A Conversation with Stacy Walker

If you recently went to see Michael Jackson's This Is It, you were more than likely overwhelmed by the amount of talent that went into making the picture. Stacy Walker was an integral part of that talent, involved in the choreography for the dancers in the show. Stacy has actually been involved in the industry as a choreographer for quite some time now, dating back to films like Three to Tango and Coyote Ugly, as well as television shows like Ally McBeal and Everybody Loves Raymond. Stacy was kind enough to talk with me about her career as a choreographer in film and television, and also reminisce about some of her fondest moments working as a dancer.

JA: So let's start with where you got your start as a choreographer; at what age did you start dancing, and at what point did you realize that it was something you wanted to do professionally?

SW: I started dancing when I was five- I always loved it, but didn't think it was a realistic career choice. I went to college at Florida State University and studied Communications and Psychology, graduated, got a job, and quit the first day! I've never had a job, other than dance, since. I transitioned from dancer to choreographer by 1st Assisting Travis Payne, which later lead to choreographing on my own. Travis taught me a great deal, and I love working with him.

JA: What was it like working with stars like Matthew Perry, Neve Campbell, and Dylan McDermott so early in your career as an assistant choreographer for the film Three to Tango?

Great! I learned a lot about the challenges of teaching non-dancers how to dance.

JA: You worked on one of my favorite series, Ally McBeal, as a choreographer- which episodes and scenes were you involved in? Also tell me about being involved in the production of that show.

SW: I worked on this show with Travis Payne. It was a swing dance episode. I was also Lucy Liu's dance double, but she was so great that I never had to dance for her! This was such a great show which provided a lot of work for dancers and choreographers at the time.

JA: You have worked in multiple television series doing choreography such as Everybody Loves Raymond and Lizzie McGuire- tell me a little bit about your work on these shows.


SW: I generally love working on television shows because they tend to be quick, fun jobs with a story line. I always prefer jobs with a story rather than just choreographing random steps.

JA: What is your favorite thing about dance?

SW: I'm a visual person, so dance just suits me. I love the feeling you get in your gut when you're doing choreography that suits your personal style and technical abilities.

JA: Who inspires you most as a dancer? Also, what are a few of your favorite dance performances in film or television?

SW: I continue to be inspired by dancers on a daily basis! I absolutely loved the dancers on This Is It- they gave me butterflies! So, so good! Obviously, Travis Payne has been an incredible friend and mentor to me. He is also one of the most gifted and versatile dancers I know.

Performances I love include almost anything Bob Fosse- I loved Chicago and Sweet Charity! Smooth Criminal and Dangerous by Michael Jackson, and Mia Michaels & Tyce Diorio in So You Think You Can Dance.

JA: Tell me about working on Coyote Ugly with director David McNally and the entire cast- and also, how did you become involved in film and television work?

SW: I also worked on this film with Travis Payne. It was one of the most difficult jobs! We were so behind schedule that we shot 24 hours a day! Travis would take the first twelve hours, and I would take the second twelve hours!

I got into television and film mainly because I live in Los Angeles, and that's what most of the work out her is. I prefer television and film to live shows because you are more able to manipulate what your audience sees with the camera. When it's live, you just see everything- from the front, 100% of the time.

JA: Your first credited experience as a choreographer was for the 2007 film Epic Movie- tell me about the experience and challenges you faced taking on your first solo project, and also about the challenges and memories that followed on the film Meet the Spartans.

SW: There are so many more challenges when you are working on your own, but more rewards come from rising to that challenge. I felt very prepared. I had worked in the business for so long- I knew what to do and how to do it, it was just all my responsibility now. Plus, it feels good to be a little scared sometimes. When I got the script for Meet the Spartans I had a wave of panic! One of the biggest dance sequences called for 'stepping'. I don't know how to 'step'! I got scared and had to figure it out. That experience made me appreciate feeling uncomfortable and having to step outside of the box and grow. It's so much more rewarding that way!

JA: I became aware of you from seeing the new film This Is It starring Michael Jackson- this is such an extraordinary picture to be able to say you were a part of; what was it like working as a choreographer bringing what would have been the greatest live performance in history to the stage? Tell me about your time and the set, the dancers you worked with, and your fondest memories of this production.

SW: I have such incredible memories of this experience and will be forever grateful to have been a part of it. It is amazing to work in an environment where everyone is at the top of their game. We had the best dancers, singers, and band. Also- the best wardrobe, lighting, and set designers. We were all so inspired and had so much fun, we rarely wanted to go home at the end of the day. The talent that surrounded me was insane! Those were some of the most incredible dancers I have ever worked with- and more importantly, some of the best people.

It makes me happy to know that Michael was surrounded by loving, talented, passionate people prior to his passing.

JA: What was it like working with director Kenny Ortega, and do you have a wish list of people you want to work with in your career?

SW: I love Kenneth! I had worked with him before on a show in Las Vegas. He is extremely capable and incredibly charismatic! My wish is not to work with any one specific person, but to continue working on projects that inspire me- where I'm surrounded with fun, passionate, talented, capable, and kind people.

JA: If you had to sum up your career with one word, what would it be?

SW: Spoiled!

A Conversation with John Landis

If you were to ask who my favorite movie director of all time is, typically three people come to mind: Howard Hawks, Quentin Tarantino, and John Landis. The films of John Landis are some of the most memorable, entertaining, and iconic of all time; from John Belushi and Dan Aykroyd as The Blues Brothers to Michael Jackson in Thriller, the director has a way of capturing lightning in a bottle with nearly every single project he has undertaken. The interesting and wonderful thing about Landis is that he hasn't stopped making original and entertaining films after so much commercial success, like so many other directors tend to do. He in fact recently won an Emmy for his 2007 documentary on Don Rickles, Mr. Warmth, and is currently in London working on his newest film Burke and Hare, which stars Simon Pegg.

John Landis actually took time out of his day to call me from London to do an interview exclusive to Fulle Circle- if that doesn't serve as a prime example of a filmmaker being good to his fans, then I don't know what does.

