Jim Meskimen on ‘Battlefield Earth’ and the life of an impressionist

Jim Meskimen shares his experiences as an actor and impressionist, as well as directing an audiobook rendition of the sci-fi epic ‘Battlefield Earth.’

Jim Meskimen is an accomplished impressionist, vocal and live actor across media platforms. The son of Emmy and Golden Globe nominee Marion Ross, Meskimen was well acquainted with the life of an entertainer from a young age. With a humorous and generous spirit, he sat down with TheCelebrityCafe.com’s Erin Huestis to discuss his thoughts on impressions and his most recent project – Battlefield Earth.

The work of fiction novelist icon L. Ron Hubbard, Battlefield Earth was first released in 1982. The international bestseller tells a tale of Earth in the year 3000, after a millennium under the rule of an alien race that drove humanity to the brink of extinction. Under Meskimen’s directorship, the 1,000-page epic translated into a 47.5-hour audiobook – with 67 actors, 1500,000 sound effects and a cinematic music score. This large-scale production was released on June 14, receiving great reviews.

Though his ability to bring this production to life is impressive, Meskimen is quick to give the credit to each artist involved. He was also quick to throw in an impressive and entertaining array of voices when they aided his storytelling. Figures from Morgan Freeman to Ricky Gervais and Nixon to the Cowardly Lion were represented throughout the interview.

TheCelebrityCafe.com: We would love to start at the beginning and ask whether you always wanted to be an entertainer and how much of those choices were influenced by your mom.

Jim Meskimen: I always had the natural inclination to entertain, but I had kind of a shyness problem for a long time. But, my mother’s success was both a boon and a bit of a challenge, because – I mean she was such a huge, became such a huge figure - and it was a little bit daunting. I got a little bit confused about ‘what does all this mean anyway?’ But I loved to perform, particularly in the audio realm.

TCC: How did you discover that you’re so good at impressions?

JM: [laughing] Well, I wasn’t so good at it. I tried to get good at it. I asserted myself, I applied myself to it. You know when you’re a little kid, or you’re someone starting out, you see a character you like and you try to see, ‘Gee, can I sound like that? Can I create that effect?’

TCC: So is it entirely self-taught?

JM: Pretty much. I mean I don’t know of any – It’s not really worth teaching anybody. You have to kind of be interested and, you know, the guys that I know – and I know really all the top guys, I’ve been lucky enough to work with them and meet them and in some cases direct them – as in Battlefield Earth and other audiobook projects. You know, I find that they are people that just, they dig it and you couldn’t stop them from doing it...

Such a person is Fred Tatasciore… And this I think is the most important thing with this profession: He’s a really good actor. And by that I mean as a person that can take on the viewpoint of a character quite fully. And bring to it a reality that will help to tell the story. And not all the people out there in the United States – not all the guys who can do, you know, Homer Simpson impressions or Arnold Schwarzenegger are also good actors. Maybe they’re good mimics, but a good actor is still a very valuable commodity.

TCC: It sounds like you really submerge yourself in these characters in an interesting way. Do you ever find that they run away with you?

JM: Yeah, I mean they are very delicious characters sometimes and I hate to put them away. You know, it’s like if you were in a play I guess and you had to wear this wonderful costume. Then the play is over and you’re like ‘Oh, can I keep this?’ You know, there’s something marvelous about it. Luckily I’m not so unhinged that I can’t always find myself. I’m aware of who I am and I’m aware of who these characters are…

I just like to be able to express myself. Always, when I was a little kid, I wanted to be able to express myself any old way I wanted to. When you’re a kid – and even an adult – people in life are not always so comfortable with you changing your identity. And I definitely felt that as a child and I resented it. I wanted to be Peter Pan, I wanted to be whoever. You know, I didn’t want people to go ‘Would you just stop acting up, do you have to be on all the time?’ That was just a dagger in my heart. Now I get paid for it, so it’s fine. It’s like, OK I’ve legitimized it… all this really helped me out when I was directing Battlefield Earth.

TCC: Was it daunting taking on such an epic tale?

JM: It was totally totally daunting. Luckily I had read the book at least five times… It’s the kind of book that if you are incautious enough to pick it up and start reading, it just will not let you go. I missed train stops in New York quite often... When I got the assignment I knew we’d be in for something, but I was eager to do it.

TCC: We’re curious what some of the challenges were, as a director, not having a visual in the way of a film. We’re wondering if your background as a visual artist helps you in that respect.

JM: You know, a little bit. I think the main thing that was so important there is that L. Ron Hubbard is a really brilliant fiction writer. I think he’s probably written more fiction than just about anybody. I noticed when we were working on his early novels and short stories from the ‘30s and ‘40s – that he has a technique whereby he creates the world and we see it. It’s almost as if it’s a dark room and he takes a flashlight and he points it at things… the reader, or the listener in our case, makes the discoveries because of what the author is pointing out to us.

TCC: We remember as kids watching documentaries from the old Disney Studios with people doing sounds effects – sort of banging pots together. How far have we come, or is there still a lot of that going on to make these sound effects?

JM: Well yeah, it depends on what you’re trying to do. But I mean, if a person is walking down a trail with lots of dirt and leaves, they generally put a bunch of dirt and leaves on a stage and have someone walk through it. So there is that practical application. These days of course you can create sounds in many ways digitally. And indeed for all of our alien stuff… It’s not an earth technology. So of course we had to create, just like they did in Star Wars. What does that sound like? What do their ships sound like? What do their devices and all these little things that are mentioned? These meters and these gauges and these tools. So we again had a team that was great at culling and combining. That’s an art form in and of itself.

TCC: Do you have one favorite moment from this nine-month process?

JM: There are various moments in it that I remember with a lot of pleasure… In 47 and half hours, believe me, there were a lot of moments where I felt like we had scored. And I always felt like – my job is to bring the story across so that the potential of every great scene is there and delivered on. So that the whole effect of the whole novel pays off big time at the end.

TCC: You do a lot more than just impressions and vocal acting/directing. We’ve seen you in comedies like Parks & Recreation and dramas like Frost/Nixon and There Will Be Blood. Do you see these as all different parts of your life or as one cohesive career path?

JM: [laughing] I wouldn’t call my career cohesive – not a word I would use… I don’t know, it’s all expression. It’s all telling stories so in that way it’s cohesive…

I do gripe about it sometimes, but I’m pretty lucky. I get to do a lot of things that you could easily consider fun. And when I’m not doing something fun, I feel a little bit petulant. I feel a little bit like a spoiled kid, ‘How come I’m not doing something fun now?’ So I have also manufactured a way to amuse myself by making YouTube videos. I’ve got a YouTube channel that’s quite popular. Jim Meskimen or Jimpressions. And I do those every week. I do audiobooks on my own here at my own home studio. And I paint…

When I found out that creativity is actually good for you, I got very happy. And I’ve never really looked back.

The ‘Battlefield Earth’ audiobook is available now. Readers can visit Jim Meskimen’s channel at youtube.com/user/jimmeskimen