the best of my belief, uh, to, uh, present. The possible scenarios of reach death, uh, in an authentic way.
Uh, they didn't always succeed, but they, uh, I think they really wanted, uh, without proving something that couldn't be proven, they wanted to be authentic and telling the story you want to be as earnest as possible. Yeah. Themselves. Yeah. So they, uh, uh, they learned about my word and, um, Uh, and asked me to come aboard as, uh, basically a technical consultant on, uh, on his life.
And, uh, I had a lot of influence in, uh, casting and, uh, uh, but mainly my [00:15:00] job was to, um, steer them away from. Things I knew to be inaccurate. Uh, I wasn't always successful. They already had a script. They had used up, uh, their writing budget and we're not in a position to do massive rewrites. Um, that's all writers Guild.
Rules stuff. Um, uh, just because somebody shows up with a, with a and says, Oh, uh, this seemed didn't happen that way. It happened this way. If they have to pay somebody to rewrite that, and if they didn't have the money they could. So, uh, uh, a few things, uh, stayed in that I was not pleased with, but for the most part.
Uh, I thought they did a good job of, uh, uh, of laying out the, the. Various possibilities [00:16:00] scenario, what happened to raves? And, um, uh, I was overall, I was pleased with it. There were a few things that really stuck in my crawl, but I do know that it wasn't that they were, it wasn't that they were haphazard or, um, I'm interested in the truth.
Right?
Kenric: So you, you said you had some influence on the cast. What drew you to have been a Fleck as George Reeves
Jim Beaver: or? Well, I didn't have, I didn't have that kind of influence. I mean, uh, I, um, uh, I suggested just from my own experience that there were certain, um, Uh, I won't, I won't go into names, but there was, there was one actor they were considering for a different role and I didn't have anything to
do
Jim Beaver: with.
The reef story, but I just, I just let them know for my own experience that it might not be as pleasant, a working situation. Uh, if they chose him and they ended up choosing [00:17:00] someone else who was absolutely perfect for, for the card, but they also, uh, a lot of the supporting. Characters who were based on real life people.
Uh, they asked me a lot. They, they asked me for photos so that they could try to find people who looked, uh, somewhat like the real person. They asked me, uh, questions about various non-famous people involved in reef stories so that they could cast well, that's crazy. Uh, I didn't have anything to do with Ben Affleck in the park
was
Kenric: Ben Affleck.
Right. He, he walks in and says, I want to do this. And then it's like, okay.
Jim Beaver: Yeah, yeah, essentially, essentially. I know that there were, I know there were a lot of, uh, Reeves fans out there who had, uh, uh, Um, who had, uh, a favorite? A lot of them wanted Kyle McLachlan to do it. Oh God. And apparently he, yet he wanted to do it and [00:18:00] put together a little, uh, uh, screen test of his own and he looked pretty good.
But the problem is when you're doing a movie in Hollywood and it's, um, a relatively independent. Uh, feature with not a huge budget, right? Uh you're you're going to go with the biggest name you can get. Right. And, and, uh, the biggest draw there wasn't, uh, you know, essentially. I think we're lucky we didn't end up with a rock.
Could you imagine it could have been Steven Seagal and, uh, but uh, they got somebody who really poured his effort into, uh, doing the part. Well, he did, uh, as well as, as just about anybody, um, might have, and [00:19:00] at the same time, What butts in seats.
Kenric: Right. Was it a good experience? Would you do it again?
Jim Beaver: Oh God.
Yeah. I, I I'd want to start earlier. So we avoided that problem with, uh, not being able to afford a rewrite on the script. Um, uh, I, I want to come in at the beginning of the process, but they were, they were so welcoming of any advice I could give them. Uh, and, uh, Uh, you know, it's, it's the movies it's, uh, I I've said to a few fans who were disgruntled because the movie didn't capture every good thing about George Reeves.
I said, you know, the only way to do an authentic movie of George rage life is to do one it's 45 years and six months long. Uh, uh, you can't include everything and the business is a business. It's not. [00:20:00] Uh, it's not a, uh, an organization of people trying to do a 100% perfectly. Okay. Right. It's people trying to entertain, they're putting
Kenric: $20 in there trying to get a hundred out.
Exactly.
Jim Beaver: Yeah, exactly. And to do so I'm not saying that it's, that it's all, uh, Uh, money, but it's mostly money. Yeah. Yeah. They want to entertain an audience and make a profit doing. So
Kenric: I have the same type of argument with people, not argument, but I have the same type of chat with people that talk about books because, um, I know people get very passionate about the books they read and then it gets made into a movie and they're just so disgruntled.
And it's like, it's a different medium man. You can't look at it that way because it's impossible to put anything from a book. If it's over 90 pages. Yeah. It's going to be over 90 minutes. And so you, you know, and if you're talking about a book, that's 400 pages, they're not [00:21:00] going to do a four
Jim Beaver: hour movie
Kenric: almost on anything.
And you can't, you just can't.
Jim Beaver: If they had done, gone with the wind. Exactly the way it was written, they'd still be shooting, right?
Kenric: You'd be on third generation
Jim Beaver: actors.
Kenric: Oh, Hey. Um, you played Whitney and it's one of it's one of the greatest characters. I think in modern TV history, because he has one of the biggest growths out of a character that you, you don't see a character come like that very long, very often that has that amount of growth.
And you were given, I don't know what kind of carp launch or range you were given, but I know one is you named, you gave him his first name of Whitney. Um, and, and basically with the work that you did researching George Reese, which I thought was really cool and. But you actually won a couple of Emmys for this [00:22:00] role.