JA: So you're calling from London, are you out there working on your new film?

JL: I'm at Ealing Studios, where on January 25th we start principal photography on a picture called Burke and Hare. It's a British film that stars Simon Pegg and David Tennant in the title roles, and we're running around like crazy preparing.

It's based on the notorious Irish murderers who are most famous as grave robbers, when in fact they never robbed a grave. They took a shortcut by eliminating the middle man. The reason people were robbing graves in Edinburgh at the time was to supply cadavers to the medical schools- Edinburgh was the center of medical education in the world at that time, 1827, and there were many different institutions teaching surgery and anatomy. You have to realize how primitive all of this is... it was still candlelight and basically there was no anesthetic, a pretty primitive time in medicine. They were doing vivisections, autopsies, and surgeries on people, for those who would pay to see this as entertainment. So there was a lot of money to be had in dead bodies. Mostly, in real life, it was the medical students- but the people who were grave robbers included some pretty sleazy characters. Burke and Hare just murdered people, they killed sixteen people in a relatively short period of time, and then sold them to Dr. Knox. This is based on that true story.

JA: What do you love most about making movies?

JL: I actually enjoy everything about making movies... except raising the money. The hardest part of filmmaking is getting the money to make the film.

JA: Is fundraising still a difficult process even after all of the financial success your films have had?

JL: Of course, sure. Even Dreamworks had their money pull out at the last minute. Did you know that? Then they had to go and get new money, and Spielberg had to put up his own money... it's a very tough environment out there.

JA: And it's strange because the box office is doing so well right now.

JL: Yeah, it is weird. And movies are doing really well right now. It has to do with the ownership of the studios- at this point in time there's not really one studio that can be called independent. They're all tiny pieces of giant multi-national corporations. So it's not the fact that Columbia Pictures is doing okay, because Sony as a giant entity is not... and that affects everybody. It's like Warner Bros. is doing okay, but Time Warner is not. Universal has had a bad year, and so did NBC, but even so they're less than 1% of General Electric. It's a whole different business.

JA: How do the troubles of raising money now compare to the way it was earlier on in your career?

JL: Well I was really lucky to come along in the seventies. Looking back I can see this period from 1969 to maybe the late '80s was this extraordinary moment of the American movie business, because for a while there the filmmakers and directors were given a lot of power. The studios let them make their films, and that's changed quite a bit. When Lew Wasserman sold MCA Universal to the Japanese it was the beginning of the end, really. He was the last mogul.

When I made Animal House I could tell you that Steve Ross was Warner Bros., Arthur Krimm was United Artists, David Begelmen was Columbia, Lew Wasserman was Universal- you could look at the companies and tell who it belonged to. There was someone who owned it and was in charge, and they were in the picture business and took risks. There's no major corporation now who would back a picture like The Last Temptation of Christ or Coal Miner's Daughter. I look at a lot of the pictures Universal made during my time there, and there's amazing films that they would never make now. Look at the pictures Paramount made like Chinatown and Midnight Cowboy... these movies wouldn't get made now by a major studio.

JA: Are there any movies out now that you are shocked to see it made?

JL: Yeah, very often I'll see a movie like that. I saw Transformers 2... I'm not shocked it got made, and I'm not even shocked that it made a fortune... but I'm shocked by what a piece of shit it is.

JA: And what about films you admired that slid under the radar and were produced by a major studio?

JL: Well I haven't seen Where the Wild Things Are but I'm excited about it. I don't know if it's a success or not, but I'm very excited that Warner Bros. gave a filmmaker as interesting a Spike Jonze the opportunity to do it. I mean there's good movies being made still, and there will always be good movies made- it's just that the number will go down as the number of movies being made goes down.

JA: Which directors working now are you intrigued by?

JL: Oh there are wonderful directors working now. Sam Raimi is still working, Joel & Ethan Coen, Edgar Wright, and Joe Dante just made a movie. There's wonderful directors and there always will be. There's really interesting people making pictures, but there's far more of them not making pictures who should be. Gosh, there's a lot of good filmmakers out there... so many.

JA: How do you feel the work of directors you admire holds up to the work they were doing when it was easier to get their visions onscreen?

JL: Oh it depends, every situation is unique. The only generalization I hold to is that it's dangerous to generalize. But if you look at the majority of the product now, the studios are much more interested in making what are called "tent poles", which are giant productions that have a lot of special effects and stuff... listen, you can have someone else whine about it. I feel very fortunate that even though it's low budget I am doing a really good script, so I'm happy.

JA: Of all the films you have made is there one that stands out as being a personal favorite?

JL: I don't really have a favorite film. I mean there's some films I enjoy, but it's very hard for a filmmaker to separate the experience of shooting a movie from the movie itself. I had a really good experience on many movies. Some films are more successful than others, some are frustrating. I've never seen a movie of mine that I didn't wish I did some things differently. When you're making a film the circumstances conspire against you. I think people who haven't made a feature film don't understand how difficult it really is to get all the elements- you're dealing with so many things that are out of your control, and you're dealing with a finite amount of money and time, as well actors who may be having marital problems, an illness, or even an addiction of some kind. You're also dealing with electronics, computers, and carpenters... it's quite a thing to make a movie. People that haven't done it tend to be more dismissive. Even when I see a terrible movie now I'm well aware of the amount of physical work that went into it.

JA: What originally inspired you to get into filmmaking? Was it a specific film you saw, or a more gradual thing?

JL: Absolutely! I had the epiphany moment. I've heard Ray Harryhausen and Ray Bradbury talk about King Kong as their epiphany moment. For me it was The 7th Voyage of Sinbad, which is a picture directed by Nathan Juran and one of Ray Harryhausen's movies. I saw that when I was eight in Los Angeles and I went nuts. I had what's called a "suspension of disbelief". I've told this story so many times, but it's true so I guess it bears repeating. I went home and asked my mom "who does that, who makes the movie?" and my mother said "the director." So from the time I was really young, around 1958, I wanted to be a director. I was very lucky that I lived in L.A. where I could actually seek out and meet directors.

