August 2017

Welcome to the second installment of our LYCAN WEEK ongoing feature!

Opening Friday in select theaters, “Lycan” tells the story of six college kids who revisit an old Georgia legend, the strange and puzzling story of Emily Burt, the Talbot County werewolf. Based upon true historical events, the film stars and is produced by Dania Ramirez (“X-Men: The Last Stand,” “Quarantine”) who teamed up with best friend Crystal Hunt to turn a lifelong dream into a cinematic reality.

We recently sat down with Ramirez to discuss how the film was a family affair, the cultural importance of local ghost stories, and why the 1980s did such a great job capturing an authentic and suspenseful tone in the horror projects of the time period.

TrunkSpace: Our chat is very timely because it was just announced that you’ll be playing Cinderella in “Once Upon a Time.” Is there anything with this version of the character that will be different than what we have seen of her in the past?
Ramirez: I think every time you see a different actor take on a role, you’re going to see a different take on it. As actors, we bring our own flair to things. The world that we’re setting up for this particular Cinderella will be a different kind of world. The great thing is that it’s still a love story and so essentially the aspect of the Cinderella story will still be there, but there will be different circumstances in which everything sort of happens to her. It’s kind of how the love story goes. That’s the one thing I really do love about the creators of the show, Adam Horowitz and Eddie Kitsis, is that if you watch the show at all, you know that they are very committed to making female characters very bad ass and not damsel in distress types of characters. I think that in itself makes the Cinderella character different.

I also come from a different background with a different set of situations that I’m going to go through in the real world that are going to take my journey in a different direction. I’m also a mother, and I’m really dealing with different kinds of struggles in my life. But essentially, it’s a Cinderella story so we all want a happy ending.

TrunkSpace: Between “Once Upon a Time” and “Lycan” also due to be released, it seems to be a bit more of a happy beginning for you in terms of a new chapter in your life and career?
Ramirez: It’s been such an incredible journey in my life. For me, the journey with “Lycan” does feel kind of like a Cinderella story because I started my journey in the Dominican Republic in a very, very humble background just dreaming of something better. Coming to the States as an immigrant, figuring out the language, and then finally getting into the world of entertainment has been a journey within itself. I remember just at a very young age being in my acting class. That’s where Crystal Hunt and I met, who is one of the “Lycan” executive producers. We made a pact back then. We said, “Hey, one day we’re going to make it. We’re going to produce our own films.”

And we’re making it a family affair. My husband, Bev Land, wrote and directed it. His brother, Donnie Land, is one of the producers. Crystal’s mom really came in and helped us out a lot. It does feel like a fairy tale to be done with the film and then right before the film premieres, be able to get this role in “Once Upon a Time.” The journey feels like we’re writing our own happy ending. That’s kind of cool.

TrunkSpace: And from a work standpoint, it must have a special feeling attached to it when you’re so emotionally invested in a project?
Ramirez: I think every time I work on something it feels really special, but this particular project was our baby. I was pregnant when my husband was writing it. It’s interesting because I had just given birth about four months prior to starting pre-production for the film and then we started shooting about a month later. The hard work that it takes to really get something off the ground, and that persistence and work ethic to make an independent film work, it’s just really about not giving up. Every time something comes up, it’s being able to just tackle it and say, “Hey, we’re going to get this done! That’s talking from the pre-production aspect of it to actually shooting it, which by the way, we shot it in 13 days.

TrunkSpace: Wow!
Ramirez: I know. It’s insane.

TrunkSpace: Having just given birth a few months prior to production, how did you find the time and energy to both star in and produce the film?
Ramirez: My motto is that I’ll rest when I’m dead. For right now, if I have an opportunity to make something happen, I will. I’m just a hard worker and I’ve always had that work ethic in my life. Again, I come from a different kind of background. The way I see it is, I have nowhere to go but up. I just dedicate my life to doing something that I love. Being able to touch the masses with a story and have people relate to it, it’s a gift. I see it that way. Whenever I wanted to just take a nap in the middle of the day, I just thought, “No, we have something that we have to do!” We just kept trucking.

TrunkSpace: And you shot in Georgia, right?
Ramirez: My husband’s mom was amazing and let us use her entire land. She has acres of land in Columbus, GA near Talbot County, which is where the Emily Burt legend started. That’s how we ended up finding out about the legend of Emily Burt.

TrunkSpace: Did shooting an indie film in such a secluded location force you to think outside of the box from a production standpoint?
Ramirez: I remember at one point we didn’t have enough money to rent lights. Somebody said, “One of our guys knows how to build lights. If we just buy the parts and ship them in from China, we can build our own lights.” That’s what we did.

All these little challenges kept coming up. We just trucked on and made it happen. It’s really beautiful to be able to do that. That’s also what I want in my life, to inspire and show people that, “Hey, you can do it! Just say that you’re going to do it and don’t stop!”

TrunkSpace: You mentioned how your husband grew up around the area where the legend of Emily Burt first took shape. Did you have any local legends or ghost stories in the area where you grew up in the Dominican Republic?
Ramirez: In the Dominican Republic, especially where I grew up, we didn’t have much electricity, so we didn’t have TV. I didn’t even grow up watching television. I think I started watching television around the age of 5. So yeah, there are always legends when you’re growing up in a remote area like that, because that’s what people talk about. “So and so died and she was there and the spirit went inside her.” I grew up listening to ghost stories like that my whole life.

I’ve always been fascinated by the horror genre. The one great thing about “Lycan” that I really responded to was the fact that it was based on something that people knew about. You can research it online. The way I see it, “Lycan” is more of a Hitchcockian suspense thriller. It’s something that you can look up and inquire about. It feels a little more scary if you know that it is something that actually happened to real people.

TrunkSpace: They always say that something needs to be grounded in reality to connect with an audience and what better way to ground it in reality than with actual reality!
Ramirez: That’s what I mean. My husband, as a writer and as a director, is interested in those kinds of stories more than anything. He has an incredible mind. He was able to take this legend and then write a story around it. We kind of made it a little more interesting because we really wanted to put a face to the disease of lycanthropy. That’s what makes it a little more interesting than just the legend, the fact that lycanthropy is a disease that to this day is misdiagnosed as schizophrenia and is something that still occurs.

TrunkSpace: And that’s when people believe they are wolves?
Ramirez: Yeah, it’s when people believe they’re turning into wolves and believe that the hair is growing out of their faces and that they’re transforming. We wanted to really bring light to that disease as well as talk about this legend.

TrunkSpace: And in addition to all of that, it’s also a period film.
Ramirez: Yeah, our film takes place in the 1980s, which I love because I grew up watching those kinds of movies. The temperament of the film also has that old school feel to it as a suspense story, so that’s really cool. I do think that the 80s had a sensibility to the take on a horror film that I really enjoyed. It felt pure and youthful, but really interesting. I grew up and I was a teenager in the 80s, so for me it was really good to kind of go back and reminisce on all of that and watch all of the movies and see their take on all that stuff.

TrunkSpace: Even the poster has that great throwback feel to it.
Ramirez: Yeah, the 80s sensibility is great because, I believe, films have taken such a science fiction turn. As far as feeling that eerie suspense, I’ve always liked the tone of the way the 80s films were made, especially the idea of a bunch of young kids in the middle of the woods. There’s something really authentic about that. We wanted to really tap into that and bring that back. Even the look of it and the feel of it has that vibe and makes it a little different than other films that are coming out today.

That’s why I really loved tapping into the disease as well, because it’s more of a human psychosis film than it is a jumpy horror film. That’s what makes it not only authentic, but I feel, way more scary than just watching a movie where you’re fascinated by the effects.

TrunkSpace: As you look back over your first producing experience, is there anything that you would have done differently, either to make your own life easier as the producer or for the production as a whole to run more smoothly?
Ramirez: It was really challenging to do it independently and to do it for no money. As a producer and as a creative entity, if you ever finish a project and feel like you’re completely satisfied and that there’s nothing that you wouldn’t change, then you have stopped your mind creatively. There are always things that you’re going to end up, after the project, saying, “Oh man, I wish I did…” Not everything is going to be 100 percent exactly what you thought it was going to be.

The great part about this project is that there are things that I didn’t expect that came out even better than I thought and that’s a testament to the people that were a part of it. Not just in front of the camera either, but the people who really fought and worked in the trenches with us making sure that even after we shot the film that the look of it was great and that the color was perfect.

