Interview: Writer Michael Ashton

The intense thriller The Forgiven, based on the Michael Ashton play ” The Archbishop and The Antichrist”, is out now in select NY and LA theaters. I had a chance to speak to the writer of the play and the screenwriter of the film version, Michael Ashton. Michael has a fascinating story and background. In the interview Michael is very candid and opens up about the play, the film version and why he didn’t attend the premiere of the film. Hear about it and more in this interview with Michael.

REAL TALK:

I loved how cool Michael was. The interview reminded me immediately of the time I spoke to Duncan Falconer who wrote Stratton. There is just something special about these ex-soldiers turned writers. Their personality and wealth of knowledge combined with unique life experiences. It’s also in large due to their candid honesty.

How wild is it to start a convo and hear that the person on the other end isn’t attending the premiere of their film, because they are bedridden to a foot injury.

A big reveal came early on when he told me that Piet Blomfeld was a fictitious character. I just like many others assumed he was real. Learning that did change my perspective a bit. Credit to Michael’s impeccable writing and creativity.

What I really appreciated besides the great insights Michael provided, was how candid he was with me. Speaking about his addictions and being forthcoming about how it affected people around him. It’s a pretty remarkable story of a man who changed his life around.

Michael was very forthcoming and I greatly appreciated it. The interview was cut short due to technical issues and time. There was a question I asked about Erica Bana and Forest Whitaker’s performances, Michael thought they were great and shared an interesting note that there were talks for John Travolta to play the role of Blomfeld. In the end the right men were cast for these roles. You’ll understand why when you see the film.

‘THE FORGIVEN’ is out now in select NY and LA theaters and comes out on VOD and Digital HD with additional theatrical expansion on March 16, 2018 

https://youtu.be/4aDHeAbhATI