CONDUCTED BY: Dan AKA Master of Horror
EDITED BY: FrighT MasteR
ORIGINALLY POSTED ON: 9/21/06

Are you a horror fan?

Huge horror fan; huge Rob Zombie fan, I love his work. I would love to work with him.

When did you get your start in acting?

When I was 11 I started doing some flyers; some modeling stuff, [but] I didn’t like at all. I got into theatre and liked that, and they got me into that whole thing because I was so energetic in elementary school -- my teacher was trying to find some way to channel my energy it was in theatre, so it kind of worked out that way.

Every heterosexual male wants to know -- what was it like kissing Jessica Alba?

Pleasure; awesome. It was her first feature film, [and now] she’s on a roll, and she’s great to work with. She’s great, she has a good heart, and I haven’t seen her in years, so hopefully she stayed as grounded as she was then, because she was cool back then, so hopefully she’s still the same way.

Idle Hands is quite a crazy horror film that seems a bit underrated, why do you think that is?

It came out the exact same week of Columbine happened, and we were forced to pull it out of four different states. We were pulled off our press and the premiere was cancelled, and this was supposed to be my big break. This kid goes around killing in high school -- it’s a comedy -- people are walking around with no heads, then all of a sudden two kids walk into there high school with shotguns and start shooting people up.

Given the chance, which actor would you love to star in a film with?

Probably Jack Nicholson, he is a good actor. I would love to work with him, he has done so much, he is so cool, and you see him sitting at a Lakers game with some hot chick and he’s got his sunglasses on and he’s just friggin’ Jack, and it’s so awesome you know.

What were your thoughts after you read the script for Devil’s Den, and Hunter’s Moon?

It couldn’t be played serious, Idle Hands at first wanted it to be serious and I thought a kid cuts off his hand, [and] a guy is walking around with his head. Devil’s Den was kind of the same way, you got the hot girl that’s an assassin, you got the big black samurai and the drug dealing guy that goes into a strip joint to sell Spanish fly to strippers. It was originally written seriously and I was like it’s not going to work, so we went in there, [and] we just made it bizarre and wacky and [as] crazy as we could. [With] Hunter’s Moon it had to have been done serious. I loved working with Mark, I was really glad that the script was good because I felt a little obligated to work with him, because I played him as a kid, the script turned out great, he wrote it.

Which has more gore: Devil’s Den or Hunter’s Moon?

Devil’s Den is nothing but gore and it starts 5-minutes into the end where were killing off werewolves, its like ghouls are ripping off arms and eaten them and legs you know it’s like a big feast blood and guts.

What was it like working with Ken Foree?

Devils Rejects there you go; it was a weird coincidence, he’s great. My character brings a lot of comedy to the movie and he kind of brings it down, [and] plays a kind of dead pan, and I’m kind of like this young white smart-ass drug dealer. Besides we kind of just went with each other, like I would say [a] smart ass joke, and he’d kind of say ‘cool your jets kid,’ and it just kind of worked.

Can you talk a little about Hunter’s Moon?

Hunter’s Moon I did with Mark Stouffer, [whom] I played in Wild America, and years later he came to me with a script called Hunter’s Moon about an alien that comes down to earth and wants to hunt different things from human beings, like a black guys arm, a white guys arm with a tattoo, [or a] Hispanic girls head, like just different parts and put them in his trophy room, kind of like the Predator, but were a bunch kids out on Atv’s, go carts and motorbikes, and he just starts hunting us one by one.

Where did you film Devils Den and Hunter’s Moon?

Devil’s Den was actually couple blocks from Compton and Hunter’s Moon was filmed up north from Los Angeles, so we went up for a month. Actually 2 hours north of Los Angeles [in a] small little town.

How do you think horror fans will take the two films?

You know, I think Devil’s Den [is] going to be more for the pot-smokin’, beer-drinkin’, college guys, and I think because it doesn’t take itself seriously. It’s one of those movies that are so stupid it’s awesome. If you like blood and guts it’s there. You’ve got Kelly Hu from X-Men doin’ all the kung-fu kickin’ ass. I’ve seen it and I think its cool, and the action doesn’t stop, because of the story we weren’t going to just sit there and have long character-driven speeches. There’s action, there’s sword fighting, and kicking ass. It’s just wacky laughs it’s crazy.

