 Jilon
Ghai is a very exotic name for a
Southern California born actor
will All-American good
looks...but it is also a name you
won't soon forget, especially if
you have seen this young talented
actor on screen. He's only been
acting for 3 years or so but
already has an impressive list of
credits. On his horror resume he
has done two scare flicks set in
asylums 'Boo' (2005) with Dee
Wallace Stone and 'Death Tunnel'
(2005) in which he stars as Mason
as well as the scarey movies 'Bad
Blood' in which he plays Click
alongside Piper Laurie and Conrad
Janis (who is also directing) as
well as Byron in the Phil Creager
movie 'Death By Engagement' with
Christa Campbell and PJ Soles.
Additional credits include 'Alien
Abduction', 'Malibu Spring
Break', 'Miriam', 'Eternal
Bliss', and 'Take Out'. He is
being cast right and left and it
seems only a matter of time
before Jilon Ghai becomes a
household name. Jilon,
why not start the readers off
with a visual and describe the
room where you are answering
these questions.
I
sit at my desk... I have my
Washington story Illuminated by
my Lion Lamp, and Sunlight
candle. Beneath my Cafe La Nuit
Van Gogh. Behind me a large
painting of an underwater City.
Next to me is a bowl of delicious
hot soup and a Samurai Sword....
Can ya fuckin believe it?
Jilon,
I'm curious - your name is so
unusual given your sort of
All-American look. How did that
happen?
Yeah,
people are always curious about
it. Whenever a new teacher paused
while taking attendance I'd smile
and say, "Here!" Girls
I've dated tell their mothers and
they ask, "Is he
black?" But that's ok. Our
primary ancestry is German,
Dutch, & Hungaria. My parents
were in love with French
poetry... among other things. And
so it goes with all my
siblings... Guebri Jaigle, Jilon
Ghai, Gaven Joniah, Jamel
Gelkhan, Jerid James. Qweschunz?
 Lots of people
have a deep fear of places like
mental institutions...and two
horror films you made this year
have been set in mental hospitals
- 'Boo'
(2005)
with Dee Wallace Stone and 'Death
Tunnel' (2005)
...Did the settings creep you
out?
I
think mental institutions are
horribly fascinating because of
the infinite mental
possibilities. It's like a big
zoo where doctors try new meds I
mean are patients cured or just
caged? Yes they did. The movie
set is a movie set, but once you
wander up the stairs... and down
the hall... and it gets quiet..
and you hear things... Your
imagination is what scares you
the most.
 So tell
me how your role as Byron in 'Death
By Engagement' (2005)
with PJ Soles and Christa
Campbell came about?
I
actually read for Michael,
Byron's buddy. The dialogue was
loose and fun and it came off
with great energy. A month or so
later I got the call that they
cast me as Byron. Phil said,
"You're gonna thank me when
you see who we cast as your
girlfriend..." I said,
"show me Phil..."
Needless to say he showed me.
Thank you Phil.
Do
you have a favorite memory of the
filming you would like to put in
a timecapsule for posterity?
Hmmmmm...
Keg stand was fun... Byron,
Michael improv dance was cool...
Picking at the spam loaf in the
doorway was neato... Passing out
in the Cheetos was comfy... But
I'm gonna have to go with the
"Love" scene.
I
also must hear all about your
newest horror flick
'Bad Blood' with
Piper Laurie and Conrad Janis.
Can you give me a synopsis that
will make seeing it irresistable
to the Racks and Razors readers?
Wet
T-shirts, redneck brawls,
Seeeexual tension, butcher
knives, romance, Spike pits,
humor, heroism, roasted Snickers
at one hell of a barbeque! oh,
and world famous cherry pie...
Anyone hungry?
 You've starred
in several horror flicks to date
and the genre is notorious for
the gruesome and sometimes tough
to deliver special FX - what has
been the most challenging effect
that you've been part of or
witnessed in your horror career?
The
effect in DBE that makes Christa
look like she's not enjoying my
love making. That was impressive.
The effects done in Boo were
pretty impressive. Most of them
were done right in front of us.
When Happys face starts to slide
off.. Kevin Wasner is below him
doing an upside down puppet show.
And when I get knocked 30 feet
down the hall at the end of the
movie we had one shot at it. Last
shot of the last day. We screw up
and we lose the shot and get shut
down. I leap back onto concrete
covered in dust and five big
volunteers pull me like a team of
horses... and we got it. That was
fun. I'm starting a new film this
month called Marco Polo. This
film will have some pretty
challenging effects. I'll keep
you posted on it.
What
about the horror genre do you
think has made it especially
welcoming for you?
The
horror... the horror... Horror
films actually make up less than
half of my resume, but horror
films are everywhere, so there is
definitely more opportunity for
that work. Horror takes most
characters through extreme
circumstances. I guess I enjoy
going to those dangerous places.
I love to get down and dirty.
Doing these films has taught me a
tremendous amount about what to
do and what not to do as an actor
and a film maker. Horror films
are great to cut you teeth on...
Literally!
 Since
many of our readers also are keen
on SciFi I want to hear a bit
about your 2005 film
'Alien Abduction'.
Eric
Forsberg wrote and directed Alien
Abduction, and he and I worked on
a film earlier that year called
White Nights. It was based on
Dostoyevskys novella, and Eric
was a producer on it. Eric asked
me to read Alien and said he had
written a part with me in mind.
It was Thomas, the part I liked.
Thomas was a male nurse who falls
in love with the heroine (the
girl not the drug). He seemed
like a real innocent kid which
was something I hadn't really
played. He needed the lovin.
Okay,
we're pulling the car into the
Jilon Ghai Drive In. What three
horror flicks are going to be on
the triple bill for tonight and
what goodies are they going to be
serving up at the concession
stand?
I
could go with The Exorcist, Bram
Stokers Dracula, and perhaps
Jaws. But why not go with So I
Married an Axe Murderer, The
Burbs, and House ll? Scary? Not
really... but funny. And as for
the concession stand? I'm a fan
of the Sour Patch Kid infused
Popcorn con Agua myself. But if
I'm runnin a drive in... You want
it you got it!
If
you could select your dream role
in any genre - what sort of part
or role would be tailor made to
show your acting talent to its
fullest---and why?
I
would play George Washington in
the action adventure-drama about
his life. I would play the entire
man young and old. I was cast to
do it two years ago, but it
wasn't ready to manifest at the
time, so the project fell apart.
But the time draws near...
What
scares you in real life?
My
imagination... Global Warming...
And back flips on trampelines
that go horribly wrong.
What
makes you go psycho in real life?
Obsession...
by Jilon Ghai
|
