Part Two of Fangoria’s Two Part Feature Interview on Michele
Pat Jankiewicz
Friday, January 01 2010 |06:00 AM
Up and coming Scream Queen Michele Morrow, clad as a cat, has just recounted her short but impressive horror film career in BASEMENT JACK, BLED and THE SILO.
Ironically, the busy and charming performer went through a horrific real-life experience on BASEMENT JACK.
PAT JANKIEWICZ/FANGORIA:You broke your neck making BASEMENT JACK?
MICHELE MORROW: I was in a stunt accident right after filming it. We were doing a behind-the scenes day and I made a choice to come in and be part of it. They had a trampoline type device on set that uses hydraulics for car explosions in movies.
PAT JANKIEWICZ: An Air Ram?
MICHELE MORROW: Right! I stepped on it to fling myself up. It threw me up about 15 feet in the air, but then I lost my balance in the air and landed on my head.
PAT JANKIEWICZ: Ouch.
MICHELE MORROW: “Ouch” is right–I broke my neck, but I could actually move. The break wasn’t even that big a deal. Strangely, it takes a while to realize how bad it is, with all the torn ligaments and muscles that start swelling up. Thats only when you realize how hurt you are…
PAT JANKIEWICZ: When you realized what had happened, did you make a full recovery?
MICHELE MORROW: Yeah–I had a neck brace on for about a year. It takes a long time to recover, but in the end, it was probably one of the best things that ever happened to me.. You clear a lot of things out of your life, and get to re-focus on what you want your direction to be. I wrote a horror film script caled APETURE, to make the most of my time. It also happened at a really good time because the industry was slow anyway, with the strike..(Laughter)
PAT JANKIEWICZ: Only an actress would look for the ‘really good time’ to break her neck!
MICHELE MORROW: I know, but if it had to happen, it happened at the right time. Now I’m all better and nothing helped me recover faster than FANGORIA in Vegas!
PAT JANKIEWICZ: If there’s a BASEMENT JACK 2, would you want to be in it?
MICHELE MORROW: Absolutely, yeah–I would totally wanna be in it!
PAT JANKIEWICZ: You’ll say that til Jerry Bruckheimer calls.
MICHELE MORROW: That would be a nice problem to have! A BASEMENT JACK sequel has been talked about–Sam Skoryna, who played the good cop in the first movie, and I will be together in the sequel and it will be set at Christmas time. That’s all the details that I know that I am allowed to give out.
PAT JANKIEWICZ: On BASEMENT JACK, you worked with the coolest modern Scream Queen. How was Tiffany Shepis?
MICHELE MORROW: Tiffany Shepis is the hardest working girl in horror. I looked at her imdb before I met her and I was shocked to see how many titles she did in just one year alone. We didn’t have many scenes together – just one I believe, but she’s very natural and believable on camera.
PAT JANKIEWICZ: Sounds like you liked her.
MICHELE MORROW: Very much. BASEMENT JACK was a departure from her usual bare-all persona — but I’ll tell ya, she’s a smart girl that is confident and knows how to use that hot bod of hers while she’s young. I wish I had a shred of that sort of confidence. Usually I don’t have much respect for girls who go naked in movies – mostly because the majority of them do it for acceptance…or because they think they have to, because that’s what they think is expected of them. Tiffany seems to use her body with purpose, because she can – not because she has to. That’s cool. And most of all she’s a clever actress, and a very convincing ‘one-of-the-boys’ kind of cop in BASEMENT JACK.
PAT JANKIEWICZ: Whats the most important part about being a Scream Queen?
MICHELE MORROW: The term “Scream Queen” has been taken many ways. I consider myself more of a Final Girl. Everybody wants the tag–especially the girl who dies first, the girl having sex, the girl who shows her tits…She’s gonna be a scream queen because she does scream quite loud. I take the term from Jamie Lee Curtis, one of the first Scream Queens and definite Final Girl. Look at her in HALLOWEEN; a Scream Queen is a very powerful female character. I take it as a great deal of respect from anybody who calls me this… It’s a role model–its somebody who’s a survivor… Somebody who may get really scared but is manipulative when she needs to be. She uses her environment, knows her surroundings and is very aware, very witty and very cunning. I consider myself more of a Final Girl, but Its the knowing of who your character is and being the big female star of the movie. Scream Queen is a more known term though, so I get that more often. I’ve had a few websites and MAXIM name me “Scream Queen of the month” a few times now (laughter).
PAT JANKIEWICZ: Any horror impress you lately?
