We were very excited when we had the opportunity to interview one of the actors from Perfect Strangers, none other than Justin Pinchot! As you'll remember, Justin doubled for Bronson in the episodes in which Bronson had to play two characters, and even though we only saw the back of Justin's head in those episodes he became a special part of the show's history. We were later treated to a full-fledged acting performance when Justin got the opportunity to play Balki look-alike Nico near the end of the series! So we jumped at the chance to ask Justin some questions about the show and his life and he was extremely kind and gracious to provide us with some wonderful and entertaining answers!
Justin (on left as Balki) doubles
for older brother Bronson (on right as Bartok) in Because They're Cousins
P.S. Online: Justin, thank you so much for agreeing to do this Q&A for us! Let’s begin by dispelling an often repeated myth that you and Bronson are twin brothers. You are actually Bronson’s younger brother, right?
Justin:
Yes, I am 3 years younger than Bronson, but we have a strong resemblance to
one another (especially in those days when we were younger). I suppose the myth
got started because when I was made up to look like Bronson for "Because
They're Cousins", the similarities were startling. In fact, one time I
fooled the director and the cast into thinking I was Bronson for several minutes
before they figured it out. I can mimic him pretty well. It was hilarious.
P.S.
Online: Bronson decided
early on to earn straight A’s to be able to obtain scholarships which
eventually took him to Yale. Did you have similar academic aspirations?
Justin:
HA! Not at all, in fact almost the opposite. I was a low C student through
high school, but I was very social, and quite the partier. Bronson was always
directed, and knew very early what he wanted to do, while I had no idea, so I
tried everything. Once I made it to college, I was still very social, however
because I was paying for it myself, (we were quite broke growing up), I ended up
getting straight A's (and was on the dean's honor list) all the way through.
Bronson and indeed my other two siblings (an older sister between Bronson and I,
and the oldest brother) were all quite serious about school, and are all quite
literary, as is my mom, but I was the only one who was mechanical. I played with
cars, took things apart to see how they worked, etc. While the rest of the
family was discussing Shakespeare and Dickens, I was making car noises
with a Hot Wheels in the corner. I was the "normal" one in the family,
all the rest including mom were brainiacs!
P.S.
Online: Tell us something
about yourself growing up. What did you want to do? What were your
interests?
Justin: As I said, I was the "normal" one, I liked riding bicycles, fixing
things (read - taking things apart, although I was known for putting them back
together and making them work), and building model cars. I was nutty for cars
(anything with wheels actually) when I was a kid, and could name just about any
model and year car I saw on the street.
P.S.
Online: Did you have any
experience in acting or any desire to take up acting before you started working
with Bronson on various projects?
Justin: Yes, a friend of mine was taking tap lessons when I was 11 or so, and I wanted
to do it so badly, but I couldn't afford it. But the teacher was really sweet,
and let me mow her lawn in exchange, so I got to join the class. She also had a
drama troupe which I quickly joined. I loved it, and often did plays and such in
school. We always read together at home as a family, and everyone was
theatrical. We can all tell a good story or joke, and all of us imitated
personalities we thought were funny. There was a LOT of laughing in my family
growing up.
P.S.
Online: Were the Pepsi
taste test commercials the first time you appeared before cameras as the back of
Bronson’s head? How did that come about? Any interesting stories
about those shoots?
Justin:
I don't remember when the first time I doubled for Bronson was . . . on PS or the
Pepsi commercials? They were all around the same time, and it was a long time
ago!
P.S. Online: The Pepsi commercials aired in 1987 and your first Perfect Strangers appearance was filmed at the end of 1989.
Justin:
For the Pepsi shoot, Bronson actually requested from the producers that I
do the double for him. He didn't want to be playing opposite a stranger when he
could have me, who he was comfortable with, and who looked like him to play off
of. The producers loved it because I looked enough like him to do many shots.
