Tanc Sade: Exclusive Interview

Tanc Sade payed the Life & Death Brigade eccentric Finn on Gilmore Girls. Tanc was born in Australia and had worked in several theatrical productions, as well as some tv and movie roles, before landing his role on Gilmore Girls.

Tanc and I exchanged emails recently, after I promoted one of his short films, Two Straws, which brought together 2 other Gilmore Girls Life & Death Brigade alumns, Nick Holmes (Robert) and Alan Loayza (Colin McCrae). This was Tanc’s second $20 short, after You Had Me at Hello, with a brand new short released just this week, A New Dawn. This latest film features Tanc wearing a Motion Capture Suit doing a little dance as the Hulk. The film ends with a message about Prop 8: “If the Green Man can loosen up a little, so can you. Support same-sex marriage.”

In the interview below, Tanc talks more about these $20 shorts, as well as some of his experiences on Gilmore Girls. Tanc can also be found on Twitter at twitter.com/giddyuptiger.

crushable.com: In homage to Twitter, tell us a little bit about yourself in 140 characters or less.

Tanc Sade: A lucky fella who gets to create art and still put food on the table and keep a roof over his head. It may be simple but it’s a good life…

crushable.com: What inspired you to start working on the $20 shorts?

Tanc Sade: Between the economy and the looming SAG strike work had slowed down. As an artist, if I’m not working as an actor, I need to be doing something else. I loved the experience of making Flowers and Weeds and thought it would be great to direct again. By giving myself the limitations of completing the films in less then 7 days and for less than $20, it meant I had to really push myself creatively. I think it has also made me a better director.

crushable.com: Where did the idea come for your latest short, Two Straws?

Tanc Sade: No idea. It goes something like this. I want to make a short. I want to work with Nick and Alan. I need to shoot it in one location. OK, two guys at a bar. 10 minutes later I had Two Straws.

crushable.com: Talking about movies, I see that you’re linked with the movie Weathered. Could you tell us a little about that?

Tanc Sade: Weathered was a wonderful little short written and directed by a friend of mine Matt Barber. He edited Flowers and Weeds and asked me if I’d play a cameo. It was a great experience (Matt was also the editor on Chuck).

crushable.com: What other projects have you been involved in since the end of Gilmore Girls?

Tanc Sade: Most recently 90210. Before that CSI: NY and CSI: MIAMI (photo shown). I did a film with Winona Ryder called Sex and Death 101 and another with Mila Kunis called After Sex.

I’m finishing a rewrite on a feature I’ve written at the moment and will launch a motion capture animation short online on 8th of June [see it here: A New Dawn]. I’m waiting to here back on a film and TV series shooting in Canada; if they don’t work out, then I’ll do one more $20 short.

crushable.com: The new short is hilarious and has a great message, and I hope you land those roles! Returning to the past, how did you get involved with Gilmore Girls?

Tanc Sade: I auditioned originally for Logan, but I think they always had Matt in mind. I was lucky enough that they thought it would be good to have a sidekick, so they wrote Finn and gave it to me.

crushable.com: Do you have a favorite moment from working on Gilmore Girls?

Tanc Sade: Getting to know the boys. Every time we worked together, it was a blast. Let me tell you, we had some late nights on that show.

crushable.com: I can only imagine! But it’s great that you all are still friends after the show.

Tanc Sade: Definitely.

crushable.com: Wikipedia has you listed as "versatile with accents". Is that a skill you purposefully cultivated?

Tanc Sade: I love playing different characters: the more diverse the better, especially when it comes to physicality and speech. While I’m relatively unknown, it’s much easier to slip in and out of characters. Hopefully I will still be able to as more work comes in.

crushable.com: Do you have any plans to get back into theater work?

Tanc Sade: I really miss the theater, but right now I’m focused on my film career. It’s a shame, but there’s so little time to do both.

crushable.com: I completely understand that. Sometimes I wish I had two of me so that I could work on everything I’d like to do!

Lightning Round with Tanc Sade

• Favorite food: Yogurt and Berries
• Last book you read: Oh dear, the mountain of scripts on my desk.
• Your ideal role on tv or in a movie: One that challenged people to think or pushed them to feel. But ultimately it’s the story that does that, not the character.
• Something most people would be surprised to know about you: I think being a non-drinker is something that surprises most people.
• Worst travel experience: I was on a bus from Delhi to Chandigarh in India on my way to a wedding. It was supposed to take three hours but ended up taking 8. The bus driver refused to drive over 30 miles an hour on the highway and decided to take a dirt road for part of the journey to avoid a $US 20 toll. I almost got car sick from the bus going in and out of pot holes for hours on end at 5 mph. I will say it was an amazing experience though. The passengers would break out into song just like in the movies.

Thanks to Tanc for taking the time for this interview! Be sure to follow him on Twitter and to check out his latest short:

Tanc Sade / David Caruso in "CSI: Miami" episode ‘Kill Switch’ / Photo: Cliff Lipson/CBS.©2007 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.