Jim Beaver: What was let's back up? I have never won an Emmy.
Kenric: Oh, well you deserve me so
Jim Beaver: well. Thank you. I, uh, I, I've never, uh, I've never even been nominated.
Kenric: Well, I need to, I need to tell this website that I did my research on. They need, uh, they need, uh, to revive their stuff.
Jim Beaver: Yeah.
Kenric: Sorry about that.
Jim Beaver: I came close a few years ago on justified, but, uh, but I know I have, uh, I have yet to win an Emmy or be nominated,
Kenric: but your role as Whitney was amazing and your work as Whitney was amazing.
Jim Beaver: What was it like to do that role? It was the greatest single experience of my career. That's awesome. Yeah, it was, um, uh, yeah,
Kenric: not even kidding. You just gave me chills because I wanted to, that's like one of my favorite shows of all time. And I was so interested when, when Jeff said, Oh, Jim beavers coming on.
And that's, that's what I think of when I think of Jim Beaver, I, [00:23:00] I think of Whitney Ellsworth.
Jim Beaver: So I was like, Oh, Oh my gosh. Well, it's um, uh, I've, I've. I've often thought that, uh, um, if, um, if, if they, if they put on my tombstone, he was in Deadwood, that would be enough. Um, uh, it was, it was absolutely the single greatest, uh, professional experience I've ever had.
And, uh, yeah. Um, Ellsworth was originally, it was just his name Ellsworth. He didn't have it. First name and, and, uh, eventually they were going to give him a first name and I asked if it could be Whitney because Whitney Ellsworth was the producer of George Reeves Superman series. And it was just a little homage for me and they, they didn't care.
Um, they said, sure, Prine, Whitney. Um, it was, um, It was just a great part. And, and I've, [00:24:00] I've often said myself that it's like the greatest character arc I can ever remember because, uh, no one who saw the first few episodes would ever expect that he was going to end up where he ended up, uh, in, uh, in the course of that series.
Yeah. And it was just a weird,
Kenric: kind of weird. It was just so rushing to see somebody start in these download depths and then pull themselves up and then become a respected man of the community, you know, within an arc. And it was, or within this long arc. And it was just like, that is what, I don't know. It kind of, when you, when you think of him and you watch that show to me, it's like that that is something you can, you can look at it and go, okay, that's.
That's great writing. And
Jim Beaver: then
Kenric: to just push it through you got, I mean, you just put it over the top.
Jim Beaver: Well, thank you. I, I, um, uh, I I've said many times [00:25:00] in my life that nobody ever wins awards for acting in a badly written part. Um, it's, uh, it's just the writing on that show was so rich and so intricate. And so, uh, wisely.
Executed in, in the writing. Um, it was, uh, it's, it's the favorite material I've had to work with this size of this side of Shakespeare. And, um, that's, uh, that's amazing. Uh, I, I, I simply loved every day on that show and I. Despaired from the day it ended. It was, uh, um, uh, I could have gladly spent the rest of my life playing that part.
Kenric: Not enough westerns on TV,
Jim Beaver: there just isn't. And when they do them, they're rarely anywhere in the league of Deadwood. [00:26:00] So, uh,
Kenric: I mean, I feel like I know who Ian McShane is because of Deadwood. I know who Timothy Oliphant is because of Deadwood, uh, Molly Parker, Brad Dorff. These are all people that, I mean, Brad Dorf, I think if I'm not mistaken was on some other movies that I have watched.
So I knew who he was, but yeah, but the, but a lot of people. Including you, I didn't know who, who they were until I started
Jim Beaver: watching them. He knew who I was before that show. Uh, I had a, I had a pretty long career without anybody having a clue who I was, uh, unless they were on the show with me. And, um, Yeah, that well, that would kind of put me on the map that way.
And it did so for a lot of the actors on it, there were certainly actors who had strong careers going, but, uh, even some of them got a real boost. And Ian McShane had worked since the sixties, uh, and, and, uh, was, was popular in a lot of ways. But, [00:27:00] uh, the, uh, Um, but Deadwood suddenly showed the world the range and capability he had.
And, um, uh, he was already on the map, but that would put a big fat star on him. What, um, what did it, did that for a lot of people,
Kenric: what did Deadwood do better than everybody else in your mind? As a,
Jim Beaver: as a production? It, uh, it honored the intelligence of the audience. Uh, uh, they didn't, there was never a time in my experience of this show where they talk down to the audience.
And I've been on shows both as actor and writer, where I've heard arguments about. This is too complex. They're not going to understand what's happening. Uh, let's let's, let's, uh, thin it out here, so it's easier for [00:28:00] the audience to get, uh, dead would never get there. Um, it, it is complex and, uh, uh, it's a show that, uh, Um, from the very beginning, even though I was on it, I've watched with the captions on so that I didn't miss a syllable of what was being said because it's, uh, because it's, um, um, it's intricate, um, uh, the language and the plotting, but it's, uh, I think that was the best thing about it.
It
Jim Beaver: was written by. Really smart people, primarily David Milch and, uh, and, and offered out to a world of smart people. Um, and, uh, uh, there probably people out there who said, well, I just didn't get it. But I [00:29:00] think for the most part, Audiences are, uh, well capable of, uh, uh, grasping a show like Deadwood. Not that there are shows like Deadwood.