I was very broke in those days, and I was so happy to have the work, it paid
very well. I remember the juxtaposition . . . one minute I was on camera in the
middle of the West Side Pavilion mall with hundreds of people watching, the next
minute I was driving home in my broken-down and faded out 1961 Ranchero. And in
those days it wasn't cool yet to drive an old car, it was just pathetic.
P.S.
Online: You first
appeared on Perfect Strangers in the fifth season episode Because They’re
Cousins, playing both Balki and Bartok. What was that experience like,
working in front of a studio audience?
Justin:
It was truly horrifying and exhilarating all at the same time! I had to learn
ALL the lines of BOTH characters by heart, (essentially the whole
script!) and be able to deliver them effectively in front of the audience so the
show made sense while being filmed. I remember going to a park with Bronson and
a tape recorder to learn Balki's accent. If I did it wrong, Bronson himself
would inadvertently adopt whatever I did, so it was crucial to get it right and
not muddle it with my own interpretation of it. I was so intent on doing a good
job, I didn't want to embarrass him, or myself!
I didn't really have any formal acting training at all, and I was incredibly
nervous about performing in front of the audience, but the audience ended up
being the best part. I fed off of their energy, and they seemed to love what I
was doing, and believed me as both Balki and Bart, so it worked out. Applause is
addicting.
The process to shoot an episode is a week-long process, which I learned as we
went. Friday we would do a read-through of the script at a big table.
Then
Monday you would get a revised script based on how the meeting went. All week
long you would learn your lines and blocking making ad libs and adjustments
along the way, and each night at about 1:30 am, you would hear the thud of a new,
revised script being dropped on your porch. The un-nerving thing would be
that all the lines you just learned had been changed. Finally, we would shoot on
Thursday night in front of a live audience. I remember doing absolutely nothing
but that show when we shot it . . . no laundry, no dishes . . . I didn't even answer
the phone . . . I just went around with a tape recorder learning lines.
When we finally shot that show, I was convinced I was going to screw up . . .
I
hadn't done the lines in rehearsal right at all the day before, and was really
worried. My sister called me the night before and gave me a pep talk . . .
and it
calmed me down. The next day when we shot in front of the audience, I did so
well, Bronson was really surprised (and very pleased) and told me so, as did
everyone else. It was really gratifying to nail it, especially when I was so
afraid I wouldn't. To this day, I draw confidence from that experience.
I
figure if I could pull that off, anything is possible.
P.S. Online: Did you have to wear a wig when you were doubling for Bronson on that episode?
Justin:
Yes, indeed I wore a wig . . . well more accurately, hair pieces. Our hair
was similar in length, but the hairline was the problem. I have a
pronounced widow's peak, and Bronson doesn't, so they used two small hair pieces
on either side of my widow's peak to fill it in like his. My hair is also
much thicker than Bronson's, his is very fine, so they had to actually cut (and
thin) my hair as well as style it like his.
I'm also a couple of inches shorter than Bronson, so they put huge lifts in my
shoes, and it made them terribly uncomfortable. After a couple of hours my
feet were so sore . . . it was torture. I used to joke with my sister
about the "cruel shoes"! But it was all worth it.
P.S.
Online: You played both
Mama and Balki opposite Bronson in the seventh season two-part episode Citizenship,
which meant part of the time you were wearing a dress! You didn’t need
to undergo a lot of the facial makeup like Bronson did, but you did have to wear
some of the padding. What was that experience like?
Justin:
Playing Mama was incredible fun! I didn't have to learn hardly any lines, and
got to just have fun. Although, the fat suit they put me in was heavy and hot, I
had a blast, and there was a LOT of laughing going on when shooting. Mama was
well endowed, for some reason, when I was dressed as her everyone was motivated
to grab her (my) chest . . . it became quite the joke.
P.S.
Online: You finally got
to play an original character, Nico, in the seventh season episode It Had to
Be You, which meant you had to be like Balki but not *exactly* like Balki.
How did you create the character of Nico and was Bronson a big influence on the
way you played that character?
