Caddyshack and TRON – But What About TRON Legacy? Interview: Actress Cindy Morgan

Cindy Morgan as video game heroine Yori in TRON (Buenta Vista Pictures, 1982).

In 1982 the Walt Disney Company’s special effects masterpiece TRON, changed filmmaking and spawned books, comics, arcade games, video games, and finally a sequel, TRON Legacy, currently scheduled for release in December, 2010. Of the original film’s three lead performers, both of the male heroes are returning, but the heroine played by Cindy Morgan, thus far, is not.

Outraged fans have pushed for her inclusion, some of them expressing this through online petitions.

Previously best known for playing Lacey Underall in the 1980 comedy Caddyshack, Cindy Morgan played dual roles in Tron: Dr. Lora Baines in the real world and Yori, the character based on Lora, in a video game’s digital world. Last week Cindy talked with us about both movies and more in the Action Flick Chick’s War Room. Given the timely nature of the “Get Cindy Morgan in the Cast” issue, the Chick felt that the War Room’s chat format would offer the best venue for getting the word out by bringing together a group of discussants who could turn around and report on this through their own websites, not to mention twitter, Facebook, and more.

These were some of our guests. More than these visited the chat, including a few who watched without ever typing a word. Here are the ones who answered when Cindy urged everyone to introduce themselves and identify their websites because she wanted to check out their sites afterward:

DeadDaisy – “zombie model.”
RickSwift – “the amazing Rick Swift of the ever controversial, iratefilms.com”
eruditechick – “My name is Amanda, I write for allthingsfangirl.com!”
KellyWhyte – “I’m Kelly Whyte (Kelly-Vision) http://kellywhyte.com”
MarQfromK8 – “http://www.somewhereinvegas.net – also have two audio interviews with Cindy at http://www.blogtalkradio.com/katie80show ”
ABoyNamedArt – “I’m @aboynamedart, read me at http://arturovstheworld.blogspot.com or listen to my show at http://hour42.com”
BrianHansen – “i’m just an army officer in kuwait”
dannyson – “Im Daniel and I make a webcomic called The Sons at http://www.thesonscomic.com”
LlamaMama – website manager for actionflickchick.com, rocketllama.com, reddiesteady.com.
ActionChick – “www.actionflickchick.com for those of you who don’t know where you are :P”

Note: Due to the chaotic nature of an Internet chatroom, the transcript below has been edited (sentences reordered, most typos fixed, much punctuation added, unanswered questions and various side comments trimmed) for clarity and readability, but not perfectly edited because it was, after all, a chatroom discussion and we want to retain some of that feel.

LlamaMama: Katrina was just on the phone with Cindy. She’ll be here soon.

CindyMorgan: Hey!

{People said hi, then introduced themselves.}

Cindy at San Diego Comic-Con International (2009).

eruditechick: Not to start out on a completely obsequious note, but the pics of you from SDCC09 (San Diego Comic-Con)  in your “Flynn Lives” t-shirt are adorable.

CindyMorgan: LOL Thanks! I hope everyone caught the irony. 😉

{Several did. Do you?}

ActionChick: Ok, question one – Tron was revolutionary. Amazingly, this movie about computer effects was done without modern CGI. Was it challenging for you as an actor?

CindyMorgan: It would have been more challenging, had I not worked a lot with green screen in broadcasting. I did the weather. 😉

DeadDaisy: I thought screens were blue back then.

CindyMorgan: Nope, it was green. At one point, we were all supposed to be looking off in the same direction while we on the “Solar Sailer.” Unfortunately we were all looking in different directions.

eruditechick: Did you have to shepherd the fellas a little?

CindyMorgan: I asked a grip to drag a roll of gaffer’s tape on a rope for an eye line, it worked.

eruditechick: Revolutionizing the industry, before the “tennis ball on a metal pole” trick. Well done!

RickSwift: That was my FAVORITE scene btw. Saw that flick with my dad, and it was a magical effect on my imagination.

CindyMorgan: nice, thanks.

Yori in her helmet (TRON, 1982).