MICHELE MORROW: I’m really excited about PARANORMAL ACTIVITY. The lead girl, Katie Featherstone, has come out of nowhere with this great look–she has these big wide eyes, which makes her so relatable. That’s why she’s a great Scream Queen–you can relate to her. Audiences go, ‘Wow–she looks like somebody I know’ and that’s what makes it scary. You feel like you know her. You feel you could be in that world. It’s fun to go into the ubersexy RESIDENT EVIL world, but with PARANORMAL, it scares you more because it feels like it’s happening next door. The main girl looks like your sister or best friend.
PAT JANKIEWICZ: So, where are you from?
MICHELE MORROW: I am from Spokane originally, then went to the University of Washington to study acting. One of my teachers was Joel McHale, who does THE SOUP on E! [Ed note: McHale also stars in NBC's COMMUNITY]
PAT JANKIEWICZ: You were on TV’s goriest crime show, C.S.I. How was that?
MICHELE MORROW: I played a criminalist, a random co-star role when I first moved to LA. I did that and SON OF THE BEACH–
PAT JANKIEWICZ: The Howard Stern SON OF THE BEACH, BAYWATCH parody?
MICHELE MORROW: Yeah–that’s how I got my SAG Card, believe it or not! Very small uncredited role though… mostly just cool to have been on that set (laugher).
PAT JANKIEWICZ: You didn’t do any movies in Seattle?
MICHELE MORROW: The very first audition I ever had was for a slasher movie called DOING TIME ON LOVER’S LANE that shot in Seattle, Washington. I was at the callback, and it was down to me and an actress named Anna Faris. After we auditioned, she asked me for a ride home or to her car, I dont remember….I just dropped her off and never saw her again ’til I saw SCARY MOVIE (laugher)!
PAT JANKIEWICZ: What’s amazing is, I interviewed Anna Faris and she talked about what a horrible time she had making LOVERS LANE!
MICHELE MORROW: I said, ‘My God!’ when I saw her in SCARY MOVIE, a real surprise. I heard LOVERS LANE(as it was re-titled) was a total nightmare shoot, but she’s right. Horror movies are rough, they’re hard to shoot and not easy to do. Particularly if you’re running away from a serial killer–you’re gonna be running in heels, in the rain, falling down, beaten up, you’ll hit back and go through emotional turmoil thinking about somebody killing your entire family… Its a tough job. People try to give horror a tough time, ‘well, it’s not drama’, but it is–they are the most dramatic movies I have ever done–the emotion of fear translates into every single language. That’s why they sell all over the world, fear is the same no matter where you are from.
PAT JANKIEWICZ: What was your first gig?
MICHELE MORROW: The very first movie I ever made in L.A. was called SLAUGHTERHOUSE OF THE RISING SUN. Oh God, it’s such a cool movie! It’s made as if it was actually done in 1971. I play an actress in the movie, who is playing a character in the movie… I’m essentially playing two roles in the film. My actress in the movie isn’t very good, she doesn’t know she’s supposed to be over the top and melodramatic, not delivered well. What’s also cool is they scratch the film so it looks old and grainy–
PAT JANKIEWICZ: Like in GRINDHOUSE?
MICHELE MORROW: Exactly! All those little details to make the film worn so it resembles this exploitation movie makes it really enjoyable for people who love horror movies. You can laugh at the little idiosyncrasies. Its cultish humor though.
PAT JANKIEWICZ: Did you make it through til the end credits?
MICHELE MORROW: Nope–I die! I did a lot of stunts in that and then I get hung. I die a lot of times.. I think I have died about 12 times now.
PAT JANKIEWICZ: In what ways has Michele Morrow been murdered on film?
MICHELE MORROW: Let’s see – I was hung, stabbed twice, eaten by vampires once, drug overdosed, car crash twice, suicide twice…. I may have been exaggerating at 12, but it’s close.
PAT JANKIEWICZ: What’s your best death scene?
MICHELE MORROW: Coolest would be the vampires for sure. Its the only one that couldn’t happen in real life. But, I would say that getting hung was pretty scary. In SLAUGHTERHOUSE, I had on a big harness that was hanging from a tree. The noose was over my neck and when they pushed me over, they pushed me off of the ledge. The harness caught me, but I did it so believably, the crew really thought I was actually being hung and stopped filming. In THE STACKS, a very low budget indie movie, I played a girl in a library. She’s a bipolar manic depressive who doesn’t take her pills and thinks someone is chasing her. She’s delusional and ends up dying in a car crash. Very difficult to shoot as well, but a lot of fun.
PAT JANKIEWICZ: As an actress in horror films, do you feel pressure to do nudity?
MICHELE MORROW: As far as nude scenes….you know, they are totally avoidable. Any girl who feels pressure to do something she doesn’t wanna do can just walk away. Girls forget that. A lot of actresses at the indie level feel like they don’t wanna miss their shot, but there are a shitload of bad scripts out there. And just because they have some D-list D-bag actor in it, doesn’t mean you will benefit anything more than being ‘the chick that took her shirt off for attention.’
