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: So how long have you been on set?
JP: I’ve only been on set like a week. I was supposed to be here earlier but my show up shot up in Vancouver, last Monday the 28th and so I flew on the 29th and filmed on the 30th.
BD: That’s a change in weather…
JP: Yeah, so there’s been no rest and a huge change in weather, from very cold and very wet to hot and humid.
BD: What do you like better here or Vancouver? Vancouver’s awesome..
JP: Vancouver’s awesome. But I’m from Texas and Austin’s actually my favorite city. So I love being here and I’ve always wanted to live in Austin. I’m really excited to be working here with the crew and with Texas people. And I love my Whataburger and my Rudy’s Bar-B-Q…
BD: So, how weird was it coming to Camp Crystal Lake in Texas?
JP: It was bizarre. It was obviously a story in a movie I was familiar with growing up. It was fun enough just to be a part of it and then to come back to Texas and be in camps that I grew up going to and stuff like that with Jason running around..its just been really surreal. Also, with the time change and the weather change, we filmed last night until 8:15 in the morning..probably going to do the same tonight..so your mind enters a delirious state. Where you’re kind of like “uhhhh” where you’re only going on adrenaline. It’s been a really surreal experience so far, it’s only been a week. I think it will start to set, the longer I’m here but as of right now it’s been very surreal.
BD: You said you grew up on the Friday’s, have you seen them all?
JP: I haven’t seen them all, but I’ve seen the majority of them. I think there are maybe three or four I haven’t seen.
BD: Is there one specific one that stands out in your mind that was a favorite?
JP: The original is the one I would go back to. Actually, the latest one, Freddy Vs. Jason, I have a bunch of buddies that were in it because that shot up in Vancouver, as well as, my TV show, Supernatural. Over the course of three years and 60 episodes we’ve had a lot of guest stars on the show and a lot of them had been in that movie. So I saw it because a buddy of mine was in it and more buddies had also been in it. So I’ve seen that one and it was very enjoyable, but wasn’t purely Friday the 13th.
BD: So you’re fairly familiar with the franchise?
JP: Yeah and when I got the role I obviously went and refreshed myself.
BD: The original, it’s a campy film but it’s also serious. Nowadays, horror has been very dead serious and there really hasn’t been camp. How would you describe the characters in this film?
JP: I wouldn’t say it’s campy, I would say it has a very real feel to it. Almost like the Chainsaw remake they did. Where it just seems like real people going out and everybody has a fleshed out character. It’s not campy like the original Jason or the original Friday the 13th. Which I don’t think tried to be campy, I just think that in the nature of how films were being made back in 1980, it just turned out kind of campy and corny. But I think they meant it to be pretty serious. We also take this serious and we are having a great time with it. It’s really funny and I find myself trying not to laugh.
BD: Is there a different level of discomfort, like in Texas Chainsaw its just plain uncomfortable. Is this sort of more fun?
JP: Oh yeah. This is more fun than Texas Chainsaw. A lot more fun, Chainsaw was pretty uncomfortable from the get go. Here you get to meet the original group of characters and they’re having a good time and their partying and it’s not like immediately into dark and dreary and staying like that the whole time.
BD: Have you had the opportunity to seen any deaths yet?
JP: I have not seen any deaths but I’ve seen dead people (laughs). I haven’t seen like the aftermath but not any of the killings.
BD: Do they seem like fun killings or is it just straight up brutal?
JP: They’re pretty brutal but they are pretty innovative. It’s not just the old, yep cut his head off or yep shoot him. Obviously, I’ve read the script so I know how all the killings go but they are innovative and interesting. I think people are going to go “OHHH, I’ve never seen that!” I think they are going to be very into it.
BD: What’s you’re earliest memory of Jason Voorhees?
JP: Wow. Well, I have a buddy named Eric he lived near a park named Camanche Park. This is my earliest vivid memory, I know I had watched it before, but I must have been 10 years old and I was over at his house and we were having a sleepover. And he was like “Hey lets go into Camanche Park.” And I was like “Alright.” We were trying to scare each other going through and to scare each other we were going “Kill, Kill. Kill, Ma, Ma, Ma. I remember that very, very, very vividly that must have been at least 15 years ago.
BD: (laughs) Would you say that the franchise has had some sort of impact on your life at some point?
JP: Oh yeah and also I’m a HUGE fan of horror and of thrillers and my career has involved quite a few from the House of Wax remake to Supernatural the show I’m currently on to Cry Wolf. I’ve been fortunate enough to work in genre that I’m a big of anyways. It certainly had an impact on my life in some way, shape or form. People don’t even realize that there’s never a day where it’s Friday and it’s also the 13th and people around you go, “It’s Friday the 13th” You know? Even if they never even saw the movie, even someone who is 10 years old knows that Friday the 13th is supposed to be bad luck and supposed to be haunted. Even if they don’t know why it is, they know about it. So it’s certainly had an impact.
BD: Oh, by the way, I loved House of Wax.
