The Yeti Star Corbin Bernsen on 1940s Twilight Zone Feel Horror & More

Posted in: Horror, Interview, Movies | Tagged: The Yeti

The Yeti Star Corbin Bernsen on 1940s Twilight Zone Feel Horror & More

Corbin Bernsen (Your Friends and Neighbors) spoke to us about his latest Well Go USA horror movie "The Yeti," the Twilight Zone feel & more.

Published Sun, 26 Apr 2026 15:17:08 -0500
by Tom Chang
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Article Summary

• Corbin Bernsen explains what drew him to The Yeti, praising its strong script, distinct characters, and contained horror setup.
• The Yeti gave Bernsen 1940s horror and Rod Serling Twilight Zone vibes, with a stylish, hyper-real indie atmosphere.
• Bernsen discusses working with directors Gene Gallerano and William Pisciotta and why their no-frills approach clicked.
• The Yeti let Bernsen explore emotionally on set, while he also reflects on jumping into ensemble indie productions fast.

Corbin Bernsen is always fortunate to have work in Hollywood when most of his age tend to slow down, taking fewer projects. Not only has he achieved mainstream success, being permanently enshrined in pop culture with his roles as Arnie Becker on NBC's L.A. Law, baseball player-turned-owner Roger Dorn in the Major League franchise, and charismatic actor Harlan Dexter in the Shane Black classic Kiss Kiss Bang Bang (2005). He most recently appeared on the NBC mockumentary series The Fall and Rise of Reggie Dinkins and the AppleTV crime drama series Your Friends and Neighbors. Bernsen spoke to Bleeding Cool about his latest Well Go USA horror film, The Yeti, working with writer-directors Gene Gallerano and William Pisciotta, and making the most of his brief time on set. The film follows oil tycoon Merriell Sunday Sr (Bernsen) and adventurer Hollis Bannister (William Sadler), who have disappeared without a trace, with their last known location being in northern Alaska, which prompts Ellie Bannister (Brittany Allen) and Merriell Sunday Jr (Eric Nelsen) to search for their missing fathers, but as the search ensues, a prehistoric monster is stalking them.

The Yeti Star Corbin Bernsen on How Horror Film Feels Reminiscent of the 1940s and the Rod Serling 'Twilight Zone' Vibes.

BC: What intrigued you about The Yeti, and how'd you get involved?
Bernsen: The involvement was simple. The guys came to me, presented a script, a brief idea of what they were doing, though. I didn't have any idea what it was. When I read the script, I found it interesting. It would sort of be a contained story, and I liked that, but what I didn't know was that the character (of Merriel Sunday Sr) was good, and the other characters were fleshed out. It was nice and had all these very distinct characters, and the demises of their characters, not giving anything away. I didn't know until I got to Buffalo, where it was freezing cold, and I was thinking, "God!" Since so much of this is out in the wilderness, I was thinking, and I wasn't feeling. I'd just come back from Europe, and I was cold; it was winter in January, and it was freezing. I thought, "God, we're going to have to go out and see all night shoots," and I was delighted to find out we were in a warehouse for the entire shoot.

They recreated everything, and within that, I don't even know if it's planned, but I'm sure it is. I'm to some degree between the shots and everything. It took on this hyper-real horror story, a little bit of Rod Serling Twilight Zone feel. Not that it's a Twilight Zone story, though, but everything became a little bit hyper-real. The monster, it's not like you didn't see the monster right at the beginning, and then the movie's over. It slowly grew the shots, there's a shot at the beginning of the woman covering her face with blood coming down, and a shot from above. That's like a classic [Alfred] Hitchcock shot, so I knew they were onto something stylish.

