Interview by AngryPrincess
Monique Dupree is becoming a household name in the horror world. From movies to conventions and can you believe she also has her own band? This chick multitasks! I recently had the pleasure of meeting Miss Dupree at Monster Mania and she was very down to earth and was happy to talk and take pictures with you. After meeting Monique, I decided I wanted to interview her and post it all over the sites I write for. Here are her thoughts below…enjoy!
1. Now, in the model world we have Janice Dickinson who holds the title of The World’s first super model. How does it feel to have claimed the title of The World’s first black scream queen?
M- Wow! You know, the mere fact alone that I have managed to get so much done in such a short amount of time is just surreal in and of itself. I feel blessed to be able to wake up every morning and say that I’m going to work on something that I actually love! I will say that I cannot believe how many young black women have come my way asking for help & advice. And happily, I give whatever help I can lend.
2. You are actually a model for www. howcool. com. How did that come about?
M- Actually, I have always purchased things from them. I was always a fan. So I decided to just ask them if they were interested in using me as a model. I had actually contacted the person I was dealing with in reference to my many orders that I’ve placed with them in the past. After looking over my body of work…they said yes!
3. When you were a little girl and would fantasize about your future, what was it you wanted to grow up and be?
M- I always thought I would be a singer, actress, dancer, lol I pretty much thought it was all the same thing! Boy was I wrong! BUT the cool thing is that I am living that fantasy that I had. I’m just living it a little differently.
4. Were you a horror movie lover as kid or did it scare you?
M- I LOVED that it scared me. I wasn’t really allowed to watch horror, but I did anyway. I am grateful that my grandma & great-grandma (the beautiful women who raised me) were afraid that I would have nightmares and pulled me away from it…because like most children, you gravitate towards that which you are denied to do.
5. I read that you are releasing a film that chronicles your life in becoming the world’s first black scream queen. Will that be coming out anytime soon or do you want to wait to get more material before releasing?
M- It will hopefully be released in early 2009 as well. And by then, lol, SO many of my films will be out. So, I am still at the footage gathering stages of it all. But I wanted people to really understand that it is not easy for any of us to do what we do. And on top of that, I have six children AND I don’t have Brad & Angelina’s money to take care of them with, lol So I have to work extra days & long hours of tireless promotion to make sure that everything is ok at home. I want people to see me when I am a mom, when I’m vulnerable, sick, happy, or even or the business minded- Monique. I want people to see me as the hard working well-rounded individual that I know I am. That is the reasoning for the DVD. I am still looking for some financing as well.
6. Traveling to all of these horror conventions was there ever an actor or actress that you were really excited to meet?
M- YES! It was Bruce Campbell. I got there and was SO excited to meet him. And because there was so many people waiting to see him. I didn’t even get to smell the same room he was in let alone wave or meet him. I am not a star-struck kind of person really. There are three people in life that I would get star struck over-Bruce Campbell, Janet Jackson, & Prince. And after I have finished convulsing on the floor, I’d hope to speak like a normal humanoid and say hello!
7. What role did you play in the movie Heavy Mental? What was it like to work with Brenna Lee Roth and Tiffany Apan?
Well, this is story unto itself. I would have to say, it’s a surprise! Originally, I was to play the lead of Mrs. Delicious, crime lord who hates heavy metal takes action to put a stop to it. Most people don’t know this but I was pregnant at the time. They were going to work around my belly. Well what happened was that I had the baby early and me, being the super human femme fatale that I am, thought that I could actually still make the shooting less than one week after having the baby. I got to the train station and all of my limbs started to swell…I mean elephant woman swell! I watched my train come & leave without me and I was rushed to the hospital where they told m me I could have died. So Brenna had to take the lead as Mrs. D…But I am still in the movie and you’re going to want to see why! I didn’t get to work onset with Brenna & Tiffany, but I know them personally and they are two awesome gals! I love me some Brenna, lol
8. Like Me, you are a kick ass Jersey girl. Can you tell us what it was like for you to grow up in NJ?
M- HARD! lol. I grew up in Newark, NJ. It was hard for someone like me because I was always an oddball so to speak. I hung around the teachers because I didn’t have friends. I was known as the black Barbie doll, or the crazy cat girl (mostly by my family) I spent most of my time teaching children younger than me who had nothing better to do in the neighborhood how to dance. In fact, I had a dance group called "the African queens" we even performed at parades and such. Then when I was just 12, I started working in a hospital under a program called "the adopt a school program" I interned in at least 20 hospital departments over the course of about 3 years. It made life a little easier for me as a teenager. But Newark will always be home. Brick city. The place where I was created.
9. Are you more of a lover or a fighter?
M- I LOVE to fight….in bed! lol No, seriously, I’m a lover of life and all that it entails. Just breathing in the air and watching the stars and things like that. People constantly try to push my buttons, but I try to take their miserable anger and turn it into something beautiful.
10. If you could work with ANY actor or actress in the movie industry who would it be and why?
M- It would be Tony Todd OR Bruce Campbell. Bruce is indirectly responsible for me getting into horror as an actress. It took awhile for me to act on it, since I went through a period of always pregnant, lol With Tony Todd, he has such a commanding presence and I feel I can learn allot from him just by working with him.
11. You are a woman of many talents. You sing in your band called Negrochilde and write poetry under the name of The First Gata of Gore would you fill us in on these personal projects of yours.
M- Singing has always been a love of mine. I started entertaining people singing when I was as young as about six or so. I would perform during holidays for my huge family of mostly women.
My band is a dream come true for me. It’s a group of people that I love, living together and cranking out music! How could it get any better than that? Well, if you guys would listen to it! lol. Go to www.myspace.com/negrochilde to get a sample. I’m so NOT the Beyonce type songstress. I usually love to yell and sing in strange ways. I’m really a rock Gata at heart. My poetry, ahhh..I have been writing poetry since I was about 12 or so. You can tell my age from some of my poetry. I’ve always been compared to a cat all my life every since something, rather disturbing happened to me relating to cats. I’ve always been able to take something bad and turn it into something positive and since cats are my animal totem. I became Gata. It’s the perfect name for my poetry persona because it embraces my power, sadness, anger, love, and joy. The whole shebang! And the effect I want is for my poetry to be moving, therefore, my persona must be as well. I’m hoping to have my poetry book out by early 2009.
12. Now the final question that I try to ask everyone I interview- What is your absolute favorite horror movie?
M- NOOOOO I asked everyone that on my you tube channel, but STILL haven’t been able to answer that myself! OK, I’m going to have to go with the Fog. The original…I mean, that movie scared the crap out o me as a kid! It still does!
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Check out Monique Dupree in wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monique_Dupree
Monique Dupree on IMDB https://www.imdb.com/name/nm2374082/
www.1stgataofgore.com
www.moniquedupree.com
www.myspace.com/actualbast
www.youtube.com/moniquedupree7
www.myspace.com/negrochilde
www.chainsawchips.com
See Monique Dupree on The Tyra Banks Show
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