IamA Former Green Power Ranger turned filmmaker of John Hughes documentary Don't You Forget About Me, Matt (Austin) Sadowski AMA!

Is this you doing one of the greatest shrugs of all time?

It's not, but you're right. Greatest. Shrug. Ever.

Did you guys ever actually get to dress up? I heard that the Zord and fighting footage was all or mostly from the Japanese version of the show, to save time and money in filming it again?

Oh, I wore the spandex, alright.

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Never killed a bad guy ;) Just stopped em.

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That's amazing. My daughter tells her friends and nobody believes her that a Power Ranger is her daddy :)

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Happy!

When, exactly, is "Morphin' Time"?

At the same time it's time to get ill.

Are you into hockey, Matt?

What, like Ice Hockey?

Yep. But to be honest, I'm a horrible skater so liked ball hockey much more.

Do you have a favorite NHL team?

Leafs. Sadly.

I used to play. A goaltender. It's a pretty expensive sport to take up. I wish I was better at something that didn't need all that equipment.

Why the name change?

That's a long question. When I became an actor, most with "ethnic" sounding last names changed them. My first agent (who, in hindsight now I wouldn't trust to make me a coffee) suggested that Sadowski wouldn't work for me. There was no Jake Gyllenhaals...it was all Tom Crusie, Julia Roberts, Matt Damon etc. AUSTIN was the first name of a 7 year old boy at camp who I befriended. He hated camp and would run away all the time, and only come back if I came to find him. So I went with that, and my agent was excited because it meant that if credits were listed alphabetically, that people would see my name first. When I married and had children I wanted to reclaim my real name to use as a director.

How do you feel about the new Power Rangers movie coming out soonish?

I think it's great! I really hope they make sure the whole thing retained an adventurous/tongue-in-cheek tone – even though I’m sure it will be set against the backdrop of the end of world. I don’t think this needs to be “dark” but I don’t think it needs to be campy either. At the end of the day it has to be kid friendly. (Every adult AND kid I know loved The Lego Movie.) I think it’s sad that there are little boys and girls obsessed with Spider-Man and Superman and they can’t even go see the films of their heroes. On an economic front, that doesn’t make a lot of sense either. That’s a lot of tiny bums in seats they’re missing out on.

Why isn't Don't You Forget About Me on Netflix or Amazon Prime?

It was on netflix, not actually sure why it's not anymore. Amazon Prime. It totally should be. I'll bug the distributor!

Awesome thanks. I loved all of his movies. I can't wait to watch it.

After he died a local theater played a marathon of his movies I had to take the day off and watch them all.

That sounds like a good day. Especially if you skipped school.

How'd you know? It was my ninth sick day that semester.

That stuff of legends.

How was the experience filming parts of SPD to fit with the footage of Dekaranger, your Japanese counter parts?

Also, thanks for doing this.

We didn't watch Dekaranger until months into shooting, so we always had to trust that whatever rock quarry we were shooting in would match with the footage. We always wondered why we'd have to go way out of the way to find a very specific location. But once it was all edited, everything came together.

I wonder if they held off showing dekarangers so SPD would have its own feel and identity rather than a copy of it.

Thanks for the reply. Ill be looking forward to your next project

Thanks!!!

About your up coming movie how was Zoe Kravitz to work with?

Zoe was amazing. She's quite talented and is set to explode. She had a nude scene in the film and was not precious about it in the least. I will say it was totally bizarre to hear her answer a phone call from her parents and realize she's being nagged by Lisa or Lenny.

How was it, working with the cast ans crew of power rangers?

Pretty cool. Working with the stunt performers was a childhood dream come true and shooting in New Zealand was incredible.

My friend Clayton was dating the girl who played the pink ranger I believe.

Oh, Clayton? Good guy.

Just kidding. Don't know him.

Before you started this AMA, how many responses did you think you would get?

More than 1, less than 100.

Dude you were my favorite ranger in my second favorite ranger series. It was a close run between SPD and RPM. They all came out on Netflix so me and my roommate spent a week getting drunk and reliving our childhoods.

I had no idea you direct now that's pretty cool. The only person I've heard of having a big career after Power Rangers was Adam Park. It seems like after Rangers everyone takes a kind of behind the scenes role.

