Danielle Panabaker - On-Set Interview

The Platinum Dunes remake of Friday the 13th was shooting on location in Texas last year, and Horror.com was there.

Here's an interview with one of Jason's potential victims, the lithesome Danielle Panabaker. I understand she's been acting half her young life, but my best memory of her work was as James Wood's rebellious daughter on the ill-fated TV series, Shark. It's good to see she's back in character so soon after the cancellation.

Q:  We heard about all the injuries and bumps and scrapes you've suffered.  Is everyone getting hurt on the movie, or is it just you?

Danielle Panabaker:  I have several “getting-beat-up” stories from doing this movie.  My legs are not attractive at all right now.  My favorite story is from about three or four weeks ago.  We were shooting on a Friday night in a house, and the guy who plays my boyfriend, Jared [Padalecki], and I were are all running out of the house.  We had been shooting nights all week. It’s probably six o’clock in the morning on Saturday morning, and after having shot five days and nights, we’re all sort-of [in that] giddy-hysteria you get into when you’re completely sleep deprived. Your body knows it’s six o’clock in the morning, and it hasn’t slept, so it’s ready [to go to sleep].  We’re shooting this scene, and Marcus keeps yelling, “Okay, faster!  You guys – closer together!”  We’re shooting the scene and, and we’re running around the corner, and I guess Travis [Van Winkle] and I tried to occupy the same space at the same time, and he’s bigger, so he won.  He accidentally shoved me into a window sill, and I hit my chin and split it open.  I blacked out and passed out on the floor in front of everyone.  It was totally embarrassing.  I spend a couple of hours in the emergency room, had x-rays and all that jazz. 

Q:  Did they get that on film?  Maybe they can use that in the movie?

DP:  Yeah, see the girl blacking out.  The funniest part about the play back is you see Travis’ face, and he goes, “Ohhhhh!”  They play it in slow motion.  It’s really good.

Q:  Are you guys dreading next Friday since it’s Friday the 13^th?

DP:  You know, I think Friday the 13^th has always been a good day for me, knock on wood.  Hopefully, everything will go smoothly.  We’re getting toward the end of our shooting schedule, and things are getting a little more frantic and hectic, so it will be interesting.  It’s ironic and cool that we’re shooting on Friday the 13^th. 

Q:  Going back to what we were talking about earlier.  That happened [earlier in the schedule], and it’s a 40 day shoot, and I would never think that you would have gotten cut on your chin. You have no scar.

DP:  Well, I have a little one right there which is sort-of underneath so I can hide it.  All the guys think I’m very tough now.  Even the guys at the hotel would be like, “Hey, how’s your chin?” because they saw me walk in all sort-of zombied-out and drugged and what-not.

Q:  Who do you play in the film?

DP:  I play Jenna.  Basically, we’re a bunch of kids headed out on a college road trip, and we’re going to hang out at my boyfriend’s cabin at the lake.  I say “boyfriend” loosely.  He and I have been dating, but there are other girls who are interested in him.  He’s very attractive and has lots of money, so he’s definitely a catch, but Jenna’s not sure if she’s into him. 

Q:  Talking in Friday terms, who do you play?  Are you the promiscuous one?  The sweet one?

DP:  I am probably the athletic, outgoing one.  You’ll have to wait and see.  There’s definitely a love triangle, that’s for sure. 

Q:  Are we rooting for your boyfriend to get killed?

DP:  You know, he can be kind of a jerk sometimes, so I don’t know.

Q:  Walk us through your reaction when you signed up for a Friday film.  You’re joining a legacy of films.

DP:  I’m thrilled and honored and totally shocked.  It came out of nowhere.  I had actually met Brad and Drew, the producers, and Michael as well several months prior to hearing about this project.  I just really admired and respected the work that they do.  Really, this movie came together so quickly that I had no idea that there was a role for me.  My manager actually called me on a Sunday night and said, “Hey, guess what’s coming your way?”  I got the script, read it, and was very impressed.  They didn’t let you guys screen the script?

Q:  No, no.

DP:  Darn it.  Only a couple more months.  I’d get in so much trouble [if I showed you the script]!  I think for starters, it’s really important to me to start off with a good script.  It’s really easy now a days to make a really cheesy slasher film because you know people will go see it, and it will make money, so you can make it cheaply with a bad script, and it doesn’t matter.  But this script is great.  The characters are totally real, and I related to all of them.  I would go, “Oh, I remember that guy from high school.  He was so-and-so in my freshman class,” and that kind of thing.  And there’s so much humor in this film.  I think what’s great about it is that it comes from a really authentic place.  It’s a bunch of kids at a lake house for a weekend.  Yes, there’s sex.  Yes, there are drugs.  I mean, there’s everything.  You name it, these kids get into it. 

Q:  What was the first Friday film you ever saw?

DP:  The first one I ever saw was the original Friday the 13^th, and I’ve only seen part one and part two.  I’m slowly working my way [through them all], but I’m such a chicken.  I can’t sit through horror movies.  I get nightmares.  Bambi gave me nightmares when I was a child.  I was watching this in preparation for getting here, and I made a friend watch it with me in the daylight.  We had all the windows open.  I was just very nervous, and I’m not sure I’ll be able to sit through this one.  I keep thinking, “Holy cow!  When it comes to the premier, am I going to have to close my eyes even though I know what’s coming?”

Q:  What’s it like seeing Derek Mears as Jason in full make-up and costume on the set?

