Interview: Lee Perkins on Playing Gang Leader Dean the Nailer in THE DOMESTICS
The Domestics is the exciting new action and gore packed film from Writer/director Mike P. Nelson. The film stars Kate Bosworth as Nina and Tyler Hoechlin as Mark, a husband and wife fighting for their lives as several gangs hunt survivors after a government attempt to wipe out humanity.
Lee Perkins plays Dean, the leader of The Nailers Gang who has a few run-ins with Mark and Nina. Dread Central recently spoke with Lee Perkins about his role in The Domestics, doing his own stunts, and more. Read on to find out what we talked about.
The Domestics is available on VOD now.
Dread Central: Hi Lee! Thank you for taking the time to talk with me today.
Lee Perkins: Hey! Thanks so much. I really appreciate this. Are you kidding? I love you guys.
Dread Central: I loved The Domestics! What was it like on set and what was the audition process like? How did you get the role of Dean the Nailer?
Lee Perkins: It was one of those kinds of sets when there was no hieracrchy. Kate and Tyler were just regular people. Mike P. Nelson was so passionate and then Lance Reddick is just Lance (laughs). He walks in the room and there’s just a power about it him.
Basically, the audition process was the normal audition process where I audition from my Los Angeles agent. It was one of those weird situations where I had two auditions come in, one was eight pages and one was nine pages, and they both needed them right away. I banged them out and then about a week later I got a call back to come to New Orleans for a callback. That same day, my mom had a fall and broke her ankle in seventeen places. So, while they wanted me there, I was in the hospital with my mom because she had to have surgery and I said, “I can’t come.” But, it’s just one of those situations where it happened to work out. Mike saw enough of what he thought the character of Dean was from the audition. I sent two different tapes and I got the role. It was one of those situations where maybe a little luck played into it, I’m not sure.
I’ve always heard that casting directors say when it’s your role, it’s your role. When it’s not your role, there is nothing you can do and this is a pretty good indication. He told me when we were finally on set, he said, “I just couldn’t get you out of my mind.” It wasn’t a perfect audition by any means, but he said that he saw the character of Dean in at least half the audition and that gave him the confidence, so it was good of Mike to give me the opportunity. I really appreciate it.
DC: Without giving away any spoilers, how would you describe your character, Dean, for the people who haven’t seen the film?
LP: The cool thing about Dean was that Mike had done this concept trailer to get the funding and Dean was part of that. So he really knew that character and on the page it gave a lot of background for Dean, so as an actor that really helps. It tells me where he had come from. Dean was basically a normal guy who has interesting taste, and that’s the way Mike described him. The reason that Dean wears the things he wears is from his prior life. He’s keeping that prior life alive.
Dean becomes the leader of the Nailers, which in the script was listed as the most vicious gang, and each gang in the movie has their own individual thing going on. The Nailers came from a different background. It could have been a mechanic that came and some of his tools that they used would be because of his prior life. The Nailers are a little bit different and they use a chainsaw, a hammer, or this axe with nails in it that’s featured on the poster. They use anything that’s available and they like to have masks. It’s a little medieval.
DC: Dean is a brutal character and I think he’s one of the creepiest gang members in the movie. How did you get into Dean’s mindset?
LP: A lot of this has to do with the script which was so detailed. I felt that in Dean’s prior life people didn’t pay attention to him, they didn’t respect him. So in this life, anytime someone doesn’t respect him, there are consequences. If you don’t answer a question, there are consequences. It’s very black and white and that’s the kind of mindset I got into.
As an actor you can’t think if a character is good or bad like Anthony Hopkins playing Hannibal Lecter. You have to find humanity, so in a futuristic script like this, whether it’s Star Wars or whatever, it’s kind of a once upon a time. It’s almost like a fairytale. Once the parameters are set down in the world, then you can make up your own rules. So, for the Nailers with Dean as the leader, I made up my own rules of what people had to obey by. And if they didn’t, it was just black and white and there are consequences. They gave me a nice little arc with a revenge twist to it because, let’s face it Tyler and Kate, he also wanted the girl, too.
DC: You have some insane fight scenes. Did you do any of your own stunts?
LP: I got beat up (laughs). Where I got really lucky was, because I’ve trained in London, New York, and L.A., I have stage combat training, but stage combat is a little bit different when you’re doing a fight with the camera so close. So we were very lucky to have Nick, our stunt coordinator. He’s done Star Wars and he was fabulous. It’s almost like a dance when you’re doing some stunt work, so all the fighting is mine. There’s a little bit of a fall where I did have a stunt double do that because they didn’t want me to get injured. The rest of it is all Tyler and myself. Nick was great about telling us what he needed and he could see what the camera was seeing and then keeping it messy, because you don’t want it to look too clean. I was very thankful, too, because Tyler was great to work with. Because of Teen Wolf he had done a lot of fighting on camera so with Nick and him it came together quite nicely. That was fun.
Normally, when you get stabbed you have pads on, but the camera was seeing the pads so they had to take them out. There were a few little bumps and bruises, but that’s fine. It was nothing severe, no one got hurt and it was a very safe environment. It’s all about Nick. He’s an amazing stunt coordinator and he just made it so much fun to do.
DC: Do you prefer working in one genre over another?
LP: Honestly, I’m a working actor. I like to work. There is a freedom in a futuristic genre because they make up their own rules and you can abide by those rules and expand in them, so there’s a great freedom there that is a lot of fun to play with. I really love period pieces and it goes back to my training. Honestly, I like to work in everything. I guess what I was drawn to, and that’s the way Mike’s script was, is when it’s a character driven type script. Everything was flushed out. Whether it’s a Gambler or The Sheets, Nailers, Plow Boys, they were all very flushed out along with Tyler and Kate’s characters and Lance’s character. They all had their own story going on and that’s the kind of thing that drives me as an actor and makes me want to get out of bed and get better every day.
I will tell you one thing about genres I kind of fell into. I did an old film called KatieBird that I didn’t even know was a horror film. It was a film about a father-like Ed Gein teaching his daughter the family trait of serial killing. He was a third generation serial killer passing it on to his daughter. What I learned from that, because I got to go to some of the cons, was that I really like the horror fan base because they’re so passionate. They’re so honest. If they don’t like something, they’ll tell you but not in a negative way. Then what they like, they’re very passionate about. There’s nothing better than being in one of those screenings with one of those films that’s kind of funny and you’ve got a good horror crowd. They start talking to the screen and they are having a great time. It’s so contagious. Horror fans are very passionate. They know what they like and they really, really dig something new that makes them go “Oh, that’s cool!”
DC: Can you tell me about any new projects you are working on now?
LP: Oh boy, I wish I could. It’s one of those things. The world has changed so much with the internet. After you sign all these NDA’s, which is a Non-Disclosure Agreement, I can’t say anything. It’s like The Domestics. I couldn’t say anything for a year and a half. I get it because the studios don’t want to give away any storylines or anything. With a lot of them you can’t even get it on IMDb until it sees the light of day. It’s just one of those things. Then you have fun days like today when I get to talk to you.
DC: Thank you for your time today and congratulations on The Domestics! I wish you the best of luck in the future!
LP: Congratulations on being with such a powerful website. I really appreciate this so much.
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