Back in the '60s, being a director wasn't as chic as it is now. In fact, guys like Spielberg, Lucas, and Scorsese were like Revenge of the Nerds- these guys were like the audio-visual guys in junior high who brought the 16mm projectors to class to show the movies. Back then, really only the French and some Brits were respectful of American filmmaking, especially classic American filmmaking. I'll never forget when I spoke to George Stevens he was shocked that I knew who he was. He said, "You're not french!" It wasn't until the mid-seventies that being a director had become groovy. So now it's like everyone wants to be a director, but when I was a kid you were considered weird if you wanted to be a director.

JA: Do you have films that you could classify as your top three favorites?

JL: I don't like those lists. Whenever anybody asks for the "10 Best Films" or your favorite... that's bullshit to me. Just off the top of my head I can say a film like The Battle of Algiers, Gillo Pontecorvo's brilliant film- and then take a movie like 2001: A Space Odyssey or Lawrence of Arabia, or Alfred Hitchcock's Psycho or Walt Disney's Pinocchio or Dumbo ... I mean there's so many great films, and they have nothing in common. What do they have in common? Nothing. How can I say one is better than the other? So I don't. Off the top of my head I could probably rattle off 45 movies that I love and then I'd realize later, "oh f**k! I left out these movies!"

JA: Are there standards for you of what makes a movie great? Certain elements a film must have to make it entertaining?

JL: Well again I'm afraid of those generalizations. There are misunderstandings about film that are interesting to me, and they're misunderstanding that are pervasive. For instance, if you have a good story... if the story is compelling enough, the movie doesn't have to be that well made to still be compelling, because that story is so compelling. For me, the idea of "high concept" is not what I'm interested in. What I'm interested in is execution, because it's not about the "idea", but about the "execution of the idea". Let's use the analogy of painting: let's take the idea of painting a naked woman- well you have Van Gogh, Picasso, Rembrandt, and you could just rattle off the names of artists like Renoir or Norman Rockwell... you could just keep going and find 700 wonderful paintings of naked women, and they have nothing in common! Nothing other than they are women who are naked. It's all about the artist's impression, it's not about the idea "let's paint a naked woman", it's about the execution of the idea. That's why so many westerns are so great; You go "what's the idea?"..."well it's a town that has bad guys, good guy comes, cleans up, and leaves". That's not a story, but there have been at least fifty great movies based on that.

JA: Have you ever made a film that you felt was a disappointment? Or not what you expected?

JL: Well being disappointed is different from "not what you expected". But I've been disappointed in my own films, sure. Sometimes you just can't. Sometimes events conspire against you. It's also your motive for making a movie- why are you making a movie? If you're making a movie for money, that's one thing, if you're making a movie for passion, that's another. I've made three or four films for political reasons, and those have all been pretty successful... not only commercially, but for what I was trying to put across. So I'm happy with those. A movie that I liked that I worked on was a picture called ¡Three Amigos! . I enjoy that picture, I think that it's really funny and I love the way that it looks, and I enjoy it. It was not a big hit, but it makes me laugh.

JA: Of course how can you go wrong having Chevy Chase, Steve Martin, and Martin Short in a film?

JL: Easily. (laughs) It was lovely. I enjoyed that picture. That movie has great music, it's Elmer Bernstein with a big orchestra making fun of Elmer Bernstein. It also has songs by Randy Newman. It's just terrific music in that show.

JA: What is an example of a movie you felt disappointed in?

JL: None of your f***ing business. (laughs) That's funny. So what have you done that you were disappointed in?

JA: Oh I've done a lot.

JL: Well so has everybody.

JA: Do you have a film that you are most proud of?

JL: The problem is that when you make movies they are like your children, and they go off into the world, and they have their own lives. I'm old enough now to have people come up to me from different countries, and sometimes I'm really surprised. Often in the States it's either Animal House, The Blues Brothers, Trading Places, Thriller, or Coming to America that are their favorites. In Spain or Mexico it's always ¡Three Amigos!. In other countries it's different movies, it's really interesting because different people come up to you and tell you. Watching a movie is an objective experience, and so much has to do with when you saw it, how old you were, who you were with, and where you saw it that, again, it's difficult to make those generalizations.

I mean, of my films which one do you think made the most money?

JA: I would guess either Animal House or The Blues Brothers?

JL: Coming to America.

JA: Really?

JL: Yeah, it made almost a billion dollars. It made $800 million around the world. And this is now normal, but back then it was pretty shocking- The Blues Brothers was the first American film to gross more money foreign than domestic. It only did $80 million domestic, and around the world it did like $200 million in its first release. So it's interesting, and that's one of the problems is people gauge the quality of a film on the box office, but if you think about it... the box office has nothing to do with the quality of a film, and yet that is the only real measure of success in the business. It's called "the business", you know.

JA: And do you measure the success of your own films by the money they make?

JL: Well that's all that matters in "the business". Do I measure them that way? No! I've seen tons of movies that made a fortune that were crap, and I've seen many great films that don't make any money at all. So it's not analogous, that's why filmmakers tend to be schizophrenic.

JA: I know you're asked all the time what it was like to work with John Belushi or Michael Jackson, but I'm curious as to what it's like working with Dan Aykroyd- especially since you have worked with him on so many different occasions.

JL: Oh I love Danny Aykroyd! Danny is a genuinely original person, he's got a great brain. I mean the Ghostbusters come out of him, The Blues Brothers come out of him- also so many of those skits on Saturday Night Live like the Pitch Man who used to sell the bag of glass. Danny is just a remarkably interesting guy. He's nuts. He's brilliant, a wonderful actor, and we work well together. I admire him.

JA: Speaking of admiration, where did you come up with the idea of making a documentary on Don Rickles?

