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 Ive 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,
Frankensteins 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. |