Kassir: Michael Fleming's book that the movie is based on is from the Stooges families, that are still alive. It's the most accurate biography to date.

Handler: It is, I think the only authorized one. There is still even within his book, a lot of speculation. "It's conceivable, that this originated this way." There is plenty of speculation as to where the eye pokes originated. You'll see in the film tonight.

Kassir: A lot of the book that was written was based on the stories from the families as well as his own research.

Handler: The bottom line is we don't care. It's a good story, it's funny and it's moving. Who cares if it tells the truth.

Kassir: That's Evan's answer. Make that real clear.

Handler: Their families that have seen it told us that there were a lot of things in the movie that brought them back to life for them. That was something to really be proud of.

Question: Evan, it seems the only thing Larry was guilty of was standing to close to Moe! Did you find him more complex than we thought during your research? Thanks for your time.

Handler: I was a little hesitant from the beginning because, Larry to me had less of a well-defined persona. People don't go around doing Larry impressions. Jon did, but no one else did. But just through watching a lot of the shorts, I found his role to be the more resistant role to Moe. He threw in the subversive comments. He'd stand up to Moe and then back down. I then to be a dry sarcastic guy myself.

Kassir: And complex.

Handler: Which is a euphemism for weird. There was a fair amount of latitude to pitch lines and end scenes with punchlines. It helped round things out. I think Larry was also the only character in the script without the deepest story line.

Kassir: I originally auditioned for Larry. My hat's off for landing the role and creating the role of Larry with less obtainable information about him as far as film footage or any old stories that would give you clues.

Handler: Why thank you Jon. (Laughing like a little girl in a pink dress)

Question: I've seen the previews and a couple of scenes and the resemblance in the film to the real stooges is amazing. How long did it take you to prepare for the role?

Kassir: There are a lot of things involved in preparing for these roles. Not only did we need to make a physical transformation. We had to research what they were like, their relationships, what times it took place because it spans 60 years, and also create real relationships with the actors. That was one of the more fun aspects of it. It took us about 3 days.

Handler: I was cast late in the process. I had a few weeks to watch the shorts, read as much as I could find. Once we got there we had a hell of a lot to do. We had routines and music, none of which were choreographed. We had to invent what they might have done. We all spent a fair amount of time in makeup. Once we started shooting, I'd say, "I'm Larry Fine." 3x.

Kassir: I love the way they gave Evan a violin and a teacher and told him to make up a Russian dance. Boy did he have a routine. There was quite a lot of physical demands on playing these roles. We got a lot of cuts and bruises. Paul as Moe had to break a balsa wood radio over Curly's head.

Handler: We discovered that Michael's head was made of Balsa.

Kassir: We drew blood. I had to reenact getting punched around by a boxer. The stuntman was a real boxer. When they turned on the cameras, his adrenaline turned on and he connected with my face. I didn't even remember it when I saw the dailies

Handler: Shemp was 52 when he shot that.

Kassir: You grow to have a certain appreciate for what they did.

Question: How often did Mel Gibson visit the set? What kind of input did he have?

Handler: That's easy. He didn't come ever. We shot in Sydney. There were two producers from Icon everyday. I believe that dailies were sent to him regularly. We met him in LA to do some publicity photos.

Kassir: He had a lot to do with getting it made. He wrote the forward to the book and pursued getting the rights to make this movie. In a lot of ways it was his baby.

Question: Do you feel that the Stooges received their due?

Handler: That's debatable. You'll get a sense of that in the movie. What might be considered was much later in life after Curly and Shemp passed away. There was recognition.

Kassir: I don't think they got their dues financially for the films they made. As you'll see in the films, they didn't own any of the rights to the 200 films they made. They didn't see any of the profits. They got a lot of rewards from the public.

Question: What do you feel was the most interesting thing that you did not know about the Stooges that you found out?

Kassir: I didn't know most of the details the film puts across or their beginnings in vaudeville. Or that they worked for Ted Healy who was a star then. They also met Larry Fine that way. Ted threatened them when they left his act and struck out on their own. I found some of their filmed versions of their vaudeville to be fascinating. It was much more verbal and more musical numbers.

Handler: I found one of the most interesting things, I hadn't realized that Shemp was the original Stooge prior to Curly. He went to grade school with Ted and he joined the act with Moe. It wasn't till Shemp became fed up with working and was offered other work that he left the Stooges and he came into the picture. We know Curly as the 3rd Stooge, because that was the time they got their movie careers going. Most of the film stuff originates as Larry, Moe and Curly.

Question: What were the auditions for the Stooges parts like....how tough was the competition?

Kassir: I think most of the auditions were in LA and Evan was cast via satellite. They saw hundreds of guys for each role. The casting directors were really specific in terms of actors that could handle the comedy and be physically believable and capture the drama of these guys. They had guys who came in who were like Vegas performers. Impersonations of these guys. They didn't have the essence of these guys. They always looked for and cast those that had the most essence of those characters. I auditioned for Larry and they liked it, but I didn't think of myself and Shemp. I started to research some of the qualities of the character that I may emanate. We had to do dramatic and physical comedy scenes.

Handler: I came to the process late. I was doing "It's Like You Know" and finished that. Not knowing if it would get picked up, took a red eye to NYC. Went into an office here at 10 am and videotaped an audition. The tape went to Australia. I had the impression that there were offers out to others, but within two days, they started asking ABC about my availability because of my contract. ABC did not expect to need my services on the dates in question. Then I had the Sydney flu for 3 weeks and then I went to Sydney.

Kassir: And gave it back to them.

