Q&A with Cabin in the Woods Director Drew Goddard and Actress Amy Acker

 

I sat down with Cabin in the Woods director Drew Goddard and actress Amy Acker to discuss their film that rocked SXSW and has message boards going crazy. We had a chance to talk about writing with Joss Whedon, pacing in films, fearless filmmaking, and Drew gives his theory on how Michael Myers learned how to drive.
How were you able to write the story for Cabin in the Woods? Did you come up with the ending first and work backwards?
Drew Goddard: I wrote this with my partner in crime Joss Whedon……….
I think I’ve heard of him before
DG: [laughs] Yeah. He’s a young up and comer. You should keep your eye on him. He had the basic ending. When we knew what that was we could work backwards. That was very much how we worked on Buffy The Vampire Slayer and Angel. You find that spark of an idea and try to entertain each other as you flush it out.
Was it a long writing process?
DG: We spent a few months getting the outline in to shape and really getting the structure right. One of the things I learned from Joss, the more work you do on your structure and your outline, the easier the writing is. We spent months doing that. When it came time to write it we said ‘Let’s lock ourselves in a hotel and we aren’t allowed to leave the hotel until we finish the script’. [laughs] It was crazy. It was nice because we had a room with an upstairs and a downstairs. I took the upstairs and we would just yell back and forth and crank pages out. I think we wrote around the clock for three days and at the end we were done. We rewrote it after that, but it stuck pretty close to what we wrote.
Amy, How did you get involved with the project?
Amy Acker: I guess I just knew the right people [laughs]. I was working on something and Joss called and said they were having trouble finding a part and would I mind playing it. I said ‘That sounds great.’
DG: The reason we were having trouble is because nobody was Amy.
It’s good to have a pool of talented people to pull from.
DG: It’s hard because we switch tones so much. We go from high comedy to high drama, often in the same scene or in the same line. It requires a degree of difficulty that’s sort of deceptive. It is so silly at times, but if you find people who can do it well, like Amy can, you want to grab them and hold them close.
Some of the scenes in Cabin are creepy, funny, and then creepy again. The whole premise itself is really bizarre.
DG: I feel like you just described the whole movie.
[everybody laughs]
DG: It’s funny and it’s a little bizarre.
Like the scene with the speakerphone. It captures the tone for the entire film.
DG: It’s a really crucial scene. It was the first scene that told the audience ‘Ok. I’m getting the tone of this movie.’ We sort of hint at it before that, but that’s when it really crystallizes and you really get it.
Did you have any sense of what kind of film you were making while you were on set?
AA: Being around Richard Jenkins and Bradley Whitford was great. They were so funny. You really got the comedy sense of that part.
DG: Because we’ve worked with Amy for so many years, you’ve seen some [expletive] in your day.
AA: It would’ve been weirder for me if it was just straight forward [laughs].
You did some work on one of my favorite shows Lost. Was that experience helpful in writing the story for Cabin.
DG: Yeah. I’ve been lucky between Buffy, Angel, Alias, and then Lost. The thing they all have in common is that they were all fearless. They were not afraid to be different and try something different. Even if you didn’t know that it was going to work, just try to do something new and fresh. That’s definitely how we felt on Lost doing every episode. Let’s just try something new. I like that. That energy is really intoxicating once you’re in it. I wanted to keep that with Cabin. If nothing else, let’s be bold. If we fail, that’s fine, but there’s integrity to that intent.
Do the bold stories appeal to you as an actor?
AA: Totally. I think that’s the most fun thing to do as an actor. It’s getting to play circumstances that aren’t happening in real life, the same with being on those shows and with this movie.  And being able to change genres within each other. One week you feel like you’re on a sitcom, the next week you’re in a high drama. It’s really fun to play both ends of the spectrum and everything between.
Has Cabin been difficult to advertise for because of how different it is?
DG: Certainly. The filmmaker in me doesn’t want to give anything away. The audience member in me knows you have to prove to an audience that this is worth your time. It’s finding that balance. The truth is, the less you know about this movie the more fun you’re going to have. You also want to tell people that this is not your average everyday horror movie. I think Lionsgate has been doing a great job of giving just enough to let people know this isn’t the same old thing but keeping some of the surprises.
Trying to convince my Mom to see it would be tough because she hates scary movies.