Um, uh, I, you know, I suppose if, if you work at it, you can find faults with it, but I have trouble. Yeah. It would have been, my pay would have been my favorite show if I'd never been on it. Um, but, um, or to get to be on it, that was, uh, that was an amazing, that's an amazing blessing.
Kenric: I love how much you, how much you loved your time on there.
It's always, I always feel bad when I, when I talk with people that are in a project being an actor or a
Jim Beaver: director
Kenric: or a comic artist, and they just don't like their time on the project that they're on because that's just so, I mean, I deal with that. Day-to-day with my, with my, um, Day job, right? It's I love the people I work with, but the work itself can be tedious [00:30:00] and it's just gets to you when something becomes tedious.
It's like, Oh, I need to move on.
Jim Beaver: Well, one of my first jobs after Deadwood was over, was like a guest shot on a huge, huge hit show that had been on for forever. And one of the very first things I noticed was that, uh, despite the fact that it was a huge hit and everybody was making fortunes, right. That nobody I came in contact with in the cast seemed happy.
Uh, they all seemed like it's just another day in the salt mine. And, uh, now even a worst day hacking is better than. Working in a real salt mine.
Kenric: Right.
Jim Beaver: But there's, there's great days at work. And then there's, well, we got to put this out there because they're paying us to, um, it's um, and I've had [00:31:00] very, very, very few of that kind of job.
Almost everything I've ever done has. Uh, has been great fun for me, and I've been luckier than most actors in that. What I've done has been great fun for the audience and for all of the people working on it. Um, it's, uh, I've, I've been in an inordinate amount of projects that, uh, are highly respected. Uh, uh, it's uh, you know, I've done my share of, of, uh, You know, crappy little movies and TV shows, I've done an awful lot of stuff and didn't have anything to do with me per
se.
Jim Beaver: It was, these were great shows whether I was on them or not, but they were, they were things that, uh, uh, I mean, I didn't, you know, I, it wasn't me in my two little scenes, [00:32:00] uh, over five years that lifted. Breaking bad into iconic status. It was, it was a great show. I got to be on it, which was great for me. And it's, and it's the kind of show that, uh, for quite some time I've been really fortunate to get.
To be connected with even if just in a transitory fashion.
Kenric: Well, speaking of some iconic shows that you're on one is supernatural. Um, and arguably one of the biggest shows in the last 20 years, considering that it's been on like what, 15 years, it's kinda crazy how long that's been on and you've been on, um, most of it.
I think that's a good way to put it.
Jim Beaver: I've been in every season.
Kenric: It's incredible.
Jim Beaver: And it is,
Kenric: was on, he's a supernatural super fan. And he's got, I know he's got quite a few questions for you, so I hope you have time to hang out a little bit to go over some of this stuff that he has. And Jeff, I'm gonna let you take it [00:33:00] over.
And, um, Yeah, let's do this.
Jim Beaver: Okay.
Jeff Hass: Hello, mr. Beavers honor to speak with you.
Jim Beaver: Well, thank you. Thank you, Joe.
Jeff Hass: Looking for, or to this for a very long time. I'm a very big fan. Um, so I guess the first question, um, that I'm going to be asking you. Um, so you first appeared in the episode devil's trap in the first season.
Was there, how did you. I discovered the character of Bobby Bobby singer. Um, what did you think about to kind of develop his character? Because he felt fully fleshed out the moment he was sunscreen?
Jim Beaver: Well, it was pretty fleshed out in the script. Um, uh, in the sense that I don't know that I brought anything special to it, other than the way I look and sound.
Um, it was, it was very much in my. Wheelhouse as they say, I just, you know, I I've gotten, I I've sort of fallen into this [00:34:00] niche. Not that I've, haven't done other kinds of characters, but, um, I get thought of rather often for kind of gruff but lovable characters. Um, and he was, he just, he was kind of the epitome of that.
Um, I, uh, Uh, I had worked with, uh, Robert singer who was one of the, uh, executive producers on the show, um, Oh, a dozen years before, um, on, uh, a show called reasonable doubts. And, um, I had a great time on that show and, uh, Uh, somehow or other a decade or so later, he thought of me for this and, uh, and it fit.
It just, you know, I, I started reading the script and I thought, Oh yeah, I know, I know this guy. No, I don't play this guy. Uh, because it was there on the page. Um, it [00:35:00] was, uh, um, uh, basically I just had to say the words and not fall down and, uh, it was, it was going to be pretty good. And, uh, Um, it wasn't something I expected to keep playing.
Uh, I came in for one episode and as far as I knew that was it, but, um, uh, but then, um, they call me back for another and I thought, Oh, maybe I'll maybe I'll get a couple hours. And, uh, um, and, uh, you know, 15 years later here we are, um, I'm, I'm, uh, The, uh, uh, the show's finished now, but I've been with it right through the end.
And, uh, um, and it's been, it's been a great part. It's been, it's been a wonderful show to be associated with the, uh, the cast and crew, uh, have bonded as well or better than any, [00:36:00] uh, cast and crew I've ever been associated with. Of course, we've had longer to do it, you know, it's.
Jeff Hass: Well, one interesting about supernatural, especially my memory of the show. Cause I used to, I watched the show since the beginning with my father. Um, literally for the last 15, it'd be, my father would get together at his house every day, every week and watch supernatural. And I remember the first three or four seasons feeling like every season could be the last and then suddenly it felt like the show just would go on forever.