JL: Well I've known Don since I was 18 on Kelly's Heroes, and he's worked for me as an actor several times and we've been friendly over the years, I mean I met him as a kid. So my wife and I were at his 70th birthday, and his 75th birthday- and then when we were at his 80th birthday, which was two or three years ago now, I looked around the room and thought it was remarkable how many people had died. I got to thinking about how Don just doesn't get the respect he should. I don't think that people appreciate his position in American show business because he's basically a cabaret comic. Even though he's had a big acting career and a big television career, his real success is in Vegas.

You know like in Death of a Salesman, "attention should be paid"? So I told him "I wanna shoot your act", and Don is real old school and said "I don't wanna shoot my act, that's my act! They can pay to come and see me." And so the deal was... did you see Mr. Warmth?

JA: I did, yes! It was great!

JL: Well you see I could only show fifteen minutes of his act... which I did, but I made it seem like more because of the way that I cut it. But I wanted to show that, and it was a coincidence that it was the last showroom in Vegas and that they then blew it up! I went back like eight months later to film them blowing it up. But that is why I did that, and it worked very well because Don got huge notice and won an Emmy, and people starting realizing how many movies he was in. It was great and really worked, it was nice.

JA: Do you remember the first job you ever had?

JL: For money? Like a real first job? Gosh, that's a good question. Babysitting. When I was between 14 and 16 I used to babysit for these two little girls up the street and a boy down the street- for like fifty cents an hour.

JA: Career-wise, were you ever headed down a different path other than filmmaking?

JL: No, that's all I wanted to do. I'm a high school dropout, I left school as soon as I was legally able to go and work in the mail room at Fox.

JA: So what do you say to aspiring filmmakers who come to you and ask if they should go to film school?

JL: I always tell them that becoming a film director is not like becoming a dentist. If you want to become a dentist, there's a very prescribed way of doing so. To be a filmmaker you just need a camera. A question I've asked at colleges all over the world is "Define a filmmaker." I actually make it even more specific, I say, "Define a motion picture director", and often I get very esoteric answers. The correct answer is "Someone who has directed a film." So there's no right or wrong way, I think any way that works, works. The best way is to be rich and finance your own film. That's the easiest way! The big advantage filmmakers have now is the new technologies. With just a small digital camera you can make a very nice looking picture and cut it on your laptop. It's a brave new world out there.

JA: What sort of challenges did you face when you were making Schlock back in 1973 when you didn't have all of that at your fingertips?

JL: Well Schlock was 35mm and we used an experimental Panavision camera, Arriflex... it didn't work for the Truffaut movie Day for Night, which is how we got it so cheap. One of the biggest challenges on that is that it was made for sixty-thousand bucks. Perhaps the biggest challenge was the twenty year-old Rick Baker did this makeup on me and I was in a gorilla suit, and it was the hottest summer in California history in 1971- so there were days when it was 112 degrees and I'm in a f***ing gorilla suit! (laughs) That was hard. That was a terrible movie, Schlock, but I'm glad i got to make it. I learned a lot. I learned more cutting it than I did shooting it.

JA: What did you think about the new documentary, Beware the Moon, that was made for the recent DVD release of your film An American Werewolf in London?

JL: I'm delighted by it! I'm amazed that I was able to get it on the DVD. I sort of bullied Universal into it. They were afraid of it. I mean the fact that Paul Davis did this on his own without any rights was kind of foolish. But when he showed me what he had done, I was impressed! I said, "Well, man, you've interviewed all these people and gone to all of these locations!" It's fun. It's really the first fan-made documentary that's been professionally released. I think it's entertaining. It's almost longer than the movie!

JA: One specific scene I've always wanted to ask you about is one of the final shots of Blues Brothers 2000; what was it like having all of those incredible musicians in one place performing live for this film?

JL: Well the final scene, because we had to choose a date in the summer when all the acts tour, and we had to change the specific date- we lost a lot of people because they were performing and couldn't get out of it. So there's a lot of people who didn't make it, but it's pretty impressive who did. I'm unhappy with what the studio did to that film. They forced Danny and I into a lot of compromises we didn't want to do. Danny really wanted to make the movie though, and kept saying, "It's about the music, John. Putting these people on film." Ironically, in the years since then it's quite something how many great musicians in that picture passed away. So he's not wrong. The music in that movie is great, it's really amazing. A lot of it we recorded live, because of the new digital recording technologies I was able to- which is extraordinary. I really enjoyed the music, but I was not happy with the script the studio wanted. First they made it PG-13 and we weren't allowed any swearing, which cuts the balls off The Blues Brothers, you know? By the time they were finished, John Goodman had no character. He's just standing there. But if we were to object to any of their demands they wouldn't make the movie.

So we made the movie for very little money. The thing that pissed me off, finally, was that they made it bright! Which I was unhappy with, the photography. It was supposed to be dark, and they made it look like a Doris Day movie. That was my last studio film I was so pissed off. I walked away.

JA: Whose idea was it to bring in John Goodman?

JL: John had been performing with Danny for a while.

JA: Was it hard trying to find someone to fill the shoes of John Belushi?

JL: Well I wasn't looking for a replacement for John Belushi. I mean, the character of Mack actually had a character before the studio did their revisions. For me it's like a children's version of The Blues Brothers. But it's got amazing music, which I'm very happy with.

JA: So tell me about your future projects and when you expect Burke and Hare to be released.

JL: Oh, not for a year. We start principal photography on January 25th, so figure nine or ten months from then. Beyond that I actually have three or four movies I'd like to make, but it's the question of getting the money. The only one can tell you about is Ghoulishly Yours, which is a script by Joel Eisenberg about William M. Gaines. It's a wonderful script and I'd love to do that.

A Conversation with Scottie Thompson

If you have yet to hear the name "Scottie Thompson", don't fret, because you will very soon. She is one of the loveliest young talents emerging in show business today- she's already worked with director J.J. Abrams on the new Star Trek film, and has appeared in television series such as Ugly Betty, Shark, Law & Order, to a recurring role on NCIS, and her newest series Trauma.