DG: We’ve been touring now and one of the things that has been exciting is people coming up to me saying “I don’t even like Horror movies but I love this.” It’s nice to know that this is also for people that don’t care about Horror movies. I know if you like horror movies, we’ve got something for you. If you don’t like them, we still have something for you.
Me and my friend were having a discussion about the great shows on TV now and how they have a little bit for everyone in there. Like Friday Night Lights. If you love football, you’ll like it. If you’re into high drama, you’ll like it. Even if you love high school drama.
DG: It’s good storytelling.
The stories are good. Much like with Cabin, it doesn’t matter if you’re into that genre or not.
DG: Exactly. That’s always the goal. We definitely wanted to fall more in the Fun Horror Movie genre than the Traumatic Horror Movie genre. We wanted to say this is fun and we’re going to have a good time. We really set out to make a movie that’s a perfect date movie for a Friday night. It’s not too aggressive; it’s not going to give you too many nightmares, maybe a couple. We wanted people to have fun.
Do either of you have a favorite scary movie?
AA: I’m the biggest wimp. [Cabin in the Woods] is now my favorite scary movie. It’s the only one that I haven’t cried at. I am very scary. I’m afraid to flush the toilet after I see a scary movie.
[laughs] What’s the toilet going to do?
AA: [laughs] I don’t know
DG: It’ll tip them off to your location.
AA: But I loved [Cabin in the Woods] and I’m a big wimp.
It does have some awesome horror movie scenes in it.
DG: We wanted to tip our hats to those who’ve come before and try and ad something new. If I had to pick one scary movie I’d go with John Carpenter’s The Thing. That’s probably number one.
I’d hug you right now if it wouldn’t be so inappropriate. I bought a t-shirt the other day that says Outpost #31. I watch that movie every year.
DG: Really. I screened it for the crew before we started this movie. It’s such a beautiful film. Everything about the film was perfect.
Not to nerd out on The Thing too much but it’s so well paced……..
DG: So well paced and that was very important to me. Pacing is sort of fallen off recently. Everything is sort of shock, music video cuts, and shaky camera. I like the way Carpenter shoots The Thing. It’s much more elegant. It’s much quieter and it builds and builds until you get to these crazy places. Lord knows The Thing goes insane by the end, but it’s all stepped out. What I love about any good horror movie is that it functions on multiple levels. It’s just a great story, but also the societal implications. The whole movie is a metaphor for society, what we go through, paranoia, and mistrust of one another. That’s what’s going on in that movie. I remember when I first realized that as kid. A light bulb went on in terms of doing multiple things in one movie.
There’s some of that in Cabin
DG: Absolutely. Mr. Carpenter’s influence is very deep.
One of my favorite movies is Halloween………..
DG: Yep. That was the other one I showed them. There are a lot of nods to Halloween in this movie.
That’s what I thought. Even in Cabin when you know the scare is coming, it’s done so well that it doesn’t matter. Halloween was the same way. The scene when Jamie Lee Curtis goes to into the house and finds the bodies, you see Michael Myers slowly come out of the shadows.
DG: It’s the greatest. It’s so elegant. It really feels like this is going to be extra bad.
Since you’re a big fan of Halloween I have a question. How does Michael Myers know how to drive a car when he breaks out of the asylum?
DG: Great question. I always like concept that while he was at the asylum, one of the ways they tried to help him was making him feel like he was part of society. So his instructor brought his car into the parking lot and let Michael drive it around in circles. That’s my guess. And it didn’t go well. Michael was always trying to smash into things so they had to stop.
Did you have any favorite moments while making this film?
AA: I think the scene with the speakerphone was it. If I’m sad, I just think of that because it was so funny.
DG: Being a director, every scene I loved. It’s like trying to pick between them. There’s not a scene in the movie that I don’t love.
Is ending a horror film the toughest part to do?
DG: Certainly 3^rd Acts of any movie are hard. It’s always hard to have something that will give you the promises from the beginning of the movie. That’s true for all movies. That is what gave me comfort in making this film. I knew we had a tremendous 3^rd Act.  No matter what happened in the first 60 minutes, the last 30 minutes was going to blow people’s minds.
How did you come up with the concept for the 3^rd Act?
DG: I don’t know.
It was like something out of my 8 year old mind’s nightmares.
DG: That’s what it is. It was like getting in touch with that spirit of, if you were a kid and could do whatever you want and make whatever you want. Let your imagination run wild. It was just imaginations going crazy.