Justin:
Ah, Nico . . . I finally got my "A" card with him. (That's the credit that
says "guest starring Justin Pinchot" in the show credits.) Finally I
wasn't the back of someone's head! Nico was created from the script, Bronson
didn't really influence him much. I just went by the description of the
character in the script and what the director told me. Bronson and I had fun
with it . . . we incorporated any brotherly competition we ever had in real life
into the characters. We made fun of each other's noses, etc. It was hilarious
and some of the most fun I have ever had. All of those people, Mark Linn,
Melanie and Rebeca, and all of the others, were quite wonderful to work with.
They were incredibly nice to me, and we really had a good time when working.
P.S.
Online: Do you have any
particular memories from working on Perfect Strangers? And what was it
like working with your brother in general?
Justin:
I remember knowing it was a very special time that would likely not be
repeated in my life, so I savored every moment. I remember how incredibly sweet
Melanie Wilson was to me, and what a big crush I had on Rebeca Arthur. (I spent
a great deal of time trying to get a date with her to no avail.) I
remember the
HUGE doors and enormous studio we shot in. I don't remember ever being as
excited as I was when I got to work on the show. And I'll never forget the first
time I realized I had my own fans. I came out of the studio one night and
there were two girls there waiting to talk to me . . . me?! It was surreal.
I
actually got a bit of fan mail, too. It was very exciting, and completely the
polar opposite of my childhood experience - we were poor New York kids living in
California, and now living the California dream. It was very contrasty, if that
makes sense.
Working with Bronson was great but not always perfect. He was going through
things then that I didn't know until later, so I was sometimes confused by his
behavior. The whole show was riding on him, so he had pressures I could never
understand, but overall he was incredibly fun to work with. It sounds biased
because I am his brother, but he is incredibly talented, and working with
him is amazing. He is extremely inventive, and he also feeds off of making
others laugh, so the set was usually busting up with laughter, but he was very
serious about his work, and was an absolute professional. I was worried about
embarrassing him, and about performing well enough to not look like an idiot by
comparison. But I think in the end I held my own, and was an asset.
P.S.
Online: What other acting
have you done? And is acting something you continue to pursue?
Justin:
I don't really pursue acting, although after PS I took many acting classes.
Acting does find me from time to time. My best friend is a producer, and he
would occasionally cast me in things; I played a clerk in a short film called
Witness that made all the film festivals and did very well, and I was in an
episode or two of Arrest and Trial, a short lived Dick Wolf show (Law and
Order). I absolutely love acting, so whenever the opportunity presents itself,
I'm there, but I don't audition anymore, and my headshots are all 15 years old.
There was a time in the early 90s when I was auditioning a lot for commercials,
and I was taking comedy improv with Kathy Griffin, but I couldn't make it go, so
I got a real job. But it was incredibly fun.
P.S. Online:
You are an avid collector of
space toys such as vintage ray guns and robots. How did you begin
collecting these items? And what fuels your fascination with these
wonderful toys?
Justin:
My parents collected
antiques, so an affinity for antiques and collecting has been in my blood since
birth. In fact, my entire family are collectors. When we were kids, I collected
Lionel electric trains, Bronson collected Wizard of Oz items, and my oldest
brother collected antique swords and armor. Starting at 7 years old, Bronson and
I would go to the Rose Bowl swap meet to look for vintage items, so it started
quite early with me.
Bronson introduced me to 1930s art deco and I was smitten at first sight! In the
early 90s, a friend brought over a 1930s Buck Rogers ray gun to show me, and it
was so art deco with it's streamlined design, and stepped rings, I went crazy
for it. Soon after, I found a book on them, and started collecting. I amassed a
huge collection in a short time. Later, a well known collector who had created a
website devoted to ray guns exited the hobby and gave the site to me (Toy
Ray Guns). I was
already buying and selling vintage items at that point, but after a decade or so
of dealing and owning the site, I became somewhat of an expert on ray guns and
space toys, and people began seeking my advice, and opinions, etc.
P.S. Online:
What are some of the most
prized pieces in your collection? What item do you *not* have that you
would most like to find?
