Who is the most prolific indie film actor today? There’s no one who comes close to Eric Roberts. Go to his IMDB page and look at the number of films over the past ten years and then look at the films he has currently in production. Udo Kier is working his way up to Eric Roberts’ quantity of work but he’s so far behind.

I had the privilege of speaking to Eric about his current film Inside the Rain. He plays Monty, an independent film producer, who helps film student Ben (Aaron Fisher) produce a film about how he got kick out of film school over a misunderstanding stemming from his bi-polar disorder. Eric talks about why he chose this particular project and his admiration for first-time screenwriter and director Aaron Fisher.

We also talked about what you need to do to get Eric Roberts to appear in your movie. It could happen.

But Eric got most excited about the film that shaped his career, Star 80, which garnered him a Golden Globe nomination and what it was like to work with the inimitable Bob Fosse. Don’t hate me for this, but the interview took place the day before California went on lockdown for the Coronavirus. I’m pleased to report neither Mr. Roberts, nor myself, got the virus as a result of this interview.

“…when I stopped it, I was back to my normal self and I understand this world of mental health.”

How are you doing? I’m just kinda going with the flow!

It’s a whole new flow, buddy. I believe I’m prophesying. I believe that this is the tip of the iceberg. A whole new kind of a social order. Social integration, social everything. I mean 12 million people here, and the earth can’t support that. it’s spooky. It’s nature’s way of kind of balancing things out. We all have the equal right to life, but we have an equal road to death. So there we go.

On a lighter tone. How did you get involved in Inside the Rain? I interviewed Aaron and he said you came to him.

Yeah. I read the script. The part that was offered was easy for me, fun for me. Great!