 The Interview:
I first want to say that it’s a
real pleasure to be talking with you. I don’t think that
I’ve been more excited about doing an interview! I am a huge
fan of ‘Jenifer’. Oh… and the movie too.
Thank you very much.
So Carrie, are you a fan of
horror?
I am a huge fan! I think that
horror is art and I love bloody art.
What are some horror films that
you’ve enjoyed recently?
I really enjoyed “The Exorcism of
Emily Rose.” I thought the acting was incredible. And a few
nights ago I watched “The Blob” on TV; the one that was done
in 1988 with Shawnee Smith and Kevin Dillon. Man, that was
good!
In ‘real life’ what really
scares you? Besides not have a KillerReviews.com user
profile…
In true life what really scares me
is war. I want it to stop and I feel powerless.
Seeing how Halloween is coming
up, do you do anything special on this holiday? Maybe find
yourself a nice Persian longhair and munch away while
watching “IT’S THE GREAT PUMPKIN, CHARLIE BROWN?”
I think this Halloween, I’ll stick
to candy. Hair balls will probably not go with my outfit
this year, which I think will be maybe…something Swedish? I
was Gene Simmons last year.
I do like to party!
 Okay,
so…down to business. How did you land the role of ‘Jenifer?’
I got the role of ‘Jenifer’ by
auditioning. I walked into a room with eight producers and a
few assistants sitting there, and I was asked to ‘attack’ a
pillow. I whipped it back and forth like I do in the film. I
figured that’s how I’ve seen animals kill things and it
looks so violent and sadistic, I just went for it. But in
reality, of course, it was just a hotel room pillow. Then, I
had to do the car scene with one of the producers playing
Weber’s character. I did a ‘monster’ lap dance, thanked them
for their time and left.
Dario (Argento) and I took the elevator down together. I got
a call the next day to meet him and do some improv stuff,
but he actually just wanted to meet so he could speak to me
without anyone else being present. Everyone was worried it
would be the classic ‘casting couch’ thing, but I thought I
could take him. We just talked about how hard the role would
be on both of us and he wanted to make sure I had the
stamina to do it.
What was the audition process
like? You must have been crawling around the floor and
making all sorts of odd sounds, right?
Dario didn’t speak much English so
it was a lot of “She’s an animal, but not an animal…she is a
beast but beautiful. She is hungry for attention and
meat….but also love. She is mad but not too crazy, and very
sexy - even a gay man would want to sleep with her.” I was
given the script and asked to come back later that day to do
some more scenes. So I went home, read the script and came
back. They asked me to do the scene where she meets the cat.
It was supposed to be a mix of meowing and getting to know
the cat. But I’d somehow gotten a different version of the
script, and mine said that ‘Jenifer’ attacked the cat. So
that’s when I whipped it back and forth - mutilating the
pillow. The producers started to laugh really loud and were
saying “(We) don’t think you understood, Carrie…you were
supposed to…” But then Dario cut them off, saying “No!
Carrie Anne understands! Carrie Anne understands
everything!” Everyone got quiet and just watched from then
on.
 So,
Carrie, how do you bring a character like ‘Jenifer’ to life?
I mean this chick is completely off the map! Is it in the
script? Does Dario give you specific directions? Do you just
try a bunch of shit when you’re off the clock? Maybe a
combination of everything?
I had 2 weeks to prepare. Dario
called me every single day to remind me to ‘prey’. I worked
out really hard with a trainer and on my own as well. I
never ‘put it down’. She was in my head 24/7.
What do you think ‘Jenifer’
actually is: human, animal or alien?
It’s my secret.
In all honesty, I am attracted
to ‘Jenifer’ on various levels. Do you have any idea why
that might be? I mean, you have a rockin’ body but it’s more
then that. Could it possibly be a control thing? Like a pet?
Has anyone else mentioned this to you before?
No one has mentioned the control or
the pet thing, but I do see a very submissive side to her.
Then she becomes sexual and is the boss all the way.
Can you talk about what it was
like working with ‘horror god’ Dario Argento? He’s a pretty
odd guy right? You can be honest here… it’s just me and you.
He is a small-framed spitfire! He
is so passionate and wonderfully honest. Not at all a
‘people-pleaser’. He works quickly and gets frustrated by
slowness. We got on just great. I love him and can say that
without embarrassment. Everyone loved him. That’s why he was
one of the few directors asked back for the 2nd season.
 I
imagine the whole show was a rough shoot, but if you had to
pick one scene that you either dreaded shooting or were
miserable while shooting, which would it be?
I was nervous about the shower
scene because that actually took place at a real abandoned
insane asylum. Eeeek!
Was there a scene that you
particularly enjoyed shooting? Could it possibly when you
were munching on a rubber penis?
How did you know? You can’t get any
better than that! Usually a lot of the guys on the crew were
huddled around the video village to see what I would do, but
on that scene they couldn’t see because of all the women
crowded around the monitor.
Can you talk about the makeup
process? How much time does it take to hide a beautiful
face? (Interviewer blushes here…) And could you see out of
the makeup?
It took like an hour. They’d glue
the mask on and then blend it into my hair line. They’d give
me a bit more hair, cover my 400 tattoos and give her
eyebrows and blamo! I became ‘Jenifer.’ The makeup was
designed by a ‘master’ himself - Howard Berger. On the
vision end, I actually couldn’t see very well at all. I had
to be led around because of all of the hair and these
absolutely huge black contact lenses that really loved to
get sticky blood behind them and glue themselves to my
eyeballs. Good times…
Do you have any plans to appear
in the second season of MASTERS OF HORROR?
No. There are this a couple really
cool producers on the show, though. Tom Rowe and Lisa
Richardson. I can’t say enough nice things about them. I’d
like to work for them on a different project on down the
road.
 Did
you see any other episodes in the series? Any particular one
stands out to you?
No, but now that they’re on DVD
I’ll probably see them. I found that because the shoot was
so difficult physically I couldn’t even look at that kind of
stuff for a while. Now I’m allllll better.
What are you working on now?
I’ll be wrapping a film called
“GOOD LUCK, CHUCK” in a few days. I also got myself a gig on
“SMALLVILLE” and a fantastic role on “THE ‘L’ WORD.”
Thanks for your time, Carrie.
Seriously, it’s been awesome! Any final thoughts or
comments?
It doesn’t seem fair that you know
what I look like and I don’t know what you look like, so
please send me a picture. I want to see if your sassy
literary talents give you a sassy mug.
One last question. Will you come
to my Halloween party as ‘Jenifer?’ I’ll give you a hundred
and fifty bucks and free beer all night. What do ya say?
Pretty please…
I only have the teeth. The mask
turned into a pumpkin after production wrapped. PLEASE don’t
ever make me get into that makeup again! Please…
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