Welcome And Guest Introduction

Greg Staffa 0:00

You're listening to the Staffa Corner Podcast, a Staffatarian look, an entertainment in life, with your host, Greg Staffa. My guest this episode is Bill Oberst Jr., one of Horror's most recognizable character actors. We're going to talk about his career, his love of storytelling, and the man behind the monsters. Bill, thanks for joining us today.

Bill Oberst Jr. 0:41

Greg, I really appreciate that. Thank you, and I'm glad to be with you.

Growing Up Different And Bullied

Greg Staffa 0:45

So you have a very interesting childhood, one that I found a little bit depressing, but there was a lot of self-inflicted, but also inflicted by others. You were as bullied the right way to say that a lot of your growing up was.

Bill Oberst Jr. 1:02

Yeah, of course, because I was different in just about every way that a boy could be different growing up in South Carolina. I was a gay boy. I was not athletic. I was uh very studious. I made straight A's. I really enjoyed Sunday school. I wanted to be a minister when I grew up, and I had really, really bad acne, and all of those things made me uh this subject of a lot of bullying and pushing around. So yeah.

Greg Staffa 1:33

Talking to other actors and stuff like that, acting for a lot of them was an escape. And I've read that this was an escape for you, that if you could make others laugh, they wouldn't bother you as much because you had kind of created the the center of attention and made people enjoy being around you. Is was that a way for to survive? Was that something that you quickly realized was your way to break free of that bullying and not necessarily have people like you, but had that be the source of their attention versus being you specifically the source of attention?

Bill Oberst Jr. 2:09

Initially to be liked. I mean, I could take them hitting me, that's okay, you know. But everybody, particularly men, when you're a kid and when you're especially when you're an adolescent, you want more than anything else to be liked, to be one of the gang. So you got to find your way for them to like you. And so I that's what I did. I started so that people would like me. And they did. Their opinion of me changed, and I became the performer. And then I realized I really, really like this. So, you know, in a way, I I really thank God, I I thank the great spirit that I was born so different because otherwise I might never have discovered what I think is my vocation.

Turning Pain Into A Vocation

Greg Staffa 2:49

And that was you kind of jumped the gut on my next question, then. At what point did you realize that this was a profession? And looking back on it, is it in an odd way almost a blessing that this burden that was placed upon you, this the bullying and everything like that, turned you into who you are now, not only as a strong person, but as an actor, that maybe if you hadn't had all those things, how different life would be. So, do you view it now looking back as a blessing, or was it just something that probably would have been inevitable either way, and you just kind of wish the bullying never happened?

Bill Oberst Jr. 3:32

No, no, no, no, no, no, no. I do wish that the bullying, I don't regret anything in my life because it led me to where I am now. And I think that's the way it is for everybody's life. That one of my favorite authors is named Frederick Beakner, and Beakner says, listen to your life because your life is telling you something. Your life is singing you a song about who you are. And Ray Bradbury, another great author, he said you have to decide how you're going to tell the world who it is. If you're a dancer, you dance it. If you're a singer, you sing it. If you're uh a workman, you do it with your hands. But everybody's got to figure out what is my life telling me. And then the second part is how do I use that to try to make the world a little better place? The second part is the toughest, but it's it's a vocation. And I think everybody has a vocation. It's not the same always as an occupation. I just got lucky that for me it was.

Greg Staffa 4:31

And was there a certain pivotal point in your life where you realized that the things working against you were also the things that made you such a talented actor? Was there a point where you you started to appreciate your uniqueness more and use that in your acting?

Los Angeles And Owning His Look

Bill Oberst Jr. 4:50

Yeah, when I took the plunge and moved out to Los Angeles, I began to realize because I'd always kind of like you know, hidden these weird parts of myself. I tried to appear as normal as possible. You know, I have kind of a scary look, people would say. And I always try to like, you know, comb my hair in a certain way and you know, try to be really like affable and hey, how you doing? And when I got out to Los Angeles, I realized that if I'm gonna be a camera actor, I can't lie anymore because the camera doesn't let you lie. And so I just started to embrace who I was and started doing all of these really weird horror roles. And yeah, that was the point at which I realized, okay, then maybe who I am is actually okay and can also be beneficial. And that's I think when my vocation became my occupation.

