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
|