You’re also voicing a character for the Masters of the Universe animated series reboot playing a villain alongside Mark Hamill. What made you want to do that project? Were you a fan of that world?
ROLLINS: One of the people who’s running the thing, Kevin [Smith], I’ve known for I don’t know how many million years, and he contacted me to audition for a different character, so I did that. They said, “Okay, we like it, but try it a different way.” I did, and they went, “Okay, that’s not what we want. Try this guy, Tri-Klops.” That one, I was able to get in on. Tri-Klops is a true believer in the motherboard. He will not be swayed. He’s no one that you can negotiate with. So, I just played the best villain that I could. Anytime you get involved with any of those big animation jobs, it’s fun ‘cause you’re around blinding talent. Those people get those jobs because they’re really great, and I’m the ham who sneaks in. I have no training in anything, except for sleeping late and procrastinating. I’m real good at that. But I’ve done a ton of TV and film and voice-over. I’m just working off of my 1979 high school graduation paradigm of, “Oh, no, I’ve got no plan.” That’s what I’ve been doing for the last 40-some years. And so, when these things come up and I think I can do justice by them, I go for the audition.
When I look at it and go, “Nope, I can do nothing, but slow these people down, I don’t even show up for the audition.” It’s not even a thing of being embarrassed. I’m used to that. It’s just that, if there’s nothing I can add, why slow down people with your worthless audition. That’s seven minutes that we’ll never get back. When I think I can do something, I go for it, but what you see me get is nothing compared to what I don’t get. I get one job, in 500 auditions. It’s like finding the lost tooth of your uncle in the ocean. You have to be prepared to spend a lot of time in the ocean. Someone like Mark Hamill gets calls like, “Hey, we really want you to do this.” I don’t get those calls, except maybe every other year, like with Dreamland. That was an offer. I didn’t audition. Bruce said, “Tell me what you think of this guy.” We got on the phone and I said, “Here’s what I think.” He said, “I like that. You want this?” And I went, “Yes.” That kind of thing happens to me so infrequently. I cannot overemphasize how little that happens to me. Otherwise, I go in and I get in that long line of handsome with big biceps, and I go in and audition, and it’s over in a minute and a half, and I get my parking ticket validated and get back on the 101.
A lot of my employment comes from things like, “I’m writing a book.” “You’re a writer?” “No, I’m just writing a book.” “How are you gonna get it published?” “I own the publishing company.” I invent my own opportunities. I wanted to do a radio show, so I went to do a radio show. I wanted to do a photo book, so I took the photos and I did the writing, and it came out. For the most part, my employment is that I came up with an idea and I executed it, and then I brought it to market. All of the other stuff, like acting and voice-over, that I don’t invent myself, are offers that come in, and I do them with great intensity and interest, and I take it all very seriously, but it’s between tours, or I don’t have half of my body in the mouth of a whale, on a project of my own invention.