When I first saw it, when they sent me an early cut, I was like, "Okay." You don't get the benefit of all the other stuff going on with it from the sound, music, sound design, and all that. "Okay, looks pretty cool." Again, I'm watching it on my screen. By the time I saw it last night for the first time on a big screen with the sound designs and the full picture of what it is, I urge anybody, when you do stream it, if you can, pop it up onto your screen, on your TV, not your laptop or phone. Really watch it, pump up your sound, with the volume, because the soundscape is so extraordinary. But I didn't see, I didn't know any of that from the script. I just knew it was a good script. I'm in a period of my life where I'm really excited about the whole world of indie film and indie television. It's a time for me to, oddly, I've had a good career, I continue, I'm on Friends and Neighbors and Lincoln Lawyer, and I got my day jobs, but to go and explore with some younger filmmakers is truly exciting, especially if they're doing something interesting.

Speaking of other filmmakers, what was it like working with Gene and William as creatives?
They were great. They were in their own little bubble. Sometimes you'll get a director when he's on his own. They're in this little bubble, and they want to get what they need to make the film good. I don't think there was much applause after takes or any of that kind of stuff, and you learn how a director works. It's like, "Go! Action! You get it. Try it again, but let's do this. Great. Got it. Moving on." I've come to appreciate that. My early years was I was waiting for applause, not literally, but "How was it?" "Good?!" It's funny, I used to, at the end of every take, so I'd be acting, I'm going to show you what it looked like. I'd act, say, then go, leave. The director would say, "Cut," and I'd look right at the camera, and it was like, as if I was saying, "How was that?" Now I learn to put it all out there, and they'll get with it. I've learned that when they say, "Moving on," I'm okay.

What did playing Merriel allow you to do that you don't normally do or feel like you've done enough in your roles?
It didn't allow me to do something that I'm not allowed to do. I'm in a period, though, where I don't leave a lot on the table. I'm not sure. I feel freer to explore, especially if you're working with somebody who can say, "Pull this back, take it up. Let's not go in that direction. Try one in this direction." I love it when directors want to explore it. They don't have it all figured out. They got their words and their story. They'll be like, "Let's try these paint colors. You know what? That paint color isn't what I thought about. That really looks nice in the light." It's not really improvising, but it's improvising emotionally, and they were great with that. They were not cuddly, warm, and fuzzy, which is fine, and I've come to learn that doesn't mean they don't like you. It just means they know what they want to get when they see what they get. They know I can put it into the edit. We moved on.

What did you like working with such a talented ensemble with Brittany, William, Jim [Cummings], and Eric?
Well, I was only there for four or five days. I came in the middle to the end, I mean, it was great. They're all great. The thing I was astonished about is that once I really got into it, the whole 1940s look, the wardrobe, and everybody seemed to be real. Brittany really fit into that period. She's got such a classic, wonderful look, and is a sweet woman. We rode to set the first day together, the way everybody adapted to the look and the thing. Again, I came in. It was one of those things when you're somebody like me, they don't make you hang out there the whole time. They try to get you in four or five days. A guy like me, you're not going to have me hanging out the whole time.

I don't want to at this point in my life. If you must try to consolidate, I don't want to hang out on a movie set away from my wife and my luxury for too long if I'm not working. Unless we're in Fiji or something. Yeah, get me there 10 days before we start shooting, and I'll stay 10 days later, so I didn't really get to know everybody that well. Also, when you do it like that, sometimes you must jump in. I'm coming up.

I'm going to start doing something next week in Toronto, and I'm jumping into a, and I can't talk much about it, but it's a talented ensemble, and they've been working already and I got to jump in. There's not a lot of time to say, "Let's hang, have a beer, and chat about life." You have got enough time to get there and get in. It's funny, I did something recently, another film, kind of like The Yeti, which will be out next year, another cool independent project called Laura Louise, which is a thriller. I went there, and it was a very short shoot. It was all taking place in the house.

Again, there was not a lot of time for "Let's all hang," I went there, and it was a big part for me. It was a big, it all takes place…it's like the first scene is 45 minutes long. You're in, and there's not a lot of them to break and go, "Let's talk about tennis," but I found myself being a little bit, I don't know, it wasn't the most pleasant thing because I didn't have time to do the chit chat, but I think it paid off. I saw the rough cut and go, "No, I was there. I was in."

The Yeti is available on digital.

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