As the fourth ‘Penny Dreadful‘ animation ‘The Hairy Hands‘ veers from production into post, Carrion Film took the opportunity to conduct a short candid interview with regular contributor Ed Berry. Ed’s first role was a cameo as the cowardly Fop in 2008’s award winning ‘Scayrecrow‘ . Impressed by Ed’s enthusiasm and adaptive acting techniques, Director Ashley Thorpe insisted that Ed should take the lead for the follow up: the gothic ghost story ‘The Screaming Skull‘. Now with another lead in ‘The Hairy Hands‘ (and an H.P Lovecraft inspired twist on a classic Cornish myth in the pipeline) we gave the silent star a chance to speak…
How did you come to work on ‘Scayrecrow‘ and ‘The Screaming Skull‘?
“I’ve known Ashley for about six or seven years but we lost touch for a long time… and then a few years back we bumped into each other again by chance. He had just got the budget (Exeter Phoenix Project Greenlight) to make ‘Scayrecrow’ and a mutual friend of ours was due to be in it but he had to drop out close to filming, so to fill the slot Ash asked me if I’d like to play The Fop. The funny thing was that the part our mate was meant to play didn’t make it in the final cut and mine did. With ‘Skull’ Ash and his wife to be Sue, were watching a film with a very famous and talented actor in while they were discussing who was going to take the lead for ‘Skull’ and for some reason this actor reminded them of me. So Ash offered me the part. A
pretty odd way to get the role. I was surprised because personally I can’t see any resemblance in looks or acting talent on my part to that actor. Who was he? I ain’t gonna say!”
pretty odd way to get the role. I was surprised because personally I can’t see any resemblance in looks or acting talent on my part to that actor. Who was he? I ain’t gonna say!”.
Though animation can be a tedious process it’s well known Ashley likes the actual shoots to be great fun…..
“We always have a blast making these films! There can be tedious moments but I never really remember them because of the stupid stuff we get up to. Ash and me have the same sort of sense of humour and now with Tom working on The Hairy Hands’ it’s all just gone up to another level of ridiculousness. I think Ash thought I was bad enough to deal with…but Tom, well that guy fell off his trolley a very long time ago! We all take it very seriously of course, but you’ve got to enjoy what your doing …”
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Any particular stories that spring to mind?
“The one that always comes up is the days shooting we did at The Two Bridges Hotel on Dartmoor for ‘Skull’. There was only three of us – Ash, Sue and myself. We went up the room along with the tripods and camera’s and lights… which got a couple of odd looks at reception. We got started but the shitty light Ashley was using kept frickin’ dying on us and it needed a good shake to get it going, so Sue asked Ash if he wanted her to ‘waggle it’. And then there was Ash telling me what position he wanted me in, what face to pull while I was in bed, telling me not to do it so quick, me complaining that my foot was stuck and that my trousers were too damn tight around the crotch area. We could hear people walking around the corridors outside who must have wondered what the hell we were doing! Me and Sue also popped outside for a break, me in costume, when a group of wedding guests started to arrive so I greeted some of them as they walked in to their utter bemusement. My night got more eventful when a mate of mine came to pick me up because my car was out of action. He neglected to tell me that both his car windows had been smashed in and while I sat on broken glass with the cold air blasting through… we, or I should I say he, got us lost looking for a petrol station. We must have been wandering around Dartmoor for the best part of two hours screaming at each other. It was a long day…”
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What’s the greatest challenge of acting in this type of production?
“You act like you normally would but only a thousand times slower. For some scenes it’s fine but for others it’s a real challenge. You constantly have to think about what moves in what order while trying to look convincing. I remember watching an interview with Gabriel Byrne when he made ‘The Usual Suspects’, he said you can say more with gestures, looks, silences and glances you give and that’s where the challenge is. I always remembered that because that pretty much what I have to do. No dialogue and no real rehearsal period, and in the last two films, no other actor to bounce off of can be tough but I like it and it fits in to the guerilla aspect of how the films are made.”