Handler: I think Jim Frawley did a huge job. TV movies usually, don't concentrate on the right things. The four leads did amazing jobs across the boards. Many of the other roles were Australian roles and they were just terrific.

Kassir: It's going to be on in a half-hour, eh Evan.

Handler: Yes it is, it's going to change my life in 30 minutes.

Kassir: I have all four covers of TV Guide with us mounted and framed.

TV Guide Online: Thanks guys! Looking forward to the film! (on in a half an hour eastern time!)

Kassir: So long from Jon Kassir, Shemp. Any people who are fans of the Stooges are fans of mine. You're going to love the story, you'll laugh, you'll cry and you'll get nosebleeds.

Handler: So long. Thanks for tuning in here. Make sure all the women in your family watch as well. It gets into the Stooges lives as well.

TV Guide Online: Paul Ben-Victor and Michael Chiklis are here now! Hi Michael!

Chiklis: Hello everybody.

Ben-Victor: Hey knuckleheads.

Chiklis: How do you spell nyuh?

Question: I heard on the radio that Curly had a limp from a childhood accident and that’s why you could tell when he did the infamous "Curly Shuffle". Does anyone know what kind of accident it was?

Chiklis: It was a hunting accident and he shot himself in the foot. Literally.

Ben-Victor: You played it brilliantly. If you watch closely, it's there.

Chiklis: It's the mutual admiration club.

Ben-Victor: Watch closely when he comes out of the hospital scene before the glass breaks. Genius.

Question: What do you like most about your characters? How are they like you personally?

Ben-Victor: I think I liked that Moe was a stand up guy. He was a father and family man. I usually play killers and thieves and slimeballs of the worst order. The was a pleasure to play, forgetting that he was an icon comedian of our century. I did a wonderful scene with my wife and child. Not much alike personally. I'm not a bad guy. How were we alike?

Chiklis: We're both survivors. Glad I thought of it.

Ben-Victor: We're also both from Brooklyn, His daughter, Joan, lived 3 blocks from me in Flatbush, Brooklyn.

Chiklis: That's a tough one to answer. I love that he's a big innocent man-child. And obviously the way I like him most as a performer.

Ben-Victor: Can I chime in? I think both Mikey and Curly have an immense range as actors. Michael is a singer and a musician. He comes from a Shakespeare background. We discovered that there was nothing that Curly couldn't do.

Chiklis: He had a tenor voice.

Ben-Victor: He plays many instruments. He beat the hell out of my drums.

Chiklis: I'm still kind of a sucker. I'm a big sap. Can't help it.

Ben-Victor: Big softie. He's a lover not a fighter.

Chiklis: You should have seen this guy in Australia. Girls love Paulie. I just want people to see it. It's a special film and you want people to see it.

Question: The book was a great source of information regarding the behind the scenes and personal side. I'm wondering if any of the family where helpful regarding the characters?

Ben-Victor: We met them after the fact.

Chiklis: We went from the books and tapes. It's based on what the family gave them. If you've read the book, you know the story, but if you have or haven't read it, you'll see it brought to life. I think the script was so wonderfully written and so tight.

Ben-Victor: Every moment is poignant and fleshed out. We could find anything in the shorts and biographies that we needed.

Chiklis: If it's on the page, you could make it sing. Everyone wanted to make it sing. Our director, Jim Frawley did a magnificent job coordinating the story.

Ben-Victor: He felt glad to get it. He's a Jewish guy from NY who's been through his own struggles. He did a magnificent job.

Chiklis: The Director of Photography did so good. We didn't have a feature film budget or time frame. We shot in 23 days. Keep in mind, it sprawls over 50 years. That takes a tremendous amount of cooperation to put that together in a short amount of time. Especially the kind of performances between us. You don't have time to get together and feel like you can just shoot tomorrow.

Ben-Victor: We were under the gun. Jim kicked off the pace, and we were moving.

Question: Almost all of the Stooges died poor and somewhat unappreciated...how does that affect you guys as actors...does it scare you?

Chiklis: I think that's inaccurate. They did die poor, but not unappreciated.

Ben-Victor: Moe is the only one with a bank account in the end. Curly and Shemp weren't poor, but not rich.

Chiklis: Curly had an abrupt ailment and ended his life. I remember shooting that and we were all crying after the shoot. We realized what happened to this guy and how horrible it was. He is the most tragic of the story. Shemp definitely died unappreciated, since he lived under the shadow of his brother.

Ben-Victor: I think that they didn't get their due till the movies went to TV. I think that most people know they signed a contract and were on salary for 24 years. When we studied these guys, I didn't know the back-story. Curly and Shemp never knew about TV and how they became superstars. I had a connection to Moe, especially, when I did the scene with the agent.

Chiklis: That's the scene that affected me most when we shot it. I was incensed when we read that scene. I equate it to if Stephen J. Cannell hiring me as a gofer while syndicating The Commish internationally. I saw that and thought it was so incredibly unjust. Not to have us getting slopping all over each other, but Paul plays 40 years seamlessly. He makes Moe into a human being we can relate to. They were the underdogs. They were blue-collar funnymen and loves by legions of fans. It's nice to pay homage to a notoriously underappreciated and underpaid.

TV Guide Online: Thanks guys! We'll be watching, (in 5 minutes).

Ben-Victor: Thanks for being there. Hope you enjoy the movie.

Chiklis: Listen you knuckleheads. Watch this movie or I'll brain ya. Whoooo..... Hey Moe.

Ben-Victor: Yeah Curly...Take care.

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