January 25, 2010

Working in the movie business in any capacity is tough. Working within the horror genre (while fun) is even tougher. But one of the toughest gigs out there is being a “scream queen.” Most actresses don’t ask for the title, but they find themselves getting it after inadvertently appearing in several independent genre films. Others aim specifically to work only in scary movies. VH1 has even created an entire reality series based on a handful of girls’ desire to earn the coveted title of “scream queen.”

The first in our five-part series of “indie scream queens” focuses on actress Erika Smith. Having starred in a bevy of independent horror titles such as Sinful, Crimson and iMurders, while also appearing in Bachelor Party 2 (as well as a bit part in The Wrestler), Smith’s experience spans the gamut of low-budget and big budget filmmaking.

Shock had the opportunity to speak candidly with her about some of the difficulties of working in the low budget genre world and examined how “horror” fits into her career.

Robg.: How does the horror genre, or movies in general, factor into your childhood or upbringing? Were your parents encouraging when it came to movies?

Erika Smith: Well, my family really always loved music, so there was always music growing up. And my parents had really good taste in music. They liked things like Bob Dylan and Elvis. I grew up with that sort of thing. I got really into movies on my own when I was about 12 years old. I was kind of shy but I was a big reader. I read the book Gone With The Wind and then rented the movie, and I just fell in love. I realized how much work went into bringing that book to life and I was just completely blown away by the glamour of it all, so I just got really into that period of moviemaking from the ’30s. I read all of these actors’ biographies and I’d ride my bike to the library and rent all the movies made during that time period.

My family wasn’t into movies, they were creative in their own way but none of them were artists. My aunt is a poet, but that’s about it for artists in my family. I didn’t think they’d understand my decision to go into the arts. When I moved to New York, I didn’t tell them why, I just said I wanted to go to the city, because I felt bored in the country. I went to New York, I paid for acting school myself and I think at some point I told them I was taking an acting class or that I did a play and I really liked it. When I graduated college they were like “well, are you going to get a job?” And I was like “well, I’m really liking this acting thing, I think I’m going to do that for a while.” And they were not happy about that! [laughs] They weren’t mean about it, but I got my share of lectures. I would say when I was about five years into it I really started working a lot and they saw that I was getting some sort of success, they started to realize I was good at it and that it wasn’t just a pipe dream. I worked really hard at it and now they’re really, really supportive. I’ll tell them when I have a big audition and they’ll get all excited or brag about me at work. They also went through a stage, too, where they were like “OK, fine. You’re going to be an actress. You better marry a rich guy to support your little hobby. [laughs] No more of this dating other broke artists.”

Robg.: Do you remember what was technically your first “horror” movie? And what stood out about that experience being so new in the business at the time?

Erika: Oh wow. I don’t even know. I mean, I think I counted at one time and I’ve been in over 50 different short films, student films and movies. Anything before the age of 24 I’m just drawing a blank, but the first thing that comes to mind is Bite Me.

Robg.: Well, horror movies are a bit different from other types of independent movies because it’s the first time you’re dealing with odd things like fake blood and FX!

Erika: True, all along the way, each movie is different, so I’ve had my “first” experience with weird horror things even up until my last movie. I’ve been killed a bunch of times in movies, but I guess the first time I played a zombie-like character there was this amazing special FX team and they made this big scar across my neck. Just looking at myself in the mirror, I was frightened. I couldn’t look at myself, because I was disgusted. [laughs] That was pretty crazy. That was for this short film called The Champ. For Sinful, my character was pregnant and I had to get stabbed in the stomach and then the girl takes the baby out of my stomach. We had fake blood and guts all in my stomach and I had to sit on the floor with it between my legs. The room was really cold and I sat there all in all for three hours like that while they changed the camera lens and did a few takes. That was pretty disgusting too. [laughs]

Robg.: What was the most difficult thing you’ve had to do for the sake of a low budget independent movie?

Erika: The first thing that comes to mind is really long hours and having to try to look really beautiful after your 17th or 18th hour of filming. And that’s usually something that doesn’t happen on big budget Hollywood movies because they don’t like to go overtime. But on low budget stuff, it’s non-union. You’re getting paid $100 a day, but the day could be 18 hours or something. On low budget things, you often have to do your own make-up and your own costumes and all that kind of stuff. I’d be on the corner at 5 o’ clock in the morning totting all these bags of cloths and make-up trying to hail a cab to get to set. I’ve had to sleep overnight on a set and wake up the next morning and shoot. I’ve never had to endure bugs or anything.

