Pittsburgh’s Billy Gardell gets serious in new movie ‘The Vortex’
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According to Billy Gardell, his humor is quintessentially Pittsburgh.
“My work ethic comes from there, and so I’ve been telling ‘DVE for 20 years, everything I’ve done in Hollywood — whether it was looking for auditions, being broke, you know, being up for a yogurt commercial all the way to television success — I always connect to Pittsburgh no matter what I’m doing, and I like to bring what I’m doing there first if I can because it’s my connection to the city and it’s my good-luck charm,” he said.
While Gardell’s career has often focused on stand-up, as well as recurring roles on series such as “Yes, Dear,” and “My Name Is Earl,” his new film “The Vortex” allowed him to explore his more serious side.
The movie will be showing at the Lindsay Theater in Sewickley from Feb. 14 to 27.
The comedian and star of CBS sitcoms “Mike and Molly” (2010-2016) and “Bob Hearts Abishola” (2019-2024) spent much of his childhood in Swissvale before moving to Florida. He’s been a big supporter of Pittsburgh sports and comedy throughout his life, and even still calls into the WDVE morning show most Tuesdays from California, where he now lives.
“My friend and the director of the movie, Richard Zelniker, brought me this script and he said, ‘Would you be interested in doing this? It’s an indie film, and we got a shoestring budget, but I think it’s something you could do and it would look cool.’ I read the script. And I’ve been wanting to try something on the dramatic side.”
In the movie, Gardell plays Pete, the in-house comedian at the MGM Grand casino who has a gambling addiction. Throughout the 80-minute film, he acts as therapist to several of the casino’s strange characters, in addition to dealing with his own issues.
“The other cool thing about this movie was, he really found a cast that has just been lovely to work with, and there’s all these different shades and tones of characters, and it’s a great story. Look, it’s not ‘The Godfather,’ but we made a cool little movie and I’m very proud of it,” Gardell said.
He never wants to turn down any opportunity to try something new in his career.
“It’s one of those things that sometimes you have to take a chance on — what you want to do to show the industry what you can do.”
There is a proud tradition of actors who started out in comedies hitting it big in drama: Tom Hanks and Robin Williams are both massively successful examples. But there’s an old adage that comedy is actually harder to perform than drama. Gardell can see where that comes from.
“I still think it’s harder than drama. To get somebody to laugh and hold their attention is hard, that’s the hardest thing to do. But drama affords you the time and space to let the audience see you thinking and experiencing emotions, and it’s just a different outlet of art. That’s what drew me to this.”
Playing a comedian — even if that doesn’t take up much screentime in the movie — made the role a little more familiar to Gardell. It doesn’t hurt that he’s spent some time in Sin City, too.
“I’ve spent significant time and money there. I’m a big fan of Vegas. Of course, I like the old-school Vegas. I’m a Rat Pack fan. … I tried to bring a little bit of that and texture to the character.”
“The Vortex” takes place in 1980, so the actors had to familiarize themselves with a very specific time period in Las Vegas’ history and bring it to life.
“It was fun to wear those clothes and that hairstyle and feel that vibe,” he said.
Whether it’s Vegas or Hollywood, Gardell takes his lifelong love of Pittsburgh wherever he goes.
“What I love about Pittsburgh humor is that it’s sarcasm without cruelty. And I love that and that’s one of the reasons that I love the ‘DVE Morning Show. Because in a world of, you know, let’s make people feel awkward, those guys — Randy Baumann especially — have held the line.”
He’s a great admirer of everyone on the morning show, which he calls into almost weekly.
“That show feels like the Letterman Show to me,” he said.
He said that his father introduced him to classic comedy and movies, but also to kindness and sarcasm “with a little bit of love.”
“The biggest funniest, most inspirational thing that ever came out of Pittsburgh for me was my father. My wife will even say to this day, ‘You’re just a hack ripoff for your dad,’ and she’s right, I am.”
As for what’s next, now that he’s got both comedy and drama under his belt? Only time will tell, but whatever it is, Gardell’s ready to give it a shot.
“I’m a big believer that the harder you work on your craft, the longer your window will stay open when the opportunity presents itself, but the opportunity itself, well, that’s like being in a casino,” he said. “You just gotta stay at the table and hope your number comes up. Like a million things have to go right for that to happen, so you need a little bit of luck, too, and I feel like I’ve been very lucky, but grateful. Grateful for all of it, and that’s actually what afforded me the ability to do this film and take a chance on trying something new.”
“The Vortex” will show at the Lindsay Theater in Sewickley from Feb. 14 to 27. Director Richard Zelniker will be doing a virtual Q&A after the 7:15 show on Feb. 20. For tickets, showtimes and to see and the film’s trailer, visit thelindsaytheater.org.