Greg Staffa 5:45

And hearing some of that, I find I don't know if the word depressing is the right word, but it almost sounds like you've based on what other people have told you and the bullying and stuff like that. Have you kind of pigeonholed yourself into saying this is my value, horror is my my niche? I mean, could do you could you see yourself going out for like a romantic comedy? Or is that just something that mentally and emotionally just isn't in the cards for you and you're happy with what you're doing doing the horror genre?

Bill Oberst Jr. 6:21

That is a really insightful question, brother. Mentally and emotionally, yes, of course. I would love it. Um because you know, I'm not a scary killer, but the the camera sees what the camera sees, and it's a visual medium, so you can only swim against the tide, but so much. If you get really, really like, you know, if I was like Robert England, well known, then people would like, oh, you know, hey, we want to have you do something romantic comedy for fun, just just because you're Robert England and it's gonna do something weird, and you can get away with it, but uh no, not at my level. Um, what I do on camera is what I do on camera, and I've tried to become really good at it, and I do enjoy it. I love it, in fact, because I was a monster kid, because I felt like a monster. I love the monsters. So to play monsters and monstrous humans is it's really an odd kick for me.

Greg Staffa 7:13

Tell us a little bit about the first couple you moved up to Hollywood. Tell us about the first couple roles, and what was that like to realize that you were not only talented, but I think there's a feeling of being wanted. You know, anytime we get hired for a job, we feel wanted, and you talk about you know your struggles and and feeling accepted and stuff like that. Now you're getting these roles. What was that like?

Bill Oberst Jr. 7:39

All actors, maybe all performers, are needy, or like it's we have this crushing need for other people to say, you're okay, you're okay. And so, yeah, to get any role as an actor, especially in a competitive environment like Los Angeles, makes you feel like, yay, it's a win. Um, but when I started, and it was not immediate, I had to really, really work and just take every job I could get. When I started to get these sort of, you know, semi-high profile horror roles, that's when it really felt like, okay, you know, now I I'm I'm being more accepted for who I am. And in return, what I got to do is start shedding these layers of lies about who I am, because I found that the more I was who I really was myself, how I physically present myself and the way that I am, the more work I got in horror. For instance, I started out when I was, you know, supposed to kill people, I'd be like really loud and aggressive. And I had one really great director, and I remember the moment when he pulled me to the side and he said, Bill, screaming is not your strength. Whisper. When you want to scream, whisper. And really, in in life, I'm this is my normal speaking tone. I'm uh I speak like this. So I started saying things on camera like, I'm really sorry that it has to be this way. But it does. And the more soft you get combined with the more violent the action, the more frightening it is. So the more I surrendered to who I really am and poured it into the roles, the more work I got.

Horror As Healing And Warning

Greg Staffa 9:28

Given the years, and I hate to kind of harp on the bullying and stuff like that, but given the years of the bullying that you face, is there an emotional stress ball relief in doing some of these horror movies and stuff like that? You know, because they always say it's healthy to scream every once in a while. Just let out the the emotions and and to to kind of face them openly. Is horror kind of your way of of letting out that scream?

Bill Oberst Jr. 9:54

It has been, yeah. And I hope now that after all these years that the scream is pretty much out, you know, it's down to like just a little whimper. But absolutely, it would it was part of the way that I healed from being told that you know you're an abomination, you don't fit in, you know, you're this, you're that. It's the way that I healed, yeah, absolutely. And I mean, now that I when you put it that way and I think about it that way, it seems kind of a um it seems kind of a dangerous way to heal, you know, had I not had these um roles, what would I have done in life? And I don't know. But I I guess I was lucky that I had this way to heal. But I what I try to be also, Greg, is a cautionary tale for people. Like all my guys that I play are wounded monsters. They're all they do bad things, but they're wounded. And usually they got wounded because of the way people and the world treated them. And so I always tell people be really careful because you can create monsters so easily by the way, you can say something to somebody that you know is going to hurt them, but you say it anyway because you think it's cute or funny or whatever. And that hurt is gonna stick with that person probably for the rest of their life. And you do not know what events you have set in motion with your cruelty.