Scottie was kind enough to talk with me about her career, life, and inspirations for becoming an actress- and also shares some interesting behind the scenes stories on recent projects, and how she went from being in the Harvard Ballet to being beamed up into the Star Trek universe.

JA: How are you doing?

ST: I'm great! I'm just stepping out of the car getting ready to go see a dance show later this afternoon, so I apologize if there's a lot of noise because I am on the street right now.

JA: That's okay- speaking of dance, didn't you start off as a dancer for the Richmond Ballet?

ST: I did!

JA: And not only that, but you were also involved in the Harvard Ballet Company- I am assuming you initially wanted this to be your career?

ST: Totally, I was obsessed with it from age three, which is when I started. I just lived and breathed it until I was about nineteen years old. I was an apprentice for the Richmond Ballet and thought it would be what I would do with my life, I wasn't even sure if I would end up going to school. After a couple of months living that life I just felt the need to explore the world in other ways. I still think it's one of the most perfect art forms that exists- and the discipline that you learn by combining the skill with the artistry is exceptional in my mind. I just felt like I needed to get out and use my brain in different ways. I got more into theater when I was in school.

JA: How challenging was it being involved in Theater and Dance at Harvard?

ST: I started off by auditioning for about thirty plays without any experience- they cast the same three actors in the lead for every one, but they of course couldn't do all of them, so I was like fifth alternate for something, and ended up being able to get cast. It's really cool because it's all directed by students. It's a really equal playing ground with everyone listening to each other, and you're creating it all together with everyone on the same level. Though I was rehearsing and doing all of these strange training methods for thirty hours a week on top of trying to be a student.

I knew I wanted to act professionally, I just had no idea how to do it on a practical level. It was just knowing that I wanted to end up in that world, and having no idea how to do it. Even if you go to graduate school for acting, there's very little practical education there.

JA: What are your favorite onscreen performances that you would say maybe served as an inspiration for you as an actress?

ST: I'm obsessed with Marion Cotillard in La Vie en rose- I think it's the best female performance I've ever seen. I also love Maggie Cheung in In the Mood for Love- which is my all time favorite film, even though I don't speak Mandarin. It's the subtleties and the artistry in the way that film is shot, and the acting.

JA: Something I am really excited to ask you about is working with J.J. Abrams on the new Star Trek film.

ST: J.J. Abrams is just a wonderful human being! I only got to work with him on the one day that we shot, I had met him earlier during the week that we did the whole makeup test- it took me six hours to get into hair and makeup the first time. There's was a problem where they wanted me to put in these earrings, which would have required me to have these fake ears put on, and they weren't sure if that would work. J.J. was so funny talking about how long it had taken to get the whole look down saying, "It looks beautiful enough as it is."

In the actual shoot it felt more like modeling because I wasn't speaking very much, he said "you're very good at this whole 'imagining' world." He encouraged me to be really free. I just really enjoyed the opportunity to work with him- he seems to understand actors really well, and that's just from one day of working with him. Speaking to the other actors on set was fun, like Chris Pine who was always singing this Star Trek rap that the actors had made up in the hair and makeup trailer. Everyone seemed to be really into the whole process, which was really cool to be witness to and slightly a part of.

JA: How did you end up cast in that role, and what was the audition process like?

ST: Basically they just told me to pretend that I hadn't seen the love of my life in a really long time. When i was cast and met one of the producer's I just said 'thank you' because I'd gone my whole life hearing "beam me up, Scottie"- also people always said I looked like an alien. He said "Exactly! That's why you're perfect for this role!"

JA: What is some of the best advice you've heard when it comes to achieving success in this business?

ST: Make your own luck. I'm still understanding what that means. You can't just sit around waiting because there's a lot of people just sitting around waiting for the same thing, and at some point you have to take the bull by the horns in whatever way you know how to do.

JA: You mentioned Godard earlier, and I'm curious as to what your favorite films of his are.

ST: Bande à part- I love Anna Karina! And of course À bout de souffle , it's a classic. I just saw that Le mépris was re-released a year and a half ago and I went to see that on the big screen, which was stunning to watch.

JA: Did you ever see Pierrot le fou?

ST: I did, and it's so funny that you mention that! I had to watch it for a directing class I did in college, and it was just so insane, it was so awesome!

JA: I love that he straps the dynamite to his head!

ST: Is that your favorite?

JA: That's definitely my favorite of Godard's.

ST: I've got to watch that one again, there's just so much to take in. The artistic director at Harvard once told me that it was the best movie any director could ever study and look at, in his estimation. So it must say something about that whole world quite well if that's your top choice.

JA: Do you have a dream list of directors you want to work with?

ST: Gus Van Sant, Wong Kar-wai, and Sarah Polley. I have a lot of admiration for Sarah Polley and what she's done in her young career. Also Jason Reitman- I tend to inhabit darker characters and I really want to do comedy.

JA: Let's talk about the show that you are in right now on NBC, Trauma, which is on Monday nights at 9/8c; how did you become involved in the series?

ST: I auditioned and tested for it, and then it sort of became different from what it initially was.

JA: Has it been announced yet whether or not it has been picked up for more episodes?

ST: We're actually not sure, it's kind of on the edge right now. We're continuing filming- in fact I am going back up there tonight, we start the next episode tomorrow. So we'll see... fingers crossed!

JA: It's amazing the shows that get picked up and the ones that don't- it shocked me that the new David E. Kelley series wasn't picked up by the network, it seems the best series always end too soon. Hopefully that's not the case with this show because it's really a great series.

ST: Yeah, I know- and this is definitely a big budget investment. There's a lot of crazy thinking and things that happen on a weekly basis.

JA: A lot of the people involved on the show are such big names, including writer Peter Noah from The West Wing and composer Bear McCreary from Battlestar Galactica.

ST: I know that Dario Scardapane and Jeff Reiner are both huge music people, so I know they are very involved in the choice of music.

JA: So tell me more about being on the set and shooting the episodes.

