Perry Moore: Hello.
Joe: Hey Perry
PM: Yes.
J: Hi this is Joe from Pop Culture Madness.
I apologize, Melissa wasn't feeling well today and I got to call
you today. Okay I haven't read the book yet but I've read
a lot about it. My background is in comic books too.
PM: Ah-ha! One of the followers like me.
J: Yes. I had a warehouse of about 100,000 comics
for a few years there, and sold it off when Pop Culture Madness
opend the office.
PM: Wow! What a great story. And did it finance
it?
J: Well, it paid for the rent for most of the
first year, and we're still here.
PM: I love that. Who did you sell it to?
J: I sold little bits off to a couple of dealers
but there's another local guy I knew was going to treat my collection
with TLC so I gave it to him at a reasonable rate. So, what is
your background with comics? You seem to be very knowledgeable;
I've been reading up on you on the web.
PM: That's right I got my first comics when I was
a kid and I was home from school sick one day and I'm sure I think
Dad went to the drugstore to pick some medicine for me and came
back with New Teen Titans Number 10 and X-Men number 161 roughly
and those were the first two comic books that I remember.
J: Wow.
PM: Actually that's not true. I remember getting,
long ago, going into a comic book store and getting X-Men 125
I remember because of the Phoenix on the cover and that was such
a big such an influential epic I think in comic book history for
all those that we share.
J: Absolutely.
PM: That was pretty huge for me. I still have that
copy too. I'm sure it's completely frayed at this point from me
going through it reading it 100,000 times as a kid.
J: Right! Well I remember, I'm a bit older than
you, I'll tell you this; the first word that I could consciously
spell and say "I want to learn that word" was "Batman."
PM: (laughing) So who are your favorites?
J: I've grown to appreciate Superman since Superman
2 (the original second movie.) That gave me a love for the character.
PM: Well, I love what that new book, is it called
Amazing or Astonishing, whatever the one that Grant Morrison and
Frank Whitley are doing now is amazing. It's a Bob Schreck edited
book. It's excellent.
J: Here's a funny thing; once I put down my comics
a year and a half ago, I haven't picked up another issue.
PM: Oh, wow. I went on a little hiatus I think when
I was in college.
J: Well, I've gone through hiatuses through the
years, but the first book I bought as like a real fan saying I
want to collect these believe it or not was Giant Sized X-Men
1.
PM: Oh good for you! If you're going to pick one
to start there it is.
J: Yeah, so that's been pretty neat, but I was
always a fan. I remember being down the Jersey shore when my dad
bought me the original Silver Surfer number one.
PM: I love that. How cool is that? That's got to
be worth something!
J: Not anymore.
PM: You've got a big collection, it sounds like.
J: Well, I did. I had pretty much I've owned
every Marvel comic with the exception of Spider Man 1 and FF 2.
Throughout the years.
PM: Wow, that's incredible!
J: Once they became part of the collection I'd
trade them or sell them, or whatever. The fun was in the trading
and having and reading once. One book I never owned was a magazine
called In the Days of the Mob, which Jack Kirby did.
PM: I don't even remember that.
J: I only read about it, I've never seen an issue.
PM: I'd love to go find that one.
J: (laughing) Yeah, now that you know it exists,
right?
PM: I'll look it up online!
J: So you've had the interest in comics. I also
saw, the first thing I could find was you're Executive Producing
Narnia?
PM: Yeah, I very modestly and humbly play the pretty
crucial role in putting those movies together, which was nice.
It was wonderful, and has been, and will be with all seven of
them. A great place to learn from the legends. You know, the studios
are great, Disney, and working with Andrew Adamson who directed
the Shreks and the first two movies. It's just been, you know,
working with him and sort of posthumously with C.S. Lewis, is
sort of, they're really my two story-telling mentors, so that's
been, I can't think of two better story telling mentors to have
close association with. So, I had a story in me because I firmly
believe that everyone has a story to tell and there's a hero in
everyone. That's what I did, and I started writing it while we
were casting the first Narnia.
J: Cool!
PM: I think I was done with the first draft of the
first manuscripts before we finished shooting it. It took us a
long time to shoot that first one.
