Audrina Patridge, Leah Pipes Interview, Sorority Row

We caught up at Comic-Con with Leah Pipes and Audrina Patridge to talk about their upcoming horror thriller, Sorority Row.

Leah made her acting debut in 2001 in an episode of the television series “Angel.” She won a regular role in 2002 in the ABC series “Lost at Home,” leading to a versatile television career that most recently saw her star as ‘Katie’ in the CW series “Life is Wild” as well as guest in several episodes of the hit Fox series “Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles.”

Among her other television credits are roles in the series “Parents in Charge,” “Clubhouse,” “Pixel Perfect,” “Bones,” “Crossing Jordan,” “Brothers Garcia,” “Drake and Josh,” “Shark,” “Malcolm in the Middle,” and “Ghost Whisperer.” She also recently starred in the horror feature “Fingerprints,” which was named Best Feature at the NYC Horror Film Festival.

Audrina has become a sought after celebrity as well as an actress thanks to the runaway success of her starring role (and acting debut) in the hit MTV television series “The Hills,” now in its fifth season. Her exposure in that series has led to opportunities in film acting (starring in the MGM Entertainment film “Into the Blue 2”), television appearances (on the Fox Network series “Mad TV” and “Do Not Disturb”) and fashion design (she is the face of Divine Rights of Denim).

Leah and Audrina are a fabulous people and we really appreciated their time. Here’s what they had to tell us about their new movie:

Q: How would you describe this movie?

Leah: It is a tongue-in-cheek horror film and the humor is very witty and the girls are very scantily clad and the deaths are very gruesome.

Audrina: Every death is very unique and very gory. It’s very suspenseful. It keeps you guessing. And, every time you think the movie is going in one direction, it just twists and you’ve got to rethink everything. It’s almost like a comedy, too. It’s got some great one-liners, and lots of girl power.
 
Q: Who do you play in the film?

Audrina: I play Megan, who is a sorority girl. Her boyfriend cheats on her and, if you cheat on one Theta Pi, you cheat on them all. So, we come up with this prank and the prank does not go according to plan.

Leah: I play Jessica who is the bitchiest of all bitches. She’s the head of the sorority and embodies sorority life. She is extremely competitive and has a very sophist mentality. At the end of the day, she’s one of the most evil characters in the film. It was really fun to play.

Q: How was the casting process?

Leah: It was interesting. I went in originally for Rumor’s character, but I felt really compelled to do Jessica’s character just because she was so over the top and extreme. I didn’t know if I could play it so I challenged myself and went out for the Jessica character and ended up booking it.
 
Audrina: And you did a great job, too.

Leah: (laughs) We’ll see. I don’t know what it’s going to look like.

Q: Are there any similarities to the real college and sorority experience?

Audrina: There are definitely some similarities. You watch the movie and that’s really how sororities are, and the college parties, and the cattiness that goes on.

Leah: And the killing in sororities. It’s a problem and we have to do something about it.

Audrina: (laughs) Aside from the killing, yes, there are similarities.

Leah: I grew up being friends with guys. All my life I’ve been friends with boys and I have to say this film allowed me to make really great girlfriends through doing and saying the meanest things you could possibly say to girls on screen. I think this film is a great example of female empowerment and female bonding because we did bond during the filming and we kicked ass. We really do.
 
Q: Since the death of your character is what sets off the events of this film, did you get any input into how you would die? What was the experience of seeing that like?

Audrina: We actually just watched it for the first time, and oh, my gosh. I jumped so much, in just watching some of the scenes. When you’re filming it, it’s not as scary. When you watch it, you’re just like, “Wow!” But, as far as going through it, all the blood, all the screaming and all the make-up that goes into it, you just try to make it look as real as you can, so that it can be an amazing scene. It was a great experience.
 
Q: Are you a fan of horror movies?

Audrina: Yeah.

Leah: I can’t watch horror films and watching this film was difficult because it’s scary and it makes your heart jump. I can’t take it. I just get sent into a panic attack. But, I love thrillers and Alfred Hitchcock movies. Rear Window is a brilliant film. It’s something every actor should watch.
 
Q: Are you enjoying making the transition from the reality show world to the film world?

Audrina: What I originally moved to L.A. to do was movies and not reality television. I just got sucked into that. But, ultimately, doing this movie that will be in theaters was such an amazing experience. I made so many new girlfriends, and it’s totally different than a reality show. I loved every minute of it.
 
Q: Do you find that, when you go into auditions, people have a certain perception of you from being on a reality show?

Audrina: Yeah. I really have to prove people wrong, and just keep going out there and gain their respect. They look at me like, “Oh, she’s just a reality star,” but they don’t know that that’s ultimately what I wanted to do when I moved to L.A. It’s hard, but I’m determined and I’m going to prove everyone wrong.
      
Q: Does it help to work with so many other actresses who have had more experience doing acting roles?

Audrina: Oh, yeah. Watching Leah and everyone read the script and go over it in their head, we all helped each other out.
 
Q: What was the shooting schedule like for this, in comparison to what you were used to on The Hills?

Audrina: We would shoot nights, sometimes from 4 pm until 7 am. We’d sleep all day and shoot all night. And then, they’d switch it the next week, so we’d sleep all night and shoot all day. You’ve gotta really put your mind to it and switch into that mentality.
 
Q: Did you have the sorority experience yourself?

Audrina: No, I didn’t go to college. This was my sorority experience. I think it was the best sorority experience anyone could ask for because I hear horror stories about the real deal.

Q: How was it working with the director? Did he give you a lot of latitude?

Leah: The director was amazing. He let us have a lot of creative input and a lot of what you see in the film was made up on the day. We had the writers there every day. I personally appreciated being able to continue to feel like they owned my character because a lot of the time the director takes that power away from you because he’s on a power trip and then you lose your trust with the director. It’s so important to have trust in an actor/director relationship and you can tell that we all trusted him because we were all able to let go and be comfortable on screen.

Q: What do you think a younger audience will take away from this film based on the roles that you play?

Leah: Well it’s rated R so I hope not extremely young girls will be watching it. Girls in the college age will appreciate a movie that makes fun of a lot of the girls that terrorize them – not just makes fun of them but also kills them off in really gruesome ways. A lot of girls are going to love and find it very therapeutic to see such bitchy girls die. (Laughs) I did, at least.

Audrina: It’s actually really funny.
 
Q: Do you have any idea what you’re going to do next?

Leah: I have a law show coming out on ABC. It’s called The Deep End and it’s basically Grey’s Anatomy with lawyers. It’s like Ally McBeal, L.A. Law, and Grey’s Anatomy all rolled into one. It’s fun because it’s so different from this movie. I play a very straight-edged character and here I tend to be more the eccentric funny one.

Audrina: We’re finishing up The Hills, and then I end that and move onto a new show with Mark Burnett. And, I’m just reading different roles and going out for auditions for different movies.
 
Q: What is your new show going to be?

Audrina: It will be more about my life, so going and doing movies will be part of it. I can make time to actually go and film a movie, and bring the cameras along, and just really open up and take my fans on the journey with me.