CindyMorgan: That’s when I got to wear a hockey helmet like the guys. They had been gluing that damn skull cap to my skin for weeks, and the blisters were beginning to bleed. I said “Enough! I’m wearing a hockey helmet!” 😉

ActionChick: Zoinks. That’s awful!

eruditechick: Hah, beauty is pain my foot…

ActionChick: Jeff Bridges, who played the lead in Tron, returns in Tron Legacy. Neither you nor Bruce Boxleitner, who each played dual roles in the first movie,were going to appear, but now Bruce is in the sequel. What reason havethey given for leaving you out?

CindyMorgan: Reason for leaving us out of Tron Legacy? Would LOVE to know! 😉 Any of you have Disney Studio’s phone number? They apparently killed me off…. but I’ve always wanted to play a ghost. 😉

eruditechick: There’s a “petition for Cindy to be in Tron” stuff showing up online. Not to mention that if the programs look like their creators there should still be opportunity for us to see you!

CindyMorgan: You betcha!

ActionChick: Well, with petitions fighting to get you in the picture, do you think there’s time still for you to be included?

CindyMorgan: Always time. My friend Bill Carruth was telling me stories about how he “hot-spliced” a scene into “Jaws” just before the first screening.

RickSwift: What was it like to work with Barnard Hughes?

CindyMorgan: Barnard was GREAT! A true pro, and the best-behaved person on the set.

Barnard Hughes, Cindy Morgan, and Oscar-less special effects.

ActionChick:There was a popular video game based on the movie that became a staple in mid-80s arcades. Were you any good at it?

CindyMorgan: You bet. Video games were everywhere, even on the set of TRON. The director wanted us “in the mood” 😉

ActionChick: Did they play sensual music on the set or something? 🙂

CindyMorgan: LOL Didn’t need to. Got to kiss two great-looking guys.

The stars of TRON (1982): Cindy Morgan, Jeff Bridges, Bruce Boxleitner.

eruditechick: How about voice acting? The work you did for TRON 2.0, what was that like?

LlamaMama: Tron 2.0 = game for those who don’t know.

CindyMorgan: Originally, I wasn’t in the script, then I was brought back as MA3A. I think the fans had a lot to do with it.

ActionChick: So they should be bringing you back for Tron Legacy!

CindyMorgan: My phone’s working just fine if they want to bring me back for TRON Legacy. 😉

RickSwift: I certainly wish they would, you were as much a part of Tron to me as all the others involved.

RickSwift: You’ve been involved in TV, VGs and film, which is your favorite work?

CindyMorgan: It’s all good! The part between “action” and “cut” is great! It’s all the OTHER stuff that’s tough. 😉

Preparing for a Caddyshack pool scene (Orion Pictures - Warner Brothers, 1980).

TraderBob: Did you see Family Guy Caddyshack (diving board) episode and thoughts? How do you feel about being a part of Americana?

CindyMorgan: LOVED the Family Guy bit!

ActionChick: Speaking of Caddyshack, which do you remember more fondly, Caddyshack or Tron?

CindyMorgan: Two VERY different movies! Most people don’t know that’s me in both films. Caddyshack was Animal House on a golf course.

KellyWhyte: so true

CindyMorgan: TRON was shot on the Disney lot. No goofing around there!!  But I loved working on such a ground-breaking project.

DeadDaisy: no goofing at house of Goofy

CindyMorgan: Was hoping you’d catch that “Goofy” remark. 😉

ActionChick: They were both excellent films. You mean Goofy or Mickey weren’t crashing the set of Tron to party all the time?

RickSwift: I keep seeing that Jonas brothers South Park episode in my head, with the irate Mickey 🙂

CindyMorgan: NO Goofy or Mickey, just studio exec’s. Very serious business, working at Disney. TRON was very important to them.

KellyWhyte: Speaking of goofy, what’s Bill Murray like?

CindyMorgan: Billy Murray was a sweetheart.

eruditechick: Bill Murray played on my dad’s Softball team when he first moved to LA.

ActionChick: He seems like a nice, funny guy. I’d love to meet him.

A scene with Chevy Chase. He's the one standing.

RickSwift: Who is your favorite co-worker throughout the years, and why?

