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By Suzanne

Interview with Kyle Gallner and Ryan Hurst of "Outsiders" on WGN America 3/10/16

Moderator: Hayley Strichman
March 10, 2016 4:45 pm CT

Dawn: Hi everyone. This is (Dawn) from WGN America. Thank you for participating in this conference call for Outsiders. After the last episode, I think everybody knows the Farrells are in for some big changes.

And we have Ryan Hurst who plays Li'l Foster and Kyle Gallner as Hasil here to answer some of your questions. So I'll turn it over to the moderator for questions. Thank you.

Coordinator: We will now begin the question and answer session. Our first question will come from Suzanne Lanoue. You have an open line. You may begin.

Suzanne Lanoue: Hi. Good morning. Thanks for taking our calls.

Kyle Gallner: Yes, of course.

Ryan Hurst: Yes. Yes.

Suzanne Lanoue: I have a question for each of you. Ryan, how is this character different from the ones you've played previously?

Ryan Hurst: I think that you're probably referring to Opie from Sons of Anarchy just because they look similar. But I think - I'd say, you know, that Li'l Foster is different in that he's a very, very sensitive guy who's very dependent on the opinion of his father and also the opinion of his love, you know, G'Win.

And he doesn't, you know, he doesn't necessarily know yet exactly who he is in relation to himself. So he's kind of got some growing up to do. And I think that's different than a lot of characters that I've played in the past.

Suzanne Lanoue: All right, thanks. And Kyle, what do you think is the biggest difference between your character now where you're sort of a protagonist. You're - well you are the protagonist but you're - I wouldn't say that's a good guy but kind of a good guy.

And characters you played in the past, where you were younger and more maybe innocent?

Kyle Gallner: Younger and more innocent? I did way crazier people than this guy over here. You know, yes I mean Hasil's different, you know? He's a little more grown up, but he is - he's still a little reckless. He's a little bit of a wild child but he has a big heart, you know?

And he loves fiercely and he loves his family and at the same time, you know, where that maybe not good guy thing comes in is that he can be kind of savage and violent at times.

But I think that really just is the nature of the beast. I think that's who we are. So, you know, I think there's a lot more depth to this guy than a lot of the stuff I've got to play, particularly on TV.

When I was younger, there's just more to him, you know? He's not a cut and dry bad guy and he's not kind of like a meek sort of helpless victim. He's very much a full person with a lot going on. So yes, I think that's the difference. I'm not totally sure but he feels different.

Suzanne Lanoue: All right. Thanks a lot. I appreciate it, you guys.

Ryan Hurst: Yes, you got it.

Kyle Gallner: Yes, sure.

Coordinator: Thank you. Once again for our participants, to ask a question please press Star followed by 1. And to withdraw your request, you may press Star followed by 2. The next question will come from Tony Tellado. You have an open line. You may begin.

Tony Tellado: Thank you. Great to talk to you guys. You know, the - what's interesting about this show is that they really - you all live - your characters live in like this self-contained world, although the outside world obviously creeps in.

As actors, how do you kind of prepare yourselves to kind of be in a world where essentially you're all off the grid?

Kyle Gallner: Well, you know, we've - this has sort of been discussed before where - not with you obviously but there's something to - you know, people ask you did you, you know, did you go to Kentucky?

Did you go off the grid? Did you actually, you know, go live that life? And, you know, you could do that. And there's things where I personally, you know, read books and, you know, kind of tried to study the life.

But Ryan has mentioned before that one of the biggest things was, you know, there's a totally fictional world and once you - once we got on the set and we got onto - you know, we go into our wardrobe and we, you know, got the tattoos on.

And we got, you know, we really stepped into these character's shoes and then we show up on set with, you know, these amazing buildings and you really get to step into our world for the first time.

I think that probably helped inform things more than anything else.

Ryan Hurst: Yes. I mean I would say the exact same thing.

Tony Tellado: And guys, any rumblings for next season yet?

Kyle Gallner: Your guess is as good as ours man.

