"Jenifer" - Exclusive Interview with Carrie Anne Fleming
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Staci Layne Wilson/Horror.com: Hi, Carrie Anne. Can you tell me a little bit about the episode of Masters of Horror that you’re in? What it’s called? Who directed it?
Carrie Ann Fleming: Well, the director was Dario Argento. He’s from
Q: Had you heard of him before you started working with him?
Carrie Ann Fleming: No I hadn’t, and I’m a real movie buff. I had never seen Suspiria or anything but I was just blown away when I met him. He was such a nice man.
The episode I’m in, Jenifer, was based on a comic book. From a creepy comic book series. So she’s got really nice blonde hair and really nice body but then a face like a Morlock.
Q: Oh, OK! [laughing]
Carrie Ann Fleming: So I had to wear a prosthetic and big huge fangs, dentures. It was really fun.
Q: Does she look like that all the time or can she morph back and forth?
Carrie Ann Fleming: No, she looks like that all the time.
But what happens at the beginning is, she just wreaks havoc on people’s lives. She’s so vulnerable and they want to take care of her because they see her being attacked by a regular-looking man so it looks like [she’s the victim]. And then the main character, played by Steven Weber, he saves her. Then brings her home only to discover that she starts eating his family and the house pets, the neighbors. In the end, he ends up trying to kill her himself.
Q: What did you think when you read that script?
Carrie Ann Fleming: I laughed really hard. You have to have a good sense of humor. I was told about the monster and stuff, and I had like an hour to get to the audition. So when I showed up for the audition I hadn’t read the script. I just thought we were going to do some improv. Then after the improv he gave me the script and I ran home and read it. I thought it was great. It was written by Steven Weber. He was a big fan of the comic book when he was growing up.
Q: I know Steven Weber’s a really funny, easygoing, kind of cool guy, so I imagine he could put some humor into the horror.
Carrie Ann Fleming: Oh, yeah. He made us laugh the whole time.
Q: And what about Dario Argento? I understand that he does speak some English, so you could communicate OK?
Carrie Ann Fleming: We would talk. You just had to have patience and sort of a lot of guess-working. He did have an interpreter there. I was without a father figure for most of my childhood, so it was really nice to have this wonderful Italian give me direction and cheering when I would do good after each take.
Also he was really, really hands-on and if something wasn’t being done fast enough he’d jump in and do it himself. I have a great picture of him doing my hair, actually.
Q: We’ve covered the humor, but what’s scary about Jenifer?
Carrie Ann Fleming: Well, she jumps out really quickly and back, that’s sort of scary. But she’s more creepy. There’s a lot of blood and a lot of gore. I guess the scary part is the suspense.
Q: Do we ever learn how Jenifer became what she is?
Carrie Ann Fleming: No. I did it from my perspective. Some people say she’s an alien, some people say she’s a vampire. I did some research on other comic book characters and just kind of came up with a mom and a dad for myself. I just thought about her 24/7. I don’t know, they never show where she came from and where she’s going.
Q: Since you have to wear prosthetics and makeup and all that stuff, did you work with Greg Nicotero on this one?
Carrie Ann Fleming: No, it was Howard Barker. I sat down in the chair thinking, “He’s done Evil Dead and Army of Darkness”. I was a big, big fan.
Q: Did you ever feel tempted to walk out in public with your new face?
Carrie Ann Fleming: I was tempted to rip it off [laughter] The first day I went to the food truck and I was standing across from a lady and I looked up and she like jumped back and almost dropped her food. So I decided not to go to the lunch truck anymore. But after a while, after the sixth day, people were just so used to it. And I was so used to it that it didn’t faze me. When we wrapped we just sat around drinking champagne and stuff and I still had the face. And a lot of people hadn’t even seen me without the mask on.
Q: So you’ve never done this type of role before where you have a lot of prosthetics?
Carrie Ann Fleming: No, I had done commercials. I played Barbie, and that was just a big prosthetic head. This was every single day. And the first day they put it on and then spray painted the makeup on. So I left that day after working and I was really dizzy, so we worked it out so they spray-paint the makeup on before they put the mask on. It cut the time down to about 20 minutes.
Q: Are you the type of actor that enjoys sort of crawling inside another character like that where you are obscured or are you sort of more the claustrophobic type who, like you said, maybe can’t wait to get rid of the mask?
Carrie Ann Fleming: It’s such a rest from oneself to be able to jump in to another character and be that person for a while. I’m not claustrophobic. Yeah, I want to disappear as much as possible. But I also would really like to do a regular, everyday character.
Q: Have you seen any of the finished product yet?
Carrie Ann Fleming: I got to see, they had a screening of Jenifer at the local theater here, which was really great. They also have the trailer on the website, so I’ve seen bits of the other ones as well. I think it looks great.
Q: I understand that she’s sort of a siren or Lolita type character; how did you approach this role from a feminine standpoint?
Carrie Ann Fleming: Well, it’s something you never get asked to do. I’ve never heard of, never been offered a role like that before. So I had to do it. I had to, had to, had to. There was some nudity, so that’s a little bit scary. Because the character is a little ferocious. In fact the sex had to be quite forceful, from my standpoint. I had to be really aggressive. That was pretty interesting, to get in touch with that part of me.
Q: Your episode is directed by a man, written by a man, acted with a man. What do you think that women will like about this story?
Carrie Ann Fleming: They will like it because she eats everybody. She really kicks butt and that she wasn’t a victim, which was great.
Q: What is the reaction of your friends and family seeing you in that kind of a role?
Carrie Ann Fleming: My mom is like “It’s such a shame that they cover up your face.” Some people are like “That’s really hot, really sexy.” And then others are like “That is so disgusting, so creepy, so nasty.”
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