CindyMorgan: Chevy and Andy Griffith {in the television series “Matlock”} because they made me fight for the scene. We didn’t always get along, but I did my best work with them.

TraderBob: Who was funniest off the set of Caddyshack?

CindyMorgan: ALL different kinds of funny on the set of Caddyshack. Rodney was nervous. Chevy was the same whether the camera was rolling or not. I turned into “Lacey” at some point during the filming just to survive!! All great guys, and very talented, that’s why the adlibbing worked. MUCH improvisation!

RickSwift: I love it when actors improvise, some of the best stuff comes out 🙂

eruditechick: Are there any projects in particular you’d like to tackle, any roles you especially want to play?

CindyMorgan: Would love to play many of the same roles, but with the wisdom.

ActionChick: Lydia Cornell (radio announcer and novelist who played Ted Knight’s daughter on the sitcom Too Close For Comfort) asked me to tell you hi. You played his niece in Caddyshack. Ted was known for playing pompous characters, but what was he really like?

CindyMorgan: Say “hi” to Lydia too! 🙂 Ted was like my uncle in the beginning, kind of took me under his wing. I think toward the end of filming he was pretty fed up with all of the antics, and was REALLY mad, not acting!

Ted Knight "REALLY mad, not acting"

ActionChick: I bet that was nice, you being the newcomer and all. That movie was full of well known actors and comedians. Was that intimidating to you as a newcomer?

The "very nice" side of actor Ted Knight.

CindyMorgan: Oh, he was very nice, and it was a challenge from the first day when I had to fake the high dive off the board. Tried not to be intimidated, no time for that.

DeadDaisy: faked it?

CindyMorgan: Can’t dive, can’t swim well. And legally blind without my contact lenses.

DeadDaisy: now THAT is funny cause you’re famous for that.

RickSwift: you fooled all of us 🙂

CindyMorgan: THAT was a tough first scene! Had to climb the board and walk to the end of it blind, then take the spring so the editor could cut in the real diver.

ActionChick: Wow, I would’ve been really afraid to be that high up and unable to see. Good job!

CindyMorgan: Fear is a great motivator.

ActionChick: It gets a lot of things done.

CindyMorgan: Oh yes it does!

ActionChick: Could you elaborate about the off camera antics on the set of Caddyshack?

CindyMorgan: The cameras should have been turned around. Imagine, a bunch of new actors locked up on a golf course with four of the funniest men on the planet. We partied a lot, it was 1979, if you get my drift. They worked well off of each other.

With Bill Murray (not 1980).

BrianHansen: I heard an urban legend that Chase and Murray didn’t care for each other much.

CindyMorgan: the last time Chevy and Billy were together Billy had punched Chevy out on the set of Saturday Night Live.

ActionChick: Whoa! Really?

BrianHansen: ouch

eruditechick: Oh, Billy

DeadDaisy: didn’t Chase want you to apologize to him for something?

CindyMorgan: Yep. We were doing the love scene It was hot, we were tired, and it had been going on for days. He said a couple of things, I said a couple of things, and he walked. Harold Ramis told me to apologize, and I said “No, you heard what he said.” Chevy came back after a while, and we did the oil massage scene. Best scene we did, I think. Passion is important, and I think it worked

ActionChick: Yeah, way to stick to your guns. Good job!

eruditechick: Damn straight. Easiest thing in the world for a pretty girl to get pushed around. That’s a good story for young actresses to hear.

CindyMorgan: Oh they pushed. You have no idea. I was called the night before the nude scene, one of the producers. He told me they were sending a photographer from Playboy. Said I couldn’t do it, I was the Irish Spring girl at the time. My agent wouldn’t back me up. Said “honey, you’re not a doe-eyed girl from the midwest. handle it.” So I did. The producer called me between takes, and told me to let the photographer shoot or I was “f****d in this business.” Told me he would take away my paid ads and billing. He did.

ActionChick: Wow! Harsh!

KellyWhyte: Wow, what a nice guy.

RickSwift: Brutal. Makes Ari Gold {character from the HBO television series “Entourage”} look like a panty waist!

CindyMorgan: Then I cleared the set and said “I’ve got all day. Take your time.” Proudest day of my life. Integrity is expensive, but well worth it in the end.