Seattle Pi

‘Buffy the Vampire Slayer’ movie looking for new writer

 

Screenwriter Whit Anderson (Sam Comen)

Dec. 22, 2011

That big-screen revamp of “Buffy the Vampire Slayer” has been dealt a setback — it looks as though the movie’s first-time screenwriter bit off more than she could chew.

GALLERY: "Buffy" stars: where are they now?

Two sources close to the project say that the script submitted this past summer by writer Whit Anderson fell far short of expectations and, in the end, was rejected completely. That’s news that will spark celebration from some longtime “Buffy” fans who were less than thrilled by the prospects of a “Buffy” revival that didn’t involve Joss Whedon. Whedon, now directing “The Avengers” for Marvel,  himself took a few shots at the reboot project — although he did so with a sly wink.

“This is a sad, sad reflection on our times,” Whedon said last November when that deal was announced, “when people must feed off the carcasses of beloved stories from their youths — just because they can’t think of an original idea of their own, like I did with my Avengers idea that I made up myself.”

As for the future of “Buffy”? A new writer is being sought but the entire endeavor may have lost some steam. There also might be some healthy fear among the producers who witnessed a spasm of fan criticism when the project was first publicized.

“If you’re going to bring it back, you have to do it right,” one key player in the project told Hero Complex. “[Anderson] came in with some great ideas and she had reinvented some of the lore and it was pretty cool but in the end there just wasn’t enough on the page.”

— Geoff Boucher

LATimes 

'Buffy the Vampire Slayer:' Where Are They Now?

Before "Twilight's" Bella and before "True Blood's" Sookie, one woman reigned over the fang-toothed creatures of the night: Buffy the Vampire Slayer.

Sarah Michelle Gellar became a teen queen thanks to the hit TV series "Buffy the Vampire Slayer," which took the small screen by storm between 1997 and 2003. She's returning to TV this fall with the thriller "Ringer," in which she plays a woman on the run who takes on the identity of her twin sister after she mysteriously disappears.

Speaking of disappearing -- while some of the cast of "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" failed to transition from the drama into bigger and better Hollywood projects, others, including Gellar, have stood the test of time. Below, check out what Gellar and four of her "Buffy" co-stars have done since the show went off the air:

Sarah Michelle Gellar

As Buffy, Gellar fought to rid the fictional town of Sunnydale, Calif., of its supernatural annoyances. She won six teen choice awards for that role and scored a Golden Globe nomination. Gellar co-starred in a few popular movies during her "Buffy" reign, including "I Know What You Did Last Summer" (where she met her future husband, Freddie Prinze Jr., whom she married in 2002) and "Cruel Intentions."

Gellar's movie career floundered for much of the '00s. While her 2004 horror movie "The Grudge" was a box office success, its sequel flopped. At 34, she's thrilled to be returning to TV, and her real life role of taking care of her 2-year-old daughter has kept her in shape to kick butt on camera again.

"I just chase my toddler," she told "Access Hollywood" about staying fit. "That pretty much keeps me on my toes and puts me to bed by 8:30!"

David Boreanaz

Playing Angel, Buffy's forbidden vampire lover, David Boreanaz captured the hearts of teenage fans the world over. After two years on "Buffy," he starred in the spin-off "Angel," which ran from 1999 until 2004. Soon after his professional associations with the underworld ended, Boreanaz, now 42, found a new character on "Bones," in which he plays Special Agent Seeley Booth.

While his career has sailed smoothly, his personal life hasn't fared quite as well. Last May, he admitted that he cheated on his wife, Playboy Playmate Jaime Bergman, multiple times, including with Rachel Uchitel, one of the women linked to Tiger Woods' extramarital affairs. Boreanaz and Bergman still remain together with their two children.

Alyson Hannigan

Every vampire slayer needs a partner in crime, and Alyson Hannigan played Gellar's as Willow, "Buffy's" shy nerd turned magic maven. In 1999, Hannigan scored the role she's probably best known for apart from "Buffy" -- playing band geek Michelle Flaherty in the "American Pie" series of movies. (For people of a certain age, "This one time, at band camp" remains a beloved catchphrase.)

