*What is there to say about Roger Conners? He is a man who goes above and beyond the call of duty to deliver a stellar performance each and every time he sets foot in front of the camera… This means he dyes his hair and accepts that some of his roles include trotting around with a rainbow backpack with a unicorn in midjump on it. Called the “Scream Queer,” by many, I prefer to call Mr. Conners a “Scream King” because of his devotion to the indie horror film genre. After taking a year off from acting, Roger is returning to our favorite genre in hopes of surviving (or not) many more spine chilling films. So, this is the perfect opportunity for me to reintroduce Roger Conners to the masses. Read his interview below to hear about his life, his career, and details about the highly anticipated film, Chill.
Q: Introduce yourself to readers. Tell us a little something about yourself. How did you get into acting?
R: I grew up in the upper-class suburb of Westlake, Ohio, which is about 15 minutes outside of Cleveland. My father was absent from the picture from an early age so it was just my mother and myself for the first few years. When I was about seven my mother came down with a disorder known as polyarteritis nodosa, a pretty rare disease that affects the blood vessels. As she grew progressively worse we moved in with my grandmother. I started acting around the age of twelve and used it as an escape from my reality at the time.
By the time I was eighteen, both my mother and grandmother had passed on and so I had to grow up pretty fast. Acting took on a whole new meaning in my life, providing me with something consistent in a time when things were pretty much falling apart around me. It kept me level-headed and, in some aspects, I would say it kept me from losing my mind and doing something stupid. I use acting as a coping mechanism at this point. It lets me become somebody else for a short while. I think everybody needs that from time to time, in some way or another.
Q: Your first role on file is actually a comedy called Tomorrow For A Dollar. Why did you make the jump from “normal” film genres into the world of blood and guts horror?
R: Ok, well actually Tomorrow For A Dollar was the second project I filmed but they pretty much flew through the post-production to have the movie ready for the Tribeca Film Festival. I had wrapped up Hellementary a few months prior to that and I was on the hunt for more projects to tag onto my resume. Tomorrow was an extremely low-budget film in which I had a very minor role, but hey… a credit’s a credit in my book. I do love comedy though and I am grateful when I have a chance to show off the fact I’m actually pretty good at it.
That being said, my original intention with branching out into film was always to become a B-Movie horror actor. Seriously, that’s my goal in life. Maybe that’s a little small-scale, but I grew up on horror classics like Night of the Living Dead and Texas Chainsaw Massacre from a very early age. Movies like that inspired my passion for independent horror cinema.
Q: Well, then tell us about Hellementary. Did you have that moment of “this is what I was born to do?” while on set?
R: Oh God… to be honest, every minute I was on that set was one of those realization moments for me! I remember my first day on set for the film. The rest of the leads and myself all got into costume and makeup and then we were free to basically just wander this massive abandoned school! Like, truly this place had been empty for years and there was still all kinds of creepy books and chairs just lying around covered in debris. There was no power, no running water, nothing… and so we just busted out our cameras and for a good hour we ran around the building taking photos and acted like complete idiots. I was just like, “This… is the best time of my life!” I really miss those days on set. That gang was just… an amazing group of people.
Aside from all the fun we had I also really appreciated the amount of effort the cast and crew all put forward to make that film happen. The crew was extremely talented and really worked their asses off to make the movie look amazing. The final result, I feel, gives the illusion that Hellementary had a far larger budget than it really did. Either way, they got it on Chiller [TV]. That alone is an amazing accomplishment for a first time independent production company!
Q: Another Hell movie, Hellweek, is produced by Fright Teck Pictures. Since your role of “Caleb” in Hellweek, you’ve appeared in a couple more of their movies. How did this business venture come along?
R: Yeah, Fright Teck and I have a long history together. Eddie Lengyel, director of Hellweek and owner of the company, is by now one of my closest friends and a constant go to for advice with any project I may be involved with. The guy is a horror fanatic like myself and gives me really straight forward and honest advice. If I give a weak performance, he’ll tell me, “Rog, I’ve seen better from you,” and I am so damn thankful for that. As an actor one needs to strive to constantly improve and constructive criticism is key! He’s really a great guy and an amazing friend and I’m very thankful for all he’s done for me!
