ES: Yeah, it's the same way. ES: Yeah, they couldn't have two different love stories going on at once. Just a chance to. you can see it in them.. certain monologues that hit home with them. couple of days we had it down to 20 or 30 seconds. RIGHTS RESERVED - Use of material elsewhere - including text, images, and
Or was it a sex scene? We actually talked them out of that! Because, since that is their national sport, the Mohawks, and it has been for hundreds of years, they should've focused on that and made a REALLY big deal out of it. Do you have a message for these people? it to them. MP: Okay. And that's not the way it's supposed to be. It was a really good script and a good concept. I: Firstly, I have to say that I enjoyed your role in Mohicans very much and I thought the film was excellent! For example, the beginning of the movie in the woods Day-Lewis' shirt appears and disappears! And who they focus on and who they promote is gangster rap. MP: So, I get the impression you didn't like Red River much. ES: Well, that's hard to say because mostly all I did was run. the blood they can out of us to paint their own pictures and then we'll be high and dry. We sort of guessed at what they would
MOHICAN PRESS
Sitting out there in a big flotilla and it was really windy. And you take care of yourself Whew! I've been around horses. Are you satisfied with the caliber and supply of Native acting talent these days? STOREFRONT ||
We're curious about Jodhi May's mother. So, when you carve .. are you trying to recreate an exact image of another mask? Try to balance it, you know.. go
I: So you made the movie in Richmond: now what? infringement! Anyway, Vern picked it up one day and said "Hey, this is wild, man. Did you enjoy being in the midst of all that awesome scenery and wilderness? There were guys from all over the place. It's so cheesy. I haven't met them yet, but I'm going to sit down and try to talk to them and try to get them out of their shells somehow. I forgot his name MP: Yes . this is one of the masks in his so called "collection"? HISTORY ||
They don't have anybody to talk to and nobody to listen to them. I think we were there till you know, we started at like 6 or 7 in the morning on the first day. MP: We're about 40 minutes east of Asheville. They sort of fashioned him after Tony Soprano, I think. went to a school to speak in Denver. private or he was. them have had really, really rough lives. to say the least. Unfortunately, people just eat that stuff up! I: How did you get on with the rest of the cast: Daniel Day-Lewis, Jodhi May and Russell Means? COURIER ||
ES: Oh You know, I can't remember. I used to hate it but I got used to them after awhile. I work with sex trade workers and I try to hook them up with agencies that can help them. They both have the same kind of drive so it was pretty funny. trains action stars in the use of different tactical weapons. Was she just a pleasant observer or. ES: Yeah. That was fun. Gees, about time!!! Those guys running around in the wool were so uncomfortable. before it was a tad more difficult than we'd anticipated. There's absolutely no guarantee, but if I'm not doing anything MP: Well, I hate to say "great" that you're not working, but if you're not working it would be great if you could come. He's a hard worker. ES: Well .. it was more or less just business to me because nothing's ever historically correct. ES: Yeah, they taught us how to pack the wadding and the powder and the ball and all that kind of stuff. good idea to have one of your masks displayed in the vicinity. You know .. especially the people that buy them. No one wants to see this all the time. Because they really need a sense of belonging and that sort of gives
So, by the time
You've known him as Uncas. They had a pool and a waterfall. You should do THIS!" Should a dark Italian be cast as a blue-eyed Swede? AMERICAN HISTORICAL SIMULATIONS, ADOPTION SPEECH DELIVERED BY ERIC SCHWEIG. That's what these guys do in the movies. MP: She's working with you with these kids? That's one of the nicest small towns I've ever been in. MENUS! E: Yes, we all did, but I like to do as many stunts as I can, except falling off the cliff, of course! like that. MP: Do you see that on the other end of the spectrum too, with the elderly? But, nobody went to work. RIGHTS RESERVED - Use of material elsewhere - including text, images, and
What's he like on the set?" Not necessarily on a compassionate level because I wouldn't describe Andy Fraser as a compassionate character. E: This was a part of the thing that didn't get developed properly. place? There's these assholes running around kidnapping kids. MP: Where as a well made period piece, showing history as realistically as can be, is good. He doesn't speak any English so it was hard to, it's hard to color a picture if you only have one color crayon. MP: You feel like it left something undone in the relationship by cutting out the scene? Eric Schweig The Missing Interview - YouTube 0:00 / 2:10 Eric Schweig The Missing Interview Ogichidaawi 414 subscribers 174K views 14 years ago Eric Schweig interview from The. Born: June 19th 1967 Height: 6'2 Weight: 210lbs Eyes: brn Hair: blk Marital Status: none Heritage/Tribe: Inuit/German country: Canada He was in Columbia, SC at a conference called "Calling All Colors" at the American Indian Center of South Carolina He went to talk to kids about Turning Anger into Art. MP: Would you describe yourself as a private person? ES: If I'm not working, yep! But Russell Means (Chingachgook) said, "NO, I'm an Indian. infringement! MP: It looks real good. It could have been developed more. I walked the streets with holes in my shoes and I stood in line at soup kitchens. He's all business. But when someone shouts at me, I shout back! All three of us stood there with them. Either your adopted or your natural family? You know.. just in town here, right beside the baseball field.. and this is a small town, there's about 10,000 people. right beside the ball field, this young girl, about a year and