Greg Staffa 11:17

Oh, that's well said. It reminds me, I and I wish I could remember who said it, but there was an actor once, and they were talking about how someone came up to him and said, you know, what is it like playing such horrible, horrible people? And he looked at the person and says, Well, what do you mean? And the person interviewing him realized that this actor didn't, and I and I wish I could remember who said it, but this actor really didn't feel like he played horrible people. He played people that were, like you said, wounded and put in situations where they had to react in a way, and to him, as an actor, that's what he found fascinating. That they weren't necessarily all evil just to be evil, but there was more to it that that layered that they really found enjoyable. That there wasn't just bad guy to be bad guy, it's you know, why did this person choose to do what he was, what what put him in those circumstances? It kind of sounds like you have a similar approach.

Bill Oberst Jr. 12:22

That's absolutely right. That's the whole point. Everybody is scared, everybody's lonely, and so we all play out that in different ways. And if we don't feel if you don't feel a basic acceptance from your fellow human beings that you are worthy and that you have dignity, then you're gonna play that out usually in some kind of a way that involves retribution, or you're just gonna disappear into yourself and curl up and die. But the survival instinct takes over, and that's how we create monsters. We have got to learn that all life is sacred, every life is sacred, and that we are equally sacred. Every life deserves dignity because it is life, and until we learn that, we're gonna keep doing this to each

Faith, Darkness, And Self Control

Bill Oberst Jr. 13:13

other.

Greg Staffa 13:13

Now, actors like Neil McDonough won't kiss someone on film uh because he has he's married and he's considers that you know a sacred vow. Other actors refuse to do certain things because of their beliefs. You're a spiritual person, and you even spent years portraying Jesus, if I'm not mistaken, but you're a very spiritual person. Does portraying horror and getting into that darkness have any impact on your faith? And how does that impact you as trying to be the good person that you are?

Bill Oberst Jr. 13:44

It's strengthened my faith because every bit of this darkness that I play is in me and in you, I believe, and in everybody. We all have the same potentials. So these are all versions of myself. I am that killer, I am that rapist, I am that homicidal maniac, I am that devious CEO, I am that lying politician that causes death and takes the profits. I am all of those people. If if I unless I choose not to be, I have to actively choose not to be those people. And so when I'm playing a role, all I'm doing really is just saying, okay, I'm gonna allow myself to be what I could be. Um, yeah, I've never played anybody or done anything on screen that I wouldn't be quite capable of in real life if I chose to let that go. You know, I mean, we live in a society that really encourages, like, you know, oh, be yourself. You know, if it feels good, it's okay. And, you know, just you know, follow your instincts. I don't think following our instincts is always really good. I don't, because I think we have murderous, hateful, selfish impulses. And a little bit of discipline is not a bad thing.

Greg Staffa 15:02

Does that ever scare you? I mean, that it it makes sense, and but do you to be able to admit that does that ever scare you that that's deeper within all of us, or is that just something that you accept and you realize that the good person in you outweighs those kind of things, but it's also important to realize that they're there?

Bill Oberst Jr. 15:24

Yeah, it's it's a daily choice not to be the person that you could be. But I find it really liberating to say, you know, like when I'm standing naked before my creator, as we all are, I can say, I got no bullshit to offer you. I got no defenses, I got no pretenses, I'm not a good person, I got nothing, but I need the goodness and the love that I believe is at the center of the universe to be in me. Please help me. And that feels like an honest prayer, whereas a lot of the other prayers, you know, just feel like bullshit.

