Horror Queen Jamie Bernadette (The Darkness, Absolute Evil, I Spit on Your Grave: Deja Vu) runs smack-bang into a tub of corn syrup again with her latest fright-flick, All Girls Weekend. In this exclusive interview, Bernadette tells us what interested her about being a part of Lou Simon’s survivalist horror pic, her obsession with A Nightmare on Elm Street, and whether there’s a sequel in All Girls Weekend.
How did you find yourself cast in All Girls Weekend?
I submitted a tape for the character of “Annie” and Lou and her producing team came back and asked me to submit a tape for the role of “Nancy”. When I read the character breakdown for Nancy and read the scene that they sent me to tape, I thought, “Yes! Yes! I love Nancy!” I sent in that tape and then Lou cast me. That was it.
How would you describe the character?
Nancy is very cynical. I just watched the movie a few days ago for the first time because I was filming in Michigan when they had the premiere last year so I didn’t get to see it. It was funny when I was watching myself because it was like it wasn’t even me. Nancy is so hostile on the outside but that is because she is carrying around a lot of pain on the inside. However, people aren’t always who they appear to be and the audience may find out that Nancy has more redeeming qualities than they at first realize.
The movie is a mix of genres. Is that what appealed to you about it?
I just loved the script when I read it. I was blown away by Lou’s storytelling skills. I just recently also read “3”, her next film, and it is phenomenal. I love a good story. When I read “All Girls Weekend”, I just had to be a part of it. I do love that it is a horror but also an adventure film and a survival film. Survival films are one of my favourite genres. It was my dream to be in a survival film like this and it came true.
You’re surrounded by some great female actors — had you worked with any of them before?
No, I had never worked with any of them and had not known them before either. We bonded on this film. We were under very harsh conditions with the cold, the sleet, the snow. I think that made our bond even stronger. I just love every single one of these girls. We had so much fun and we keep in touch regularly. I hope to work with them again in the future.
And Lou Simon, of course. Can you tell us about working with her?
Lou is great. She is a very tell-it-like-it-is kind of person, which is refreshing. You never have to guess what she is thinking because she will tell you. She is also a workaholic. She and I have that in common. Lou has over a dozen scripts ready to go. She is brilliant and industrious and she can be very serious and then all of a sudden say something that just cracks you up. I remember one night on set, we did a wide shot and then we did the close-up of me and she said, “You Meryl-Streep it on the close-up.” She had me laughing so hard.
Have you and Lou discussed working together on anything else?
Yes, we have. I was going to work on “3” but it didn’t work out schedule-wise. We have talked about a sequel to “All Girls Weekend” as well. She already has it written (of course—I swear the woman doesn’t sleep) J
The horror genre loves you and you seem to love it. What keeps you coming back?
I do love horror. I always have since I was a child. I was obsessed with “A Nightmare on Elm Street” when I was a child and I would act out the scenes. I always wanted to be in horror. I also do other genres as well—comedy, drama, thriller, sci-fi, you name it. Horror is the easiest to sell so there is a lot of it out there, so that could have something to do with how much I have done. Statistically speaking, there is just more of it than there is of the other genres. But I do love it. Horror is a challenge because of the wide range of emotions an actor must elicit. If you think about it and compare it to the comedy genre for example, in horror you have to convincingly portray fear, terror, grief, shock, agony, pain, and more. In comedy, you usually don’t have to reach those emotional depths. I believe horror is some of the most challenging acting that you can do.