ST: Because I am back and forth, I'm not there as much. I'm only in the hospital scenes. It's interesting because they go out and film in these crazy wild setups- and I'm in more of the calm, composed atmosphere as opposed to the other scenes throughout the episodes. The character of Diana is very new to it all and insecure in what she's trying to do, and even though she knows a lot, she doesn't actually know how to apply that knowledge yet. It's cool that she can be in that phase in terms of the structure of the show.

JA: Did you know anything about the medical field prior to playing this character?

ST: Not particularly- my little sister just started medical school, so I've been following her progress in that area. But no, I wasn't a math, biology, or science person in school. I think in terms of the humanity of the character and the passion she has for what she does that I certainly didn't have to stretch too far because that relates to what I do in my life. Thankfully we have ER doctors on the set advising us, and many of the extras are nurses- which is nice, because there's a lot of technical jargon.

JA: Do you prefer acting for film or television?

ST: I like that film trusts you to not rely so heavily on dialogue, and I like exploring the beginning/middle/ and end that is there in the time frame of a film. This is my first exploration of a character in television that is not just a guest spot, and that's a whole new understanding because you don't necessarily know where your character is going to end up- you get to create the character's background, and it's new for me to consistently develop a character that way.

I've always been a film fan, but television has been very kind to me, and I appreciate it.

JA: Do you have a list of favorite television shows?

ST: I grew up never watching television... aside from NOVA on PBS. I'm currently obsessed with Mad Men and 30 Rock. I just think Tina Fey is so incredibly talented and brilliant.

JA: And finally, if you had to sum up your career with one word what would it be?

ST: I know it's cliche, but "Roller Coaster".

A Conversation with Electra Avellan

It must be a rule to be cool when you're part of Robert Rodriguez's family- and if it is, then Electra Avellan certainly lives up to the expectation. She's the twin sister of Elise Avellan, both of whom are from Venezuela, and have appeared alongside each other in films such as Planet Terror, Robert Rodriguez's contribution to the Grindhouse film, and the new horror film The Black Waters of Echo's Pond. She is also currently filming the new picture Machete, a spin-off of the Grindhouse film starring Danny Trejo, Robert De Niro, and Lindsay Lohan.

I was fortunate enough to meet Electra Avellan at the Spooky Empire convention in Orlando, Florida recently, and she was kind enough to talk with me about her career, inspirations, favorite movies and actors, and also what it's like to be a part of one of the most famous film families working in cinema today.

JA: So let's talk about the new film you will be appearing in, Machete, which will be directed by Robert Rodriguez; the film is based on the fake movie trailer of the same name from the Grindhouse feature film, and will star Danny Trejo supported by an all-star cast. What can you tell me about the production of this film, and also, what is it like working with family members such as Robert and your sister Elise on set?

EA: I can't talk much about the production of the film. Not yet. What I can say is that it will surprise everyone. It is a very well done movie. I believe Robert has a keen eye for what's good, and this film is just that- really good! The cast is amazing. I've been so fortunate to work with such wonderful people. Working with Robert Rodriguez is always an adventure, he's so involved in the project that you live every part of it very intensely. And of course my sister is the most amazing woman in this world, so I was very fortunate to work with her again- we had so much fun.

JA: What originally inspired you to take up acting as a profession? Also, what are some of your fondest memories from filming your first movie, Planet Terror?


EA: I started acting professionally when I was three years old. At that time it wasn't my choice, it was my mom's choice because she is an actress as well. As I grew up in the Entertainment Industry in Venezuela, and watching her act, I realized that I was born to do this. Life is better when I am in front of the camera- I love it, I live for it. My first movie wasn't Planet Terror, that was my first "American" film, and it was an amazing experience. I loved working with Jeff Fahey, he was such an incredible friend, and he taught me to shoot guns and look like a badass. I also loved working with Freddy Rodriguez. He taught me and Elise how to focus no matter what is going on around us. And Marley Shelton, she's such a good actress, and it was so inspiring to watch her act.


JA: What are your top three favorite films of all time, and why?

EA: My top three favorite films are:

1.) Adaptation by Spike Jonze and written by Charlie Kaufman. It is the best film ever! So well done. The story wraps you around and leaves you completely vulnerable. I love Meryl Streep and Chris Cooper, their relationship is so passionate and real. And of course Nicolas Cage, he is so f***ing good! I cried my eyes out when his twin brother dies. So sad, but so amazing!

2.) One of my favorite love stories is True Romance. It is so dangerously hot! An incredible, mind blowing film. The lead cast in it is brilliant, and the cameos are even better.

3.) Desperado. I have to admit, it might sound cheesy because my uncle and my aunt made it, but I love this movie. I think it is Robert's best interpretation of love in a film. The killing scenes, the shooting scenes, the explosions, the sex scenes, the acting, the characters in it, Salma and Antonio! I f***ing love it!


JA: Tell me about your recent experience as a producer, and have you considered directing as a possibility?

EA: I have had incredible experiences as a producer, both negative and positive. If I told you, you wouldn't believe it. One day I will write a book. Directing is not something I have considered yet, but maybe one day. Who knows?

JA: Who inspires you as an actor, and do you have a favorite on-screen performance from another actor?

EA: Oh God, are you kidding me? Ok, Let's start with the number one of all! Penelope Cruz, she is brilliant! Always present, always vulnerable, always aware of the camera. She is my favorite! My second favorite, and I love to admit it because I met her, and she is the coolest girl ever, is Lindsay Lohan. She is a movie star. No matter how much crap the tabloids write about her, when the camera is on and the word "action" is said, she is on! She is such a good actress that she makes any bad movie look good. (If you don't believe me, watch Labor Pains. Bad movie- but she caries it all the way, and she is so funny! I have a crush on her a little bit.


And then I have the rest of my favorites: Meryl Streep, Rachel Weiz, Laura Linney, Natalie Portman, and recently I was completely taken by the very talented Ellen Page. That girl can carry a movie so graciously and keep you there, interested, and emotionally invested in her. Great actress! She has a wonderful future ahead. Penelope, though, is my number one. She inspires me above all, in every movie she's ever made. Vicky Cristina Barcelona. I love you, Penelope!