Bradbury And Lon Chaney Lessons

Greg Staffa 16:08

Now you mentioned Ray Bradbury, and uh him and along with Lon Cheney are two people that you deeply admire and kind of follow their their career path, and they're influential in you and your work. If you could have lunch with them and sit down and talk about, you know, what you guys do, what would you guys talk about and how would they view your career as you admire their career?

Bill Oberst Jr. 16:35

Well, Bradbury wouldn't let me get a word in edge wise, which is the charm of Bradbury. He would go on and on. I don't think Lon would want to say anything. Lon was like so taciturn, but uh what I would want to talk to both of them about is I would want to say, Lon, you said that the point of your career was to point out the humanity in monsters and the monsters in humans. And I thank you for that because that's what I've tried to do. Do you think I'd done a little of it? Maybe like 10%. So I'd totally be looking for that validation. And from Ray, I think I'd just say, Ray, you saved my life when I was an adolescent because I thought I was the only weird person in the world. And then, you know, I encountered you who wrote these wonderful stories about dinosaurs who got their hearts broken and tore down lighthouses because they were hurt and all of these things. Yeah, I would I would just spend the evening doing what I'm doing right now, like gushing. You made me gush just thinking about it.

Greg Staffa 17:47

And what would they think? You know, you've admired their career, you've studied their career. Well, what did they think about your career?

Bill Oberst Jr. 17:56

They'd probably point out my flaws. Um, as you know, you would want your your mentors and your heroes to do. Maybe I might get an attaboy from Ray. I think maybe if Lon did not outwardly criticize me, I'd take that as you know, being okay. God, they were just such amazing talents, both of them.

Greg Staffa 18:17

And tell, I mean, for those that aren't familiar with them, tell us a little bit about each of them and what is it about them that you admired. You said a little bit, but fill others that don't know who they are, who they are.

Bill Oberst Jr. 18:30

Yeah, um, that's a good point because not everybody knows all of my cultural references. Lon Cheney was way, way before my time. He was a silent film actor, and he was the first actor to play what we today would recognize as monstrous figures who are also pitiable figures. He played Eric, Phantom of the Opera, in 1925, and he played um Kozamoto, Hunchback of Notre Dame, in 23. And he also had numerous roles where he played um deformed killers, um people who were outcast of the world, who were sympathetic, but were also malevolent. And that's what I love about him was that combination of sympathy and malevolence. When you watch his stuff, you know, you have to understand that the acting style was very different. But watch what watch Lon's hands and his face. He was raised by deaf parents, and so he communicated through his hands and his face to his parents, and that's what gave him his magic. Bradbury was the most popular writer of fantasy and science fiction of my era. He was born in 25 and he died in 2012. So he spanned this all like three or four generations of us were so influenced by Ray. And he everyone knows Fahrenheit 451. But to me, the heart of his work is the Martian Chronicles, in which he imagined Mars not as a scientific future, technically what it would be like, but spiritually and emotionally, what would it be like for humans to be on Mars? And what of ourselves would we take up there? It's a magical, magical piece of writing.

Favorite Screen Death And Real Fear

Greg Staffa 20:16

Now you've had a lot of memorable deaths on screen. Was there anyone in particular that was your favorite?

Bill Oberst Jr. 20:22

My favorite death on screen? That is a really, really great question. I remember, I'm trying to remember now the ones that I have truly enjoyed. I've never enjoyed being shot much because of the blood, and it's usually cold, and I'm really skinny, so I'm always freezing when there's blood. I've I've never drowned before. You know one that I really liked? I think it was called Ditch Day Massacre, where my character was spent. He had had his revenge, had his retribution, and he'd killed everybody he was going to kill, and he just walked over into this pond and fell face forward and just purposely didn't get up and took the water into his mouth and then his body goes limp and he's just floating. That was sort of that was a peaceful death. And that was actually okay to film too. So yeah, if I enjoyed a death, I think I think that one.

Greg Staffa 21:24

Now you've you've played a lot of frightening characters through the years. As an adult now, is there anything that scares you?

