Hey Fiend Club! Yeah, i’m just kicking out the interviews this week because, well, I just have a lot to offer you this week, bottom line. So, let me start off with a few questions. Who here is not only a fan of horror but of sci-fi as well? Okay… that’s good. Who watches a lot of the ol’ tube and has witnessed countless commercials for a huge film called SKYLINE? Alright, me also. And my last and most important question, who has heard of the actress Tanya Newbould? Okay. Apparently a lot of you haven’t… but that’s all about to change! Before a majority of you head out to the theater this weekend to be blown away by a fresh new take on the alien invasion genre, I want to introduce you to the actress who most definitely had fate on her side when it came to the opportunity of a lifetime in her career.
A woman who although extremely talented in her own right was only given small parts, but in some major movies. An actress whose career, as well as maybe her life is very possibly about to change. Tanya knows many heavy duty individuals in the industry, as well as directors who love her, and her acting. But only until now is she going to allow her true talent to be seen, and the reason for this will become absolutely clear to you as this interview unfolds. I spoke to Tanya a while back about her chance encounter of the third kind, her turbulent famly past that she is attempting to change, as well as her future in the industry. So how about it Maniacs? It won’t kill us to go see a Science Fiction Double Feature!
Delamorte: Tanya… thank you so much for having this talk with me, it’s such a pleasure to be able to speak to you. So please tell me where were you first discovered, and what was your first film role?
Tanya: Well, my first film role was in Bill And Ted’s Bogus Journey in 1991. I was three characters in the film, I played a student in the future, I played Marilyn Monroe in the charades scene in Heaven, and I was also Keanu Reeve’s stand-in. (Laughs) He wasn’t too thrilled. I tied my hair back, and I was all of a sudden supposed to be him, and he was just like “whatever. ”(Laughs again) After that I got my SAG card, and I was off! I never really wanted to do anything with television, I always wanted to act in film. Not until a few years back, it was cool to do both. So now I am definitely interested in doing some television roles as well.
Delamorte: You have acted in small parts but alongside many huge names including Nicolas Cage and Sir Anthony Hopkins… playing the awesome Hannibal Lecter no less. Could you tell me any funny or interesting stories about anyone you have worked with?
Tanya: Actually, Harvey Keitel on Red Dragon. Our call times were at five or six at night… so it was all night shoots. And Harvey, I love him… he’s so sweet. (Laughs) So Harvey Keitel and I were sitting there drinking a cappuccino and he says, ”I love you guys! I feel like I know you already, we should have a barbecue or something! ”So my character had dark hair and whatnot, that was how I looked for the role. So at the premiere of Red Dragon I was in a beautiful dress, my hair was blonde, I was all dolled up you know. So I go up to Harvey AND i SAY, ”hello. ”Harvey looks at me strangely and says, ”hello… ”Still really nice. (Laughs again) But only until I started looking directly into his eyes and told him who I was, Harvey started yelling, ”Oh! It’s Tanya! Hi Tanya, I didn’t recognize you. ”He didn’t even know who I was because I looked completely different in the movie. I just thought that was really funny.
Delamorte: The majority of your film roles has been with director Brett Rattner. Is this situation completely coincidental or were you personally called for roles when he had a film in the works?
Tanya: Uhhh… you know a small part in The Family Man was the first role I received from Brett. It was very strange how I received that role. My husband helps run the Ferrari Dealership in Beverly Hills, and Brett was in the dealership trying to buy a car. I had already attended the audition for the movie, and I did get the part. Problem was I didn’t know if they were going to use me. So one day, I’m at the dealership and Brett walks in with this huuuge entourage. Brett, who I didn’t know was him at the time, comes up to me and says to someone, ”What do you think? Will she work? ”And the other person just shakes his head(Laughs) And I just stared at him and then asked him who he was, and he says, ”I’m the director. ”(Laughs again) Ever since then we have had a great working relationship, he’s extremely wonderful, and very sweet. But actually, when I did XMEN, I did not have to audition at all. He knew he was doing it and he wanted me for a part. So I went to Canada, which did become a bit of a bummer because I was supposed to have four scenes with Kelsey Grammer. But we ran over budget, and of course Brett apologized to me. But, he still got me in the movie, so that’s great! The whole experience was great.
Delamorte: You have obviously acted in countless genres of film. But please tell me what is your favorite genre to work in and why?