JA: I love you too, Penelope. I love you too.

Let's talk about The Black Waters of Echo's Pond; tell me about your memories on-set, and what it was like to work with Danielle Harris and Robert Patrick.

EA: The Black Waters of Echo's Pond was a very touching experience. I was given a great opportunity to read for the character of "Renee", and when I found out I got it, I cried my eyes out. Not just because I needed the job (laughs), but because I know Sean Clark is such an amazing writer, and I knew this was going to be a great film. Thank you so much, Sean!

Working with Danielle Harris was awesome. She is such a cool chick! Always very professional, and such a good actress, I would watch and get lost in her. She taught us a lot while filming, I would work with her any time. And of course Robert Patrick, I have a funny story about him. I grew up watching him, and I had a huge crush on him from Terminator 2. When I met him I was so embarrassed, it was the weirdest thing. I think he picked up on it (laughs). He's so hot, and cool! And such a great actor, too. All in all, it was my pleasure!


JA: What do you think makes a great movie, and what are some of your favorite movie moments?

EA: A great movie is made by the following:

1. A great story teller. (Director)
2. A mind-blowing, amazing Director of Photography.
3. Great Actors. (Not famous necessarily, but Vulnerable, real, fantastic, able to transmit human emotions.)
4. A wonderful, hard working Editor.
5. An amazing soundtrack. (It's a must if the movie has any soundtrack.)

My favorite personal movie moments were hanging with the crew in all of my films. The crew always takes care of me, and I take care of them. They are so freaking cool.

JA: Have you ever considered another profession outside of the entertainment industry?

EA: I always wanted to teach high school, but I don't think I can anymore. Every time I go to my brother's high school, his friends start screaming my lines from Planet Terror... and I am sure you know what I mean.

JA: Do you have any dream projects you would like to work on? And which filmmakers and actors would you like to one day work with?

EA: I do have a wonderful dream project that I have had the opportunity to jump into and focus on for the last few months. It was written by Nicholes Cole, he is an amazing writer. Mark my words- this man will win awards with his screenplays. Anyway, my dream has been to work with him and my father, and right now we are all producing together! I am the happiest girl alive!

JA: If you had to sum up your career so far with one word, what would it be?

EA: Conquering! Get ready for what's coming!

A Conversation with Dee Wallace

If you've never seen Dee Wallace in a film then you probably don't watch movies, because at this moment she has 179 credits to her name as a professional actress, 18 of those projects yet to be released- which led me to first ask her where in the world she found the time to call me for a phone interview yesterday afternoon. She somehow made time for me to ask her a few questions about her career and life in the entertainment industry, and provided some really cool behind the scenes stories to some of the biggest movies ever made.

Dee Wallace has worked with directors like Steven Spielberg, Peter Jackson, Joe Dante, Rob Zombie, and Blake Edwards- there's a reason that prestigious directors like these have called on her time and time again, and if you look at films like The Howling, Cujo, E.T., or The Frighteners , that reason will be clearly evident. What follows is a conversation between myself and one of the most cherished and talented actresses of our time, Dee Wallace.

JA: My first question is how do you have time to call me for an interview with 18 films currently set to be released before 2010?

DW: (laughs) Well you just make time for the things you want to do, and here I am with you!


JA: So let's talk about one of the movies on that list, The Story of Bonnie & Clyde- have you started filming yet?

DW: We haven't- we were supposed to shoot it in August, and then October, and now they're looking at December or after the first of the year. When the economic catastrophe hit all of us, the independent films are the first ones to take a dive. A lot of them had to step back and regroup, and I had three amazing pictures slated for this year and all of them have been pushed back to next year now.

JA: Which of those coming up are you most excited about?


DW: Well I have a few guest star television appearances that I can't really talk about because the contracts aren't signed yet, but I'm incredibly excited about them. I'm hoping that this part on Flash Forward really manifests with everything else that's going on in my life. I've got a nice cameo in Extraordinary Measures that's coming out, with Harrison Ford and Brendan Fraser- I have no idea how much of me will be left when it comes out, but it was a great little part when I did it.

JA: Going back to you appearing on television shows, you were on one of my favorite series, Ally McBeal; What do you remember about appearing in the episode "Buried Pleasures"?

DW: I do remember being on Ally McBeal. It was a little frustrating because I was playing a lawyer, and every time I would try and do something relatively dramatic the director would come up and say "Don't do anything, Dee. The cast are the stars of this show, the guests are not supposed to do anything." I had worked with the director several times in my career, and this time was a little frustrating.

JA: Yeah, because why bring in established actors if you aren't going to allow them to act?


DW: That's absolutely what I said to him! Why would they bring in one of the queens from the emotional world to come in and "do nothing"? But I guess in a good way I was a name enough to support the show, and any work when you are an actor is a blessing, my darling.

JA: Who was the director on that episode, and what had you worked with him before on?

DW: Mel Damski- and you're asking me to go back forty years (laughs). Mel and I have worked together three or four times on relatively big guest star roles. He was just doing his job, doing what he's told to do, and I thank him for remembering me and thinking enough of me to bring me in.

JA: Have you had a television series that you were most excited to be a part of after so many guest appearances?


DW: Oh sure! Lou Grant- I played on the "Hooker" episode, and I had done some pretty good guest star appearances before, but this was really a tour de force role. The casting director from Blake Edwards' 10 happened to see it, and that's how I ended up in that film. It was just an amazing part with an amazing cast and director, and led me into a really big feature film.

JA: Do you have a favorite character that you have played?

DW: Oh yes- Donna Trenton in Cujo. Stephen King loved the film and our interpretation of it, and he was happy that we didn't kill the kid at the end.

JA: Let's talk about Rob Zombie's Halloween and what it was like working with the director in the film.

