Interview With Dustin Coffey to Promote Fear, Love, and Agoraphobia Coming April 13, 2018
Dustin Coffey I recently had the pleasure of watching Fear, Love, and Agoraphobia. I was also able to talk to lead actor Dustin Coffey about his past, and about his new movie Fear, Love, and Agoraphobia. Releasing April 13, 2018 on VOD.
Q When did you become interested in acting?
A My introduction to acting was in 9th grade. I had had a lot of trouble in middle school, partying, living on the street, and going nowhere. I hated school but my drama teacher saw potential in me and cast me in a play. I had no idea that that would lead to me pursing a career in acting and later making films.
Q How long have you been acting, and what was your first acting job?
A My first acting job was a TV movie on the History Channel. It was really my first time on camera. I learned how not to act after watching myself. It's funny because I was cast in the role by the director from a showcase I did at the acting conservatory. There apparently was a scene where I was supposed to ride into camp on a horse. Well, I didn't know how to ride a horse and told that to the man who told me it was time to get on the horse. That man happened to be the producer and he started yelling and cussing at me for lying to get the part. I cordially told him I didn't lie about anything because I didn't technically audition for the role. Thankfully, they had some fake dead animals laying around and I suggested that I walk the horse into camp with a dead buck on it's back. They loved that idea and that's what we did.
A I love interesting characters, dark humor, and drama. It's tricky to pick a favorite film so I won't. But if I could take only 3 films with me to the land of no film I would take Julien Donkey Boy by Harmony Korine, The Apostle by Robert Duvall, and Pink Flamingos by John Waters. I could watch (and have watched) all these films over and over again.
and is this your first lead role? This is my first lead role in a film.
A As someone who didn't grow up in the industry and has to really fight for auditions I realized doing a lead role in a film wasn't going to be handed to me. So I decided to make it happen with my life savings at the time.
Q How did you get involved with Fear, Love, and Agoraphobia?
A I had written a script that I wanted to shoot and told the director Alex D'lerma I had some money to put in. We went though it. He said he'd love to work on a project but this was just not working for him. So I told him to come up with something. That something eventually became Fear, Love, and Agoraphobia. So I became a lead actor, a producer, and an executive producer.
A Well since we agreed the lead male would be me I didn't audition. I did however do a ton of prep. I interviewed several agoraphobic people, doctors, and mental health experts. Read with all of the actors auditioning. We also filmed rehearsals of every scene in the film to make sure that when we got to set we didn't waste time on our micro budget. My main focus was on Chet's internal life and how to subtly convey that without "acting agoraphobic."
Q There are several mental health illnesses addressed in this movie, do you feel it is meant more for people with illnessess, or people who know people with illnesses, or both?
A I think it's meant for both. We really wanted to honor the people that are struggling and enlighten people who may know people that are struggling. At the end of the day we just wanted to make the best film we could for everyone.
A Something different. Something hopeful. Something inspiring. We have Lori Petty in the film but everyone else is relatively unknown. I just want audiences to enjoy the film for what it is. I was fortunate enough to be a kid when a lot of independent "slice of life" films were coming out in the 90's. I hope people can appreciate this type of film like they did back then because I actually like it and I'm my own worst critc.
Fear, Love, And Agoraphobia 
An agoraphobic man and a female Marine become emotionally entangled as they struggle to escape from their personal prisons.
Release Date VOD April 13, 2018
Rated Not Rated
Runtime 1H 30M
Directed By Alex D'Lerma
Stars Dustin Coffey, Lori Petty, Doug Haley, Mark Adair-Rios, Linda Burzynski, Vince Lozano, Frank Gerrish, Ed Aristone, Marcus LaVoi, Matthew Alan Brady, Chanel Marriott, Angelica Amor, Anny Rosario, Enrique Rico Diaz, Alex D'Lerma
Fear, Love, And Agoraphobia Trailer by Leomark Studios LLC
Fear, Love, and Agoraphobia Review by Bobs Movie Review
