Actor Interview:

A Whole Lotta Nathan: Nathan Faudree Has A Big Year Ahead

So Nathan, let's start out with a visual for the www.racksandrazors.com readers.  Why don't you describe the room where you are answering these questions?

Ok, so, I'm sitting in my living room.  It's cozy and warm.  To my right is a reproduction of a Lautrec painting and to my left are my Evil Dead posters.  All around me are bookshelves, filled with books, DVDs and my comic book collection.  My feet are propped up on the box from the printer that I got for Christmas.  (and still haven't unpacked)

Nathan, you're God (or maybe the Devil) at Crazy Ralph Productions.  You have appeared in 6 of their movies so far including 'Kottentail', 'Phobic', 'Klownz', and 'Hunting Season'.  How did you get hooked up with the company?

When Tony started Crazy Ralph, he was working on his zombie opus "After Death".  I had been doing a bunch of a theater here in New York, and had always wanted to do a horror movie.  When I sent his materials, we began a communication that lasted even though the movie never got off the ground.  So, when it came time to do "Klownz", Tony offered me the part of Pisso.  The two of us worked long crazy hours and truly bonded over our shared affection for the genre.  I thought that I knew my stuff, but Tony knows it all.  We started talking ideas for more movies and the rest is history.  I got really lucky in meeting someone who I can consider a genuine friend and who also happens to be a talented writer and director.

Now at CRP you often play the villain. What's the best part about being the bad guy?

Have you ever been to the DMV and had to wait in line for hours and then wanted to just take a machete to everyone around you?  I get to do that.  What's not to love? Seriously, I try not to approach these characters as bad guys per se.  I try to make them as sympathetic as possible.  We've all had our bad days where we react poorly.  These guys just react in a different way than society tells us that we should.  In their own minds they are doing the right thing.

One of my favorites of your "villain" roles was as Larry Zito and Pisso (the demented clown) in 'Klownz'.  I know so many people who are terrified of clowns --- what makes them so fricking creepy and how did you bring that to your role as Pisso?

You can't trust a clown.  They are wearing a mask, just like any psycho killer.  The mask is just their face and it's always smiling. So, the real intent is in their eyes.  That's where you have to go in a performance.  The face may be happy, but the eyes are saying, "I'm gonna kill ya!"

You are also the only person I have ever interviewed who played a monster rabbit.  What was your overriding memory of filming 'Kottentail'?

I'm making history!  Yes!  My mother would be so proud. "Kottentail" was my first experience in acting with prosthetics.  I had heard a lot of people bitch about how horrible it was, the hours in make up, the restrictions in expression...but I loved it.  It's hard not to get in character with that make up on.  All the girls on the shoot would get really uncomfortable when I was around in make up...even though we would hang out after each day, as soon as I got it on, they just couldn't look at me...it was awesome, to see that little bit of fear in their eyes.  The hardest part was the teeth.  It was so hard to communicate with them in...And the first night I tried them on...they got stuck.  I spent about two hours in my hotel room, a little worried that I was going to have to wear buckteeth through the entire shoot.  The make up people ended up having to saw them out of my mouth.  Now, that was scary!

So tell me about your upcoming role as Klove in 'Demoniac'?

This is one that I am really excited to do.  I absolutely love the script.  I can't tell you too much about it without giving away a lot of the twists...and there are a lot of them.  I can say that if you're a fan of giallo films, you're gonna love this one. 

'Demoniac' is slated to be your second feature for Funhouse Pictures.  You also played Rodney in 'The Shrieking'.  What about that feature impressed you enough to return for seconds?

Shawn Hunt.  That's the reason.  He's a great director.  He's very sure of what he wants, but let's me play.  We got along great.  He's got such a passion, and knowledge of what he wants.  He wants to bring back the real scary movies of the 70s and I think that he's gonna pull it off...and hopefully I'll be along for the ride.

What as the best part about doing 'The Shrieking'?

