An Exclusive Talk with David B Meadows: Part 2 -

Jeff: You worked with Jared Padalecki on Walker. What was he like on set, and is it a big change moving from movie sets to TV?

David B. Meadows: Yeah, man. That’s a great question. Jared is kind of similar to Max — one of those guys I had the great fortune of getting cast alongside and we hit it off. We’ve since become good buddies. Jared actually came to the premiere for Hollywood Grits and did me a huge solid by coming out there and supporting it — him and Keegan Allen — they’re class acts. They’re literally some of those guys you want to champion because they deserve it so much for just how awesome they are.

Jared is the quintessential example of setting the tempo on set. He set a relaxed tone and fought for the crew. As a matter of fact, he even put hour limits in place. Most productions do 12-hour days as the standard. On Walker, we did eight. Why? Because Jared refused to do more — not just for himself but for everyone. He said, “We’re on a show for years. We’re human beings. We have families. We don’t need to be here for 12 hours a day. Let’s do 8, get it done, and let people go home.” Everyone loved him for that.

As far as the movie-to-TV shift — yeah, it’s a very different environment. Every single production has a vibe. No two movies are the same, even within the same genre. Aliens feels different from Osiris even though both are sci-fi. That’s because the writing, the directing, and the tone create the world, and as an actor, you have to embrace that so your choices feel whole and at home.

On a movie, usually one writer and one director set the vibe for the whole film. On a TV show you’ve got multiple writers and directors — a whole writers’ room and a showrunner who’s the continuity keeper. If you’re a recurring guest, your character might be created by one writer and cast by one director, but then the next episode has a different writer and director who want to add their flavor. You have to carry continuity while being flexible enough to adapt to each episode’s unique vibe. That’s a great lesson and one of the most valuable parts of doing TV.

Jeff: How did you and Max cross paths? I know you two have done a lot together.

David B. Meadows: Dude, Max and I actually met on Captain Phillips. Hilarious story — when I first met him he was probably the most hungover human being I’d ever seen. He walked into the group of three or four of us SEALs on the movie, so hangover as hell with that cool cowboy vibe. We all looked at each other and thought, “Perfect. He’s just a hungover cowboy loner — he’s one of us.”

We hit it off immediately. Max is such an incredibly good dude — personable, humble, down-to-earth. A real man’s man. He especially loves the military. I’ve watched him give so many times out of his own pocket to help people — not for fame or recognition, he just does it because he believes in it. We became good buddies and over the past 13 years we’ve stayed close. He’s been a mentor and a brother.

In the last couple years I had the privilege of casting him as a producer on a TV pilot I did and then in Hollywood Grit. We’ve helped each other out over the years — he cast me in projects, I hooked him into projects — it’s been a beautiful friendship and professional relationship.

Jeff: You mentioned Osiris earlier — what drew you to that project? Action sci-fi on a budget seems risky.

David B. Meadows: Will — William, the director — has a special eye for tactical authenticity while still telling a cinematic story. He knows how to balance reality and theatre. The truth is, if you made a movie that was 100% tactically correct, it would be boring as fuck. It would hide faces, be slow, and the audience wouldn’t feel anything. Movies need drama, they need to be exciting. Good filmmakers know how to blend the two.

I’ll be honest: at first I was reticent. Years ago I did a low-budget sci-fi that legitimately haunted me — I still get hate mail about that movie. It taught me a lot about picking projects. Sci-fi and period pieces on a low budget are brutal. But Max called me and sold me on Osiris. He told me his vision and why he believed in it. Then I spoke with Will, I watched The Channel, and his vision alleviated my fears. He wasn’t married to flashy effects — he was married to story, to character, and to tactical truth. The budget was modest — around a million and a half or so — but Will found ways to make it work. He blended action, character, and humor in a way that felt real. I was very pleased.

Jeff: Walk me through the opening scene of Osiris — that mission felt like a finale in other films. How did you shoot it, and what about that big red laser effect?

David B. Meadows: The opening scene was a blast. Most of the movie was filmed in New Orleans but that particular scene we shot over like three nights in Austin. Small world — we walked into hair and makeup and it was the same folks from Walker. You just keep running into the same behind-the-camera folks when you do the work and get established in a market.

Big credit to Greg — our dev group guy who did the technical choreography. Everybody went through the combat ops and it was like 100 fucking degrees — brutal August in Austin. It was one of the physically roughest shoots I’ve ever been on because we were wearing body armor, running and gunning, drenched in water to keep cool. People were getting hosed down between takes just to survive. It was a pain in the ass, but we got it done.

As for the big effects at the end — there were two main ideas. One was the red light/gravity bomb where the aliens kind of blur people out, and another was a Tesla coil-type effect from the spaceship that was supposed to pull everybody up. They had ambitious ideas: people getting dragged up into the UFO with lightning bolts and everything. On screen, the red moment is very brief, and the tractor beam is alluded to — one guy’s feet lift a bit. Will was smart enough to kill the bits that didn’t hold up. Artistic integrity is knowing when to cut something that doesn’t look right. He’d rather have the whole film hold together than cling to an effect that breaks immersion. I respect the hell out of that.

Jeff: How does your real-world experience influence your work on set, especially when stunts or tactics are involved?

David B. Meadows: I try to bring authenticity when I can. But I also understand we’re making a movie. There’s a lot of cinematic grease — we’re not trying to be fully true to combat in every frame. If you did, it’d look boring. So I try to honor the truth — weapon handling, basic movement, the feel of an operator — but adapt it so it reads on camera. Early on, that was a hard adjustment. I’d see actors do things that are tactically unsafe or dumb in a real fight and my brain would freak. I had to learn to separate: the movie needs to look cool and tell the story. I honor it when we can, but I don’t fight every little cinematic choice. It’s a marriage between truth and the theater of cinema.