When you guys were filming that first season, did it feel like something that was going to have lasting power or did it feel like, you know, this, you know, as on the edge, as it felt maybe to some of the fans at first year,
Jim Beaver: I. You know, I didn't have a strong sense of it. Uh, my first episode was the last episode of first season.
And, uh, so I did the show and as far as I knew I was done with it and I, I. Don't spend a lot of time [00:37:00] looking back on, on stuff other than, you know, I'll watch, I'll watch it when it comes on, but that's about it, but I didn't spend a lot of time thinking. I wonder what the future of the show is. Uh, cause it didn't occur to me right off that I was going to be back.
Um, I know that Eric who created the show had a five-year plan for it. And, uh, uh, he had an arc in his mind as to where the show would go, uh, for five years. And if he was fortunate, it would be on long enough to complete that arc. Um, I think that, uh, my sense is that. Right off the bat. It was a fairly successful show.
Uh, but I, you know, I, I don't even remember back that far. I wasn't paying close attention to how successful it was at the beginning, but it was very clear by the end of the second [00:38:00] season to me that this thing, yeah, this could be around for awhile. And if I'm lucky, maybe I can go with it. Um, The, the fact that we hit the five-year Mark, um, without, uh, any problems and, and, and with, uh, our audience still hungering for more was kind of a surprise, I think, um, uh, to the creators, um, and, uh, But it was, it was clear that there wasn't any reason to let go of the show.
Uh, we hadn't lost our audience. They were still, uh, increasingly rabid about it. And, um, and from there on, it just became a matter of, uh, uh, you know, how long did the people, uh, at, uh, Top of the food chain in the cast [00:39:00] and, uh, in production, want to keep
doing
Jim Beaver: it. And, um, I think now we've, we've had our answer that 15 was about, about good enough, but 15 is pretty amazing.
Yeah.
Jeff Hass: It's a record for written scripts for, I think wasn't it
Jim Beaver: know, uh, law and order and Gunsmoke ran longer. Uh, but, uh, Uh, but it's, I think it's the only science fiction fantasy type show that has run this long. And, um, uh, and frankly I think, uh, uh, under slightly different circumstances, it, it could, it could have hit 20 years easily.
Um, the main thing was you have, uh, uh, Yeah. He had a couple of actors starring in it who had done other things before this, but they had spent almost their entire adult lives playing these parts. [00:40:00] And I think they wanted to see what else they could do. What, what acting muscles they could stretch and what, uh, um, uh, I, I think if they had wanted to go on.
Uh, another five years or so they, they would have been able to, but, uh, I think sometimes, uh, even the most fun stuff, uh, you, you run out of new ways to do it. And, um, uh, I'm not saying that, that they ran out a new ways to play those characters, but I think you start thinking. Well, you know, maybe there's another character I could play.
Um, uh, maybe I could find something just as rich doing something new and exciting. So I don't know, I, I've never quite gotten into their heads about, uh, why now, and not five years ago or five years from now. Um, [00:41:00] uh, but, uh, yeah, I think we could have gone on much, much longer if, uh, uh, But I think they felt like let's, we're still, we're still doing a really good show.
Let's quit before people start saying, Oh God, is that thing still on
Jeff Hass: now?
And
Jim Beaver: that happens sometimes.
Jeff Hass: When, when, when did he know that your character Bobby singer caught on with only the fans, but became something that was going to be a long-term role for you?
Jim Beaver: Well, it was probably. It was probably late in the second season or maybe the beginning of the third.
Um, I, um, um, I do remember we were shooting an episode. I think it was early in season three. Um, an episode called the magnificent seven and, uh, Uh, I remember talking to, [00:42:00] uh, the late Kim manners, our beloved director, uh, and he was telling me about things they were talking about for my character later on in the season.
And I went, Oh,
they've
Jim Beaver: got plans for me. Maybe, maybe this isn't just, you know, three or four episodes and out, um, you know, the business is so unpredictable. Um, that I don't count on anything lasting. Uh it's uh, um, it's just, you know, my, uh, my very first, uh, Job as a series, regular on a show was a sitcom in the early nineties called thunder alley.
And it was a very popular show. We were the number 13 show in the country back when there were only three networks. And, uh, and it was, it was very [00:43:00] popular and I thought, uh, we're going to be around for 15 years. And, but no, we weren't. We were gone in a year and a half because of something we didn't have anything to do with the show.
The network just decided they were going to. Change their image from family-oriented stuff to more edgy stuff. And they, uh, they got rid of all their family-oriented stuff or most of it, and that included us who were, uh, I mean, a show nowadays with the wide spread of available content, would, would they.
Sell their own mothers to get the kind of ratings we had on thunder alley. That was a good job, but it was, it was just kind of dispensed with because they thought they could do better with a different kind of material. Well, that was really where it [00:44:00] hit me that, uh, you can be starring in a hit show and, uh, and it can be over tomorrow.
Um, yeah. Because things, you know, things change and the people who pull the strings get different ideas. And, uh, um, you know, there are an awful lot of cases out there of people who had wonderful characters on, uh, hugely successful shows and the shows continues to be successful, but they do it without that particular actor.
Um, uh, you know, a lot of people have. Oh, yeah. So-and-so he was, he was one of the stars the first season. Um, anything can happen. Yeah. And, um, there was no guarantees. So when, when, uh, a show like supernatural comes along and it looks like it's got long legs and it looks like the, the, [00:45:00] the. Both the production people and the audience likes a character.
I'm happy, but I don't ever feel like this means they can't get rid of me. Yeah. Especially on supernatural
Kenric: when they kill off, anybody can be killed off at any given moment.
