Stephanie Beaton

INTERVIEW
This interview is courtesy of Dr.Squid Zine.

Q.) You call yourself a "scream queen." There has been some recent backlash to that term (some saying that any girl who is selling naked pix of themselves at a convention is now calling themselves one, even if they've never been in a movie). What do you think of that?
STEPHANIE: I personally hate it when I see something like that! Some girl comes along and claims that title when she has done maybe one horror film if anything. But what can you do? People know me for what I've done and in the long run, I will get the attention, not the nude girl in the picture who hasn't done anything at all!
Q.) You've said that you've been a fan of horror movies since childhood. What are some of your favorite movies from growing up and why?
STEPHANIE: I liked "Phantasm"! That was my favorite. Anything that scared the shit out of me like when the gnomes came up from under the bed and grabbed the kid. I couldn’t sleep at night for weeks, or the ball that went into that tall man’s forehead! Well that did it for me with blood! I was fascinated with it ever since. I also liked "the Shining", "Poltergeist", "Halloween", etc... You know I liked that "Night of the Scarecrow".. And that film made me want to be chased by a semi or tractor with no one driving it. I know, I'm a freak! I first saw Phantasm on the CBS Late Movie. I was up late one Friday night and everyone else had gone to bed. All the lights were out. Even in it's edited for TV form, it scared the crap out of me! When those Goblin guys broke through the back of that VW bug and pulled the girl out - that gave me nightmares!
Q.) Where did you first see it - on TV or in the theater?
STEPHANIE: I first saw it on cable TV when I was 4 years old. I remember that like it was yesterday. There is also another film that I remember seeing the previews for but not too sure of the name. I saw the previews when I was at the drive-in back in alliance, Ohio when I was also 4 or 5 yrs. old. I was there to see King Kong, but the previews were for a film called "Black Christmas".... I remember this hairy looking thing jumping out in front of this woman and attacking her. All I remember after that was ending up in the back seat of my mom's car. Ha ha! I heard they banned the film after that and never aired it because of the title. I wish I could see that one again.
Q.) How did you get started in the business? How did you go from aspiring actress to being a working actress?
STEPHANIE: My first film was "Unnaturally Born Killer". That was the film that started it all. That marked my scream queen days right there. Before then, I had just done some runway modeling, calendars, etc. But after 1995, my life took a big turn around and things just all come together. So far I've done over 21 films and more on the way. Plus I have my own production company, "Silver Moon Productions", in which I am planning on shooting a film that I am working on in the Spring probably up in Oregon.
Q.) So you worked on The Evilmaker here in Oregon (the good Dr. Squid was director of photography) - what would you say are some of your favorite stories from the set?
STEPHANIE: Well for the exception of being burnt on the set and cut...Those really have to be one of my favorites to tell people. Other then that, the hard work and effort that everyone pulled together was the greatest! We worked till the wee hours of every morning busting our asses on this film. I can't think of a better crew of people to have then what I worked with. "Willie" the dog was cute. He is a famous story to tell. We needed a reason for one of the scenes to drop the necklace that I found. Well we had no reason so we used the mystery spirit "Willie" to run thru my legs. Of course you won't be able to make it out on screen because it just looks like a shadow, but it was the dog. First time I have ever had a Willie run between my legs before! Ha ha!
Q.) You had a tremendous amount of energy on the set - I couldn't believe how much energy you had after only a few hours of sleep each night. What's your secret?
STEPHANIE: It's an ancient Chinese secret that I cannot tell you! Just kidding! I always have that energy while filming. Well actually I don't sleep very much in real life normally, but while filming, my adrenaline stays up pretty high. And once shooting is over, I usually am pretty exhausted afterwards. I'm like that on every film I work on! I remember you telling the story about a movie you were shooting and a bunch of cops showed up while all of you were holding guns. Can you describe that one? It was on the set of "V-World Matrix". We were shooting this one scene in Santa Monica and we just arrived there. The director, Ron Ford, had his fake guns but they did look real, very real. Anyway, just has Ron was making my bullet wound mark on my forehead, we noticed a cop car pull up. Well the two actors dropped their guns and put their hands up. They looked at the guns and then still proceeded to call it in because apparently there was a couple of guys a few blocks away that had guns outside of a liquor store. As they were doing this, we all started to look around and noticed that there were about 6 cops in different locations hiding around the walls with their AK47'S pointed right at us! Boy that was a day. Then of course 8 cop cars surrounded us. It was a shoot to remember.
Q.) Aside from being surrounded by cops, what is the worst part about being an actress in low-budget movies?
STEPHANIE: The worst part is working on a set with a bunch of horrible people and there isn't too much you can do about it. When you work on non-union projects, it’s a whole lot different then union films. Most of the times you are freezing your buns off, there is no food, and you go through a hell of a lot. Its like a boot camp almost. If you survive the b-films, you can survive anything.
Q.) What was the best food you had during a shoot?
STEPHANIE: The BEST food had to be T-bone steak on the set of Shattered Mind with Heather Locklear! They had full catering, anything you wanted. If you wanted breakfast, you could get it anytime. They had 3 trailers worth of food. So that had to be one of the best meals. Some of my other films were good like that too, but working on NBC films are the BEST!
