March 2012
reprinted from (re)Search My Trash
Your movie Sweet Prudence and the Erotic Adventure of Bigfoot – in a few words, what is the film about, and what can you tell us about your character?
Our movie is full of fun-filled action, it’s very kooky, there was a lot of love put into it, for the very short time we had to make it!!! Prudence and her friends seek out to capture the perfect picture of Bigfoot with a lot of silly kooky obstacles in the way, including a lot of sex!!! Lol.
How do you approach a character such as Prudence, and how much of yourself can we find in your portrayal? And how do you even prepare for a role that requires you to become the girlfriend of Bigfoot (always presuming of course that hasn’t happened to you in real life)?
I love the character Prudence, she’s sweet & caring, she’s good hearted, she can get along with anyone, and she’s bright. She can also be innocently manipulative, which is a really great quality!
Absolutely I can relate to this character, it was fun to play Prudence, and I’m lucky because I carry all those same qualities. So it was pretty easy to approach playing Prudence, I mean Albina Nahar [Albina Nahar interview – click here] and I are always laughing thinking how cool it was that our Director and now dear friend Bill Burke wrote this story [William Burke interview – click here], with the two of us in mind, because the craziest thing is prior to getting together to start this project, Bill had really only met me once, which led to working one day on his set of Lingerie. And it was pretty much the same situation with Albina. So, Bill is a very talented people reader!!! We were very lucky and must mention, so very flattered that he trusted us with this fun opportunity.
I loved the kooky love sided idea of being in love with Bigfoot! I thought it was a great part of the story, and in fact a lot of the scenes with Bigfoot, were some of my favorites! It’s all kooky fun. I’ve always loved the kind of Beauty and the Beast corny stuff, so to get to play with that on-camera was so much fun! Even the love scenes were a hoot! It’s kind of funny because the approach of being in love with Bigfoot was easy, there’s days where honestly, I’d rather be in love with an animal… lol. They are all heart!!! And with all due respect to everyone, there are days that go by where I think to me, what is going on with our human race!!! Yes, I had no problem being in love with Bigfoot! And I must mention what a sweetheart Moshe is, and the biggest trooper, playing Bigfoot bundled in that costume in the sweltering August heat! Man, does my hat go off to him!
Prudence is a firm believer in creatures like Bigfoot and the Loch Ness Monster and the like (and in the context of the film is usually right). Your personal take on her cryptozoological beliefs?
Well everyone has a knack for something right?? Lol! This was a fun side of the story too, I mean, Cryptozoology is more of a hobby! God love Prudence for wanting so much to graduate in this subject. Goodness, in reality, if I had more time on my hands… maybe I would be a little interested in Cryptozoology. I think it’s interesting. It’s a fun conversation piece lol. I think it’s awesome that there are people who have devoted a lot of their time studying it! I’ll leave the cryptozoology answers up to Prudence (-:
How could you relate to Sweet Prudence and the Erotic Adventure of Bigfoot‘s brand of comedy, and do you consider yourself a humourous person in real life?
I’d never worked with this type of comedy in the past, so actually that was the most challenging for me. It wasn’t until the fourth day, which was our last day on the shoot, that I started to actually get it, it was just crazy, trying to film as much as we filmed in only four days! I’m pretty quick at reading people’s nature too, though because this was such a fast project, it took me the whole time to kind of get to know part of Bill’s personality, which is that he’s extremely funny! Not overwhelming though, just to the perfect amount. I find that there are the types of people, who try really hard to be funny, and sometimes it can just spoil your time around them, if it’s too overboard, but with Bill he’s just so naturally funny! And I mean that with so much respect, because I love it when a man can make me laugh, he’s just got that perfect sense of humor! Sorry, I get carried away sometimes and forget to actually answer the question!! So basically, about the humor in this film, now I get it… better than I did when we were in the vortex filming it. Simply because I’ve had more time to get to know Bill. As for me, it’s funny because, I’ve had many people tell me that I’m so funny, of course, I don’t see it. In general though I love a good sense of humor, and I’m most definitely not a prude in any way, I’m very open-minded, so I think that’s always a good recipe for humor to fit into!
