chiller blog

Posted Mar 8, 10 02:52 PM

"Have another cherry," pt. II

Click here for part one of CHILLER's interview with Veronica Cartwright.

CHILLER: So were you purposefully seeking out strong genre work, or did the genre find you?

Veronica: I just went out on an interview. I had actually done Goin' South and was called in to meet (producer) Bob Solo and Philip Kaufman.

The weird thing about Alien - I went on an interview at 20th Century Fox here. And I had already planned a trip to Europe. I was going to go to England. When I was over there - because I'm British - I said, why don't I go and see them again if the part's not been cast. In a weird sort of way, I fit the quota system because I was British Equity...there was a whole program at those times: People who held British passports and were American (and actually had a theater base they could go to). There were actually quite a few - Michael Biehn was one. Because they could only cast so many people - and they could only bring so many Americans over. And I was part of the British quota. It worked out great. (laughter)

CHILLER: Word is that Alien began somewhat as a B-film. Then backers were thrilled by the rushes and pumped in another $11 million. True?

Veronica: Yes. If you look at it, nobody was famous. We were just a bunch of good actors. This is, like, Ridley's second movie (writer's note: his debut? The startling The Duellists). They saw those rushes and brought it up to $18 million. Mind-boggling. We had no CGI. All the sets were built.

CHILLER: Those sets should have won the Oscar for Best Art Direction. They established the look of the genre, even today.

Veronica: Absolutely. And every beast now looks like the alien. Until District 9 came along. I loved it.

CHILLER: The movie is definitely getting its due in the here and now.

Veronica: I voted for it. To nominate it.

CHILLER: It landed in Picture, Screenplay...Visual Effects (sigh). You know, I'm not one to flatter. But your work in Alien - especially the scene where you guide Tom Skerritt through the ventilation shaft, and our last moments with Lambert - is single-handedly the greatest terrified performance I've ever seen on film. Ever.

Veronica: (laughter) Thanks!

CHILLER: Because your character is the audience's key into the movie. We identify with you. We FEEL for you because whatever you feel, the audience is going to feel. I'm just astonished. What method of prep work or what emotional presets did you develop to reach that level of fear?

Veronica: It was just staying in the moment. If I watched him - the alien guy...he was sent to tai chi and mime classes, and he moves really slow. I didn't stand there and think, "OK, I have to be fearful now." I try my best to live in the moment.

Originally, I thought I was supposed to play Ripley...I had never even read the script from the point of view of Lambert. I had auditioned as Ripley. So I called my agent when I found out I was supposed to be Lambert and said, "What the hell is all this about?" And they said she is really what the audience feels.

I felt I cried too much, which drove me nuts. And they cut out the moment where I slapped her (Sigourney Weaver) across the face. But it's back in the Director's Cut. I didn't want her to be a wimp, you know what I mean? And she is the last one to go...

CHILLER: She's not a wimp. She's an emotional person, and she's honest with her emotions. And if you really listened to her, you wished the rest of the characters would follow her advice! She's like, "Let's get off the ship!"

Veronica: The same thing with Felicia (Alden) in The Witches of Eastwick. She was telling the truth. I mean, they just couldn't see it.

CHILLER: She makes sense...oh! And congrats on winning Best Supporting Actress from the Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy & Horror for your performance. Did you pick up your Saturn Award in person?

Veronica: Yes, I did.

CHILLER: Wish I could've heard the speech.

Veronica: (laughter) I can't even remember what I said. It was a loooong time ago.

CHILLER: Oh, not that long ago! The more I go back and watch the film, the fresher it looks. It's something. People work to have careers they can sustain, and once in a while, they have a shot at doing something great. But you've made so many iconic pieces - it's fantastic. So, good for you.

Veronica: Well, thank you.

CHILLER: Absolutely. Now, with the John Hurt's infamous chest-bursting scene, how quickly were you able to shoot that? Was it a multi-camera set-up?

Veronica: What you see is the first take. They had four cameras. They spent all day getting John rigged. There was plastic everywhere. Everyone was wearing rain gear. There were buckets of awful - I mean, it made you want to vomit when you first walked in. They had actually cut John's t-shirt - but realized they hadn't cut it enough so the thing could come out. So that built up more anticipation. I was told I would get a little blood on me. I had no idea there was a jet pointed at my face.

We did the scene. And what you see is was it was. We only did it once.

CHILLER: Amazing. So well-planned...and for maintaining all that raw emotion, so respectful of the cast.

Let's foray into real-life horror. I went back and watched the TV movie Guyana Tragedy: The Story of Jim Jones. And I couldn't help but gravitate towards your turn as cult wife Marceline Jones. Near the end, you have a moment where you scan the perimeter of the dead Peoples Temple followers. You calmly drink the Kool-Aid, wipe your mouth, find a spot on the ground - and get comfortable. As if it's the most normal thing in the world.

Now that's chilling. Talk about playing the opposite.

Veronica: She was so dedicated to him that she had to do that. I mean, that was a funky couple, let me tell you.

CHILLER: Their relationship - whew. He had partners coming through constantly, and he found all sorts of twisted ways to justify it. Flip that last thought 180 degrees to a comedic note and you have The Witches of Eastwick - which, as town shrew Felicia Alden, you stole from Jack Nicholson, Cher, Susan Sarandon and Michelle Pfeiffer.

I have to ask. The "scene." What was in that concoction?

Veronica: It really was cherries. Cans of cherries - with pits, let me tell you.

CHILLER: How many times did (director) George Miller have you doing that? It looks so uncomfortable.

Veronica: We did it twice. But what you see is the first one. We were building up to it; we worked on the whole scene for, like, five days. They would just have buckets around and throw it on my face. The tube actually ran up my dress, down my arm, and into my palm - it would refract off my chin to make it look like I was throwing up.

When they did it the second time, nothing came out... The guy turned the pressure up, and it refracted off my chin to where I had no control of my arm. The stuff just flew around. It wiped out the camera and flew over the top of the set.

CHILLER: Oooh.

Veronica: It was unbelievable. The pressure lifted my arm up. It was mind-boggling, frankly. I tell you, I loved that character. The devil was manipulating her like a little puppet. Because she's the one who knows he's the devil. When I'm in the hospital and see Michelle, I know she's impregnated even before she knows.

I had a ball doing that movie. And Richard Jenkins - I just adore the man. He played my husband.

CHILLER: And you were a southern grand dame harboring a secret in the undersung Candyman: Farewell to the Flesh. What was it like working with a pre-Chicago, pre-Dreamgirls Bill Condon?

Veronica: I just adore him. I had done a movie for TV with Bryan Brown called Dead in the Water. So then Bill asked me if I would do the part of (raising inflection) Oc-taaaav-i-a. It was really fun. We went to New Orleans to shoot it. Bill's fantastic. He's like a big boy. He enjoys what he does so much. We've always stayed in touch.

CHILLER: Veronica, you're so awesome. Thank you.