Ryan Hurst: Yes. Yes, I mean who knows? The numbers seem pretty good, but we haven't got the pick-up yet so. You know?

Kyle Gallner: Yes, we haven't heard. We're going into Episode 8 and still no word. So I don't know what they're waiting for. The numbers - yes, like Ryan said, the numbers are good. So fingers crossed.

Ryan Hurst: Yes.

Tony Tellado: All right. Great. I'll keep mine crossed as well.

Ryan Hurst: Awe, thank you man.

Kyle Gallner: Thank you.

Coordinator: Thank you. And our next question will come from (Diana Marsh). You have an open line.

Diana Marsh: All right guys. Thank you so much for answering our questions. Of course we really appreciate your time. My first question though is to Kyle. Kyle, you know, over your television and movie career, your roles have been a little eclectic.

What would you say really draws you to your character -- especially for your character for Outsiders?

Kyle Gallner: It's a funny thing. You know, sometimes you don't get to choose and you just have to work. And then sometimes there's something about a character that's really interesting, you know?

I like to tell good stories whenever I can and just play interesting characters. Like you said, it's been eclectic and that's sort of been on purpose. I like to do all sorts of different stuff.

You know, the goal at the end of the day I would like to be considered a bit of a character actor. I think that was one of the draws to Hasil. You know, you get to put on the accent and you get to put on the clothes. You get to put on the hair. You get to put on the tattoos.

You get to really create this guy who is so not you. And that was one of the really exciting things that really drew me to the show. You know, this script and the world was extremely interesting.

And, you know, couple that with the fact that I really thought I could do a lot of interesting - or try to do a lot of interesting stuff with Hasil that it was kind of a no-brainer for me.

Diana Marsh: Awesome. Thank you. I appreciate it.

Coordinator: Thank you. Once again for our participants over the phone, to ask a question you may press Star followed by 1. And to withdraw your request, press Star followed by 2.

Next question will come from Douglas Dobbins. You have an open line. You may begin.

Douglas Dobbins: Hey guys, thanks for talking to us today. We really appreciate it.

Ryan Hurst: You got it.

Kyle Gallner: Of course.

Douglas Dobbins: So I grew up in an area -- Northern Idaho -- where there were people who actually had some of these attitudes. Due to things, they actually had attitudes which were very against - I had a family who was law enforcement.

So have you ever - after the working the show or did things, kind of look at the characters on just a personal level or the society that is set up why it is a fictional world?

And kind of have takeaways that you kind of - have affected your thoughts on the world which we actually do we live in and people who are kind of outsiders from the norms and accepted societies for yourselves as people?

Ryan Hurst: Yes, well I mean I think it's - to me personally, I mean I don't necessarily know that I've taken so much into myself, you know, from my experiences. But I - well what I found the most interesting is that the sort of the Zeitgeist, you know, behind this whole thing is, oh my gosh these people are off of the grid, you know?

And, you know, it wasn't that long ago that nobody had cell phones, you know? And now it's the - it's, you know, an enormous, you know, electronic leash that we have that everybody is so codependent to.

And that is what I find the most interesting is, you know, while we're doing these type of (precedents) is a lot of people ask like, "oh could you, you know, be unplugged? Could you go off the grid?"

And it was like - it wasn't that long - like, sure I've been to summer camp. Haven't we all been to - you know, it's like been on a boat somewhere and not been able to check your e-mail. You know, is...

Kyle Gallner: Right.

Ryan Hurst: Because I think that that's really sort of, you know, a powerful statement, you know, to the times, you know? But it's not necessarily, you know, directly to connected to Outsiders.

But, you know, with regards to the show, I think one thing to remember is that this is a totally fictional, you know, landscape that we're creating. But on top of that is that the Farrells weren't, you know, weren't necessarily a clan that broke away from society.

They were a clan that never integrated themselves into society because, you know, they have their own traditions. So it's a little different than sort of anything that actually exists.

But I don't know - I don't necessarily know that there's a clan of people in the United States that haven't, you know, haven't been a part of normal culture here.