Jim Beaver: Yeah. Yeah, of course the, you know, I'm living proof that you can get killed off numerous times and come back and keep coming back.
Uh, I have a question for you about supernatural,
Kenric: how. Much influence. Do you think the Hardy boys have on supernatural? Because it just kind of clicked with me that they are very similar in a lot of ways to the Hardy boys?
Jim Beaver: Well, that's a. That's the first time that's ever been suggested to me. And that's a really cool parallel.
Um,
Kenric: I was just thinking of myself. I was like, God, they are they're like, you know, cause the hardware has always suggested supernatural stuff, but it always ended up.
Jim Beaver: It's kind of very Scooby Doish. Right.
Kenric: But [00:46:00] this is like Hardy boys as supernatural. I think like that stuff actually happens.
Jim Beaver: Well, you know, it's um, uh, I know that that's, uh, uh, Eric, Eric Kripke, uh, you know, kind of pitched the show as, as, uh, route 66 with ghosts.
Uh, a lot of the audience for supernatural doesn't even remember route 66, uh, which was about a couple of friends traveling the country, uh, uh, and having different adventures and, uh, Uh, yeah, I mean, in some ways, I guess the Hardy boys are an even more apt analogy. Uh, although whether Eric Kripke ever thought th thought about the Hardy boys in this connection, I don't know.
I'll ask him next time. I see him now
Jeff Hass: as, as a fan of a supernatural and someone who played Bobby singer with one of the most famous lines of supernatural, the word idiot, how often you get [00:47:00] people asking you to say it for them and does it ever get tiring?
Jim Beaver: Um, often and yes,
Jeff Hass: I never asked you to do it here, but
Jim Beaver: it doesn't, it doesn't really get tiresome at, you have to understand.
At first, when I saw it in the script, I thought, really, you want me to say this? Really? Because to me it, I don't know, to me, it sounded like a word made up. Not made up, made up, but a word inserted in order to give Bobby something colorful to say, it seemed kind of manufactured and, and it, and it wasn't, it wasn't something I thought was cool to say.
Um, but they said, uh, essentially, uh, you want your paycheck? Right? And I said, okay, sure. Uh, I'll say exit. I had the same, a identical [00:48:00] experience when they said, okay, uh, um, you're going to start saying balls. I thought really, really? I mean, it's not the way I talk. It's not something I ever thought was, you know, cool.
Uh, but then I said it and they had me say at a time or two, again, all of a sudden the fans. Bought into these catch words. And, uh, uh, and now, you know, um, my license plate says Egypt. Um, and then, uh, it's, uh, it's just coincidence. I'm just talking to the guy behind me. Uh,
Kenric: what's funny about exit is I'm 46.
Eric Kripke is 46. That is a word that I said when I was a little kid. And as a teenager. And I'm wondering if that has a correlation with, um, how it came about because we, we set it up [00:49:00] all the time.
Jim Beaver: To me, it was always kind of a, a very rural kind of country word, uh, which makes sense because, uh, you know, in Ireland, uh, where a lot of the American rural population stems from way back, um, uh, idiot is pronounced basically Egypt.
And, uh, yep. Uh, so I suspected it transferred that way, but I don't know, you know, I, I, I had heard the word before supernatural, but I hadn't heard it off. And, and, uh, it just sort of struck me as a kind of. Word somebody in a little Abner would say. Um, and, uh, it didn't seem all that interesting, but I like it now because it's, uh, uh, um, it's, it's probably the most famous thing I've ever said.
[00:50:00] And. And people dig it. So who might argue
Jeff Hass: now? The interesting must have been natural because it was on for 15 years, is that it went through a series of writers and many ways recycled the entire writing staff several times. And because you played your character way longer than your writing staff has been on the show did at some point, did you have a say on what happened with your character and how he was developed?
Jim Beaver: Uh, no. Um, I mean, I suppose. Once or twice I might have said, you know, uh, no, I don't even think I ever did that. I was just going to say maybe I suggested something, not really, uh, suggested a line once or twice, but, um, no, nobody, I, nobody ever asked me where they ought to go with a character. Uh, um, [00:51:00] and, uh, Uh, and there were certainly times, especially around season seven where, uh, they went someplace where the character that I would much rather they not have gone.
Um, but my job is an actor's job is to interpret the material in performance. It's not the right, the material and, uh, uh, I, uh, I may toss something into a conversation, uh, casually about, well, what if he said this? Uh, but, um, it's not, it's not generally my job to create story for the character. I'm, uh, I'm the, uh, I like to think of myself as, as a, um, Figuratively the writer's pen.
Uh, I, uh, uh, he writes it and he goes through [00:52:00] me out to the audience. Um, uh, now there have been times when, um, when I've thought of ideas for stories and I passed them along. They've never taken me up on any of them. Um, and, uh, and that's fine because it's, um, uh, you know, considering how much work I've done over the years and how much time I've spent on various television shows.
I don't have a lot of, uh, awareness of what goes on day to day in the writer's room. Uh, Um, except when I was actually writing TV series back in the eighties, I not spend any time in the writer's room. I don't really know how they work it out on a, uh, day by day basis on a show. But I figure probably they've got some relatively long-term [00:53:00] plans and.
If I come in and say, Hey, I've got an idea for a story. They may be so far beyond where I'm starting with that. Uh, there's not any way to make. What I've come up with fit in. I don't, I don't have a lot of interest in doing that anyway. Um, I'm very content to, uh, to get my script, learn my lines and say I'm an actor and to the best of my ability and try and make sure that what the writers have come up with translates well to the screen.
