50 Films in 3 Years Make Elissa Dowling One Very Busy Actress. By Owen Keehnen.
Elissa Dowling is one very busy actress and she wouldn’t have it any other way. Personally I love any prolific actress and I especially love it when they play characters with names like Kat, Daisy, Cat Black, Madison, Tamara, Sunday, Martine. Legs, Honey, Rita, Lola, Persephone, The New Girl, Thumper Stain, Jezebel, Jane Doe, and Lillie McCane among others. Some of lovely the 5’3” brunette’s film credits include Creep Creepersin’s ‘The Brothers Cannibal’, ‘Dahmer vs. Gacy’, ‘Like Evil’ with Tim Thomerson and Ken Foree, ‘Transmorphers’, ‘Psychomatika’ with Brinke Stevens and Debbie Rochon, ‘Cold Blood Canyon’, Ulli Lommell’s ‘Absolute Evil’ with David Carradine, ‘Night Stalker’, ‘The Raven’, ‘Seventeen’ with David Carradine, ‘The Corporate Cut Throat Massacre’, ‘Thirsty’ with Tiffany Shepis and Sid Haig, ‘The Making of Gnome Killer 2’, ‘Crustacean’, ‘Orgy of Blood’ with Jeff Dylan Graham and Ariauna Albright, ‘Mummy Maniac’, ‘Black Dahlia’, ‘Absolute Horror’, ‘Borderline Cult’, ‘The Legend of Bloody Mary’, Clive Barker’s ‘The Dead’, ‘Death Racers’, ‘Diary of a Serial Killer’, ‘O.C. Babes and the Slasher of Zombietown’, ‘Son of Sam’, ‘The Tomb’, and many others. To put that llevel of busyness into perspective…she only made her first film, ‘Dracula’s Curse’, in 2006! That is one hectic schedule. However, talking with her it only takes a few seconds to realize that Elissa is having the time of her life. She took a brief break from making movies for this quick exclusive interview.
OK:Elissa, why don’t you start us off with a visual and describe the place where you are answering these questions?
ED: Right now I’m staying in Topanga Canyon in a beautiful house up in the mountains. For those of you who don’t know Topanga it’s a cool hippy town on the outskirts of Malibu and a great place to escape the noise and chaos of Hollywood. So I’m here now relaxing. Every morning I wake up to my neighbor’s cock, not that kind of cock get your mind out the gutter (laughing). I’m one of those people who don’t like staying in one place too long; I’m always on the go (laughing). On a serious note, my family is very close with the relatives of the late Gene Barry who passed away a couple weeks ago. So we are all hanging out spending our first Christmas together without him around.
OK:I can’t believe how many movies you made in 2009 – ‘Orgy of Blood’, ‘The Making of Gnome Killer 2’, ‘Dread’, ‘Crustacean’, ‘Corporate Cut Throat Massacre’, ‘Like Evil’, ‘Thirsty’, ‘She Alien’, ‘Night Stalker’… How many was it anyway? What do you consider your finest moment on film last year and why?
ED:From the day I arrived in Hollywood it felt familiar to me, like I’d lived here before. That familiarity has been helpful because rather than be intimidated it’s made me feel comfortable here. Without representation I’ve completed something like 50 films in only three years, almost half of them in 2009. At this point I don’t even try to keep track of them anymore (laughing). It’s been a very eventful year with some great and some not so great stuff but isn’t that’s the way it usually goes? My life seems to always consist of extremes, something I’ve had to get used to. Must be that damn moon in Scorpio (laughing), if you’re into astrology you’ll get it. Anyway, work-wise I guess I’m most proud of the opener on my demo reel where I had a chance to work with legendary actor David Carradine. I feel extremely blessed to have had that experience.
OK: Actually I find it intriguing because making so much indie horror is very similar to what your ‘Psychosomatika’ costars Brinke Stevens and Debbie Rochon did before you. Did they provide motivation/inspiration to your becoming a Scream Queen extraordinaire?
ED: Funny, I really don’t see myself as a “Scream Queen” per say, think I’m too late in the game for all that. I’m just a chick who has fallen into the horror genre about 40 times too many (laughing). Anyway I’m not exclusive to it, nor do I do a whole lot of screaming… unless I’m screaming at someone (laughing). I play the villain in most of my horror films, maybe it’s because I have a little New York edge to me (laughing). But I do agree that Brinke and Debbie are both super fine ladies and the movie’s Director Jeff Dylan Graham is one of the best friends a girl could have. I’d work with all three of them any I chance I get.
OK: I also noticed on ‘Psychosomatika’ you are credited as a member of the make-up department as well. Do you find in low budget pictures that everyone sort of helps out and do you recommend multi-tasking for young women and men wanting to break into the business?
ED: I strongly suggest being a Jill of all trades, it pays off big time. I’m schooled in acting, voice, dancing and fine arts and I fluctuate between those mediums. When you’re an artist, it helps to juggle because things are often inconsistent. You may be inspired to act one day and paint the next or write a song at 3 am the following evening while all the normal people are sleeping (laughing). Things have been slow acting wise this month because of the holiday, December is always dead in Hollywood so instead I’ve been in the studio recording some original music with my new duo. We’re thinking of keeping it simple and calling ourselves “The Blues”. Then my next film “Poe” starts shooting Jan15th. Staying active creatively is what keeps me alive, it’s all I know.