DP:  It’s a complete transformation.  Have any of you spent time with Derek?  He’s the nicest human being on the planet.  He’s so sweet and so genuine and so giving, and I love hanging with him off set, but then you get on set and you see him with the mask on, and he’s terrifying.  I don’t know if you guys saw him after Amanda.  He’s scary.  So, it’s a complete transformation.  He’s an incredible actor.  The way he uses his body to communicate is fascinating.  On this film, he’s an amazing talent.

Q:  So, you’re the athletic one.  Obviously, you’re going to come against Jason at some point.  Do you give him a hard time?

DP:  Hell yes!  Come on now.  If you saw me in wardrobe, I had my tough girl boots on.  I’m ready to kick some ass. 

Q:  Is there an elaborate fight scene?  Did you have to do any fight training?

DP:  There hasn’t been any fight training.  We’re actually getting ready to shoot some of that stuff next week.  I can’t speak in terms of what we already shot, but I’m really excited to shoot it.  Just to see our stunt coordinator, Kirk, and his guys goofing around on set is pretty intense.  I’m prepared to get a little more banged up.  I know it’s coming, but I’m really excited.

Q:  So are you in the tunnel system in this one?  It sounds like you have a long lasting character. Because we know those come in toward the end.

Panabaker:  Ah, the tunnels.  You’ve heard.  We’re shooting the tunnels next week, and that’s where some of the action happens.

Q:  So how’s that going to work?  Is it going to be really claustrophobic?

DP:  I honestly haven’t seen it.  I think they’re building it on stage.  Three days before we’re going to shoot, they’re still building and finishing it, so I’m just as anxious [to see it].  It’s fun to get on set and see how these things come to life because you read the script, and then you get here and the bus looks like that, and it’s not at all what I expected, but it’s totally terrifying and cool. 

Q:  What does Marcus do to keep your energy up?  Are there any kind of methods he utilizes? 

DP:  It’s a stressful set, but he always comes in and has a couple words of wisdom.  It’s funny because there’s a bit of a language barrier.  We were shooting a scene, and it wasn’t quite working, and Jared asked, “Where’s the egg on my face?” and Marcus sort-of looked at him, and said, “I’m sorry?”  Jared said, “The egg on my face in the scene,” and Marcus was thoroughly perplexed and said, “I don’t follow.”  So, communicating with motion is definitely much easier, and, you know, trying to remember where you’re coming from (because we shoot out of sequence) and where you’re going to [is difficult].  Marcus is really great at helping us. 

Q:  We were talking about how nice Derek is because we met him, and he is sweet.  Does it ever make the transition from, “Hey Derek.  You’re my buddy” to “You’re going to kill me” difficult?

DP:  Absolutely.  Being on set, of course, is totally different.  As soon as I see him, I give him a great big hug, but once you step on the set, he is Jason, and he is thinking like Jason, and he is such a huge fan of the series and has such respect for it that he’s very careful.  I think he’s really going to sell this movie in his performance because he is so respectful of who Jason is and what the series is and trying to be honest and true to that which I think is true throughout the film.  I mean, we’re not throwing away everything that’s come before and pretending like, “Oh, it’s a brand new Jason.”  We’re being pretty authentic to the spirit of Jason, and Derek does a great job of that.  When he’s on set, he’s terrifying.

Q:  What’s the vibe on set?  You guys are all playing kids that are coming out to the woods.  Have you guys hung out as a cast yet?

DP:  We have an amazing cast.  I don’t know how these guys did it because the chemistry between the cast is phenomenal.  Unfortunately, a lot of them have gone home to L.A., but I have texted all of them since they’ve left, so we had a wonderful time.  Our first week here, we had a little bit of off time, so we just got into trouble around Austin like going shopping.  You name it.  We had a lot of fun, and it made a huge difference. Aaron Yoo and Arlen Escarpeta’s relationship in the movie is great, I think largely because they have such chemistry off camera as well.  The casting in this movie is phenomenal.  I can’t speak highly enough of them.  There are eight of us, and we all get along wonderfully.  I miss them all terribly.  It’s hard to be shooting without them. 

Q:  Obviously, you shoot a movie out of order.  Do people’s last day on set end up being their death scene?

DP:  Ironically, I think the last day for most of those guys was one of the first scenes in the movie, so by then, everyone already knows how their character is going to die. 

Q:  There have been a lot of theories as to what Jason is as a metaphorical symbol.  What do you see him as?  Some people call him the “hand of God” where he comes down and smites all the bad kids.  What have you always seen him as or have you even looked that deep into him?

DP:  This is actually the first time I’ve ever thought about it.  I think that Jason is just really misunderstood.  I know that sounds really cliché, but when you see the film, the way they’re creating him is totally authentic.  He’s a person with a heart and a mother.  He’s got some issues, obviously, and I guess his way of dealing with them is by chopping people’s heads off with machetes. 

Q:  Obviously, there’s a strike looming.  Do you have anything lined up after this?  Are you sort of being optimistic hoping the strike isn’t going to happen and you can move onto something else right away? 

DP:  You know, it’s really funny because being on this movie has been great, but there’s been so much going on.  I was on a TV show for two years that just got cancelled [Shark], and it was a surprise.  I was surprised that the show got cancelled because I anticipated being on the show this fall, and so going out to L.A. and waiting out this strike is sort of like a new beginning especially coming off of something like this.  Hopefully, there will be plenty of opportunities to sift through.

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Staci Layne Wilson reporting