Um, you know, if they, uh, Right. You know, they, they, they took the character in a turn here and there where I, I was not happy with it. Uh, but, um, you know, I it's, it's, it's not something you can, uh, really argue with. Um, uh, it's it's not my show. [00:54:00] Um, You know, it's, uh, uh, the guys who put fenders on Chevy's may have an opinion about those fenders, but it's not there.
No, it's not their show. Uh, understood.
Jeff Hass: Is there, would you, would you mind sharing a change that you didn't like or did you feel uncomfortable going that direction?
Jim Beaver: Um, I've spoken about this before. I wasn't happy that they, uh, killed Bobby off in season seven. Uh, I was happy that, you know, he didn't stay dead quite.
The way he would have on Grey's anatomy, uh, uh, you know, if you're going to get killed on his show, do it on supernatural because just get to keep working. Uh, but it was, it was a term that, um, Meant a couple of things. One was, and most importantly to me was the fact that I didn't [00:55:00] get to keep doing it as often.
Um, I didn't, uh, When, when they said what they were going to do, I thought, well, it's supernatural. I'll just be dead for a while. And then I'll come back and things will continue on. And they didn't exactly. Uh, I didn't work as often over the succeeding seasons and I always missed working there. On the other hand, not being tied to being there day in and day out, gave me the freedom and opportunity to do some other projects, which have been really good for me and things that I really enjoyed doing that I wouldn't have been able to, if I was doing, uh, you know, seven or eight out of 10 episodes of supernatural, um, But yeah.
Uh, in, in some ways I would prefer that they had just kept the character on pretty much the way he was before they killed him off. Um, it was, [00:56:00] it was, it was fun to be there and play a ghost or play flashbacks or play dream sequences or play Bobby and heaven and all the various permutations of how they kept the character around.
But it was never quite. The same for me and I I'd, uh, I'd have liked to, uh, uh, stuck around kind of the way I had been there the first seven years, but then it would have cost me a lot of other opportunities. So, uh, like I said, I try not to look back too much. Um, uh, every time you, every time a door slams on you, uh, another one opens and, um, Uh, they didn't slam the door too hard on me on supernatural.
They just kind of gently pushed it toward closed. And I was still able to come in and out, just not quite as often. And I got to do a bunch of other great stuff. I wouldn't, I probably w I [00:57:00] certainly would not have done justified, uh, if I had, uh, if they hadn't killed me off on supernatural, uh, in that slightly.
Uh, permanent way that did, um, slightly permanently dead that's, that's, it's a lot better than you get on most shows. W
Jeff Hass: w did when your character was paralyzed. Um, and you were, they basically took you out of the action from any of the episodes
Jim Beaver: a little bit. Yeah. I mean, it was, it was, it was an interesting turn, but then it w w.
Dramatically. It was good. You know, one of the most dramatic and wonderful episodes I ever had was right was when they killed me off on in season seven. Uh, you know, it was good writing. It was good story. And the same thing with, uh, uh, the year that the character was in a wheelchair. Um, uh, it was, it was good [00:58:00] story, but.
Once they set that story and then kind of moved on from it. Um, you know, I spent that season an awful lot of time answering the phone because it wasn't as practical for Bobby to be with the boys fully on all of their, uh, um, uh, activities simply because it was logistically hard. Um, not for the show, but for the character.
And so it was kind of easier to have Bobby at home Manning the phones, which wasn't quite as interesting, um, as an actor and, um, uh, but then, you know, it's supernatural. They found a way out of that. Uh, um, a very supernatural way to get me out of the wheelchair and back on my feet for, uh, uh, the rest of the run and.
It was interesting to do because [00:59:00] gave me a lot of insights into, uh, uh, what life must be like for people who can't get out of the chair at the end of the day. Um, and, uh, gave me, uh, uh, increased respect for people who have to deal with that in their real lives. Um, but, uh, in terms of. Exciting stories to do.
Uh, I had, I had probably fewer of them that season than in some others, because, uh, it was just harder to park Bobby around.
Kenric: Yeah. Yeah. When you find yourself deceased, supernatural, and you started back and you got the opportunity to work on
Jim Beaver: justified,
Kenric: what was it like working with the old buddy? All the font again.
Jim Beaver: Oh, well, Tim is, Kim is one of the most decent people. I know he's one of the funniest people I know. And, uh, and he's one of the most, [01:00:00] one of the smarter artists and hardest working people. I know, and that's a great, uh, uh, combination. Uh, he's enormous fun to be around and, and, uh, and he's smart and he's, he's really, really dedicated to.
The show being good. And, um, uh, you know, it was just a joy, it was a joy working with him. I'll get what, uh, which is where I first met him. And, uh, um, and it was, um, uh, uh, it was just lovely to get, to go back and, and do a show once again, a really well-written show. Um, uh, just, uh, You know, w uh, a brilliant show, um, and to do it with a guy that I had already worked with and had a, a feeling of kinship and rapport with, um, [01:01:00] uh, I just loved him.
He's, uh, he's. He's, uh, Fabulous. And anytime I get a chance to work with somebody, I like as much as him I'll do it, I always felt like I get much choice, but yeah,
Kenric: I always felt like his time on, on Deadwood and his time on justified, uh, like Deadwood, he was playing a man in his time. And then on justified, I felt like he was playing a man.
