Set: Skinwalkers (3/3)

Last Updated on July 28, 2021

PART
1 /
PART 2 /
PART 3

After
the second set of interviews, the rest of the journalists and I went
to lunch. It was there I got to talk to the few female journalists
there about my new found crush for the almost unrecognizable Jason
Behr (hottie!!). I felt a little childish swooning over a celebrity
like a school girl until we went back to the set and saw Rhona Mitra
(Nip/Tuck) in plain sight chatting away on her cell phone. It was
then the male journalists’ turn to swoon. A few of them were staring
at her as if they were trying to send some kind of subliminal
message such as “Marry Me” or “Have my baby.” I
know what you guys are thinking. “Is she as hot as she looks on
TV?” Being “strictly dickly”, I don’t look at girls
that way, but I can say she’s very striking. Intimidatingly so.
(There! That’s the best you’re going to get out of me. Not
satisfied? Then look at the Mistress of the week section….I’m sure
the Arrow has put her up some where.)

So
without further ado, here are the final set of interviews with
producer Don Carmody, Sarah Carter and the “striking”
Rhona Mitra. Enjoy!

Rhona Mitra	Sarah Carter

Can
you tell us about your character?

RM:
I’m the only non-werewolf. (laughs) Rachel represents a strong
matriarch maternal figure, who has to protect her son.
I think she represents a really great combination of
masculine and feminine energy, sorted of melded into a maternal
figure, which is nice because she doesn’t victimize herself or her
son in the situation. She just takes charge with the matter at hand,
and deals with it when it’s presented.

Do
you think that level of complexity in a woman’s character is a
sort of a new façade of the genre, which really hasn’t celebrated
strong, intelligent women in a long time?

RM:
I think it’s been creeping in for the last decade I’d say in my
experience. I’ve definitely been aware of it having grown up, and
myself, seeking for that role model out there in any different form.
Whether it’s pixilated or in real life.
I think it’s possible to men and women have been looking
for that. I think it’s got lost along the way. I think women have
sagged way and either tried to latch onto one too much of the
masculine force or too much of whatever they consider to be a
feminine force, which only presents itself sexually, and through out
sexuality. Tits and ass, if you want to call it. There’s this
balance that needs to be struck, which I think anybody is looking
for. So, it’s automatically attractive to find that role, and to
actually see it presented.

Do
you think that the maternal energy is one of the strongest forces?

RM:
Yeah, I do. It is. I know it is.

What
attracted you to this role?

RM:
That! (laughs) I’m just at that point where it’s incredibly
appealing to me. To not be the power yielding woman who’s a bitch,
or an over frail woman, or this over sexual woman. It’s just this
balance that strikes in between.
It’s only driven by one thing. That’s maternal instinct.
It doesn’t come from external forces. It’s just an
internal force. It feels like a fulcrum to a universe really, as
opposed to even just a genre.

For
this kind of role, how long did you have to get to know Matthew
[Knight] for to build a relationship there?

RM:
Umm…a week (laughs). He’s just like butter. He’s incredibly open.
He’s really professional too. I
think he knows what needs to be done in order to get to that place,
and he was instantly on my lap, giving me kisses, and opened himself
up. And then on the other hand, as an actor, he’s so well prepared.
He’s covered all his bases, so it’s just like working with the most malleable
clay. He’s just incredibly warm. It was from the get go we’ve
already kind of melded. So that was a blessing and a half, because
that to me, and for the audience that needs to be plausible.

Are
you also finding that the women in this movie are strong? We’ve met
your evil opposite.

SC:
I do. I was right on the same page with Rhona with that. I think
Katherine, my character is also a hero. It is that balance between
strength and vulnerability, sense of power my character gets to go
through, and through all that, she maintains her strength and sense
of purpose. There’s a
mission in this film and all the female characters stay very true to
this mission.

There’s
how many aggressive female werewolves? One?

RM:
Two. Well no…aggressive full blown ones?

SC:
There’s one.

RM:
She’s a goodie (talking about Sarah Carter).

RM:
It’s Wolves gone wild. (laughs)

I
was wondering if there was some sense of gender parody going on
here, where the women
bring a different sort of a strength to the film than the most
dangerous werewolves in the film, which seem to be men.

SC:
Yeah, I think the women
definitely have that animalistic, perceptive thing happening. The
concept of werewolves is animalistic…

RM:
Primal.

SC:
As women, all of those primal instincts are heightened. Women have
certain strengths men don’t have, and men have strengths women don’t
have, and both are equally as valuable.

RM:
It wears out in the end though, because it’s the female force that
wins through in this particular story. Unless you believe there is
part 2. (laughs)

Is
that something that’s more modern in today’s filmmaking? The
complexity of female roles?

