Dynamic Rain and Thunder: Always Lookin' At The Bright Side.

 

DYNAMIC RAIN AND THUNDER FILM CHARACTERS

Yes this is it! The first big list of all Dynamic Rain and Thunder character from 2000 to the present. This list is updated multiple times per week.

You won't find steeley young CSI investigators on this list. No shadowy mafia goons, no coaches trying to inspire, no heroic good guy trying to get the bad guy.

What you'll find are crazy characters who want something they can't have and are usually doing a bad job at getting it. These roles were created  to be something unique, something fresh in both comedy and drama. 

Print
PDF

Abby

Abby is the lead female and Lane's Colorado love interest, best friend and roomate in Temptations Revelations Karma. She's certainly an alcoholic who pushes away the man she loves. Abby gets a second chance by cleaning up her act and meeting Lane's jerk of an ex boss, Mr Kheil

Movies

Temptations Revelations Karma

Actor

Sherrie

Inspiration (AJ Gonzales): TRK needed three love interests for Lane and Abby served as both his starting point and the woman he felt he needed to get back to. For the story, that meant Abby had to have some faults to drive Lane away. I knew someone similar to Abby who had many of the same traits but nothing on the level that Sherrie brought to the character. Sherrie took the character from "ha ha who who we''ll have some drinks" to "yikes,  she loves him but hates herself and she's destroying their relationship". I watched this happen while filming and it was heart wrenching.  
Print
PDF

Ana Cazares

Ana Cazares is the woman who has $200,000 worth of gold in her head. Yes you read that right. Since all that gold is just waiting for someone to cut her head off, well Ugly Days in Idiotvylle began.

At the start of Ugly Days Ana is dating the ever finacially struggling Govornor of Colorado, Clyde Ramirez. She convinces him to fire Pete Lemansky and hire her as the state's treasurer to get things turned around. The reason she chose Clyde for a mate though, was for protection from the many scumbags who would do her harm for the gold in her head. As Clyde faces an uphill re-election, he too turns against Ana.

Movie

Ugly Days in Idiotvylle

Actor

Angi

Inspiration (AJ Gonzales):  I get asked about Ana's gold more often than anything else. What does it mean? Where did the idea come from? I wanted Ugy Days to be as creatively unique as possible and having people chase a briefcase of cash around just didn't appeal to me back when we were jstarting out. Since Ugly Days was meant to be a surreal dark comedy, I thought what better place to put the gold, then in her head?  Her life would be in constant danger and it's so out there we not really killing people.

I have never liked the idea of killing people in movies. and the night we shot the scene of Ana's death, I said I would never do it again. I don't know if I will always keep that vow, but that's why Ana's "murder" is the only one in all these years.

 
Print
PDF

Annette

Annette is one of three "hostesses" working at Casa Roja in Mexico. She becomes Lane's love interest in the story once the plot has moved to Mexico. She's Felipe's favorite employee and works at Casa Roja at the suggestion of her husband Pa-ul.

 

Movie

Temptations Revelations Karma

Actor

Big X

Inspiration (AJ Gonzales) In 2004 I vacationed in Mexico and met many of the real life inspirations for the "Mexican" cast in TRK. There was a real Annette and she had a very similar life, though her husband wasn't the source for Pa-ul. When filming began for TRK, i was so thrilled about the cast and what they could do with their characters, I made up my mind to leave "who Lane ends up with" open and shoot several scenes with different variations. When we were shooting in Mexico, seeing Lane and Annette together just closed the book on the debate.

One of the elements in TRK which is now seen in a very different light is the desire of Annette to leave Mexico for the USA. Illegal Immigration wasn't the flash point in 2005/2006 that it became just a few years later.

 
Print
PDF

Big Bad Wolf

Serving as the official guard dog to The Union of Sleepy-Tyme Beddy-Bye Folks, the Big Bad Wolf constantly annoys Miller Rafferty while she's on the phone and is the first to chase down Sheila the Filthy Rat.