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How have working methods differed, if at all, between ‘Skull’ and the new production?
“The biggest thing for me was being able to act some of the longer scenes in almost real time. The more advanced equipment being used has allowed much more freedom. ‘Skull’ was done with painstakingly slow movement and photography but because Spencer was almost robotic it worked very well and it really suited the film. After the first day doing ‘Hands’ I was having motherfucking kittens, big time! Because Ash was using those same methods, but thankfully we were able to shoot the longer scenes much faster. I was deeply relieved because there was a lot of stuff I was able to do that I don’t think I could have done if we used the old methods.”.
‘Scayrecrow‘ was to all intent a Hammer style romp, but the last film and indeed the new film – The Hairy Hands – have a
darker psychological ambiguity to them…..
darker psychological ambiguity to them…..“‘Skull’ is more intense and has a sort of brooding quality to it. I like the darker edge and you can dig deeper with it if you want. I don’t think there’s enough complexity in modern films and they rarely credit their audiences with enough intelligence to allow people to come to their own conclusions. ‘Hands’ will have a more contemporary feel with a mix of intensity and suspense, but I won’t say more than that…”
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With reference to ‘Screaming Skull’, When questioned recently about it’s possible readings and meanings, Ashley said that he was a firm believer in the David Lynch approach of ‘Mystery is good, confusion is bad…but mystery is good’ As Lynch says: If things get too specific – the dream stops’ . How do you feel about this and how do you interpret ‘Screaming Skull’?
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“For me ‘Skull’ touches on feelings of isolation, loneliness, anger and someone who is trapped by the circumstances he finds himself in. I think most people can relate to those feelings. Mystery is a very good thing because it keeps the film… the dream going after it’s finished. Confusion is just fucking pretention…”.
There appear to be quite a few more animations slated for the future, how do you think that they’ll develop and what are your expectations for the future?
“I know of a few secret things that Carrion Films have planned but I’ll keep that under my hat. Like most things I’m sure most of it will come down to time and money. If I will be involved I don’t know but if Ash thinks I’m right for whatever kind of part he knows I’d do it in a heartbeat. I have to give Ashley a lot of credit because I’ve only done a few bits of acting before I did The Fop and he never even seen me act before I did that part and anybody really could have done that. So he put a lot of faith in me to do the next two films. I have a desire to do more and to try different types of roles. If I get there, I don’t know! But Carrion Films future will be very bright. If Ash doesn’t get a big fat wedge to make a feature film sometime soon I’ll eat my fucking socks. Carrion Films will become a monster that will crush and devour all before it. I think world domination is something to aim for at the very least.”
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Now down to the serious questions – tell us something interesting about yourself?
“No.”
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Favourite horror film?
My favourite horror film is John Carpenter’s Halloween. What’s more scary than a maniac dressed in a boiler suit with a plain white mask, carrying a butcher knife as long as your arm. When you asked about psychological ambiguity, well ‘Halloween’ represents my worst nightmare: trying to run away from something and no matter how fast your running or where you hide your fears are slowly catching up with you. And just like your fears, Michael will find you! Then what are you gonna do? ‘Halloween’ was made for peanuts and was a really simple idea brilliantly made. Of course the downside is that it’s been the model for almost every other slasher film since, none of which will ever hold a candle to ‘Halloween’ or Mr Myers. And how do you top the fact that Myers mask was a cast of William Shatner’s face turned inside out. Classic.
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How do you relax?
“I fire AK47’S in the jungles of Vietnam…”
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How would you describe yourself?
“As a gentleman with a sophisticated sense of humour.” (Editor – See below)
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What’s your favourite animal?
“Camel toe.”
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‘The Hairy Hands‘ is due for completion Halloween 2009 and Edward Berry’s previous work can be seen in ‘Scayrecrow‘ and ‘The Screaming Skull‘ – which are available to download via the toolbar, top of screen.