{"id":104279,"date":"2018-08-09T06:00:34","date_gmt":"2018-08-09T11:00:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.premiumbeat.com\/blog\/?p=104279"},"modified":"2018-08-07T23:29:30","modified_gmt":"2018-08-08T04:29:30","slug":"interview-actor-charlie-schlatter","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.premiumbeat.com\/blog\/interview-actor-charlie-schlatter\/","title":{"rendered":"Actor Charlie Schlatter on Work, Health, and Complacency"},"content":{"rendered":"

From working\u00a0beside Dick Van Dyke to\u00a0animating The Flash,\u00a0<\/i>Charlie Schlatter tells us how he learned to let it all go and finally find his voice.<\/h2>\n

Cover image via IMDB<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n

Charlie Schlatter has done it all \u2014 then learned to let it all go, learned to fight Leukemia, and learned to find joy in his work again. We sat down with Schlatter to take a look at his career and talk about health, happiness, and family.<\/p>\n

\"Actor<\/a>

Image via Bright Lights, Big City<\/em><\/a> (United Artists).<\/p><\/div>\n

PremiumBeat:<\/strong>\u00a0Your first movie was Bright Lights, Big City\u00a0<\/em>in 1988. Do you realize you have made a living as an actor for 30 years? That\u2019s impressive. You\u2019ve done feature films, TV series, and voice-over work. Do you think being adaptable to different media contributed to your longevity in the business?<\/p>\n

Charlie Schlatter:<\/strong>\u00a0100%, and the other thing that helps is lack of ego. As a young guy, all the agents get their hooks in you, and they inflate you, and you go from a guy who just really loves acting to someone who has a career, and the worst thing that happens to a young actor is having a \u201ccareer.\u201d You shouldn\u2019t worry if taking a part wasn\u2019t the right career move. I said “no” to a lot of stuff that I would have said “yes” to if I weren\u2019t managed in that way. You get into it because you want to act, and you end up letting others lead you. It took me a long time to learn that. Now, I do improv and stuff that is fun for me. Things that fit my soul and make sense.<\/p>\n

\"Actor<\/a>

Image\u00a0via Ferris Bueller<\/em><\/a> (Paramount Television).<\/p><\/div>\n

PB:<\/strong>\u00a0For all the work, I am sure there were pain points along the way. How did you remain positive and focused?<\/p>\n

CS:<\/strong>\u00a0I didn\u2019t dwell on it \u2014 I just moved on to the next thing. There was one project I wanted badly: Rudy<\/a><\/em>. I tested and came close, but I knew Sean Astin<\/a> was going to get it. He was so good. I just moved on from it. I did a series based on the Ferris Bueller\u00a0<\/em>film\u00a0\u2014\u00a0<\/i>it was the most-watched pilot ever at the time. But it wasn\u2019t very good.\u00a0<\/i>We had good actors (Jennifer Aniston<\/a>), good directors, and good writers \u2014 they just weren\u2019t the right writers for this project. We needed to be doing what they were doing with Parker Lewis Can\u2019t Lose<\/a>\u00a0\u2014\u00a0<\/em>when it ended, I had already emotionally moved on.\u00a0I did a ton of other pilots \u2014 most didn\u2019t go, but I got paid, and I was young and having a good time.<\/p>\n

\"Actor<\/a>

Image via 18 Again!<\/em><\/a> (New World Entertainment Films).<\/p><\/div>\n

PB:<\/strong>\u00a0You were young when you had success\u00a0\u2014\u00a0<\/i>headlining a film with George Burns<\/a> (18 Again<\/em>) \u2014 and like you said, being cast in the lead of the TV version of Ferris Bueller. <\/em>Looking back now, what advice would you give to someone in their early twenties who finds themselves in that position? What do you wish you knew about navigating the business then that you know now?<\/p>\n

CS<\/strong>: Slow down, and think what you really want to get out of the situation\u00a0\u2014\u00a0<\/i>I was impatient, and I wanted to do stuff and have that career.\u00a0I would tell that kid trust your heart<\/em> and don\u2019t just work for money<\/em>. You\u2019re not going to be happy or satisfied. Save your money; you don\u2019t have to pay for everything. I felt like I made more money, so I should pay for everything, and then when my circumstances changed,\u00a0<\/i>it became awkward, and I was resentful and lost friendships.<\/p>\n

\"Actor<\/a>

Image via Diagnosis Murder<\/em><\/a> (CBS).<\/p><\/div>\n

PB:<\/strong>\u00a0Besides working with George Burns, you were on Diagnosis Murder\u00a0<\/em>with Dick Van Dyke<\/a>. The show also had a crazy amount of legendary performers as guest stars. Any stories you can share working with such pros?<\/p>\n

CS:<\/strong>\u00a0Some people just have it\u00a0\u2014\u00a0<\/i>whatever \u201cit\u201d is. With Dick, it was like if Santa Claus came into the room. He is just magical, and the way people respond to him, it\u2019s unbelievable. He\u2019s everyone\u2019s hero\u00a0\u2014\u00a0<\/i>he\u2019s just a talent. He shines from within, and even kids feel it. When my kids first met him, they had watched Chitty Chitty Bang Bang<\/em><\/a> and Mary Poppins<\/em><\/a>, but even with the gray hair,\u00a0<\/i>they still immediately just knew it was him and saw and believed him as those characters.<\/p>\n