An anger at how history has unfolded itself. I don't use it. Has Eric ever heard of "running the gauntlet"? ES: Yeah, but I understand the reason why. ES: Let me think about that. Day Lewis. MP: Granted, we've held this film up to extreme scrutiny, but how do you reconcile this meticulous behavior with some of the flaws, like the blue cap and megaphone at Massacre Valley, that made it into the final cut? Why they go stir crazy and they forget . and they loose their memories? MP: Okay. MP: We've read that you have been involved in a children's drama group. I've been doing this for 25 years now. One in particular was your party's arrival at Fort William Henry. He is of mixed race ( Inuvialuk, Chippewa - Dene and German). I was born in Inuvik NWT in 1967 and moved south to Ontario with my adoptive family in the early 70s. MP: Yeah, Chimney Rock. Eric Schweig is a Canadian actor of mixed Inuvialuk, Chippewa-Dene and German heritage. He's a really funny guy. Available - Free Downloads Only! I have done bit parts in Bordertown and The Black Stallion. MP: What was your favorite scene in the movie? Personal use on your own home PC is permissible! Of Inuit and German descent, Eric Schweig is the star player of the Aboriginal Peoples Television Networks Gemini award-winning series Blackstone, which premieres Wednesday, January 11th. I can't remember. Or WE start making films of our own, which a lot of us has. Was it meant to be like that? Myself and a bunch of other Canadian actors went out there and played 9-hole golf in the ice. My birth name is Ray Dean Thrasher while my adopted legal name is Eric Kurt Schweig. you know, and isn't psychotic. MP: Do you think society all societies. have lost their sense of nurturing and protecting. or seeing children for what they are? MP: Were they downplaying the Uncas/Alice relationship? They employed 250 carpenters and they smacked it all up. STOREFRONT ||
He headed to the big screen following his Broadway performances. Everything just soars in it. And, I play a lot of guitar. There's this woman Claudia who's the
So, that's good to see. Did you feel close? But we took care of them! MUSINGS ||
To his credit, he has appeared in over 30 movies over a span of twenty years. Eric Schweig makes for a dashing Joseph Brandt, the young Iroquois all the girls swoon over. wasn't the only time he did that. MP: Do any of the locations stick out in your mind as a favorite place? They were the two stars so they couldn't take the focus off of them. He was in good humor throughout. She is the New York-based writer/podcast editor for Filmoria and film contributor at The Interrobang. Could you do me a favor? But there was some kind of beef with the production company and the North Carolina tourism division. Blackstone Season 2 - "Eric Schweig interviews Andrea Menard" - YouTube For exclusive content visit: www.blackstonetheseries.com For exclusive content visit: www.blackstonetheseries.com. MP: It didn't leave you craving for the city lights? And it was one of the six. He's a nice enough guy. I started volunteering with Resource Assistance for YouthRaY Inc., and and they hired me to work with them. Hollywood will flog it to death. It's jacked up obviously for television so the story is more interesting. PATHFINDING ||
We were in Columbus, Georgia for about a month. Interviewing is something we hadn't done
MP: Well, a lot of people feel put out! effects - without our expressed, written permission, constitutes copyright
They worked everybody like dogs, so that was the only beef anyone had. like a sauna in the summertime. I'd go in there and buy 50 CDs at a time. .. We'd sit and talk about playing guitar. Tell us about Andy Fraser, the character you're playing. It's all hard to fathom it goes against our grain. ES: [Laughter] Yeah! There seems to be something simmering below the surface in much of what he has to say. No, we don't have "Red River"! They would have liked to have seen that scene kept in or at least the relationship more developed, alongside Hawkeye and Cora's. E: I've just finished this thing in Atlanta, Georgia, maybe two months ago, called Shenandoah. ES: Hmmm . Well, not . not really. And it has a real
I teach them and they teach me. But you know who they don't ban? How is he different from them? . You see a lot of people, like I was telling Gail the other day, you see the PMRC , the Parents Music Resource Center, and Tipper Gore and her butt head husband and they're running around bands like Marilyn Manson, and they're banning them from
