Interview
WAMG Interview: Caroline Williams – Star of THE TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE 2 and 10 MINUTES TO MIDNIGHT
Caroline Williams began her career in Texas, and quickly established herself in the Texas movie marketplace doing commercials, industrial films and voiceover work. She soon found herself busy with roles in such films THE LEGEND OF BILLIE JEAN (1985) and GETTING EVEN (1985). After her star-making turn as Stretch in 1986’s THE TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE Pt 2., Caroline moved to LA and appeared in films such as THE STEPFATHER 2 (1989), DAYS OF THUNDER (1990), and THE GRINCH WHO STOLE CHRISTMAS (2000)
In her latest, TEN MINUTES TO MIDNIGHT, Caroline Williams returns to the DJ booth for the first time since THE TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE Pt 2. Williams plays Amy Marlowe, a veteran late night radio host on the eve of forced retirement trapped inside the station by a violent storm after being bitten by a rabid bat.
Caroline Williams took the time to talk to We Are Movie Geeks about her career and about TEN MINUTES TO MIDNIGHT.
Interview conducted by Tom Stockman January 15th, 2021
Tom Stockman: Hi Caroline. I still have my THE TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE Pt. 2 poster that you kissed in 1990. Your lipstick marks are still on it
Caroline Williams: Wow. That’s wonderful! That’s some long-lasting lipstick.
TS: Let’s talk about your new movie TEN MINUTES TO MIDNIGHT. I watched it the other night with my girlfriend and then I showed her THE TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE Pt. 2 because she had never seen that. It was interesting watching those two back-to-back.
CW: And good that you watched it with a woman because there is a woman perspective in those movies movie and that’s always interesting.
TS: It was. And there are parallels between these two characters, Amy from your new film and of course Stretch.
CW: The parallel is that they were both DJs, but the differences are extremely broad. Stretch wanted to get out of head-banging music and do something real and all Amy wants is to play head-banging music.
TS: And of course Amy is looking at involuntary retirement from her lifelong career. There’s really a lot more depth to TEN MINUTES TO MIDNIGHT then you might notice at first glance. It’s a movie that makes you think.
CW: It’s very unpredictable and it takes you in directions that other horror film don’t traditionally take you in. I think it’s smarter and more sophisticated and I think it addresses a lot about the nature of time, and the nature of looking at our lives retrospectively. It takes on a lot of subjects that generally I think a lot of filmmakers think may be too serious to address in a horror film, but director Erik Bloomquist and his brother and co-writer Carson Bloomquist were completely unafraid to take that on and we got a really unusual movie because of it.
TS: How do you get cast in this? It seems written for you. Did you have to audition?
CW: Well that’s a great story, which you will love, and it’s about women in business in a way as well. This role of Amy was first offered to Barbara Crampton . She has been a wife and mother for a long time as have I. She got herself re-established in the movie YOU’RE NEXT a while ago and she’s really been going from strength to strength for a very long time now. It took me a little longer. I’ve only been out on my own, with my kids grown, for the last four years. That’s given me the freedom to concentrate on moving forward. Barbara was offered the role but she was going off to film CASTLE FREAK in Europe and was unable to do the film. She told Erik she thought the script read like it was written for Caroline Williams and that he should approach me. Erik sent me the script and we had a chance to chat and I was on board immediately. The screenplay played to every strength that I believe I have as an actress, but it also played every single challenge that I have wanted to take on. An opportunity like this just had not been there recently, to be able to live the life of a character in one film. I got to have the lead role and I was on screen nearly the entire. It was just a very rewarding experience. I absolutely loved doing it.
TS: Tell me a little bit more about your character Amy. She hosts a call-in radio show. Did she also play music?
CW: I think so. It’s just that the action moves so quickly in the film and there is a lot of great music in the film. There’s music by Wednesday the 13th and Bury Your Dead, and other great artists. I hope they put out a soundtrack CD for the film. I think it’s really outstanding. The action moves so quickly in the film that she just doesn’t have any music to play.
TS: That heavy metal soundtrack. Is that your kind of music?
CW: I have a broad range of musical styles that I love. I’ve been around for a long time. When I was a kid, the Beatles were a big thing and the Beach boys and Paul Revere and the Raiders. I traveled through everything from the Bee Gees through 90s music like Chemical Romance and there are contemporary artists today that I like and I know. Iused to hang out at the Whiskey and the Viper room. What else can I say?
TS: Were there some physical challenges making this movie TEN MINUTES TO MIDNIGHT?
