 Vera
Vanguard migrated from Moscow as
a child and grew up in
Manhanttan's lower east side. She
is a stuntwoman, actress, and a
witty redhead with some
refreshing attitude. She has
studied kung fu under a Shaolin
monk, modelled for fantasy
artists Boris Vallejo and Julie
Bell, and ruled the horror world
with a double-edged scepter as
Scream Queen of the Month. Vera
has also made a big splash in the
comic/superhero convention loop
appearing as game legends
BloodRayne, Laura Croft, and
Black Widow. Her film appearances
include a deliciously bloody
vampiric demise in 'Strange
Things Happen at Sundown' as well
as a couple (shhh, don't tell her
I mentioned them) less than
fang-tastic vehicles -- 'Vampire
Heat' and 'Vampire Playmates'
among others. And the lovely and
talented Vera Vanguard is also
the subject of the latest
exclusive racks and razors
interview. Hi Vera,
why don't you start us off with a
visual and describe the room
where you are answering these
questions?
I'm
in my apartment in Hollywood. I
decorated it to look like an
Asian harem. Palm trees...
pillows, futon on the floor...
more pillows... it's like this
place was designed for only ONE
thing...
Tell
me about your work in the 2003
horror flick 'Strange
Things Happen at Sundown'.
Well....
I've been in a lot of crappy
movies but... geeze! The thing I
remember most about this flick
was the sheer AMOUNT of blood I
wound up laying in for hours. I'm
a redhead and I didn't have to go
touch up my roots after that. The
other most notable and
commendable thing about that
movie was that there was NOT ONE
GIRL wearing pants in the whole
thing - AND it made sense that no
one did. For example, my
character was dressed in her
boyfriend's shirt when she caught
the vampire killing the mentioned
boyfriend in the kitchen - see?
no pants.
How
did your title of Scream Queen of
the Month title come about?
I
don't quite know. I always
thought that scream queens were
girls who were in movies and,
well, screamed! I've NEVER
screamed in a movie. I'm a
stuntgirl as well as an actress
so I always wind up either
playing the monster or kicking
the monster's ass. Either way I'm
sort of always in either a
vampire or zombie flick. I did
one last year where the
production didn't care about
zombie makeup continuity so I
played four different (redhead)
zombie soldiers. I just ran out
of stuff to do with my hair after
awhile.
Let's
take that one step
further...suppose that title
allowed you to rule the world --
what are the first couple of
things you would do?
Get
a better budget for some of this
stuff they shoot me in. Screw the
war! We need to give money to bad
B-movie horror directors so they
can afford to buy more blood to
pump out more Tarentino-like
effects from Kill Bill Vol1.
You
also work heavily as a stunt
woman and got into that through
Kung Fu. Now what about that
martial art has helped prepare
you for the world of movies and
Hollywood?
The
zen-like state of mind comes from
years of practicing the art of
fighting without fighting
(stuntwork). But seriously, what
DOES prepare anyone for the world
of Hollywood? I mean other than
fake boobs and the Jenny crank
diet?
Sounds
like you have a couple
blood-sucking racy titles with 'Vampire
Playmates' and 'Vampire
Heat'...care to give
your fans some more details
regarding those two movies?
Not
one actually... and we will never
mention them again!
You
also appear at numerous
conventions as several characters
-- Black Widow, Laura Croft, and
Bloodrayne...how did that sort of
gig come about and how do you
relate to fans as that character?
I'm
a giant gaming geek. Oh don't let
my good looks throw ya! I grew up
that girls that everyone said had
the "good personality"
or was "pretty in her own
way" - till I got my ass
into a gym. After that the whole
privilege to wear spandex
costumes came about and since I
was obsessed with Tomb Raider at
the time I decided to attend my
first comic book convention
dressed as Lara... I walked like
her in the game and spoke with a
British accent... I was the hit
of that show, I even pissed off
Tracy Lords, who was headlining
that show because I was stepping
into her limelight. I can die
happy now.
Do
you have to follow certain rules
as each of those characters and
if so what are some of the
restrictions or mandatory
requirements?
I
never like to wear wigs and
prefer to use my own hair. Since
I'm a redhead, there are only so
many characters I can do. Lara,
BloodRayne (a costume which I
went HARDCORE and cut my hair
into a bob), and Black Widow are
all redheads.
Okay,
we're pulling the car into the
Vera Vanguard Drive In...what
three horror flicks are on the
triple bill for tonight and what
goodies are they going to be
serving up at the concession
stand?
Showgirls,
StripTease, Titanic - all
frightening! I still shiver every
time I hear Celine Dion's voice.
The concession stand would be
filled with Pepto, Milanta and
Tums for the inevitable diarrhea.
What
scares you in real life?
Ignorant
and inexperienced producers.
What
makes you go psycho in real life?
What
a down note to end this
interview. Hands down - liars.
They
we'll end it by saying thanks for
the interview and all the best to
you in the future both in your
career and in life.
|
