Exclusive Interview: Pop Culturalist Chats with Fried Barry’s Ryan Kruger

Emerging filmmaker Ryan Kruger knows how to make a statement. HIs feature film debut, Fried Barry, has quickly become a cult classic amongst audiences around the world.

Pop Culturalist was lucky enough to speak with Ryan about Fried Barry, collaborating with actor Gary Green, and building out this universe.

PC: What inspired Fried Barry?
Ryan: Fried Barry was inspired by my total frustration. I was frustrated by where I was in my life at the time. I hadn’t shot a feature film yet. I was depressed and down. I was getting to the point where I was like, “I’m just going to do it. I’m literally going to do it.” As soon as the idea came to me I knew that this was the right film for me to make as a first-time feature film director. I hadn’t seen a film like this before, and that’s what excited me. I needed something where I could be super creative and wouldn’t be restricted in any way. As I grew up in the ’80s, there are a lot of ’80s movies that I really loved and that I pay homage to.

PC: You originally released this as a short in 2017. What led you to adapt it as a feature film? What was that process like?
Ryan: For the past four and a half to five years before I made a feature film, I was shooting a lot of music videos and doing a lot of commercials. I really wanted to do something out of the box where I didn’t have to have any guidelines. I decided to make eight experimental films. I’ve only got two more left in post. The first one that I did was Fried Barry—the 2017 three-minute version. It saw some success through the festival circuit. We had fan art from the short. It was so random that people were doing fan art for a short film. But people seemed to really love this experimental style. That was probably what planted the seed in my head.

But at the same time, I always looked at it as a successful short film and nothing more. I was still looking at different scripts for the feature I wanted to make. But the seed had been planted from the success of the short. I was like, “Sh*t. Maybe this is the right one to make.” It’s funny because there was never a plan to make it into a feature. It just happened. It happened so quickly. It wasn’t even a few months after the idea came to me that we started to film.

PC: You’ve worked with Gary [Green] in the past. How beneficial was it having that prior relationship as you embarked on your debut feature film? What was that collaboration like?
Ryan: Very beneficial. I’ve known Gary for about eleven years. As a director and as an actor, I love psychology. I love reading people. There are certain ways that you speak to certain people. If I’m giving direction to someone, I know they might not understand just what I mean, but it will help them get to exactly where I want them to be. Over the years, I’ve put Gary in a lot of my music videos and short films. When I got this idea, I knew it was right for Gary. I knew Gary would be able to pull it off.

Gary’s not a trained actor. With a lot of the other actors in the film, I did some improv work here and there. But the movie is called Fried Barry, and it relies on Gary and his character. I didn’t want to have him do improv because he hasn’t had that training. Just from knowing Gary, I knew what I could get out of him and I knew what I couldn’t get out of him. He trusted me to do this. But the interesting part was, I didn’t want him to rehearse anything. He didn’t know what we were shooting until thirty or forty minutes before we were actually shooting.

I’d explain to him, “We’re going to do this. We’re going to do that.” Because I didn’t want him to overthink anything. I needed a clean slate with him every single day in order to get exactly what I wanted. Because if he learned one thing, it would probably take me longer to get rid of what I didn’t want and build on top of that what I did want. It was funny and ironic because his character is a kid. He’s like a sponge. He meets all these people and he mimics all these people. And when it came to directing, I’d be on the other side of the camera, saying, “Gary, copy my face. Now do this.” Then I’d be like, “Okay, lower it down a bit. Now this one should be big.”

I shoot for the edit, so I’m busy editing the movie in my head while I’m filming. I’m like, “Okay, I’ve got this guy. I’ve got what he’s saying. I’ve got his reaction, but now I need A, B, and C from Gary. I need options to hit those comedic beats.” That’s the beauty of editing as well. You can make anybody hit those comedy beats at the right time. This was a role that Gary was born to play. Nobody could have done this film justice like Gary. He worked super hard. I love his look. He’s got such an interesting face and presence. It was a great experience for both of us.

PC: With this being your feature film debut, did anything surprise you about the experience? What was the biggest takeaway that you’ll apply to future projects?
Ryan: That’s a hard question. With every project, you learn new things. We shot this film over a year and a half, but it was only 28 days in total. There are always different aspects of filmmaking to deal with, whether it’s struggling with budget or getting the right amount of people that you want or having enough time to do exactly what you want to do before you’ve got to move on to the next scene. But what I love about filmmaking is that you don’t need millions of dollars to make a good film. Your job as a director is to entertain the audience while doing something different. You have to think outside of the box. You have to be bold and do what you want. You have to stay true to what you want to make.

PC: The film has been incredibly well received. What do you think is resonating most with audiences? What’s next for you?
Ryan: The fans have been amazing. A lot of them love the journey and love that it’s different. I love that I didn’t play it safe. They didn’t expect this and they didn’t expect that. The biggest thing that a lot of people say after they finish watching it is, “What the fu*k did I just watch?” [laughs] That’s so cool. I guess that it’s surprising audiences and keeping them on their toes.

A lot of people have messaged me saying, “This is going to be a cult classic. I’m definitely never going to forget this film. It’s the best film I’ve seen this year.” Hearing all this as a first-time feature film director is amazing. I’m super happy and very grateful to all the people who reached out to me. At the end of the day, it’s a collaboration. It’s not just me. It was the work of everyone involved.

As far as what’s next, I have a few projects lined up. There’s a feature film that I’m going to be working on next year which I can’t talk too much about. If you loved Fried Barry, you’re going to love this next movie.

To keep up with Ryan, follow him on Instagram. Fried Barry is available wherever you stream movies.

Photo Credit: Justin Munitz