Interview with Ellie Cornell | Sound Authors Radio

December 3, 2008

Dr. Kent: Welcome back to Sound Authors. It is our Halloween show and my next guest is Ellie Cornell and she is a known horror actress and she’s known as the infamous Rachel Carruthers and she’s going to share some experiences as that icon and also as a producer and all of that. Welcome to the show.

Ellie Cornell: Hi Dr. Kent, thank you for having me.

Dr. Kent: I see that you are from Long Island.

Ellie Cornell: I am, I was born in Glencove. I lived there just when I was little and then we moved down to the mountains in North Carolina.

Dr. Kent: Well it’s beautiful out on Long Island today, that’s where I am.

Ellie Cornell: It is indeed.

Dr. Kent: Where are you talking to us from?

Ellie Cornell: I am in Los Angeles.

Dr. Kent: Your newest project, you made your directorial debut with this film Prank and also Halloween 4 and 5.

Ellie Cornell: I haven’t yet. We haven’t shot mine yet. Danielle Harris has shot her section and essentially its three short films that will be made into a full length feature, the wrap around story around all three stories. Heather Langencamp is directing the third one.

Dr. Kent: Tell me what is it like being in the genre of horror, doing these films. Now when you’re doing them do you kind of think this is funny? Or do you go home at night and you cant sleep and all of that.

Ellie Cornell: I would probably go with the second one. When I did Halloween I was pretty new in the business, I was very new actually and I mean it feels kind of tongue in cheek when your doing it and you certainly don’t have the luxury of the music and some of the CGI special effects, but I think to really for me as a performer to commit to those moments, you have to go there and just from an adrenaline standpoint especially with Halloween 4 where there is a lot of physical stuff. The only time we used the stunt woman was free fall off the roof but still all the roof top stuff with Danielle Harris on my back and sliding down and being chased by Michael Myers so that was all us and I think to get fired up for it you have to bring a certain amount of truth to it.

Playing my death the first time was really weird because that was in Halloween 5 and you’re all kind of wired up with blood tubes for the fake blood and the blood guys under the bed with the blood pump. It’s all very synthetic but the moment itself is strange; it’s strange and it’s spooky and the stuntman that played Michael Myers was physically enormous and really towered over me. So there was something kind of scary about playing that moment as well.

Dr. Kent: How about the whole genre of horror. Its funny, the guest I just spoke with was talking about cemeteries and its such a solemn place.

Ellie Cornell: She was fascinating!

Dr. Kent: Yeah and at the same time you’ve got what’s turned into this sort of macabre holiday where people want to watch ten horror movies in a row and dress up in crazy costumes. What is the fascination with horror?

Ellie Cornell: I don’t know, I think I relate mostly to its amazing how much horror films have changed since I did my Halloween’s. The whole industry has really gotten darker and really pushing the envelope in a different way but I think its still fun to be scared. I think obviously there’s a dark, edgy side to it but for most people it’s really fun to be scared and you know it’s fake. The next day the stuff gets put away and you keep living your life. But I do think it’s a day where people can kind of go a little bonkers but horror films today are a different breed for sure.

Dr. Kent: You’ve done quite a bit of acting in television shows and things outside of horror. What makes you always come back to horror? Is it the fact that you’re well known in the genre?

Ellie Cornell: I’m just really lucky, no I’m kidding. My husband Mark Gottwald is a producer and his production company I mean he doesn’t, when he had a production company we did quite a bit of horror and I was lucky. They would say do you want to be in this one? And here’s the role you’re going to play. It was great and I don’t like to say no to work and I did it. I found that each experience I’ve never played the bimbo.

I just got to keep playing strong characters. I had really cool weapons that I got to learn to use and whether it was getting weapons training or pyrotechnic effects; blood bags exploding its just a fascinating way to go to work. There’s such a dichotomy. I remember when I was making House of the Dead up in the woods in Vancouver I had this enormous Mossberg gun; it’s really army used and with a laser scope on it. I would go do that from Monday through Thursday and I would go back to my home in Los Angeles and I was in this women’s club. I thought if these women only knew what I did during the week. It was such a kooky way to live. But its fun! I can’t complain.

Dr. Kent: You use the word kooky. Wasn’t that the tagline for the Addams Family, right?

Ellie Cornell: Well it is! There’s no other way to describe it. It’s just a whole cultural phenomenon and I know sci-fi fans are the same way but when you meet these folks, they love this stuff. They love the blood and the gore and I mean I’m pretty lucky. My stuff has been pretty tame and I like it that way. I’m not into going too crazy with my work but yeah, kooky is the only word that comes to mind to describe it, or nutty – take your pick.