Douglas Dobbins: Okay. Yes, I can see that. I just - I was - kind of always want to - because I, as a person, listened to once as to people who would do that and I could say in my experience why they were - on the thing.

Mennonites and things, they touch culture in like some of the Southern BC, Northern Idaho area. But they are very opposed - and it's interesting their views on us being - looking at us as people who mired in society.

And I definitely get your whole cell phone deal. Looking back, you know, it kind of makes you -- at least for me -- kind of made me thought a little bit about how we accept norms in our lives and are we actually really the normal people or not in some ways.

Ryan Hurst: Absolutely. That's a great point. That's an absolutely great point and I think it's one of the, you know, the sort of the idea on the title of the show which is who is, you know, who is the outsiders. You know?

And nobody has a real claim to that, you know? The claim to being - what, you know, normal is a word that we all make up. So.

Douglas Dobbins: Great. Thank you guys.

Ryan Hurst: You got it.

Coordinator: Thank you. And our next question will come from (Diana Marsh). You have an open line.

Diana Marsh: All right. Well this question is for Ryan. So Ryan, with your character Li'l Foster...

Kyle Gallner: All right. I'm out of here.

Diana Marsh: Where he's going in this show, how would you like to see your character develop? Where would you like to see the role lead to?

Ryan Hurst: I'm not sure, you know. I kind of like the slow agonizing pace that, you know, he's sort of, you know, coming into his own. You know, I like the fact that it's driving a lot of the audience crazy of - that this guy doesn't really speak up for himself.

And, you know, and doesn't sort of, you know, stand up, you know, to his father. I think that inevitably he'll sort of find his own way and that'll be a strong and true and gentle sort of way.

And maybe he'll end up leaving some people. Maybe he won't. But I think it'll be, you know, I'd like to see him, you know, become a strong leader. I think that that would be fun to watch.

Diana Marsh: Well he's definitely a departure from what we normally see you as. Now, do you see yourself at all in Li'l Foster?

Ryan Hurst: No. Not necessarily - not really at all. That was one of the harder parts for me - is that, you know, trying to find a genuine sort of deference to a domineering, you know, father figure was not, you know, something that came easily to me.

So it - to remain very sort of innocent in this because, you know, somebody being, you know, very sort of violent and angry, you know, on a consistent basis.

You know, it's seeking that type of approval is not something that I personally was, you know, very used to. So it was a challenge.

Diana Marsh: Perfect. Thank you.

Ryan Hurst: You got it.

Coordinator: Thank you. Once again to ask a question, you may press Star followed by 1. Next question will come from (Lora Bofill). You have an open line.

Lora Bofill: Okay. Hi Ryan and Kyle. The show is great. So thank you so much for joining us.

Ryan Hurst: Mm-hm.

Kyle Gallner: Hi.

Lora Bofill: Okay. Oh hi. Okay, I didn't know if you could hear me. And (in the wildness), I actually...

Kyle Gallner: Yes.

Lora Bofill: Yes. My hometown is actually West Virginia near the border...

Ryan Hurst: Okay.

Lora Bofill: ...of the Eastern Kentucky. I live in the area where the Hatfields and McCoys used to be. So that's why I kind of went, "Oh the hills. Home."

Ryan Hurst: Okay. Yes.

Lora Bofill: Anyway. So I know - now when you both were preparing for your roles, did you have to do research or where did you research to understand how to bring your characters to life?

Ryan Hurst: For me it was, you know, the research in the darkest caverns of my imagination. You know, is -- when you making a fictional character -- is the most useful thing is sort of what you can kind of bring to the table.

And also, you know, something that my mother always told me is that a great actor is a great observer. So a lot of it was sort of withheld until we were, you know, the entire cast of the Farrells, you know, were there together.

You kind of - it was a communal - a very communal creation where we were really playing off of each other. Discussing things together. And also finding, you know, finding everybody's sort of, you know, role in the spectrum of characters.

You know, is that - I - when I was like, oh, you know - when I saw Kyle in his kilt, I was like, "Oh okay. Well that means that I got to go this way with my costume." And that (unintelligible), you know, Big Foster is going the more old school route.