{People throughout the chatroom praised Cindy.}

CindyMorgan: Didn’t work for a long time after that. And the agent I fired became the head of ABC casting.

DeadDaisy: Pride lasts longer than the money.

CindyMorgan: Not so much pride as being able to look myself in the mirror.

CindyMorgan: That’s when I got TRON. I’d been to lunch with a guy I was dating. He told me about some “cartoon” he was in. A year later, he was out of the “cartoon” and I was in. Had NO idea it was TRON.

RickSwift: That cartoon revolutionized the industry 🙂

CindyMorgan: It was down to Debbie Harry and myself. Yep Blondie. Auditioned with Jeff Bridges, and it seemed to work.

BrianHansen: well, you and Jeff sure had chemistry, as did u and Bruce

CindyMorgan: You betcha! Loved those guys. That’s a lot of what made it work.

ActionChick: Given the popularity of heroines like Alien’s Ripley, Terminator’s Sarah Connor, Xena, and Buffy, it seems like Hollywood would come up with more roles for heroic female characters. Any guesses why they don’t?

CindyMorgan: Because guys make a lot of the decisions. 😉 lol On one hand, they fear strong females, on the other, they can’t get enough of us.

MarQfromK80: well Joss Whedon is helping get women in the forefront.

CindyMorgan: Excellent.

DeadDaisy: Action Flick Chick, didn’t Sigourney Weaver have trouble answering that same question?

ActionChick: Yeah, she didn’t really come up with anything when she was asked that.

ABoyNamedArt: I read last week that Jeff Rubinov at WB has a policy of no female leads in films.

RickSwift: Any strong female roles that inspire you today, modern characters I mean?

CindyMorgan: Real women who make tough decisions under fire inspire me.

ActionChick: How do you overcome such gender biases?

DeadDaisy: Isn’t getting her into Tron Legacy about overcoming them?

CindyMorgan: I never thought of myself as “different” from the guys. Started out in broadcasting, working as my own FCC liscenced sound engineer. Did the same work the guys did. Only reason I became an actress is that casting people in Chicago would put me on camera. Went to LA, and got Caddyshack eight months later. Got lucky.

TraderBob: You just seemed to drop off the movie radar. Was this your choice or did the Playboy incident continue to haunt?

CindyMorgan: In 1996, in one month, my father died, I got divorced, was told I couldn’t have kids. Tough to audition when you’re in tears.

ActionChick: My gosh! Rough month 🙁

BrianHansen: sorry to hear, sincerely.

CindyMorgan: Backed off, and waited.

CindyMorgan: Now, I hope to be a writer, and tell the stories about “what it was like.” Nothing salacious, I’ll talk in detail without naming names. And, perhaps, the call from Disney will come. Time will tell.

ActionChick: Speaking of writing, you’re working on a book right now. Are there any other projects you’d care to discuss?

CindyMorgan: “From Catholic School to Caddyshack” The story about how a nice girl from the Midwest became Lacey Underall 😉

TraderBob: Will you be more active on twitter in the future? Your fans would get to know you better and it would also help with your charity work.

CindyMorgan: Yes, sorry about that! Will be MUCH better from now on! Thanks!

ActionChick: Is there a leading male role would you like to see a female version of?

CindyMorgan: James Bond

RickSwift: I’d watch it.

ActionChick: That would be awesome.

DeadDaisy: think there was an x-rated jane bond

CindyMorgan: NOT what I had in mind 😉

RickSwift: Bond’s last leading lady came across as almost bond-like herself, and the critics were nasty about it, sad.

eruditechick: Was there anything you were geeky about when you were a kid? A book series, cartoon, comics, anything?

CindyMorgan: God yes! I was a total geek. Was accepted to the Illinois Institute of Technology. Backed off because I came from an all-girl Catholic school.

BrianHansen: heh, awesome

ActionChick: You’ve done charity work for military veterans. (My dad and brothers are all in the military.) Why did you choose that as opposed to other worthwhile charities?

BrianHansen: btw, thanks from all of us in the military for doing that.

CindyMorgan: My Dad was a Polish immigrant who lied about his age to join the army when he fled Europe before World War 2. Was simply “proud to be an American.”