“Lycan” arrives in theaters this Friday!

In our new feature, Between the Sheets, TrunkSpace picks the imaginative brains of authors to break down what it takes to create the various worlds and characters they breathe life into via the tools of their trade… sheets of paper. While technology continues to advance and change the pop culture landscape, the written word has remained one of the most consistent and imaginative art forms.

This time out we’re chatting with Jac Jemc to discuss her new novel “The Grip of It,” dissecting scares, and how she handles critical acclaim.

TrunkSpace: Looking at your body of work as a whole, it’s very diverse and you don’t seem beholden to any one genre. Is that important for you in your career, to not be perceived as a creator who is identified as a certain “type” of author.
Jemc: Every time I try to define what it is I do, it changes, so I guess it is important to me because it’s how I keep operating again and again. It’s less about how I want to be perceived and more about what I have to do to keep myself excited. I like to surprise myself when I’m writing and that involves trying out new methods and solving a new set of puzzles with each project.

TrunkSpace: In “The Grip of It” you tackle psychological horror. Is there joy in dissecting scares as opposed to just presenting them to readers? There’s something inherently chilling about knowing something is wrong but not knowing why. And then of course, the brain starts to paint its own picture of what’s lurking.
Jemc: I don’t know that I could write scares without letting the characters dissect them, so yes! The characters don’t want to trust what’s happening around them, so they look for reasons not to believe what it is they see or hear. Unless a person has a strong relationship to the paranormal, I imagine this is how most people would operate when they experience something that seems impossible. They’d have to convince themselves to believe what they saw/heard/felt, because they know everyone else will be skeptical of it, too. And how would you keep an experience like that to yourself?

TrunkSpace: When writing with the intention to creep out the reader, do you take the material out for a test drive and let people read it before presenting it to your editor (or the world)? We ask because not all scares are created equal. Some people jump from spiders. Some people scream over clowns. Is it important to see if the scares are working?
Jemc: Ah, for the scares, I trust my own instincts for the most part. The haunting in “The Grip of It” is of a pretty particular variety, and I had some tonal inspirations in mind: David Lynch and Shirley Jackson and first – or secondhand stories that friends have told me – usually pretty firmly rooted in the realm of the possible, but uncanny. I tested out a few passages at live readings in very nurturing environments – usually at artist residencies, where everything is understood to be a work in progress… and generally people seemed pretty creeped out, so I knew I was on the right track for what I was trying to accomplish. In later revisions, I have several trusted readers – my agent, editor and a couple friends – who I count on to give me an honest read, more for pacing and plot to make sure those scares are being put to good use.

TrunkSpace: Reading horror is one of the purest forms of getting an emotional reaction out of readers. Nothing is better than reading some terrifying verse that then makes you start looking over your shoulder. Do you hope that “The Grip of It” will force people to look over their shoulder and break away for an occasional mental break?
Jemc: It would be the greatest honor if “The Grip of It” forced people to squint a bit closer at what they trust and believe. My goal isn’t to make people paranoid in the long term, but I’m a person who enjoys being scared in a controlled way, and I hope the book finds an audience of like-minded people.

TrunkSpace: You have received a lot of critical acclaim for your work over the years. Does that industry attention put pressure on you to deliver in a particular way each time out?
Jemc: I’ve been thinking about that with this book because it does verge into the horror genre. If readers dig through previous work or read my writing in the future, looking for something very similar, they might be disappointed that works stretch into other areas, but I don’t think I can really be concerned with that. I will try to tell the best story I can every time, and I will hope that the work finds its best audience.

TrunkSpace: You also work in the non-fiction space. How does the process differ for you from writing something like “The Grip of It?”
Jemc: My essays are always rooted in something in the real world that I have a desire to talk about, and while it might shift and grow with drafting and revision, it is still tied to that initial idea in a pretty direct way. Writing fiction, the process feels a bit blinder. I might not realize what I’m writing about until several drafts in.

TrunkSpace: How long did it take for you to discover your voice as a writer?
Jemc: I don’t really believe in “finding your voice.” I think a writer’s voice grows and forms as they make work, sure, but I can look back at stories I wrote as a kid and poems I wrote as a teen, and I can hear my voice. I see those obsessions beginning to form. It all exists together, and it’s always changing, thank goodness.

TrunkSpace: Regarding the process, is writing a labor of love for you or does it feel more like labor? Do you enjoy the process?
Jemc: It is a labor of love for sure. If you worked out the amount of money I’ve earned for my writing compared to the number of hours I’ve put in, I’d be surprised if it averaged out to more than a dollar or so an hour over the course of the past dozen years. It is hard work to be sure, and I can procrastinate which makes it feel harder. There are moments that feel easy, when the words come more swiftly, like a runner’s high, but that’s not reliable. I’ve compared writing, too, to people who say they hate running, but love the feeling of having run. Writing feels similar for me. It can be hard to sit down and do the work, but I love the feeling when the work for the day is done, even if what I got down on the page wasn’t very good. I show up every day for that feeling.

TrunkSpace: And what does that process look like? What are the ideal conditions for putting in a good day of writing?
Jemc: I wake up and make coffee and read a little bit, to warm up my brain, and then I like to write right away – a word count if I’m drafting or some other measurable goal if I’m revising. If I can write until lunchtime, that’s the ideal. Most days life intrudes and this doesn’t happen, but that’s the ideal.

TrunkSpace: Do you self-edit as you write?
Jemc: Yes, though that can vary. I usually read back over the last page or so of what I’ve written as I’m drafting, before adding words, and it’s impossible for me to read over that previous work without trying to fix it up.

TrunkSpace: Where are you the hardest on yourself as a writer?
Jemc: I always feel like I could be better at time management, like I waste too much time lazing around the internet. I wish I could write faster.

TrunkSpace: What are you working on now and what will people be able to read next?
Jemc: I’m working on a historical fiction project set in 1800s Bavaria around a king and some peripheral women in his life, and a mystery that exists between them. I have a couple stories coming out in the next few months: one in The Southwest Review and another in “Catapult Giant Book of Tiny Crimes.”

“The Grip of It: A Novel” is available now from FSG Originals.

Welcome to the first installment of our LYCAN WEEK ongoing feature!

Opening Friday in select theaters, “Lycan” tells the story of six college kids who revisit an old Georgia legend, the strange and puzzling story of Emily Burt, the Talbot County werewolf. Based upon true historical events, the film is the first producing effort of Crystal Hunt (“Magic Mike XXL,” “One Life to Live”) who teamed up with best friend Dania Ramirez to turn a lifelong dream into a cinematic reality.

We recently sat down with Hunt to discuss production speed bumps, the difficulties of shooting a period piece, and why “Lycan” is so much more than a suspense thriller.

TrunkSpace: “Lycan” is your first experience producing a feature film. What was it like for you as a whole and what did you learn when all was said and done?
Hunt: I gave it my best try. Dania and I have said ever since we were kids that one day, once we started working and had everything rolling, that we were gonna start making our own movies. So we kind of stayed true to that. There were definitely some more difficult things along the way that were just little speed bumps, but they were just that, speed bumps. You learn from every little one. Nothing was actually catastrophic. There are some different facets of it that you don’t really see as much of when you’re on the other side.

TrunkSpace: Dealing with the speed bumps seem to be the part that a lot producers love. Would you say that putting out the fires becomes sort of addicting?
Hunt: I’m a planner so for me, getting everything organized and in order so that everything runs smoothly… I get such pride off of that because I knew I had everything in order and planned out so well. Putting out fires is fine. I don’t mind it at all because I feel like… I’m from a big family, so I feel like it’s kind of a normal thing. I think the only thing that we were noticing was that because we shot in the middle of nowhere, if we did need something, we were like, “Oh crap, we forgot to get that!” And it’s a big deal to get to the nearest Walmart, which was the closest thing.

TrunkSpace: (Laughter) But in order to move forward with the production, you need that thing you’re missing so traveling to the Walmart becomes a necessary evil.
Hunt: Absolutely. We were in the middle of 5,000 acres and that 5,000 acres was also in the middle of nowhere. So once you go through the gates of the 5,000 acres, it’s still a trek once you get there. And Walmart was definitely the nearest thing, so you had to find anything and everything you needed there.

