Interview, Photos: Danielle Harris’ Planet Hollywood Donation

An exclusive chat with the Hatchet 2 star

Danielle Harris got her start as the terrorized little girl Jamie Lloyd in Halloween 4 and 5. She then went on to mainstream films like The Last Boy Scout and Don’t Tell Mom the Babysitter’s Dead before returning to the horror genre for Rob Zombie’s two Halloween films.

Now she’s starring as Marybeth in Adam Green’s Hatchet II in which she returns to the bayou of Louisiana to exact bloody revenge on the killer Victor Crowley who murdered her family. This is the first time in decades an unrated horror film is being released in theaters, and Miss Harris talked to us in New York at Planet Hollywood, where she donated the hatchet from the film.

Shock Till You Drop: These movies tend to be very physical. How was this one for you?

Danielle Harris: All the genre movies I do are very physical for me. You saw the trailer, I’m working with Kane Hodder, Tony Todd, R.A. Mihailoff, they’re like a foot-and-a-half taller than me, and I don’t get to wear heels in this one because of all the stuff I had to do. It’s physically taxing and emotionally exhausting, and there are days when I’m like, “I cannot believe I have to do this right now.” But I do it and I have a good time with it, and it’s a good workout, I can tell you that much. There’s a very physical scene, and for three days I felt like I got punched in the stomach because I was using muscles I didn’t even know existed. It’s a great way to keep in shape, though, running from the bad guy.

Shock: You’ve rarely stopped working since Halloween 4. You’re very lucky, how do you maintain all of this?

Harris: I don’t know. There was a period where I didn’t work for a little while, where I was in that transition of being a child actor to an adult, which I think I’m just now starting to get over that horrible hump where a lot of people drop out after that time. I felt if I can just hang in there and keep pushing it’ll come back. I always thought it was ironic that Rob Zombie reinvented my career. The same movie that started me when I was a little girl is the same franchise that brought me back into the business. I’m forever indebted to the Halloween franchise, that’s for sure.

Shock: What is it like working for Rob Zombie?

Harris: I can’t stand him. No I’m just kidding. [laughs] Rob’s awesome. I don’t know if you’ve seen any interviews but he’s just super cool and mellow and fun. I remember the first day on set I was shocked that when we were lighting he came in and talked with Scout and I at the dining room table and we talked about Facebook and MySpace and IMDb and message boards and how frustrated he gets with fans ripping him apart for wanting to recreate the Halloween franchise. He used to write back and then realized that’s probably not a good idea. But I was surprised he wanted to hang out with Scout and I. Directors don’t usually do that, they’re usually in their trailer or waiting by the monitor to set up shots. He’d rather hang with us than do that stuff. He’s a fanboy, first and foremost, so that really comes across in the way he works.

Shock: In terms of Hatchet 2, this is one of the first roles where you’re not being stalked.

Harris: Right, not a victim anymore.

Shock: How do you feel being one of the characters that goes after the killer and is pretty much a badass?

Harris: I am so grateful to Adam Green for giving me this, because you can only be the victim so many times and you’re just like, “Oh God, really, here we go again.” I kind of made a decision after Halloween II that I only wanted to do movies in this genre that I hadn’t done before, characters that I hadn’t played before. That’s why the next thing I wanted to do was Fear Clinic for Fearnet with Robert Englund and Kane. I had wanted to work with both of them and I thought, God, how cool, you’ve got Halloween, Nightmare, and Friday in one room, that’s rad. I went on to do Stakeland which is a gorgeous vampire movie where I was not a vampire and I was very vulnerable and the caretaker of the group. My character’s pregnant in the movie so it’s a very different role for me. We won the Audience Choice Award at the Toronto International Film Festival, which is a huge deal for a little movie to take that home against some pretty big competitors. I’m really proud of it. Then went off to do Hatchet. Tony Todd and I worked together on that and then we got to do Night of the Living Dead as well. I get to keep working with the same people and I hadn’t worked with Adam before and I had been trying for a long time. I called him when he was doing Frozen and I told him I wanted to do something, and he said, “You don’t want to do this movie,” because he knows I hate to be cold. I auditioned for the original Hatchet actually for the role of Marybeth and I did not get the part, so I can bust his chops about that now.

Shock: You’ve done horror since you were very little, and also other, very mainstream stuff. How has your relationship to the genre changed and evolved over time? Is it a love-hate relationship?

Harris: I think there’s a place for everything. I’m a little frustrated I keep seeing the same stuff over and over again, which is why I wanted to do Hatchet and the movies I’ve been choosing to do because I’m a little bored. I don’t think they’d keep making them if people fans going and seeing them so it’s kind of why I’m super excited about a movie that’s going to change the horror genre a little bit. If we can get enough people into the theater this weekend to see it then filmmakers can make movies that us real fans of this generation want to see. I’m a little over the CGI, all the stuff in Hatchet is practical. It’s really great to work on a movie where you can see artists really get in there and get their hands dirty and not rely on computers. I’m someone who writes in a journal every night with a pen and paper, I don’t sit at a computer and type it in. I think that’s why I wanted to be a part of it. I’m not a huge 3D fan. I love it as far as animation, but the other stuff I can only take so much. I’m not going to knock remakes because some are great, some are not so great. I enjoyed Halloween the same way I enjoyed Texas Chainsaw. There’s definitely some I’m totally into, and some I’m tired of seeing. Now they’re remaking ’80s comedy. I heard they want to remake Don’t Tell Mom the Babysitter’s Dead. Someone sent me an e-mail. They’re also being rude, saying “You can probably still play Melissa.” [laughs] I guess it’s a different generation and maybe younger kids haven’t seen it, but Karate Kid did so well so now they’re moving into that. I’m just tired of not seeing original stuff in theaters. I mean, come on, really people? I read so much stuff and I’m just not as inspired as I used to be. Few and far between have come my way where I’ve been, “Oh my God, I have to do this.” Who cares that I’m getting paid $100 dollars a day. I don’t care, it doesn’t matter to me!

You can catch Hatchet II in theaters now.

Source: Max Evry

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