"We really just wanted to capture the essence of who these guys were, the spirit of their story, and I think each one of us somehow had a kernel of that which just got slowly encouraged to come out as we went along," Webber told THR.
00:00The fans, they're dying for some anarchy, so let's give it to them.
00:11Hey everyone, you're watching another episode of In Studio, and today we have Daniel Weber.
00:16How you going?
00:17Now you hear The Dirt, and you hear a film about The Motley Crue.
00:20What's your first reaction when you hear this?
00:23Oof.
00:24Where do I sign up, or?
00:27Jesus, these guys look crazy.
00:29That's my first thought.
00:31Yeah, and that's the first sort of jump-off point for auditions, was just seeing what the guys look like in their sort of kabuki style.
00:40The hair, and the shoes, and the leather outfits.
00:44I mean, they're so out there.
00:47So yeah, that's the first reaction.
00:48How do you even, what is this?
00:51Who are these people?
00:52What are they doing?
00:52What is the world that they're existing in?
00:55Can you kind of talk about that?
00:56It's sex, drugs, rock and roll.
00:57It's The Motley Crue.
00:58Can you tell people what they can expect?
01:01Yeah, it's going to be an absolute rollercoaster of fun.
01:06And you just follow the most wild bunch of young guys from ages 20 all the way.
01:14It's like a 10-year span of their lives and their career.
01:17And so you just chart their career and the highs and the lows and their relationships with themselves and with each other.
01:24And then also what happens throughout that period with their life and due to success and whatnot.
01:31But it's just one of the most fun films that I've ever been a part of.
01:37How so though?
01:38Why is that?
01:38In every way, in every way, in the shoot, in I think the way that Jeff Tremaine kind of worked on the set and kind of the camaraderie that he built into everybody.
01:50I mean, we showed in New Orleans, which is a wonderful town for telling a story about four young guys who go out every night and have wild adventures and parties and just hit the strip.
02:05And then also come back and be very focused and very serious and achieve huge success within, I think about as a year's time that they just took off after being on the strip.
02:20And Jeff really kind of brought us down to this environment.
02:23He wanted us to feel like rock stars.
02:27He sort of treated us in that way and just gave us carte blanche to go wild.
02:33And there was a lot of freedom on set.
02:35There was a lot of play on set and just good people, good fun.
02:39It was very collaborative.
02:41Yeah.
02:41What about kind of your cast and like working with them?
02:43Obviously Machine Gun Kelly's in it.
02:45Everyone's talking about that.
02:46Can you kind of talk about your relationship with him today?
02:48Yeah, there was an amazing relationship.
02:50We really became these guys, these four maniacs, these four wild.
02:54There was something we really went into this trying to capture just, it's not like about mimicry.
03:01We really just wanted to capture the essence of who these guys were.
03:05The spirit of their story.
03:08And I think everybody, each one of us somehow just had a kernel of that, which just got slowly
03:15encouraged to come out as we went along.
03:17And it just kept, yeah.
03:19And him just as much as anybody.
03:21I mean, I think Tommy Lee was a, he's a wild man.
03:25He was a wild man.
03:26And it was, he, if it was a quiet moment at the party, he would bring it back up.
03:32And that's Colson.
03:33He's, he's a, he's a wild man.
03:35And he was a brilliant actor on set.
03:37He'd come in with great ideas, improvise.
03:41He's so funny in this film.
03:44Have you been in touch with Vince at all?
03:45Or?
03:46Yeah, we, we, we met recently.
03:48Um, and he, he'd just seen the film and it was very complimentary and very happy with
03:53it, so.
03:54But you didn't talk to him prior to, I guess, filming?
03:56We spoke on the phone.
03:57Okay.
03:57So.
03:57What was that conversation like?
03:59It was good.
04:00It was fairly, um, it was more just getting to know him.
04:03It wasn't really so much about, like, getting to get to the heart of who he was.
04:07The boys are all involved in producing.
04:10And so Nikki and Tommy came down on set and kind of went through it all.
04:14And we would ask them questions about rituals or things they might have done during a show
04:19or after a show, before it, or just different things just to kind of help us.
04:25Um, and just to kind of add little details to the story.
