November 11, 2004

Diana Barrows got all dolled up and then went out into the woods to meet her end as Maddy in ‘Friday The 13th Part 7: The New Blood’. But, besides her demise at the hands of Jason Voorhees, she’s appeared in dozens of other films including ‘My Mom’s A Werewolf’, ‘The Adventures Of Ford Fairlane’, ‘She’s Out Of Control’ and appeared in an episode of ‘Freddy’s Nightmares’. She also has been in various stage productions through out the world and has a few hits in Europe with her music career. Did we mention she’s fluent in 5 languages? There’s more to Diana Barrows then meets the eye! Read on. – by Robg., Mike C. 11/04

What are your earliest recollections of cinematic terror?

I think my earliest recollections of cinematic terror, as far as images that caused a surge of heart in the little kid I was, are concerned… are associated with the names of Bela Lugosi (Dracula) and Boris Karloff (Frankenstein and The Mummy) -with special ‘recrudescence of memory’ linked to that of Lon Chaney, ‘the man of the 1,000 faces’. He triggers off my associative memory of the genre big time.

Which Lon Chaney movies stand out for you?

Fan favorites, such as Phantom of The Opera’, Quasimodo and The Hunchback of Notre-Dame, Dracula vs. Frankenstein. The Mummy’s Curse still giving me a somewhat exotic flush of emotion today!!!

As for films that freaked me out, well being that I was a night owl and would watch movies on TV really late I remember there was this film and I can’t remember the title. Anyway some guy comes back from a remote part of Africa with a miniature (12″) wooden tribesman souvenir for his wife. The brown little figure is wearing a tribal war mask and is carrying a shield and a spear. The wife looks at it with a disapproving “oh, how nice…”expression. Puts it down on the table and proceeds to take a nice relaxing bath or something. Of course, when she puts it down she doesn’t notice the necklace that falls off the miniature that contains the ominous warning, “Do not remove necklace”. Of course that little puppy is now alive and sneaks around the house jabbing at her with his little spear. Yeah, that kinda left an indelible mark in my head.

Hmm… Can you tell us how you first got into acting and your early career as a child?

It all began one day in the Park, New York City. My mom was wheeling me in my Baby Cart. A man got out of his car, walked up to her, and with an utterance to the effect: “you got a cute kid, gimme call”, & extended her his business-card. She thought it was all part of some gag, and would have let it drop cum grano salis had she not been so incurably ‘artistically-inclined’. So she rang him, and of course the man turned out to be a producer of tv commercials, and within the month I was shooting my first diaper-commercials. Now, my father opposed the clowning. And lifted me out of the profession. Only, he wasn’t counting with the resourcefulness of a mother so artistically-bent that she was not going to let her kiddy’s flushing tendrils for the business atrophy. What did she do? She very candidly put me – as one kid among dozens of others – in various music, singing and dancing classes. Till I crept back into the business that way. Soon, I must admit, the virus was so much part of my system, that I was rounding up members of the family, or friends from around town, to shoot my own mock-tv shows! (laughs) I started on my cinematic culture before the age of reason. My mom had a projector at home and an eclectic taste in cinema. She was excellent at getting cool obscure films that might have been difficult to see on the big screen otherwise. She would have projection parties.

Friday The 13th Part 7: The New Blood is a fan favorite. What were your initial reactions to the project after reading the script?

Well, I was so happy, I wanted to shout it from the Chrysler building (like King Kong)! Retroactively (if you can say that), I’d say Maddy was a character with insides (no pun intended.) 3D characters of her sort leave you with an experience when you bring them to life. Hence, and like all experiences in one’s life, she’s an important encounter for me.

Did you originally audition for the role of Maddy?

I can’t remember if I auditioned for her at exactly inchoate casting, but she was definitely it for me very early on.

Where you a fan of the previous Friday films?

I liked the Fridays, but it was really in consequence and through the experience of bringing Maddy to life that I became a true Friday-fan. Playing the role sort of boosted my affection for the series. And gave them ultimate reality for me. I am a fan of cinema. Net! All genres, countries and all dialects, that is. I am myself of mixed origins (European, Latin and South-American) and a true globe trotter. I have always pursued acting in different countries and part of the thrill is to play characters in their native languages. In fact, I proposed the producers of Friday the 13th Part 7 to dub Maddy in the countries of the languages I speak fluently. (I didn’t want Maddy to be lost in translation.) Alas…

What do you consider some of your favorite horror films?

In the horror category, I’d cast my votes loud and clear for Murnau’s Nosferatu, Clouzot’s Les Diaboliques, or Hitch’s Psycho and The Birds.

Overall, what were the working conditions like on the set for Friday The 13th Part 7: The New Blood?

The working conditions were zemanakal. Great crew, fun cast, cool director, casting director cinematographer, and producers that made for congenial working conditions.

How much input do you put into the character of Maddy?

100% – coz every time I act I get absorbed by my role to the point of becoming the character.

Maddy’s character was best friends with Robin, played by Elizabeth Kaitan. What was your off-screen relationship like with Elizabeth?

We were friends, keeping in touch outside of the shoot.

Have you kept in touch with any of the other cast members of Friday 7?

Well, I travelled a lot; which means my relationships with them got segmented by these travels, and gradually put into suspension. But I’m sure if I’d run into them today, we’d hang out. There’s enough of Friday 7 left to keep souvenirs warm and ties alive.