What do you think of the planned Power Rangers movie in 2016? And without giving it away and obviously important stuff, what did you want to convey with this Pretend we're kissing? How do you want the audience to leave the theater feeling?

Thanks for the kudos, man. Nothing better than getting drunk and reliving your childhood. I've been dared to eat a triple sized can of Chef Boyardee Ravioli, so I'm about to do the same. Though not drunk. I'm at work. Anywho, I digress. Brandon Jay McLaren has also gone on to do some amazing post-ranger work. Don't forget about him! Someone else asked about my feelings toward the Ranger Movie Reboot so I'll answer them there, but thanks so much for asking about my flick, PWK. It's a great question.

Essentially, the movie is trying to play with the cliche's of the usual romantic comedy formula, and then subvert them. The film is much more about needing to meet the person you're supposed to meet, before you meet the person you're supposed to be with. I want people to leave the theatre feeling like they saw themselves in the film, and that love can happen for them.

Thanks for the answer! I don't think that's been tackled a lot by either media or people in your life. No one tells you that kind of thing. Everyone expects first love to be true and final love and yadda yadda. It sounds super awesome.

Thanks! I hope so. Really excited to have people able to see it. If you're on twitter, make sure you're following @nonromcom.

LOL I love it when a romantic comedy film makes me feel like that. Kinda sad but then it usually gives me hope!

You gots it.

Do you like buttery toast?

To be honest, I do. But I prefer a buttery bagel.

What role, besides being a power ranger, was your favorite?

My cheesy answer is being a Dad. But my fave acting role? I had a pretty major scene I was in cut out of Dawn of the Dead. Working with Zack Snyder was an experience I'll never forget, but all that was left of my performance was a quick shot of my boot hanging out of an ambulance.

THAT WAS YOU??? TIL

Yep. Imagine being at the premiere with your friends and family and finding out for the first time in the theatre. Was a 10 minute scene cut into 2 seconds of a dangly boot. Sucked hard.

I can imagine the look of confusion on your face and everyone expecting to see you. Can you do a walk through of what the scene was about?

It was just before all the zombies start coming out. Essentially she approaches the ambulance, thinking there's something wrong and I sit up and flirt with her. Ask her out on a date. Then I get a call of some suspicious stuff happening and we take off. Later on I was supposed to return at the end of the film as a zombie.

That sounds like a pretty good set for her to end the movie with a cheesy one liner like "I guess the dates canceled" then Bam! head shot.

I like that. I'll pass it onto Snyder when we do reshoots. #iwish

Awww. How old is/are your kid(s)?

I have a 6 year old daughter and 1 year old son. They're the best.

What's your favorite John Hughes film?

16 Candles. No question. #underpants

Have you ever met Jason David Frank? If so, did he ever give you any green sage advice?

I did meet him once and was planning on sucker punching him.

Why? And did you?

See my answer above, and no I did not. I woulda got my ass kicked.

Wait not a fan?

eh?

I am a huge John Hughes fan myself, and can't believe I haven't seen your documentary yet! Off to watch it this weekend. Two questions:

1. What was your biggest takeaway about John Hughes, the man, once you had finished the movie?

2. Who is your favorite member of the Brat Pack?

Before I made the film I was single. By the time we released the film I was married with a kid. If you care about family more than making films, you really need give them focus. Making movies steals a lot of focus and Hughes just cared more about his wife and children then entertaining people. He made his movies his way, made a buck or two and wanted to keep his family together.

2) Judd Nelson. Hands down.

Questions from my 4 year old son. Who loves Power Rangers...

1) how can I be a samurai ranger?

B) how do you say long words and know all of your friends names?

There were other questions, but they were basically variations of the first one.

He's spent today wearing a 'bandana' like one of the red rangers. I forget which one. His bandana was a strip of leftover fabric wrapped around his head.

1) To be an official Samurai, he'll have to travel to Japan and study with a Sensei ;)

2) Long words are easier when you sound them out. I remember my friends names by making them rhyme with something about them that stands out :)

Cheers ears, he's a happy soul tonight :)

That makes my heart smile.

do you remember when we used to live together?

I do. And it was one of the best times in my life.