Rodney was such a fun character to play.  He's kind of a dork, but he's funny.  Shawn let me go a little crazy with some of the lines...improving and trying to crack up the rest of the cast. Plus, I had worked with all of the cast before in various different capacities, hell, Anna Bridgforth, who played "Emily" is my girlfriend, so that made for a nice shoot, too.

You're also both the ranger and the monster in 'Holler Creek Canyon' for Capital Films.  I can sorta guess the uniform you wore as the Ranger, but what sort of uniform were you wearing as the Creature --- and is the creature supposed to be Bigfoot?

Yep, it's a Bigfoot.  So, you can imagine how hot I was shooting in southern Virginia in July in a Bigfoot costume.  There were two layers to the suit, a foam muscle suit and then the fur on top of that.  Every time I came out of costume, I would be sweating so much it would look like I'd been swimming.  By the end of the shoot, that suit smelled so bad.  The cast was running from me, not because I was scary, but because I stank.

You've also done numerous other films -- 'Deployment Strategy', 'A Pound of Flesh', 'Site 13', 'Normalcy', etc.  Of your 20 or so film roles which do you think provides the best showcase for your talents as an actor?

Ok, that's a tough one.  My favorite right now is "Hunting Season".  Mainly because it's my Bruce Campbell part.  I even chose my costume to look like Bruce's in Evil Dead.  There was a French website that was discussing some of the publicity shots and one of them gave me the ultimate compliment saying that I looked like Ash.  That's right, I'm the next Bruce Campbell...even if it's just in France.

You also run DangerYak Creations, a SFX and monster design company.  Where do you stand on the entire issue of CG effects vs. on-site effects?

I've got nothing against CG.  I just think that everyone is getting caught up in the whole shiny newness of it.  When it's used to augment practical effects, I'm a huge fan.  I think that just because you can show something with CG doesn't mean that you should.  I mean, that's the lesson from Jaws...don't show it...and it's a hell of a lot scarier.  Plus, CG blood just doesn't look right to me.

Oftentimes you hear about thespians in horror movies having to do all sorts of difficult stunts and disgusting things.  Has that been your experience?  If so what is the most frightening and/or disgusting thing you have ever had to do in a film?  And have you ever refused to do something for the camera?

I have never refused to do something gross, scary, or stupid and dangerous for a movie.  For me...pain is temporary...movies are forever.  That being said, the grossest thing that I’ve dealt with were the real pig intestines we used in Kottentail.  It wasn't so much that they were gross...it was the smell.  I had to take a quick breath of fresh air while we were shooting that...otherwise the monster would have been puking.

So Nathan, filmwise - what does it for you...what horror fan category do you fall into and why?  Vampires, werewolves, aliens, creatures, witches, ghouls, psychos, zombies, casting directors, telemaketers...

I'm a monster kind of guy.  Sure the psychos and stuff are cool and I'm not averse to them or anything, but ever since I was a kid, I've liked the creatures...aliens, werewolves, Frankenstein’s Monster, Godzilla...those are the ones for me.  Put a cool looking monster in your movie and I'll watch it...even if the rest of the movie is crap.

We're pulling the car into the Nathan Faudree Drive In.  What three fright flicks are on the triple bill and what goodies are they serving up at the concession stand?

That's easy...just play the Evil Dead trilogy...nuff said. Snacks...Anything with Bacon....I don't trust people who don't like bacon...there is something fundamentally wrong with that in my mind.

Do you have any other upcoming projects you would like to promote, brag about, or inform the www.racksandrazors.com readers about?

Well, this should be a big year for all things me.  Keep an eye out for Kottentail, Hunting Season, and Holler Creek Canyon...Those will all be out in video stores over the course of this year, and check out my website, for all the new info...www.NathanFaudree.com

What turns you into a psycho in real life?

Twizzlers...god I hate that stuff...I know, there's all kinds of stuff to make me go crazy, but I absolutely hate the smell of Twizzlers. 

What frightens you in real life?

Paris Hilton.  That chick scares the hell out of me.