TrunkSpace: And what’s interesting is that the story of the film takes place in the 1980s, so you’re adding an entirely different layer of complications to your first producing endeavor in terms of making sure the physical look of it is accurate.
Hunt: Yeah, it was also wardrobe too. It was trying to make sure that everybody kept in the theme of the period. But also, even with the lighting because there’s so many different types of lighting we had to use to get the correct feel. Something that you would think might appear to be the correct period can look completely different once you actually see it on the feed with the lighting. It’s like you’re constantly making adjustments.

TrunkSpace: You mentioned how you and Dania always wanted to make your own movies. Was this genre always part of the plan?
Hunt: I think that Dania and I both love suspense movies and I don’t know of anybody really who doesn’t, unless they have bad cardiac issues and they just can’t watch them because of health reasons. I think everybody likes suspense movies.

It was about making a suspense movie that’s actually based upon a true story and not just a, “Boo!” with somebody creeping around the corner and scaring you type of thing. It’s not campy in that way. It’s actually not at all what you would think it would be. It’s all a very true story based upon actual events.

TrunkSpace: It’s one of those stories that’s been told and retold amongst groups of friends who grew up in the area it took place, right?
Hunt: My best friend’s husband… he’s actually from right near where the real thing happened, so it is a story he grew up hearing all the time as a kid. The real lady, Emily Isabella Burt, she is actually buried right down the street from where he grew up and where his mom still lives.

TrunkSpace: Did you tap into those personal ties to the story and the area to get an inside perspective?
Hunt: Oh heck yeah! Absolutely! Anything we could find on her.

I was flying back and forth because I was working on two different projects, but it seemed like any time any of us were at a standstill and able to connect to Wi-Fi, we were emailing each other new things that we found on the Burt family. Anything more we could add, we’d just create a file with every single possible thing we could come across that pertained to the girl and her family.

TrunkSpace: Because the film is based on a true story with real people at its core, did you have to take a careful approach with how you presented them?
Hunt: I don’t know if it’s careful. As an actor, we all love to tell stories. Nobody wants to tell stories inaccurately. Even if it’s not a true story, you want to make sure that you’re portraying exactly what the writer had in mind and that you’re clear on what their vision was for the character. But, because “Lycan” is a true story, we didn’t want to come out with a bag on our face. We wanted to make sure that we covered every base and if there was ever any lingering question, we did our best to try to get that answered. I don’t think it was that we didn’t want to step on anybody’s toes. It was more of finding out more and more details because it made it so much more exciting.

TrunkSpace: And like they say, sometimes the most exciting storytelling is the real-life stuff because there are just some things that you can’t make up.
Hunt: Exactly. That’s my point. We were equally as curious and excited to find out so many more different things here and there. Yeah, absolutely… you can’t make it up.

TrunkSpace: Do you view the film as a horror film?
Hunt: We call it a suspense thriller. It’s not just a scary movie. Yes, it’s labeled a suspense thriller because of some of the things you’ll see in it, but it’s really not that. Everything you’re seeing is not something just made to be spooky or to get people scared. The entire thing spawned from a mental illness that was very real in North America until the late 1800’s or early 1900’s, but is still prevalent in Central and South America today. I can’t even fathom what it must be like to have something like that in your family or in your life. Once people know that it’s completely based on that, I think that they’ll see it from a different angle because it’s not just another scary movie that’s released in the fall.

TrunkSpace: The film is due out this week. What do you want people to take from it?
Hunt: I hope they like all of the choices and all of the things we did with it, but I also really hope that they walk away from it equally as excited as we were to delve into more research on this mental illness and the girl that the film is based upon. I can’t fathom them not Googling it on their phone, even in the theater, let alone when they’re walking out. I hope they get equally as curious and excited about the subject of the film as we did because that’s the reason why it all came to be.

TrunkSpace: You chose not to star in “Lycan.” As you look to produce more projects in the future, will you stay behind the scenes or do you see a situation where you’ll pull double duty and act in a project that you’re also producing?
Hunt: I definitely will. I just think that on both my behalf and Dania’s, we both really realized how important it was to stay focused, especially with all the last minute things and all of the things that happen in the couple of days before you begin production, and even on the first day. There’s so many things you’d never plan for that happen.

We definitely know moving forward that we need to have someone, if I’m going to be acting in it as well, that we can trust to make sure that all of those fires are put out and that everything is handled and handled correctly. Because I gotta tell you, those things are bound to happen and there’s no way to focus on a character with all of those fires having to be put out as well.

“Lycan” arrives in theaters this Friday!

Rebelling against a difficult upbringing that included being raised by a conman father, Brandon Asraf poured himself into music, finding solace and purpose alongside of childhood friend John Tacon. As the duo Brick + Mortar, the pair writes moving messages in song form, highlighting relateable human subject matter like compassion and self motivation. Through career ups and downs, the New Jersey natives have stayed the course, focusing not on monetary motivation, but instead, building longterm interaction with fans.

 

We recently sat down with Asraf to discuss the illusion of money, healthy infighting, and the benefits of a career in music.

TrunkSpace: Adolescence can be fun, but mostly it’s confusing and weird and terrifying. You guys not only survived it together, but came out the other side making music. That seems like there would have to be some serious stars aligning for that to work out and for it to last this long, no?
Asraf: I guess it did. We’re also really comfortable arguing, so that’s probably why.

Really, I was always looking for something to be. When I was little, I knew that if you don’t pick something to be, you’ll probably be miserable. You have to find something to focus on, I knew that much. I knew that from when I was little, seeing the shit that I had seen growing up and the people, like hustlers and con men and all that shit, making a bunch of money, but they were miserable. I knew that you had to pick something that was beyond money because money was an illusion, and I was very aware of that when I was young. I knew you had to have it to live and stuff, but I also knew that being rich doesn’t make you happy.

When I was little, we were rich until I was 10 and then my dad was a conman and a criminal, so he bounced. I saw that everybody around me wasn’t happy, but they were rich as fuck.

TrunkSpace: Those who put on a display of happiness the most are always the ones that are the least happy.
Asraf: When I saw John as a kid playing drums in the eighth grade at this talent show, I knew because he was so happy. I was like, “I want to learn how to do that because that’s something you can do forever.” Just the act of doing it feels good. Really, it started from this awesome, pure place of just wanting to play because I didn’t know what to do, what to focus on, and I just decided to do that because I knew he was so happy doing it.

Before we were even friends, I would just hang around him. One day, when we were walking home from school, actually after working out for football because we used to play together, he told me to just basically play the bass and I went for it. I was waiting for him to tell me that, but he didn’t know that. I was waiting for him to tell me to do that or do something with music because he was so good. I was so intimidated that he was so good.

After that, we just played together all the time. He did bands when he was younger, like metal bands and stuff, but we always still played together. For years, we just did instrumental. The one thing that stayed the same is that we always just remained friends and knew that we wanted to make music together. We really didn’t know why, we just did. We’re stubborn as fuck so that’s definitely part of it.

TrunkSpace: You kind of have to be stubborn in the music industry in order to persevere, right?
Asraf: Yeah. You have to be stubborn and you have to be logically delusional, if that makes sense.

TrunkSpace: Totally.
Asraf: You have to know your delusion, but not break down your delusion too far because then you won’t believe in anything. You won’t believe you can make it.

TrunkSpace: You mentioned always being friends. Does it help being in the music industry with someone you’re friends with and grew up with, knowing that you always have each others’ back?
Asraf: Obviously we’re older so there’s so much life going on where you’re not hanging out every second. I think the ability to be really nasty to each other, if you’re arguing, but then realizing that it’s passion is…

We have our problems. We try to not be nasty as much as we can. I think a lot of bands never really argue their point. I think a lot of bands probably dance around, very nicely, what they don’t like about what they’re doing. Me and John, since we have been friends since we were 14, we just have it out. We’re gonna have an argument about something back and forth. It might be annoying to be around us, but at the same time, we’re not gonna both storm off and never resolve it, which is why it’s so annoying.

TrunkSpace: You don’t let it fester.
Asraf: Yeah. We basically just resolve it and then make a decision. I think it’s good having someone that you can really argue with, that’s not going to be overly sensitive, where you can argue and you’re not gonna quit. You’re obviously gonna get mad. You’re obviously gonna say fucked up shit or whatever, but you can’t argue like that with your manager really. You can’t argue like that with your booking agency. You can’t argue like that with anybody else in the industry because they’ll just be upset and throw their hands in the air. With a creative side, you can argue. You can really be honest and I think that’s the medicine that kept us together, is that we respect each other enough to be honest. Sometimes being honest isn’t a fun thing to do, but it also really cuts out a lot of the time of questioning what you’re doing.