And he's got this headband on all the time. And then when you go to the set and you see, you know, this beautiful architecture that they've been working where they're, you know, taking parts of trailers and putting them on old shacks.

And spray painting, you know, rainbows on the side is - that really informs your character choices just as much as the script does.

Lora Bofill: Oh wow. Okay. Wow. Thanks.

Ryan Hurst: Yes.

Kyle Gallner: Yes, I do - I mean it was - sorry, I didn't know if you were waiting. No, it was one of those things. It's like Ryan said. You know, I bought books and I did all sorts of stuff and I kept finding myself really being like well I'm still not quite sure what to do.

Ryan Hurst: Yes.

Kyle Gallner: And then, you know, the day you get there and like you said with the (decks) - with that kilt on, I mean, and the wardrobe and everything. And you get on set and you see everybody dressed up is when you can really start, you know, you really start pulling everything together.

Ryan Hurst: Yes.

Lora Bofill: So being onset actually brings out the character and informs the story? Just being there? Just brings it alive?

Kyle Gallner: Well I think especially in a situation like this because it's - you know, you're trying to do research on all these people that have lived in the Appalachian Mountains or, you know, groups that have lived up there or even to find documentaries about stuff.

But at the same time, what we're doing is completely its own thing. I mean the Farrells are their own - well really their own people, you know, with their own customs that we've created and their own, you know, their own things that we came up with.

So, you know, it's not like you can read a book and be like ah yes, well this is what they've done. Like well, we don't know what they've done because they've never existed.

Ryan Hurst: (Unintelligible).

Kyle Gallner: So that's why it's really getting everybody together particularly on this one was the most helpful because we were like okay, what do we think we believe in? What do we think we stand for?

What do think our customs should be or, you know, our traditions should be? Like, you know, a good example is whenever Lady Ray enters the room. That bow where you touch your hand to your lips and you bow down. That was created on the day. It was like...

Lora Bofill: Oh wow.

Kyle Gallner: ...you know, what do we do? And we discussed it. And that's what we ultimately came up with. So, you know, the world grew as the show went on.

Lora Bofill: Okay. And just as a follow-up to that question, so are there a lot of unscripted moments where all of you and the cast will just add something on the spot that wasn't originally in the script.

Ryan Hurst: I think that - I mean unscripted - I think that there was a lot of input from the cast in general. You know? His - again, like this - when you're creating a fictional culture, you know, is - the best part is that, you know, Peter Mattei, the creator, was very open and willing to collaborate with, you know, with everyone.

In fact, you know, when we said what about this and what about that or if we had questions, he was not afraid to say, "I don't know." You know, when we were - you know, everyone was pressing him for, you know, well what is this culture's like a central religion?

And he was like I don't know yet. Let's find it together. And he really welcomed, you know, everybody kind of participating in that. And on different levels, you know, he's - so I don't necessarily know that, you know, there was a lot of improve so to speak.

I mean there was a normal amount but...

Lora Bofill: Mm-hm.

Ryan Hurst: ...going into things is when the scripts would first come out is, you know, the cast would come back with lots and lots and lots of input that was, you know, genuinely enriching the show. It - is making it - you know, is foundationally, you know, like giving the contents some blood so to speak.

Lora Bofill: Oh okay. So there's a lot of collaboration. Well it's great. I mean it - the show's great and I just thank you guys for bringing these characters to life. It's wonderful.

Ryan Hurst: Oh thank you.

Kyle Gallner: Thank you.

Lora Bofill: Thank you.

Coordinator: Once again participants, to ask a question you may press Star followed by 1. And to withdraw your request, you may press Star followed by 2. The next question will come from (Diana Marsh). You have an open line.

Diana Marsh: Well this question is for both of you guys. You know, obviously the cast is very impressive. Some wonderful people on it that you're working with. But is this the first that all of you have worked together or is there - any of the actors that you two have personally worked with outside of Outsiders?

Kyle Gallner: I...

Ryan Hurst: This is the first time I have worked with anyone.

