By Chris Graves

CG: For those who do not know, what is your background and how were you introduced to the world of View Askew and Kevin Smith?

RH: I’m from the San Francisco Bay Area where I did a lot of theater and some commercials as a kid. I moved to Los Angeles by myself when I was sixteen to try and get acting work in film and television. I met Kevin at the audition for MALLRATS, although we both had had films at the Sundance Film Festival the year before, so we were aware of each other.

CG: How did you land your role in the 1994 indie film FUN, and what was that experience like winning the Outstanding Performance Award when the film went to the Sundance Film Festival?

RH: Oddly enough, while doing my first movie in 1992, JAILBAIT (the quintessential B movie starring me and C. Thomas Howell), I met the director of FUN. He came on as the director of JAILBAIT a couple of weeks into shooting when the original director had to leave for some reason. My good friend and fellow View Askew-ian Malcolm (Ingram) likes to say, “So, jailbait led to fun…” Winning the award was, in retrospect, a little too much for me to handle at the time. I didn’t have a broad enough perspective on life at age nineteen to appreciate what was happening.

CG: I’ve read that you once worked with Francis Ford Coppola on an experimental radio drama. What was the drama called and what was it about? Did you work directly with Mr. Coppola?

RH: Yeah, there were about four other actors and Mr. Coppola in this little room, sitting around a microphone. It was 1988, I was living with my parents in Marin County which is right next to San Francisco and his Zoetrope offices. I don’t remember what it was called. I think he was work-shopping a screenplay as a radio drama. It was an interesting experience. My memory of it is a little shoddy because it was so long ago.

CG: Can you describe how MALLRATS came into your life and what it’s been like to be a part of a movie with such a huge cult following? Any weird fan encounters over the years?

RH: Mostly it’s been great being a part of MALLRATS. It’s added a lot of excitement to my life that probably wouldn’t have occurred without it, since I stopped pursuing acting jobs about seven years ago. I really haven’t had any weird fan encounters, people who write to me or come up to me are usually just very nice.

CG: Any thoughts on Ben Affleck? You looked pretty bored with him in your big scene at the end of Mallrats? How was that scene filmed and was it uncomfortable at all?

RH: Well, I was supposed to look bored. Ben wasn’t the big star he is today so it didn’t have extra special significance at the time. It was just funny and strangely wonderful when he started calling out the names of the New Kids on the Block, completely unprompted. I am pretty sure that scene was the first scene filmed in the movie so… it was a good ice breaker. We weren’t naked or anything so it wasn’t that hard. (pun subconsciouslyintended)

CG: The film DRAWING FLIES was finally released a few years ago on dvd. What are your thoughts on the film looking back? Were there any fond memories or anecdotes people might not know about during the film’s production?

RH: You know, I remember one night when somebody came back from the bar next to the warehouse we were living in, and said that someone had been walking around the bar selling raw meat. This still confuses me, and to this day I sometimes ponder whether this could have been true, and how were they carrying it, was it packaged? I always imagined just a bunch of raw meat in a plastic bag. DRAWING FLIES will always have a warm place in my heart. I know that sounds corny, but it’s true. I am really glad I was a part of it.

CG: What was it like working with Denzel Washington in the 1995 film DEVIL IN A BLUE DRESS?

RH: Working with Denzel Washington and the director Carl Franklin was great. All of the people on that show were good to work with. Outside of working with the View Askewniverse, it may have been my best overall film experience.

CG: THE WONDER YEARS, IN THE HEAT OF THE NIGHT, THE COMMISH, and DIAGNOSIS MURDER are all television programs you have been a guest star on. Do you have a favorite appearance? A least favorite?

RH: I probably had the best time doing THE WONDER YEARS and IN THE HEAT OF THE NIGHT. Maybe to my own detriment (definitely to my financial detriment) I never really enjoyed doing television.

CG: You were present at the MALLRATS 10th anniversary Q & A. Did you enjoy yourself and was there anything awkward about that experience?

RH: I was nervous before we went on. But once we were onstage, the audience was kind, and Kevin and Scott, and everyone in the View Askew world are almost like family I’ve known them for so long now, that I felt comfortable right away and just enjoyed the show. These people are pretty funny.

CG: What was it like reprising your MALLRATS role of Trish the dish for your cameo in JAY AND SILENT BOB STRIKE BACK? If there’s ever an animated direct to dvd MALLRATS sequel, would you be open to providing your voice for the character again?

RH: Sure, I’d love to do the voice, I haven’t heard anything about that though. Doing JAY AND SILENT BOB STRIKE BACK was sort of surreal for me. I had moved back to San Francisco and quit acting and then went to do that little scene and lived the movie life again for a few days. I had a great time, but for the first time in my life it seemed foreign and that, incidentally, made me want to try and work movies back into my life.

CG: Can you tell me about the production company you co-founded, The Titan Motion Picture Group?

RH: Titan was originally formed (in 2005) to make horror movies because the guy whose brainchild it was, Josh Logan, does a lot of work in special effects. But we ended up making this little road movie thriller called FAMILY. FAMILY has done pretty well for us, Lifetime Movie Network picked it up for US broadcast and we are about to close the US DVD deal, and it has sold to a bunch of foreign territories. We should be able to pay back our investors by the middle of next year so that is good. I think Titan will only continue to exist in connection with FAMILY because everyone has gone on to other jobs. Josh and I will hopefully produce something together again.

CG: Do you have any new projects coming up?

RH: For too many years now my biggest project has been trying to get out of debt, which evidently takes a long time, so beware! I do have the rights to a new screenplay, given to me by a writer, Howard Jaffe, that I have been working with for the past few years. I think it could be a really good movie and am starting the process of trying to put it together. I acted in FAMILY and there is a role in this one that I want to play.

CG: What is your favorite View Askew/Kevin Smith flick (MALLRATS / DRAWING FLIES excluded)?

RH: I am going to have to say CLERKS 2. First, because of how funny it is, and second because that’s how I met Trevor.

(Editor’s note: The Trevor in question is Trevor Fehrman, who played Elias in CLERKS 2, whom she’s recently been dating.)

CG: And finally, do you still keep in contact with anyone from View Askew?

RH: Yes, I see them probably five or six times a year, maybe more. They are all really lovely people and I’m glad to know them.