Movie

The Union of Sleepy-Tyme Beddy-Bye Folks!

Actor

Mike K

Inspiration (AJ Gonzales): The Big Bad Wolf was a fun background character that added just enough chaos to the story without changing its focus. Anytime Mike gets on the set, he's gonna bring out the laughs and he certainly did once again.  
Print
PDF

Boogie Man

Boogie Man serves as the night-time kid-scarer in both Heya Boogie Man and The Union of Sleepy-Tyme Beddy-Bye Folks! A story-book character, Boogie has a wild side, is prone to getting himself in lots of trouble, but generally stays on the good side of things.

Movie

The Union of Sleepy-Tyme Beddy-Bye Folks!

Actor

Andy M

Inspiration (AJ Gonzales): Boogie stayed very similar between HBM and The Union, essentially an out of control puppydog with a heart. The biggest difference in the two versions is that in HBM, Chester was his "straight man" and in The Union, Chester was even more out of control. The credit for most of Boogie's development really has to go to Andy M.  
Print
PDF

Bordos Badger

The Union of Sleepy-Tyme Beddy-Bye Folks! begins with Bordos Badger being once again rejected as a children's story book writer. Since he hates kids and wants to rule the world, he decides to give up writing and apply at The Union to become the New Sandman. When Chester Machogany gets the job, Bordos and his sidekcik Sheila the Filthy Rat decide to destroy the Union of Sleep-Tyme Beddy-Bye Folks!

Movie

The Union of Sleepy-Tyme Beddy-Bye Folks!

Actor

Greg

Inspiration (AJ Gonzales): If you have watched the Union and wonder if it was fun to make, I can tell you I still laugh just thinking of the scenes I directed with Greg as Bodos. He was the perfect foil for Darrell's Chester Machogany, knowing just how to layer the differences between the two way over the top characters. Bad without being evil so often comes out as just stupid, but Greg nailed it.  
Print
PDF

Brenda

Brenda is a documentary filmmaker, eternally past due on her editing studio's rent. She's making a documentary concerning Lane and Abby and what caused their relationship to end. Brenda connects with Abby, Jake, Rudy and her landlord, Stan.

Movie

Temptations Revelations Karma

Actor

Angi

Inspiration (AJ Gonzales): If I were to analyze Brenda's character, I'd say she represents DRandT in TRK. The outsde filmmaker looking in, and of course we have to goof heavily on ourselves which is why Brenda's work and life is such a trainwreck.  
Print
PDF

Carmen

Carmen is one of three "hostesses" working at Casa Roja in Mexico who become involved with Lane and his friends during their vacation. The wildest of the three, she sets the tone for the party atmosphere then shows regret about her life while drinking the "Rudy Special" with Gabe. Carmen has important scenes with Lane, Gabe, Rudy, Jake, Felipe and George.

 

Movie

Temptations Revelations Karma

Actor

Laura

Inspiration (AJ Gonzales) There was a real Carmen and she was as every bit sexy and incredibly wild as Laura's portrayal. What Laura brought to the role was the courage to play it as written, and there' s no doubt in my mind had we cast an actress with less confidence, the Carmen character simply would not have worked.  
Print
PDF

Chester Machogany

Chester Machogany is a tornado of energy that tears through everything and everyone he meets. Chosen by Santa as the New Sandman, (he beat out Bordos Badger for the job) Chester's just getting settled at The Union of Sleepy-Tyme Beddy-Bye Folks! when Bordos vows to destroy them.

Movie

The Union of Sleepy-Tyme Beddy-Bye Folks!

Actor

Darrell

Inspiration (AJ Gonzales):  I wanted the Union's hero to be just like a kid, a high energy kid that doesn't listen too well. I wanted the character to be so volitile he posed more of a threat to the bad guys than they posed to him.  
Print
PDF

Chuck's Girlfriend

Chuck's Girlfriend appears in three key scens of TRK and adds the layers of social continuity needed to establish Lane's friends lives before Mexico. She's supportive of Chuck but not demanding that he quits drinking, which brings the ire of Chuck's Mom.

