Brittany Snow Interview, Prom Night

MoviesOnline recently had the pleasure of being part of an interview with Brittany Snow, the star of Prom Night, which will be heading to theatres on April 11^th, 2008.

“Donna’s senior prom is supposed to be the best night of her life. After surviving a horrible tragedy, she has finally moved on and is enjoying her last year of high school. Surrounded by her best friends, she should be safe from the horrors of her past. But when the night turns deadly, there is only one person who could be responsible--a man she thought was gone forever. Now, Donna and her friends must find a way to escape the sadistic rampage of an obsessed killer, and survive a night “to die for.” “

Some may know Brittany Snow from her roster of television work, including Guiding Light, American Dreams, and a controversial role on Nip/Tuck. More recently Brittany has been seen in the films John Tucker Must Die and Hairspray. Fans can expect to see a lot more of Ms. Snow, as she has three more films coming out in the next year.

MoviesOnline: What do you think about the tradition of hooking up after prom night?

Brittany Snow: I definitely think there’s a lot of pressure for teenaged girls and guys to hook up on prom. I think it comes with the belief that you have to lose your virginity before you go to college. It’s a coming of age thing. I think it’s really sad because it has nothing to do with what you want and everything to do with peer pressure. But it comes with the territory of prom. Thankfully more and more kids are knowing their limits, and I think we’re raising kids to be really good people, and they’re realizing that they don’t need to do it just because.

MoviesOnline: You’ve transitioned from soap operas to movies and now a horror film, is there a genre of this medium you’d like to pursue or get more into?

Yeah. I think it really depends. I think it’s just about the project. I’m not partial to film or television, it’s more about the characters you play and who you work with. I look for a challenge and the opportunity to work with great directors or producers. So if that is it in television then I would take that route. Right now I am pursuing film because the characters available in my age range have a lot more going for them. I would never say never to anything.

MoviesOnline: I noticed that three of your recent roles deal with racial issues. Do you think it’s important for you to take on those subversive roles? Are you saying something to the audience?

I think that people are smart enough to realize that when I’m playing a character it doesn’t reflect my personal beliefs. I play a Nazi on Nip/Tuck, and obviously I don’t believe in that. I look for roles that challenge me and make me explore the psychology of another person and what they believe. It’s up to people to decide what they believe in. I like playing different characters with different beliefs, and who have different ideals and understandings of things.

MoviesOnline: What was it like jumping in and out of a vulnerable character between sequences?

Yeah. Actually, that’s a really hard thing. It’s funny because I never really realized how hard a horror movie could be. Just in that way. You want to have fun on set and make jokes with the crewmembers, but then you have to be hysterical because you’re being chased by a madman. It’s hard to go back and forth because you can’t be hysterical all day. I developed a system of taking a little bit of time to collect myself so I could have some fun on set and know when to get myself together. It’s really hard and I really respect people who do thrillers and horrors since it’s not an emotion you deal with every day. Getting chased and being afraid.

MoviesOnline: Did you get to ever go to a prom?

I didn’t actually. It’s funny because I did this movie and one of the fist things they asked was what was your prom like? I had to say that I never went. I was working on American Dreams at that time. It was actually shooting on the day of my prom. However, shooting Prom Night for 3 months pretty much fulfilled my prom wishes.

MoviesOnline: Do you feel like you missed out?

No. Not really. A lot of people ask me if I feel like I missed out on things by not going to normal parties and doing all of the normal teen things. I always look back and I think I didn’t really miss out. I went to my sophomore year of high school and was really focused on acting as something I wanted to do for the rest of my life. So I was never mad about missing prom because I got to be on a TV show which was really cool. I still have my best friends in Florida. They send me pictures and catch me up on all of the stories.

MoviesOnline: Horror feeds off of intensity. What was the most intense moment in shooting for you?

I think probably a scene where I have to view my mother getting killed in front of me. It takes place when my character is 16. So not only am I playing younger, but I’m also on the ground under the bed watching my mom get killed. Getting into that mentality was worse than getting chased. It was hard, because I didn’t want to be fake or clichéd in my portrayal of someone whose mom got killed. It was challenging and afterward I think it came out okay

MoviesOnline: As this was your first horror film, how did you handle seeing someone get killed?

You can’t attach yourself to it too much. It’s fake blood and you have the crew and stuff. But it’s really weird because a lot people think teen horror movies are cliché and not that intense when they’re watching them. For the actors it’s really intense to be someone getting chased or watching someone die. You try not to think about it too much. You try to feel what you would be feeling in that scenario and then go about your life.

MoviesOnline: Have you seen any of the old Prom Night films? What is your favourite scary movie?

