Friday, November 11, 2011

Comikaze Expo 2011: Some Quick, Precious Moments with Actor Francis Capra

Francis Capra at Comikaze Expo
Here's something-something for those who love "Veronica Mars" and doggedly keep track of alumni from the cancelled NBC TV series, "Heroes"!

Red Dot Diva's LA-based friend @theReal_Rebel has done it again by helping her to perv actor Francis Capra at the recent ComikazeExpo!

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The hills and valleys of an actor's life can come so quickly that it could give an average person a nosebleed.  You can be on a hit show one minute and out of work in the next. The amount of rejection that an actor needs to handle is enough to induce night sweats.  Getting and keeping an acting job requires talent, skill, courage, street-smarts and the physical and emotional stamina to endure such vicissitudes of fortune. 

So, actors who play tough guys like Humphrey Bogart, Lawrence Tierney, Michael Chiklis and Edward G. Robinson must be pretty tough guys, right?  I imagined it should be somewhat daunting to get an interview from someone like that.

Or so I thought.

I was pleased to discover the very opposite when I met actor Francis Capra signing autographs at the ComikazeExpo in Los Angeles last weekend. Despite having another interview scheduled, he kindly invited me to sit with him and do a quick spot Q&A before he had to run off. So I was lucky enough to meet the young actor who's sweetness and bonhomie goes beneath the 'tats. And such a gentleman, he is too!

theReal_Rebel:  You were on "Heroes" and....
Francis Capra:  I played Jesse on "Heroes". Peter Petrelli was trapped in my body during the season three called "Villains".  I had a Sonic power.

theReal_Rebel:  What was the experience like?
Francis Capra:  It was amazing!  When I got the role I was told it was going to be a season revolving around the villains breaking from a prison for criminals with super powers.  It was incredible for me.  I'm a big comic book fan. I'm a fan of the Hulk, and Marvel Comics Super Heroes and Villains. Venom Thantos and Apocalypse, in particular. I was really looking forward to meeting the very talented cast like Milo (Ventimiglia) and seeing Kristen Bell, who's a great friend of mine from "Veronica Mars". It was awesome.  I was looking forward to a much larger arc but, unfortunately, as everybody knows who saw the show, I met a pretty quick demise.

theReal_Rebel:  Prior to that you were on "Veronica Mars"?  How was that?
Francis Capra:  "Veronica Mars" was amazing.  I was on the show for three seasons.  It was just what I needed at the time.  I was doing guest stints here and there playing criminals and gang members on television.  "Veronica Mars" was the first opportunity I had to play a criminal with a heart.  A criminal with a real back story. I  loved working with Kristen and the cast.  Percy (Daggs III), Jason (Dohring), Enrico (Colantoni). Really great people on the show.

theReal_Rebel: How are things now?
Francis Capra:  Things are great. A little slow. It's hard coming from a series, working every week, being part of such a great cast and having such a great following.  I miss it... being on a regular series.  I'm hoping to get on a drama.  I have a film premiering this weekend called "Rampart".  I have a small role, but it has a great cast.  I worked with Woody Harrelson. It is directed by Oren Moverman, and stars Woody, Ice Cube, Sigourney Weaver. A really, really great cast.

(note: "Rampart", a name familiar Angelenos, is about the police corruption scandal that took place in Los Angeles in the 1990s.  A heavy and important subject, which explains the high powered cast, including Francis Capra.)

Francis Capra: Otherwise doing stuff here and there. My typical stuff to pay the bills of playing gang members on television.  It's what I do. I'm the best at it!

theReal_Rebel: I have an odd question. As Capra is such a famous name in Hollywood...
Francis Capra:  .... No relation.

theReal_Rebel:  Are you Italian?
Francis Capra: I'm of Italian-Dominican extraction.

theReal_Rebel:  Being part Italian myself, you go back far enough and you can be surprised to discover who you might be related to.  Thank you for your time. Have a great convention!
Francis Capra:  Thank you.

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Thanks to theReal_Rebel for the pervy work. Although Red Dot Diva is very sure doing such perving is not such an unpleasant or ardous task! :p

And thanks to Francis Capra for being such a sweetheart. Red Dot Diva hopes to see him in a regular role and back on her TV screen soon!

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