SATAN'S REALTOR? CAMERON WESTON IS A HOT PROPERTY by Owen Keehnen

Jersey man Cameron Weston grew up over the George Washington Bridge from NYC...but his eyes were set on Broadway lights. He began working as a stage actor and was met with great success. quickly accumulating a slew of credits which include everything from 'Dirty Blonde' to 'Brigadoon', and 'Fiddler on the Roof' to 'A Funny Thing Happened On the Way to the Forum' and 'Two Gentleman From Verona'.

However, as of late the now San Francisco based actor has been doing movies as well --- and has a couple horror flicks in the can. In 'Hell House' he sells an 'evil' house to buyers and has the acting treat of being possessed by a demon (something Meryl Streep can't claim unless you count 'The Devil Wears Prada'). Also on the horror front Cameron stars in the ambitious 'In Search of Lovecraft', playing a researcher who makes a very disturbing discovery. His list of film credits also include the psychological thriller 'Phoenix Rising' and the sci-fi film 'Eye on You'. And as if that isn't enough...he can also put his entire hand in his mouth. That's entertainment!

 

So Cameron, can you set the scene for us and describe the room where you are answering the questions?

Ugh - it's my computer room and it's a complete mess. Lots of 'to be filed' paperwork to my left and beyond that a pile of stuff in the 'I need to go through this to figure out what it is' pile. On the wall in front of me is a Lindsay Lohan calendar that my brother decided I absolutely had to have, and behind me is a framed comic strip that friends of mine did of me and an old-fashioned gumball machine.

Okay first off can you tell me how your role of Chris, the alcoholic real estate agent in 'Hell House' for Digital Shadow Film came about?

It was a regular audition - I came in and read and they offered me the part. I remember that, in the audition they basically told me to just let go and go for it. I read a scene where I was growling and writhing on the floor threatening to kill someone. The scene I auditioned with is actually is in the final movie, too.

In it I hear you have the "honor" of being possessed by a demon...so what exactly did that make up entail?

I was possessed - that was fun. The makeup wasn't too much, surprisingly. Mostly stuff to make me look really washed out and creepy. But it was more than just the makeup. The costume and set helped, too. The costume was just jeans and a t-shirt but they wet them down, threw them in the dirt and then stomped on them until they were really filthy. Apparently people who are possessed are not terribly interested in personal hygiene. And the abandoned house that we filmed in was scary all by itself. When we got there, there was blood on some of the walls and dead birds in a lot of the closets - not in the rooms, just the closets. One night we were filming something upstairs when there was a big crash downstairs - one of the windows had just shattered. No one was near it, it just shattered on its own. It's not hard to act possessed in a place like that.

And as an actor...what are your tips for acting possessed?

Act in a haunted house! Plus drop your voice about an octave and make it really gravelly. Basically, act feral - like nothing else matters but the one task at hand, which is usually not something nice.

Another new horror film you have coming out is your work as Nigel Curwin in 'In Search of Lovecraft'. Why don't you tell me about your role and how it fits in with the overall film?

I play a half of a husband and wife research team in the '30s that is studying a cult and the cult's connections to the works of H.P. Lovecraft. My wife and I are filming our study when things go... awry. The movie jumps to present day where a reporter finds the film and begins to restore it. Throughout the course of the movie, bits of our film are recovered and viewed, and you start to see what happened to us and how it parallels what is happening in current time. This is a fantastic script, and I think the movie has a lot of potential. Plus, the movie contains the first really disturbing scene I ever shot, so that was a lot of fun - it's one of those nail-biters where we had one take to get it right and fortunately we did! 'Lovecraft' is due out March/April of 2007. Your readers can learn more about it, and see the trailer on the website, www.insearchoflovecraft.com

We also have a lot of sci-fi fans on this site so can you give me a little teaser about your work in 'Eye on You'?

