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Spieler des neuseeländischen FMV-Formats Casebook kennen Julian Temple als Darsteller der Hauptfigur James Burton. Neben seiner schauspielerischen Tätigkeit für den Indie-Entwickler Areo ist der gebürtige US-Amerikaner Sänger, Songwriter und Gitarrist der Julian Temple Band.

Adventure-Treff.de: Hi Julian, thank you very much for taking some time for us. Actually most of our readers probably know you under the name James Burton. So please give us some info about the real person behind that character, your background and your other activities despite of Casebook.

Julian Temple: Hello there...My name is Julian Temple... I'm 28 years old, born in San Francisco, California, father of two children; a boy (4) and a girl (2). I'm unmarried although I'm together with the mother of my children. I'm an avid surfer (that's why I moved to NZ) and I'm first and foremost a singer/songwriter in a band (Julian Temple Band) and have been writing, recording, performing, touring and living and breathing for this band for 6 years. We are based in Dunedin, NZ.

A-T: You´ve participated in the Casebook casting without prior experience as an actor. How did you find out about the casting and what was your motivation to go there in the first place, regarding your background?

Julian: I had run into Sam and Luke from Areo a few times on social occasions and they'd mentioned that they were making a video game with actors. I'd always been a film addict and wanted to get into acting so offered my services as an extra in one of the episodes. I'd never acted properly before but I knew that I had the ability from years of mimicking my favourites. The day before the casting, Luke came into my work and said "I just remembered to tell you..." etc. So I contacted the casting agent (who wanted to audition me for the lead role!!) and picked up a script on the way to a gig we had out of town. As soon as I read the character's profile I proclaimed: "I am James Burton!" I practiced the scene all the way to our destination (3 hour drive), played for 3 hours with the band, got home at 5am, woke up and went to the audition. Luckily James Burton's profile demanded he be "tired".



A-T: Please talk about the casting process and what exactly you did to convince Areo that you´re the right choice.

Julian: Basically, I acted on the words of the script like I meant them, not like I was reading them off the paper...it was all about instinct and channeling all those favourite actors of mine into Burton. I think that the Areo guys saw that as a good thing because, for the most part, we were all running on instinct. It was the first time that any of us had done anything like this.

A-T: Sam Clarkson once said that the role of James Burton was not strongly defined before the team knew who would play the role. Please tell us in how far you´ve actively influenced the way the Burton character was defined after you´ve been chosen for the role and describe the character from your perspective.

Julian: I think that I actually got to invent James Burton from scratch in a way. When Sam, Luke and Henry saw my portrayal of Burton they believed it and didn't hang onto any preconceptions of the character. They picked up on my strengths and Henry wrote to my strengths, Sam directed to my strengths, and Luke...well Luke's just a genius. Obviously my American accent had an impact on the character. The big shoe, well that's just my leg being a bit shorter than the other and that added it's own quirk. I see Burton as a calm and collective character, a man-with-no-name kind of cowboy and mysterious in that respect. He's intense and can sniff out a rat better then a cat. He's a bit of a loner and is a bit awkward when it comes to relations...but he does have a heart...maybe there's a bit of a rough past in there as well...basically he's one hell of a cool cat.

A-T: In the first episode Burton seems like a cool and hard-boiled detective who´s got everything under control. In the second and especially third episode that picture changes a lot. Do you consider this ongoing change to be your biggest challenge as an actor in Casebook and how satisfying is your chance of further developing the character from a creative standpoint?

Julian: I think it would have been harder if the character stayed the same. We had to give Burton somewhere to go, so no I don't consider the transformation a challenge. I basically read the script, listen to what Sam says and run with my gut feeling... the change from clean cut detective to rough n' ready private-I has been a blast. I think Burton is just becoming more and more like me!! I never wear a suit so changing into a ratty leather jacket was fun and a bit more comfortable...literally and metaphorically.



A-T: Any ideas on the direction you would like to take Burton to in the future, if further episodes are gonna be produced?

Julian: It's fun running Burton into the ground. Hopefully we get to do this a bit more and really test the player's patience and trust by letting Burton hit rock bottom. Then later, I'm hoping we can bring him back from the grave and really smack one home!!!

A-T: Sam Clarkson is someone with a lot of experience, after all his short films and his work for Animal Planet, the Discovery Channel etc. How important has he been as a guide for your work in front of the camera?

Julian: Sam's been great because like I've said many times before, he directs to my strengths and loves the raw, instinctual feeling. He let's me go with my gut and trusts it (usually). If he ever has any worries about a scene we usually shoot two versions, my instinct and a directed take. He's very relaxed and doesn't get too stressed when something is not working. He's flexible and allows for last minute changes to better the scene. I don't think I could have been luckier getting a director like Sam!

A-T: Did you have any kind of relation to computer games before your Casebook involvement? If that´s the case, please talk about it and the obvious question in relation to that: Did you play the Casebook games yourself?

Julian: I've never been too big on computer games. I'm more of an outdoorsman but I did have a few stints with Myst and Street Fighter II when I was a kid. I have played the most part of the first episode and I've had a few goes on ep2 and ep3 but with kids, music, work etc. I haven't found time to complete any of the games sadly enough!

A-T: You are very busy with your music and invest a lot of passion, heart and soul into it. Do you see your acting in Casebook more as a temporary side project or would you be interested in pursuing a career as an actor parallel to the music?

Julian: When it happens, Casebook is a full-time job. I have to put everything else in life on hold so it's definitely not a side-project. It has been a real eye-opener for me and I've found that I'm actually more comfortable and more confident as an actor than I am as a musician. I'd love to further my acting career and do some feature films in the very near future.



A-T: Are there any actors that you see as a direct influence for yourself? In addition to that:

What are your favorite actors/ actresses/ movies in general?

Julian: Obviously Clint Eastwood comes to mind as far as Burton's character goes. But Bill Murray is in there, Samuel L. Jackson, Steve McQueen, Humphrey Bogart, Patricia Arquette, Denzel, anything Tarantino, Sergio Leone and all the spaghetti westerns, Ridley and Tony Scott as Directors, True Romance is one of my favourites as is Repo Man, Blade Runner, the Bourne series, Groundhog Day...Jim Jarmusch flicks, gosh there are loads!

A-T: Before we come to an end, i´d like to give you some room for shameless selfpromotion, regarding the Julian Temple Band. What expects people, who have never dealt with your band before, where can they find out more about the band, buy your records etc.?

Julian: Cheers Ingmar! Check out our official website: ... we're on iTunes, Facebook (become a fan!!), Myspace, Twitter, you name it... we've just released our second album "Quiet Earth" and have recorded/mastered our third due for release in 2010. Please do check us out and if you like it then the best thing you can do is spread the word and the music...we don't care... burn it, rip it, download it illegally if you have to as long as it gets into your chosen music playing device!!

A-T: Thank you very much for your immediate will to do this interview. We surely hope to see more of Detective Burton and wish you all the best with your music and other projects. And don´t forget to let us know if the Julian Temple Band finds its way to German stages at some point of time.

Julian: Will definitely be coming to Europe at some point with the band. Thank you!