A great horror film works as a communal experience more than almost anything else, except for maybe a comedy. That's something that I've experienced, just taking this movie around and watching it with audiences.
There are two things that I really like to do. One is I like to watch horror films a lot. The other hobby is photography.
I think mainly my devotion to horror comes from international horror movies and literature.
No, the horror genre is not my first love. I don't run to the theater to see horror films.
Everyone has the opportunity to do a horror film. There's something great about it as an actor. You have to go to places you'd normally never go and be put in situations you would never be put into. You don't get the opportunity in a lot of films to have this kind of acting. It's an interesting challenge.
Any time a new horror film comes out that looks appealing, I'm always excited to go see it.
In horror movies today it's lots of fast cut shot and lots of loud noises on the soundtrack. I tried to do the opposite. Playing with silence for instance.
In all the horror films that I have done, all of those women were strong women. I don't feel I ever played the victim, although I was always in jeopardy.
You should have high expectations for yourself and others should come second.
Greatness is not measured by what a man or woman accomplishes, but by the opposition he or she has overcome to reach his goals.
The way I dress definitely helps me embody and actually change my way of behaving and feel more confident.
When I started, I knew nothing about fashion. I remember, my first day going to my agency, I was wearing these huge bell-bottoms - they were patchwork corduroy and denim, which, at the time, I thought were amazing. My agent told me, 'You have a casting with Prada - you have to burn those jeans.'
As a kid, we had one television channel and a sad little roller rink. And there was not much else to do. So I used my imagination all of the time growing up. That's the main way I played. When we moved and I went to high school, I did my first play, and I was completely addicted to theatre. It felt like home; it felt natural.
My first paying gig was a play called 'The Voice of the Prairie' at a theater that no longer exists in Chicago called Wisdom Bridge. I played a fast-talking radio huckster - a salesman of crystal sets in the 1920s - and I actually won an award. Look at that! And then promptly didn't get hired for a year.
The first lead that I ever played was a young Boy George when I was seventeen. I shaved my eyebrows off. That's as far from leading man looks as you can get.
I played Mary at the age of seven in my first nativity play, and I loved it - there is something so fascinating about embodying someone else.
There was a little of this, 'Oh, you're such a sweet girl!' That's a wonderful thing to have in life; I don't mind it at all for life. But I remember, the first role I was ever cast in as a not-so-sweet-girl, I was so happy.
So one day, in a fit of trying to do something different, I just dyed my hair dark brown and got my first role a week later, after which I thought: 'People are closed-minded, man! Like a different hair colour changes everything!'
My first role was an angel in the nursery nativity. I spotted my mum halfway through and shouted over someone else's lines to ask if she liked my costume. I've learnt not to do that now.
The very first show I did was 'Fame L.A.' Everyone had talent... it was either dancing or acting or something like that. I was a singer, so I got my first role.
Television is an excellent training ground for a director. If you work consistently in television, as I did, you have to come in on time and on budget. What you are allowed in feature films are, fortunately, more time and a larger budget.
It's in the nature of television to restrain the spontaneity of a live event. Things become more and more prepackaged.
I was watching TV one day, and I'm like, 'How did those people get on TV? I'm gonna try that. Hey, mom, I want to be on TV!' And she's like, 'OK, let's get you an agent.'
People are not as nice as they used to be. There used to be a time when we conversed. You don't get a lot of real responses now. They used to be more polite and well-mannered people, generally. It's minimal now.
Agreeable people are warm and friendly. They're nice; they're polite. You find a lot of them in Canada.
That first victory, before you get to it, it always seems so far ahead. You're not sure whether you can make it or not. Once you do, obviously it's a relief, but it also helps you to then deal better once you are in the lead of a race.
I only care about myself and my family and this fight I'm gonna win for my family and for myself.
I think it's better to be overly ambitious and fail than to be underambitious and succeed in a mundane way. I have been very fortunate. I failed upward in my life!
