 Houston
native Skye McCole Bartusiak is a
young actress going places.
Though a mere 12 years old
(it’s just too weird to
write she was born in autumn of
1992!) most horror fans are
probably familiar with her work.
Skye was the precocious and very
mysterious young Franny in
‘Boogeyman’, she played
young Charlie McGee (the Drew
Barrymore character) in
‘Firestarter:
Rekindled’ for USA Films,
she was Pippa Hatcher in another
Stephen King adaptation
‘Storm of the Century’,
she was Michael Douglas’
kidnapped daughter in the
thriller ‘Don’t Say a
Word’, as well as in the USA
Network horror flick ‘The
Darkling’. Her non-genre
credits include such A-list
features as the Oscar winning
‘The Cider House Rules’
(in which she played Hazel),
‘The Patriot’ with Mel
Gibson, ‘Riding in Cars With
Boys’, ‘Blonde’
(playing Marilyn Monroe as a
child!), ‘Against The
Ropes’ (playing Meg Ryan as
a child!), ‘Affair of the
Necklace’ (with Hilary
Swank), etc.And
all this says nothing of her
extensive television series work,
which includes guest roles on
‘24’, ‘Touched By
an Angel’,
‘Frasier’, ‘Port
Charles’. Judging Amy’,
‘Providence ’,
‘Law and Order’, etc.
Going through the list all I can
say is “WOW!”
And
the greatest and most refreshing
thing about talking to Skye was
the immediate impression that
this was a seasoned veteran of
films…as well as a 12 year
old! There are no limits in this
charming young woman’s
future!! The best is yet to come.
Owen:
You started your film career at 7
years old in the Stephen King
mini-series 'The Storm of
the Century' in
1999. What is your most
vivid memory of that shot?
Skye:
I was 5 actually. I remember
Stephen bought us all little
bikes that we rode all over the
set and also I remember them
putting strawberry jelly all over
my face to look like blood.
Owen:
You also starred in the Stephen
King project, 'Firestarter:
Rekindled'
a USA Network sequel to
his book. Did your previous
role in his work
‘Storm of the
Century' help you get cast in
that at all?
Skye:
Nope. Not at all. Actually I did
a movie called ‘The
Darkling’...Ahhh
forgettable LOL. Anyway, they
were the same producers and they
called me to do it.
Owen:
It's interesting, you were also
in 'Riding In Cars With
Boys' with Drew
Barrymore and you play
Barrymore's original character,
Charlie McGee, (which Drew
did in 1984) in 'Firestarter:
Rekindled'. Were
you tempted to call her
up for pointers about
Charlie?
Skye:
No, I never saw the original and
so I never made that connection
that the first was Drew or I
would have mentioned it to her.
Owen:
You're probably best known to
horror fans for your fantastic
performance as Franny in 'Boogeyman'.
Was that film as scary to shoot
as it was to watch?
Skye:
Yes, it was scary to shoot. We
shot that at this really spooky
house in New Zealand that
belonged to an undertaker and we
shot very late at night and it
was soooo creepy.
Owen:
As you mentioned 'Boogeyman'
was shot in Auckland New
Zealand. What was the
strangest thing about being
in that country for three months?
Skye:
Probably the black sand beaches,
which I loved. Also I thought it
was strange the way the Maoris
tattooed their faces, but I loved
it and thought they were exotic
looking and I loved them!
Owen:
Tell me about the 'Boogeyman'
shoot.
Skye:
The director Stephen Kaye is the
youngest director I ever had and
he had a daughter Lily and we
became friends. Stephen never
talked to me like a baby, which
drives me nuts. Some directors
talk to kids like they are stupid
and don’t get it or whatever
– but he never did. I also
liked Rob Tapert and his
assistant Chloe. She had this
huge dog and I painted his
toenails red when Chloe
wasn’t looking.
Owen:
I know you said it was
forgettable, but another good
horror role of yours is as Casey
Obold in 'The Darkling'
with Aiden Gillen and F.
Murray Abraham. What do you
remember most
about filming that
movie?
Skye:
I just remember never really
getting what it was all about
when I was working on it and
after it was on film. ‘The
Darkling’ baby was
pretty funny though. Also I
worked with Nina Siemaszko’s
brother in ‘Storm of
the Century’. Her
brother Casey played my father so
it was cool to work with his
sister and she is a doll.
Owen:
Is it weird to see yourself on
screen?
Skye:
Yeah, and there is a lot of stuff
I won’t watch myself in if I
don’t like the dailies.
Owen:
You have starred as a young Meg
Ryan in 'Against The
Ropes', as one of
Mel Gibson's daughters in 'The
Patriot', as Michael
Douglas' kidnapped daughter
in 'Don't Say a Word',
as young Marilyn Monroe in the
mini-series 'Blonde',
as Hazel in 'Cider
House Rules', etc. Those
are some very high
profile roles...which has
been your favorite?
Skye:
‘The Patriot’
because there were tons of kids
on the set who I love like Trevor
Morgan and Mika Boorem and also I
love Roland Emerich and he
treated us so good and he is such
a nice director and I loved his
accent too. Also it was a
six-month shoot and we became
like family. ‘Blonde’
was a good set too, but that was
a hard role, really emotionally
demanding.
Owen:
Are all the kids at school back
in Houston totally jealous of
your career?
Skye:
No, most of them probably
haven’t even seen most of my
stuff, but a lot of my friends
have famous astronaut dads and
stuff so they aren’t very
impressed with me!! LOL. I wish
they were. LOL.
Owen:
What projects do you have lined
up in the near future?
 Skye:
I am filming a movie right now
with some Swedish guys who have a
lot of artistic vision so the
film will be beautifully shot.
It’s called ‘Kill
Your Darlings’.
Then I will shoot a short for
Sundance and then if the cards
fall right I will have another
feature, which I can’t
mention yet since there is no
deal in place.
Owen:
What is something that
scares you in real life?
Skye:
Not having money to
shop. LOL, Kidding. Ummm. I have
trouble sleeping after watching
horror movies and I get a little
spooked when we go camping and
there are noises in the night.
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