Interviews

Talking with Patti Pelton - "The Hunted"

By Christopher Moshier
July 14, 2006 - 00:42

Patti Pelton was born and raised in Flint Michigan and Studied with Uta Hagan, Kyle Donnelly, Roy London and at The American Conservatory Theater under under Anna Devera Smith.

She did Theater in Chicago and was cast in the Film A League Of Their Own as Marbleanne and it was partially her baseball skills that got her a part as a Rockford Peach.  Thank goodness for brothers who make you start playing at age four.  She followed it up with the short lived television series by the same name.  Patti was very interested in her Irish roots and Produced Never In My Lifetime and played Maire a troubled woman in the IRA.  It won three Drama-logue Awards and Pick of The Week in The L.A. Weekly.  Later she performed and won a Drama-logue in "Under Milk Wood" and has continued to do television and film.

She found a love for stunts doing mostly fight choreography and sword work in television shows like She Spies.  She met David Leitch and the stunt guys (The Matrix) and she played the nutty Script Coordinator and Theater student in his film Sledge: A Documentary that went to Slamdance with cameos by Anjelina Jolie and Carrie Ann Moss.  Her most recent project to date is a short film called "Women With Beards".  It is a very National Lampoon look at the trials and tribulations of women with facial hair.

COMIC BOOK BIN (through Christopher Moshier): Let me just throw out some titles of movie and television where you were involved and I'll let you comment.  "A League of Their Own"!  How cool is that?  My intention is not to turn this interview into Patti Pelton's experience on the filming of A LEAGUE OF THEIR OWN, but how was working with the likes of Penny Marshall, Tom Hanks and Geena Davis?

PATTI PELTON: Doing A League Of Their Own was amazing we still all see each other and it was my first professional experience.  Not bad for someone who crashed the audition.  We, that is the cast, never underestimate the power of that film.  We had a reunion recently with 100 of the original players and this year they will unveil a woman baseball player at Baseball Hall of Fame.  We will be there.  Of course, working with Penny, Geena and Tom was incredible.

CBB: The Pretender, a great show that probably died before its time.

PP: The Pretender was another great experience.  Michael T Weiss and Andrea Parker are very sweet and so were the entire cast and crew.  I worked in the production end of it and I was also able to work on the show as an actress playing a nurse and a police officer that pulls a gun on Michael.  We all thought it was very funny.  We also all had an opportunity to go to Paris together, the cast and the producer's assistant for The Pretender Convention.  We had a blast.  We all miss the Producers and the show.  You're right, the axe came as a surprise and they never were able to replace a more popular show in it's place.

CBB: CSI: NY.

PP: I do Product Placement on CSI NY which means I find all the forensics tools that come up weekly in the script and get the technicians here so the actors know how to use the equipment.  I also do research with the shows Forensic Technician occasionally.  I also work with Nikon, Apple etc to get things on loan for the show.  I work with props, wardrobe, set dressing, technicians and Art Department and post.  So I meet a lot of people.

CBB: What is your short film "Women With Beards" about and where would someone download it to their IPOD?

PP: Women With Beards is a parody on an old newsreel that  shows the history of women with facial hair and how far they have come.  It's crazy, but I never laughed so hard in my life.  Seeing your actress friends in beards you can't help but laugh.  We had great people working on it.  The IPOD festival it got into is still being developed, but stay tuned....

CBB: Could you also elaborate on your coffee table book of your father's photographs?  Are there any online so we can take a look at?  What is the subject matter and what brought you in the decision to put together this project?

PP: My father was killed when I was a kid and his pictures are all from the 1940's-50's in California etc.  He went to the Art Center that is now in Pasadena, but use to be in Santa Monica.  They are Pictures of the Last Whaling Station in the United States, Griffith Observatory, some buildings that no longer exist in California.  I will have a website soon and I am currently getting them in a display format some have been used on CSI:NY for set dressing and I will be approaching other television shows.  It was a way for me to help my fathers work get seen since he never got a chance to show his work or promote it.  Kind of carrying on his work.  My Mom is very excited.

CBB: How did you hook up with Robert Chapin and " The Hunted"?

PP: I took classes from Bob Chapan sword fighting and thought hey why not gives me a chance to write and do some stunt work.

CBB: You play Wren on the series, someone maybe who hasn't made the best of love interest choices.  How would you best explain the character and where do you see the character going in further episodes?

PP: Wren is angry.  Passionate and very sarcastic, but like a lot of women likes a bad boy.  She shows up in a lot of episodes just being a bit of a pain in the ass.  She's very opinionated.  In "That's Showbiz" her ego gets the best of her.  That is my favorite episode because I get to do a fight scene with Ming Liu one of the best stunt woman in the business and Lucy Lui's double.  I don't think Wren will be returning.

CBB: You worked on the Bold and the Beautiful where a "soap" is a lot of improve as I imagine much of The Hunted is made up on the spot with a basic outline.  Do you prefer that type atmosphere, TV, or film the best?

PP: I actually didn't do any improvising in Bold and the Beautiful I did do a stunt that was tricky because the actress kept almost really hitting me in the face.  I love to improvise though.  I did it for years at Upfront Comedy where a lot of great improvisers performed Lisa Kudrow, Molly Shannon, Andy Dick, Ryan Styles etc.  The movie Sledge my scenes were improvised as were a lot of the actors and I had such an awesome time.  Everyone was very funny and we did it for a live audience also.

CBB: Do you prefer the acting or the stunt work?

PP: I prefer acting.  I grew up watching Judy Dench, Helen Mirren and Juliet Stevenson a lot of the British actors on TV.  Stunt work is awesome.  It is so exciting to do a good fight scene.  It's like dance.

CBB: Where can we find your work online?

PP: Sledge: A Documentary and A league can be ordered by internet.

CBB: What work should we expect from you in the future?  You have the last word.

PP: I hope I can get back to my creative stuff.  Maybe some producing with friends who have high def cameras and editing ability and/if they want to shoot and pitch more ideas to television.  Acting on occasion and who knows I am writing my own stuff currently and performing it so we'll see....

One never knows in this business.

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If you have any suggestions for articles or want your fan film spotlighted on these here pages or just want to say hello please email me at christopher@comicbookbin.com.

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Last Updated: August 31, 2023 - 08:12