TrunkSpace: You guys went through some business/music rights hurdles with the “Dropped Again” EP. Does that stress bring out the arguments more or do you guys turn that energy inwards and write more music?
Asraf: Well, I would say that all that business stuff made it more stressful as far as, “Okay, how are we gonna do this? How are we gonna do that? We have to get creative. We have to figure out where to get money for this, money for that.”

I feel like the most passionate arguments that me and John get in are really about creative shit or perception stuff with the band, what we want to represent and what we want things to be like. The money thing is always a human factor where you’re nervous about continuing to be able to pay for your lives and stuff like that. As far as how crazy the stress was, I would say that we’re lucky in the fact that we all kinda accepted a certain level of discomfort in our own lives. We were always very aware of the fact that you make nothing until you succeed, and then you could have a good life.

I feel like even before we signed the record deal, we never had any grand delusions of having a bunch of money. I feel like we probably argued about money the least. Even though we have argued about money shit that stressed us out, I feel like we argue about really trivial shit that’s important to us within the songs and within the artistic side of what we do, far more and probably far more annoyingly.

I try not to let money become the biggest deal, but it’s obviously hard because you need it for everything.

TrunkSpace: And you need money to make money. So much goes into a tour, finanically and logistically, to pull it off.
Asraf: Oh yeah, so many logistics. And also with our crew of people, everybody who we work with, we try to treat as fairly as possible. Everybody has lives. Everybody has needs too. We need everybody that we work with to be able to eat and do what they need to do. We’re not gonna be like. “Oh sorry, my life needs to be a little bit better so you just be happy you’re even doing this.” I mean, I know some bands kinda do that. We try not to do that. We also ask a lot of everyone who works with us, like our poor tour manager. Dan Feeny does so many more things than a tour manager has to do.

As far as the money thing, I think we’re lucky in the fact that we always had conversations before we got signed, everything about money not being important and about having our eye on the real prize, which is, “Can we really succeed?” Money was always a by product of success, hopefully. We didn’t really want to ever get a bunch of money without having respect or some kind of real passionate interaction with people.

TrunkSpace: Without that passionate interaction, bands become flashes in the pop culture pan, so it’s the right focus.
Asraf: Yeah. And you know, you want to feel like you did something positive for the world in some sense, even if it’s just for your own perception.

TrunkSpace: With everything that happened with the last EP, did it make you guys want to move away creatively from that particular collection of music and that period of your lives?
Asraf: We were definitely ready to move on because we were already recording the album for a while. We record always and it’s like an ever-changing kind of thing. We really do a lot of alteration that’s very drastic to songs. There was a feeling of wanting to move on to the next thing. The re-release has two new songs on it, but all the other songs we had done so long ago, but legally we were fucked so we got them back and it took so long that there is definitely a sense of wanting to move on. But also it was a good opportunity to get our face back out there and tour off something and also promote it to Europe because we didn’t really do that because we couldn’t before.

TrunkSpace: Outside of the music aspect of what you guys do… the recording, the writing, the touring… what’s your favorite part of the career musician lifestyle? What is it that pulls you in?
Asraf: I would say just the kind of honesty in doing it. You play a show and it either sucks or it doesn’t suck, you know what I mean? You kinda feel that and that’s a very honest interaction to have. Also, realizing that one person can influence other people in a positive way, like when kids pour their hearts out to you or tell you how you’ve helped them. That’s pretty much the most moving, huge thing that sticks with you.

And being able to wake up whenever you want is nice.

One of the more murderous characters in the grindhouse series “Blood Drive” goes against everything procedural cop shows have taught television viewers regarding serial killer profiles. As the overbearing and emotionally abusive Domi, Jenny Stead brings a dynamite dynamic to the raucous show. Whether she’s figuratively smothering her onscreen husband Cliff or literally smothering yet another victim of her cruel cravings, she is a powder keg who is one short fuse away from going off… and she is glorious!

We recently sat down with Stead to discuss flying freak flags, judging Domi’s book by its cover, and why “Blood Drive” is so special.

TrunkSpace: We have been asking this of every “Blood Drive” cast member we speak with because, well, it just seems like an obvious first question. (Laughter) Did you ever wonder if the material you were working on in “Blood Drive” would ever make it to air?
Stead: Listen, when you read David Straiton’s IMDb credits you kind of figure that he knows what he’s doing.

But, um, okay, in the spirit of full disclosure (and at the risk of sounding like a complete doofus), I didn’t actually read the pilot until I was called back! I was contracted to do a play over most of the shooting of “Blood Drive,” so I didn’t think I had a chance to be anything more than (hopefully) a day player. When they called me back for Domi, I finally read episode 1 and all I remembered was Grace’s line offering a little extra adrenaline-inducing action, “Back door, Barbie. One time offer!” and I thought, “Woah! What!?! Oh, it’s some sort of soft core porn! Why am I reading for this?!”

I didn’t get the extent of James Roland’s genius and truly wonderful humor until the first table read. The entire cast was incredible, but Alan Ritchson and Christina Ochoa blew me away. Straight off the bat they had this great chemistry, but more than that they had already found the romance and the comedy so beautifully written into each show. It was really only after that read that I had a clear understanding of what we were doing and I was amped.

TrunkSpace: On the surface, your character is a fish out of water in the “Blood Drive” world, but in reality, she probably fits in better than most. Is she camouflaged on purpose or is Domi just who she is?
Stead: No one fits in in the Blood Drive, they are all misfits and weirdos and that’s one of the relatable aspects, right? Because we all have a freak flag, we just fly it at different heights.

I could write a solid thesis on my take on Domi’s backstory, but at the end of the day, it’s all just my own trajectory and I’m sure people like to imagine her beginnings for themselves.

I do, however, think it’s a lot of camouflage. I think Domi is trying very hard to pass for the average, suburban housewife. I think that dictates everything from the color of her lipstick to the shirts she, obviously, forces Cliff to wear. I think she probably grew up in a trailer and has worked very hard to become what she imagines society deems appropriate.

TrunkSpace: There’s that old saying, “It’s always the quiet ones…” Does that apply to Domi?
Stead: Sure, Domi can be an observer, but I wouldn’t describe her as quiet. Cliff can’t get a word in, poor guy! I do think the old saying about judging a book by its cover is pretty apt though.

TrunkSpace: Throughout the series your scene partner is your onscreen husband Cliff, played by Craig Jackson. Did having a static scene partner help you find a comfort zone, not only as Domi but in her role as not-so-loving wife?
Stead: I struck gold with Craig Jackson, he and I were like two kids in a candy store. We did not stop laughing and appreciating every minute on set.

Domi and Cliff have a particularly unique physical relationship. I don’t think Domi is fond of being touched at all. It takes a certain element of macabre to turn her on and Cliff is the only person who gets that. The fact that they’re often static physically and occupying separate spaces certainly played into the strained aspects of their marriage. It also meant that when they do become physically close, it’s with a very deliberate intention, which makes it kind of sweet, and hopefully, even a little hot. For example, one of the only times they become physically close is when they give each other massages. If you don’t understand how this can get steamy, you should consider watching adult massage videos. Massages can be very sensual, intimate and sexy.

TrunkSpace: When did Domi and Cliff’s relationship go sour? As they reminisce, they sure seem to paint a pretty picture of the past, but was it ever pretty or are their nostalgic brains skewing what actually was?
Stead: Unless you think a honeymoon shag requiring a bellhop bleeding out all over you is pretty, I don’t think that’s the most accurate word! (But hey, each to their own!)

I think they were probably really lucky to find each other. In my head, they met as children and started killing early on. Craig and I like to imagine that Cliff helped Domi kill her foster parents. That’s why Domi has no surname because she got rid of her slave name and likes to be known by one name, like all the greats… Stalin, Hitler, and, you know, Cher.

TrunkSpace: Domi clearly has a murderous blood drive of her own. What do you think Domi’s weapon of choice is?
Stead: Anything sharp. A scalpel, scissors, small blade… her teeth! She definitely prefers to take her time and is fascinated with the human body, but she can also be like a shark near blood and go into a complete feeding frenzy. But for her, murder is definitely art.

TrunkSpace: Your onscreen husband Cliff has weaknesses that are clearly visible. Domi, not so much. Does she have any weaknesses?
Stead: I think her weakness lies in her deep desire to fit in. I think she tries so hard to be normal but has zero aptitude for normality. Luckily she has no emotions, so she doesn’t feel too bad about it all.