Tanya: Well, you know… it’s kind of interesting. I’m a very emotional actress. I can cry and scream on cue. I do love to act terrified and all of that. But the movies that got me interested in acting was Aliens and stuff like that. I so love science fiction, and I cannot be more thrilled that i’m a part of this huge science fiction extravaganza. It’s such a dream come true for me! I also love things you have to think about, a little mystery. As a matter of fact, my favorite move this year was the one with Leonardo Di Caprio called Inception. (Sighs) Oh my god, that was great! I would so love to be a part of something like that.
Delamorte: I have also had an interview with your good friend Jennifer Blanc for The Victim, which you also have a part in. Could you tell me the process of how you became involved in her project?
Tanya: Well, she and I as you may or may not know are dear friends. She wanted me to be a part of it, but she told me right away that my part was not very big. She also said that she would still be so honored to have me on. Actually, when I was asked to do it, my part was actually only a voiceover but she changed my character into a reporter. I only shot for one day, but I am still so happy to be a part of it. I love Jen and Michael, and I of course would do anything to help them out. So… I didn’t get too much screen time? I guess i’ll have to wait until the sequel that they already have planned.
Delamorte: When you signed up for SKYLINE, the film was a low budget until Brett Ratner picked up the project. Did you ever expect in your wildest dreams that a situation like that would ever happen? Also, could you tell myself and my readers exactly where you were, and more importantly how you felt when you heard the news?
Tanya: Sure! First of all my husband had said before that he thought this thing was going to become big. My husband is an actor also, he was in a movie with Pierce Brosnan called The Thomas Crown Affair. And then I received a call from the main actress in the film. She was in France at Cannes when the project was bought by Relativity Media and Brett Ratner had decided to take on the project! Then, I heard from someone… I cannot tell you who that was exactly… that the film project was bought once again by Universal! I couldn’t believe it! I was in my car driving on Wilshire, I know exactly where I was when I found out. I’m really… really honored! My billing is ninth in the movie so i’m hoping that this will allow me to of course do more roles in the future. It’s such a great script, such a great idea! I’m just… so proud to be a part of this!
Delamorte: In SKYLINE you play the lead role of Jen, which is a huge deal… So tell me… are you nervous at all or are you completely confident?
Tanya: Completely confident! I have absolutely no worries whatsoever. I’m so honored and proud. The story is sooo good that it will be received very well by the public, i’m hoping. My character is great… and you will appreciate this! When I got the part in the beginning my character was wife #4 or something like that. (Laughs) Then I got the chance to actually give my character a name. They asked me what I wanted her name to be… I said Jen right away! You know why I did that? I did it in honor of my friend, Jennifer Blanc of course. She was so surprised… she absolutely loved it! (Laughs again)
Delamorte: Could you tell me a little about your character?
Tanya: Sure! Absolutely! Well, I am married to Paul. Well, we knowsomething is going on… and that we just need to get really far away. In the film, we live in a beautiful skyrise and pretty well off. But there’s an underlying fear, we don’t know if it’s terrorists… something like 9/11… we just know something’s really wrong. So my character is very important because you see what happens through their experience first. Something happens in their parking garage… it’s total chaos! And then you see through their eyes what is causing it all which is of course what you see in the trailers. I don’t want to give too much away, but it’s such a good story!
Delamorte: Of course SKYLINE is a major budget film, and includes many stunts. Did you perform any of your own stunts during filming, and if so were there any times doing them that frightened you?
Tanya: Nope! Absolutely not! I did have a stunt woman, and I felt really bad for her because I ended up doing the majority of my own stuff. (Laughs) I absolutely loved it, and most times I was just like, ”Wow! Let me do that again! ”(Laughs again) I had the body double ready, and I did the 3-D scan of my body which was reeeaaally cool! I mean, there’s so much CGI can do nowadays, I love it! It’s incredible! There’s so much you can do with special effects and computers… but I absolutely loved all of it. I especially loooved the stunt work.
Delamorte: Through my research on yourself and the film I came across the fact that you were hoping the overseas release of SKYLINE would reconnect you with your English birth mother who you have never seen in over two decades. If it is not going to be too painful. could you please tell me what you think the reunion would be like, and do you have any worries that a parent would only contact a child because of oncoming fame, and that maybe they could receive a piece of it?