RM:
I’d say so wouldn’t you?

Yeah,
but I want to hear you say it (laughs)
.

RM:
Yes! (Laughs)

Were
either of you fans of the genre before?

RM:
Of horror? I’m really scared of it.

You
are?

RM:
Yeah, and for me watching it, I have a very over-active, pretty dark
imagination as it is. I
don’t need too much assistance in that department.
I need to, because I know there is some beautiful stuff made
out there. I have two brothers that are knee deep in it, so it
creeps through. But I’m not drawn to films necessarily that will
scare the crap out of me.

Have
there been any moments on set that have scared you while filming?

SC:
Shooting the guns. (laughs) It is scary. In fact, when we were at
the range learning to shoot guns for the first time, I pulled the
trigger and it was incredibly emotional. It just felt so wrong, and
you’re using a weapon that is only made to kill. So when we were
shooting the scene, we were in such a close proximity, it was
frightening. I can’t imagine doing a war movie.

RM:
I think the scary stuff has been going on at Stan Winston’s studio
(laughs). Everything was hypothetical up until a point. I had
conversations with Jim [Isaac] and he was explaining, and I said,
‘This is fascinating, because I haven’t seen a representation you’re
talking about.’ It
hasn’t been done I think to my knowledge. I’ve tried to trace back
and think about what has
been represented as this kind of amalgamation
of man and wolf and there really hasn’t. So until we went down
there, which really wasn’t a week before we came out here, I had no
idea when I actually saw it [werewolf].
The amount of work and the level of expertise is absolutely
incredible, and it really is to the truth of your imagination what
this thing would look like and how you want it to be. It’s going to
be pretty frightening, because these guys all done an amazing job.

SC:
It’s frightening having all the wounds all over you.
Yesterday I was completely ripped up. Stan Winston and his
people are phenomenal It was a scary experience

Are
you finding the prosthetics tasking?

SC:
It was a long procedure.

How
long does it take?

SC:
It takes two to two and a half hours to apply and a half and a half
to remove.

Is
it uncomfortable?

SC:
No. It’s only uncomfortable because of the power of my imagination.
(laughs)

DON
CARMODY
(producer)

How
did you become involved in this project?

I
was told by Jim [Isaac] about two and a half years ago. He was
working with James Demonaco. He’s a writer I’ve been working with on
Assault on Precinct 13. I read the script and I really liked the
content. I felt that I could put the picture together and package
it. I definitely wanted to get Stan Winston involved in doing the
creatures. I’ve known Stan for 25 years, and I’ve known he’s always
had a thing for doing a werewolf movie. It’s something that’s
fascinated him for years. We sort of put that together with
financing from

Constantine

, which has done a quite a few of my movies, and Lion’s Gate. So,
that sort of came together in a two year period.

Did
you have any questions about whether or not the genre was ready for
a shift into werewolf movies? Because they haven’t been done for a
long, long time.

Well
they haven’t been, and I thought that it could definitely use one.
When I saw Underworld, I thought, ‘This movie’s all about these poor
werewolves having bad press agents.’ And they really should be
treated nicer. (laughs) I mean, there are so many vampire movies out
there. No one’s ever done in my mind, a really cool werewolf movie.

Was
there something that was intrinsically North-American or western
about a werewolf that appealed?

That
was something that appealed me to about the script was this kind of
western feel to it. That was definitely an attraction to it. It’s
inheritably American, where as the vampire is definitely European.

Even
with the suspension of disbelief factor, do you think that
werewolves would be a bit more believable to an audience?

I
think the way we’re doing it, it’s absolutely believable.
That’s the thing. They don’t all of a sudden become giant
wolves. They become
humans that take on wolf-like attributes, and that makes them
creepier, scarier and sexier in my mind.

Do
you think that gives you more latitude with the story? Since it is
basically a human-based story?

Yeah,
I do. It also keeps the acting going. These terrific actors are
bringing themselves to the parts. They’re not just dressed up in
big dog outfits. (laughs) It’s them, and you know it’s them.

Well
that’s it! Will the bad clan of werewolves get what they what or
will the good clan triumph over evil?
Will the look of Stan Winston’s werewolves match the hype?
Will the transformation sequences make the famous AMERICAN WEREWOLF
IN LONDON transformation scene look like something out of CURSED?
Will Jason Behr ever be single? (Oops! Off topic!)
You will have to wait until next Halloween (when this film
hits theaters) to answer any of those questions.
I would like to thank Cynthia Amsden, the cast and crew, Todd from Twitchfilm.net and
the other journalists that made this set visit an awesome one!