Q&A with ‘My Suicide’ actor Gabriel Sunday

Gabriel Sunday, the lead actor, co-writer and co-producer of “My Suicide” was at the Root Cellar in Bloomington on Thursday as part of the Midwest showing of the film.  Sunday plays the character of Archie.

IDS How old are you?
SUNDAY I just turned 25 actually.

IDS What did you do for your birthday?
SUNDAY I had kind of a 3-day thing. I live in communal housing with 15 people in L.A., and we had a get together. I went to a friend’s house, Jordan.

IDS The director’s son?    
SUNDAY Yeah, we made a fort in his sister’s room. We just hung out, listened to vinyl, had some drinks, passed out on the carpet.

IDS What time did you get into Bloomington?
SUNDAY Maybe seven hours ago. I’m kind of out of it. I’m really good at flying and taking naps and falling asleep wherever I can.

IDS Where are you from?
SUNDAY Northern California originally. I lived in the Midwest for five to six years.

IDS Where at in the Midwest?
SUNDAY Wayzata, Minnesota. We moved there when I was in kindergarten. I’ve been in nine different schools, which is one reason I probably connected with [Archie] by not having one central place I grew up and feeling kind of disconnected.

IDS Do you think anyone in the room knows you?
SUNDAY I don’t know. I got one look from a girl who smiled, but I think maybe she was just being nice.

IDS Do you like when people know who you are?
SUNDAY I hope I’ll walk in and I won’t be called a loser. You hope to walk in and be on the top of the room, but I don’t hope people come over and want me to write on a piece of paper, but it’s still nice. When people come up and want to talk about this movie, they always have a story.  I have some beautiful and strange conversations. They take you to some weird places.

IDS Have you ever been around Bloomington?
SUNDAY No. I’ve never been to Indiana. I just bought this [Indiana] sweatshirt, so I look like a local. I’m eating the wings, I’m wearing the clothes.

IDS What do you think of Bloomington?
SUNDAY It’s wonderful. I never went to college. I worked on “My Suicide” right out of high school. I graduated early. I missed out on the college experience. My sister went to Chico. It’s the party school of the century. I spent one night there in junior high and crawled under her bed, crying. But after two and a half years editing “My Suicide,” I was kind of lonely and angst-ridden. I started a communal house in L.A. with 14 people. That’s kind of been my college experience. I’m actually missing the last party for this [screening]. The group’s breaking up.

IDS How did you get into film?
SUNDAY I’ve always been a performer. I was always on stage being a little attention whore. I went to circus camp, and I can do magic. When I was growing up I didn’t hang out with a lot of people. I watched a lot of movies. The first film I ever did was a documentary about my time on the road with Wavy Gravy, Patch Adams and Baba Ram Dass. Wavy runs the circus camp I’ve been going to for 15 years. That molded me into who I’ve become, kind of the hippie-dippie side. The narcissistic, depressed-artist stuff mixes in with that.

IDS What do you do on your free time?
SUNDAY I spend a lot of time helping around the communal house, which is ending. I spend a lot of time writing. I’m always looking to be a part of a mainstream, Hollywood movie. You fail many more times than you succeed.

IDS What music have you been listening to lately?
SUNDAY I have an iPhone, but I only play Pandora. I’ve been listening to a lot of classical. My most played station is ELO. I love ELO.  Bob Dylan and Neil Young hold up. I saw Bob a year ago at the Henry Fonda Theater in Hollywood.

IDS How do you prepare for a role?
SUNDAY My preparation for “My Suicide” was a lot different. Figuring out how to do it was challenging. A lot of post-prep was me wanting to dive in and make it better. We did a lot of reshooting to make it more honest. I’m a lot more method now. I’ll write diaries as the character. But filmmaking is more comfortable for me. The editing room is like a womb or something. It’s very safe. Acting doesn’t feel so safe. I feel very in my head, which is maybe why I don’t get a lot of roles or auditions.

IDS Is it weird to watch a movie you’re in?
SUNDAY Not anymore because I edited [“My Suicide”], so I’m used to every frame. But I think usually yeah.

IDS What are some of your favorite movies?
SUNDAY I like everything by P.T. Anderson. I love everything by Stanley Cooper. I love ... this is an important question. You don’t want to say something everybody likes. There are things not in the foremost of your mind that you love. I love “The Matrix.”

IDS All of them or just the original?
SUNDAY No. Just the original. I love “Lawrence of Arabia.” It’s amazing. “Natural Born Killers.” I like a movie that sends you on some out-of-this-world adventure. Anything by the Coen brothers.

IDS What’s your favorite?
SUNDAY “Fargo.” But I love “Raising Arizona,” “The Big Lebowski.” I love all of them.

IDS What do you do when you lock your keys in the car?
SUNDAY I usually spend 10 minutes trying to find the hide-a-key I think I have but don’t. Then I call AAA. I also have a sketchy roommate that knows how to break into cars.

IDS Tell me about your next film. The one about Daniel Johnston.
SUNDAY I used to be much more comfortable talking about it. I’m in the midst of figuring it out. It’s Daniel’s story from Daniel’s point-of-view.