In 2005, Hannigan, now 37, returned to TV with "How I Met Your Mother." Her personal life is as constant as her presence in Hollywood -- she married actor Alexis Denisof in 2003 (who has also appeared on "Buffy," "Angel" and "How I Met Your Mother"). Together, they have a 2-year-old daughter.

Seth Green

Seth Green's "Buffy" alter-ego was Oz, Willow's guitar-playing/werewolf boyfriend. That role was the start of a successful Hollywood career. Green, now 37, has had a number of memorable roles, including Dr. Evil's son in the "Austin Powers" movies, the dork in "Can't Hardly Wait," the voice of Chris Griffin on "Family Guy" and himself on "Entourage."

He also serves as the co-creator and producer of the TV comedy series "Robot Chicken." Last year, he married actress Clare Grant.

Michelle Trachtenberg

Fun fact: Vampire slaying is genetic. It made sense, then, to introduce Michelle Trachtenberg as Dawn, Buffy's little sister, in season five of the series. Along with her role on "Buffy," Trachtenberg built her career by starring in teen-centric movies like "Ice Princess" and "17 Again."

More recently, she's indulged in the manipulative (sometimes psychotic) Georgina Sparks, the scheming outsider on TV's "Gossip Girl." In real life, the 25-year-old Trachtenberg is a fixture of young Hollywood, and can often be caught party hopping with her co-stars Blake Lively and Leighton Meester.

ABC News

Morrow-TV: Sarah Michelle Gellar chose 'Ringer' after 'Buffy'

Unlike many actors, Sarah Michelle Gellar won't dismiss her past so easily.

Going into "Ringer," her new adventure series (debuting 9 p.m. EDT Tuesday, The CW), she's well aware that her fans from "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" are still out there and very focused.

"When picking a show, I took into consideration who my fans are, because, let's be honest, I mean, we were a midseason replacement on The WB, based on a failed movie, 'Buffy the Vampire Slayer.' If it wasn't for the outpouring of fans, and the journalists, too, supporting us, we would have been canceled after four episodes," Gellar told reporters recently.

"And I think as an actor, sure you want to stretch and you want to do different things, but I think it's also our job to think about who our fans are and what they want to see, too.

"Because, let's be honest, ultimately that's why we do it. I mean, I do it to entertain the people that want to watch what I do."

Gellar quit "Buffy" after several years because she was burned out on the demands of doing an hourlong comedy-adventure. She was in her mid-20s when she walked away from the show. Since then, she's gotten married, started a family and gone on to big-screen roles. Now in her early 30s, Gellar is ready to tackle weekly series work again.

"Ringer" has some faint similarities to "Buffy." While the new show has no supernatural elements, it does have a Hitchcocklike style -- double crosses, double lives and threats from every corner.

Gellar is once again in the thick of danger. She's tough and smart in the three roles she has here: Bridget, a former prostitute and recovering drug addict; Siobhan, who is Bridget's wealthy identical twin with a shady life; and Bridget-as-Siobhan, which has Bridget on the lam and assuming Siobhan's identity after Siobhan is assumed dead.

The switching from character to character has been a juggling act for Gellar, but one she relishes.

"It's interesting. I think it's like children," she says of the three roles.

"When you're each one, you have to love each one individually and understand that one. So when I'm Bridget, I feel that all of Bridget's motivations are hers, and Siobhan is wrong. And when I'm Siobhan, everything Bridget does is wrong.

"I try to get into the head of each of them."

Scripps News

Spike and Cordelia Are Getting Married (on Supernatural)

Yes, Buffy alums James Marsters and Charisma Carpenter will be playing an unhappily married couple of the fifth episode of Supernatural's seventh season, titled "Shut Up, Dr. Phil." It's not exactly earth-shattering news, but it's one of those fun nerd nods Supernatural seems to like to slip in where it can. And I'm always kind of pleased to see Carpenter getting work. What do you think the odds are of her hitting on San and/or Dean? One in 1.0025?

