Laura Bloechl: Stalking Chicago with Women Studies’ Awesome Iris. By Brian Kirst
www.womensstudiesmovie.com
The talented and beautiful Laura Bloechl is Chicago’s newest, greatest find. But, soon Bloechl will also be making hearts tremble, worldwide, when her spookily leveled performance of Iris in the smart horror flick Women’s Studies (featured in Horror Society’s Women of Horror film festival in April 09) is unleashed by MTI Video in the fall. Even though she is busy preparing for societal domination, the friendly and incisive Bloechl recently took a few moments to answer some stabbing questions in this exclusive Horror Society piece.
Brian: Welcome, Laura! – Who were your first performing influences – Tori Spelling trembling her way through Coed Call Girl – Kathleen Turner getting happy as she Romanced the Stone- A spastic, nail biting aunt who played the piccolo?
Laura: Gilda Radner! I love all realms of acting, but my first love is comedy. I remember, as a kid, staying up late and watching SNL reruns on Nick-at-Nite until I passed out. But whenever Gilda came on screen, I was wide awake! She was so excessively silly; I loved how she would make herself look ridiculous–even hideous at times–for the sake of comedy. She had an endearing, vulnerable quality that was just magnetic! When I talk about her I can ramble for hours so I’ll try to wrap it up! Her face still makes me giddy–and of course a bit sad.
Brian: True. – Do you have to remind yourself to switch into different gears when morphing from theater into film (or from normal girl to wonder twin)?
Laura: Definitely! Movement is a big thing I have to remind myself about. On film, slightly shifting your head can ruin a close-up shot. On stage, you don’t have to worry about the restrictions of staying in frame. Awhile back, I took a film acting class where they filmed us, pointed out our weird facial tics, and then beat them out of us. I learned that I “punctuated” my sentences by jutting out my chin. This wasn’t as big a deal on stage…but on film, man, I looked like an angry, hungry chicken! Film teaches you to use controlled and concise movements. Even too much blinking can be an issue! It can be maddening what the camera picks up. But on the flip side, it can be amazing what it picks up. The smallest smirk, glare, gaze is caught – the camera can catch what’s behind your eyes. I love both mediums of course: the intimacy of film … the freedom of theater.
Brian: That makes sense. – Was it harder to play the innocent side of Iris in Women’s Studies or her more violent side?
Laura: I liked playing the innocent side of Iris because she was kind of “creepy innocent.” Her violent side was more of a challenge for me. Channeling “creepy innocent weird girl” just felt more natural than “angry daddy killer,” whatever that suggests about my own personal biography and psychological make-up.
Brian: That just like everyone else, you’re a creepy innocent? – Do you recall your bloodiest or your most physically demanding incident on the Women’s Studies set?
Laura: Yes and yes: our very memorable “23-hour shoot.” We filmed the scenes where Iris confronts her father at a lake house over a weekend. The first day was great; we filmed, ate Zebra cakes, told vulgar jokes, ate more Zebra cakes, filmed some more, and then camped under the stars–a wonderful day. Then came day two. The crew woke up at 6:00am, the cast at 8:00am. Game faces were on, but the god(esses) were against us. First issue: a tube was rigged to make it look like an actor was wetting himself. This sounds simple, but for some reason the water just wouldn’t go through his pants. Multiple attempts left HIM soaked, but with miraculously dry pants. After a lot of time and frustration, we realized we were using stain resistant Dockers. Well, they certainly resisted stains, to an almost mysterious degree. Issue number two was a chest-stab-effect gag that went off prematurely and more forcefully than expected (“That’s what she said?”). Fake blood was everywhere–walls, ceilings, floors, furniture, and windows–everywhere. We had to clean, reset, and reshoot. We hit more snags along the way and our scheduled 12-hour shoot turned into a 23-hour marathon. In that one night, we experienced a gamut of emotional states together: excitement, fatigue, motivation, defeat, sugar highs, sugar lows, uncontrollable laughter, involuntary unconsciousness, eroticism, shame… you get the idea, we bonded! When we finally stopped filming, it was not because anyone quit, nor because we were done filming, but because the rising sun and chirping birds made filming a night-themed scene impossible. It was my favorite day of the filming.
Brian: Mine too! (Oh, wait – I wasn’t in the movie…) – You appeared in the humorously titled A Stupid Movie for Jerks. What else do jerks deserve besides a movie?
Laura: Jerks deserve a lot! They fuel so many of our conversations. My husband and I never talk about “the nice guy that was efficient and polite in line at Target.” No, we get in the car and talk about “that jerk.” “Man did you see that asshole yammering on his cell phone…he just threw his money at the cashier… and then he kicked that baby!!” What would we talk about without jerks? Our emotions? The economy? Our own personal flaws? Nahhhhh. (On a side note: I really loved making A Stupid Movie Made for Jerks. It was one of my first films and I’m still close friends with the writer and producer, Mike Sarti and Jason Sheinkopf. They are total jerks, to be sure, but they rarely kick babies.)
Brian: (Though some pyscho babies might deserve it! – Um-m-m – Next!) – You have also spent some time performing true crime reenactments for television. (Such a healthy hobby!) So, what is worse – a monster in the mirror or a Manson follower? (Or are they both pretty frickin’ bad?)
Laura: Yes, both are pretty frickin’ bad. I played the victims in both of these shows. It’s definitely odd playing real people who died. Filming the Manson documentary was the creepiest because, while we were filming, the producer told us that Charles Manson knew about the documentary and even knew our filming location. I guess he tracks stuff like that from jail. Nice.
Brian: Even now, that’s totally scaring me. Chuck – leave us alone!!! – Lastly, any words of advice (IE: Never take a ride with a militant knife wielding feminist in a strange town) or future plans you’d like to tell us about? And thanks – this has been better than spending the whole day with a Daddy Lover! Way better!!
Laura: Hmm, advice? Yes, yes, you should probably avoid rides with militant knife wielding feminists. But if they’re friendly knife wielding feminists – hop on in, it could be fun! Hmm, other advice – OH, if you have an incessant bladder problem, wear Dockers!
Future plans? I just moved to Chicago so currently I’m getting settled in here and enjoying taking classes at The Second City. I have a couple auditions coming up so hopefully I’ll be working on something soon.
Brian: Well, you’re too awesome not to be!
Laura: Thanks so much for interviewing me Brian!! You’re such a great guy … not like my emotionally unavailable, dirt-bag, bastard of a father … what … oh mercy me … well-l-l-l-l, I’m off to go make homemade handbags and eat my feelings. Tah-tah!
Brian: Have fun! Oh — and make one for me!
