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Showtime presents

Jed Rees
Anson of "The Chris Isaak Show"

March 26, 2001

Read our chat with Jed Rees, "Anson," the wild, but lovable keyboardist on the "The Chris Isaak Show." You may recognize Rees from his role as Teb, one of the Thermians, in the hit movie "Galaxy Quest." See what Jed had to say about his experience on "The Chris Isaak Show."

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Showtime: Welcome to the chat with Jed Rees. Jed plays "Anson," the wild, but lovable, keyboardist of the band on "The Chris Isaak Show." Jed Rees is recognizable to film audiences from his role as Teb, one of the Thermians, in the hit movie "Galaxy Quest." He has had lead or co-starring roles in the feature films "Dudley Do Right," "Lake Placid," "Prisoner of Zenda Inc.," "Fear," and the television series "The X-Files," "The Outer Limits" and "Little Criminals" (the award-winning CBC Movie). He returned to New York to star in the Off-Broadway production of "Two Pianos, Four Hands." Ask Jed about his experience on"The Chris Isaak Show." Welcome Jed! Let's get started!

Jed Rees: Hi!

Kewtee: Jed how old were you when you started in show business and did you set out to be an actor or did you just want to be a musician?

Jed Rees: I started piano when I was seven years old, and I went to University and studied business. I started acting when I was about 23 or 24.

Avery: Anson seems to be a lot of fun. Do you enjoy playing him?

Jed Rees: Yes, very much. It is one of the best roles I've ever had. He gets to get into a lot of mischief, and it's fun for me as an actor to do that.

Berry: How would you describe the show? Describe Anson?

Jed Rees: The show is sort of "Leave it to Beaver" meets "The Larry Sanders Show" meets "The Monkees." Anson is not the brightest bulb, but a good-hearted one whose purpose in life is beer, music, and women.

Ed: Did you have to audition for this role?

Jed Rees: Yes. I had to audition for it several times. Eventually you have to go to the network audition, which is in front of all the executives at Showtime, and that's sort of the final one. So yes!

Frankie: Before you started the show, were you a Chris Isaak fan?

Jed Rees: Yes, I had one of his CD's. I had "The Baja Sessions." And I remember I also very much liked his songs that were on some of the movie soundtracks I had. I think "Two Hearts" is on a soundtrack, and there's "Wicked Game."

Lefty: What did you do to prepare for the show or your role?

Jed Rees: I went to Las Vegas and got drunk for about three weeks and met a bunch of women, and played the piano in the hotel lounge. I don't know! I just thought of some friends I grew up with. I grew up in sort of a lower-middle class neighborhood, and there were a bunch of guys in my neighborhood who were beer drinkers, and they talked about women and rock and roll -- so it's sort of based on those guys.

Dweezil: You were great in High Fidelity -- how did you get hooked up with Chris?

Jed Rees: (laughing) My name is not Jack Black, it's Jed Rees, but thanks for the compliment! Actually, that's a pseudonym-I gained about 50 pounds to do the role in High Fidelity, and when I gain the weight, I go under the pseudonym Jack Black.

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