As for our working together, we actually met on the set for his sophomore effort Voodoo Rising, which is finally nearing completion after three years in post. I know a lot of fans have started to doubt the film existence by this point but… it’s finished, believe me. Just finalizing the score and the movie will be ready to hit shelves around fall this year. I’m really excited because, as Eddie puts it, I have a, “soft spot in my heart for Voodoo.” I don’t really know why… just can’t quite put my finger on it. I think it’s partially because my character in the film, Porter, was so much fun for me to create.
He’s the comedic relief of the film and very, very gay. Though I’m gay myself, he’s the complete opposite of me, which made becoming him such an awesome process. He struts around in eye-liner and lip-gloss and totes a rainbow backpack with a unicorn in mid-jump pictured on it. I based him on a lot of the gays I see at the clubs and think I hit the nail on the head. I really miss playing that sassy guy.
After Voodoo wrapped (for the first time), Eddie was still in the process of finishing up Hellweek and was in need of someone to close out the film. He asked me to step in and of course I said yes. My part isn’t huge, but I get a solid scare moment. One good scare is basically all I ask from him at this point and he always appeases me. By now, he’s very familiar with my demands.
Q: Speaking of film’s you’re waiting on… You, Kelsey Z, and I had an interesting chat about a scene in The Melon Heads. Can you tell me about this film, whether it be your part, experiences, etc?
R: Yeah, The Melon Heads is another interesting story. Originally, I wasn’t attached to the project. After a series of script rewrites and some last-minute recasting, I was approached to play a character that had been written in half way into the film. At the time I was filming another full length feature, but I agreed based on the terms that I wanted the character to be played extremely straight. The movie I was involved with at the time, a comedy-drama entitled Dark of Moon that deals with the Pagan culture, features me in yet another flamboyant gay role. At that point I was really craving something fresh and challenging and so the character of “Tony” was tweaked to be a very masculine jock-like character. Clearly an athlete with a college boy sense of humor, he was the complete opposite of my character in DOM.
I really had a great time being on set for the short time I was there. I had some great costars and got to be involved in some pretty stellar action scenes toward the end of the flick, including what is now one of my favorite film-scenes to date. I have this big, epic chase scene that brings me to an abandoned plantation and it’s just me running around this massive empty structure. Sounds really basic but the final result is creepy as hell because the building is just so massive and surrounded by dead trees and overgrown plants. There’s something eerie in the simplicity of it, but I remember watching the first cut and being like, “Wow. This is amazing!”
All that being said, the movie clearly is not finished. The first cut needed a LOT of work. Scenes had to be re-shot or omitted completely and new material was written in to take its place. The first draft of the movie was slow. The film has a great story dealing with one of Ohio’s most unique and well-known urban legends and it takes a very serious, non-fantasy approach to it, which I love, but the first draft was really wordy! When it’s strong it’s strong, and I think the changes they’ve made to it will help immensely! There’s a great product there, it’s just taken a lot of spit and polish to help make it shine. It’ll get there though. I can’t wait to see the final cut!
Q: Let’s talk about Chill. Where to even start… How did you become attached to this project? Did you read the script first?
R: If there is one film I’ve been involved with so far that I would refer to as my “baby”, it would have to be Chill. From day one this flick was a passion-project for everyone involved. The original concept came up on the set of Dark of Moon and several of the actors in that were approached to be involved. My only real demand at the time was to play my character as a brunette to prove I could and they appeased me so I was on board!
Seriously though, I loved the storyline and was sold on it right off the get-go. When production got under way, I was given the chance to give a lot of input on the script and the direction I felt it should take. I’m a horror movie fanatic and a die-hard for the classic slashers like Halloween and Black Christmas, so I feel I know what other independent horror fans are going to appreciate. I’m really grateful that the team behind Chill trusted me and my ideas as much as they did and they certainly sparked my interest for working behind the camera!
Chill is also is my first top-billing credit, so… there’s another reason for me to be excited for it to hit shelves. I just hope I’m on the DVD cover. That’s all I want.
Q: Can you tell me about the “game” or “tradition” in Chill? It’s all kind of vague? All we know is… “The game is to stay alive.”
