FearNet Talks To Danielle Harris about "Hatchet III", "Laid to Rest 2", and "Victim"

[JamesG]

Exclusive: Danielle Harris Bloody Again for Hatchet III, ChromeSkull: Laid to Rest 2 and The Victim
Apr. 13, 2011
by Joseph McCabe


Danielle Harris has been a favorite of horror fans since she first played young Jamie Lloyd in Halloween 4: The Return of Michael Myers. And although she's gone on to star in scores of other projects, in recent years the actress has more than solidified her status as THE twenty-first century scream queen, appearing in everything from Rob Zombie's two Halloween films to Hatchet II to FEARnet's own Fear Clinic to her latest film Stake Land.

I recently spoke with the lovely thespian about her role in Stake Land, and I'll have our conversation regarding it on FEARnet soon.



But in the meantime, I want to share what Harris had to say about three of her other highly anticipated projects: Hatchet III, ChromeSkull: Laid to Rest 2, and actor-director Michael Biehn's The Victim.







Okay, what's the most blood you've ever been covered in?

I'm trying to think of what the 1 to 10 scale would be… Everything I do I'm covered in the same amount, almost. I would say that the bloodiest I've had to do… Actually it was probably the bathroom scene in Halloween 2.

I felt like I looked like a fetus coming out on the bathroom floor. I mean I was just completely covered head to toe. There wasn't an ounce of my body that wasn't covered. I literally lay in the bathroom and they just dumped blood all over me. So that was probably the bloodiest I've ever been.



But it's hard to say. Hatchet II, at the end of that movie, I was completely soaked through my clothes and covered. In most everything I do I'm covered in some sort of blood. Almost. [Laughs.]

There are things that I've done this last year that you haven't seen yet, where I'm actually not covered in blood, or if I am it's maybe not mine.











Will you definitely return for Hatchet III?

You betcha. Adam [Green]'s writing it right now. He's so secretive about that stuff, even with me. I signed onto Hatchet II before there was even a script.

Before I read a script I was like, "Obviously I'll do it," closed my deal and everything. Three days later I got a script delivered to my door by Adam; he put it in my mailbox. I know Adam so well that I knew he wouldn't steer me wrong. But he did say, "You're gonna be crying in every scene." I was like, "Whatever." That's not a big deal for me. I can cry.

I got the script and was like, "Oh my God. I'm going to kill you." Every scene. [Laughs]




So he called me, text messaged me about two weeks ago. I got it at midnight and he said, "Pick up Variety tomorrow morning. You're on the cover." He said, "We've greenlit Hatchet III." I was like, "Oh my God! That's so awesome!"

So we just did some press the other day, because the U.K.'s just getting the release of Hatchet II, and I said, "Alright, dude. You have to tell me. I know you're writing it right now. What is it? Just give me an idea of what the story's gonna be. Do I die in the first act, because if I die in the first act I'm going to have to kill you."

And he said, "No, you don't die in the first act, and here's kind of what the story is." He told me a little bit about the ideas. Things are gonna be fleshed out obviously and there's gonna be some other cooks in the kitchen as far as influence on what he's writing.



But all I know is that it will be done sometime this year, hopefully sooner rather than later, depending on his schedule. And I'm definitely coming back.











You'll also be in ChromeSkull: Laid to Rest 2 and The Victim.
Can you talk about your roles in those films?


Rob [Hall] is a really good friend of mine. We did Fear Clinic together, obviously. And he just sort of said a while ago, "We're gonna be doing this and we're trying to get financing, but I may just do this on my own if I can't. Would you want to do it?" Because that's sort of his baby.

And I said, "Honey, I'll do it." He said, "Well, what do you want to do? What have you never done before? What would you like to do?" I said, "Just don't have me covered in blood." He's like, "Alright, I got it." And I said, "I want to wear a suit, and I want to look hot. Please, for once, can I look hot in a movie?" He said, "Okay." [Laughs]



And I wanted to work with Brian Green too, who I'd never worked with before. And I wanted to play my age. Which sounds crazy, but I don't do it very often. So that's kind of all I can say about it. I mean Rob's shown me a bunch of stuff, and he's such a genius with visual effects and his writing is really solid, and he's a good director. Let's say I get a chance to be on the other side of things for once.







Victim… Jennifer Blanc and Michael Biehn are two of my closest friends. And for years and years I've been getting to be the best friend, or the girl who doesn't get the guy. Whatever. As an actor and a woman I'm kind of over hearing that.

So Jen called me and he said, "We're doing this movie. It's total grindhouse style. It's something that you haven't done before. You'd be playing my best friend. Michael's directing and writing and I want you to do it. What do you want to do?" I was like, "Whatever you want me to do I'll do it." She's like, "Okay, I'm a stripper, so you're gonna be a cokehead, and you're gonna have to wear little stripper outfits." [Laughs]

I was like, "Oh my God. The things that I do for my friends. Okay, you know what? F*ck it. Let's do it. I'm cool with being scantily clad for the first time on film. Why not?"



I trust Michael, and Michael was like, "I'm not gonna make you look bad. It's totally gonna be tasteful and it's gonna be fun. And you can look at every frame and have approval of your scenes. You have total control over this." I was like, "I trust you. It's all good."

It's been getting some great buzz. Jennifer's an amazing producer and Michael's a wonderful director. It's just nice to have your friends think of you for things. That's kind of what it's all about, you know? So I'm looking forward to it. I got an email from her the other day, that Michael gave it to Robert Rodriguez and he wrote back that he thought it was awesome.




So that's huge, that he's even seen me in a movie, which I love. I'm looking forward to that. I saw stuff when I did ADR on it. It looks really great and really fun and I'm having a blast with it. So I'm excited to see that.

http://www.fearnet.com/news/intervie...ody_again.html

[Torgo]

It's good to hear Adam is actually working on Hatchet III, on the Hatchet II commentary he sounded like he was not going to be involved with it, he was burned out and was going to let other people take over the franchise.

[JamesG]

Originally Posted by Torgo

It's good to hear Adam is actually working on Hatchet III, on the Hatchet II commentary he sounded like he was not going to be involved with it, he was burned out and was going to let other people take over the franchise.

Yeah, especially with what went on during the release of Hatchet II when it was pulled without explanation.

I think he feels he has to "stay in the game" because he's not going to give up that easy and hand it away.

[HuntingtonM15]

Good interview. I love Danielle. She's the only reason I'm going to the horror convention here this weekend.