Movies

Temptations Revelations Karma

Actor

Kristina

 

Inspiration (AJ Gonzales):  Kristina really took a small role and ran with it with this character. It would have been so easy to just play it as the "neglected mate to a an addict" and from watching her do it, I only ever get the sense she's in love with the guy and her own emotions about his lifetsyle take a backseat to his needs. Bravo once again to Kristina.  
Print
PDF

Chuck's Mom

Chuck, the friend too sick to go to Mexico, dies during Lane's trip. Chuck's mom appears at the funeral. Her first appearence is in the beginning, when she analyzes Lane's partying lifestyle and his effect on Chuck.

Movies

Temptations Revelations Karma

Actor

Diane

Inspiration (AJ Gonzales):  I don't see it happening in the near future, but I'd love to explore more of Lane's life with his friends before the events of TRK. In my pre script notes, Lane, Rudy, Chuck and Grover were lifelong friends with Chuck's Mom servcing as den mother to the group. .  
Print
PDF

Clyde

Colorado Governor Clyde Ramirez is one of the main antagonists in Ugly Days in Idiotvylle. He's decided the only way to relieve the state's budget shortfalls is to kill his girlfirend Ana Cazares for the $200,000 worth of gold she has in her head.

Movie

Ugly Days in Idiotvylle

Actor

Phil

Inspiration (AJ Gonzales) Still the big one after all these years! Wow, watching Darrell play Clyde was a lesson in watching a professional go to work on his craft. Darrell's Clyde came out of nowhere, he took what I wrote and increased the insanity, the anger, the frustration but somehow made the guy understandable. I based having three antagonists in Ugly Days - Clyde, Gary and Selso off The Good The Bad and The Ugly's three leads, so I was prepared to let Darrell pull a Tuco and upstage the other characters, but it sertainly wasn't planned that way.  
Print
PDF

Crazy Beaver

The Crazy Beaver appears during Chef Gabe's Sleepy-Tyme News segments to harrass and assault Chef Gabe in humorous ways. 

Movie

The Union of Sleepy-Tyme Beddy-Bye Folks!

Actor

Matt G

Inspiration (AJ Gonzales): One of my goals with the Union was to have our adult actors acting as if they were kids, so I didn't plan on using any children for the Union. The Crazy Beaver was just a fun character to giv Gabe's news segments that added kick for kids watching.  
Print
PDF

Deputy Dad

Deputy Dad is a member of The Union of Sleepy Tyme Beddy Bye Folks and serves as a mature, parental force to the others. Deputy Dad is usually heading out the door to go fishing.

Movie

The Union of Sleepy-Tyme Beddy-Bye Folks!

Actor

F. Robert Watson

Inspiration (AJ Gonzales): Deputy Dad was used as a background character for the Union, just a good natured guy who's purpose and reason for being in The Union was never fully explained. In my script notes, I had laid out several scenes which utilized Deputy Dad more, but I decided in the end to leave most of the character's details up to the viewer's imagination.  
Print
PDF

Easter Bunny (HBM Version)

The Easter Bunny character in Heya Boogie Man is a wild, drunken loner who acts as a negative influence on Boogie Man, bringing out Boogie's rebellious side just as Boogie and Chester were growning closer as friends.

Movie

Heya Boogie Man

Actor

Ben

Inspiration (AJ Gonzales): HBM wasn't created with kids in mind, (see the remake "The Union"), we wanted a comedy for adults based on children's characters. Ben added more than just crazy drunk to the role, he took the character as a essentially a person who's been at his job far too long, well past the point of burn out and wants to get fired, but he can't, as he is the Easter Bunny.  
Print
PDF

Evil Ray Montoya

Evil Ray Montoya is Colorado Governor Clyde Ramirez's right hand goon and all out dimwitted pyscho. Not bright but very deadly.

