Mike’s Co-Star in “The Spoilers” Movie is Turning Into Big Deal in Hollywood [Videos]

A few years ago, Mike was asked to co-star in a movie filmed in Eagle, Idaho with Connor Williams and Terry Kiser. The movie was written, directed and produced by Williams, then a 17-year-old student who had his sights set on heading to Hollywood to become an actor....sounds a little like another former Treasure Valley teen, named Aaron Paul doesn't it? Connor Williams is now in his early 20's and doing very well in Hollywood thank you.

The name of his first movie was "The Spoilers" and starred me, Mike Kasper along with Terry Kiser...a lesser known actor you might remember best as Bernie from Weekend at Bernie's.

I played a Pizza Delivery guy who along with pizza also delivered weed on the side.

Williams is currently cast as the lead in “Regionrat” an indie film that’s already winning awards and personally earning him props and attention at film festivals where it's being shown.

The film made its world premiere at Arizona’s Chandler Film Festival in February, winning the Best Feature award.

Like Aaron Paul, another Treasure Valley actor before him that you may have heard of, Williams has also had some amazing luck in Hollywood.

His first day in L.A. after graduation from Eagle High in 2015, he booked “Happy Hunting.”  A few months later he was cast in “Aaah, Roach,”  a campy sci-fi film about roaches that take over the world which also starred Barry Bostwick. Then came “Regionrat,” which he shot in the summer of 2016.

He was also cast in the film called the "UnMiracle with Kevin Sorbo and Stephen Baldwin.

So far, Williams has earned three best actor awards at online festivals, including the London Independent Film Awards.

He’s had some great luck in Hollywood, but like all actors, he’s had more than a few disappointments too. He auditioned for Netflix’s hit teen drama “13 Reasons Why.”

He made it past the first cut and was one of four to audition for the producers, but he didn’t get the role.

He was cast in an episode of the Netflix series “Glow,” about female professional wrestlers, but he wasn’t eligible to belong to the Screen Actors Guild yet so he also missed out on that role even though the producers wanted him.
I met Connor in the summer of 2015 when he was a senior in high school. Williams decided to take things into his own hands and make a feature film called, “Spoilers.” He described it to me as a kind of “Breakfast Club” story is updated with characters including a white supremacist, played by Williams, who also directed.  I was lucky enough to be chosen to play a pizza delivery dude who delivered a pizza to the kids in detention along with some weed to help them get through their afternoon in detention…and no it wasn’t typecasting.

Why did Williams decide to take his own money and make Spoilers?  Williams said it was because it was so difficult to get work as a teenager. Hollywood power brokers and filmmakers will hire adults to play teen characters instead of actual teenagers because there are so many restrictions when you cast an actor who is not 18.

So with about $10,000 of his own money, that he’d earned from other acting gigs and working at Pizza Hut he hired a cast and crew to help film his movie. In addition to starring in the movie, he also wrote, directed and produced..not bad for a 17-year-old still in high school.

It screened at the Victoria TX International Film Festival in Victoria, Texas, shortly after. Williams won that festival’s first-time filmmaker award and $60,000 to use to shoot his next feature in Victoria. He had just graduated from high school.

His award got the attention of recruiters at two film schools in L.A., and Williams received a near-full ride at the New York Film Academy.

“Regionrat” just screened at the First Glance Film Festival in Los Angeles.  Connor was nominated for Best Actor and also for Breakout Performance...he won the award for the Breakout performance and the movie won for Best Ensemble.

A couple of other accolades include being up for best Actor at the Victoria TX Indie Film Festival in Victoria, Texas, where “The Spoilers”, starring me.... made its premiere..the movie, Regionrat is also up for Best Film also.

He's also up for best Actor at the Utah Film Festival for his work in Regionrat and he just got signed for a new movie filming in West Virginia that starts shooting in July. That movie is called "Forest dark"

While you can’t really say that he’s "made it" by Hollywood standards as of yet, he does pay all his own bills and is making a living at acting and from my standpoint, it really looks like he's on the right path…and I truly believe he might someday be the next actor out of the Treasure Valley to become a household name…

And just to think, I was there at the beginning to witness the start of it all in a little movie called “The Spoilers”. I admit I am a little jealous...I wonder if my career would be taking off like his, if I'd just done a little better job as a Pizza and Pot delivery guy. Lucky I still have my radio gig to fall back on.