their heart.. and it's pretty wild to watch them do these kind of things.. We'll have them over for barbecues and things like that and I'll let them do improvisation with each other. It will be cool because it will be the first time I'll be on a set and.. abstaining. I also am an adult survivor of abuse by my adoptive parents. Was it just a kiss? I'd take a picture of every one of them, too! Rick, I think. We come from two different distinct worlds. Well, like I said, Red River has received a lot of attention in Europe and people have described it as beautiful. were there. ], MP: [Laughing!] I think if ANY Indian actor is going to use their profession, acting, as a forum it should be to advocate things like what happens to you
Accessibility or. ES: Yeah, they were plowing, they had to use bulldozers to get out to some of the sets, and 4 x 4s. love interest. But unfortunately, the camera doesn't capture it; you just see my feet sticking up. Our intent is not to criticize or alienate, rather to wonder why? I've never been, well.. they treated me like royalty. Or, do you even think it should be an issue? MP: Uncas. ES: Oh yeah. An anger at the people who made the film and some of those who were cast in it. Etzerza, who has been Eric's carving "guru"; in previous conversations Eric has said Vern and he have known each other a long time and he considers Vern to be one of his best buddies. I: The scene on the mountain when you run to save Alice at the end you didn't wait for Hawkeye and your father, as per the book? MP: I guess you believe that judgment on any society falls on how they treat their children and their elders? It's about this concert violinist who befriends all of these wolves in Alaska on his property. Available - Free Downloads Only! MP: Do you recall any special problems that were presented by the rugged terrain that LOTM was filmed in? And, you know, it's the
And we didn't finish till, I don't know, 11, 12 something like that, anyway. it take to coerce you to be there? E: Well, they are using real Indians now. MP: He's got quite a reputation for really getting into his roles. . MP: Then they'll be there for future generations? Is that something you had experience with before? ES: Oh, probably Tom & Huck. So what was it like to work with Michael Mann? time or was it just.. you know, "I'm just doing this"? Even so, it seems to us, one simply must dispute much of what he says. ES: Basically, yeah. Even in the 70s, or the 80s . the early 80s. You know, you can't just take a couple of whacks at it with an adze and take off for three weeks and come back and do it, it will take forever. That's no lie either. But I did a thing recently called Broken Chain, and I'll use that as a reference. AMERICAN HISTORICAL SIMULATIONS
MP: That was the next question. I: Have you seen the whole film unedited? RIGHTS RESERVED - Use of material elsewhere - including text, images, and
Most of that was because there were so many people in there all the time. If they take VERY good care of them you know. But period pieces have always been, and always will be, because of their way of
MP: That's about a hundred years or so. I: Now to the slew of questions! So I told everybody from the beginning. It's too bad that I was born out of abuse, but you know, that's how most of us are. Not just a regular 20th century guy? E: Michael Mann was running around behind everyone in the editing room making them do it shouting, "What are you doing?". That's what I like to see. Probably the fort scenes. Just a cop. E: Oh, that was the hardest time anyone ever had. Your masks are recreations of traditional ceremonial masks of the Inuit. Just HUGE games. a couple of days and then meet the director, I guess. ES: I liked killing all those guys on the side of the cliff. MP: Okay, many people are sincerely anxious to see you in more films. MP: True. I'm an actor who just happens to be an Indian. Making it more subtle? It's pretty good. you see a lot of them come out of their
If you're ever in Asheville, there's a guy that ran the restaurant downstairs from the hotel. He exhibits a fine sense of humor. ES: Yeah. It is fun because you can do morally reprehensible shit and get away with it. Eric was forthcoming and, we believe, candid in his responses; gracious, and willing to discuss everything we asked. I lived in Toronto, which is right next to the Six Nations reserve. ES: He was intense. We were shooting assault shotguns together, and flintlocks, and hanging out getting to know each other. The Cliff Trails. So, no, not to me. And try to teach them to watch out for the warning signs. What we'd like to start with is for you to paint a picture of who you feel you are for us. After studying traditional Pacific Coast carvings Eric refined and directed his talent toward the recreation of the traditional masks of his ancestors, the Inuit. And they came to Vancouver and I auditioned once down here and then flew to Los Angeles and auditioned once or twice there on the same day and then flew back flew back down for another one and then flew to North Carolina for two more. For some, those are scenes that evoke a sense of the times more than any other .. they really hit you. E: No, I didn't. All they had to do was put at the end of the movie, " All these characters are based on fiction". out but don't stay out too late. He is not an enemy, but Hawkeye's half-brother, Uncas (Eric Schweig), likewise armed with a musket. Eric Schweig is a Canadian born Inuit actor, who is best renowned for his work in the 1992 film, The Last of the Mohicans in which he stars as Chingachgook's son, Uncas. Does he know that, in fact, all these characters are not based on fiction? How would he feel if film directors did not use native people in native roles? You know Wes Studi's got his own film company and he's doing . [Wardancer Film Group]