Truly, there are some good roles for a small number of girls that are really kick ass at taking their clothes off – Tiffany Shepis being one of them. And those roles are going to her, and the few like her. Nudity has earned its rightful place in horror houses, but…it really isn’t necessary in every freaking horror movie that comes out. You know? Its like, the same thing a billion times over – like the vampire movies/tv shows out right now. Its oversaturation and obsession. Hollywood likes to overdose on anything. For a town that creates as much as it does, it certainly goes through its droughts of creativity. So…I’m not saying I won’t do it – it just has to be original enough to peek my interest.
PAT JANKIEWICZ: as the female lead, you generally aren’t the one showing your breasts–that’s usually an honor reserved for the first victim!
MICHELE MORROW: Right–not to take away from any of the girls who do. God knows we need them in this sort of movie. It’s cool to have girls who feel able and uninhibited enough to do that.
PAT JANKIEWICZ: Of course, when Jerry Bruckheimer calls, you’ll be happy to–
MICHELE MORROW: If Jerry calls, ‘Ab-so-lutely!’(Smiles)
PAT JANKIEWICZ: What else have we seen you in?
MICHELE MORROW: Believe it or not, I did a kids movie after I met the director at the FANGORIA Los Angeles convention two years ago!
PAT JANKIEWICZ: Really?
MICHELE MORROW: Yeah, it’s called CHARM BRACELET. It’s about a Hannah Montana type girl who moves to the middle of nowhere because she no longer wants to be famous.I play her fun, video game playing older sister, which wasn’t much of s stretch for me.
PAT JANKIEWICZ: Do you do a lot of voiceover work?
MICHELE MORROW: A fair amount. I did a voiceover for G4’s X-PLAY and some voiceover work for J.J. Abrams and Bryan Burk’s FRINGE. I’ve also done hosting for GAMEBREAK, a video game review show on Break.com.
PAT JANKIEWICZ: Tell us about VIDEODOME RENT-O-RAMA.
MICHELE MORROW:I did that for Alexa Sheehan (A.D. of Saw). It’s her directing debut, so she got a bunch of her friends in the industry to do it, like Ted Raimi, Dina Meyer, Lin Shaye, Gregory Itzen, Patrick Flueger… I play the girl that the lead kid, Joe Egender, is in love with. Takes place at a Movie Rental Store and the kid is writing a screenplay… so the video store turns into whatever genre he’s writing, as his alter ego, played by Patrick Flueger, is the hero. If it’s a World War II movie, it becomes SAVING PRIVATE RYAN by the return racks. My genre is horror, of course, and a Leatherface type guy tries to kill me!
PAT JANKIEWICZ: You were the last guest on ALIAS?
MICHELE MORROW: I was–I was on the very last episode. It was really cool to be on a show that I loved to watch. I was in a scene with Victor Garber. It was a thrill to meet him.
PAT JANKIEWICZ: The cat costume is very cool. Any special symbolism in coming dressed as a cat?
MICHELE MORROW: Actually, there is! I’m working on a pilot called CAT TALES RESCUE. It’s for a television show that will focus on the rescue of big cats, as well as the daily activities at the rescue facility. CAT TALES RESCUE is a passion project for myself and production partner/tennis star Jan-Michael Gambill. We grew up together in Spokane, Washington, and as kids, we did charity/volunteer work for a local big cat rescue facility named Cat Tales. The curators, Sunbear and Cat One (aka Mike and Debbie Wyche), have rescued hundreds of exotic animals – many of them saved from extreme situations, like drug busts.
PAT JANKIEWICZ: Why would there be an exotic animal at a drug bust?
MICHELE MORROW: Sadly, it’s pretty common. Some dude in western Washington was running a meth lab and decided he would guard his property with four full grown Siberian Tigers. I mean…kinda pimp, but…they’re tigers.
PAT JANKIEWICZ: That sounds like something out of SCARFACE!
MICHELE MORROW: I know. They aren’t guard dogs, they’re wild animals and they don’t belong in the freezing forests of Washington state. So Sunbear and Cat One rescued them.
PAT JANKIEWICZ: Seattle is so rainy–I’m surprised the cats like it.
MICHELE MORROW: That’s the thing…One of the largest challenges they face is the fact that Washington state is not the warmest place, and their current property is entirely outdoors. When the snow hits, employees have to work around the clock to ensure the cats stay warm and have unfrozen water. Our goal is to build them an INDOOR educational facility and museum, as they have never been able to save enough money to do so. Fingers crossed. Make sure to look for it in your local listings.
PAT JANKIEWICZ: Good luck on that and your film work, Michele.
MICHELE MORROW: Thanks! I invite all Fangorians to check out my website, michelemorrow.com–that’s Michele with one “L”! You can find all that and more up to date on my site!
