chiller blog

Posted Nov 2, 09 02:40 PM

She Who Walks Behind the Rows II: The Final Sacrifice

Read part one of Chiller's interview with Fern Champion and Paul Ruddy here.

Chiller: Make one successful genre film and it's logical to see how other like-projects seek you out. You've done Friday the 13th: The Final Chapter; Friday the 13th, Part V - A New Beginning; Jason Lives: Friday the 13th Part VI; April Fool's Day (same producers, if I'm not mistaken); and 32 episodes of the underrated Friday the 13th: The Series. As horror is concept-driven, what's the challenge of casting lesser-known actors?

Fern: To find the unknown! History just proves itself. Look at horror films - who has come out of them. It's really quite remarkable –

Chiller: Kevin Bacon did the original Friday the 13th. Naomi Watts: Children of the Corn 4. Angela Bassett did Critters 4. Let's see, Tom Hanks was in He Knows You're Alone –

Fern: So there's no harm. You're not doing gratuitous sex scenes, per se. You're not doing porn. The horror genre is what people run to see...look what just happened with Friday the 13th. $42 million opening weekend? It's a proven commodity. So you'd have to be silly as an actor starting out to turn down a horror genre film. You cannot get hurt.

Chiller: Do you think, in horror films, a booked actor has a fascination with his own character's demise?

Fern: I think it's just not to look ridiculous. We've done many of these horrors for smaller budgets... but I think that most of the actors look at it seriously. Thank God. And that's what you have to trust. That the actors really want to make it work. So we can only bring the talent that'll make the movie play. Gotta kiss a lot of toads, though.

Chiller: I gotta ask. If you're casting someone whose character "gets it," is it mandatory to read them for their death scene?

Fern: Give them a death scene? Oh, please! It would be like Julius Caesar...you know how long they would go on and on dying?

Chiller: So they don't typically read their death scenes in auditions?

Fern: No. You can choose two scenes in a horror film. One in which maybe they're being chased after. But you know, not ones where you go (emulating the Friday the 13th theme), "Kill-kill-kill." We don't need that.

Paul: You try to avoid the screaming ones, too.

Fern: Yeah, screaming is wrong, you know? Because actors like to scream.

Paul: Like (the Syfy remake) Children of the Corn. All those little kids yelling things at us for days!

Chiller: Tell me. Please.

Paul: We had what we described in the breakdown as "unique and offbeat children" (nervous laughter).

Fern: We didn't know how to describe them. Because they had to be... very... (a squeamish pause)

Chiller: ...Yeeeeeeeah.

Paul: So we had a lot of kids coming in playing these religious fanatic-psychotic children. And we spent day on end listening to kids screaming bible verses at us. That we'd burn in hell. It was quite an interesting experience. These adorable little kids –

Chiller: How old?

Fern: Seven, eight, nine, ten. And their parents are outside, too.

Chiller: I wonder if they rehearsed that in the car.

Fern: Can you imagine? They came dressed in black, big crosses. It was really eerie. I mean, this doesn't make for a happy day.

Paul: In the original, the evil child - the actor who played Isaac - was a 24 year-old dwarf. So we went in a different direction and got a very angelic-looking child because it came off creepier.

Chiller: On Pet Sematary, you cast Miko Hughes as the doe-eyed killer, Gage. It's a risky role: a child who comes back from the dead to kill. How did you approach working with him as opposed to working with child actors in general?

Fern: It starts with the parents. They're the ones who read that script. They're going to make the judgment call. So even before they get to us, we lose many because of religion, because of content. Many times, there is a scene that a parent goes "absolutely not!" But with Miko, he was not only a little boy. He was like a grown man. This little boy walked in - he was focused. His parents: Very loveable, wonderful people. They said it's all part of entertainment. They knew there were scenes they would not let him see. And I think if you approach a child's career that way rather than frightening them up front - no one's going to hurt a child on the set. So I think it starts with the parent. The child doesn't have to read every page of that script. And if the child has that kind of attitude that's ready to play, why suppress it? You never say no. Why say no? It's all part of growing up. That's what the child wants to do. He wants to be an actor. "No." No why? So I think, with Miko, they were so cool about it. So when certain scenes were shot, Miko was not on that set. And that's what you do. That's what we did with Children of the Corn. We protect the children. But you don't say no...

Now, Corey Feldman, he was adorable. Very unhappy childhood. And you could see that. Corey walks in with his dad. And you could just sense...body language. But he just wanted to act and really just wanted to escape his life. That when I grabbed him and said, "Come with me." This child just lit up and commanded attention in the room by himself. As soon as you got him away from the family, he'd shine. He's so bright -- and a smartass! And I love that about him. He really just wanted to prove something. Not a good childhood, but he's a tremendous actor. And I'm glad he's okay now.

It (Friday the 13th: The Final Chapter) was Crispin Glover's first movie, too. Hello! We all went to his house for a party and it was all black light. He was in "a rain mood."

Chiller: Funny. Say, care to share a funny story about casting? Horror audiences looooove funny stories.

Fern: So, Fern is reading with an actor. We're at callbacks. And he starts reading with me and all of a sudden he says to me, "Simone! Simone!" And I look at my script and I'm going, "Can I see your script for a second?" Let's start it again. "Simone! Simone!" And I'm going, "What script do you have? What's your first line?" (laughter - Fern holds up a piece of paper with the word "C'mon" written on it)

Couldn't read. Poor baby. But the tears. The tears on everyone in that room...

Chiller: Thanks so much, Fern. Paul. Is there a finished film, a certain scene or even a line reading that you find absolutely definitive of your work?

Fern: (thinking) ...the final line from Pretty Woman: "Everybody comes here. This is Hollywood, the land of dreams. Some dreams come true, some don't...but keep on dreamin'. This is Hollywood. Always time to dream, so keep on dreamin'."