I have a simple question for you if your still answering. My twin boys are HUGE Power ranger fans. Is there anyway I could get an autographed photo for them of of you in your SPD outfit? I know its a stretch but I would so be super dad if it could happen. Now on to other less important questions Do you like waffles? When eating waffles do you have to have syrup in every square?

Would be tough to round us all up for signatures since we all live in different cities, but I could sign something for sure - if you send a SASE to rock-it promotions (google em).

Re: Waffles. I don't spare a square.

Just you would be perfect I would be super dad just to have the green SPD ranger's autograph. I will google them and send out the SASE anything else I should have with it?

Nah, I'll take care of the photo.

You are seriously the most Awesome famous dude in my book.. Good on ya man. Thanks.

No, my friend. Good on YOU!

How did it feel to play as the green power ranger? The plot always repeated and you always had to end up stopping the bad guy after losing the first fight? Big fan btw, my second favorite Power Rangers series after Wild Force!

I love playing Bridge and being stuck in the Groundhog day-ish plots :)

If you had been chosen to be a teletubby and they gave you a choice - which one would you have picked to be?

(I remember teletubbies and power rangers aired around the same time in the UK when I was a kid!)

Dipsy fho sho. Usually though, when I've told people I was a Power Ranger (and this happens ALL the time) they somehow remember it me being a Ninja Turtle. If I HAD been one of them, woulda def been Michaelangelo.

if you could be a kitchen utensil what would you be and why?

I'd be a spatula and dream of living in spatula city.

SPATULA CITY! SPATULA CITY!!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2XbCWmY0eqY

Power rangers dealt with a lot of topics including bullies. Were you bullied as a child and how did that effect you?

I was bullied. First day of grade 5 my "bully" (who is now a criminal lawyer) gave me a black eye. I hated going to school and was left out of recess games. One day one of the "cooler" kids invited me to play ball, I did well and everyone realized I was an okay guy. It just took one new friend. I worry for my own kids now, but I think it made me a more empathetic person.

Which one of the power rangers is the best, and why? and was the costume sweaty?

Green Rangers rock. Sweaty isn't the right word. I'll go with sticky.

Oh my god I've talked with a powerranger best day ever! I'd have to go with yellow though, always had a crush on yellow.

Awesome!

And I'm sure you are getting a ton of these but.. Can I have your autograph :3 And what was your favourite baddie to fight?

Favourite baddie...er...I don't remember a specific one. They were all fun. And sure, you can have an autograph. Send a SASE to rock-it promotions (google em).

Do I just send it to the address in the contact?

yep

Was there ever a time you thought the Power Rangers dialogue was too cheesy? Or were you just happy to be working?

I was lucky that the dialogue for my character was really, well, interesting. Bridge Carson spoke in tangents, idioms, metaphors and loops most of the time, so I never found my stuff cheesy. I thought the Blue Rangers (Sky) was the worst. But at the end of the day, being a superhero wins. And making some coin doing what you love.

You became a blue ranger too right?

Sure did.

Looking back, what would you change about your career so far?

Good question. I don't think I'm in the right place for hindsight yet. My career track changed when I got married and had kids, but I wouldn't change that. I probably would have started out as director and skipped the whole acting thang.

Have you met Jason David Frank? And if so is he as cool as he seems?

I have. Not cool.

What's your advice for overcoming a creative block?

Wicked question. Reading always helps me or even talking philosophy with a friend. Seems to open the mind and create what I like to all brain farts. Ideas that come from nowhere.

Hey Matt, you're cool. What happened that made you have to cancel Morphicon this year? Not that I'm there or anything so I have no personal investment in it, but we were so close to an SPD reunion!

I know! And originally I was the one that begged my cast members to make it happen. I'm really bummed I couldn't go, but my mother has had a rough year and I needed to be here to celebrate for her 60th. That's it in a nutshell.

Ever meet kinky fans that want the 'green ranger' full in costume, in the bedroom? If so, please elaborate!

Only my wife. Though, I guess I could have met some if I was at the Power Ranger convention this weekend.

Yo! How much ya bench?

45 lbs. That's how much my daughter weighs.

Are you still friends with your SPD castmates?

We haven't seen each other in a while, but sure am. I'm closest with Brandon.