Kyle Gallner: Yes, me too. I mean I haven't worked with anybody on this set.

Ryan Hurst: I mean...

Diana Marsh: There...

Ryan Hurst: ...I had heard that Joe had worked with David or I'm not sure. I'm not sure. But I know it was - I was there inside...

Kyle Gallner: I think David's daughter worked with Joe.

Ryan Hurst: Oh that's what it was.

Kyle Gallner: Yes. I think actually - I actually think nobody had worked together before. You know? I think Gillian and Thomas may have known each other a little bit or maybe I'm like totally lumping them together because they're both Australian.

But I think they may have known each other. But I think, no, everybody was pretty new. I mean I had never even - I had never worked with any of the directors. I've never worked with anybody.

Ryan Hurst: Yes.

Diana Marsh: Wow awesome. All right, thank you.

Coordinator: Our next question will come from (Douglas Dobbins). You have an open line.

Douglas Dobbins: So guys, is there anything about the set which has (proven) to be unusual to shoot the show or has changed in what - how you have to approach certain scenes with the acting compared to past shows at all?

Ryan Hurst: I don't necessarily understand...

Douglas Dobbins: I would say - to think the...

Ryan Hurst: That what would the - I mean what...

Douglas Dobbins: But what are kind of the challenges of it?

Ryan Hurst: Challenges with the set?

Douglas Dobbins: Is there any - yes, anything special with the set which has caused it to be unique to shoot with - to do shots with for the show at all?

Kyle Gallner: You know, I think being up on the mountain was difficult whenever we had the days up where the, you know, where the Farrells lived. There were days where we would shoot on hillside and the camera guys would have to, you know, haul all that equipment up.

And we have ropes hanging down basically like steep, steep hillsides so people can pull themselves up. You're dealing with sunburn and mosquitoes and you're in thick of it.

I mean there's some shots that you're really pretty deep in the woods and I think that's definitely offered its own unique challenge.

Douglas Dobbins: Okay. Yes. I was just kind of curious because I have not seen a lot of behind-the-scenes shooting of your set and I was wondering if it was like, you know, Lost.

There was definitely situations and certain props - and let's say to pick on things -- and Ryan -- motorcycles and things which bring in their own uniqueness to add realism and to do things or just get set up. And I was just kind of curious how much of a difficulty the mountain actually is to shoot on.

Kyle Gallner: Ryan, you were probably up there more than I was.

Ryan Hurst: Yes, I mean there's always challenges shooting anything. It's like going to war, you know? I mean anything - it's always like camping, you know? It's like there's nowhere to sit down. There's nowhere to go to the bathroom. You know?

It's always hot, you know? It's never fun. So I mean there's always going to be challenges. But that's the name of the game.

Kyle Gallner: Don't say it's never fun.

Ryan Hurst: Well I mean, you know what I mean. But it's like...

Kyle Gallner: I know. I'm kidding.

Douglas Dobbins: So the typical hurry up and wait, and then oh my god, I have to get my body in that position. They are really - director, okay. It just contains all those typical challenges then?

Ryan Hurst: Yes.

Kyle Gallner: Yes, of course. You know, every set adds to it - has its own, you know, has its own challenges whether you can lock a street up or whether you're in the woods or suddenly show up and it's raining. And it's not supposed to rain. And there's always something.

Ryan Hurst: Yes.

Douglas Dobbins: Okay. Great guys. Thanks.

Ryan Hurst: Thanks.

Kyle Gallner: Thanks.

Ryan Hurst: Thank you.

Coordinator: Thank you. At this time, there are no more questions in queue.

Ryan Hurst: All right.

Kyle Gallner: Great.

Dawn: Okay. Thanks everybody.

Ryan Hurst: Thank you.

Kyle Gallner: Cool. Thank you guys.

Ryan Hurst: All right. Bye-bye.

Dawn: All right, bye.

Ryan Hurst: Bye.

Kyle Gallner: Bye now.

Coordinator: And that concludes today's conference. Thank you for participating. You may now disconnect.

END

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