Robg.: Was there anything early on that you felt uncomfortable having to do, primarily in the low budget world?

Erika: I would say, in the beginning, nudity was uncomfortable for me. I’ve always been comfortable with my body but I wanted to have a certain amount of control over the situation. I wanted to make sure it wasn’t an exploitive scene or that I wasn’t going to look stupid in it; that the nudity was necessary and that I looked good. And a lot of times, they’re rushing you to do it and trying to convince you to do it and so there were a couple of uncomfortable situations with that. But in the end, it’s my call. I’m the one who’s putting themselves out there. I can always tell if a production is sleazy or not. Generally, I think that my willingness to do nudity sometimes gets me some opportunities, because other girls refuse to do it. I’m in the union because I agreed to do nudity in Bachelor Party 2. And I thought that was done in a cute way and I’m not ashamed of it whatsoever. I’ve had situations for low budget movies where if I’m going to be naked or topless for the movie, they’ll ask me to come into the audition and do it topless, and I’ve just refused. I have no problem with nudity, just go rent any one of my movies if you need to see what I look like topless, but I’m not going to put myself in that situation for an audition. If it doesn’t feel right, I’ll just outright refuse. If I lose a part over it? Then that’s not a project I wanted to do anyways. But more often than not, they’re like “Okay, that’s cool, that’s fine.” People are usually more uncomfortable asking you to do it. They’re just as uncomfortable as asking you to do nudity as you are to doing it. Sometimes more uncomfortable! Because they’re worried about offending you.

Robg.: While acting is your primary gig, what are some of the other types of jobs or gigs that you’ve had to do in between acting to help support yourself?

Erika: I’ve done everything. I used to be a secretary, a receptionist and then I got sick of working in offices, so I was a waitress for many, many years. I’ve been a hostess for all sorts of restaurants and catering jobs. I’ve more recently been doing a Marilyn Monroe impersonation. That’s a really great job and I love doing that, because it pays great and it is performing. It is acting and singing, so to me although it’s not in a movie or on a stage, usually it’s for a party, it’s still part of my dream. I really like doing Marilyn.

Robg.: Considering your love of old-school Hollywood, that’s not a surprise! Didn’t you perform for Paul McCartney or something like that?

Erika: Yeah! That was a private event, a guy’s birthday party. With Marilyn Monroe, sometimes people just want you to do the “happy birthday” singing telegram, because she’s famous for that. And so, I had to simply drop by this party in a restaurant and sing happy birthday to the birthday boy. They told me one minute before I was about to go on that Paul McCartney was there because he was friends with the birthday boy and sitting right next to him. I sang two feet away from him! It was really crazy! I thought if I went off key, he’d totally know it! [laughs] Then I thought about singing a Beatles song, but nah, he’s probably had enough of that.

Robg.: You recently discovered that you have an “adult film doppelganger,” Ms. Sasha Grey. Has your striking resemblance to a girl who’s arguably one of the most famous “adult stars” been a benefit or a hindrance to you and your career? Or has it made no difference whatsoever?

Erika: [laughs] It’s made no difference whatsoever. No one else has really brought it up. But I noticed that she’s done a few mainstream films?

Robg.: Right, right. Steven Soderbergh’s movie The Girlfriend Experience. Well, maybe if Soderbergh does another movie with her, he can cast you as her sister or something.

Erika: Exactly!

Robg.: Most actors in general have a tough time watching themselves in films. How difficult is it for you to critique the movies you’re in? Can you separate your performance from the film itself?

Erika: That’s a good question. I’m usually kind of scared to watch one of my movies. If I’m dating someone and I go to the premiere and I haven’t seen it yet, I’m afraid to bring them because I don’t know how it’s going to look or how I’m going to come across. I have to say no matter how scared I am, I’m always happy when I see myself up there, even if I don’t look perfect or the acting’s off. It just makes me really happy.

Visit Erika Smith’s official website right here.