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| Actress Rachel Grubb |
With the DVD release of 13 Hours In A Warehouse on October 28th, I thought I would use my blog as an opportunity to talk with my co-star and friend, Paul Cram. I’ve known Paul for a few years now, and he and I both share a passion for acting…and sushi. I’d like to introduce him to you now…
Rachel: What can you tell us about your character, Craig Teller?
Paul: Craig has a mohawk, can melt anything he touches and can fly like Superman.
Rachel: Really? I must not have been on set the day they filmed that stuff…
Paul: Am kidding. (Not about the mohawk.)
Though Craig certainly reads comic books, which you’ll see in the movie. He’s the get-away driver for the team of art thieves that hole up in an abandoned warehouse following a heist. Craig is the outsider of the group, has very low self-esteem and wants desperately to be accepted. It’s his need for other’s approval that clouds his gut-instinct and ultimately destroys him. When I read the script, out of all the thieves, I identified most with Craig. I mean, don’t we all want to be loved?
Rachel: You’ve done quite a few horror films. Are you a fan of the genre?
Paul: No… Surprised? Let me clarify so readers don’t black list me. Playing Craig was a blast. I got to scream, cry, run around in an abandoned warehouse sporting a mohawk. It doesn’t get much better than that as an actor. So I do enjoy working in the genre, but I don’t always enjoy watching it. Truth is, I get queasy at the sight of other’s blood. Hard-core fans like yourself may consider me a wimp, but it’s in my genes. My dad nearly blacked out when my older brother was born, too much blood. When I rent a movie to cozy up on my couch with popcorn, I go for suspense thrillers with a psychological aspect. I like “What Lies Beneath” with Michelle Pfeiffer or director M. Night Shymalan’s “The Village.” Hitchcock’s “Psycho” & “Vertigo” are on my list of top ten faves.
Rachel: What did you think of “Tenebre”? I remember that we got to see that one together when “13 Hours In A Warehouse” was in the Nevermore Film Festival. Dario Argento is one of my favorite directors.
Paul: Yikes, yes. I do remember that movie. I shut my eyes a lot when all the blood happened, but I liked the plot twist at the end. Writing like that makes me happy.
Rachel: What do you think of the film scene in Minnesota?
Paul: It’s one of the little gems of filmmaking in the nation. It’s strong with crew & talent. Look at “13 Hours in a Warehouse.” It was shot on a shoe-string budget but looks like it cost a million more than it did to make, a big part of that is that the crew and cast were really good at what they do.
Rachel: What was your favorite thing about making “13 Hours In A Warehouse”?
Paul: Hmmm, besides working alongside friends, my favorite thing was being paid to act. Was yours getting all that special ghoul make-up put on?
Rachel: Well, getting it put on was actually a long and tedious process.
Paul: Oh, here you go, bring out the inner diva. How about some cheese with that whine?
Rachel: Dude, you weren’t there! It took three hours a day! But as for walking around set wearing it, yeah, that was my favorite part! Everyone on set would stare at me when I walked into the room.
Paul: You realize it’s because you looked dead, right?
Rachel: No, it was because we looked awesome! The ghosts got to sit in the nice, air conditioned room, so that we wouldn’t sweat our makeup off. We had people to bring us food, and even open our sodas for us, since we had makeup on our hands. It was great!
Paul: So you don’t always have people peeling grapes for you while you are working on a movie?
Rachel: No, I usually just walk to the craft services table myself. And I open my own soda cans.
Paul: For readers who don’t know what a craft service table is, it’s a table with a variety of snacks, drinks, breath mints and first aid.
Rachel: There’s a lot of waiting around on set, and you get to snack a lot while you’re waiting.
Paul: Hey, what about the rumor I heard on set, the one where you’d finish filming your ghost stuff, go home and sleep with all the make-up on, then come back to set with most of it intact?
Rachel: Haha! Yes, it was! Although I would wash it off my face and hands, I left the rest of it on, if I was filming the next day. As I said, it took so long to put on that it saved me time sitting in the chair. I would get done an hour or two early. Crist Ballas, the makeup artist, just needed to paint my face and hands and touch up the rest. Since it was body makeup, it wasn’t the easiest stuff to take off anyway. I left it on just to save myself the trouble of scrubbing it off with baby oil, only to get up the next day and have it airbrushed all over me again.