Bill Oberst Jr. 21:32

Yeah. I would be scared if in the middle of the night the doorknob rattled on my bedroom. And I bolted upright, and then it stopped rattling. And nothing happened for an hour. And I sat there for an hour, unable to go to sleep, afraid to use the phone because whatever was out there might hear me. Maybe it doesn't know I'm in here, and I just gotta sit and stare at that torn. For an hour. Those are the kind of fantasies that really, really freak me out. Other than that, in real life, I'm not afraid of anything in nature. I'm cautious of the things I should be dangerous of. I'm not surprised by anything in humanity. So there's nothing in humanity that would really frighten me. I wouldn't be scared if I talked to a ghost or an alien. Even if I talked to a demon, I would just say, get the hell out of here. What are you doing? I've seen you before, go away. So yeah, I'm gonna go with the doorknob, Greg. That's the that's the one fantasy that would like totally freak me out.

Greg Staffa 22:41

I can see that. Now you've played I mean, you have the niche now of the horror.

Choosing Roles Through Relationships

Greg Staffa 22:48

How do you go about? I mean, I'm sure you get a lot of offers. You're the go-to guy for horror. How do you go about finding the right roles? And what is your process for for going through those scripts and choosing what roles you want to take?

Bill Oberst Jr. 23:03

It used to be it. My process was they offered me the role and I said yes. That was the role for like 200 movies. That was the process. But I have slowed down because I'm older now. And you know, I don't want to be cold and wet and covered in blood just for the sake of being cold and wet and covered in blood and saying, Hey, I was in a movie. Really, actually, to tell you the truth, now it's more about the relationship with the production team and the director than it is the script. You can always make a script a little bit better. You know, if you've got a producer and a director who you really have a good connection with on a personal level, and you feel like I want to work with them and they want to work with me so we can create something together, even if what we got to work with is not great, we can make it better. That's what excites me so much. Even more so than oh, this role looks perfect, but the director and I really do not get along. Don't take that job. Whether it pays you good or not, don't take it because it's not going to be good. Um, if the personal relationship is not there. Interesting.

Greg Staffa 24:14

Now, is there like um I mean you talked about your heroes and the films that they did. If I was to go to the video store, if we still had them these days, what would be the five videos that I should be getting?

Bill Oberst Jr. 24:28

You know, if they I would be a lot better known if we had videos, if we had video stores now, because actors like me used to really thrive in the blockbuster environment. And now there's so little opportunity. You know, I feel sometimes like everything that we do on you know, my level, we do these movies and we put them out on streaming platforms, and then they just fall off into the abyss. And sometimes you don't hear anything of them, and sometimes something happens. But it's I I cannot specifically, unfortunately, name those five projects because then the other 195 projects would be like, You didn't mention my movie. I thought I thought we were friends. So for that reason, no, but I can tell you that the number you hit is just about right. I'll tell you one non-horror title because yeah, I've done so few non-horror, but there's one that's non-horror that I would say include in there. It's a film called The Retrieval. The director is Chris Eska. It's a largely block cast, it's set in the American Civil War, it's a coming of age story, and I play a despicable character. I'm a slave bounty hunter, but it's a really, really quiet and nuanced and extremely powerful movie. And I always say young people should see this movie because the choice this young man has to make in this movie is a choice that most of us are gonna have to make throughout our life in one form or another. It's a great movie for families to watch together, it's called The Retrieval. But other than that, yeah, um, a lot of horror movies which I can't single out, although I have my personal favorites.

Papa Corn Fame And Fan Boundaries

Greg Staffa 26:08

So I'm gonna accept your answer, but I'm also gonna rephrase it now to see if I can get you to answer it in a different way. If, like Walt Disney World, they opened Bill Oberst Jr. World, and it was a horror theme park filled with all of the characters that you've played throughout the years, who would be the Mickey, the goofy, and the the you know, Pluto of the attractions?