Tanya: Hmm… wow… that’s a great question! Well, you know, I am originally from England and then I moved to Michigan. I had great parents that I grew up with but there is always that disconnect when you don’t know your birth parents. But then I have a beautiful daughter who’s two years old, so I get to live vicariously through her somehow. You know, being a mother to a daughter of my own. My fear is that I have no community with my mother. She just might have an emotionally bad life. You see, when I was born… my mom was twenty and my dad was nineteen. So I am very thankful that they went through with having me… as opposed to terminating the pregnancy. This is one of the reasons that I act, to show myself that I could do it… that I could make it on my own. I always have these dreams and fantasies of how meeting my mother for the first time will play out, but I do have my doubts… yes. Hopefully, her reasonings for seeing me would be genuine… and you would hope they wouldn’t come into your life jut because you had some success. I guess i’ll just have to see how or if that whole thing plays out.
Delamorte: Thank you so much for your honesty. Let’s get back to some positive stuff now!
Tanya: Yes, let’s do that… but just know that you asked me nothing hurtful or wrong. I’m actually quite happy that you had enough conviction to ask me how I feel about that… but yes let’s talk about something fun again!
Delamorte: I’m so glad you feel that way! So there have been countless alien invasion films like Independence Day and the remake of The Day The Earth Stood Still. Could you please let my readers know how you think the idea of SKYLINE is different from all of the others?
Tanya: I think it’s different because you do not know firsthand what is happening, plus the screenplay by Liam O’Donnell and Joshua Cordes is so incredibly written! When I was reading the script, I was still in the middle of filming and I did not want to stop reading it then! I would kind of get upset when I had to put it down… i’d be like, ’Oooh maan! ”(Laughs) It caught me! This is a very smart film. Also, it plays on a fear that we all have, like terrorism and the feeling we all had during 9/11… we had no idea what was going on! Actually, during that day, Brett and I were at the restaurant Ago. We were having a meeting about other projects when that horrible situation happened. We were scared… we had no idea what was going on… if it was the end of the world. There was so much fear that day, of course, and that’s kind of what the beginning of the film captures. Characters who who have absolutely no idea what is going to happen… or what is going on around them. You see everything through their eyes in a way. Although there are many invasion films out there… I can honestly say there is absolutely NOTHING like this.
Delamorte: Could you please let myself and my readers know what your future projects will be and when they witness SKYLINE for themselves?
Tanya: Well, SKYLINE will be released in theaters November 12th worldwide! And of course, my other film is The Victim with Jennifer Blanc, Michael Biehn, and Danielle Harris. And I am also working on a documentary on post partum depression with Jamie Lynn Lipman. It’s really an interesting subject, I had it myself… and no two symptoms are the same. We have already had many facets of television interested in the project… so we’ll see.
Delamorte: And since I work for a horror website, my last question would have to be about your interest in the genre. Would you ever like to act in a horror film, and why or why not?
Tanya: Absolutely! I think it’s a great genre, and my great friend Danielle Harris is very well known in that genre as you already know! I love her… god, she’s so good. If the story and the script were right I would absolutely do it. That what it all comes don to… a great script and great actors. And if you don’t have any of that then you truly have nothing. But, i’m definitely interested. I love the genre.
Delamorte: Tanya… wow! This has been quite an interview… thank you so much for allowing me the opportunity to have a real conversation with you, and being so open. I cannot wait to see your huge major debut… enjoy your success!
Tanya: Rob, listen swetheart… this was great! I hope that you enjoy the film and I wish you much success as well… you’re really good at what you do… thank you.
Tanya can be seen right now in the Brothers Strause invasion film SKYLINE in theaters worldwide! And you can also see her having a great time acting with her best gal pals in the Michael Biehn/Jennifer Blanc produced The Victim… which I believe is now still in post production, and will hopefully be released in wide release very soon. I will give you the details as they become available. So there you have it, an actress that will very possibly become a household name due to an incredible stroke of circumstance, and I am so happy for her! Be sure too look out for even more interview shenanigans, including the awesome Scream Queen Bianca Barnett! Also look out for my first edition column which will give you the latest and greatest in the horror world right here! If you really like what you see you can always see more at Delamorte’s Den Of Deadly Delights on Facebook! Thank you all for your support, now go enjoy a cool movie this weekend!
And Tanya is also a grand example of my ever-growing motto, the only thing that can impale your dreams is your own negativity.
Sweet Nightmares and Pleasant Screams, Your Space Invader, Rob Delamorte
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