Exclusive Interview with Bree Turner
|
Incident On and Off a Mountain Road, the first episode of Showtime’s Masters of Horror series, is set to debut tomorrow (September 28, 2005).
The story switchbacks between past and present incidents in the life of Ellen (Bree Turner), a woman whose marriage to an abusive survivalist (Ethan Embry) primes her for a rough night in the forest with a murderous maniac called Moonface (John De Santis).
The one-hour film is directed and co-written by famed filmmaker Don Coscarelli (the Phantasm film series, Bubba Ho-Tep). Coscarelli told Horror.com that he’s pleased to finally feature a strong female protagonist (the heroes in his previous horror outings have mostly been adolescent boys), and that while he wasn’t exactly sure who should play Ellen, the moment Turner came in to the audition, she “nailed it.”
Staci Wilson / Horror.com: Don Coscarelli said that you really nailed it when you came in for your audition. He said you blew away all the competition. What do you think you did?
Bree Turner: Wow, that's really nice to hear! It's funny because when you audition for something you don't really have much information, you don't know who the director is, what's their personality like, what's their vision. You kind of have to make your own assumption, your own guesses at what makes you comfortable with the four pages you're given. And I went in the first time and I don't know if exactly my vision was exactly what he was going with so he brought me back again and we kinda talked about it.
Once I got to know his personality more and what he was really looking for with the Ellen character. We did a little work-shopping in the room and I think through that came whatever I did and I guess that's what he really wanted. [laughing] But it's a process though you know, you have to kind of communicate with the director and collaborate. And luckily Don was really fantastic that way, with the collaboration of it all.
Q: What kind of director is he? Does he explain exactly what he wants, or does he kind of let you interpret?
Bree Turner: The great thing about him is that [since] he's also a writer, he is so involved and passionate about the entire story. Rather than just the director being for hire that wasn't involved in any of the writing process. He's like a big kid about it. He was so excited and he'd bring me to the set every day show me the creepy cave and, you know, the prosthetics. He was so involved from how my hair should look to how much fog should be in the background. He was really very, very visual. The kind of director which I respond well to and made me excited to work with him.
Q: Are you a fan of the horror genre?
Bree Turner: You know I'm a big wimp actually. [laughter] Nightmare on Elm Street scared the crap out of me. But I'm getting into it. I'm getting a little ballsier with my choices of films with the horror, the horror flicks, so I'm choosing to take a risk more. But, yeah, when I was younger no way. Scream scarred me for like three years. [laughter] Which is sort of pathetic.
Q: In this episode you really do have to go through the wringer. It must have been quite a process for you. What was the most challenging aspect of the role?
Bree Turner: Probably the fact that we only had two weeks, not even two weeks, more like ten days to shoot the whole script. I mean granted it's only a 58 minute film I mean there's… with the flashbacks and the story and the scenery, there was a lot to do. I think that was probably the hardest part about it was just condensing everything in ten days and to make it. Luckily what I also liked about Don was that he was very committed to keeping the story very real.
The scariest movies are the ones that could really happen and the ones that emotionally tear at you. And I mean granted Moonface is a little over the top but you know the whole story line with the husband, and anything in the woods in the cabin, isolated, that's always frightening. We just wanted to for ten days to seem authentic [in the] grounding of the whole story. That was probably the most challenging.
Q: Were you doing a lot of shooting at night, and in the rain?
Bree Turner: A lot. [laughing] My sleeping schedule was definitely messed up for a couple of weeks after that. It was practically all, eight out of ten days, were night shoots. That was hard too. But you know, I was really excited to do this. I had known Don from Bubba Ho-Tep which I'm a huge fan of, and I really wanted to work with Don. The whole project seemed very interesting and I really wanted to do a horror film. I hadn't done one yet. I kinda wanted to challenge myself and see what I could do and hopefully I did it.