Bill Oberst Jr. 26:37

Papa Corn from Papa Corn from Circus of the Dead, which is a horrible thought to have you know people running around in Papa Corn costumes doing these heinous things. But Papa Corn is he's pretty darn popular. I mean, um, there's a sequel, it's in the works, it's gonna be made soon for it. Um, he was a really, really disturbing character for me to play. I did not enjoy the movie the first time I watched it, not because I thought it was a bad movie, but because I was just horrified that I had done and said these things. And uh it it filled me with such darkness that I had to go outside. It was raining, and sometimes it rains in LA. And but I just went out and walked in the rain because I just needed to get I needed to feel the rain on my face to see outside, needed to know that there was goodness in the world. Um now I'm comfortable with the movie and somewhat with the character, but yeah, I guess it would have to be Papa Corn, who people really like, and people have his image tattooed on various body parts. They send me pictures.

Greg Staffa 27:42

What's that? I mean, here's the the young or here's the little boy in you that was afraid of his you know image and bullied for his image. Now you're being applauded with these characters that you've played, and you know, it might not be a fully your image, but it's it's you there. I mean, you know that you were popcorn. What is that like to to have that kind of now appreciation shown where people are putting your image, whether it be as a character that you played or not, on their bodies and stuff like that? Is there an acceptance? Is it kind of still weird for you? How do you how does the person that grew up being feeling almost ashamed now kind of look at that?

Bill Oberst Jr. 28:29

It's always weird. There's the kid in you likes it and says, Yay, but you want to be like, kid, you know, don't get too full of yourself. You know, it's you got you got a lot to learn, boy. You want to lecture that your inner child, but yes, your inner child says, Hey, cool. But but when people take it too far, which for me it's too far, if somebody writes and says, Hey, you know, I really love this, you know, I I love the way you cut off that guy's tongue and circus of the dead, then I'm like, Whoa, this is really, you know, like it wasn't me, it was the character, I'm just an actor, you know, I'm just a guy. When they want to talk endlessly and obsessively about that particular character you played, that that gets a little weird. But in general, yeah, your inner kid says, Yay.

Why He Cannot Play Benign

Greg Staffa 29:20

Now, the roles that you've taken, and even you've admitted worked were kind of an escape because of the bullying and stuff like that. But you're also an actor, and actors play roles that aren't necessarily them, but you have kind of adapted the approach that all my characters have a little bit in me. As an actor, is there a sense to want to push yourself into like could you be Jim, the next door lovable neighbor on a TV series? Is that something that interests you, or are you more comfortable mind, body, and soul, playing these deeper, darker characters?

Bill Oberst Jr. 29:58

Do you want to push yourself? No. The second, I don't think it would be pushing myself to play Jim the Amiable Neighbor Next Door, because I would know that Jim the Amiable Neighbor Next Door has these dark undercurrents. We all do. And it's the natural waters that I swim in. And so I wouldn't be able to play Jim, even if I had like this incredible plastic surgery, and they would be like, Oh my god, you look like a 30-year-old beautiful guy. I still couldn't do it, Greg, because in my eyes, there would be this like troubling look. I cannot be benign, I just can't, because I've seen the dark currents, I've seen it in myself, I see it in other people. It's the way I view the world. To know that the darkness is there is so inherently a part of me that I cannot not do it.

Greg Staffa 30:51

Some would argue that that's kind of a sad way to live life, others might argue that's a realistic way to live life. Does it ever I don't want to say trouble you, but is it ever, I mean, to have that approach, it almost sounds like how do you find vulnerability? How do you open yourself up to trust others and have social relationships if that's how you view certain people?

Bill Oberst Jr. 31:17

I view all people that way, including myself. I view all humanity that way. There's something rotten at the core of all humanity, there are no exceptions, and so for that reason, it's just a relief that I can, as John Lennon said in instant karma, you better get yourself together, baby. You better join the human race. So for so many years, I didn't join the human race because I was like, oh, well, you know, I'm not really like that, and you know, not everybody is. But once I accepted, yes, there's something rotten at the core of humanity itself, then I can join the human race. I don't have to celebrate the rottenness all the time, but I have to always know that it's there. And it makes other people more dear to me. It engenders affection for all humans because I know everybody's scared, everybody's lonely, and everybody has this really dark part of them. But that's where joy comes from. For me, there can't be any joy or any happiness or any delight if it's not played against that darkness that I'm not giving into. You know what I mean? It doesn't the joy doesn't have any meaning unless the joy is to overcome the darkness, if that makes any sense. Yeah.

