Finding Chuck Roy

The role of Binger was the hardest to cast in "Standards of Ethical Conduct". Unlike some of the roles, where I just wanted a believable reading of the lines, in Binger, I wanted an actor to take the lines and run with them. He is the funny guy of the film. Plus, I wanted someone with a different look who would stand out from the other actors.

I had at least a dozen actors read for the role, and none of them brought the personality and comedic timing I was looking for. Some people just have the same sense of humor as you do, and some don't. I can make a "Major League" or "Seinfeld" reference and some people will find it hilarious while others will think I'm an idiot. Several of the actors who read were funny, but with a different style of humor, so their timing was off. Either you get the jokes or you don't, it's hard to coach someone in that regard.

Plus, it was obvious that a couple of the actors were guessing at what being stoned was like, rather than relying on experience. Yes, some actors aren't rampant drug abusers. It surprised me as well.

I kept bringing in more actors, with no luck. We were days from shooting, with the entire cast set, except for Binger. I was getting desperate, so I went to Comedy Works, the local stand-up joint, to see if they could help me. Wendy Curtis, the owner of Comedy Works, told me that Dr. Kevin Fitzgerald would be the man to contact. I called Dr. Fitzgerald. He quietly listened as I described the role, and then immediately recommended Chuck Roy as my man.

Chuck showed up at a reading and I knew we had one thing...a different look. Chuck is a tall, big guy, with a face-full of fur. He was at least 6 inches taller than the other actors in his scenes. The basketball scenes between Jason Coviello and him took on a whole new life with Jason standing 5'7" and Chuck at about 6'3".

As for understanding pot, in Chuck Roy, I didn't have to worry about someone unfamiliar with the effects of the sweet cheeba. He, after all, is the creator of the Crop Report.



A lot of the actors that read for Binger did the stereotypical stoner: slow, bleary eyed, raspy voice, etc. To me, that's been done over and over and wasn't all that interesting. I was looking for Binger to be the philosophical stoner, who gets into "enlightened mode" when stoned and likes to share his wisdom. Some of his philosophy was wise, but he was also a lazy stoner, so maybe all his facts weren't spot on.

Chuck's reading went great, he immediately understood the jokes, added his own twist, and voila, here's Binger.



You can get your own taste of Chuck by going to his site ChuckRoy.com.