Deadly Beauty: Horror’s Scream Queens and Rising Talent: Jamie Bernadette
“Jamie Bernadette grew up in Kankakee, Illinois, a small town 70 miles south of Chicago. She was born the youngest of nine children. Jamie has four sisters and four brothers. At four months of age, Jamie’s father passed away, leaving her mother to single-handedly raise nine children—the oldest child only thirteen years old. Jamie attributes her and her siblings’ strengths—very responsible, industrious and self-sufficient—to this hardship.
Jamie began as a theatre actress before she ventured out to Los Angeles. Since moving to LA, Jamie has since acted in twenty-three feature films, eleven short films, seven television shows, five internet web series, five commercials, and performed as the lead in two music videos. Jamie’s early credits include features by cult classic director Ulli Lommel, including “Absolute Evil” starring David Carradine. Jamie gained notoriety and a large fanbase from her role as “Alex” in the globally-released teen comedy “Milf”, which is often compared to the popular “American Pie”.
Jamie’s recent work includes “The 6th Friend”, a feature-length horror film that she wrote and produced. Jamie stars alongside Dominique Swain (Lolita, Alpha Dog). Jamie has a long list of films that are coming out soon including FOX’s “The Secret Children” and horror film “The Bunnyman Massacre”, the long-awaited sequel to “Bunnyman”.
Jamie enjoys writing poetry and is in the process of compiling a book for publication. She also loves camping, hiking, hanging out with her dog “Walter” and visits home to her big family in Illinois.”*
Location: Los Angeles, CA
1. How did you get into the industry?
I have always been into acting since I was a child so I think it is just a part of me. I did community theater and school theater while growing up. I always loved it in school when the teacher gave us an assignment to perform a skit in front of the class. Acting is something I haven’t been able to deny and without it, I have no idea what I would do with my life. I was interviewing for jobs in my hometown, Kankakee, Illinois, and I remember just sitting there during one particular interview at a company and feeling so very empty and disinterested. I wasn’t excited about climbing a corporate ladder and going to a 9-5. I wasn’t a very good interviewee and I of course didn’t get the job. I wouldn’t have hired me with how bored and dull I sounded! I asked myself where my heart was and I was being pulled towards acting in LA.
I talked to my sister about it and I asked her, “Doesn’t everyone want to be an actor in films?” She laughed and told me that no, this wasn’t the case. That was so unbelievable to me that everyone didn’t dream about doing this. I confided in another friend and he told me that it was a “Pipe Dream”, meaning it’s something you think about doing when you are high on drugs and that it wasn’t reality. My sister told me that I have been drawn to Los Angeles for quite some time and that I should just follow my heart and do it because something is pulling me there and it hasn’t stopped pulling me.
I thought about it for four days then I packed up my car with what I could fit and left everything behind– including a guy I loved very much and we wanted to get married but he didn’t want to move to LA– and I drove out by myself with $600 cash in my pocket, a credit card that I used for gas, and no place to live waiting for me in Los Angeles. The day I arrived, I answered an ad for a roommate and I met with them and took the place that same day, since I didn’t have anywhere else to go. I slept on a twin blow-up bed and put my clothes on the floor. Looking back, I see now that I went with my intuition and didn’t care about logistics. I feel that if you have a goal that is strong enough, that things will fall into place if you work towards that goal steadily.
2. What Scream Queen inspired you most?
Jamie Lee Curtis. She’s real. She’s relate-able. She’s strong and smart. And she achieved success without selling her soul. I have always loved “Halloween” since I was a kid. After we would watch it, my brother used to put a sheet over his head and put on his black-rimmed glasses over the sheet, like Michael Myers did in the first film, and he would walk around the house and we would laugh. Those films are classics and have been the inspiration for so many films following, including the slasher/paranormal film that I wrote and produced “The 6th Friend”. I wanted real women in my film, who were also relate-able, smart and strong, which is why I cast Dominique Swain to lead our cast, who possesses these qualities, as well as the other women that are in the film.
3. What are the next couple projects you are working on?
I am going to film in a couple of films by writer/director Jim Towns (House of Bad), whose work I greatly admire. Scheduled are horror films “13 Girls” and “Gaki: The Hungry Ghost”. I am filming in “Axeman 2: Overkill” later this year with writer/director Joston Theney, with whom I also did the first “Axeman”, which just came out on DVD this year on May 6th. Also upcoming is a horror tv series by Lawrence Donini, “Hell Hunters”, which stars Bill Moseley, Lin Shaye, and and Michael Berryman. I’m attached to film in Brian Feeney’s (The Echo Game) horror feature called “The Demoniacs”, starring alongside Jessica Morris (Haunting of the Innocent). I also have two feature film comedies that I’m attached to, “Mangina” and “Goofy Chefs”.
Look for me in horror “Bunnyman Massacre” coming out on DVD in August of this year and also in drama/Sci-Fi “Secret Children” coming out on DVD in the United States later this year. Also expected to come out later this year are horror films “Mile Marker Seven”, “The 6th Friend” and “Face of Evil”.
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*Bio Info Courtesy of Jamie Bernadette’s Official Website
First Photo Courtesy of Gabriel Parra
Second Photo Courtesy of David Muller