Advice For Kids Who Feel Different

Bill Oberst Jr. 32:36

No.

Greg Staffa 32:36

So you found your escape being you know from being an outsider uh through the movies and the characters that you've played. If there is a kid today that found himself in a similar situation, he's the young you and discovered your work, much like you discovered your your idols and stuff like that. What were some of the things that you hope that they take away and get from learning about you?

Bill Oberst Jr. 33:03

Don't be afraid, is what I would say to that kid. Don't be afraid because you are beautifully and wonderfully made. The way that you're made is a good thing. It's a beautiful thing, it's a wonderful thing. Be comfortable in your body, it's your home. Be comfortable in nature, it's your home, it's where you belong. And you're gonna, I would say to that kid, you're going to have to fight, you're gonna have to apply friction against a society which tries to force you into a mold into which you do not fit, but you must apply that friction. I would say it's not gonna be easy, kid, but do not be afraid and do not listen to the lies from other people or inside you that say, well, I should just be like everybody else. Don't do it.

Greg Staffa 34:01

And what are some of the things that you know you have in the future? Are you looking at directing? Are you writing? What other outlets are there, or are you just looking to for more roles and love acting?

Bill Oberst Jr. 34:14

I'm at the stage in my life now where I'm looking away from acting. I enjoy it and I do it. I get all roles that come usually on offers, and I do the roles and they're really great. Sometimes I have to audition. The last time was for a Netflix series called All the Sinners Bleed, where I played a uh snake-handling racist preacher. It was a great role, and that's gonna be a series. I think that's gonna air early next year. So I I enjoy the roles I do, but I don't want my whole life, you know, this last quarter of my life, to be about acting roles, whether I got them or whether I didn't get them. Uh, and I've recently been wanting to help older adults with balance issues and with mobility issues, because I've gone through this now with uh a mother, a stepfather, and beginning to go through it with my remaining two parents. And so I'm um taking some courses to become a corrective exercise specialist and to work as a ministry with older folks on their balance and their mobility, particularly people who have not moved well in a long time, trying to teach them about their bodies, about their older bodies, what they can still do, how to be balanced, how to have the dignity of being in your own home as long as possible. So, yeah, that that's kind of a personal thing. And I'm also spending a lot of time in nature and a lot of time on my own body, working out, trying to be as healthy as I can be. Really like turning back into the boy that I was. Because when I was a kid, I liked nothing better than to be outside. And I always wanted to help people. And I think that kid is kind of like coming back and saying, Hey, let me take you through this last bit of the journey of your life. But I'll I'll I'll never stop acting. And when people want me to play snake handling creatures, I'll always do it.

Greg Staffa 36:26

And we kind of talked about, you know, the kid in you. We talked about what a kid might think of your work and stuff like that. But what would little Bill Oberst Jr. look, you know, see in you? And what is your message to that little kid that was scared, that was bullied, that was treated bad? What advice would you give to that little kid if you could?

Bill Oberst Jr. 36:51

I talk to him all the time. I don't know if you do this, Greg. Um I've talked to other people that do. Like, you know, picture yourself as a kid, particularly in a vulnerable or scared moment, and talk talk to yourself as a kid. Maybe he talks to me, I don't know. But what I tell him is it's gonna be okay. It's gonna be okay. And your life is going to be centered around love and positivity. And you're gonna also have to accept that you've been given both the curse and the blessing of recognizing the darkness that exists around you. That's part of who you are, Billy. So you're gonna have to be with okay with that. You're gonna be a little bit different, but you're gonna be okay. That's that's that's what I say to him. And I hope that maybe he occasionally says to me, Hey, we did it. Nice.

