“Monumental” is a movie is about two men who travel across the United States in order to honor one’s mother by spreading her ashes at several monuments that she always wanted to visit. Over the course of their journey, they meet interesting individuals and encounter perilous situations that force them to question their friendship and personal characters. The movie is currently available on Amazon, Google Play and YouTube, and it is due to be released on iTunes and DVD this April. Gary and his co-creator Luke Albright were happy to talk about the making of the film and their careers in entertainment.

Movie

Blasting News (BN): How did you get involved with “Monumental”?

Gary Cairns (GC): I hired myself.

Luke Albright (LA): We wrote and produced it, so we just cast ourselves. Gary tried to get me on the casting couch, but I wasn't falling for that a third time.

BN: What did you find most interesting about the characters you played?

GC: I wanted to play a normal family guy with normal struggles so that's what made it exciting for me. I can relate to this character as opposed to other roles I've done.

LA: I think something most people don't know is that I originally thought I would play Gary's role. But we chatted about it and decided to play against type, so I ended up playing Clayne instead of Steve.

It was a lot of fun for me to have the opportunity to explore a character I might not usually get to play.

BN: Do you have any awesome “behind the scenes” stories?

GC: Riding on the edges of Colorado's mountains was scary in an RV that had bad breaks but in Luke Albright I trusted and he got us through!

LA: The RV we drove in the movie was a complete hunk of crap.

It's supposed to break down a couple times in the script but it broke-down several times as we drove across the country. I fixed leaks in the fuel line with Batman duct tape and when that wasn't strong enough we switched to Superman tape. God bless duct tape, it saved our film.

BN: What is your favorite scene in the entire film?

GC: The Statue of Liberty scene. I love the look of it and the little improvs that went on between me and Luke.

LA: It’s in the montage after our characters have patched things up and spread ashes at the St. Louis Arch. There's a shot of me and Gary sitting on top of the RV drinking sodas and laughing. We're parked in an abandoned drive-in theatre, just telling each other stories and looking at the old, blank screen. I don't remember what was said, but it was a beautiful summer day, and we're both genuinely laughing. There's just something really pure about that moment... it turned out exactly like I imagined it when we wrote it.

Future

BN: In what other projects have you been a part of?

GC: I've appeared on television shows including “Justified,” “Criminal Minds” and some movies like “Hero Wanted,” “Malignant” and “Daylight's End.”

LA: As a young boy, I played the only character in “Unforgiven” that got forgiven.

Unfortunately, they cut that role.

BN: Where do you hope to be in your career one decade from now?

GC: Working on a good, edgy series.

LA: Celebrating the long run of a TV show that I created and plotting the future with my friends and family.

BN: Do you have future events—or advice for up and coming performers—that you want to mention?

GC: Look out for “Purgatory Road” which I just shot in December of 2016.

LA: Gary and I just wrapped lead roles in a dark thriller called “Purgatory Road” that will be completed in a few months. I'm also about to enter pre-production on a comedy I co-wrote called “Austin Lake” and I'm currently pitching two TV shows I helped create. As far as advice goes: always trust your gut, and believe people the first time they show you who they are.