What was your working experience like with Kane Hodder, whose first of many appearances as Jason first started with part 7? Was he intimidating?

Kane was a cool and sweet guy.

Although I’m sure it was scripted this way… why do you think Maddy went looking for David outside in those darned woods?

Hells Bells, it’s the law of the darn genre! (But between you and me, Maddy had bats up her belfry, and it was just her clear duty to brave the ultimate mystery and follow David into the blackness of these woods!)

How’d you enjoy seeing ‘Friday 7: The New Blood’ for the first time on the big screen with friends?

It was just spazmatical! It happened in Hollywood’s Mann’s Chinese, which is a haunted house, you know? I mean, what with the atmospherics and the jumble of mixed exclamations that convulses it on a good night: the sighs of relief… the indignant cries from the audience: “No! Don’t go into the cabin!” And of course, the whole cast and crew was present.

What’s your favorite scene or ‘kill’ from Friday 7?

Mine. I love to die in films, and a good writer to xenacate my character.

You also worked on ‘She’s Out Of Control’. Ya got any good Tony Danza stories?

Oh, come on. Good Danza stories? Tony’s adorable, real fun – what more you want? And built like a horse!

In ‘My Mom’s A Werewolf’, you’re reading a copy of Gorezone magazine that features Friday 7 on the front cover. Where’d that idea come from to have you reading the mag?

It was an inside joke, ‘twixt me and a happy few’; good company to put me in.

What else can you tell us about your experiences on ‘My Mom’s A Werewolf’?

That’s a whole other interview!

Shucks. You’ve appeared in a lot of television work as well as film, including an episode of ‘Freddy’s Nightmares’. How different is it working in television as opposed to film? Do you have any stories from the set ‘Freddy’s Nightmares’?

In the Jurassic days, films were manufactured in a boxlike barn were the essential pieces of equipment were the movie-camera, microphones and a considerable lighting hook-up. For years, the industry didn’t pass out of that. And well it seems to me, decades later, a lot of tv’s still stuck in this primitive phase, where you work in a cube.

Boxlike barn, you say?

Freddy’s nightmares was tons of fun, especially preparing my death scene. As for the Nightmare On Elm Street films, well to me, it was a case of the pepsi-cola syndrome. It epitomized the problem of the portrayal of purely fictitious characters on film, whereby a production wants to be assured there is no selling out to the competition that would tend to associate a project audiences are already acquainted with, with a new one. In other words: I came very close to Freddy’s Film, only the producers got scared I might be identified as a Friday icon!

Ahh. You worked on ‘Ford Fairlane’ as one of the sorority girls. What was working with director Renny Harlin like?

Great! Renny’s a great guy. Fantastic sense of humor. I really respect him.

You’re fluent in 5 different languages. How’d you come to be educated in so many different languages?

That’s a big one. I mean, I wonder myself – considering I’m the only one in the family tree (though its story knots together the four corners of the world; well, 3 actually: America, both North and South; plus Europe) exhibiting that trait. My passion for languages makes for my speaking so many and my still wanting to learn others. By the way, it doesn’t come that easy.

Ok. You’ve recorded a few singles and have a pretty extensive experience with singing. Can you tell us about your music training and how you got involved in all these music projects?

Like a dime-a-dozen New York kid, I went through a routine of piano, dancing and singing classes. The rest is a lotta perseverance, patience, hard work and uh… a little bit of chance?

Can you tell us about your current work on a musical project about the life of Frida Kahlo?

It was a question of participating in the showcase of a musical on the life of Frida Kahlo for a group of financiers that when the moment comes are still gonna sign us a blank check.

When did you first become familiar with her artwork?

You can’t live in LA and not know Frida Kahlo. She haunts Hollywood’s artsy stores. Don’t you have a Frida Kahlo coffee mug?

Err… no. New Yorker here. I have a Van Gogh mug, if that counts?

I was however, even before LA aware of Frida’s work. I grew to love surrealism. I also got to dig the old Mexican school for its naive portraits, unpretentious yet invested with an uncanny satirical penumbra. I was in Paris when they auctioned off part of the André Breton collection. I was happy to see he was also big on that Mexican school.

You’ve recorded some music and your own albums. What kinds of music do you personally like and draw from as influences?

I can’t live without music. I like all kinds all styles. It’s gotta be good: Axe, bossa nova, flamenco, samba reggae, punk rock, rock & roll, alternative, classical, techno, dance, musical theatre, house, rap, zouk, and other styles that might escape me at this moment in time.

You’ve acted in so many different mediums your whole life; Do you have a preference to theater or films? What are some of the biggest differences between working on the two?

I love both! Hard to say which one I like better. Theatre, for an actor is the noble art and there’s nothing quite like it: being on stage playing to a live audience and experiencing their reactions each night. However I also truly cherish film. Of course you miss out on the audience and the hours are longer, but hey, you’re not required to learn a 120 pages plus of dialog in one shot, and if you make a mistake you can correct it! Which makes for a neat ending. (Not to mention that years after you can still watch it. There’s something about live theatre that gets lost in video translation so if you weren’t in the theatre for the live performance, forget it. You missed out!!!)

Darned. I always miss out. Thanks for talking to us, Diana!