The pic directed by Marcus Nispel is the retelling of the original Friday the 13th about teenaged summer camp counselors that are systematically slaughtered by a mysterious killer. Jason Voorhees will wear the mask and kill, keeping the famous setting of Crystal Lake.
BD: How familiar are you with the FRIDAY THE 13TH franchise?
TVW: You know I’ve only watched the first one and it was, hilarious. It was so much fun, so cheesy and awesome. But that’s really the only one I’m familiar with.
BD: Do you feel like this one sort of the same feel as the original, but a higher quality?
TVW: No because I feel like these deaths are much more brutal. I feel like these characters are much more specific. I don’t you can even compare it to the original Friday the 13th. This is a completely different beast.
BD: The kills, are they creative or are they just like a typical head chop?
TVW: The kills are very creative and they are obviously gory. For example, my kill is so cool because it ties in with my character’s story and evolves as a full circle. A lot of these deaths have that same kind of connection. It’s more than just a death for each of these and that’s pretty cool. It’s really great writing.
BD: Would you say that you’re a horror fan or is this a genre that you don’t care?
TVW: Definitely. I think that everyone has to be a horror fan. There are certain movies that you have to like. I’m definitely a horror fan, for sure.
BD: Your character in this movie, how did you end up crossing paths with Jason, how did you end up with the group of people that are being hunted?
TVW: First of all, I bring them all to my cabin, and I really like this girl, Jenna, I wanna f*ck her and that’s basically why I bring her out here. But I have to have some other guys and other girls here so it doesn’t look like I’m trying to f*ck her. So there’s my motivation to bring them out here.
BD: So are you like in a weird way, the bad guy in the group of good guys?
TVW: In a way, yeah. I feel like I’m not an asshole for no reason, I feel like I’m not an asshole at all. I just want people to respect my place, I’m a pretty firm guy and some people may think I’m a control freak but it’s my f*cking place, I invited you here. There’s a lot of drama too, this guy Clay keeps coming to my house, I’m not being an asshole, this f*cking dude’s in my house. So yea, you could look at me as kind of the bad guy.
BD: Bad guy, so you have a character that when or if he dies the audience is going to cheer? Do you probably have one of the coolest kills?
TVW: I think I have one of the coolest kills but the reveal of it is the best. It’s pretty vicious and once you think, “Wow, that’s pretty vicious!” It gets even more vicious.
BD: Would you cheer at your own death?
TVW: I hope I’m gonna cheer at my own death! Yes.
BD: What’s your earliest memory of Jason since everyone sort of has some sort of connection to him?
TVW: I guess when FRIDAY THE 13TH, when Freddy Krueger, all those started coming out I just remember as a little kid being scared to sh*t. There’s really no defining moment.
BD: Have you had a chance to come face to face with Jason yet?
TVW: As my character?
BD: Both real life and character..
TVW: Well, the guy that’s playing Jason, Derek, is probably the nicest guy on the planet. Which is so funny because we had to do the stunt for my death, in between takes he’s like, “You ok? Everything good?” He’s just so nurturing, I’m like, “You’re supposed to be MEAN.” And he’s NOT. I respect him because he is really great at what he does. I have seen some of the other movies where Jason is really slow and methodic and Derek is quick, he’s fast, he’s all around frightening. I feel like he’s capturing more of what I think Jason should be.
BD: Have you had that moment yet where you’re running from him or he’s coming up to you?
TVW: I’ve been running through the woods from him.
BD: When you see him in the mask and in his character do you get an actual sense of fear?
TVW: Well..as my character I don’t get to see him really. For me personally, I had to go get fitted for my death and I was on set and they were doing some other kills. Just seeing him with his scraggly hair, his mask, and his girth, he’s HUGE. That alone, I would be frightened as Travis, in the woods, seeing this guy. We all have a specific moment when we realized “Holy sh*t, we were shooting FRIDAY THE 13TH” it was the same moment. Derek was setting up as Jason for a shot and he had his machete out and was just looking down at this guy that was on the ground, just holding that in the frame. I had the moment and I was just like, “Wow, were shooting this movie..” and I go over and tell my buddy and he’s like, “I just had that, I just told that to Andrew, I just had the exact same moment.” And then, the guy that was actually sitting on the ground came over and he’s like, “Wow, when he was looking down at me I just realized we were shooting FRIDAY THE 13TH!” I’m like, “We all just had the same f*cking moment!” It’s pretty cool to have those realizations of “we are recreating this beast of a franchise.”
BD: It’s like it’s a part of history..
TVW: Yeah.
BD: What’s the difference for you, from acting in a horror film to acting in a non horror film? Is it harder, is it easier?
TVW: I guess that it would be a little harder because for the whole second half of the movie we’re being hunted. In most movies, you’re not going to play a hunted one, you might be playing hurt or wounded or something. We’re being actually sought out to be murdered. I’m going to guess that it is difficult to always maintain that fear.
BD: For you what’s the best part of being in this film? Is it who your working with, is it because it’s FRIDAY THE 13TH?
TVW: First of all, it’s being in Austin, Texas. That’s fantastic. Getting to work for Andrew Forum, he’s a cool dude, these producers are just cool. I think just being a part of a film like this all the actors have gelled so much and there’s no divas, there’s no one that’s causing problems everyone really just gets along. There’s a special feeling that’s going around and from day one we’ve had it. I think just knowing that there’s something special happening here, I’m really happy and proud to be a part of that.
BD: Speaking of Austin, is it weird coming into Austin, Texas to Camp Crystal Lake?
TVW: I thought that was kinda cool because Camp Crystal Lake, it’s very famous. Coming up to it and seeing it, it’s pretty cool to go to see where it all happens.
BD: Is your parents’ house on the camp ground?
TVW: It’s around it. So the lake is just a short distance from my house.
FRIDAY THE 13TH arrives in theaters Friday, February 13, 2009
