Corbin Bernsen of 25 HILL: Don't Confuse the Man with the Character

by Angela Walker - Contributing Writer

Though his breakout role may have been the television series L.A. Law, which began in 1986, Corbin Bernsen's long career in entertainment started [at least according to the Internet Movie Database] almost 20 years earlier in 1967. And at 45 years, he's still going strong, showing no signs of letting up. Corbin's latest project, 25 HILL, is the story of the American tradition of soapbox derby, and has just released on DVD.

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The Story Found Me

Just Do It

Psych Crossover

It's a Team, but I Stay Involved

You Can't Please Everyone

What Happens in Editing

On the Journey

The Story Found Me

Corbin describes his storytelling as being given over to the stories God wants to be told. "I pretty much open myself up. I don't go looking, feeling like I have to find a story right now. A lot of ideas come across, and certain ones have greater impact."

Like any kid, Corbin put four wheels on a piece of wood and tried to go downhill with it, but he knew nothing about the soapbox derby before getting the idea to write 25 HILL. "I saw that this great American tradition was in financial trouble, on the 'endangered species list.' It's a great American tradition and I was drawn to it. 

"As I got deeper into it, I saw the larger purpose for me being involved. At the core of the soap box derby it's really family and community, and those things, combined with faith, are key components of the stories I want to tell."

Just Do It

When a story finds him, Corbin makes the time for it and, in his words, "I just do it. A lot of people have a screenplay or novel they want to write. There are things they want to do, but don't start. It's in my character that if it's something I really want to do, I just do it.

"I will tell you that once I get involved, it consumes me, and I hardly have time for myself, my family, or other business things. I kind of go into overdrive when I write it and then we begin to make the movie. You just do it until it's done, until you cross the finish line."

25 HILL is a bigger movie than RUST, the last film he wrote, directed, and starred in. "It has a bigger scope. RUST was more intimate, and many of the scenes were more one on one. We also worked in a very cold environment. This film had race scenes and logistics I wasn't really prepared for. So I watched a lot of movies with races in them."

Soapbox races aren't very long; they're quite short. This presents a challenge to a storyteller, who needs to build suspense. "It's not easy to build suspense into something that is very short. But once you get started, you just do it."

Psych Crossover

Anyone familiar with Psych, Corbin's current television series, will recognize Timothy Omundson, who plays the father of the main character. "Timothy is a wonderful actor, and I want to do bigger things with him. It was a role I knew he could handle.

"I know him as the dad to two great girls, and I also knew he had the ability, the edge, to play someone in the military. At the same time, he needed to be a father who cares, and he did 1000% of that. It's a small role, but the whole movie is really about him. He's the motivation for the kid to do everything he does."

"The kid" is Nathan Gamble, who wasn't the first choice for that role. "When we got back to final callbacks, Nathan just popped through. It was amazing. He's an incredible actor, and we actually have him in BARLOWE MANN, another movie we have that will be out sometime in the beginning of next year."

It's a Team, but I Stay Involved

Corbin surrounds himself with good team members that include Chris Aronoff, his producing partner, and Harriet Greenspan, who cast 25 HILL. "There's a lot of detail involved in a production. My son was involved as the production designer. When I bring people in, I want to give them the power and authority to do their jobs well.

"Detail is everything with these smaller budget movies. It's what makes them look and feel bigger. You want to give it the same amount of detail as you would to a $100 million movie. There's not a lot of time in a smaller budget movie, so I do get heavily involved in hair, makeup, wardrobe, and that kind of stuff. I do have good people around to carry most of the weight.

"If I've laid something out very clearly and very specifically, and they come back with examples or drawings of a type of prop, or something that is in line with what we discussed, then I know they can do the job. I don't have to get too involved. When they keep coming back with mistakes or something that we didn't talk about, I know I have to stay involved. Then they need to prove themselves. When they prove they have vision, I set them free.

"We did this other movie called 3 DAY TEST, and there was so little time in prep. The woman who did wardrobe was a good friend of mine, and at the end, I'm lucky we're still friends. It was so involved that I stayed right in it. She's used to having things turned over to her, but we didn't have enough time to prep it. So I have to be involved all the way through."

You Can't Please Everyone

Corbin's goal is to entertain people, and he knows you can't please everyone, or you come out with what he calls a "really bad-tasting soup." "I was looking recently at some movies I'd done that aren't necessarily for the faith market. I was reading some reviews on Amazon on different things, and there were a couple that said, 'You shouldn't quit your day job of acting,' and I was really getting disappointed. 

"I look at RUST, and I understand that people who aren't in the faith-based audience are going to be expecting something different from me. They aren't going to appreciate that kind of film. And then there are some people who said, 'You're not a Christian; you don't know what you're talking about.'

"I learned long ago that you can't please everybody. I call it '50 Shades of Christian Audience.' There are some basic concepts that everyone agrees on, but there are those who want it absolutely to the word Gospel. Others want really a light version of it, so you can't please everybody.

"When I look at older stories, I can tell my storytelling ability has grown. From the writing all the way to the directing to the final product, I have grown in my ability to tell when to turn a corner, when to stay a little longer. When to make a shift, ask a certain question. I think I'm getting better at that, and I saw a growth from my other movies to 25 HILL."

What Happens in Editing

Most of the hard choices about the film came in the editing process. "There were a couple of things I wish I hadn't left in retrospect. One was about halfway through. I had a really good speech I wrote about two and a half years ago. It was about the fat cats up in Washington not caring. I had a speech about the people on the left and on the right who just want to be right; they don't want to be correct.

"I was talking about the middle-class citizen, who is just asking for a life vest when the boat goes down. We're not looking for a huge success; we just want help when the boat goes down. Throw us a life vest or a rope. It was a really good speech, but in the end it was more of a political speech than it was about the movie, so we cut it out. It's true, and everything you're hearing today in politics.

"I kind of wish I'd been able to keep it in, but it wasn't really pertinent to the story. If it didn't pertain to the movie, we cut it out. The truth is, as much as I'd like to have that in there, it's still better that it wasn't. It shouldn't be about politics."

On the Journey

One of the unfortunate things about entertainment is that people assume you are the characters you play. "You carry that stuff with you. During L.A. Law, while I was playing that character, I was married and having kids. I've been married now for 23 years, and have 4 kids.

"I talk very openly about being on a faith journey, and that's something I don't think will ever stop. I'll never arrive. But I love the journey. Anyone I talk with about it encourages me to keep doing what I'm doing. I don't have any expectations to be at any one place. Ultimately, I think we're all on a faith journey, but some people like to think they know it all.

"I come from the place where I like to say I know nothing but what's in my heart. Even that which is in my heart is more what I feel rather than what I know. What's happened lately is that I'm more comfortable associating with God and coming from a place that's bigger than me. Before, I would recognize that and maybe call it coincidence. Now I attribute it to God.

"I believe the more you invest in your faith, which includes talking about it, even though people would urge caution for the sake of my career. But I find the more I talk about it, the greater it is, and the more opportunity I have to see more and feel more and be more. It's like love; the more you love, the more opportunity you have to be loved. The more you give, the more you have to give.

"To really give yourself over to your faith and God and the journey, it's amazing how much more happens for you. How much more it's clear and open and accessible. The journey continues. At first, I thought, 'Hmm, this is weird,' and then I recognized it as God's plan and journey. Now I'm more open about talking about it because I believe it's so. So the journey continues."

25 HILL is available now from ChristianCinema.com [click HERE], and you can also see Corbin weekly on the USA network series Psych.