Dr. Kent: Talk about your original character Rachel Carruthers and why was she so popular?

Ellie Cornell: Talk about getting lucky. I remember getting the script and when they tapped me for Halloween 4. I think she was kind of the girl next door and thought that was unusual about her and especially in hindsight because I didn’t really understand what she meant during the time but I do now looking back. I think she was one of those characters that broke the mold in general in terms of she wasn’t a bimbo, she wasn’t the popular cheerleader but you kind of rooted for her and she gave Michael Myers a run for his money the whole way through it and the fact that she lived, that’s my claim to fame.

I lived through a whole film without getting it. Obviously I got it in the first 12 minutes of Halloween 5 and I knew that was coming too when I got the script. I knew it was going to be in there somewhere and the writers had written Halloween 5 that Rachel was to get scissors shoved down her throat and I said, “No way. She’s too smart for that. No, that’s not how she’s going to go.” So they rewrote it and made it a little tamer and a little more dignified. I don’t know, I think they related to her because she was the girl next door. She didn’t even really get the guy. Brady ended up with the bimbo. People could relate to her, they wanted her to win.

Dr. Kent: How about today? You have two daughters, what does Halloween mean for your family?

Ellie Cornell: Oh, they get such a kick out of it. Like if I get recognized or whatever. I let them see Halloween finally pretty recently and it really scared them. It’s a really scary movie without being too over the top. It’s not scarring but it’s still a good fright. They think it’s really cool to be on it, they think it’s great. My husband loves horror films. We showed them Invasion of the Body Snatchers and that almost scarred them for life; the whole pod thing. It freaked them out but that’s not where their interest lies in terms of the films they go see with their buddies but like The Ring; there’s certain horror films. And I liked Disturbia, I thought it was great because it was more along the lines of Hitchcock where they really lead you along. They don’t need the in your face stuff.

Dr. Kent: I remember as a kid seeing Night of the Living Dead one day when my folks were away and I snuck down to the TV and watched it and then snuck back up to my room in the dark when they came home and man I didn’t sleep that night!

Ellie Cornell: My daughter I know one of them has seen that with my husband and that is really yeah. That kind of started it all; those old ones really hold their own for the most part.

Dr. Kent: What do you think? Do you enjoy all kinds of these horror movies or do some turn you off? Like the spoofs of horror movies, what’s your favorite?

Ellie Cornell: I think those are funny but I like things that are really fresh, that haven’t been done over and over again. I’m not that into the whole sequel thing. I don’t go to a lot of the sequel stuff but like I thought the Ring was really original. I still love Hitchcock, I think I always find something new and I think these films most of them are really smart in their own way. I think there’s a whole bunch of bad ones but the ones that are good, they stay classics and hold their own and stand the test of time. I really liked Halloween 4 for what it was, the writing and Dwight Little was a great director and it was simple. It wasn’t a complicated story.

Dr. Kent: Tell us a little about your upcoming film Prank and then what else you’re working on nowadays?

Ellie Cornell: Prank hopefully will happen after the New Year. Danielle’s already shot her segment and essentially I’m going to shoot a six day shoot which is fast and furious just perfect for me. I get to have a hand in all the casting and location scouting. Essentially it’s about three pranks. Each of our shorts are about three completely different stories. It’s a female character that drives all three stories, three different females. Mine is called Cassidy and it’s about pranks that go horrifically wrong.

So it’ll be a directorial boot camp for me, I’ve never done it and was thrilled to have the opportunity and I’m looking forward to it. Hopefully that will be January or February at the latest so that will take up a lot of my time in prepping and getting that ready. I’m psyched to cast it. When I’m meeting actors now I’m thinking where can I put you in? And I have a big cast and I did an elevator stunt and there was a cat and I said take the kitty cat out of there, I tried to keep it simple and keep the budget down so that it’s not too overwhelming.

We’ll see but I’ve seen clips of Danielle’s and she did a superb job. I’ll see her this weekend and she was my costar and little sister in the Halloween films. She played Jamie, but I’ll see Danielle Harris this weekend at the 30 years of terror thing in Pasadena. The original Halloween is 30, isn’t that unbelievable? Time flies.

Dr. Kent: Wow. 30 Years of Terror in Pasadena. We can go check out Ellie Cornell and its been a blast speaking with you. Happy Halloween.

Ellie Cornell: You’re so sweet Dr. Kent, thank you for having me.

Dr. Kent: My next guest on the show is Paul Mullen. He’s going to read from his book about Creeper and His Fake Eye and we’ll come on back for that.

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