Topless Robot 

Teen First U.S. Death by Vampire Bat

Published August 12, 2011

A Mexican teen became the first person in the United States to die from a vampire bat -- and the Centers for Disease Control warned that the bats may be spreading in the country.

The 19-year-old migrant worker contracted rabies from a bite on his heel from the blood sucker on July 15th, 2010. He was bitten in Michoacan, Mexico, 10 days before he left for the United States to work on a sugar cane plantation in Louisiana. The Center for Disease Control (CDC) only just confirmed on Friday, Aug. 12, that his death was the first such case in the U.S.

"This case represents the first reported human death from a vampire bat rabies virus variant in the United States," said the CDC and Prevention in its Morbidity and Mortality weekly report.

The teenager became ill two weeks after the bite, having not received a rabies vaccination. He had a particularly aggressive case of the disease with an incubation period of 15 days as opposed to the average 85 days seen in other human rabies cases in the United States.

He sought medical attention for fatigue, shoulder pain, a dropping left eye and numbness of the left hand. He also developed respiratory distress and a 101.1-degree fever, according the the CDC's report.
On August 20, he was officially diagnosed with rabies after test results of his spinal fluid confirmed the disease. Postmortem test on the teen's brain tissue confirmed "the variant to be a vampire bat rabies virus variant," the CDC said.

In its report, the CDC also urged the public to avoid vampire bats and get vaccinated.
Although vampire bats are typically found in Mexico, Brazil, Chile and Argentina, "research suggests that the range of these bats might be expanding as a result of changes in climate," the CDC reported.

"Expansion of vampire bats into the United States likely would lead to increased bat exposures to both humans and animals (including domestic livestock and wildlife species) and substantially alter rabies virus dynamics and ecology in the southern United States," the health agency warned.

Fox News 

MOVIE BLOG: Can vampires be redeemed?

By Naomi Creason, Sentinel Reporter, June 21, 2011   The Sentinel - cumberlink.com

With "Twilight" (finally) ending next year with the second part of "Breaking Dawn," there may be a chance for vampires to get some redemption and earn their way back into the horror genre.

Vampires have always been a safe villain to cast in a movie, but we're seeing plenty of overkill in movies and TV shows when it comes to the bloodsuckers. Given that "The Vampire Diaries," "True Blood" and "Being Human" are doing so well on the small screen, I doubt we'll see any less vampires in the future.

However, after Sweden's "Let the Right One In," we may finally get to see some vampire entertainment that doesn't necessarily revolve around pretty (and sometimes sparkly) people. There's movement going ahead on the "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" reboot as well as the action-horror "Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter," but it's two other movies with potential release dates next year that could add a little bite to the genre.

There was news yesterday about some screenplay work on "The Passage," which is set to be directed by Matt Reeves, who directed "Cloverfield" and "Let Me In." Reeves' movie didn't differ too much from the original Swedish movie, but critics loved it nonetheless. Given Reeves' handling of "Let Me In," it bodes well that "The Passage" could also be something worth watching.

I'm not as enthusiastic about the plot of "The Passage," which follows the cliche of a scientific experiment gone wrong and the eventual horde of vampires, who can apparently read minds. However, Reeves was able to make the "found footage" and monster movie genres into something interesting with "Cloverfield," so I'm willing to see what he does with this.

The other vampire movie that seems like it will be worth more than a "vampire movie" label is an untitled one to be directed by Jim Jarmusch, who made "Coffee and Cigarettes" and "Broken Flowers." If combining Jarmusch with vampires wasn't odd enough, he also managed to assemble an amazing cast with Tilda Swinton, Michael Fassbender and Mia Wasikowska. Swinton rarely takes bad roles, and Fassbender and Wasikowska already proved they work well together in "Jane Eyre." There isn't much information about the movie other than it will be set in Detroit and Tangiers and will be a "crypto-vampire love story" (yeah, I don't really know what that means either), but the pairing of director and cast alone will make this something to look out for in either 2012 or 2013.

While there's still more than a little unknown about these projects and more vampire movies on the horizon, I think I'll be happy with leaving the likes of "Twilight" behind me and watch something that may actually reinvent the horror movie villain.

What do you think of these new vampire movies? Will vampires get their edge back or will "Twilight" overshadow the movie monster? Leave a comment or email me at ncreason@cumberlink.com.

Cumberlink