Are they both going to theaters?

I don’t know, all I know is that their both low-budget films, so if they do hit theaters, it would be like an Art House Theater, you know word of mouth will spread. I think Devil’s Den might have that chance, and I think Hunter’s Moon will be more of a cult classic.

Do you prefer filming in British Columbia or somewhere else?

Well, with all the times I have had filmed in LA it feels like I am going away, but when I film here you get to see, for instance Final Destination, the whole cast came up and they were all staying in a hotel so it was kind of like they got to go away and of course I am here and staying in the same house, going to work everyday, so it’s kind of an adventure to go to LA to do a film, because I always get to stay in a hotel they put me in.

How did you get the job playing the character “Stan” in Eminem’s music video?

Dr. Dre was a huge fan of Final Destination and he called my agents and what-not, and they said 'well we want Devon Sawa with this thing with Eminem's music video', and I actually heard from a friend that they were looking for me and I pursued it myself, because I knew Eminem was going to be the next big thing. That’s basically how I got it. I sat down with Dre for lunch one day; I was so nervous, I was more nervous sitting down with Dre then Steven Spielberg.

Were you able to meet Eminem on set of the video?

Yeah he was there, he produced the video, so yeah he was there the whole time. He’s great, he was another person I was quite nervous to meet, but it was fun to do.

Do people recognize you as the character Stan?

Yeah, because about a month and a half after it came out I started to generate more of a urban following. Before, I was getting recognized by young females and now I was getting more respected by the young males.

Tell us a bit about your work on Final Destination and are you surprised to see FD3 out?

No actually, I was familiar with James Wong with his previous work on the X-Files stuff and how he was one of the co–creators of the original X-Files first season and how successful it was, and how his imagination is. He wrote it with Glen Morgan and just reading the script was like wow. [While] shooting you could see that they were doing different little things, like some of the walls built like screws, that looked really weird and in the back you could see different signs, and you'd never know unless you looked really close. Like the sign will say something or all the name of the characters are after famous horror directors, and just little things like that. [It had] a young good-looking cast; it had all the right ingredients for what it was going to become. I wouldn’t be surprised if we see a FD4.

Are there more horror films in your future?

Well yeah, right now nothing’s scheduled, I mean Mitch [Gould - writer of Devil's Den] has a script that has two-parts to it called Shadow Blade and Shadow Blade 2, about a vampire hunter, sort of like Blade, but [with] a little more comedy. That might happen, but I’m probably always going to do horror [films] you know. Going to a set and seeing people have their arms ripped off, and just stuff that you never see in the real world, like buckets of blood you know; it’s like 30 days of Halloween.

What are some of your favorite films and Directors?

You know, you always like those classics, like the Coppola’s and Scorsese's -- I love anything they make, all there early stuff. For Directors: Scorsese, and love Spielberg because he makes you smile, and entertained.

Do you ever plan to write, produce or possibly direct?

Eventually, one day when I’m ready for it. I was thinking about going to film school. I have worked in this business since I was 15 and I have learned so much doing that. I have called a few film schools, but I might be a little too experienced going there, you know, I don’t want to get there and already know a lot of the stuff, but there are little things that I don’t know about. For instance, I’ve never spent a lot of time in an editing room and I don’t know a lot about sound mixing or anything like that, but lighting, the cuts, and the basics, I pretty much know because I have been spending a lot of time going over and over again since I was 15.

What would your overall scary movie be like?

I would go more with Rob Zombie-type films -- sick and twisted, like Natural Born Killers.

Do you have any advice for aspiring young actors out there?

Just stick to your goals, your dreams and be very patient, because everyday there is more and more actors that want to do it. The competition is fierce, so stick with it. As much there is talent, there’s a lot of luck; being at the right place at the right time.

Special thanks goes out to Devon Sawa for the interview and my buddy Brian "Horror Pimp" Harris.