R: Yeah, I’d love to shed a little light on the story behind Chill. The concept was originally spawned by one of the script-writers, Meredith Holland. When she was younger she used to play this game with her college friends and the basic gist of it deals with each player creating an alternate identity of sorts that they need to play out through-out the entire thing. From there each player draws a slip of paper from a box, each one labeled with a “No” aside from one which is marked “Yes”. The “Yes” establishes who the killer will be and from there they have to wander about the location pre-selected for the game attempting to “kill off” the other players with fake weapons hidden through-out. As the killer the goal is to have nobody suspect and accuse you or else they win. If the killer manages to outsmart the other players and kill them all off, he’s the winner. So in that sense it’s like Cry Wolf meets Clue and then there’s the whole web-series element, which gives it a Death Tunnel or Halloween: Resurrection sort of modern flair… only ideally it’s better than the latter one there.
In the movie, the game has been made-out to be this big college tradition from the 80’s that became very taboo after several of the players were found dead in one of the schools art buildings the day after their last game. The game was banned and sort of swept under the rug until one of the recent students, Jared Creston, manages to use his family ties to resurrect the game for a school project. He secretly has bigger ideas for the game, contacting the owner of a well-respected video-gaming company and sparking his interest in turning the original game into a style of live-action viral game-play. Jared sees big bucks in his future and calls upon the interest of several of his unsuspecting classmates, including my character “Kyle Carpenter.” “Kyle” is the schools tech-wizard and he’s lured on board to help get the game off the ground and onto people’s computer-monitors. From there, well… I’ll let you see the movie and find out what happens for yourselves. Let’s just say that history does have a way of repeating itself… ;)
Q: Is there anything else you’d really like to say about Chill while you have us as a platform?
R: Just that I’m very proud of the final product and I think horror fans will really appreciate what we managed to do with a shoe-string budget and a whole lot of passion and drive!
Q: What is on the horizon for RConners? Where do you see yourself for the rest of 2012 and beyond?
R: Well, to be honest 2011 was a very hard year for me personally. I’ve dealt with a lot and I felt it was best if I stepped away from the whole acting thing for a while and took some time for myself. Last summer I vowed “No more film until 2012!” and I stood by that. Well, it’s 2012 now and if anything I anticipate taking on a new project to help me transition into a new phase of my life. Last November, I was diagnosed HIV positive and it has been a life-changing experience (which I suppose goes without saying). I have gone through some heavy shit these last few months and I have grown into a different person. All I can hope for now is to continue advancing in my career and to use that exposure to help provide a positive (in multiple senses of the word) role-model for the large gay following that is drawn to independent horror. Believe me, they exist in MASSIVE numbers and I can genuinely say I’ve never been aware of an actor who has openly represented himself as such within our genre to speak out for them. I don’t want to be a star, but I do want to do something amazing with my life. If that means playing supporting roles in low-budget films within this niche genre until I’m 90, well… as long as that provides me with a means to be a voice for the fans of these movies, I’ll feel like I’m doing something beneficial with my life.
As for upcoming projects, I do have a few in the works. There is discussion of Chill 2, but you won’t even see the first until this fall so it’s a bit premature to bring that up. All I can say right now is that, in one way or another, I will be involved. Aside from that, there are several other projects I’m attached to. The Last Arch, an epic action piece which deals with the battle between angels and demons, is in it’s early stages of pre-production. Also, the none horror film You + Me, which deals with a young man coping with his first year after being diagnosed with HIV and the many struggles he goes through in order to find acceptance. Clearly that one is a piece I’m particularly excited for and hope moves forward. And then the romantic comedy The Straigh Mate, a film that tells the story of a straight guy and his best friend from child-hood who is openly gay. After a series of horribly unsuccessful dates, the friend makes it his goal to set his buddy up with the ideal woman and proves the theory that a gay man is a straight dudes strongest weapon. Shenanigans ensue… All are in the early stages of development, but I can’t wait to see what comes from them! Of course,I’m ALWAYS on the hunt for new projects and anticipate anything within the horror genre! If anyone wants to discuss my potential involvement in an upcoming horror-based project (full-length only please), feel free to email me at rooger89@aol.com! You can also communicate with me directly through my official Facebook Fan Page – https://www.facebook.com/WilliamRogerConners.
Q: Favorite scary movie?
R: All time favorite is the original Night of the Living Dead. The character of Barbara was my inspiration for becoming an actor at the age of seven. I was a little messed up from an early age. I still dream of playing that sort of crumbling comatose nut-job at some point in my career. Maybe it’s time for a remake… again… oh wait, there’s like seven in the works right now. I guess there’s always room for one more, right?
*Thank you for chatting with HorrorSociety, RConners. To take a look at Roger’s full resume, click here to visit his IMDB page.
One Comment
Leave a Reply