The Crackle web series, The Bannen Way is now coming to an end (before heading to DVD) and we had the chance to talk to one of the stars, Academy Award nominated actor, Robert Forster. The Bannen Way is a glossy and ambitious web series that tells the story of Neal Bannen (Mark Gantt), a gambler, thief and con man with a mobster for an uncle and police chief for a father. In the series, Robert Forster plays Neal Bannen’s mobster uncle, Mr. B.; a man who has an offer that the younger Bannen just can’t refuse.
Robert Forster: I never knew exactly what they were. I heard the word before, but when I read the script I recognized that it was segmented… you know, it’s a feature but segmented in to 14 discreet interesting little episodes and each episode advances the story, but is like a book that you want to see the next page and the end of every episode makes you wanna catch the next thing that’s gonna happen. It’s very interesting storytelling.
CraveOnline: Tell us about your character, Mr. B.
Robert Forester: I’m the uncle, the bad uncle. Bad by somebody else’s perspective. Me, I think I’m the good uncle. I consider politicians and their like to be the bad guys. I don’t knock over old ladies; I knock over cheaters and other bad guys and mobsters. It’s the politicians that take everybody’s money, they just force you in to paying them and they decide what they want to do with it. I don’t do that. If you’re not a bad guy, I don’t bother you. If you’re not taking money from a bad source, I leave you alone. But as soon as I see somebody taking, I find a way to get in there and share it.
CraveOnline: What attracted you to the project?
Robert Forester: Good storytelling. Characters were good, my character is good. The scenes are good. Every scene that I’ve done has been interesting and well written and multi-layered. There is no wasted space. It’s not poetry, but it’s what poetry ought to be; Short, pithy and succinct and gives you a gem every time.
CraveOnline: Tell us about acting in this production.
Robert Forster: In the early part of my career I always played the Bannen part. This is the great part, you carry the picture. You have all the problems to deal with. As the Uncle, I just have to carry one end of it. I have to carry the end that puts him a problem. I just push him in one direction; the father pushes him in another direction.
The conversation then moved to a discussion the production of the series and acting in general. Forster shot his scenes over the course of four days on the Los Angeles set.
Regarding the production Forster said, “In a movie like this, you get a fast shot at the material; you deliver it as good as you prepared it and you hope that you do your best take on the set”.
Watch The Bannen Way on Crackle: The Bannen Way
