Interview with Garrett Brawith
Garrett Brawith is an actor, writer, producer, and director. His working credits include guest appearances on Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Dexter, Judging Amy, and The Pretender. Directing credits include FDR: American Badass and Poolboy: Drowning out the Fury. Brawith’s newest project is The Unauthorized Full House Story as Bob Saget which will premiere August 22 at 8/7c on Lifetime.
What lead you to audition for this role?
“I got a call from my old manager and she said ‘their looking from someone who does what you do’, which is psychosis, and I really didn’t think I had a chance at getting it. Normally I have sort of dirty blonde hair, a beard, and I’m a little out there for this kind of role. I went in and it went really well. The casting director actually saw past all of that, said ‘I think you can get there’. I said ‘okay, let’s go’. Ended up getting it and went up to Canada and shot. It was a blast.”
What type of research did you do to prepare for this role?
“Not really much, honestly. I mostly just did the hair and kinda said ‘Eh, good enough’. (laughs).”
Have you ever met Bob Saget?
“Not yet. However, I’m calling them out. I heard they were a little snippy about this whole Unauthorized Full House Story. So, I’m calling them out. I want to get Stamos, Saget, and Coulier, and I want to be at their houses watching the moive with them when it airs. I’ll bring the popcorn, and rock it with a sweet 80’s mullet. (laughs). If they love it, great! They can tell me right there and if they don’t they can probably try to hurt me.”
Going off that, there has been some negative comments about the movie. What is something for us to be excited about for this film?
“Um…I can’t say that out loud. (laughs). You know, I think what people will be most excited about is the end. Because that’s it. It’s the end. Just kidding! What I think they’ll be excited about is how we were able to do something a little racier than I think you would expect from Lifetime. Ultimately, they still have to put the filters on and I respect that. But, I think they’ll be surprised to see a few dirty jokes in their that they wouldn’t expect and they’re funny. This project is actually really funny. Maybe funnier than Full House and you can quote me on that.”
What was the most challenging aspect of this project?
“I say it was the hair. (laughs). It’s a recurring thing considering how insane their hair was in the late 80’s and early 90’s. The biggest challenge for me, I think, was trying to…hold on. Let me think about this for a second. What was the hardest part? I think it was actually trying to not laugh the entire time. Every time I looked in the mirror I would stop, and I say ‘I look ridiculous’. That, and I knew I would probably never get laid again if I walked around looking like Bob Saget.
No. Honestly, the hardest part for me, really, was there was a scene where at the very end I have to take a bow. We all take a bow as the cast when the show gets cancelled. I don’t think that’s a big spoiler, everybody knows it got cancelled but it’s almost like I wanted to earn it. I felt like those people worked really hard on that stage to take that bow in front of two hundred people in the audience.”
Bob Saget is an iconic comedic genius. Do you feel your humor is on the same level?
“Yeah. I’d say he’s on the same level as me. (laughs). Listen, the fact is, if I went one on one in a comedy battle of the band with Bob Saget, he would eat me alive. But I would get in a few good shots. There’s no doubt. The guys razor-sharp, you can’t stop him. He’ll just throw out jokes until somethings funny.”
Your working credits show a lot of experience writing, directing and producing. Do you prefer being in front or behind the camera?
“You know, it may sound weird but it’s all the same to me. I just like being creative. I love being able to jump from acting in a movie to now I’ve got my producing and I’m working on some movies as a producer. Which I will also be in, but I can’t really talk about them until my contracts are all signed. It’s ADD, professionally.”
What future endeavors can we hope to see from you in the future?
“It’s tough because I don’t know if I can talk about these. I do have a couple of movies in production with some pretty big stars at the helm. I get to do some work with them as an actor and run the show at the same time. So it’s going to be a lot of work. I wish I could say more. I just can’t yet.”
Garrett closed out the interview with full humor as he invited everyone to visit him Thursday when he’ll be stripping at Hooters in Compton. “Bring singles and tip well,” he says. It’s safe to say, we are very much looking forward to his portrayal of Bob Saget in The Unauthorized Full House Story.