Working with Dick. It\u2019s like golf\u00a0\u2014\u00a0<\/i>there is a huge difference playing with hacks and the really great and professional players. <\/i>The difference is huge. There are actors that just have that. These are the Super Bowl players. It was fun. My mind would be blown in small moments. I\u2019m waiting for the camera to roll, sitting between him and Andy Griffith<\/a>. Sometimes the magnitude of that would hit me.<\/p>\n

Also, he had no idea of his Dick Van Dykeness. When I auditioned for the series, it was with him and the CBS guys and the studio people.\u00a0We do the scene, and he\u2019s just terrific to me. Very complimentary, and then he says \u201cHave we met before? I feel like we\u2019ve met before.\u201d And I say \u201cNo, we haven’t.” And he says \u201cAre you sure?\u201d And I just paused, taking him in, and say \u201cYou\u2019re Dick Van Dyke\u00a0\u2014\u00a0<\/i>if I had met you, I would have remembered!” He\u2019s so humble. Speaks volume to his character.<\/p>\n

\"Actor<\/a>

Image courtesy of Disney.<\/p><\/div>\n

PB:<\/strong>\u00a0How did the prolific voice-over career happen? What is the process of creating an original character such as Kick Buttowski<\/a> vs. an iconic character such as The Flash<\/a>?<\/p>\n

CS:\u00a0<\/strong>I wasn\u2019t someone who sought out voice-over. I didn\u2019t even really think that it was a thing. What, is Fred Flintstone not a real person? I had no idea. My oldest daughter was about three, and I was doing Diagnosis Murder<\/em> and being offered things on my hiatus that would have me leave town. All I ever wanted in life was to be a good dad. I didn\u2019t want to leave my family, and I had a manager who suggested voice-over. I have kind of an elastic voice. I met with an agency and immediately landed a STARZ campaign. Things just snowballed\u00a0\u2014\u00a0<\/i>it\u2019s a pretty incestuous business. Kinda family. You can make a nice living for four hours work. Hard to take that grueling 12-hour day small film on location when you can have fun, be creative in the recording studio, and have dinner with your family each night.<\/p>\n

The Flash was actually pretty straightforward. Action heroes are basically just superhero white guy voices. Kick was tougher. I don\u2019t do impressions\u00a0\u2014\u00a0<\/i>well, who doesn\u2019t do Christopher Walken<\/a>? But I based the voice on Clint Eastwood<\/a>, and this guy that made me laugh from that SNL-like comedy series, Fridays<\/em><\/a>. I guess it worked because they blew through two other actors\u00a0\u2014\u00a0<\/i>even recorded a whole series with one and tossed it out and came back to me.<\/p>\n

I think part of the reason I\u2019ve had success is that I\u2019ve learned that I am hired to serve the material.\u00a0I am a journeyman. I didn\u2019t write it, I didn\u2019t produce it \u2014 I\u2019m hired to voice the character and respect the project.<\/p>\n

\"Actor<\/a>

Image courtesy of Charlie Schlatter.<\/p><\/div>\n

PB:<\/strong>\u00a0You have been living privately with chronic myeloid leukemia for a long time, but in the last few years you\u2019ve been very \u201cout\u201d about your condition. I can imagine you were worried that if people knew, it would affect your ability to get hired. How did you overcome that<\/em>\u00a0fear and get loud, really loud about this disease and raise so much money for research and resources?<\/p>\n

CS:<\/strong>\u00a0I didn\u2019t overcome the fear. I outlived it. I was first diagnosed in 2006, but this was after a year of feeling really crappy.\u00a0I couldn\u2019t physically make it to gigs. When I finally knew what I had, I was 96 percent infected. I told my manager and my voice-over agent. Then I told my theatrical agent, who later that week called me to say they were thinning their roster and didn\u2019t have room for me. So, I just started to focus on what I love. I ran a theater company, I learned to manage the cancer, and I felt better and just started over, rebuilding my resume. And it\u2019s still really cool to me. I used to sit sandwiched between Dick Van Dyke and Andy Griffith, and a couple of years ago on Feud<\/em><\/a> I\u2019m sitting between Jessica Lange<\/a> and Susan Sarandon<\/a>. I\u2019m just taking it all in and more appreciative than ever.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

Image courtesy of Charlie Schlatter.<\/p><\/div>\n

It helped to have an amazing support system and the best wife ever. It brought us closer. She\u2019s a warrior. I had no idea I married such a warrior \u2014 a person of incredible strength. We never said \u201cwhy me?\u201d \u2014 we always said \u201cwhy not me?\u201d because I don\u2019t see myself as better than anyone else.\u00a0 Don\u2019t get me wrong: it was terrifying at first. See, I grew up in a time when the most awful thing you\u2019d see on TV was a character dying of leukemia\u00a0\u2014\u00a0<\/i>it seemed like every sad TV movie or medical drama had the leukemia episode, so I thought Well, that\u2019s it \u2014 I\u2019m dead<\/em>. But it\u2019s like birth control. As long as I take the pill, I won\u2019t get pregnant. I do basically a little bit of chemo a day, and it keeps me in the game.<\/p>\n

When my friend, Mindy Sterling<\/a> (a cancer survivor herself) nominated me for the Man of the Year campaign, I knew it was an opportunity. My wife had said something good is going to come out of this, and this felt like it. I won. By a lot. The money just poured in. I\u2019m still amazed by it all. I\u2019m living the life I wanted. In hindsight, it\u2019s all been good.<\/p>\n

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Looking for more industry interviews? Check these out.<\/p>\n