An Interview with Danielle Harris [Halloween / Hatchet 2]
My favorite American horror actress is Danielle Harris, bar none. Danielle started out acting in film fairly young at the age of 11 as Jaime Lloyd in Halloween 4, a role which started her on the path to becoming one of the most recognizable female faces in horror today.
I got to speak to her for a bit in support of her role starring in Hatchet 2, which recently came out on both DVD
So what’s it like for you as an actress coming into a pre-existing role like Marybeth in Hatchet 2? Are you ever concerned about joining a pre-established franchise?
I have such an amazingly loyal fan base, that I am really lucky that I don’t think I was judged too much. They are a little lenient with me, which is awesome and I am grateful for it. Since Hatchet 2 immediately picks up where the first leaves off, I wasn’t recreating the character. I just had to sort of take it from where she left it and then go from there. The stakes were raised so much from that point on that it wasn’t as difficult for me to do.
I was definitely a fan of the first movie anyway and I watched it quite a bit before I did the film to kind of get the accent down. I am not sure mine was too similar to hers, but I think mine was definitely more put on than hers.
Is it difficult to decompress after playing a character in an intense horror film? How do you do it?
It’s really kind of difficult, and it seems to be getting harder for me as I get older. I don’t know… its just sort of having to shake it off, like leaving the house and going for a run, going to yoga. I sort of try to stay balanced in what I do as far as physical activities, while I am working on a movie because it’s hard.
Hatchet 2 was probably one of the hardest roles I have had to date, just because every single day I was in distress. There was no building up to the moment, then all of a sudden I have to be a hysterical mess; I was a hysterical mess from the word go. I spent 5 weeks basically out of my head emotionally and I was exhausted. I will work all the way through a shoot and then like 2 days before we wrap I will end up getting the flu. So I really think you body kind of holds it until you ready to stop working. If that makes any sense.
In genre films, there is a fine line between empowerment and exploitation; how you do you seem to continually skate that line so well as an actress?
You know, I think I take roles that while I am comfortable with my body and know that there are certain things expected of women who act in the horror genre, and movies in general at my age; like I took off my clothes for Rob Zombie’s Halloween. It wasn’t about that in the scene. If I was hired specifically for that then it wouldn’t interest me at all.
So I think I have really tried hard to stay true to myself, and there are plenty of other actors and actresses that will do whatever they are going to do that makes them happy. I just kind of try to outline my career a little differently.
I know with your interviews on Horror Gal you give us your fan perspective with some really great interviews, what are somethings you’re personally a fan of?
What am I a fan of? It changes so much. As far as movies I am a huge Todd Solondz, I love sort of dark wicked humor. Like that is something I would love to do. My sense of humor is a little bit twisted, maybe because I grew up in the horror genre.
While I like romantic comedies, like Sex and the City and typical girl stuff, I tend to roll my eyes and kinda go, “okay, fantasy people.”
I am obsessed with cop shows, like any kind of homicide detective stuff. There has been a couple of times where I have done drive alongs with sheriffs one in Tennessee and one in Kentucky and that is a secret obsession of mine. I am not into CSI or any of those shows, although I audition for them all the time and have lots of friends on those shows, I really like the real nitty gritty stuff, any kind of autopsy things.
So again it all kind of falls in line with what I do for a living.
You’ve proved your not your average scream queen by both writing and directing, do you prefer to be in front of or behind the camera?
I love acting, and I will always be an actress.
I just applied to AFI to the women’s directing program and I have directed a few shorts and I really feel excited when I am directing something. Not that I don’t get excited for work, I just know that the work I do as an actor is physically and emotionally exhausting most of the time.
I am just looking forward to the day where I can be super comfortable and look cute at work. I always look like crap and I am always covered in dirt, mud, blood but when I am directing I get to stay warm, sit in my chair and think the entire time and I am in control.
I am such a control freak, that something like directing is good for me, because I like to have my hand in everything. I like to be responsible for the outcome.
How important is social media (blogging and twitter) become to you as an actress, because you seem to be one of the main genre actresses really using it to your advantage right now?
It is SO important. You need to get fans on board and there is no advertising anymore, not in a lot of the movies I do. There is no money for advertising. It’s you, trusting me and me saying I wouldn’t be pumping something unless I am excited about it.
There are a lot of things I work on that I don’t talk about. But when I am excited about something I am like, YES!
I think its amazing and I follow people, I wanna know what they are up to and I follow some pretty cheesy people, but I really like them. I like that connection, like you have that relationship with them. Obviously if you’re of sound mind and body I don’t think you abuse that. That has definitely opened up another realm of cyber-stalking and lots of people having access to you that didn’t have that before. You have to be a little careful about that, but overall I think it’s pretty awesome.
So whats next for Danielle Harris what do we have to look forward to from you in the future?
What’s next…. Well hopefully I get into AFI, and I will be working on my short, writing and I hopefully going to be directing a feature that is in the horror genre also; but a lot more a la Tarantino style Kill Bill style with lots of chicks. So I think that is sort of what the genre is missing a little bit is female directors.
I’ve got a bunch of movies coming out this year, one I just finished is called The Victim with Jennifer Blanc and Michael Biehn, that’s awesome. You can check out on grindhousethevictim.com. I just finished Laid to Rest 2 with my buddy Rob Hall, I just did this movie called Shiver which I am very, very proud of its my best work to date with John Jerrit that should probably be out by the end of this year. Stake Land is coming out in February, Night of the Living Dead: Origins 3D, all kinds of stuff that I have been working on. I am working right now with my boy Cline Nevitt on a web series Nuclear Family. There are a lot of things I have been dabbling in for the last year that are just about to come out.
But after Nuclear Family I am looking for a job, so I am reading scripts and looking for the next thing.
My final question have you ever been to Philadelphia and if so any memories you like to share?
I have ended up at Pats and Ginos Steaks quite a few times, at the end of some heavy nights of drinking in Philly. I love Philadelphia I am a total East Coast girl I grew up in Queens, so for me it kind of feels like home.
A drinking girl! Win!