Evil Ray (R) Clyde (L)

Movies

Ugly Days in Idiotvylle

Actor

Pam

Inspiration (AJ Gonzales):  Evil Ray was written with someone much larger in mind, and a guy, but having Pam do the role made the character exactly the type of henchman Clyde would have in his frustrated world.  
Print
PDF

Felipe

Felipe owns a popular strip joint/brother called Casa Roja in the unnamed Mexican resort town that Lane and his friends visit in TRK. Tough, protective and business minded, Felipe shows his fathely side when it comes to helping his girls find better lives.

Movie

Temptations Revelations Karma

Actor

Phil

Inspiration (AJ Gonzales) There was a real Felipe who inspired this role and Phil's portrayal is so close to the real guy. Phil took it further though, creating a character who wore his emotions on his sleeve and adding the layers of sentimentality to the Mexico scenes the story really needed.  
Print
PDF

Gary Two Trips


 

Gary Two Trips is one of the three main antagonists in "Ugly Days in Idiotvylle". The character also appears in "Beware of The Captain" and will be featured again in "Grab it N Growl".

Gary's a scumbag, cheap con artists and a true villian. He often partners with Selso Martinez. Gary's younger brother Mickey is more successful in crime with a more polished image. Gary has a sister named Molly who's alluded to in Ugly Days, but she's never appeared as a character.

Will Gary change?

Gary's habit of smoking cocaine foilies was shown in Ugly Days and is written into the BTC script. There are no plans to continue this in Grab it N Growl.

Selso (L) Gary (R)

Movies

Ugly Days in Idiotvylle

Beware of The Captain

Grab it N Growl

Actor

Kurt

Inspiration (AJ Gonzales): I was once in a conference room with four recent Korean immigrants, an heir to a major American company and a Mexican midget watching them smoke cocaine. That's where I picked up Gary's determination to just do whatever the hell he feels like. Just before the surreal meeting, I met a guy named Gary who I still think of when writing the character. This "real Gary" was in his 40's, working a total crap job he hated and  waiting on life's next asskicking. When you listened to him though, you heard about a past life where he was in control. If Gary's anything to me, it's that, just a guy controlling the world around him.   
Print
PDF

George

George is the American cab driver living a life on the low down in Mexico. He drives a cab all over the unnamed Mexican town in TRK, but picks up most of his work driving Americans to and from Felipe's Casa Roja brothel. George befriends Lane and his friends during their trip, hanging out and drinking and smoking pot with his fellow Americans.

Movies

Temptations Revelations Karma

Actor

Greg

Inspiration (AJ Gonzales): George serves a vital link in TRK as he provides a plausible way for the three Casa Roja women to get between the club and the rental house. The real reason George is in the script is because I just wanted to work with Greg again, he adds so much to any role he has.

The back story on George is that he lives in Mexico to avoid problems in the US. His problems aren't discussed in the final version and we plan to have George play a minor role in Grab It N Growl.

 
Print
PDF

Grover

Grover is Lane's best friend and Yessenia's boyfirend in TRK. In flash backs we see Grover is against Lane remaining with Abby and against Lane drinking so much. He  truly has his best friend's interest at heart. When Abby kicks Lane out, Grover invites Lane to stay with him. Lane and Yessenia then continue their affair. 

Grover doesn't drink alcohol which actually gets him in trouble as he gets horribly sick from drinking Pa-ul's tainted orange juice. Grover spends most of the Mexico trip sick in bed.