Justin: I have many collections; besides ray guns, robots and space toys from the
1950s, I also collect vintage balloon tire bicycles, vintage wristwatches and
clocks, 1930s - 1950s microphones, Catalin (a form of very early plastic)
radios, vintage automobiles and scooters, antique African trade beads, Baranger
motion window displays (a very esoteric advertising collectible), and the list
goes on . . . and on!
Because I have SO many collectibles, it's very hard to name my favorites, but
here are a few from several categories: For motor scooters, my favorite that I
own is a super rare 1947 Salsbury. I have several favorite robots; it's a
toss-up between "Flashy Jim", "Hook Robot" and the "Lilliput
Robot". My favorite bicycle is the 1935 Elgin Bluebird that was sold at
Sears and Roebuck, the most beautiful art deco bicycle ever designed. My
favorite vintage car I own would likely be my 1959 El Camino, or my 1963 Mercury
Comet convertible. I also own an exceedingly rare tin toy rocket from the 1950s
called the Spaceship X-7, there are less than 10 known in collections worldwide.
My favorite wristwatch I own; the 1962 Hamilton Electric "Altair" . .
. it
looks like a rocket in flight!
At this point in my life I have had so many incredible items, there is really
nothing I want that I haven't owned or currently own. Of course, this does not
mean I have stopped looking for things, but I am much less obsessed by specific
items than I used to be. There are one or two ray guns and robots I would like
to have, but I am recently engaged and looking to buy property, so my priorities
are there now.
P.S. Online:
You are considered one of the
leading experts in this area of collecting, maintaining the website and writing for various toy and collector’s magazines. Any chance you
will write a book on space toys at some point?
Justin:
That's a good question . . . likely not. There are already so many excellent
books on almost all the items I collect, many of which I have contributed to,
that it would be redundant, but I never say never. I might someday write a book
about my experiences collecting and dealing, but that would be a long way off.
P.S.
Online: You also run a
mobile DJ business called Music
Matters. How did you become involved in
that kind of work? Have you always been musically inclined?
Justin:
I worked restoring antique carousels (merry-go-rounds) for about 20 years,
but then hurt my back very badly, so I needed to find a new vocation. I had a
friend who was giving up his DJ business, and he asked me to DJ a party for him.
Well, it was a smashing success. From there people started asking me to DJ their
parties and weddings and I eventually opened my own business.
I am not musically inclined, meaning I don't play any instruments, but I have
always loved music, and I know many different genres well. As it turns out being
a DJ coalesces all of my skill sets, and I was very good at all aspects of it
without trying. And I absolutely love doing it, it is the most fun I have ever
had next to acting.
P.S.
Online: Tell us something
about Justin Pinchot that we probably don’t know and which might surprise us.
Justin:
Wow, tough question.
I've told
you so much in this interview, there isn't much you don't already know about me
now. Let's see . . . I used to bend neon, and made many of the neon signs around
South Pasadena and Pasadena where I live. But you might be surprised to know I
was once arrested for "liberating" a vintage neon sign from an
abandoned building. I was a dopey teenager, and luckily the charges got dropped,
but I spent the night in jail nonetheless.
I also recently wrote a series of articles for my town magazine, the South
Pasadena Quarterly. I shot the last five cover photos, and the interior shots
for all the articles as well . . . not much of a surprise I guess. And besides
collecting and dealing vintage items, I also do repairs and restoration on them.
Several antique stores in L.A. give me items to repair or restore for them.
P.S.
Online: Any upcoming
projects you would like to plug?
Justin:
Time Warner Cable recently did a story on me that airs on their video on
demand channel 101, and will also soon air on CNN Headline News. It features
many of the things I collect, and has an extensive interview with me. It's only
5 minutes, but you will see many of my best collectibles. You can check it out
on Time Warner cable channel 101, on CNN, or you can watch it on YouTube by
clicking on the link below:
Our thanks again to Justin for providing us with such
wonderful answers to our questions! Our deepest congratulations on your
engagement and we wish you the best in life, always!