Q.) Do you see yourself trying to work your way "up" in terms of projects - like eventually working in more mainstream projects with higher budgets, or do you think you would always want to be involved in independent horror and genre work?
STEPHANIE: I have worked on mainstream stuff in the past. I've done two NBC films, music videos, commercials, etc.... I do both. But you know, just because something is horror genre doesn't mean its independent or low budget. I have shot some high budget horror films too along with my other projects. But projects don't always come up all the time and you need to keep working. That’s the way I look at it. I love doing horror and I don't think that will ever stop. But I do want mainstream work and I am already there.
Q.) When you did those music videos, did the guys in the bands hit on you?
STEPHANIE: You know I never saw the bands. Funny enough huh? But it’s true. When we shot at the studio, out on location, etc.... We just shot our end. We were edited in later and I never met any of the bands. So no, they never had a chance. Those were the waning days of heavy metal, just before grunge came in and screwed everything up.
Q.) What did you do in the videos?
STEPHANIE: I was a dancer in two of them. "Bad girls" I was an exotic dancer and in the video for Italy, I danced there to except I wasn't in lingerie. In "Go Bang" I actually shot that video twice. The first time around I wore an evening gown and was beating up on guys. I guess the band watched the video, fired all the girls except for me and re-hired or re-casted everyone and shot it over again. I wore a blue sparkly skirt and a black corset and still beat up guys. I shoved a hot-dog down a guys throat and thrashed his hot-dog cart then dragged him down the street. It was cool. I did actually work with one of the bands, it was Prime Evil and the song was Ghastly Beast. They filmed the video while they were performing live on stage and I wore a domenatrix outfit/leather, and came out with an 8-foot albino python snake wrapped around my neck. It was sooooo cool! I was also carrying a whip, which was attached to a 7-foot tall demonic beast! Now making that video was a blast!
Q.) Seems like the music videos you did were for heavy metal bands. Are you a metalhead?
STEPHANIE: No not really a big fan of heavy metal. I like all types of music actually. I love techno, rock, oldies, alternative, some rap, and I absolutely LOVE the Blues!
Q.) How do you feel about nude scenes? Is it difficult to do nudity on set?
STEPHANIE: It's very hard to do nude scenes in films - no matter what people may think. I know a lot of friends of mine, particularly guys or aren't actors, that say they could do them in a heartbeat, but what they don't seem to realize is that once you take off your clothes, you are open and you feel open and you are nervous. I hate love scenes. I won't do total nude love scenes...I will only do topless and cheat shot the rest. So you won't see me in one of those late night Cinemax flicks out there. I don't want to be typecast as just another one of those girls in that whole realm. But I have known men to actually throw up before doing a scene because they were so scared! It’s tough.
Q.)Tell me about the term titlooker. Titlooker, what the hell is that?
STEPHANIE: Is that when some pervert can't stop staring at your breasts and salivates over them??? I say, give them some milk, God Damnit!
Q.) So, what's the deal with women and thong underwear? I mean, sure, it looks good, but is it uncomfortable?
STEPHANIE: They are very uncomfortable to wear and a pain in the butt! Hahaha! When I don't need to wear them, I don't. It’s the normal bikini style. But if I need to wear them for a shoot or under a certain dress, then I wear the thong. Although, most the time, I don't wear panties at all if its a dress that you can see thru.
Q.) Let’s take a quick look at the varied characters you have played: a distraught woman who ends up in a haunted house in The Evilmaker; the hottest name in porn in Open Wide; a woman living out sadomasochistic fantasies in cyberspace in V-World Matrix; a detective in the Witchcraft series; a mobster’s wife in Headcrusher; a female terminator cyborg in A Passion to Kill; plus a nurse, a hooker, a waitress and several horror flick victims. What is the favorite character you've played so far and why?
STEPHANIE: The most favorite roles I have played so far has to be "Serena" in "The Evilmaker" and also "Jessica Grabbit" in "Open Wide"... Serena because I got to finally play a normal girl turned psycho and Jessica because she was a strong woman, independent. "Open wide" wasn't a horror film. It was about the underworld of the porn industry.
Q.)Tell me about this new Blackie’s Widow project.
It's a show on the B-Movie Channel. I play Blackie's Widow and each week I bring home a different boyfriend to watch a b-movie with me. The boyfriends never seem to make it through the movie alive and then I depend on my butler (Ron Ford) to take care of the body. You can find information on my website and check out www.b-moviechannel.com for information on how to get the channel!
Q.) If given the chance, would you "do it" with Gene Simmons or KISS?
STEPHANIE: No, I wouldn't. I do know who he is but I particularly don't like men with long hair. But that’s just me. I know he has a long tongue but, oh well - it has to be more then the tongue, baby!
Q.) What do you think of the name Dr. Squid?
Dr. Squid to me is a god!!!! Hahahah...Seriously though, Dr. Squid's zines are one of the best movie review guides out there on the market! I think he should get a hell of a lot more recognition for his work... Not to mention as a DP He is very dedicated and I would love to work in any of Dr. Squid's films in the future, anytime!
Well if that giant kiss on my ass isn’t a signal to end this interview, I don’t know what is! Thanks to Stephanie for taking the time for this interview.

And thank you Dr.Squid. Please visit his web site here.


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