DW: Dude, who doesn't love Rob Zombie? You're not going to talk to anyone you ever interview in this world that doesn't love Rob Zombie. He's just the best. He's a great person, beautifully down to Earth, very available to everybody, and a really great director. I love the way he directs, he lets you start with the script and then improvise- he encourages you to bring in whatever your creativity sees in the part. Everybody just has a lot of fun, and that's how he gets that real "in the moment" feel... that, and three hand-held cameras. It's a great way of directing, I loved it.

JA: Despite mixed reviews, I thought that Rob Zombie's Halloween was an incredible film. What were your thoughts on the way it turned out?

DW: I loved all of it! It got a little graphic for me, but that's me. Also everyone kept saying "the remake", but I lovingly say it's a "Rob-make". He went back and explored how it all took place and how it happened. After everything we've seen, you couldn't take the original and redo it. You just couldn't- we've come too far and have seen too much, and have explored too many avenues with violence. I think everybody is just looking for a way to ditch any remake, and justifiably so in most cases- but not this one.

JA: And how about working with Scout Taylor-Compton and Danielle Harris?

DW: I love the girls. Scout and I have become very good friends- we do a lot of conventions together and we're going to be at Fangoria over the Halloween weekend in Vegas. We spent many nights on that set singing to the top of our lungs at 3 a.m. sitting on the doorstep. She's a great girl and extremely talented, as is Danielle. I didn't get to really work with Danielle that much, but I know her from doing a lot of the conventions together- she's a very smart, very "with it" lady, knows who she is and knows what she wants. I'm blessed and always have been to work with young people who are extremely talented.

JA: What to you is the most important aspect of the actor/ director relationship?

DW: Well I think the most important thing between an actor and director is respect for each other. Actors are children, and probably most directors are children too- but there's a psychological way of working together that's a very important part of the creative process, and it begins with respect. Everybody works differently and needs different things to create the best performance that they can. I, again, have worked with the very best: Blake Edwards, Steven Spielberg, Joe Dante, Peter Jackson... Lewis Teague literally walked in two days into the shoot of Cujo and took over the direction, and did an amazing job. I've often thought that Lewis should have been given a lot more breaks in the business. I've really worked with the best of the best.

They all work differently, and they all allow me to do my work in the way that I need to do it. I think that's really important for so many of the young directors who are learning and who are afraid they are not going to be in control enough to maintain control on the set. They don't realize that you have to give an actor their creative freedom- that way they can come on and bring in their own creative ideas, improvisation, and emotional take on it, while they are following the careful direction and vision of the director. If you put a box around an actor then you won't get as good of a performance. That's where television falls down. In my perspective, we have so many writers and producers in television that it's really become almost too sacrilege that an actor can't paraphrase anything or bring in any kind of creativity, and I think it suffers. I think the whole project suffers.

JA: By the way, I loved your performance in The Frighteners- especially since you've said in interviews that you would rather play the crazy girl as opposed to being typecast as the "mom".

DW: Oh yeah, I had a great time killing everybody! (laughs) It was such a beautiful arc- going from who you think was the victim to a maniacal killer, it was just a phenomenal arc for an actress. You know, before E.T. I played a lot of psychos, hookers, alcoholics, and crazy drug addicts. Once E.T. hit, for the next 15 years, I became the quintessential mom. It gets flippin' old!

JA: That being said, what was your response to Rob Zombie when he asked you to play the mom in Halloween?

DW: Yes. (laughs) I just said "Rob Zombie? Halloween? That's a no brainer." And I knew that he was bringing all of us in to pay homage to our careers.

JA: So many great cameos in that film from people like Sid Haig and Danny Trejo.

DW: I know! That was his idea and it was great.

JA: Let's talk about your experience working with Joe Dante on The Howling.

DW: Joe Dante is just fun! That's the first word that comes to mind when I think of Joe. He's just fun and an incredibly inventive director. All of the cartoons and film clips that he put over the television he purchased himself. The network wouldn't cough up the money to do it. It was his idea to use all of the character's names and references from all the old werewolf movies. He was always creatively fun and could just tap dance on the spot. He's still a good friend, and I would love to work with him again.

JA: What are your favorite performances you've seen on film?

DW: Sally Field in Norma Rae- and in just about every role she's done. Meryl Streep in The Bridges of Madison County.

JA: What originally inspired you to go into acting?

DW: My mother was a wonderful actress in Kansas City, and i watched her one Easter give a 30 minute reading called "The Crucifixion"- I looked around and the place was packed, and everyone was crying. I just thought "wow, my mom moved all of these people." I'm sure I was an actor in one of my past lives because I came in dancing and acting, as did my daughter. She's just a chip off the old block. Maybe we were in vaudeville together.

JA: So your daughter is looking to go the same route as you?

DW: Oh yeah, she's just finished a part in her fourth film. She's getting ready to do a part in Sebastian, and she also stars in Henry John and the Little Bug. She's on her way!

JA: What was your reaction to her interest in the same career?

DW: You know, Jason- I just want her to be happy. I want her to be happy and fulfilled, and give back to the world. You can give a lot back as an actor. I gave her advice before that her dad gave me; I remember when I got the reviews for The Howling, I was so excited and just said "Oh my God, they love me!" He just looked at me and said "Honey, if you believe the good ones then you've got to believe the bad ones." I said to her "you're the only one who will ever really know, so you have to judge yourself. You have to be true to the integrity of who you are." I really think that's the most important thing in life, in any profession that you go into. You have to meet your own integrity.

JA: Do you remember the first job you ever had?

DW: Oh sure! I baked cookies to get on all of the lots. I was at Universal and taking my chocolate chip cookies to Reuben Cannon. He was actually one of the few casting directors who came out and met me, he said "come on in and let's talk!" As I was sitting there he was called to the set, and one of the girls didn't show up. He turned around and looked at me and said "What size do you wear?" and I responded "What size do you need?" So that was my first gig, playing the waitress on Lucas Tanner.

JA: How would you sum up your career with just one word?

DW: Blessed.

A Conversation with Tom Kenny

A Conversation with America Olivo