Upcoming Work And Closing Reflections

Greg Staffa 37:49

And then wrapping things up, and I do appreciate you coming on. What are some of the things you hinted at a couple of things like the Netflix thing? What else is there that you can that you're able to talk about that you have coming up?

Bill Oberst Jr. 38:03

The Ray Bradbury Center in Indianapolis, Indiana, at university there has moved into new quarters. They have all of Ray's uh library, his personal effects, his office from Los Angeles. It's one of the largest single-author repositories in the country. And the Ray Bradbury Center in this October of 2026 is having a grand opening of this new space. So I'm gonna be performing there with um the local, a local actor, Ben Aswaki, and with Jason Archerman, who's the director of the Bradbury Center, and we're gonna do a piece incorporating some of Ray's works on stage um as sort of a tribute to him. And I'm really, really looking forward to that. And then I also do a touring version of a one-man Christmas Carol, and I have some performances of that coming up this December, and I've got one, two, three movies booked between now and the end of the year. And the Netflix series will debut, I don't know when, but we shot it in spring. I'm assuming that they're gonna put it out in spring of 27, but it'll be pretty big when it happens because it's produced by Michelle Obama's production company, Higher Ground, and it's also produced by Steven Spielberg's production company, Amblin Entertainment. So that'll be heavily promoted. I think that'll be, you know, as an actor says, hey, that's gonna be a nice little hit for you. That'll be a nice little hit. It'll be it'll it's a performance that'll be seen. And by the way, I don't know if you've ever handled snakes. I never had until this role, but if you've never had snakes wrapped around your arm preaching to a crowd of people, saying amen, I would recommend it. It was pretty cool.

Greg Staffa 39:45

Yeah, I'll stick to watching you do it on Netflix. Um come on, man. You're you're more than welcome to to do that.

Bill Oberst Jr. 39:54

There's nothing wrong with snakes, they're they're great. They I I was surprised by how much I like them.

Greg Staffa 40:01

I'll I'll take your word for it and I'll uh I'll leave it at that. Wrapping things up, and again, like I said, I appreciate coming on. So much of your work is tied to the characters that you've played. So much, you know, it's hard to say your name without mentioning a horror or you know that kind of stuff. But when you get up in the morning and you go into the bathroom, splash a little water on your face, and look in the mirror, who is it that you see?

Bill Oberst Jr. 40:30

I see my damn self, and uh it's the same damn self that I had when I was a little boy. I see Billy, I see Bill, I see William, and I recently shaved my head. I've wanted to do this for years, Greg. But I was always like, oh, I was always like, oh, you know, you can't do that. Because then people were like, oh, you know, what roles are you getting? And finally I was like, you know what? Screw it. I have always envisioned myself this way, and so now I look in the mirror and I smile because I say, Hey, ugly mug, that's you. I see myself, and then I get out on the beach at 4 30 in the morning and start my day.

Greg Staffa 41:13

It's great. I've shaved my head for many years. The only downside is if you don't do it for like two days, you start looking like Bull's little clown.

Bill Oberst Jr. 41:21

That's yeah, or like uh my dad says, uh, this is my son, the escape prison inmate, when I let it grow for a few days.

Greg Staffa 41:28

Yeah, so that's the only downside. Is it's great when it's shaved, but you let it go for a few days and it looks a little bit weird. But Bill Old Burst Jr., thank you so much for coming on. It's been great hearing about your story. And in all honesty, the the struggles that you faced, I think those are important to get out and talk about. So I do appreciate you being a little bit vulnerable there and and talking about those things. And it's it's hard to kind of harp on them for questions, but it yet at the source, it's your story, and so it's important to be able to talk about those openly and honestly. So I appreciate you coming on and being a little bit vulnerable and answering those questions.

Bill Oberst Jr. 42:07

Greg, I want to thank you for a real conversation. Thank you for having me, man. I'm gonna go shave my head.

Greg Staffa 42:13

There you go. Thank you, sir.