J: Well, I remember reading about it prior and
once it came out I didn't get to see it in the theatres but we
got the DVD right away and it's a family favorite.
PM: Good, we like that. We like that. We hope the
sequel, Prince Caspian, comes out May 16th, so hopefully more
and better of the same.
J: That's cool. What have you done before that,
job-wise?
PM: Oh God. Everything. What have I done? I mean
everything from menial jobs growing up like everyone, from swim
instructor to lifeguard, to stockroom worker, to basically medical
testing when I was in college, for money on the side. Waiting,
bartending, but the hours are great medical experiments at the
University of Virginia for some reason at the hospital seemed
to pay better than all my jobs added up.
J: Oh, wow!
PM: I think my mom's horrified that I did all that.
J: I would be horrified.
PM: You do what you can to pay the bills.
J: Well, that's true.
PM: I did that, and then I started my career. Interned
at a few placed. Interned at the White House the first year Bill
Clinton was in office and then I started working in the film business,
or TV business and I wanted to come to NY because I have such
a love for books. The business is much smaller here than it is
LA but sort of being outside of Hollywood helped me a lot when
it came time to nab the rights for Narnia, I think because it
was very undervalued and underappreciated franchise to be in Hollywood's
eyes. So I just approached the estate directly, the C. S. Lewis
estate, and I approached them with a real passionate plea before
Harry Potter orderings came out. So I think the timing was very
fortunate.
J: Oh yeah, you did luck out with that.
PM: Bringing out Andrew Adamson was really a wonderful,
wonderful thing.
J: Sometimes when it comes to rights like that,
timing is the thing. I read the guy who bought all the rights
to the Harvey characters, Casper, and Richie Rich, he spent like
2 grand, he borrowed it from dad!
PM: Isn't that funny?
J: It's bizarre!
PM: That was crazy. I mean our approach was all
about being faithful to the book and that's why Walden is such
a great studio because they sort of believe you can make great
movies from great books and that was sort of antithetical from
most of what Hollywood taught or how they looked at the book world,
so I hope we rewrote a page of film history, making these movies.
J: That would be good. I know you're weren't
the creator per se, but I think it's important having the artist
have the real say in what's going on with the films.
PM: Absolutely. Having the grandson of his step
son you know who could really, someone who knew him so well. He
grew up with him, was very spot on. It's just, he's one of the
co-producers on the movie. It's just fantastic. I mean, I've just
been executive producer but it's something I'm very, very proud
of and we're very active about it.
J: That's cool. Well, let's talk about your role
a little bit. Again I apologize; I haven't read it, but I've read
a lot about in the past 6 hours. One thing I wanted to ask, how
old is Tom?
PM: Tom is probably , you know I've never actually
been asked exactly how old he is. He is finishing up his last
year in High School, so I guess that would land him around 17
or 18.
J: Okay, 'cause I was relating him with Peter
Parker.
PM: Oh, yeah, there's that. I mean there's certainly
that sense that he's supposed to be anyone can relate with him.
He's sort of struggling with awkwardness of youth and that young
people aren't stupid I think like most adults think or talk down
to them and that all those differences you feel this is an outsider
when you're a teen. You capture that and embrace it, that it actually
empowers you and that's sort of the message of the book whether
you're gay, straight, black, or white, young or old.
J: Or, in Peter's case, a nerd.
PM: Yeah.
J: So I did, one thing I noticed: Tom's powers
to heal people. That's a soft power.
PM: It sure is. Well, and if you read the book you
find out his power as he evolves and learns who he is and learns
to embrace who he is, his powers evolve also and that is very
deliberate by design. And when he's trying out for sort of the
A-List squad of superheroes he's placed with this very almost
motley crew of heroes; an old lady who can see the future who
chain smokes; this chick who doesn't like him at all who has these
mutant fire powers from growing up near a power plant; a demoted
hero who really has it in for him, and then another fan favorite
again named Typhoid Larry, whose power is to make people sick.
So, no, they're not the most obvious offensive powers in the world,
but his team they learn to band together and get the job done.
J: That is something good, how the whole teamwork
thing and that each character holds their own and is needed.
