EXCLUSIVE” Tray Chaney Opens Up About his New Movie, We Need to Talk

We Need to Talk is now out everywhere on VOD and we got the chance to speak with one of the stars of the movie, Tray Chaney.

During our chat with Chaney, who plays Tango_Unchained, we talked how he got involved in the movie, gaming, online friendships and so much more. Check out what he had to say below.

How did you get involved in the movie?
“Me and Todd Wolfe [director], we go back I want to say 10 to 12 years because Todd has been in, of course, in the film industry as a writer-director-producer for a very long time. We met on the set of a film called Streets, that starred Meek Mill, and I played a character in it. And I kept in contact with him. I loved his vibe. I loved his whole style of how nice he was, and we kept in contact. Then when he presented me with this amazing project, We Need to Talk, he said, man, this is like a rom-com. It has heart to it, it’s drama. He said, but here’s the deal. You’re going to be playing a video gamer named Tango_Unchained.”

How did you react to that?
“I was like, all right. I said, well, the only way I’m familiar with video gaming is because I have a 16-year-old son. I said, but as far as me video gaming, I just don’t have the time. I’m always on set. I’m always working. So, Todd was very helpful in just giving me the pointers on being inside of the world of a video gamer and of course James Maslow playing Great Scott. I love James Maslow. I’ve been a fan of Big Time Rush for years. And just to see James, and then you got Jonathan Fernandez from Gossip Girl and Emily Bett Rickards from Arrow. And then of course, Christel Khalil from Young and the Restless. I’m like, when he ran down the list of the cast and then I read the script, I was like, yeah, I want in on this. Plus, it’s a different type of feel. It’s a different type of role for me.”

What do you mean?
“As an actor, you always just want to take different roles, so you won’t get typecast as this person or that person. And man, We Need to Talk is out everywhere on digital platforms. And again, I’m glad to have played the character Tango_Unchained and Todd is just a good guy. So, it did make sense for us to get back in, on set together. And this time, he’s writing, producing, and directing. And being on set, the vibe just felt great. You know, everybody was so nice. The professionalism was there. During our breaks, we would joke, have fun, but when it was time to get back to work, everybody was just so professional, you know? I was like, man, this is the set that I know this movie is going to turn out great. On top of that, all of us became like family. Like off-screen, we all still talk.”

That’s fantastic! I have to imagine, though, when you were filming the gaming scenes, you all weren’t in the same room together.
“Todd Wolfe was every character. I’m looking at a blank screen and I’m playing this video game, which of course came off amazing because when you watch the movie, you’re like, oh yeah, they talking to each other. But to my left off-screen was Todd and he was going back and forth. I mean just think, the man wrote the whole script. Reciting every line to me and that’s how it came off for most of the characters that were not in the same room together. We were all in scenes together, but if I had to work on a Thursday, I might not have seen the kid who played Kyle [Devin Kennedy] because he was working on a Saturday, but that was the beauty of movie-making magic.”

As an actor, how do you adapt to that type of filming?
“All of us as actors know what we have to do to pull off the character, to pull off the role, as far as having our dialogue down packed, our lines memorized. It was easy for us to adapt to that type of filming, with Todd being off-screen and him reciting lines. Like I said in the beginning, even once I found out how we were going shoot, I was like, this is something totally different for me. I just want to challenge myself and I want to step up to the plate and just make this the best movie as possible.”

Was filming the scenes that way more challenging than you first envisioned?
“Yeah. For me it was a little bit of a challenge, but at the same time as an actor, that’s how I prepare anyway to go on set and portray these different characters with other actors and actresses. I took it back to like an auditioning process or a self-taping process where I’m not actually in front of the character, but I got to look into a camera and say my lines. Let me just adjust. Let me adapt to what’s getting ready to take place. The key thing is for an actor, as long as we got those lines down packed and know what we should be saying, it don’t matter who’s going back and forth with us with these lines.”

Your character in the movie assists in the paranoia that surrounds Scott when he hears the words, “we need to talk.” If you were in your Scott’s position, would you react the same way?
“I would’ve reacted like Scott, especially if it comes to my lady, my wife. I would’ve been like, okay, if I’m so wrapped up into my business, into what I’m doing, and if I heard her say we need to talk, but this was taking my time, then I didn’t hear from her all day. Yeah. I would’ve reacted like him because I’m used to hearing from my family every day. That could have got a little chaotic for me if I’m like, okay, I didn’t hear from my wife. I didn’t hear from my sister today at a certain time, she calls me every morning at 9:00 AM. I’m like, okay, why didn’t I hear from her today? Let me figure out what’s going on. I would’ve overreacted. And I’m glad I didn’t have a friend like Tango_Unchained to tell me she was out in the streets, messing with somebody else.”

