Owen: You made
your film speaking debut as a prostitute in 'Don't
Look Back' with Eric Stoltz for
HBO. Was seeing yourself in your first
real role in a movie a dream come true or did you
take it in stride?
Athena: It wasnt my dream come true at the time. I
was acting as side work to help pay the bills.
And I never did get to see myself on the big
screen because my scene was cut for the final
movie. But meeting and working with Eric Stoltz
whom I had always liked was a real dream. He was
wonderful to work with and very funny. He helped
fuel my desire to do more acting and move to LA
to start a new dream.
Owen:
Cut? That sucks. Well, tell me about your role as
the first victim of 'The Blood Gnome'?
Athena:
That was a cameo I did. It was basically me
getting to beat the shit out of the
director/producer in a scene but just when I was
starting to have a bit too much fun, these little
Gnomes come in and eat us both.
Owen:
One of your best parts was as Angelina in 'The
Halfway House' with the incomparable
Mary Woronov as a crazed nun. What was
the filming experience like?
Athena: That was
the most wonderful experience of my feature film
career. The cast and crew were all amazing and
everyone worked together towards one common goal.
NO DIVAS and NO ATTITUDE on that shoot. I would
work with any of them again especially Ken Hall.
Owen: What about
Ms. Woronov took you by surprise?
Athena: Her writing. I love to read her books. My
favorite is "Swimming Underground."
If you have not read it, go get it today. I
believe its available in most bookstores or
on Amazon. Wow!! What a great and true story. She
is a fantastic storyteller.
Owen: I have also heard that a different actress was
originally slated to play Eddie (eventually
played by Monica Shere) but that she was fired
for having a negative attitude. Was that a
great lesson to see and learn about the
independent movie business?
Athena:
No. I have seen plenty actresses with attitude
get thrown off a set, even in the middle of a
shot. I saw an actress once argue with the
director. He took her aside and we never saw her
again. We shot some other stuff for a while till
another actress showed up and we proceeded to
shoot all those scenes again. This time with no
problem and better acting. Most of the attitude
actors also have very little talent and they know
it which is why the attitude.
Owen: Going along
with that, are a lot of roles in the low budget
arena referrals from people you have worked with
and or repeat directors, word of mouth, that sort
of thing?
Athena: 85% of all my independent work has come from
referrals or repeat performances. I am extremely
easy to work with and put up with a lot of
situations that most people could not deal
with. For example, during Halfway
House we shot a lot at night (all
night). The night of my death was especially long
because several actors had to die that night. I
had two setups. One where my boyfriend gets his
head cut off and covers my nude body with fake
blood and the other tied to an altar and being
eaten by a monster. However, the set up between
the two took about 2 or 3 hours. So I stayed
naked with drying fake blood caked all over my
entire body (hair, face, breasts, you get the
pic) freezing my ass off with nothing more
then a towel. But I wanted to maintain continuity
and not disturb the blood or wipe it off. So I
just dealt with it with a smile on my
face. When I finally had my scene, I hopped
up on the altar and did my screaming till the
jaws ate me. And of course, more blood to
splatter on my body.
Owen: Tell
me about your cameo in 'Creepies 2'.
Athena:
That was a quick day of shower, spider, prat
fall, wake and give birth to a giant monster
spider, scream and die. All with very little
clothing.
Owen: You also
played Captain Kir'oss in the 4.5 promotion film
of 'Battlestar Galactica: The Second
Coming' to bring back the series.
Were you a fan of the original series?
Athena:
I was a fan of the original series and had a
wonderful time on that set. We worked very hard
to make that production as seamless as possible.
I'm not particularly fond of the new series they
went with. Too many changes to the original. They
should have just continued the story line from 20
years ago the way Richard Hatch wrote.
Owen: How was
Richard Hatch as the star, writer, and director
of the project?
Athena: Richard
was amazing. He has so much experience in all
those fields and knows how to get his message
across. He was also very compassionate and hard
working.
Owen: You also
wrote the horror movie 'Out of the
Darkness' which your boyfriend at
the time the time somewhat ineptly filmed.
Are you ever tempted to resurrect the project
with a seasoned professional at the helm this
time?
Athena:
Oh yes. I would love to do it the way I wanted
to. My ex changed everything starting with the
script. He changed who the characters were, the
place where they went, and many of the
circumstances. I have rewritten the script back
to the way it was supposed to me and would love
to have someone else take a crack at it, someone
who knows what they are doing. Maybe I'll show it
to Ken Hall and see what he thinks.
Owen:
What projects do you have lined up in the near
future?
Athena:
Right now my only projects are the house
I just bought and my wedding coming up in
January. Those two are taking 150% of my
time right now. I do need to get back to acting
and hope to film something this fall.
Owen:
Congratulations! Looking over your
resume I also love that not only did you go to
school for Criminal Justice but you also ran for
political office (city council). What was
your platform?
Athena: I
just wanted all the students in the town to be
treated more fairly. I went to school in
Huntsville, TX where over 1/2 the population were
students and many of those students worked in the
area prisons (13 total). Yet we were treated like
transients. So I ran for office to show the local
community that we were a financial force in the
city and we should be treated with respect. I did
not win, but my point was taken and a position
was set up on the council, which a student would
occupy and speak on their behalf. So I did what I
set out to do.
Owen: What are the
top 5 movies on your horror "must
see" list?
Athena: Humanoids from the
Deep
The Exorcist
Psycho
Rosemary's Baby
?
Owen: What is something that
scares you in real life?
Athena:
Not much. I have little scares like when my dog
got out and ran away and I thought I would lose
him forever. But then he came back and all was
wonderful in the world again. Actually, knowing
who our president is and how the rest of the
world sees him, scares me. Knowing that there are
people out there that hate our president so much
that they hate all Americans and want us all dead
is really scary. And knowing that he could never
really protect us, nor would he. |