PM: Yup.
J: Okay, what made you decide to write it from
a teenage perspective?
PM: Oh, cause I love that literature. That's always
been my favorite. You know, everything. What was your favorite
book, growing up?
J: I always liked the character of Batman mainly
because, outside of the money he could be anybody, if he had the
drive and determination.
PM: That could be any of us, I agree.
J: Another thing that I thought was interesting,
did you see the Kill Bill movies?
PM: You know what, I didn't. Shame on me, but that's
something that has not crossed my path. I think those came out
when I was making Narnia and I was very immersed so to speak while
I was making those movies.
J: Slightly different. In the second film there's
a point where Bill points out that Superman is different than
all the other characters because Superman is Superman pretending
to be Clark Kent, which is the opposite of every other hero and
I was wondering if you gave any thought to that. How does he differentiate
who he is versus secret identity?
PM: Well, you know, that's the whole point of the
book, about reconciling. There's a mask on the cover of the book.
I was really lucky to have sort of the industry's foremost jacket
designer, this guy named Chip Kidddid my cover because he loved
the book and I think he really got that theme in particular in
the cover because it is so much about identity and what it means
to have secrets, and what happens when they fester inside you
and you don't come to terms with who you really are and how damaging
that can be. So I think if you look at my book you probably learn
one of the many things you learn from Tom is that reconciling
those secrets or hidden identities; you are who are you, and there
in lies your power, and you don't need all these aliases or all
these separate secrets to hide. That the truth is literally what
sets you free.
J: Very good! I know there's a sequel coming
out?
PM: There is! There will be many of them. I mean,
I have lots of plans for that group and a lot of surprises. Some
people you won't expect to see, some new characters, and Tom and
his group you'll find out a lot more where Gorin(?) came from,
what his background is and how his relationship evolves himself
with Tom. You'll learn a lot about what really happened to the
mother and what was going on with her. A lot of surprises in it,
but yeah I plan to write as long as the characters keep telling
me what stories to tell I plan on keep writing them.
J: Wow, that's good. Again, I do look forward
to the book, my oldest daughter read it. She genuinely liked it.
I'll have her post her review soon!
PM: How old is she?
J: She is age 16, just turned 16.
PM: Oh, yeah. She's perfect for it.
J: I definitely think so.
PM: Let me know what she thinks, I'd love to know
and if she has any ideas for sequel she can just email them to
me.
J: (Laughing) I'll make sure her review ends
up on the site too, so we'll have that.
PM: Excellent, I love it! It's a big hit with most
teen girls. It's interesting, I hadn't realized this before but
being on book tour and doing a tour sometimes occasionally there's
some authors who write fiction that has a gay protagonist in it
and my book is very much not a gay book, it's just a kid happens
to be gay. It's not his whole identity, it's just a part of who
he is, one of the may things he struggles with, but some people
write books solely about that and they always say and I was surprised
to learn too that a lot of our fan base and a lot of our readers
are actually teen girls.
J: I think it's something that the comic book
industry totally misses out on.
PM: Yeah, I hope there are plans and there are talks,
I have interest from the major publishers about doing something
with Hero. I think they'd like to get some of those teen, bring
some of those teen girls and demographics they've neglected and
bring them to, you know, introduce them to comic books. We did
reserve rights for comic books and graphic novels. We'll turn
it into one of those too, I think.
J: Having two girls with a nerdy comic book dad,
they were familiar with so many of these characters but if I wanted
to get even an action figure, the girl was always the 1 in 24
that ended up being 75 or 100 dollars out of the box.
PM: (laugh)
J: I was a dealer too, so I got some inside pricing,
but it's really a shame because these aren't just my girls who
are disappointed, and you think; girls are half of your market
out there!
PM: Well I love it. I say more power to them. I'm
writing for them too, and if they're penalized then I totally
see why too. But it really strikes a cord, you know. Like I said;
young people aren't stupid, and there's something they can relate
to, I think, with the young gay romance where's it's a sort of
ironic brooding quality and at the same time this very sort of
forbidden like star-struck romance that has to survive and manifest
itself against all odds that they just find deeply romantic and
heart-breaking and there in lies the beauty of Tom's relationship
with Gorin.