CW: It has a lot of physical action. It’s one of those things that I love about horror. Horror is action-adventure by definition. I loved playing that role. It was like being a kid in a playground.
TS: Do you live in Texas still or are you in LA now?
CW: I’ve lived in LA since 1986.
TS: When was TEN MINUTES TO MIDNIGHT filmed?
CW: It was filmed about a year and a half ago.
TS: Your TEN MINUTES TO MIDNIGHT co-star Nick Tucci passed away about a year ago. Had he been sick on the set?
CW: No, Nick did not want to share any of that with anybody. He wanted to continue to work and he dedicated himself wholeheartedly to The film and his performance was outstanding.
TS: So it was a shock to you when he passed?
CW: I was stunned. Very few people knew.
Where was TEN MINUTES TO MIDNIGHT filmed?
CW: We filmed it at a little radio station in a town in Connecticut called Willamantic. It was a fully operational radio station. A lot of it is on auto-pilot a lot of the time. Our Director Erik Bloomquest had some interviews there before . They made us welcome and let us shoot from 6 PM in the evening until 6 AM the next morning. It was a struggle sometimes to keep going all through the night but everybody did the rhythm turnaround thing that you do and we all had a great time.
TS: It’s coming out on do you DVD and Blu-ray soon. Were you involved in any of the extras?
CW: I’m not sure when it’s coming out.
TS: Will you put participate in a commentary track?
CW: We haven’t done anything like that yet. I assume when it’s time to do that, they will tell us.
TS: TEN MINUTES TO MIDNIGHT did play at some theaters and drive-ins back in the fall.
CW: The Harkins Movie Theaters chain, which are indoor theaters, played it at four different theaters in Arizona and they four-walled us.
TS: Did you get to attend any of those screenings?
CW: Yes, I got to see the film for the very first time in Providence Rhode Island with the full sound and it was extraordinary. I had Erik sitting next to me. It was wonderful.
TS: I wish it had played in St. Louis.
CW: It did play in all 50 states. Sometimes pop-ups, sometimes drive-ins. We devoted our promotional efforts to the East Coast because there were so many festivals and events concentrated in that area . I quarantined in Connecticut for two weeks and we started our tour. It was an incredible experience and one that I recommend it to any independent filmmaker if you want your movie to be seen.
TS: I did see THE TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE Pt 2 at the theater when it was new. Are you surprised at the depth of the cult following that movie has?
CW: I’m really not because the film was directed by Tobe Hooper and Tobe was an innovator and created a piece of cinematic history with the first Texas Chainsaw. So curiosity alone was going to bring people out to see the sequel, but it’s such a weird inversion of everything that the first one was. Tobe always said that the original was meant to be a comedy. He didn’t understand while why people didn’t embrace it as such. He thought it was funny as hell. That’s part of the reason I think that he decided to create THE TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE Pt 2 in the way that he did and it just took everybody by surprise.
TS: Yeah I think a generation younger than me, maybe 20 years younger than me like part two because they discovered it on video and is gory and it’s funny . I think it has as many fans as the first one. What’s your next project
CW: Well, the projects that are listed as “in development“ on my IMDB page just aren’t real. Anybody can make a contribution to the IMDb page.
TS: They also say on IMDB that you’re 5 foot six. I would’ve guessed you were taller. You certainly photographed like a taller woman.
CW: I’m 5 foot seven, but in the world of movie actors that’s tall. Most of the male stars are short so the women tend to be even shorter. When I go on the IMDb page to attempt to edit or alter things, they won’t accept my edit. I’ve just given up.
TS: Yes, they have you listed as costarring in SMILE in 1975. I watched it once and tried to spot you but you were not in it.
CW: No, I’m not in SMILE, but I can’t tell you how many people bring the poster to me and ask me to sign it. I told him I’m not in the film, but they want to be to sign anyway. But right now, I do not know what my next project is. I want to choose carefully. A role like TEN MINUTES TO MIDNIGHT might happen, if you’re lucky, two or three times in a lifetime. I want to wait and see what the reaction and the response to it is. I have been approached by filmmakers who want me to commit now but I want to wait and see how this movie is received and see what kind of offers come after that. I’d love to be able to find something that is as rewarding and wonderful experience is this one. Erik and Carson Bloomquist were such talented filmmakers to work with so I’m taking keeping my fingers crossed. So I don’t know what to expect for my next project but I know it will be awesome.
TS: I know it will be awesome as well. Good luck with TEN MINUTES TO MIDNIGHT and all of your future projects.
CW: Thank you, I have enjoyed talking to you.
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