The new Machinima Prime web series Chop Shop, which premieres today, is a gritty, high octane action show set in the world of the underground auto theft industry. Directed by Nightingale‘s Elliot Lester and written by Mortal Kombat: Legacy‘s Marshall Johnson, Chop Shop stars Rene Moran, Jon Bregar and genre icon Robert Patrick. An industry vet who is best known for his roles in projects like Terminator 2 and The X-Files, Patrick spoke us about working in new media, what attracts him to a project and his new CBS TV show Scorpion.
“I’m excited about Chop Shop!” declared Robert Patrick, the actor who might be best known for his role in James Cameron’s Terminator 2 but who has been working steadily for over twenty five years. “I saw the episodes and I’m really, really excited about Elliot Lester and the great job he did at directing this and I think the Bandito Brothers guys did a wonderful job. It’s an interesting show, it’s an interesting premise, it’s an interesting life that we’re allowed to look into.”
For an actor who has been a part of some of the biggest franchises of the last few decades, what was it like for him stepping into the new media format? He explained, “I did this because my manager introduced me to Elliot [Lester] and he explained to me the concept of what he was doing and, I have to be honest with you, the new media aspect of it was very intriguing and I thought, ‘Well, let’s be open minded and go here and see what this is going to be like.’ I’m familiar with Elliot as a director and I certainly wanted to play a guy who was in prison who was calling the shots. Essentially it’s kind of like Sons of Anarchy in the car theft world, and that dark element on the fringes of society certainly was appealing to me.” The actor continued, “I’m a car and motorcycle guy so that element was very interesting to me. And to be honest with you, I’ve never really played anybody in prison like that. That aspect of it was interesting to me too. Outlaws are interesting to play, you know?”
Speaking of outlaws, what about his character on the Machinima web series? Patrick is known for playing roles where his characters don’t always have the best of intentions. Regarding his role, Patrick revealed, “I think he’s the guy who’s going to oversee these guys. I don’t know if he’s ‘the bad guy’ but he certainly is a bad man. It’s kind of like, I’ve got this influence over these guys. I mean, they’ve chosen the life they’ve chosen, they’re all bad people, actually, because they’re all car thieves. He is a guy who manipulates them and calls the shots so he’s the boss.”
Patrick also has the CBS Kurtzman and Orci series Scorpion coming up this September, a series that he also very enthusiastic about. Said Patrick, “It’s fascinating. He’s a very fascinating guy to me and these characters are very complex and the way they’re going to interact together is the intriguing aspect of the show. It’s a character driven show… There’s a lot of humor and the procedural aspects of it as well.”
In the end, Patrick is excited for the projects he’s been working on, telling us, “I think Chop Shop is going to do really well! I’ve seen the show and Elliot did a fantastic job and so did the crew and the cast and I think it’s going to be a lot of fun, I think people are really going to respond to it. And I know people are going to respond to Scorpion so it turned out to be a good summer!”
Chop Shop, starring Rene Moran, Jon Bregar and Robert Patrick and directed by Elliot Lester, premieres on Machinima Prime today. Watch the first episode below right now!