04:28Uh, and, and we got to perform in front of them and, you know, show, show them what we'd
04:33been doing.
04:33So we played Take Me to the, to the top and Livewire and Shout at the Devil and, and they
04:39were just so, they were so over the moon and so shocked by it.
04:43Really?
04:44I guess seeing, seeing themselves perform.
04:46What, I guess, was the key to Vince and what did you learn about him from filming?
04:53I think, there was one thing that I read, uh, that.
04:56Something you maybe had to keep in the back of your mind.
04:58Yeah, because, you know, there's, there's the outside thing that we all see, which is,
05:03charm and, uh, and, and success and, and cool and attitude and, and bravado and all of that
05:11stuff that everybody sees in the performance.
05:14Um, but you, you had to get beyond that, but, you know, go dig below the surface.
05:19And there was one thing that stuck with me that kind of took me through the whole, whole
05:23shoot, which was, he said at one point, um, his, his destination of choice was oblivion.
05:30Yeah.
05:31And, uh, and it's really telling, you know, that's a really telling statement that like
05:36the idea that as opposed to sort of deal with emotions so much that kind of let all of them,
05:42like just, they just kept charging forward.
05:44It was this sort of like full steam ahead, you know, pedal to the metal, go as fast as
05:48you can sort of attitude.
05:49And, uh, and so that has a consequence, you know, if you, if you don't kind of deal
05:56with, you know, the things that you're going through in life and the relationships and
05:59whatnot, there is, you know, kind of meets heads.
06:03And, and that's, that's really where we get to in the story.
06:07You know, you sit, you see the success, but then there's also the reality of, of the rock
06:11and roll lifestyle and the toll that it takes.
06:13Um, but it's also a lot of fun.
06:15Now, as an actor, I guess, how does the lifestyle of rock and roll compare to the life of a
06:21young actor?
06:22I, I'm so glad I'm not a rock star.
06:24Yeah.
06:25So it's, it's, uh, I don't, I don't think it compares.
06:28Yeah.
06:29Yeah.
06:29Because they've got to get up every night and, uh, and perform and performance is not
06:34something that you can replicate.
06:37It's, it's like nothing I've ever experienced.
06:39Yeah.
06:39I've been on stage and done stage work before, but, uh, the high of coming off of, of,
06:43of a stage show.
06:45The adrenaline.
06:45The adrenaline of it all is so huge.
06:49Um, and having to sustain that for, for a, you know, a year potentially on a tour.
06:55It's crazy.
06:55It's a huge, huge ask.
06:57And there's not very many situations, I think, as an actor, you get asked to do that.
07:01Now, your co-star, obviously, Machine Gun Kelly has this rock star life and he has a
07:05music background, obviously.
07:06He's super talented.
07:07Yeah.
07:07What are your music skills and what were they prior to, uh, filming?
07:10So, I, I could play guitar, not well, but, um, play guitar and then, obviously, I've
07:16got to sing for this.
07:17Um, and it was always going to be-
07:18It's great.
07:19Yeah.
07:19And we're always going to be a, uh, a mixture of Vince and then we have a wonderful cover
07:26singer who sings, um, some of the tracks and then it's also my performance and so it was
07:31sort of weaving all of this and, and also just trying to, it was really important because
07:36I'm not trained as a singer to know what it is to be a front man, to be performing every
07:44single day.
07:45And those guys would rehearse every day.
07:47Um, they'd do a, a full set and they'd do it, you know, in reverse and then they would
07:51perform it and then they would go out and they'd, they'd, you know, cause havoc all night
07:56and then they'd do it again.
07:57So, there's a huge strain on the voice and there's a real muscle that, that had to be
08:01sort of trained and developed.
08:04What were, I guess, the biggest challenges of that then?
08:06Just-
08:07I think the sustaining of it.
08:09I think, because we had a, a month of rehearsal, uh, where we, we went down to New Orleans and
08:15we were, as a band, we would just play all their songs day in, day out, you know, five
08:18hours a day.
08:19And, uh, and he's got such a high range that it's, it's a challenge.
08:24Uh, thank you so much for being here and you can watch The Dirt now on Netflix.
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