Paul: Yuck! And that totally shatters the diva rumor I heard about you. Hey, if you kept your pillow case we could sell it on Ebay as the Tourin Shroud of Rachel Grubb’s ghost!
Rachel: Unfortunately I had to wash it. It really stank! So what was your least favorite thing about making the movie?
Paul: My dramatic final scene in which Craig ends up half-naked on a filthy bathroom floor. I had to lie there, face down, on cold concrete for 6 hours without moving while they worked to get the shot.
Rachel: Aw, poor Paul…
Paul: Hey, now it’s my turn to say “Dude, you weren’t there!”
Rachel: Actually, I was…
Paul: Along with the cold hard concrete, my abdomen and lower regions were pooling fake blood, which after 6 hours- dried. Literally I was stuck to the floor. I wouldn’t push myself up, because doing so would have left portions of my skin adhered to the concrete. I don’t know that it would’ve rendered me unable to have kids in the future, but I wanted desperately to keep everything intact, so the set was cleared of all crew and only Crist was allowed to come in with hot water, towels, and a spray bottle to help get me up. What would have been a very embarrassing situation was minimized. (Though I did scream once or twice.) Ouch! Oh, I ought to mention too that during that 6 hours, you drooled all over my backside. I suppose you’ll want to be the one to explain to the readers how it happens that your character has serious salivating issues and how you conveniently happened to be standing over me when I am glued to the floor?
Rachel: Oh, God! My character had a wooden bit in her mouth. Crist showed me two sizes, and I thought the bigger one looked creepier, so I chose it. It fit comfortably in my mouth when I tried it. But I didn’t realize until the whole piece was done and strapped onto my head that I couldn’t close my throat. I kept drooling! The thing is, I’m totally grossed out by drool. Dav loved it, though. Every time there was a closeup up of my face, he would hold the take until the drool came out. Unfortunately, one of those times, I was standing above you while you were stuck to the floor.
Paul: Imagine yourself lying face down beneath a flock of sea gulls, never quite knowing when the drops are going to goo down, that’s the sensation.
Rachel: I knew it! I knew that would be one of your least favorite things about filming. Sorry about that, Paul.
Paul: Ahh, thanks. It does make for a good story though, and I’d do it all again.
Rachel: So you’ve got a role in Dav Kaufman’s next movie. What can you tell us about it?
Paul: It’s tentatively titled “The Psychosis of Ghosts,” but I haven’t read the script yet. Dav did tell me to learn Origami & be ready to live in the Men’s Bathroom as my on-set location again. Aren’t you going to be in it too?
Rachel: And I’m going to be a ghost. I think we’re both being typecast!
Paul: I do think Dav has some serious issues. We oughta find him a therapist.
Rachel: So what would be your ideal role?
Paul: I can pick one?
Rachel: Of course!
Paul: I’d want to play Aaron Stampler in “Primal Fear.” Edward Norton did this role and he was amazing, I’d want a role like that, something to really dig one’s acting teeth into. I love characters that are misunderstood, or judged incorrectly at first by the audience, only later to find that the character isn’t what was first thought. Characters with a twist.
Rachel: As for my ideal role (you didn’t ask me, but I’m going to tell you anyway!), in a perfect world, one in which Heath Ledger was still alive, I would like to play Harley Quinn to his Joker. I’m a huge fan of the comic book, and he brought that character to life in a way I never thought possible. I think I could learn a lot working with him. So do you have any other projects you’d like to let us know about?
Paul: I have been working on a lot of projects this year. One that I was really happy to be a part of was “Peacock” with Cillian Murphy, Susan Sarandon, & Ellen Paige. I have a tiny part (I say two lines) but it’s a great script and I can’t wait for it to hit theater’s next year. If people are interested they can always get updates on my projects at my blog: http://www.PaulCramActor.com/blog I enjoy comments and feedback! Thanks Rachel for the interview.