I don’t particularly like to talk to an actor about a film I haven’t seen, and Sony/Screen Gems did not hold any advance screenings for The Stepfather. But I couldn’t resist the chance to talk to the lovely Amber Heard about her role in the film, which opens today. Based on what I know from the trailer, she plays a blonde girl who is the girlfriend of a guy that is at odds with The Stepfather, and throughout the course of the film she gets startled and is ultimately menaced by a buzzsaw. So keep reading for what she thinks about shooting those shots, which I am guessing are parts of entire scenes that can be seen in the finished film.
Michael Harding (Penn Badgley) returns home from military school to find his mother (Sela Ward) happily in love and living with her new boyfriend, David (Dylan Walsh). As the two men get to know each other, Michael becomes more and more suspicious of the man who is always there with a helpful hand. Is he really the man of her dreams or could David be hiding a dark side?
Warning: The following contains minor spoilers for Zombieland, which you all should have seen by now!
BD: First off, congrats on your cameo in Zombieland...
Amber Heard: Thank you! Apparently I make a pretty ugly zombie. I love when people come up and tell me how gross I was, I’m like “Thank you! Thank you very much!” (laughs)
BD: It’s surprising how quickly you die.
Amber: (laughs) Yeah, totally. I really loved the script, and I thought this would make a great project. And I’m a big fan of Woody’s. The director and I spoke on the phone and I was going out of the country, and I think I literally had like three days. But I was like “I want to be a disgusting, bloody zombie”, and he’s like “OK, I think you’re the first to ask me for that, no problem!” (laughs)
BD: Let’s talk Stepfather... they won’t let us see the movie yet, so I don’t know too much about what happens to you, but in the original (and in most horror movies) the protagonist is female, and she has a boyfriend that thinks she’s nuts or whatever. But here the protagonist is male, and you play the sort of voice of reason. How does that change the dynamic in your relationship, as opposed to the usual sort of thriller?
Amber: I haven’t seen the original, I chose not to. From what I understand, in the original the dynamic between the stepfather and the young woman is different in a sense that it makes it more predatory, there’s a perversion there. So now it’s different, because the boy takes the initiative, like Penn does in this movie, he becomes an adversary, as opposed to a potential victim.
BD: Talk about filming the “buzzsaw pendulum” scene.
Amber: It was extremely difficult, so many days in that one attic and surrounding area. Tight quarters, and very dangerous terrain. A very strange process. And the saw itself was a real saw and very heavy, for when we were doing the scenes before it falls in our face. Then they put in a rubber blade, but the weight was still there. And then the saw above me was entirely rubber, and that was OK.
BD: Can you talk about working with Dylan? It’s interesting how the Stepfather has to be this charming type that he’s played several times before, and then has to turn psycho, which I don’t think he’s EVER done before.
Amber: He’s really a great guy, great to work with. And he’s also a great actor, he was great in the role.
BD: Great. So where the hell is Mandy Lane?
Amber: That’s a good question! That movie is as hidden from my eyes as much as everyone else. Such a disappointment; I fucking LOVE that movie. And it’s a shame it’s been caught up in such distribution hell.
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At this point I got cut off, so I didn’t get to ask her about that one other shot in the trailer where she sits in a car. Hopefully that scene speaks for itself! Stepfather is in theaters today, Friday the 16th.
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