BrianHansen: awesome…your dad is one of the coolest humans i’ve heard of.

CindyMorgan: I did it to honor my father and everyone like him.

eruditechick: My grandfather did the same, but in Russia. Less pride involved. More being shot at for going awol. But he made it to Chicago….!

CindyMorgan: See, we all came from a great background.

ActionChick: Out of all your acting experiences, which ones have you enjoyed most?

CindyMorgan: To tell the truth, when I had to fight for a scene, and it turned out well, it’s my best work. I still have NO idea how I did it. 😉

TraderBob: Can you expound on “fight for a scene”?

CindyMorgan: When the other actor is being a prima donna.

eruditechick: Being a technology geek, did you have any inkling working on TRON how accurate an idea it was of the future of technology?

CindyMorgan: We had no idea that TRON was the future!

BrianHansen: Your impact in that movie is out of proportion with your screen time.

CindyMorgan: I heard that it wasn’t nominated for an Acadamy Award for special effects because it was said Disney “cheated” by using computers.

BrianHansen: Well, Tron and Star Trek II were the first movies to use CGI.

ActionChick: Last question from me: What kind of movies do you like to watch?

CindyMorgan: At this point of my life, I LOVE to be inspired. Movies that inspire mean a lot to people

RickSwift: What’s the last film you saw in a theater?

CindyMorgan: “Bright Star” lol I can’t stay away from science fiction.

DeadDaisy: When’s the last time you watched your own movies?

CindyMorgan: Tough to watch my own movies.  Always think I could have done it better.

ActionChick: A lot of people I’ve asked that question say the same thing…too critical of themselves.

eruditechick: Anything you can say about Longwood?

CindyMorgan: New script, just got it. Love the story line Randy told me about, so I’m in!

MarQfromK80: Did you discuss the Tron cafeteria incident Cindy?

CindyMorgan: Jeff Bridges, Bruce and I were having lunch in the Disney commissary. ALL of us still in TRON costume. Bruce said something that pissed me off, and I reached across the table and grabbed him by the throat. Jeff was laughing. The Disney “studio suits” were just staring!

BrianHansen: WOW Darth Cindy

CindyMorgan: Misbehaving in costume!! 😉

BrianHansen: remind me never to make you mad

CindyMorgan: LOL Thanks Bruce never said “that” again. Then I finished my lunch 😉

RickSwift: Was the food any good at the Dis Commissary?

CindyMorgan: Food always sucks in commissaries  😉

BrianHansen: Just like the food in the DFACs, lol

RickSwift: Is “that” going to be in the book?

CindyMorgan: Second book. First is a coffee table book filled with off-camera pix from the set of Caddyshack

ActionChick: And this will be out in 2010?

CindyMorgan: Yep, has to be done. 30th Anniversary of Caddyshack. Warner Bros is releasing it on BluRay. The editor of Caddyshack, Bill Carruth, took hundreds of pix during production. And after production….;) All the off-camera stuff everybody’s heard about. Boca Magazine’s doing an article in October.

CindyMorgan: THANKS SO MUCH!!! xoxoxo I’ll keep updates on Facebook and at http://www.cindymorganinfo.com.

KellyWhyte: BTW You’re my hero because you were on an episode of the Love Boat.

DeadDaisy: WHERE DO WE GO TO JOIN CINDY IN TRON PETITION?

Jadem: http://www.petitionspot.com/petitions/cindymorgantron2

eruditechick: Yay! All right, everyone – tweet it like mad.

carlothchthr: of course Cindy should be in Tron 2. I’ll sign the hell outta that petition

CindyMorgan: This was the BEST!! Thanks again!!!!!

{People heaped thanks upon Cindy.}

CindyMorgan: Lots of fun, and please DO keep in touch. This was the BEST!! Thanks again to “Action Flick Chick” xoxo

BrianHansen: Yeah, AFC! this ruled!

RickSwift: More fun than I’ve had online in awhile 🙂 Anyway, I’ll see you guys around the interwebs. Thanks for joining the chat everyone!

brianhansen: that was the coolest thing, uh huh huh

Looking forward!