Well, Bill and I met at my first audition for the show Lingerie, which I ended up working a day on, and really from there he created Sweet Prudence and the Erotic Adventure of Bigfoot, I’ve been told with me in mind to play Prudence. Do you know how flattering that is!?! It’s great! I mean I feel very blessed that Bill gave me the opportunity to have such a good time with this movie.
A few words about Sweet Prudence and the Erotic Adventure of Bigfoot‘s director William Burke [William Burke interview – click here], and what was your collaboration like?
Bill Burke, the most professional sweet-hearted soul I’ve ever worked with! Hands down! On a set like this, this type of genre, there is lots of opportunity to cross boundaries, and that’s just totally not Bill’s way of working ever!! He’s amazing, he’s caring, he’s supportive, and never once did he ever yell at his actors!! I have so much respect for that alone, because let me tell you, there is nothing more humiliating than to be yelled at or singled out when you are naked!! LOL! He’s just fantastic, I mean there are a lot of experiences I’m sure in this genre, where people might walk away, and never care to work with their director/producer ever again. That will never be the case with Bill. Bill gave me this opportunity, he took a chance with me, and I really can’t thank him enough! He was so great to work with, and I can only hope he will want to work again with me, now I understand him better, so it can only hopefully get better and better from here.
As far as I know, Sweet Prudence and the Erotic Adventure of Bigfoot was shot at an actual nudist camp – did that at all feel weird, and what can you tell us about the on-set atmosphere?
Shooting at the nudist camp was great! The atmosphere was obviously perfect for this movie, which was a very considerate move on Bill’s part. I won’t lie, upon Albina’s and my first arrival, Day 1, we put our sunglasses on right away, it was a new experience for us, and we were a little thrown off. It only took us through hair and make-up before we were running around naked too, lol. For me being naked comes very natural, it’s not like I grew up in a naked house or anything, it’s just I’m very comfortable with it. From the ages 3-8 my parents brought my sister and I to live out west in Alberta each summer, where they were building a huge log house! During that time we actually lived in an authentic Tipi, we would run around naked playing in the mud around the prairies all day long, and washing up in our creeks. So when it comes to nudity, my subconscious mind helps me be very natural with it. It just feels very natural to me, I really don’t feel weird about it, unless someone makes me feel weird. This was never the case at the nudist camp. It was very peaceful. If I had any complaints, the only thing would be the mosquitoes at some points during the night shoot! Not such a fun time to be naked!! Other than that, it was awesome, in fact we felt bad when we weren’t taking part in the nudity spirit, I mean after 15hr shoots, we felt like getting cozy and getting some pajamas on, so at those times we did feel bad, because, some people would make joking comments like, ladies lose the clothes, because it’s a nudist camp! That’s their thing, they aren’t there to watch a whole film crew walk around in their clothes. So really, at times we were like crap! We are in our clothes!! I found a lot of good humor in the whole experience too!! The funniest was in the mornings waking up, opening our door to the pool boy vacuuming in the raw with just his hat on!! Lol! Maybe at any other time of day I would find that sexy… but definitely not before morning coffee!! Nudist camp was great!!
In Sweet Prudence and the Erotic Adventure of Bigfoot, you do get naked quite a few times, and I presume you have gotten naked on camera before. So, has on-camera nudity ever bothered you, and can you still remember your first nude shoot?
Nudity on-camera doesn’t bother me as long as everything is done professionally! Which, in this case it was. My very first nudity gig was on a film called It’s a Boy Girl Thing. I was actually a butt double… which was funny because my audition was strictly just to see what kind of bottom I had, and if it could I guess suit the actress. It was actually a lot of fun! And the scene was a lot of fun, it’s not as weird as it sounds… LOL. I was just thrilled that I was making, or I should say that my butt was making me such good money!!! Then, actually they asked me back to be part of an all-girls nude locker room scene, where all we had to do is shower. Was great!! After those experiences, I was very comfortable with nudity on-camera. I think it’s important if you want to work on screen to be comfortable to a certain extent with your body, nude. I know that my past has had a huge positive influence on the development of my confidence with nudity, growing up running around in the wild, nude, free as a bird must have helped me build the confidence, without the ego!! LOL!