Uh, he was, I don't want to say he's playing his character from Deadwood cause he wasn't, but he was very much playing, playing a man out of time. Yeah. You know what I mean? And it was like, he's playing a character that would be very comfortable in Deadwood. And then, but he's in this modern take and I don't know, th the writing on justified was, I don't think people like the people who I know who knowed justified love it.
You know what I mean? But the P I felt like it didn't have the, the wide audience it deserved because it was stupendously written.
[01:02:00] Jim Beaver: Well-directed. When you, when you've got a show that's based on material by a writer as good as Elmore Leonard you're, you're kind of, uh, in a, in a bind because on one hand, where are you going to find writers who can write as well as Elmore Leonard on the other hand, you better?
Yeah. Uh, um, because it's, um, Uh, big shoes to fill. And, uh, I thought they did an extraordinary job writing that show because not only was it rich and full and entertaining, it was, uh, I, it did honor to Elmore Leonard's work. And, uh, and he was, I think, very, uh, Uh, took very much the same position that he was very proud of what they were doing with his characters and his kind of writing and, uh, [01:03:00] um, and to get to be on it.
And once again, uh, I don't, I don't want to talk too much about what went on with my character on the show, but once again, fabulous art. Um, uh, where, uh, where, what you see at the beginning is so, uh, does, so does not prepare you for what you will see at the end. Uh, uh it's um, you know, it, it was great to get to, to get to be that guy.
Um, uh, didn't last, as long as I would. Like, but, uh, it lasted exactly as long as it should have. Yeah. And, uh, um, uh, yeah, I I'm, I'm very, very proud of the fact that I got to do that show. That's awesome.
Jeff Hass: And I think one thing I did like about [01:04:00] supernatural too, is that the writing for w. When you think about supernatural and just the very surface of what the show could have been.
The fact that the writing was so good, definitely elevated that show as well. So something that I think was extra was very special. And to have the two of your episodes, I thought that were some of my favorites is a dream, a little dream of me, um, which when we first introduced what happened to, um, Bobby singer's wife and dead men, don't wear a ply where the wiping back to life, which I thought were wonderfully written episodes.
And as an actor, It really has. I felt like gave you something to really like bite into. Um, did you prefer scenes, um, episodes like that, where you really got to show an emotional range? Or did you like the action stuff better?
Jim Beaver: Oh, well, I like it all, but, uh, for me personally, it's I always enjoy a rich dramatic scene, uh, more than almost anything else.
[01:05:00] Um, I mean, it's, it's a load of fun to, uh, run around Bobby's wrecking yard, shooting demons. Uh, it's, it's fun in a kids playing cowboy kind of way. Um, but I really, I really do like, uh, dramatic material, uh, where you, you, you get to reveal something about the soul of a character and, uh, um, and those, uh, Uh, those two episodes, uh, did a pretty good, uh, job of providing me that kind of material.
Uh, and, and you touched on something that I, I have commented on a lot is that, uh, when people hear about supernatural, what, it's, what it's about, um, you know, two hunky brothers chasing demons. It. It's real easy to mistake that for some kind [01:06:00] of surface, uh, surfacy, um, uh, show with very little depth or, uh, meaning.
And, uh, what supernatural surprised me with was, uh, It's depth it's um, I I've, I've been able to play some of the best dramatic scenes of my entire career on that show. And I never thought that was likely when I first heard of the show. Um, And, uh, dead men don't wear plaid in particular. I had, uh, uh, some really wonderful touching, beautiful, uh, scenes, uh, particularly with Carrie and Fleming who was playing, uh, who played my wife, uh, on and off during the course of the series.
I, uh, not only was it extraordinary to work with her, but the material was so, [01:07:00] uh, full. Uh, and evocative and, uh, uh, it was, um, yeah, I've been given some great opportunities, uh, to act my heart out and a lot of those opportunities were on supernatural and I, I I've really, I really treasure, um,
Jeff Hass: yeah. And another, um, great.
Character you had on the show to work against was Steven Williams, his character of Rufus, um, especially in season six when you got to do, um, and then there were none. And then later on you did safe house. How did you guys seem to have the perfect chemistry? And I must admit as a fan, we were talking about, uh, um, in fan groups, the idea of you guys being your own show, how did that chemistry come happen so quickly?
And what was it like working?
Jim Beaver: Well, I, you know, I don't know how that chemistry. Came about so quickly. Uh, I, again, I guess it's, it was just on the page to begin with. Um, when I first worked [01:08:00] with Steven, I was, I was a little taken aback because, um, uh, he has, uh, uh, he, he finds a great deal of joy in living and I'm a, um, I'm not so good at it.
And I'm not so comfortable with it, uh, because you know, it's one thing to, to, uh, unexpectedly insert a great line. But if the guy you're acting with doesn't have a great line to come back with and can't think of one, it can be a little disconcerting. Um, I'm always pretty tied to the script. And, uh, and I, I thought, Oh man, is this.
Is, is this going to be difficult? Um, but Steven is such a, uh, uh, an electric kind of personality to be around. [01:09:00] Uh, and, uh, um, and we got, as we get to know each other, I think we had a lot of. Uh, kind of a similar dynamic between us as, as the characters did. Um, uh, and not that we add anything, you know, darker, difficult between us, but, uh, we, we kind of fell into a bantering kind of relationship ourselves.