I didn’t see the original. Well, I did see it, but not the whole thing and I don’t remember it. I thought I shouldn’t watch it because this movie is not really a remake at all. This movie nothing like it, which makes it hard doing publicity, because people think it’s a remake. I didn’t want to the original with the mindset of that previous movie or thinking I had to be like Jamie Lee Curtis. I wanted to do my own thing with the script as it was. My favourite scary movie was probably The Exorcist or the Children of the Corn movies because I watched them when I was too young. Seeing those kids that were my age being scary still sticks out in my mind.

MoviesOnline: What goes on in your mind when you’re choosing a role? Especially with Nip/Tuck?

It really depends, and so far in the past couple of years I’ve been choosing darker roles. After prom night I did 2 movies as a prostitute, and as a Nazi in Nip/Tuck, the movie I’m doing now is dark as well. It’s kind of weird because people would think I’m going against type as the girl next door. That is true to some extent. But I gravitate towards characters with inner turmoil, or some sort of character arc. I like to play people who have something darker going on with them. But I love comedy too. The great thing about acting is the diversity in the roles you can do. But so far it seems to be going in the darker direction.

MoviesOnline: What is your biggest fear?

Probably being alone on a desert island or the middle of the ocean. I have a weird thing with water. This is weird because I’m from Florida, so you wouldn’t think I would be.

MoviesOnline: What else are you working on?

I have a movie coming out called Finding Amanda. It’s premiering at the Tribeca Film Festival. It’s a dark comedy with Matthew Broderick. I play a prostitute. I also have Black Water Transit, that’s directed by Tony Kaye who did American History X. So that’s obviously not a light film. It’s got crazy characters and visuals. I play a prostitute there as well. I’m also doing a movie called The Vicious Kind. I don’t play a prostitute there thankfully. It’s about men being obsessed about girlfriends who cheated on them and how that can mess them up for a long time. I play a cool character in that. It’ll be out next year.

MoviesOnline: Are you a fan of horror? and why did you choose Prom Night?

I am a fan of horror films. It’s funny because I was very hesitant to do this as I wanted it to be a good choice for my career. I’m very picky about what I do. I was happy it wasn’t a remake, because there’s a lot of that lately. I also loved the director Nelson McCormick. This was also the first project where I had a big part of creating the movie overall, I got to help create the script and got to share my ideas on clothes and music, and that was a really cool thing to be a part of. The script turned out to be something good for my age range. And it’s not a gory movie; it’s more about the psychological side of horror.

MoviesOnline: Was the line ever blurred. Did you ever become scared on set?

To a certain extent I try to do things that make me engage myself. So I did get a little scared. But it’s hard to be really scared when you see 20 crew members staring back at you. However, when someone is wrestling you to the ground with a knife it can be pretty scary. I don’t think it would be a good idea to blur the lines too much; otherwise you’d want to leave the set.

MoviesOnline: Most of the roles that you have been playing have been more oriented towards a teen audience. What things in your personal life are you trying to challenge yourself with?

I feel that in life you become who you want to be from learning and experience. What I find most gratifying is doing things that are scary and challenging, the whole showing up at work thinking I could either mess this up, or I could be great. I like to challenge myself as an actor, and as a person, and in that challenge you grow. I have been picking roles that have been more challenging to me, even within teen roles. What I’m learning is that I love working with directors who I respect, admire and can learn from. That goes with people I work with too. I’ve been lucky to find scripts that I like and that I can learn from, which help me grow. If I want to become a Hollywood “It” Girl, which seems like a good idea to a lot of people, then I can look at that. So I try to choose scripts that will help my career, since I want to do this for a long time.

MoviesOnline: How do you find time to do everyday things that people in your field aren’t usually doing? Normal things like hanging out with friends or getting back to Florida, etc.

I was actually just in Florida last month. I went to Tampa. I think the cool thing about my job is that it allows me to focus on my # 1 priority, which is that my life and my friends and my family come first. I’m so lucky to do what I do and I’m very grateful for that. In order to do my job well I have to have those life experiences. I’m really into music and photography and seeing movies and my friends, and getting to do those things is at the top of my priority list. I had about 6 months between my last movie and this one, so I took a photography class. That is the great thing about this work. It lets me have my personal life as well.

MoviesOnline: Have you put your photos on the web?

I’ve thought about it, but no. I’ve been thinking about doing a blog with photos and poetry. It’ll depend if I think I’m good enough at it.

MoviesOnline: What do you think is the best way to watch a horror movie? Slumber party? Cuddling with a guy?

I’ve always thought the best way to watch a horror is if you’re just starting to date a guy. Then if something is scary you can maybe hug. Also, watching horror movies with girlfriends and eating candy and getting scared is fun, because inevitably one of your friends will see a shadow outside and scare everyone. I like watching horror at home and comedies at the theatre.