Movie

Temptations Revelations Karma

Actor

Kevin

Inspiration (AJ Gonzales) Creating Lane's friends was the most rewarding writing process in TRK for me. Who he knew and why he was friends with that patricular personality type was fascinating. Grover was created as he was both a rougher, tougher character than Lane, but also more responsible and moral. I loved the fact that just because someone could or should be a bad guy he turns out to be a better person than the story's actual hero.  
Print
PDF

Henry Viscus

Henry Viscus plays the satanic temptor to Tony Unger in "Are You Having A Good Day". Raised in a satanist cult, he prowls through life looking for the weak in spirit to sell their souls Satan. In the movie we learn that Henry's mom is now a devout Christian and he begins to regret the pain he' s caused others.

Movies

Are You Having A Good Day?

Actor

Andy M

Inspiration (AJ Gonzales): Henry Viscus is one of those character I love but have little idea where he came from. Perhaps a lot of Henry came from watching Andy and Ben screw with Darrel (Tony) during the Heya Boogie Man set, those two had so much fun playing pranks on Darrell it was deviiish. When it came time to write Good Day, I wanted to turn Andy loose on Darrell and see how much fun we could have.

Henry was vital of course, for Good Day to work, he had to be a total villian at the begining but be able to change his ways by the end. Andy M was perfect for Henry and this is my favorite Andy M role.

 
Print
PDF

House Guest Gabe

House Guest Gabe is an American on vacation in Mexico during TRK. Not  originally part of Lane's group, Gabe is the current occupant of the house Lane and his friends come to rent. During the course of the Mexican segment of the film, Gabe develops relationships with Lane, Rudy and Carmen. Gabe is also seen as Pa-ul's friend.

Movie

Temptations Revelations Karma

Actor

Gabe

Inspiration (AJ Gonzales): Gabe walked away with more comic scenes in TRK than any other actor and that's exactly why I used him to tie up a few characters and storylines. When I got done writing TRK and Gabe wasn't in it, I knew somehow he'd fit just where we needed him, and that's what happened.

In real life, I was on the other end of the house guest surprise. Four other American college students were living at the house I was assigned to for intensive spanish classes at the University of Sab Jose, Costa Rica. According to the program's policy, they weren't supposed to be there, but the family was earning needed extra income so I didn't say anything. 

 
Print
PDF

Jake

Jake is the bar owner who supplies Lane and his friends with a paid trip to Mexico in TRK. He sees himself as more of  a big brother to Lane than a father figure and uses his relationship with Lane's friends to relive his youth.

Movies

Temptations Revelations Karma

Actor

Darrell

Inspiration (AJ Gonzales): Jake needed to be a source of comic relief, drama and plausible excuse for the money to go to Mexico. I wrote the character with Darrell in mind and used this role to have a field day harnessing Darrell's depth of talent for the complexity of situation TRK calls for him to be in.  
Print
PDF

Josh the Angel

Josh the Angel serves as the romantic foil and savior to Tony Unger in Are You Having A Good Day? He saves Tony from being taken by the evil Martin Hess, but also steals Tony's true love and best friend, Vanessa.

Movies

Are You Having A Good Day?

Actor

Kevin

Inspiration (AJ Gonzales): Of course an angel is supposed to be all the things a mope like Tony Unger is not, but having Kevin play Josh was such a great contrast. With Good Day being so dark and depressing, I found it just great fun to use an Angel as a source of redemption for Tony, but only at the cost of the woman he loved.

 
Print
PDF

Karen: Abby's Roomate

After Abby kicks Lane out, she falls into an alcoholic despair. Stan the landlord brings in Karen, a new roomate to help Abby pay the bills. Karen turns out to be in much worse shape and shows Abby her mirror image.

Movies

Temptations Revelations Karma

Actor

Elaine

 

Inspiration (AJ Gonzales):  We needed Abby to see "herself" in a big, bold and funny way, so she would get her act together. She leaves the house, gets a job and falls in love before Lane's return home from Mexico. To accomplish all that, and do it in a funny way, we had to rely on Elaine to come in and knock everyone over as a rude, crude drunk who would drive anyone away from drinking.