TrunkSpace: Eyeball make out session! How does one prepare for something like that?
Stead: We were so lucky to have James Roday directing that block. He had this ridiculous stroke of genius that he wanted the eyeball scene to be an homage to John Hughes’ “Some Kind of Wonderful.” He wanted Cliff and Domi to be like teenagers who were making out for the first time. It was so clever because we played it with absolute sweetness and sincerity and then there was just this incredibly life-like, bloodied eyeball in the mix. The props department gave me one of the standby eyeballs as a keepsake. It sits proudly on a bookshelf in my lounge over a copy of “The 5 Love Languages.” It’s especially great for when my kids have friends over and their parents pick them up after a play date!

TrunkSpace: How do you share your new gig with family when said gig is a show with cars that eat people and a character who is mouth-swapping eyeballs? What is that conversation like?
Stead: I have the world’s greatest husband. He’s incredibly supportive and although he’s not a massive grindhouse fan, he’s really enjoying “Blood Drive.” My kids think it’s the best thing ever, especially when I had to do stunt training and they hear about me having to massacre an entire village. My mom’s just happy when I work and I haven’t told my dad that much about it. Hopefully I’ll never have to!

TrunkSpace: “Blood Drive” is so very unlike anything else on television. That statement is said a lot about a great number of shows, but usually it’s just said for the sake of saying it. It truly is the case with your show. Does that make being involved with it feel all the more special?
Stead: There is so much great television being made at the moment. Although on the periphery it might seem that “Blood Drive” would only appeal to a very niche market, I think they’ve managed to create something with a really broad appeal and given the genre that’s no mean feat. “Blood Drive” is special for so many reasons. The show is cool. It’s dark and gory and it’s funny and it feels particularly poignant in this day and age. I’m a genuine fan. I’m really proud of this show and it introduced me to some of the most incredible people. For such a gruesome show it was really filled with a lot of love.

TrunkSpace: Strictly from a career standpoint, is “Blood Drive” a game changer?
Stead: It certainly is a nice addition to my show reel. As far as game changing? I’m not sure I can expect a call from David Lynch, but if you’d care to put in a good word…

TrunkSpace: When you look at your career moving forward, what would you like to accomplish? Do you have bucket list items that you want to check off in your career?
Stead: It sounds corny but I just want to do good work that I’m proud of. I love what I do and I never take for granted how lucky I am to do it.

 

Name: Chloe Campas

Hometown: Chino, CA

Current Location: Los Angeles, CA

TrunkSpace: When did you know that you wanted to act for a living?
Campas: I remember always knowing. When I was little I loved to reenact Disney movies with my Papa. I’ve always been a bit dramatic to say the least.

TrunkSpace: Was there a particular performance or actor/actress from your childhood that you remember being drawn to and inspired by?
Campas: My mom has always been a big movie buff, which resulted in my siblings and I always watching all types of movies. I was born in the 90s, so Julia Roberts was always an actress I admired. The only performer I ever remember being inspired by growing up was Johnny Depp. I loved the way he would get into theses crazy characters and let himself go. He always inspired me so much to become an actor, and really dig deep into characters.

TrunkSpace: How did you decide to approach your career as an actor? Did you formulate a plan of how you wanted to attack what is known for being a hard industry to crack?
Campas: I feel like my career is just starting as an actress. I am now beginning to really take my craft seriously, whereas before I feel I was a bit too immature to really go for it. I went down the school route first and now am getting back into acting head first. I wanted to wait until after I was finished with school to solely focus on acting and give it my all, because it is a tough industry to crack. If you don’t work hard, all of the talent in the world won’t help you.

TrunkSpace: When did you decide to move away from your home and pursue acting as a career? How old were you at the time?
Campas: Again, I didn’t initially move to Los Angeles when I first moved out of my parents house. I went to school in Orange County, and just recently moved to Los Angeles this year.

TrunkSpace: Was that move an easy transition for you initially? How long did it take you to feel at home and find a good support group of friends and peers?
Campas: I’ll get back to you on that one!

TrunkSpace: What has been been your biggest break in terms of a particular role or project thus far?
Campas: I haven’t had my biggest break quite yet. I’ve worked on a few short films, and have been auditioning like crazy. Now that I’m in Los Angeles it’ll be a lot easier to manage my time, and meet the people I need to be meeting in order for my big break to happen.

TrunkSpace: Is there a specific type of role you’d like to take on or a specific genre that you feel more at home in?
Campas: I’ve always said I want my first feature film to be horror. I want to see what it would look like for me to be sliced up or killed in a crazy way. Plus, I love horror movies. Other than that I am pretty open to different genres. I don’t ever want to put myself in a box, and limit myself to what I can do or am capable of. If I had to say what genre I feel more at home in it would probably be drama.

TrunkSpace: What would you say is the greatest strength an actor/actress can have outside of acting ability itself?
Campas: Confidence in yourself. I feel as if Hollywood sucks people up and spits them out. If you stay true to who you are, and don’t take anything too personal, you’ll be fine.

TrunkSpace: What is your ultimate dream when it comes to your acting career? Where would you like your path to lead?
Campas: I would love to make movies where I can connect to the character, and really move people with my performance. That’s the greatest high for me as an actress… making people feel. I wouldn’t ever want to become too famous, but I want to make quality movies, and travel all around the world.

TrunkSpace: What advice would you give another young aspiring actor/actress who is considering moving away from home to pursue their dream?
Campas: Go for it. Take your time. There’s always a role for every age, and hard work outweighs talent. Stay true to the person you are, and don’t change who you are to fit what someone else wants you to be. Surround yourself with people who bring you up, and who you trust, because you’ll need all the positive support you can get.

TrunkSpace: Where can people (and casting directors) learn more about you?
Campas: IMDb, Backstage, and Instagram @chloecampas!

Iconic in the punk rock scene with a longevity that defies the odds, Frenzal Rhomb came together in their native Australia during the early 90s and quickly built an international fanbase that has stayed with them to this day. Currently out in support of “Hi-Vis High Tea,” their ninth studio album, the band stopped by TrunkSpace to get down, get dirty, and get mostly cheeky on subjects ranging from exhaustion, creative familiarity, and Wikipedia repartee.

TrunkSpace: “Hi-Vis High Tea” is your ninth album. Doing nine of anything in a creative capacity is difficult, but nine albums as a band is downright rare. Are you guys just as proud of the accomplishment as you are of the material itself?
Frenzal Rhomb: We’re so tired. So very, very tired. We signed a horribly unfair multi-album deal with Fat Wreck back in the 90s, and to this day they stay on our backs, cracking the whips, forcing us to release new music. We are only proud that we have managed to keep the record label vampires at bay for so long.

TrunkSpace: Speaking of the material, the album consists of 20 songs, with the album itself clocking in at just over 30 minutes. Did you guys set out to make a 20 song offering or did writing that many songs force your hand?
Frenzal Rhomb: We designed the album sleeve before we wrote the songs, and the way it was laid out meant there was space for 20 song titles. Once that was sorted we were pretty much forced into writing 20 songs, no more or less. Luckily for us we had exactly that much creativity. Of course, making them all about a minute-thirty long helped too.

TrunkSpace: In terms of the writing process, how has it changed for the band since you guys first got together in 1992?
Frenzal Rhomb: It’s exactly the same. We get together at the original drummer, guitarist and bassplayer’s parents’ houses and just bash out the songs. Of course, since those three band members haven’t been in Frenzal for over 15 years, and several of the parents have passed away or sold their houses, this can get very weird. But we insist on familiarity.

TrunkSpace: Many of the bands you guys have shared a stage with over the years have faded away or disbanded. How has Frenzal Rhomb kept things going where others have been unable to?
Frenzal Rhomb: Almost every single band we have shared a stage with has either faded away or disbanded. It’s called the “Frenzal Rhomb Curse” and is a very real thing in punk rock circles. Any band we’ve played with that has survived has done so because they hold the amulet of the golden oracle, a highly-magical stone that allows the wearer to continue making punk-rock music after coming in contact with the curse, but the price for that is that we get to steal a riff or two from them.

The secret to our continuity is much the same. Dark magic. Also friendship and not playing too many gigs.

