Jul 25, 2026 · 22 min · 6 segments
**In Memory.** On this episode I am joined by Chuck Russell. Chuck Russell**,** the Hollywood filmmaker who directed *The Mask* and *A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors*, died unexpectedly…
Chuck RussellGuestChuck, welcome to the Mark and Me podcast.
It's an absolute honor.
Now, what I do, Chuck, with every guest that comes on is I'm always very intrigued on how your career started, and I'm talking about when you were a child.
Most filmmakers I speak to, they certainly watch a certain film as a kid or maybe a genre or an acting performance, but there's one that sparks that love, that makes you go, "For the rest of my life, I just wanna make films.
No other jobs."
I was, I was very young, uh, when I happened to see on some television rerun The 7th Voyage of Sinbad, and Ray Harryhausen work.
Unbelievable.
I, I know I was very young because what I recall was for the first time realizing that's somebody's dad's job.
That's, that's a job in the real world, so it was probably grade school, and it struck me that you... a person could do that, where I think prior to that, I thought movies were just magical and made themselves.
And, um, I remained a huge fan of Harryhausen, as a matter of fact, but that and Enter the Dragon later in life.
Was a huge Bruce Lee fan and a martial arts fan, and I've been lucky to be able to do action in some of my movies and actually work with some great martial artists.
I come from theater, though, and working with actors and working on performance is, is really, it's really what I'm all about.
Do you know, I've been doing this podcast for almost nine years.
And my dad, almost 90 years old, when I grew up as a child, would let me watch Enter the Dragon without my mom knowing, and he'd be like, "Look, watch this film." And I've, you know, I'm just blown away by its violence and the mirror scene and Oharra at the end and everything is incredible.
But it did genuinely leave an impact on me that made me really love filmmaking, and I was like, "This is incredible." I believed it was real as a child.
And, uh, yeah
Chuck, welcome to the Mark and Me podcast.
It's an absolute honor.
Now, what I do, Chuck, with every guest that comes on is I'm always very intrigued on how your career started, and I'm talking about when you were a child.
Most filmmakers I speak to, they certainly watch a certain film as a kid or maybe a genre or an acting performance, but there's one that sparks that love, that makes you go, "For the rest of my life, I just wanna make films.
No other jobs."
I was, I was very young, uh, when I happened to see on some television rerun The 7th Voyage of Sinbad, and Ray Harryhausen work.
Unbelievable.
I, I know I was very young because what I recall was for the first time realizing that's somebody's dad's job.
That's, that's a job in the real world, so it was probably grade school, and it struck me that you... a person could do that, where I think prior to that, I thought movies were just magical and made themselves.
And, um, I remained a huge fan of Harryhausen, as a matter of fact, but that and Enter the Dragon later in life.
Was a huge Bruce Lee fan and a martial arts fan, and I've been lucky to be able to do action in some of my movies and actually work with some great martial artists.
I come from theater, though, and working with actors and working on performance is, is really, it's really what I'm all about.
Do you know, I've been doing this podcast for almost nine years.
And my dad, almost 90 years old, when I grew up as a child, would let me watch Enter the Dragon without my mom knowing, and he'd be like, "Look, watch this film." And I've, you know, I'm just blown away by its violence and the mirror scene and Oharra at the end and everything is incredible.
But it did genuinely leave an impact on me that made me really love filmmaking, and I was like, "This is incredible." I believed it was real as a child.
And, uh, yeah
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