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LOS ANGELES, April 19 (UPI) -- Michael Paré said his latest movie, Space Wars: Quest for the Deepstar, in theaters Friday, relies on the acting skills he's developed over a 42-year career. Paré plays Kip Corman, a space shuttle pilot on an intergalactic mission with his daughter, Taylor (Sarah French).
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Space Wars is full of space battles and aliens, but also emotional moments for the Corman family. Kip cries twice in the film, which Paré said was all part of the job.
"Acting is having a sincere emotional reaction to imaginary circumstances," Paré told UPI in a recent Zoom interview. "There's no secret. That's it. You gotta believe what's happening in the story."
Making 'Space Wars'
Paré worked with the team behind Space Wars frequently. He also worked for producer Jeff Miller in Once Upon a Time in Deadwood and the upcoming Kill Craft.
Cinematographer Michael Su also filmed Paré in Road to Hell, 2025 Armageddon and directed Paré in Bridge of the Doomed.
"I've been in the business so long that there's rarely a set I walk on that I haven't worked with somebody there," Paré said.
When co-writer and director Garo Setian brought Paré the Space Wars script, it was an easy sell.
"I love the lighthearted adventure," Paré said. "It's like Lost in Space."
The role of Kip also harkens back to some of Paré's earlier roles. He played rock 'n' roll soldier Tom Cody in Streets of Fire, a fighter pilot in Into the Sun and many other heroic roles, so he felt comfortable donning another leather jacket as Kip.
"It's not just me," Paré said. "Look at Harrison Ford. All of these heroes are leather-jacketed guys who are willing to brave the harsh weather to achieve a noble goal."
Setian created many of Space Wars' worlds with digital effects after Paré and his co-stars finished filming. Thanks to such technology, Paré has been able to appear in sometimes more than 10 movies in a single year.
The economical productions do come with increased demands, Paré said.
"It's much more fun to shoot four pages in one day," Paré said. "When they try to do 10 to 15 pages, it's harder work, but it's harder work for everybody, not just the actor."
From 'Greatest American Hero' to 'Streets of Fire'
Paré was happy to look back on his career on the occasion of the release of Space Wars. His first role in Hollywood was a recurring role as troubled youth Tony Villicana on The Greatest American Hero.
That campy superhero show was where Paré learned how to hit marks on the soundstage floors for film and television. Paré quickly learned to feel the tape marks beneath his shoes thank to his co-star's wisdom.
"I said, 'How the [expletive] do you do this?'" Paré said, remembering the 42-year-old frustration. "Robert Culp says, 'Slide your feet. You can feel the tape.'"
During Greatest American Hero, he was also able to transition into film with the 1981 rock 'n' roll drama Eddie and the Cruisers. Paré's film with the longest shelf life appears to be Streets of Fire from 1984.
The film has had Blu-ray special editions and a 4K UHD release in March. The self-proclaimed "rock 'n' roll fable" is set in a stylized city in which Cody ventures into the villains' lair to rescue rock star Ellen Aim (Diane Lane).
The film's unique look is one reason fans continue to revisit. Paré admits it took time to grow on him because it was so time consuming to achieve that look.
"When they light for eight hours, you get a little impatient," Paré said. "But then when you see what they did, then it's like wow. [Cinematographer] Andy Laszlo was painting with light. It was just amazing what that ended up looking like."
Still, fans never got to see the original version of Streets of Fire. Paré remembers how his final battle with gang leader Raven (Willem Dafoe) was supposed to be even more violent than the sledgehammer duel that remains in the film.
"I'm going to lose and I pull out a knife and I stab him to death," Paré said. "They didn't want that and they changed it so it just got softer."
Paré said he didn't get typecast as a rock 'n' roller because he made the 1920s period piece Undercover in between. Though Paré appeared in Albert Pyun's unauthorized Streets sequel, Road to Hell, Paré said he would still play Cody again for a real sequel.
"Hey man, if they call me, believe me, I'll do it," Paré said.
42 years of proving himself
Though his indie films like Space Wars now outnumber his mainstream studio credits, Paré still joins the audition circuit for studio films. He shared stories of auditioning from four to eight times, sometimes landing the role and sometimes not.
"You've got to knock it out of the ballpark every audition as if you're opening on Broadway," Paré said. "They've got to know that when the moment comes you can do your job."
Sometimes, serendipity put Paré on directors' radar. He said Lincoln Lawyer co-star Eric Etebari included a scene from the horror movie Kinky Killers on his acting reel, and Paré was in the same scene. Brad Furman cast them both.
Furman did not cast Paré in his next film, Runner Runner, despite Paré's four auditions. But Paré worked for Furman again in The Infiltrator and City of Lies. For Infiltrator, he gained weight to win the role.
"I got up to 245," Paré said. "I was eating two double cheeseburgers between meals and doing the weight gain protein drinks and not doing any cardio."
Paré will shoot a film in China and is waiting to hear back on another shooting in Korea. Paré is also excited about Revival, which he recently completed in Rome.
"It's about near death experiences," Paré said. "I play the doctor who's experimenting on people."
Paré said Revival's 20-day schedule was luxurious compared to the likes of Space Wars. He said he also enjoyed the location.
"The great thing about Rome is you can't walk outside without three great places for the best cappuccino and cornetto in the world," Paré said. "It's like 3 euros."
Space Wars comes to digital video on demand May 2.