The thing is, I feel like everyone has a friend like Tango_Unchained!
“That’s true. The great part about this whole movie was a lot of people asked me specifically did I ad-lib? It came off so real when, but I’ve known Todd for 12 years, he how I talk. if I’m just messing around with my friends or having a crazy, funny conversation with my homeboys or whatever. The way he wrote it, it was amazing how that all just came off like that.”

Now you said earlier in the interview that you weren’t so much of a gamer, but your 16-year-old was. Did he give you any form of advice or any kind of research help to prepare you for the role?
“Yeah. My son Malachi, he sure did. Like I said before, I got booked for this movie. I didn’t have time to play video games, but every now and then you might catch me playing Call of Duty or one of those Mortal Kombat, Madden-type video games or whatever. But he has to be right there because I’m so not in tune with the video gaming world, but now that I’ve shot, We Need to Talk, I’m ready.”

You’re interested now.
“Yeah. I’m real interested now because I’ve been playing a little bit.”

Any particular game?
“Well, I love Call of Duty. And I like Mortal Kombat.”

I like the original Mortal Kombat off the Sega Genesis. I was terrible at it, but I would just hit a bunch of buttons and hope for the best.
“No, you just took me back though. That’s where I started. Like this new stuff this out now, I’m like, look, I don’t really get. I will go back to Sega Genesis in a minute.”

What’s so nice about this movie is you see so the positive light of having friends you only know online. Have you made any online friends or connections like Scott did in the movie?
“Yeah. Specifically, Instagram. Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter. Of course, I’m an actor, but besides being an actor, I run a business. You know, Chaney Vision is my company, and we specialize in cranking out content in the documentary world, film, television, short films, and music as well. I’m an artist. I toured with different national acts. The connection that I’ve made with just supporters that’s like, hey, I’m going to go to chaneyway.com. And you know that sweatsuit that you had on in your video, I want to buy it.
Then these people become long-lasting friends. I have friends that I’ve never met in person, one of them run my site.”

You’re kidding!
“We just Zoom, we never like met in person. He runs my site because he comes from that world. He’s a tech guy. He runs my YouTube page. I got producers who I never met, that produced songs for me. That I shot videos for, paperwork was done, I pay them. These are genuine people that I met online, and they work in fields that I work in. These are long-lasting relationships, friendships.”

Are their plans to ever meet in person?
“We always joke, like we got to meet each other. We got to meet each other soon. Like I got to fly you wherever I’m at, or we got to fly to wherever you at. That’s definitely going to happen this year because one of my good friends, Rene Vogel, he does all of my campaign work with flyers. He lives in Las Vegas with his family. I’ve never met him in person, but this man has branded my company. Nobody would even know that we haven’t physically in person, it’s all Zoom conversations. It’s all FaceTime. And we’ve been handling business for years and doing well.”

Now I know you filmed the movie in Philadelphia, how was that?
“That was amazing. Todd Wolfe, he’s from there. So, him being from there and me always frequently visiting Philly throughout the years in my career and filming other projects out there, when they say the City of Brotherly Love, it really is. They welcomed us with open arms and that’s what, again, it’s so many different layers and things that drew me to the project. I’m like, oh, we are shooting back in Philly. I got family in Philly. And I’m like, oh, I get to see a couple of my family members that I haven’t seen in a while, along with Todd and the crew.”

For my final question for you today, what are you hoping fans who haven’t seen the movie yet get from it?
“Well, the thing that I’ve really been stressing with this film is, we have to understand that it’s a balance when it comes to our lifestyle. If we are working in a certain field, I understand that it’s work, especially being online, but we still have to make time for our loved ones. It can’t be a neglect situation where, for instance, that first beginning scene, Scott, he wasn’t even paying attention to Aly. She could’ve left and something could’ve happened and then he would’ve had to live with that regret.

So, for me, I want people to walk away with just knowing that there’s a time and a place for everything. It’s a balance. And if somebody in your family or one of your loved ones say that they need to talk to you, if you can set aside a little bit of time just to hear them out, they just want to be heard, and you got to be that listening ear if you can. And that’s what I want people to take away.”

*This interview has been edited for length and clarity