OK:Going along with that if a young woman were to come up to you and said how do I become a scream queen what advice would you give her?
ED: I can only speak from what I’ve done, well at least the good things (laughing). It’s important to always give your all, collaborate, listen, stay humble and balance egos as best you can. Go beyond all the business bullshit and form real connections with people. It usually results in them hiring you repeatedly. Just remember to be genuine and kind. Give you shall receive or so they say (laughing).
OK:I also see that in the coming year you are making a plunge into the producing pool with ‘Telephone World’ which you are also starring in as Rachel Plasky. Tell me a bit about that project.
ED: “Telephone World” is a unique concept thanks to the twisted mind of my dear friend director Ramzi Abed. The premise is an actor’s boot camp and only a girl with major balls such as myself would dare and attempt it (laughing). The film was shot in entirely one take and had no script. Almost every interaction in it is done through the telephone, hence the title “Telephone World”. Each phone call breaks my character further down until she’s stripped clean, similar to Michael Douglas’s character in the film “Falling Down”. I was completely unaware of what the next phone call would be so I had to respond in the moment. Basically it’s 83 minutes of me in a room breaking down emotionally. I think it Ramzi is gearing it towards the festival circuit. To be honest, it’s so real it’s hard for me to watch. It’s almost like having an out of body experience and I’m watching myself crumble in a cycle of self-destruction.
OK:I also want to hear about ‘Dahmer vs. Gacy’.
ED: I haven’t seen much beyond the trailer, but it’s got a cool cast. Steven Adler of Guns N’ Roses has a cameo as does Harland Williams. I’ve been a huge fan of his since “Half Baked”. Funny, I met Harland about a week ago at an ugly Christmas sweater party, in case you haven’t heard they’re totally the “cool” thing to do this holiday season (laughing). Anyway he was just as funny in person as he is on screen or doing stand up. So getting back to my part in “Dahmer vs. Gacy”, I play a sexy hitchhiker who offers her driver (Dahmer) some reciprocal fellatio in return for his hospitality (laughing). The ironic part is that my knees were covered in bruises I got while doing another film that wrapped the previous evening called “Never on Sunday”. It turned out to be a very appropriate accident (laughing). If fellatio doesn’t qualify as irresistible then I’m not sure what does (laughing).
OK: By my count you’ve made almost 40 films in the past 4 years. What is the most frightening thing that has ever happened to you during the filming of any shoot?
ED:Actually I’ve done more than that but who’s counting (laughing). I have been hurt a couple times onset but hey it happens now and then especially at a low budget scale. I’m still breathing so it couldn’t have been all that bad. I don’t want to rat anybody out so I’m going to keep this as vague as possible (laughing). The scariest experience I’ve had shooting was a time I was picked up by an actor (who stood over 6 ft tall) and as he flung me over his shoulder he accidentally smacked my head so hard my vision went black. Yup that kinda sucked (laughing).
Do you have any other upcoming projects you’re especially proud of that you want readers to know about?
Although my role is brief I highly recommend you check out Clive Barker’s “Dread”. It’s being released theatrically in 2010 as one of the 8 films to Die For.
OK: Vampires, werewolves, zombies, witches, creatures, aliens, telemarketers…what does it for you horrorwise Elissa and why?
ED: I dig them all… except for telemarketers, they’re too scary even for me (laughing).
OK: What was the first movie to scare the shit out of you?
ED: “The Wizard of Oz”, but at four years old I would sit there all day and watch over and over again. My momma tells me I loved it so much I even figured out how to use the VCR, oops now I’m dating myself (laughing). I remember how much I loved Glenda the Good Witch and how much the Wicked Witch of the West terrified me along with all those creepy freaking monkeys of hers. She infuriated me, especially when she took away poor Toto. I kept thinking she was going to take away my best friend, a little Chihuahua I took everywhere named Cisco. To this day just thinking about it is upsetting (laughing).
OK: Okay, we’re pulling into the Elissa Dowling Drive In. What three horror flicks are on the triple bill for tonight and what goodies are they going to be serving up at the concession stand?
ED: Well hopefully the concession stand has plenty of booze in stock because you’re going to need it. (laughing) Just kidding. Okay three huh? And they have to be horror… I’m thinking “Dread”, “Live Evil” and “Thirsty”. No offense to all the other folks I’ve worked with, you all rock too. I feel like I just left out the middle child.
OK: What is your dream (or nightmare) horror movie role?
ED: I’d like to do a couple killing spree things a la Natural Born Killers/True Romance opposite an actor whose work… or body I greatly admire (laughing).
OK: What’s the best Halloween costume you ever had?
ED: This year I was a crow for Halloween. Most people took me for a dark angel and I didn’t bother correcting them because the costume was mostly for me anyway. I love crows; they’re very spiritual animals and have guided me through some very difficult times. So this year’s costume would have to be my all time favorite.
OK: What scares you in real life?
ED: I’m not really afraid of anything, not even death because I believe life is eternal. For me the scariest thing is people, they’re the ones who are responsible for the majority of problems in this world.