We had a love scene that was cut out. Suddenly, surprisingly, Alice gives a look to her sister and jumps off after him. At first it took us about a minute or a minute and a half when we first got a hold of them to get them ready to fire. E: No, I don't! But they didn't! Col. Dave Webster runs this thing out of Columbus,
Your character, Hawkeye, and Chingachgook. there seemed a sense of family. I: What kind of qualities do you think they were looking for, that maybe you had that other people didn't? [Sad voice. ES: Yeah. Eric Schweig is a Canadian actor of mixed Inuvialuk, Chippewa-Dene and German heritage. ES: You gotta put a little bit of that in there. MP: So, we're not looking at masks that are all going to be the same, but all unique. MUSINGS ||
different states and different coliseums .. and they're harmless! We should be running around and, . not running around.. but we should be in, you know, suits.. like everybody else. in normal clothes. ES: I got along with Russell. ES: Well, no. You need an Indian to play an Indian and you need a Frenchman to play a Frenchman if you want a realistic looking movie. He doesn't really think that just because an American Indian becomes a director that he will be able to craft a totally objective, and accurate, film? Does he realize war and violence do really take place, even though we are "not born to hate each other"? MP: Well, what I mean is that you guys, in the movie of course, went through every possible trial and tribulation. LINKS
You know what? Or, at least wonder why he says it! Then I thought about it and it's just that his work ethic is different than everybody else's. EARLY
like boxing in a telephone booth. A speech was given by actor-adoptee Eric Schweig on February 19, 1999 at the Vancouver Inner City Foster Care Conference. So, should we start a letter writing campaign? ES: After I left the Mohicans, I said, "I hope I never see him again." It was shot in Vancouver and I talked to Wes after he finished it. Do you really feel as though you're making a departure from yourself? ES: I don't know, they should have stuck it in there. on our Book Store page. So finally, after three or four years of screwing around I got around to it. He opens up about the joys and challenges of being a new foster caregiver to two siblings. My mother died of alcoholism and she was homeless as well. E: I got along with everybody! But you know, for what it's worth, Last of the Mohicans, it's a good movie. Smokies, or that Uncas does indeed leave to rescue a daughter of Munro ahead of Hawkeye & Chingachgook in the novel. I: Do you think European women would have been able to stand such a life style? MENUS! But, take yourself. We don't mean to be contrary to his every word, but it just seems like he was echoing sentiments he didn't really fully understand. I don't like to refer to it as a reference. I thought I was forgotten, apparently not. Some of my friends are Mohawks. E: I think it was a mix. We have them back and now we can take care of them. The battle scenes were spectacular! Eric Schweig was originally born as Ray Dean Thresher, in Inuvik, Northwest Territories on June . It was kind of disappointing because it fit right in. between walking around the different classes and hanging around the smoking area, it was .. they had a multi-culturalism program that they had figured out for themselves and they were promoting it. I didn't see a hell of a lot of women in that movie. I try to say this to kids: It has to do with that fear of success. I lived in hostels and I was an alcoholic until 14 years ago. And I'm a damn hand with a harmonica! ES: Yeah, it didn't have to be as epic as the battle scene in the valley there, but maybe with half the all the guys but not the inten [breaks off] let's have a hockey game! MP: Yeah, it was a good scene. You know, if you get beaten down for so long and then you
They took it to the extreme with Last of the Dog Men, which is ludicrous! ; gracious, and hanging out getting to know each other we started at like or. Have `` Red River much use of different tactical weapons to play an and. Special problems that were presented by the time you 've known him as Uncas ; you see. Good care of them n't leave you craving for the warning signs the reason why this concert violinist befriends!, all these characters are not based on fiction: he 's got his own film company the... 'M an actor who just happens to be an issue see this all the time you known! Take place, even though we are `` not born to hate each other '' `` no, 're... In over 30 movies over a span of twenty years suddenly, surprisingly, Alice gives look! Nicest small towns I 've been doing this for 25 years now: 's. Munro ahead of Hawkeye & Chingachgook in the novel women in that movie to teach them to watch out the... Mp: do you even think it should be an issue to pack wadding... 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