J: Well one thing I noticed this reading up,
this isn't a gay story. This is a story about a guy who happens
to be gay.
PM: Yes, it's a story about a guy who happens to
be gay, but I would never call it a gay story. I think it's so
much more.
J: A lot of times it becomes preachy that way.
Yours wasn't. Did you ever watch the old Ellen show?
PM: The old sitcom, sure.
J: It was hysterical, and we all knew she was
gay and was whatever but once it because the "gay Ellen show"
it lots its humor it lost its edge.
PM: I think some people probably make this mistake
when they tell a story, I mean listen, it's hard to tell a story.
Far be it for me to judge anyone else's work but I think it is,
you know, I don't prefer to read things where you hit the nail
on the head and sort of the whole character's identity is all
about the sexuality because I don't think any real character's
identity is solely based on his or her sexuality. This may sound
odd for fiction but you have to write the truth and if you're
going to do that then you have to be willing to listen to what
the truth is. On a good day I'm just a vessel; I'm just doing
what the characters tell me what to do.
PM: I'd love for you guys to mention my website.
It's called perrymooresstories.com.
J: I definitely will, I already made the notation.
PM: Okay, and I welcome all people to email me with
thoughts on the book or suggestions for sequels, anything they
like, or comments they have.
J: Sure.
PM: And I have a list there where I tried to catalogue
the history of gay characters and their treatment and at times
it goes a little overboard, but overall it shows that there's
been largely a misrepresentation and that they've been sort of
far and few between and when they do appear they're very B-List,
so they sometimes get handled in very B-List manners - a sort
of defamation sort of way - and there are some very good examples
to counterbalance that but are there enough is sort of the question
I ask and Hero is my way of putting out there and putting forth
the epic coming of age story of the world's first star of his
own tale who's young and male and happens to be gay and I can't
believe it's taken this long for someone to do it, but I'm glad
to do it.
J: Like I said, it does sound like a good read.
Melissa's been real positive on it. If she wasn't sick she'd be
here now.
PM: I'm glad, I love that. Tell her I'm sorry I
missed her.
J: I wanted to ask, related with this do you
have any other characters in mind that you like to write about?
PM: Oh, yeah. Plenty. Like I said, in the sequel
there'd be some surprise and new characters and additions to the
team but I have other books and other movies too. I write with
my partner. We made a movie with Sissy Spacek(?) and Rebecca Romaine(?)
called Lake City and we write a lot. I have a whole other series
that I'll start about a young girl, that she's triplets. She has
an older brother and younger brother although they're triplets
it's just a matter of who came out of the womb first and that
sort of defines their interpersonal hierarchy. They have a pretty
incredible destiny. That's one of the fantasy books. It's a little
darker and a little younger, believe it or not because the kids
are a little younger. It sort of rewrites the whole werewolf mythology.
I don't know if I'm coming out with that book before the sequel
or vice versa but those characters are speaking to me from beyond
too so I'm giving them voice.
J: Gotcha.
PM: They won't shut up, so you've got to let it
out.
J: (laughs) That's good that you're creating
the characters in your mind obviously with a strong personality.
That shows a real love for what you're doing.
PM: (laughing) I do love it, and I'm lucky, very,
very lucky.
J: Are you talking to any comic book companies
about this?
PM: Oh yeah, absolutely.
J: Okay. Nothing you can say yet though.
PM: We'll see what happens, but I have high hopes.
You know, I had this great call from Stan Lee who wanted to be
involved in turning it into a movie or TV property or series which
I'm very interested in, and that was great for the fan boy in
me to get that call from a legend like Stan with a character that's
just so fresh and modern and just have him appreciate it for who
he is and that was a very special moment for me.
J: That's pretty cool. Are you familiar with
Jim Steranko?
PM: Yeah, sure.
J: There was a guy who wanted to buy wrestling
magazines. I called him and I talked to him for like 20 minutes,
then I realized who it was! It was Jim! I was like "oh my
gosh!"
PM: (laughing) That's wild. Yeah, no it's funny.