JP: Oh yea! That’s was fun, man, that was a lot of fun. You know what’s funny, when we shot House of Wax we all got up there a week or two early and we sat down as a cast and watched a few horror movies and one of the ones we watched was The Chainsaw remake that these guys did. I remember watching and going “Man, that kicks ass! That’s really cool.” Its fun to be working with these people whose work I’ve been a fan of for years. When I heard they were re-doing this movie, they had some sort of interest in me for one of the characters, I was like “No sh*t, it’s the same people that did Chainsaw and Amityville and The Hitcher.” So I was really excited to be a part of it and I can’t wait to see it whenever it’s slated to come out.
BD: This isn’t a leading question or a trick question, but everyone is always nervous about how their fans will react to remake questions. What’s your own personal feeling about films being remade?
JP: I guess it’s my feeling about how songs are remade. Jeff Buckley’s Hallelujah is a remake and now that’s like the iconic version. The I Am Sam soundtrack, it’s a bunch of remade Beatles songs. I’m very into remakes, I’m very into different artist’s depiction of different stories or ideas or songs, putting their own spin. As an actor, every movie I watch, I watch it going, “How would I have done that? How would I have done this? How would I have done that?” And now I get this chance. I think it would be different for me if it was a line by line, shot by shot remake. I know there are plenty of remakes and sometimes there are people that think it’s the very first movie, but it’s actually a remake. And they go “Oh, I didn’t realize that was a remake.” They say Star Wars was a kind of strange remake of the Seven Samurai. I support the idea of remakes and I like seeing different artist’s spin on different stories. I’m a fan of remakes. And obviously, you’re going to have devout fans that will need to be respected and will say stay true to the original. We are not in any way, shape, or form trying to degrade or insult or replace the original. We are just retelling the story, we’re taking the story and retelling it in a different way.
BD: In your opinion, does this one take place in the same world as the original?
JP: No. This is in a much more modern world.
BD: When I say same world, I mean, like Friday the 13th did it when 1981 actually happened, this is modern, this is now. And that was then and it could almost be Friday the 13th part 12, based on how the story unfolds.
JP: Do you mean does this movie take into account..
BD: Does it acknowledge the original films?
JP: It acknowledges the story of haunted Crystal Lake. There is a part in the story where they are telling a creepy campfire story about this guy Jason who was a killer at Crystal Lake. This movie and this story knows that it isn’t the original. We give a shout out to the franchise.
BD: It is different for you to act in a horror film than a non horror film?
JP: Yes. The last movie I did, a Christmas film, which is like the ass backwards, 180 opposite of a horror film. I was wearing coats and saying “I love you Mama, I love you,” all that kind of gooey family stuff.
BD: Do you personally prep for the genre, so to speak?
JP: I prep for the story, I try to watch the movie in my head when I read it. When I read a script I need to be able to watch it, I know it sounds strange. I read it and almost see the characters and I see the set and I see the story and the action unfolding. Then, I try and figure out how I would fit in or what I would like to do to improve upon the story or flesh out the character. I sort of approach everything, with this TV show or with a movie, a comedy, a drama, a horror, or a Christmas movie, in a similar way. I concern myself with the character and what he’s trying to do. I try not to think too much about “What should I do, how should I act that it’s scary.” I try and make it real to the character that’s living this life. As crazy as it is since we are seeing this guy carrying bodies and we are like “What in the..what’s going on?” I’m trying to make that real. I think the reason why there are horror movie cliché is that actors and actresses read it and say “Ooo, it’ll be scary if I say it this way, Oooh there’s a killer.” And they think if scream it and really emphasize the word killer, then it really would be a good line. Then, he or she gets killed. I think if everybody would just treat it real there wouldn’t be the classic clichés. There would be reoccurring lines and reoccurring themes in different movies. I would say that I prep by trying to make it a real character.
BD: Have you had your face to face with Jason yet?
JP: I have not had my on screen face to face with Jason yet but I have filmed on the same days and same locations as Jason has and in his outfit.
BD: Does it freak you out at all?
JP: Bizarre! Bizarre! So messed up, its literally, going back to my first memory of me and my buddy going through the woods, going “Kill, Kill, Kill, Ma, Ma, Ma.” Once we were filming in the woods, and we had just filmed a shot and he was up next to shoot. Thanks to Daniel Pearl, our cinematographer, who has lit these woods and they are beautiful, and spooky with atmospheric smoke and you look over and there’s f*cking Jason, in a hockey mask and he’s got his machete in his crazy get up. You’re just like, “WHAT?!” This is what you would have nightmares about. This is what you used to scare each other that this was going to hop out from behind the bushes, 15 years ago. It’s really surreal and it’s funny because I was standing with another one of the actors and we’re like, “Dude that’s weird that’s Jason, that’s Jason! Right there, standing right there.” And he’s big and it’s real, real cool.
BD: Anymore horror coming up? That you may be in talks about?
JP: Season four of Supernatural that starts in July. I finish this about two weeks before I go back for that.
BD: Would you do more horror films?
JP: I’d love to. Horror films have been good to me and I’ve been really excited about shooting them. Like I said I’m a fan of the genre. I don’t necessarily look for just horror films. If a script comes my way and I certainly wouldn’t shy away from a horror film, if I enjoyed it.
BD: Thank you, I appreciate it.
JP: Of course!
FRIDAY THE 13TH arrives in theaters Friday, February 13, 2009