Q: I think it's amazing. When I had talked to Don he was saying how Angus Scrimm had to do his own stunts and no one could double John because he's so big. What did you have to go through as far as the harrowing action sequences? Did you ever get hurt or anything?
Bree Turner: Don was actually ready to kill me. I'll give you a little insider secret. I was so convinced I could all my own stunts. I fought him every day I was like "Don I want to kick the [body] off the hill. I want to do the car stuff." I really wanted to do everything. He would yell at me everyday because, you know, he didn't want me to get hurt. So I had this fantastic stunt girl who did all the crazy [things]. I had two stunt girls. I had a stunt girl who did all my car work and then I had a girl who did the really difficult [ones].
There's a scene where I fall down the hill. That, I tell you, was the most amazing thing I've ever seen because it a complete straight up cliff with jagged rocks and she had no mat to fall into. All she had was padding on her elbows and hipbones and she had a neck thing. She just went for it and it was phenomenal. So stuff like that obviously I didn't do. But I really loved all the fight stuff I did myself and the knife training and dealing with Moonface, all those things. I kinda got beat up pretty good, but I deserved it. I was whining about it the whole time. [laughing] So I got what I deserved in the end.
Q: Were you jealous when you saw the stunt girls doing their thing? Or were you thinking "Oh I'm glad that's not me"?
Bree Turner: I was a little jealous because they're so badass. Especially mine. She had this very petite body and very graceful-looking and then she just was an animal. She didn't even hesitate with any of the stunts. I was jealous.
Q: You did get to handle some weaponry in the show. Was that new to you?
Bree Turner: That was exciting to look at all the guns. I got to choose all the guns. I was taught how to handle each gun, so it was fun.
Q: Can you say a little bit about each of your three costars in this? Ethan Embry, John De Santis, and Angus Scrimm?
Bree Turner: Well, Ethan, I was really looking forward to working with him. I've loved him for a long time. What was so great about him is, you don't always work with actors who are on the same page as you. You know, everyone kind of approaches their work differently and how their comfortable doing their thing. It was really fun because Ethan and I were of the same ilk and we were both insane. But all our scenes together were really a lot of fun. I loved working with someone as crazy and balls-out as I am. We had a lot of fun.
Then John was, he's like 6'8...he's huge. And he is the most gentle, he has this sweet voice and I look at John and he has these little glasses on and be like reading Nietzsche in the corner on his little set chair. I'm like "You're playing this agro-serial killer, man". He's like a Buddha, he was just so sweet. Sweet, sweet man.
Then Angus was fun. That was fun, because Angus is such an icon in that whole genre. We were stuck down in that nasty cave which was, those were hard days, working down in that cave. Everyone had respiratory issues.
Q: Yeah, when you were telling them to shut up. I was like, ‘I think she really means that’.
Bree Turner: Yeah, [laughing] that was toward the end of the shoot. I was a little messed up by that point. But Angus was, the guy was chained to this wheelchair for four days straight. He never complained. Always was there in the scene with me, fully in the moment. I wish I got to work with him more. Other than me yelling at him.
Q: Well, he works a lot and you'll be working a lot, so I'm sure there's a chance.
Bree Turner: I'm sure our paths will cross again.
Q: What's your most vivid memory from the whole experience?
Bree Turner: Probably, um, gosh… a couple. All the stuff we did, you know we shot up in
The first 2 nights we were actually up in the mountains in the woods. the way the cinematography, I think, is really beautiful with the lighting and how he did such a good job with keeping that creepy feel. But that memory is me, they had to send me way deep into the woods and I was like "Are there bears or poison ivy..." They were like "Oh, you're fine Bree" I'm sent out way deep and Don yells "action" and I had to run down this whole ravine. With the lights and the smoke I really saw how the whole piece was going to look in that moment. It looked creepy and beautiful and ethereal. That was a really vivid moment. Probably one of the more peaceful moments.
= = =
Don’t expect many peaceful moments in the finished product, though! For Horror.com’s full review, click here.
[end]