Let’s go back to the beginnings of your career: What got you into acting in the first place, and did you receive any formal education on the subject?
I do come from a theatre background, my father actually graduated from the National Theatre School in Montreal, and he has made a career as an actor. In Canada, especially here in Toronto, I find that we are all fighting for what are tiny little crumbs of parts in series, and the audition process can be so stressful!! I’m so proud of my father for sticking at it, and for doing as well as he’s done. He’s definitely part of my inspiration to act. From the time I can remember, being just a kid, going to watch his plays 2-3 times in a row, I love watching my father on stage!! I actually think he’s naturally a much better theatre actor, which is a compliment! Because, theatre isn’t easy. Growing up around theatre was a blessing, I have so many great memories of it. Theatre, movies, Sunday night TV movies were always a part of my extra-curricular! A huge part of my personality was influenced by movies like Alice In Wonderland, then Cry Baby, then Legends of the Fall, Romeo & Juliet, Great Expectations… I swear I really am who I am today because those films influenced me so much.
The acting gene definitely runs through my veins. It’s just about getting the opportunity to exercise it. I think it’s really important to always keep up with training and workshops to keep developing as an actor. For me it just hasn’t been easy to incorporate those extracurricular hobbies into my life, from a young age I started to live on my own, where keeping up with rent & bills became my priorities, and acting and everything to do with it went onto the backburner. It really wasn’t until the last couple years that I started to make the time to get out on auditions, where with luck I met Bill, and came across this bigger opportunity. Prior to this project, I had never done anything on-camera to the extent of four long days, with lines. My most recent production was a theatre production called A Miracle of Saint Antony, directed by very talented Russian women named Tatiana Chouljenko, who was very tough on me. I was told that my experience working with her was equivalent to paying probably a couple thousand dollars in training… so I feel very fortunate to have had that opportunity for the experience, and also that she took a chance with me. We performed for two weeks downtown Toronto in the Young Centre for the Performing Arts, in the Distillery District. I love theatre! For my most recent on-camera gig, prior to Sweet Prudence and the Erotic Adventure of Bigfoot, I worked on a show called Lost Girl, which I’m a big fan of, Anna Silk, the lead, was a huge inspiration to me, and she’s Canadian! And she just rocks!!
I did have a bit of training back in my elementary and high school days. I took an on-camera audition technique course, I took some voice courses, I did some theatre training courses, I was always into the dramatic arts in school, not because they were easy courses, actually because I was genuinely into acting. I love taking the opportunity to play!!! It’s just a lot of fun when you have the time to work on it!
Sorry, I can just go on and on and on!!!
Any future projects you’d like to talk about?
Well at this moment all I can say is that I hope there will be some good things on the horizon, I really don’t like to look too much into the future, I’m a passionate that we take all the good from our past, never look too deep into the future, and really just enjoy the present, because it’s all we have…
If there was ever a sequel to Sweet Prudence and the Erotic Adventure of Bigfoot (and I hope there will be), would you hop on board?
Absolutely!
Actresses (or indeed actors) who inspire you?
Leonardo DiCaprio, Matt Damon, Johnny Depp, Russel Crowe, Ryan Gosling, Jim Carrey, Steve Carell, Steve Buscemi, Joaquin Phoenix, oh goodness!! There’s too many! My Father too of course! My Mother is a natural born actress, she just doesn’t know it! LOL.
As for women – there’s also too many, though I must say, on a comedic level, lately I’ve been really digging Kristen Wiig!! Other than that, there’s Blake Lively, Kirsten Dunst, Catherine Zeta Jones, Judi Dench, Meryl Streep, Glenn Close, Julianne Moore, Anne Hathaway, Paz De La Huerta, Rachel Mc Adams, Anna Silk… oh… too many! I could just go on and on! I love watching TV and going to the movies!
Anything else you are dying to mention and I have merely forgotten to ask?
Thank you so very much for the interview, it really was a pleasure…
xox Angie
Thanks for the interview!