TrunkSpace: They say absence makes the heart grow fonder. What is the most amount of time the band has spent away from each other and does absence also make creativity grow?
Frenzal Rhomb: I’ve never met the other members of the band. We keep it anonymous so the relationship doesn’t get stale. Onstage we keep ourselves apart with giant makeshift walls and every photoshoot is a composite of four separate photos, like NASA’s fake photos of a spherical earth.

TrunkSpace: The punk scene has changed quite a bit since you guys first got together. Everyone has a different take on whether those changes are good, bad or somewhere in-between. What’s your perspective on where the scene and punk music is at in 2017?
Frenzal Rhomb: Jason thinks the changes are good, Tom thinks they’re bad, and Lindsay & Gordy insist they’re somewhere in-between.

TrunkSpace: The Wikipedia page for the band features this line:
“The group has generated controversy for profanity in cover art, song titles and lyrics, for behavior of members on and off the stage, and for its associations with causes such as veganism and radical politics.”

As you look back over your time together, do you view anything that falls into this category as controversial or is it the kind of stuff that other people miss the mark on when they slap labels on things?
Frenzal Rhomb: I’ll answer this question with a line also taken from the band’s wikipedia page:

• Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License; additional terms may apply. By using this site, you agree to the Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. Wikipedia® is a registered trademark of the Wikimedia Foundation, Inc., a non-profit organization.

TrunkSpace: With all of that in mind, are there things that you would do differently as you look back now?
Frenzal Rhomb: Yes, I’d probably format that last answer differently. The dot point is at odds with the rest of this interview.

TrunkSpace: What is the happiest, most creatively-rewarding memory you have as part of Frenzal Rhomb?
Frenzal Rhomb: That last answer.

TrunkSpace: “The Walking Dead” brought about a zombie apocalypse on the world. If a Frenzal Rhomb apocalypse hit and every Frenzal Rhomb fan was wiped out, what would you guys do? Would you still keep writing music?
Frenzal Rhomb: We would question a zombie-infestation that targets only Frenzal Rhomb fans as it seems quite specific and strange, but if it turned out to be true we would then see if these Frenzal Rhomb zombies kept on living in some form, like zombies apparently do, in which case we would write songs more easily, since zombies don’t seem to have too much musical taste.

TrunkSpace: In the song “School Reunion” you sing “Fuck my school reunion!” We here at TrunkSpace are all nearing our 20 year reunions. Can we roll in with a boombox and “School Reunion” playing when that day comes?
Frenzal Rhomb: Sorry, but playing our music in any public space would require registering your school reunion with the local music publishing authority. I believe it’s ASCAP in the United States, and paying the appropriate royalties.

Get “Hi-Vis High Tea” here.

Juggling is a learned skill. When people master the art, it’s, well, masterful. Some juggle bean bags. Some juggle bowling pins. And there are a few adventurous ones who juggle chainsaws. The most impressive version of balls in the air, however, comes in the form of career juggling, and actress/comedian Janet Varney does it better than most. As the star of “Stan Against Evil” on IFC and “You’re the Worst” on FXX, as well as the host of the Nerdist podcast “The JV Club” and the co-founder and creative director of SF Sketchfest: The San Francisco Comedy Festival, she gives new meaning to the concept of working hard and takes nothing in her professional life for granted.

We recently sat down with Varney to discuss trunk varieties, finding balance in her busy schedule, and enjoying the cosplay diversity of comic conventions.

Varney: Are we in a trunk together?
TrunkSpace: Not physically, but we are in the essence of being in a truck.

Varney: Okay. Is it the essence of a car truck, or the essence of an old Chinese steamer ship trunk? Those are your only two options.
TrunkSpace: Definitely old timey steamer ship where you could open it and find anything imaginable inside.

Varney: Oh, fantastic. Let me get some mustache wax and we’ll get to work.

TrunkSpace: (Laughter) You do so much both inside the industry with film and television, and then just on the outside with the comedy festival and “The JV Club.” How do you manage your time and the individual projects to make them all work in unison?
Varney: Boy, that’s a fantastic question. It is a question that I think I find myself asking myself, almost as much as other people ask me. It’s tough. I think it’s one of those examples as any kind of parent would tell you or somebody who is a firefighter and works 48 straight hours with very little sleep, anything that feels like it’s a little bit out of the box, or out of the trunk if you will, from the basic 9 to 5. From the outside it looks like, “How are you doing that?” But it’s just evidence of human adaptability. I think that every time I go back to Tucson, Arizona. I’m like, “Who decided that this was a safe place to settle?” I just can’t imagine looking around the desert and living there for one summer before air conditioning, fans, coolers, before anything was invented at all, and saying, “I think we can do this. I think we got this.”

TrunkSpace: It’s like the first person who tried crab. Who looked at one and said, “I bet that’s delicious!”
Varney: I just said that! I just said that when I was eating crab! From what it looks like, and what it looks like when it’s raw to where it goes and how delicious it is…

I understand that we’re apes, but we’re not that different from the dog who’s like, “Maybe I’ll sample this piece of shit.”

That feels very sort of Gary Larson, Far Side-ish. Like some series of cartoons that just show the guy who tried the thing, the caveman who tried the thing that, in fact, did kill him. All the people who have sacrificed themselves by making epic fail decisions before there was an internet.

That’s a long way around of saying, “I’m just used to it.” It doesn’t mean it’s good for me all the time. I feel very lazy a lot of the time, which is to say I don’t necessarily just sit around all the time, but I know that I kind of wish I were sitting around all the time. There are definitely things that I put off, that I procrastinate over. It doesn’t matter how much or how little I have going on, I’ll just find a way to not do something until the last minute. It’s like you really wanna find that sweet spot of busyness. There’s a certain level of busyness where your energy is up, you’re not being totally sapped, and so it feels like you’re kind of on top of everything and you have this momentum. You don’t even wanna procrastinate, because it feels great to get stuff done and you’re working on what you love.

What a rare moment to find, but once you feel it, you kind of go, “Well, maybe I’ll just keep reaching towards whatever that thing is. And then, is this too much? Okay, now I feel overwhelmed and I just wanna have a nervous breakdown. Now I feel a little bit like I have only one thing to work on, and now I’ve come to hate that one thing, because it’s taking up too much of my time.”

TrunkSpace: There was a time where you would not see someone starring in multiple shows for multiple networks, but that is not the case anymore. The way that the industry has changed seems to have allowed for creative people to juggle more as well.
Varney: Yeah, it definitely has, especially in a business where you’re conditioned to be afraid to say no, which isn’t a good thing. There’s something very empowering about making the right decision for yourself and taking care of yourself, even if that means saying, “This project isn’t right for me.” Or, “I can’t juggle one more plate, I have to think about my family.” Or whatever the reason is. Again, that’s that balance we’re talking about striking.

In this business, because there is so much that’s up in the air and so much that’s out of our control, it does feel, I think, good and exciting to have the capability to be doing different things, because then your eggs aren’t all in one basket. Your heart isn’t shattered when the one show that you’re doing goes away, and you sort of look around with this existential conundrum going, “What is my purpose again?”

TrunkSpace: There was a time when a television show needed millions upon millions of viewers to be considered a success. Now a show is allowed to find an audience and grow, which is nice to see and it must help take the pressure off of everyone involved?
Varney: I couldn’t agree more. I’ve never liked anything that mainstream, so I can’t imagine creating or being a part of something that mainstream. Never say never, but I always like the stuff that makes it fun to go to places like Comic-Con. Not San Diego Comic-Con, where everything is huge and corporatey, but these smaller cons where people are cosplaying as things you’ve never seen before, and that’s okay. And they’re happy to tell you about this weird, random, Japanese Anime that they love and that you’ve never seen. And that makes me so happy, that there’s room for people with all kinds of different tastes to get a feel of what they like.

TrunkSpace: “Stan Against Evil” is set to return in November. From an acting standpoint, what’s the best part about returning to a series after a long hiatus?
Varney: What’s funny is we all kind of had the same experience, which is it felt like so much time had passed. I think it’s kind of like going back to school. It feels like all of these things happened in your life and that all this time has passed, and then you get on the set and it feels like, “Oh, I was just here. Did I ever leave?”