This is a very ambitious, special effects-heavy project. It's set in the near future, and I play Brennan Stark, the controller of surveillance in San Francisco. The movie actually addresses a lot of the privacy issues currently facing the US. Half of my scenes were filmed on a rooftop in Oakland, CA overlooking San Francisco, and the other half were filmed in a greenscreen room. There was literally nothing in that room except a green table, a chair and green walls. But it doesn't look that way I'm still amazed at what effects can do. The director has cut a 55-minute version of the film, and he is shopping it to major studios down in Hollywood. It's another great script, so please keep a lookout for it!

Do you have any other upcoming projects you would like to let the www.racksandrazors.com readers know about?

Thanks for the opportunity! I just finished a lead in a comedy titled "Teachings of the Disgusting and Awful". I'm not necessarily the bad guy, but I'm definitely not the guy you're rooting for. It's really funny. The director is still editing it, but he feels it's got a lot of potential and I think he's right.

You're primarily a stage actor, correct. What are the best and worst aspects of stage vs. film for an actor?

I started in stage, but now I go back and forth. Stage has this immediacy to it that you don't tend to get on film - there are people literally right in front of you and you don't have much margin for error. And if you do make a mistake, you and your fellow actors have to figure out a way to make it work. But there's an excitement to live performance that you don't usually get in film. Film, though, lets you do a lot of things that are pretty much impossible in most theatres. You can have fire, rivers, whatever... you can go from a haunted house to an outdoor picnic in seconds.

Okay, what was the first movie you saw that scared the shit out of you?

I'm not easily scared, but this one is easy - The Omen. There's something much, much scarier about quiet menace than there is about a guy screaming at the top of his lungs. It's the quiet ones you have to watch out for - you never know they're coming.

We're pulling the car into the Cameron Weston Drive In. What three movies are on the horror bill for tonight and what goodies are they going to be serving up at the concession stand?

The first film has to be The Evil Dead. Bruce Campbell is an icon and I love the compass in the foot! Second would be The Ring - that's a movie that, for some reason, has stayed with me even years after I first saw it. I think it's the TV static that gets to me. The last film would be Shaun of the Dead, because we started with laughs and scares, and that's a great way to finish. This movie is funny and gory and even kind of scary - a great nightcap. At the concession stand, we've got diet Coke (because I absolutely live on the stuff), and since it's my drive in, draft beer. We've also got popcorn with real butter, where they fill it up halfway, put butter on, then fill it to the top and put more butter on. Also nachos, soft pretzels, pepperoni pizza and Philly cheesesteaks. And lots of napkins.

Vampires, zombies, creatures, aliens, witches, werewolves, psychos, telemarketers --- what does it for you horror wise and why?

Any and all of the above can work. I think it goes back to my answer earlier - I'm not the biggest fan of bad guys screaming at the tops of their lungs. I think quiet menace is much more frightening. That definitely does it for me.

What's something that frightens you in real life?

Clowns. GOD I hate clowns. They creep me out and they have always creeped me out.

And what makes you go psycho in real life?

Bad drivers. I am definitely the guy in the car screaming at the cars around me. But then I'm originally from Jersey - I think everyone is a bad driver. Plus customer service people on the phone who know you can't get to them so they feel free to mess with you. And do.

Finally, I want to hear about the first time you realized you could actually put your entire hand in your mouth.

Ah yes, my special skill! I actually remember exactly when this was - I was home and my Mom was having a party. I think her friends were bored because they kept betting me money to see if I could do things (in retrospect it\rquote s a little twisted). One was put my heel in my ear - no problem, I was about 10 then. But then someone said put your fist in your mouth. I did, wiped my hand off and got my dollar. It got a great reaction, and I've been doing it ever since. Everyone should have their own parlor trick!

Any fiinal words?

Thanks for the opportunity to do this - it was a lot of fun! And I'd love to invite your readers to come visit my website www.cameronweston.com to see updates on all the above movies, plus find out first what's happening next.