"I play Mark, and when Denise calls up, it's me she calls." Dan Gunther is referring to the phone call that changes the course of the film and the lives of every character in it. His role is that of the man responsible for Denise's eighth-month pregnancy, that is, if one can be said to have a responsibility that was supposed to be an anonymous donation to a sperm bank. "The guy makes one little effort to reach out and help others by donating sperm, and it comes back to him in a way that he never expected, actually enriching and changing his life."
Gunther feels the film is very close to real life. "It's a fable about alienation in the nineties. Since I shot this film, I got a new computer and I've been on the Internet. There are times when I'm on the computer and I suddenly realized that six hours just went by and I haven't left the room.
"In LA, where I live, you go out of your house and into a car, and then you move to a cubicle at work, yet another isolated environment. Later you can order in the groceries, order in Chinese food. You can now even pay your bills on line. You never have to leave the house. And some people don't.
"When we shot the film, the only time the actors ever got together as a group was for a read-through in New York. While it's not unusual for actors on films to work on the same film and never meet, it is pretty unusual for actors who have scenes together never to have met."
Gunther's latest project is LEWIS AND CLARK AND GEORGE, which he produced and acts in. The film, which is a road movie written and directed by Rod McCall, recently wrapped production in Hillsboro, New Mexico.
Last modified 28-Mar-96.
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