What a joy to see that crew again. It’s just such a great group of people. There are things that we learned about how to function in the short period of time that we have to shoot the show. And Dana Gould had the experience of writing a bunch of stuff with the writers without having seen the set or knowing what Georgia was going to be like, precisely, in the middle of the night in the swamps in July, and maybe regretted a couple of the decisions that he made. (Laughter)

TrunkSpace: (Laughter) Sounds cozy!
Varney: (Laughter) So he went in to coming up with season 2 ideas armed with a lot more information, a lot more on-the-ground information, and I think that’s reflected in season 2 and what happened during the production. I’m so lucky now that I look back at the stuff that I’ve done over the… I guess I’ve been doing this for 12 years maybe, something like that. And it’s not that I wasn’t proud of things I worked on in the beginning. I was, but there was just sort of a universal wash of delight and surprise that I was working at all. And I did love “Dinner & a Movie.” I loved Claud and Paul. And that shot in Atlanta, so I got to love that city over the seven years that I did that show.

But for some reason, in the last four or five years, there has been a different shift to feeling like I had just gotten even more lucky, and I’ve had more ongoing, long-term jobs that have just been real pinch-me moments of, “Why am I getting to work on this?”

I feel so incredibly lucky to get to work with Dana and John C. McGinley and that extraordinary group of people. I just don’t think I’ve taken any of it for granted. I have many, many flaws, but taking the work for granted, I think is not one of them.

TrunkSpace: You had mentioned that as a viewer you like shows that are not in the mainstream. The thing about “Stan Against Evil” is that tonally it’s a difficult one to find a balance with for a lot of shows, the horror/comedy mix. But your show does it so well. Did you guys have to do some massaging to find that tone and get into groove?
Varney: I think it’s Dana, as a show. He’s such a fan of old-school horror, zombie, Roger Corman, Elvira, and just everything from “Planet of the Apes.” He’s just such a nerd for that stuff, and has been his whole life. And then, you take his enthusiasm for that, that he’s had his whole life, and you take his enthusiasm for comedy that he’s been cultivating, and obviously had a lot of experience working on with “The Simpsons” and as a stand-up over the years and I just think that stuff was all cooking in his brain just as he was walking around being a human being in life. So when it came time for him to actually do the show, I feel like he just really, really knew the tone. And I think he did a tremendous job of communicating that really early on. And he loves to say this and I always get really embarrassed and now here I am saying it myself, but I guess it turns out he wrote the part of Evie for me. He wrote it with me in mind. I still can’t believe that. That’s outrageous to me.

So I was obviously on the same page with him from the beginning, and then as IFC and Dana were in search of their Stan, having John C. just get it and get it so quickly was paramount. It was so exciting for everybody to be locking in this amazing group of people who just got it from the get go. Because, again, we have such a little amount of time to shoot it, that was just imperative. Everybody had to kind of be on board for the tone from the beginning. And it does kind of feel like serendipity, it feels like, “Well how did that work out?” Thank God it did.

TrunkSpace: Do you feel like playing Evie has helped break any preconceived notions within the industry about you as a performer?
Varney: Gosh, I hope so. I don’t know that I can identify a specific situation where I would have gone in for something and had someone say, “By the way, I wouldn’t have brought you in for this if it weren’t for your role as Evie on ‘Stan Against Evil.'” I think, for me, if you think about the work you’re leaving behind, that and “The Legend of Korra” are the two things that have maybe shown my range the most. And that’s a tremendous gift.

That’s another thing where very few of us feel like we have the luxury of sniping about thinking we only ever get to play one thing. But typecasting is totally real, and it’s not even something that I can get mad about. That’s just how we are. As a producer, I know that I think of people in a certain way based on the work I’ve seen them do. And it doesn’t mean that I’m not open to seeing them do something else, but we’re creatures who like to put things in boxes because we take in a tremendous amount of stimuli. So I totally get that someone would look at me and go, “No, I don’t see Janet Varney auditioning as the lead surgeon on this procedural. She does this, this, and this.”

Maybe it’s just that I don’t feel like I’m not getting to stretch. With that said, to your point, it’s been great to have these roles that maybe dig a little deeper. And the same is true with “You’re the Worst,” to be honest with you. As outrageous as that character is, she is deeply wounded, and so there is definitely stuff going on inside that I think informs even how over-the-top she is and forms something human about it. And I think that’s what’s so great about that show, is that for all of these characters basically being some version of the worst, they really are arguably each one the worst, because they’re all different and peculiar at how awful they are. There’s something so vulnerable about all of them. And to me, that’s what makes you wanna come back to it, even with all the train wrecks, because you still root for the characters.

Season 4 of “You’re the Worst” premieres September 6 on FXX.

Season 2 of “Stan Against Evil” premieres November 1 on IFC.

You can listen to The JV Club here.

Many young people with aspirations of becoming a professional actor dream of one day having their talents recognized with an Emmy nomination. Not many of those future award ceremony scenarios involve zombies.

The “Fear the Walking Dead” companion web series “Passage” was recently nominated for an Emmy in the new Outstanding Short Form Comedy or Drama Series category. Even more amazing than a genre show being recognized is that series star Kelsey Scott was also nominated in the Outstanding Actress in a Short Form Comedy or Drama Series category, a well-deserved nod for a performance that will hopefully create a change in the way horror and science fiction performances are viewed on a critical level.

 

We recently sat down with Scott to discuss her “Passage” experience, her writer grandmother, and what she’d develop in Hollywood if presented with a blank check.

TrunkSpace: Did you ever think you’d receive an Emmy nod for working alongside of zombies?
Scott: (Laughter) I think you just take the ride. I can’t imagine that anyone would ever anticipate that, so you just go with it.

TrunkSpace: In all seriousness though, it must be nice to have your work and the format recognized. It’s great to see these short form projects getting critical attention, especially at this stage when they play like mini-movies.
Scott: Oh, absolutely. I said to someone at some point that short form has been like a pioneer of different stories of different narratives of different perspectives. It is now much simpler to produce in terms of content, so you get a lot of voices that maybe would not have been heard before because now they can actually get recognition. Now they can actually get their content distributed in some way. I think short form has become particularly important to an overall narrative for the industry.

TrunkSpace: And for a series like “Fear the Walking Dead,” these companion pieces are also a great way to build out the universe even further.
Scott: Exactly. Any number of people have seen a character on a show or even in film and wondered about their backstory or wished there was more to view with that particular character. This gives a chance to explore that type of stuff. It’s kind of a litmus test, I think, also for the larger brand in that they get to see what the fan reaction is to a certain type of character and then they can make some decisions about how much more to show in the actual long form.

TrunkSpace: What does the production schedule on something like “Passage” look like?
Scott: We spent three days in Santa Clarita and shot the entire 16 episodes in three days.

TrunkSpace: Wow.
Scott: Oh yeah! And we got bumped and bruised and scarred. It was so much fun.

TrunkSpace: Is it a situation where you get to spend three days with a character and then head home and wish you had more time with her?
Scott: Yeah, but it was great. I think the kind of compressed shooting schedule also just allows you to completely immerse yourself because it’s like, “All right, we’re just going to go hard for three days. Just get in there and do it.” It was great. One of the stories that Mishel and I talk about a lot is that on the third day, they brought in stunt doubles. We were like, “We’ve been doing all the stunts. Why do we have stunt doubles at the end?” (Laughter) We were like, “No, we’re good. We’ve already bled for this, so we’re okay.”

TrunkSpace: (Laughter) They bring them in right at the end to do a wide on the characters looking off into the sunset.
Scott: (Laughter) Right! “We’ve got this from here.”

That was a lot of fun though because you don’t often get to do that kind of thing, especially as a woman. The opportunities to do action and to get all dirty and wield weapons and kick butt doesn’t come along as often as we would like. It’s nice to not worry about whether or not your mascara is running or just to get in there and really, truly, literally and figuratively, get your hands dirty.

TrunkSpace: After getting in there and getting your hands dirty, was it a pleasant surprise when you learned about the Emmy nominations?
Scott: It was. It was a very pleasant surprise. You know that you’re on the ballot, so you know there’s a possibility, but there are a lot of people on the ballot. (Laughter) You hope that you are one of the people that gets chosen for that select spot. Yeah, it was really, really nice.

TrunkSpace: And you don’t often see genre pieces getting recognized in that way, so it speaks to how views are changing.
Scott: Yeah, I think they’re getting much more character-based than anyone anticipated. They can no longer be dismissed in terms of their story, so I think people are latching on to that.