Jeff: You’ve worked with big names — Bruce Willis, Tom Hanks — what do you take from those experiences?

David B. Meadows: Working with Bruce was interesting. I learned a lot watching him. He brings a relaxation that only comes from experience. That said, on those films he was starting to go through his illness and it affected how he worked. But watching big stars like that you realize everybody’s got their own rhythm. Willis worked differently than Hanks or Radcliffe. You have to flex around the leads.

Tom Hanks on Captain Phillips — that was a dream. Paul Greengrass and Tom created this family-esque atmosphere that put everybody at ease. Hanks never pulled diva shit; he used his authority when it mattered, mostly to help other people. That kind of humility shapes how I want to run sets now. Daniel Radcliffe did the same — I watched him defend a young production assistant. When big actors use their status to help people, it makes the whole production better. That’s how leadership should be.

Jeff: How did Hollywood Grit come together? It feels like a passion project.

David B. Meadows: Hollywood Grit was born out of wanting to create something different. Myself, Ryan Curtis (our director), and Scott Adler (executive producer) co-own a production company. Ryan’s a military vet too, Scott’s a huge supporter of vets in film, and we wanted to do a project that showcased people we cared about — friends, vets, folks who deserved work. There’s this stigma where if you’re a military guy you’re only allowed to make military movies. Fuck that. We wanted to make something with music, character, and style — almost a modern Dick Tracy type vibe, entertainment with heart.

We were kicking around ideas, locations, and concepts. Then Ryan, Max, and I had a drink and said, “We want this movie, but it hinges on if Max will play the lead.” He said yes. We wrote the movie around him and pretty much most of the cast we wanted were folks we already knew. It was a passion project — friends creating something together to put people to work and tell a unique story.

Jeff: Max’s character seems like a departure from his usual military type. He’s almost a lovable fuck-up in Hollywood Grit.

David B. Meadows: Yeah, we wanted Max’s character to be a lovable burnout — an anti-hero in the John McClane vein. He’s an alcoholic, estranged from his daughter, a bit of a shithead, but he’s got heart and a redemption arc. I actually play one of the supporting leads and one of my favorite scenes is with Linda — it’s one of my favorite scenes I’ve ever filmed. The movie lets Max loosen up and have fun in a different register. He’s brilliant at it.

Jeff: Patrick Duffy and Linda — those are big names to get on an indie. What was that like?

David B. Meadows: Patrick and Linda were absolute bosses. Super professional, humble, and fierce about the work. They could’ve phoned it in on a small indie, but they didn’t. They showed up with humility, wanted to be part of the ensemble, and brought everything they had. That kind of attitude is infectious and made the movie better. Working with pros like them taught me a lot about leadership — check your ego, be of service to the story.

Jeff: There’s chatter about turning Hollywood Grits into a show centered around the bar, The Black Room. Is that happening?

David B. Meadows: People have talked about it. Distributors and folks have shown interest in a TV show that centers on the bar — it’s a burlesque lounge full of shady characters. There’s so much world to mine there. We’ve had internal discussions and interest externally. It’d be an ensemble TV show, bringing back characters from the film, and leaning into all those weird, mysterious stories that live in that world. It’s something we’ve kicked around seriously.

Jeff: Tell me about Repo’d and Badlander. What can audiences expect, and are those moving forward?

David B. Meadows: Repo’d was the first joint project between Ryan, Scott, and me — same team that did Hollywood Grit. It’s an action-comedy that pokes fun at action tropes while being an action-comedy. Think The Office meets a team of washed-up backup CIA operatives who now repo yachts, planes, and houses from oligarchs and cartel members, sell them for crypto, and use the proceeds to fund their own missions. It’s meta, it breaks the fourth wall — all the supporting cast knows they’re in a trope-y show while the two leads take it deadly seriously, like Deadpool energy. We tie in NFTs/crypto as a gimmick for the audience to interact with. It’s a lot of fun.

Badlander — I wish it were happening. Everything came together and then the producer pulled the money at the last second. That’s the indie business. It happens. It sucks, but you learn. The hardest part is getting all the stars to align: financing, cast, production. Sometimes it all collapses. But we’ve got more projects in the pipeline.

Jeff: You still do weapons and marksmanship work — how do you keep those skills sharp, and what about fitness?

David B. Meadows: Yeah, I still get to the range and work different stuff. I do a lot of charity work teaching marksmanship and safety — guns are tools, not evil. Coaching people to be safe and responsible at the range is one of my favorite things.

As for training, I mix cardio and weightlifting and change it up. Right now I train to train — I love using my body. I rotate between powerlifting, circuit training, hardcore cardio like swimming, and isolation work. I train with a few big names at Gold’s and keep sessions short — 45 minutes max. I’ll do three or four exercises, three sets a piece, 10–12 reps, long rests, and I’m done. Monday legs, Tuesday chest, Wednesday back, Thursday shoulders, etc. Monday/Wednesday/Friday I’ll add 20–30 minutes of cardio like rowing or incline walking. Keep it simple, stay consistent.

Jeff: You’ve said a lot about authenticity. As someone who’s gone from SEAL to actor/producer, what do you want audiences to take away from your work?

David B. Meadows: I want people to feel something — authenticity, truth, respect. I don’t want to glorify war or pretend I’m some superhero. I want to tell stories that respect the men and women who’ve lived that life and also tell human stories. As a producer, I can help shape that. I want our projects to have heart and honesty, and to give veterans and hardworking folks opportunities. That’s why I produce — to shape the tone and to hire the people I believe in.