I first met Mike Dreyden when we both appeared in a film called "Available Light," directed by prolific filmmaker Todd Verow("Frisk"). He's got a new web series that recently premiered called "Last Call." I sat down with him on a recent trip to NY, and asked him all about it.

MV: Tell us all about "Last Call." What was the impetus for the show? Who's in it? How can we find it?

MD: Well, first of all, there's a word. HA! LAST CALL certainly does move with a lot of energy. It's my story. A down on his luck guy with dreams of opening his own bar and ends up in nightlife and porn to make ends meet. In my case though it was a gym. I wanted to open my own gym once. The cast of characters including you, are a pretty amazing bunch with a lot of energy too. By the way, thanks for being so patient when we were shooting episode six outside on that crappy rainy day. We kept our eyes on the weather for a week, but you know how it goes.

Ok, it all started once upon a time after I moved back east. I moved to LA to get away from NY and to rethinking my career choices and put things in perspective. I looked at possibly starting my own porn site, but the truth is, I was done with porn. I had enough. I originally got into it on a lark and didn't think it would amount to much for me. I spent three months thinking, letting my NY life go and getting into a new LA groove. It was good. I loved living there but finding work wasn't easy. 

Every day on my way to the gym, I'd drive by this acting studio down the street from the gym, on Cole and Santa Monica. I thought maybe I'd take a scene study class, just for kicks but what happened was I remembered I wasn't that far away from finishing my degree. So, I thought and thought and thought then decided. If I am going to make theater the rest of my life, the only way it was going to work out was to come back home where I have my support system and could make things happen. I moved back to New York and landed on a friend Glenn's couch in Washington Heights, for a year. I was working a minimum wage job as an usher at the Joyce Theater. I had virtually no money. I knew I didn't want to do porn anymore. 

One night I was reading a Backstage article about actors creating opportunities for themselves. One way was web series, one-offs on Off-Off Broadway stages and Busking. Then it hit me like a lightning bolt. I was sitting on 8 years of experiences I could create something out of. I opened my laptop and started writing my memoir. I didn't have a set outline for what I wanted to write about but I just started writing to see where it would go when the idea for LAST CALL hit me. And the rest is history. The cool part is, because of my corporate life working in NY real estate for ten years, working in gyms around the city from time to time and bartending, gogo dancing and porn, I have two spin-offs to LAST CALL I'm developing. 

The cast of characters are all good friends, actor friends from all over the spectrum. Robert Maisonett who play my brother David Ocean. Bianca Leigh, she plays one of my besties Vickie Winehouse. Moe Bertran who plays my landlady Babcia, Mair Heller, plays my bestie Darren Lewis. Cliff Berry plays Sam, Darren's friend, Matthew Montelongo plays our family attorney, John-Dylan Delatorre plays my ex-BF Marshal and of course, there's you, my new BF Vincent D'Santi. Oh, and I play Leonardo Ocean.

There's no website for the show but we have a Facebook page, www.facebook.com/lastcallwebseries and a Youtube Channel. The URL for the Youtube channel is pretty long. We haven't gotten to 100 subscribers just yet, to get our own URL. We have had 82 to date. Once we get to 100, we can change it. I'm putting together a contest. Once we get 100 subscribers, we're gonna post some choices. The one with the most votes wins. 

MV:  No interest in continuing your porn career? 

MD: OH GOD NO! Like is said, it wasn't meant to be a long-term thing for me. Once I realized I'd made a splash, pun intended, I knew that the fans who follow me would follow me through my theater and film work... with my clothes on. To be honest, I made friends with a lot of my fans. A few even have my number. But no. In the summer of 2011, I did one last one in Province Town. I did it for the money and the free trip up to the Cape. I'd never been so I said *F it. That was that. It was for Bear Weekend if I'm not mistaken. 

MV:  Who did you enjoy working within the porn industry? Who did you hate?! 

MD: Hate's such a strong word, Michael. It would take a lot for me to 'hate' someone. I think I've mellowed in my mid-life. LOL! There are however a couple of people I absolutely dislike because they're inauthentic. You know them both. I'll leave it at that. Now, in front of the camera, it that's what you meant, well my first and only Raging Stallion gig was with Logan McCree. We keep in touch every so often. I haven't heard from him in a while though. 

MV: LA or NY and why. :)

MD: I'm a New Yorker through and through... BROOKLYN BABYYYYYYYYY!!!!! BUT, I do love Los Angeles. I had a blast living there. I miss my friends, including you. When I can swing it, I'll be coming out more often. It's just a matter of time and commitments. What about you? I've seen how you get when you're here! You get all misty! LOL!

MV: How/when did you decide that you wanted to be an actor?

MD: Blame it on Michael J. Fox! I was in love! Oy gevalt! I loved "Family Ties" and all his movies. Back to the Future made me crazy! I wanted to be like him. Be on TV. I ask my mom "how do you get to be on TV"? She said, "ask your uncle Pablo". Turns out he's an Indie film writer/producer/director. I had lunch with him and told him I wanted to be an actor. He asked me what I knew about acting. I knew nothing of course. In the following weeks/months, he took me to see my very first play. AS IS by William Hoffman. I was on the edge of my seat the whole time. We talked about the show. He asked me questions that made me think deeply about what I observed as opposed to what I saw. I think the answers I gave him prompted him to give me a book of plays by Tennessee Williams and that Sunday he enrolled me at HB Studio. The rest is history. Once I learned what the craft was really about, I knew I was an actor!

MV: What do you have coming up in the future?

MD: For now, I'm in post with LAST CALL and planning the relaunch party starting with episode 3... then we start airing episodes. I'm also writing while raising money for S2. We'll probably start shooting in late May again. Oh, that reminds me, shoot me your availability. I'm also looking at classes to stay sharp. I have a play goal for 2018 as well. I'm determined to book a play. I NEEEEEED to do a live show. There's nothing like the experience!