And, uh, it was, uh, uh, it's always, it's been a hoot working with him. Uh, he's so funny and, uh, Uh, but you know, when he wants to get, uh, once you get serious, uh, he does it with the best of them. Um, and it's, um, You know, uh, I hope I hope Steven's listening and he can, he can hear me say that and hear me say that it's, it's just great working with somebody older [01:10:00] than I'd go here
Jeff Hass: now. Other, um, my final question, supernatural on season 12, they brought, they introduced the alternate earth Bobby singer. Now as an actor playing a character, who's kind of the same character, but. Definitely kind of different from experiences. How did you approach the character? So it's both recognizable, but just enough different to make him seem distinguishable from your prior version?
Jim Beaver: Well, the alternate universe Bobby was, um, it was, um, a bit of a challenge because, um, most of what works so well for, shall we say regular. Bobby was the relationship he had with these two brothers, um, uh, Bobby and Sam and Dean, uh, [01:11:00] function very often as, as a, as a unit with, with different, uh, viewpoints bouncing off each other, but with a long history and a long.
A set of feelings about each other. And when that Bobby disappeared and the one from the alternate universe showed up, uh, I still had a kind of irascible quality that, uh, was the hallmark of Bobby singer, but I didn't have any of the history with the boys. And, uh, and I found that difficult, uh, not difficult to play, but difficult to, uh, uh, contend with in the sense that, uh, one of the big tools in my [01:12:00] toolbox was gone.
Um, and I think for the fans as well, it was a little difficult because all of a sudden Bobby was back. But he didn't love these two kids. Uh, he didn't know them. Uh, they didn't, uh, they very quickly realized this was not the same guy that they had grown.
Kenric: That father figure aspect
Jim Beaver: had to be gone. And I, uh, without.
Wanting it all to diminish anything in this show. I, I felt like something was lost. That father figure
Kenric: aspect was
Jim Beaver: gone. Yeah. It began to come back as the alternate universe. Bobby continued on the show. It began to come back a little, but it was always for me missing and it, and it made. Uh, it made things like the banter between them a little more difficult, because from my perspective, at least it [01:13:00] seemed a little that they, um, uh, you know, banter without love, uh, sounds an awful lot like sniping and, uh, and I didn't ever want Bobby to become, um, unsympathetic, uh, because.
Because, uh, because people might think that, uh, he was just, uh, you know, being harsh with the boys when, when it's clear through the first, uh, Few seasons that, uh, there's a deep and abiding affection between them all. And then you take that affection out of the relationship. Uh, it creates a very different dynamic.
That's not, um, I found it not as fun to play. It was always fun to be on the set. Always fun to be with my, my colleagues on the show. [01:14:00] Um, just as much or more so than any show I've ever worked on. But, um, to, uh, to not to play Bobby singer and not play the lovey as for Sam and Dean, uh, was, uh, was less comfortable than the old way.
Yeah. Um, but, um, and if the show had gone. Even longer. I, I, uh, I had pitched the one time. I really get pitch up, uh, a shift in things. Uh, I, I pitched the idea of, of getting the old Bobby back and, uh, Uh, in a way that that was believable and acceptable. And, uh, because I, I, as, as I said to the producers, I, I think we're missing the real relationship that made, uh, the fans love Bobby.
[01:15:00] Um, and, uh, but, uh, once again, not my show. And it's not a show about Bobby. It's a show about Sam and Dean and the people who come into their lives, come into their lives and go out of their lives. But it's it in, in the final analysis is it's a show about two brothers and I was happy to play Bobby.
However they wanted me to, I just would have been happier playing him the old way all the time.
Kenric: Well, Jim, I think on that note, that's a great place to stop. I don't know if you can believe this, but we've already been on over an hour.
Jim Beaver: Wow.
Kenric: Yeah, it goes quick sometimes.
Jim Beaver: Yeah. When you're talking to me, you're going to get a lot of words back.
Kenric: No, I love it. I hope you had a good enough time that we could convince you to come back sometime.
Jim Beaver: Oh, sure. Sure. You know, uh, Marlon [01:16:00] Brando said an actor's a fella who, if he ain't talking about him, ain't listen.
Kenric: Right.
Jim Beaver: So, um,
Kenric: yeah, I'd love to dive deep into more of your thoughts on classic cinema and the fact that you've done some research on, on, on that stuff and kind of go into that. I'd be happy with that, mate. You know what I mean? For my own sake. So I, I love, I just got done watching the magnificent seven last week, the original version or not, not, uh, not the seven samurais, but the,
Jim Beaver: the
Kenric: Yule Brenner and Steve McQueen version.
And it was wonderful. No, that's great. It's, it's so good that, that whole opening scene of them moving the body up to the graveyard and everybody, you know, and those scenes of people not want those people not wanting him to go in because he's. Yeah, he's an Indian and they're like, nah. And they, you know, they take it.
That's a wonderful scene. That whole thing is just like, Oh wow. That's especially at that time [01:17:00] then too, at that time, that type of subject matter would have been sensitive. And so it's like, Oh, that's great. Look at these. Are people pushing that
Jim Beaver: boundary, right? Yeah. Good film.
Kenric: Yeah. And your Brunner was so good in that.
Jim Beaver: Oh yeah. Okay. Well, well, yeah, I'm, I'm, I'm happy to come back and talk old movies. That'd be great.
Kenric: Well, Jim, thank you so much for joining us today on sport in the country. We really appreciate you coming out and spending some time with us and talking Deadwood supernatural. We really, really appreciate it.
Jim Beaver: It's absolutely my pleasure guys. I appreciate you having me on
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