He's sort of in your mind you're terrified of these people then
you talk to them you're like "wow they actually are human."
J: Yeah. I had an embarrassing moment with Stan
Lee. In Philly I was just standing next to the Marvel booth at
a big show, and Stan Lee came and sat down in front of me and
instantly there were 400 people in line; I was first in line.
PM: Excellent!
J: Yeah, but I became 8 year old geekboy, I couldn't
say anything. I wasn't ready for the moment!
PM: I bet he'd love to hear that now.
J: Oh, but it was really funny. Have you met
any other comic book oriented people?
PM: Oh yeah, there are tons. I mean friends with
this guy named Allen Heinberg who created the Young Avengers and
wrote some Wonder Woman. He writes for Grey's Anatomy and he's
a good friend. I really love him to pieces. I don't know. I'm
not really sort of in, I mean I follow that world, but..
J: Right, you're not touching it.
PM: I guess if I start working in it I'll get to
know some people better. The fans from the book tours and I got
to speak at Comicon in San Diego for Narnia and give a big presentation
right before the movie came out. That was a highlight. A packed
house of 10,000 people, showing our first preview of Narnia. That
was really exciting.
J: Were you nervous?
PM: Actually, (laughs), funny story. I was a little
nervous because I'd been surfing the day before - I'm a big surfer
- I had my, I was stupid, I was surfing on some shore break on
the long board and you should never do that and so my board had
popped up and it just smacks me in the head, actually split my
head open. I had to have five stitches and I probably had a mild
concussion but I HAD to be at Comicon the next day to give this
presentation. So I got stitched up. I got on the plane, I was
bandaged so I took the bandage off. I went and started to moderate
this panel and the director and the cast were doing looping in
London at the time, so we had a satellite connect with them and
I remember the first time I introduced them the crowd laughed
a little. I'd ask them a question and the audience was pretty
uproarious and laugh and I thought "Oh my god, I have brain
damage! I'm on a three second delay system!" And then they
informed me that it was the satellite connection.
J: Oh! Okay.
PM: That was a big relief.
J: Yeah, it's always good to know you still have
your facilities.
PM: It was nice to know I do. There was a nice picture
of me too. Picture Magazine was very, very gracious and gave me
a wonderful review of the book and asked me to be, it's hard to
say to this, I was their Sexy Man of the Week of their November
17th issue. They took a picture of me on my surfboard.
J: That's always a nice little thing to stick
on your nightstand.
PM: Yeah, it's funny. Feel free to put that one
up there, my picture. I don't think I'll ever pose in my wetsuit
again.
J: Some things you do once, right?
PM: Yeah, that's a one timer right there.
J: Well, I appreciate you taking the time.
PM: Well, thank you. I love what you guys are doing,
and congratulations on doing it and doing it for yourself. I'm
a big believer in you make your own miracles and dreams come true.
Sounds like you're doing it so congratulations.
J: Thank you very much. Well, it was a pleasure
talking to you.
PM: Pleasure meeting you too. Hopefully we'll meet
in person one day.
J: If you come down towards the Philly area feel
free to give us a call. Have you been to Philly?
PM: I have! We're shooting at near the Please Touch
Museum across the street which has this great Maurice Sendak exhibit.
So we went and shot footage for the documentary down at both museums
and it was hilarious because one was sort of the please don't
touch museum and then the other one you're jumping into Wild
Things costumes and outfits. It was the Please Touch museum. I
love Philly. Great place.
J: Why do I know the name Maurice Sendak?
PM: He is the writer and illustrator of Where the
Wild Things Are. He's pretty amazing, he's a great artist.
J: Duh! Have you had a Philly Cheese steak?
PM: (laughs) I'm a vegetarian.
J: That's tough one, okay.
PM: I think I'll never live to see the day.
J: Well, if I meet you, I'll get you cheese fries.
PM: I was going to say, if there were a good reason
to go back to meat that would be it. Please tell Melissa to call
me or email if she needs anything at all.
J: Great. Thank you very much and I'm glad I
got the chance to talk to you.
PM: I enjoyed it, I'll talk to you soon.
J: Bye bye.
PM: Bye.
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