TrunkSpace: You are a director and writer as well. When you’re focusing on a project strictly from an acting standpoint, is it hard for you to take off those other hats and not think like a director or think like a writer?
Scott: Not really. I think that it’s most difficult to separate those individual specialties when I’m writing, because when I’m writing, I’m writing as a writer, as an actor and a director. When you’re in front of the camera, then I think it’s really about delving into the character. I always think so highly of actor/directors who can direct themselves. How do you step outside of yourself when you’re on camera? I have the utmost respect for people who can do that. No, when I’m acting, I’m all in it.

TrunkSpace: Where did the bug bite you first?
Scott: It was definitely in the acting. From my first step on stage, though it was to sing not to act when I was three years old, so I’ve been doing the performing thing for awhile. My mother was very happy to refocus my energy out of her hair. (Laughter) She was just like, “Could you please do something with all of this energy that’s productive?”

I started on stage in Atlanta when I was just a child and then it grew from there. It was definitely acting, but my grandmother was a writer. That’s actually where I got the writing bug to begin with, when I was six years old.

TrunkSpace: That’s really cool.
Scott: She wasn’t a writer by profession, it’s something she loved to do. After she would write something, she’d let me read it, and sometimes I would actually go and perform her pieces around the community. She really sparked that in me, and then I kept going with it professionally.

TrunkSpace: It was great to have that focus so early in your upbringing because nowadays it seems more important than ever for actors to diversify and be able to create, write, and direct.
Scott: I could never have imagined the gift she gave me in sparking that interest in me because, absolutely, like I said, there are so many more opportunities to tell so many stories now, so you also need to be able to tell those stories. You can’t just depend on being in front of the camera, you have to be able to wield the pen. And that’s obviously a metaphor because nobody really writes out longhand anymore. (Laughter) You have to be able to figuratively wield the pen.

Then, if you’ve got even more skill sets in terms of the directing or the editing then that puts you in an even better position. The more you can do in-house, then I think the better the advantage you have.

TrunkSpace: Does being a writer/director also help you be a better actor and vice versa?
Scott: I think they all complement each other. Everybody talks about how theater is collaborative. That’s on somebody’s bumper sticker. I don’t know that people emphasize that as much in film and television, but it’s the exact same thing. None of this can be done on an island, so the more you know about the different aspects of the process, I think it just strengthens you in another area.

TrunkSpace: So if a studio came to you tomorrow and handed you a blank check to develop any kind of project that you wanted, what would it be?
Scott: Wow! A blank check? I’ve only ever seen those in movies!

Well, interestingly enough, because I am also a writer, I do have projects that are in different stages of development. You give me a blank check, and all of a sudden I’m financing a whole bunch of stuff. Oh yeah, I’d have so much fun with a blank check. Now you’ve got me dreaming!

TrunkSpace: So instead of putting it all into one project, you’d spread the wealth across multiple projects?
Scott: You did say blank check! (Laughter)

Watch “Passage” here.

In a post-apocalyptic world, being a survivor is not always a good thing, particularly for those attempting to outlast a zombie-geddon. Mishel Prada knows all too well about weathering that flesh-eating storm after being cast as a lead in the “Fear the Walking Dead” companion web series “Passage” where she portrays Gabi, one of the last hopes for humanity.

We recently sat down with Prada to discuss Emmy praise, her surprise casting, and immersing herself into the physicality of the role.

TrunkSpace: First we just have to say that it is extremely cool to see a genre series like “Passage” get recognized by the Emmy folks.
Prada: I know. It is really cool. I think the coolest part about it is that it’s part of this new media that’s coming out. I feel like new media is like this new generation’s rap music. People are like, “What is that rap music?” and then it ends up actually changing the game. I think new media and the online market, online web series and magazines, is the future. There’s an interesting change that is happening. It’s really cool to be a part of that.

TrunkSpace: Did you put more pressure on yourself as an actor stepping into something like “Passage” where you’re basically being folded into this massive universe/franchise that already has a huge fanbase?
Prada: I didn’t even know what I was getting into. (Laughter) I auditioned for it not knowing what it was at all and then didn’t realize what it was until the fitting. And then I didn’t realize that I was meant to be one of the leads of it until I got the script. (Laughter)

TrunkSpace: Wow. That’s a pleasant surprise!
Prada: I was like, “Oh, me and Kelsey are carrying this whole thing? Awesome!”

TrunkSpace: Discovering unexpectedly that you’re a lead in a high profile gig related to “The Walking Dead” seems like it might bring on a sudden panic attack. (Laughter)
Prada: (Laughter) Yeah, but it’s also exciting because as an actor, it’s fun to get to just dig into these stories. In addition to obviously being part of this big franchise, Lauren Signorino and Mike Zunic did an incredible job of writing a story that I felt really connected to. On set Kelsey and I really felt strongly about that, which was women coming together, doing their damn thing, and just surviving. In addition to being part of the franchise, it was this beautiful icing on the cake to get to also be part of telling stories that I think are very poignant for this time.

TrunkSpace: And from what we learned in talking with Kelsey, you guys got to do your own stunts as well, which must have made for some post-apocalyptic fun?
Prada: 100 percent. We had stunt people, but you kind of just get so deep into the characters that it almost doesn’t make sense to let somebody else take the fall or to feel the pain or whatever it is. In the moment, it was really just all-immersive. And then afterward, Kelsey and I went and had a margarita and we were sitting there just going, “Well, what was that?” (Laughter) We were all bruised and we went and had a spa day.

TrunkSpace: Much of the series looks claustrophobic. Did the shoot itself have that feel?
Prada: It wasn’t claustrophobic in the sense that you feel trapped, but it was definitely close quarters. The smoke and the dust and everything was very real. In between takes, we were having to wear these breathing masks. Just trying to also stay in it, which is the biggest thing because a lot of times an actor, you can kind of step away from the environment, but there’s also a beauty to sitting in the uncomfortableness of it because that is reality for the character. So there was a sense of making sure that you’re still honoring that.

TrunkSpace: Humans are always scarier than the zombies in “The Walking Dead” universe, but was it kind of weird to see the zombies standing near the crafty table in-between takes sipping a latte or whatever? (Laughter)
Prada: (Laughter) The makeup is amazing. The effects department does a really great job. They cast these characters with these really beautiful, interesting faces so that they kind of accentuate the angles. Yeah, it is a really cool thing to be a part of and see.

TrunkSpace: What’s amazing is that a lot of times these companion shorts/web series can sometimes feel like they’re shot on the cheap and not fully immersed in the umbrella of the universe, but with “Passage,” it seemed like they pulled no punches to make it look and feel just like what fans of “The Walking Dead” or “Fear the Walking Dead” have grown accustom to.
Prada: Yeah, the cinematography was incredible. They did a really great job. I remember seeing a lot of the stills and just thinking how beautiful it looked. We weren’t really wearing a lot of makeup and it wasn’t really about the women looking beautiful or looking poised. A lot of it was just about whatever the action was that was going on and the beauty of the sets, which was really cool.

TrunkSpace: When you learned that you would be one of the leads in “Passage,” did it feel like it could open more doors in your career?
Prada: As with anything in life, it’s always good to just experience what you’re experiencing right at the moment. I suppose that is the luxury of not knowing what the future is with the project. All that you know is just that moment and all of us could kind of take a lesson in that… just to really focus on what’s in front of you and whatever you’re feeling and tend to that.

TrunkSpace: Since it aired, have you felt the reach of “The Walking Dead” fanbase?
Prada: Yeah, the fanbase has been really cool. I have a friend that’s on “The Walking Dead,” Alanna Masterson. I’ve seen what has happened with her being on the show. It never really occurred to me when we were shooting it that it would be something that would carry over in that way.

I think what’s cool about “Fear the Walking Dead” is that it really embraces a lot of diversity with the way the Latin community looks at death in a different way. Whereas, in Mexico and most of Latin American, death is celebrated. It is feared to some extent, but it’s just a transition. There’s a compassion in a way.

TrunkSpace: It’s almost more of an acceptance of death and not fighting against it.
Prada: Exactly, and having to live with that death as opposed to being able to bury it away and forget about it.

TrunkSpace: Earlier in our conversation you mentioned that it is cool to be a part of this new media generation. Do you think the various platforms that are now available to viewers has enabled content creators to take a more creative approach to storytelling and tell the story they want to tell?
Prada: Oh yeah, 100 percent. That’s why it’s so incredible that there is this place that just eliminates the excuses of, “Oh well, a studio’s not giving me money so…” Even if you only have an iPhone, you can tell a story and put it up, and people might resonate with it.

Watch “Passage” here.