I heard that you got into an altercation backstage at a legacy MMA event, I gotta know man, did you really take the gloves?

Story for context: http://middleeasy.com/component/content/article/34-news/mma/3907-former-power-ranger-gets-into-a-backstage-fight-at-an-mma-event

Was a different Green Rangers. There's a lot of us.

I was totally bummed to hear that none of the Disney-era Rangers got invited back for the 20th anniversary special. But if they had asked you to appear, would you have?

Also do people recognize you on the streets and ask you to do the morphing call? I probably would.

Anyways, I'm going to have to watch that John Hughes documentary, it sounds like it's my kind of thing! Good luck with your future projects, and May the Power Protect You!

I totally would have appeared. I had tried to get in contact with Saban and the producers. They weren't interested in anybody they didn't know.

I have been spotted in shopping malls before. Most people want me to do the "buttery thing" - kids ask me to teach them to morph.

Thanks for the kudos. Good luck to you and all your passions.

Were any of your own characteristics/quirks in any way written to be Bridge's when you were on SPD?

The buttery thing was something I came up with, but mostly I am Bridge. Bridge is Me.

Did you ever date the pink ranger? Amy Jo Johnson?

Nope. But she's a great gal and we live in the same city now.

Have you watched or heard of Super Sentai the Japanese counterpart of Power Rangers?

Yes and yes. More mature and somehow sillier at the same time.

What Super Sentai series did you watch/like?

Deka. Clearly ;)

I always got up early and snuck watched your show as a kid. Do you ever watch it now and are like dang this stuff is so fake? Because as much as it brings back memories of childhood I have those thoughts.

Who was your favorite bad guy that your stopped?

There was a monster named Hydra I think. That was a fun ep.

The more recent series had way better production values and fight sequences than the early days. Give em a watch. I was impressed the first time I saw our first episode cut.

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Are you talking about this guy? http://www.imdb.com/name/nm1564963/

What do you miss most about being a Power Ranger?

Being in shape. My cast.

Matt, thanks for the memories!

Were you contacted to appear in Super Megaforce? If you were, was there any specific reason why you decided against it?

I was not.

What was the audition process like?

I had to read part of the script, wear something pretty tight and show them I could "move". I tried to breakdance...and did so horribly.

Any updates on the SPD movie you were trying to get going? Is it still in the cards?

Yep. Still the in the cards but REALLY tough to get all of our schedules to mesh.

I hope it is not too late... You were one of two rangers that had chance to appear in diffrent colour, which one was your favourite green, blue or red? And what was the weirdest thing you remember from shooting S.P.D? (beside big dog giving you orders)

Being red was pretty cool, but I think I look better in blue. The weirdest thing about shooting SPD was running from all the explosions.

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Who told you that? I have, on good authority, heard that it's the Green Rangers that are always the best Power Ranger...and haven't started the ravioli challenge yet. T-minus 10 minutes.

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Obviously.

Grew up on Power Rangers! Any crazy shenanigans ever happen on set? Drugs, sex scandals? Give us the dirt ! Thx!

Totally. Before we started first day of production we had gone on a crazy champagne and cocaine fueled rampage. Full on orgy. NO!!!!! As hoakey as it sounds, we were pretty serious about our job over there. We worked 18 hour days and just wanted to rest in between. In our off-time I wrote the script for the film I just shot, Pretend We're Kissing, and I directed Brandon and Monica in a play called Problem Child. Chris produced.

Man it's super cool to see you moving on to more mature film projects! I don't often see ranger actors moving on and I'm always glad whenever I see any of them, like Amy Jo Johnson and Flashpoint.

Is Pretend we're kissing going to be out in theaters or will I have to do a bit more searching for that?

Also, me and my brothers managed to catch you on Taste Buds (the junior cooking show) and while it wasn't power rangers my younger brothers were glad to see one of their favorite rangers again. How was working on that show like?

THANKS!

Pretend We're Kissing is going to do a festival run for the better have of 2014/2015, but will be avail in theatre or download by 2016 or earlier.

When did you stop calling yourself 'Jason David Frank?'

When I was born Matt Sadowski....

I never heard of you, are you some forgotten has-been?

Ha! What qualifies as a has been? Maybe I'm somewhere in the middle of a never was and a has been.