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Julie Strain
Julie: "I love horror movies but I stick
with what I know I am capable of".
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Conducted by Phil
Davies Brown
July 6th, 2004
Part 2...
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Initially, I was intimidated. I
mean here I was chatting with the self proclaimed “Queen of all media”
whose personal statement is “6 foot 1 and worth the climb” but after a
while I realized that Julie Strain is not unlike myself. Highly
motivated, goal orientated and very creative, Julie strives to be
successful whilst retaining a down to earth quality and a sense of fun
about her work and persona.
A veteran actress with over 100 appearances on film
behind her, Julie has won herself a new army of fans thanks to her recent
appearances in a number of genre films such as Birth Rite and Delta Delta
Die, and don’t worry she intends to stick around for a long time.
When did you realize that you
wanted to act?
I think probably when I was around 5 and I was playing Cowboys and Indians
in the yard and I was having fun hiding from the bad guys and I just
thought you know this would be great to do when I grow up.
I heard you slept in your
truck when you got to Hollywood?
I love when people tell this story as they always get it wrong.
I drove out in my truck and had to sleep in it en
route, I wasn’t living out of my truck hahaha. Once I got there it wasn’t
much better, but at least I had a roof over my head.
You have done over 100
features in just over 10 years that is more than most people achieve in a
lifetime. Would you say that you are a workaholic?
Ah, I like to work, I’m not a workaholic. I’m ADD so I’m always doing
something creative.
With regards to all the projects I worked on, I was
starving and had to do all of those movies to pay the bills, you know,
keep a roof over my head and eat as I hadn’t met my husband back then
(Julie is married to the excellent Kevin Eastman who co-created The
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles) so it kept me going as I couldn’t afford to
fail.
To be fair the majority of the features that I have
done are shot quickly so that allows me to do more work also.
Julie:
"..playing with raw meat and
just grossing everyone out".
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You have started to make
appearances in a lot of horror movies, is that because you’re a fan of the
genre or is that just the type of roles that you seem to get
offered?
I love horror movies but I stick with what I know I am capable of, and I
can have fun with, it’s not like I’m turning down other movies to do
these.
Your appearance as Ms. Carlson
in ‘Birth Rite’ was hilarious. You always seem to have fun with your
roles and just really go for it. Are the movies fun to
shoot?
Oh I loved that scene, I was like give it to me now it’s great!! I had
worked with Devin Hamilton in the past and he approached me about
appearing in his movies and right now I’m trying to help my little sister
Lizzy establish her career, so I said to Devin that I would appear and do
nudity if he would give my little sister the good parts as she’s a serious
actress and is going to be a huge star. Devin agreed and so far we have
done 3 movies for him, Bleed, Birth Rite and Delta Delta Die.
I do have fun with my roles, but only because I am
comfortable with handheld cameras, if I have a big camera in front of me
then I’m nervous that I’ll screw up as someone is losing money and I don’t
feel that I perform as well. The digital revolution has really allowed me
to do some great parts and just truly run with it.
Delta Delta Die was just
released here in the UK and again you were great as Marilyn Fitch. Was
the film fun to make?
DDD was the most enjoyable experience so far. I was like throwing blood
on the cast and crew and playing with raw meat and just grossing everyone
out, it was so much fun and I think that it really translates on screen.
The film also had such a great cast. I loved working with Brinke and
Tiffany who are just amazing. At this point Julie asked me if I had seen
the extras on the DVD to which I replied “what extras? We get trashy
overpriced vanilla editions of all your films over here”.
What? Oh you’re joking, I had no idea that was
happening. So you haven’t seen the stuff I shot for the DVD?
Unfortunately not.
Well, the film was out really really quickly within 3
months if I remember correctly. When I started out in the business you
would normally ship 50,000 units of a movie but the market became so
saturated that you could only stock like 8,000. Delta Delta Die was the
first low budget movie to ship like 40,000 units. Everyone just went
wild for it and the extras which I shot for the DVD nearly got it kicked
out of blockbuster!!
You and Lizzy are obviously
very close. Do you enjoy working together?
I love working with Lizzy, we make packed lunches and set up camp and help
each other learn our lines and we do each others hair and make-up it’s
great fun.
Zombiegeddon has a killer
cast. What was that like to work on?
Zombiegeddon? I can’t even think what that movie is? It’s probably just
a bunch of footage cut together and they are using my name to sell it. Or
perhaps I sent in a little tape? I’m sure it’ll be great.
You’re currently filming Black
Dahlia, how is that going?
It’s going great, I just did my first few days this past weekend and still
have some more to shoot. Ramzi Abed our Director is just great, and he
really has a handle on the material. My sister Lizzy actually plays one
of the Black Dahlias. There’s a big movie and a little one both in
production at the moment, and we’re in the little one so I wanted to make
sure that the Director got in every emotion a person must be going through
in their head. My only concern was that the material would be handled
properly, and so far it’s looking like it’s gonna work out great.
Julie:
"It’s great there are no egos".
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You have been working with
Trent Haaga on the movie. How are you enjoying working with
Trent?
Trent is great and has always done great work. He practically ran Troma
and he is so good he’s probably gonna be the next Brad Pitt.
Is it true that everyone gets
on and helps each other out on set like a big horror
family?
It’s great there are no egos, we all support each other because let’s face
it if we can do it in one day but we don’t get on, it will take twice as
long you know, so why not just help each other? Everyone knows what to
do.
You also teach I
believe?
Yes, I taught photography and fine art at UCLA and the class was hugely
successful. I help the models with poses and how to achieve the right
look and such, whilst my partner would teach the technical aspects of
photography.
What’s next for the ever busy
Julie Strain then?
Well, Lloyd Kaufman is coming by here for a meeting about a potential
project and then I’ve already shot a lot of films that are yet to be
released and then there is always my photography and other creative things
I like to do.
"Thank you ever so much for taking part in this interview
Julie.
And we wish you the very best of luck in the future."
You can visit Julie's official web site right here: www.juliestrain.com
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