Snowmen is a charming, family-friendly, coming-of-age film that uses humor and a light hand to tackle some important subjects. Writer/director Robert Kirbyson's Snowmen balances the story of a young boy named Billy (Bobby Coleman) who believes he's dying and wants to leave a lasting impression on the world by setting a Guinness World Record for building snowmen with lessons on bullying. Joining Coleman in the PG-rated independent film are Christopher Lloyd, Bobb'e J Thompson, and Ray Liotta. Liotta plays Billy's father, a car salesman who stars in his own wacky commercials and works hard to keep his family afloat financially.
In support of the film's release in theaters on October 21, 2011, we spoke to Liotta about what audiences can expect from Snowmen. "I think it's going to be really entertaining, and aside from it being entertaining, it definitely takes on issues," explained Liotta in our exclusive interview. "There's not many movies that you go and see and you can talk about it with your family, that deal with real life lessons."
Ray Liotta Snowmen Exclusive Interview
Snowmen touches on so many serious subjects. It has a kid dealing with a disease, the family's financial problems due to medical bills, and bullying in school. Was that the appeal of doing the project in the first place, that it does cover so many important topics?
Ray Liotta: "Not that it covered so much as much as how well what it does cover and how well it was written. You never know what’s going to happen with the movie, and even with the best directors sometimes don’t get it right. So it’s always, as they say, a crap-shoot. With this one, no harm, no foul. I just wanted to see it. I mean, I read it and was really moved by the story and what happens in it. I think it's really, really well written and I just wanted to be a part of it. It was nice to play a character like this again."
What really got me is that it's not sappy and it could have been. How do you think the director managed to get the right tone and balance?
Ray Liotta: "I think it was in the writing because it was experiences he had in his life. I think it was loosely based on what happened in his life, and he’s just not a sappy guy. He’s a really, really smart guy. But when you're dealing with life and death and cancer and bullying and what happens to us when we die and what marks do we leave, if it gets a little silly it wouldn’t have the impact that I think that it does. I’ve seen it a couple of times now with audiences and across the board... Usually [with a film] there are always some people who like it, or something's too violent, or this, that and the other thing...but this one really held up for parents and kids."
Did you talk to writer/director Robert Kirbyson about his experiences and the true story, or did you stick strictly with what was in the script?
Ray Liotta: "I just went totally with what was in the script. I figured if he wanted to tell me about it... I think the biggest thing was that he he had some people who were from Jamaica who moved in across the street from him. I’m not sure exactly if there was a cancer story involved, I can’t remember now, but it wouldn't have mattered one way or another. Sometimes that’s a danger when someone is so close to something that happens that they want to just recreate what happened in real life. You know, it is a movie and there are going to be things that are different that makes movies either more compelling or less compelling because of it’s a true story. "
Do you like working with writer-directors?
Ray Liotta: "I like working with directors who commit to the story and who know the story inside and out. Most times when you work with a writer who also directs or a director who has written it, there is more of a shorthand. Things get fixed quick. And usually they've lived with the story for a long time so they know what they want. They've been visualizing it as they wrote and rewrote and then rewrote it again."
With all the movies you've made and all the characters you've played, I’m sure you're allowed at this point to give any input you want to into your characters. Were you able to do that with this writer-director?
Ray Liotta: "Yes, he was pretty open. But also too, again, it was so well written that I didn't really have to change much. I just had to submit to the text, to what he wrote."
Given that this is a small-budgeted independent film, have you been active behind the scenes promoting it?
Ray Liotta: "Because there was no real distributor, they don’t want to put a lot of money into it, yet the only way to get it out is to put money into it. You’re stuck between a rock and a hard place. Hopefully, it's going to be more word of mouth. From what I gather, they were doing lots of screenings and hopefully we get good reviews - that’s going to help this movie a lot. Then it's going to be word of mouth, that when people do see this they will talk to their friends and say that they saw a good movie and they should go see it. That’s what this movie needs."
And your daughter is in Snowmen?
Ray Liotta: "Yes, she has a little part in it. She came up to visit me and they gave her a close-up in one of the snowball things. She doesn’t really have any dialogue."
Does she want to be an actress?
Ray Liotta: "Right now she does; she’s definitely headed that way. She has dance classes. They're doing the play Mary Poppins and she got cast in Mary Poppins. She’s 12."
Are you okay with the fact she wants to go into acting?
Ray Liotta: "If she wants to do it, yes. I mean, what am I going to say? I can't keep someone from [their dream]. I’m not going to let her do it on a professional level with agents and managers at this stage of the game. That’s going to have to happen when she graduates from school. Doing plays and taking classes - that’s fine."
The film's message about bullying is really important and relevant.
Ray Liotta: "That’s been going on forever. I remember kids picking on me 30, 40 years ago."
Did you really get picked on?
Ray Liotta: "Oh yeah, no question. There was one group of guys – I played sports and there was this one kid, he used to have his brothers come down from the high school and it was just always so scary. We were just in the seventh, eighth grade and there were these 10th and 11th graders coming down. Yeah, kids are horrible. It happens with my daughter at her school. It’s not so much of bullying as much as there's cliques, and they are just mean. Girls are almost worse than boys. It’s horrible."
Do you give her advice on how to handle it?
Ray Liotta: "If they go too far, tell me and I’ll go to the school or go to the parents. The biggest thing is to let her know and try to make her understand that usually the kids who are bullying are the most insecure."
This was shot a while ago and you've worked on quite a few films in between finishing it up and its release in theaters. How difficult is it to get into the mode of promoting a movie you filmed a few years back?
Ray Liotta: "Well, once I kind of start visiting it again, it comes back. One of the things about movies – I mean, I can remember a lot of things that happened in almost every movie I’ve made whether it was what it’s like to shoot, what was going on that day, what scenes, what takes they used. There is something about this because of the import that it has for me."
You have so many films coming up. Do you ever take a break?
Ray Liotta: "It comes and goes. A lot of these movies I have supporting parts, so I don’t have to be there for a long period of time. It’s just a crazy business; when it rains, it pours."
I love the fact you've never allowed them to plug you into one specific type of character.
Ray Liotta: "I’m trying."
How have you managed to avoid being thought of for just certain types of characters?
Ray Liotta: "Well, some people don’t think that. What happens is when you play bad guys, bad guys really tend to stand out in people’s minds. I’ve had people come up and say, 'You’re always playing a bad guy!’ That’s not necessarily true, but I’m not going to list my resume for them because they haven’t seen all the movies. [Laughing] You just have to roll with it."
What are you working on now?
Ray Liotta: "I have this opening this weekend and then November 4th there is a movie called Son of No One with Al Pacino and Channing Tatum and Tracy Morgan that’s coming up. That’s a cop drama."
Are you playing a good guy in that one?
Ray Liotta: [Laughing] "No."
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Snowmen hits theaters in limited release on October 21, 2011. Visit the official website for more info.
