From KCRW Santa Monica and KCRW.com, it's The Treatment.

Welcome to The Treatment. I'm Elvis Mitchell. It's the Home Edition. My guest, who some of us know as an actor, I think, has made just as important

films as a documentary filmmaker. One of my favorites is his film about 10 years ago downloaded,

which in a lot of ways, I think, sets the stage for his new film, really penetrating an

insightful look at Frank Zappa called Zappa. My guest is director and actor. Alex, thanks so much for being here.

Thanks so much. It's still good to be here.

So much to talk about it here. But one of the things that I think the film really nails

about Zappa and how it permeated every aspect of his life is his dead pain and patience.

Yes, he's a droll person. I think that isn't what people immediately associate with him, but you come to learn that about him very quickly.

He's actually a pretty sober and droll person at the heart of it all.

And sober being a key word to user in so many ways.

But also, I think you get the sense from the way he was talking to people and all the

incredible contributors who work with him that you get for the film, they kind of all talk

about that, the fact that you felt like for him that he felt, and unfortunately, justifiably

so, that the clock was running.

He was a very driven artist. There are certainly plenty of other even contemporary artists

that one can point to who are driven in similar ways. I loathe call him a workaholics. I find

that kind of a dismissive and hyper-generalized term. But he was very driven whatever he was doing.

And he started making art very young.

He started making films in his early teens.

And even then, he was cutting them up and reconfiguring them and adding to them and drawing on them.

He was always a very passionate artist, but always a very driven artist.

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