The other day we shared some coverage from the press day of Finding Amanda and in doing so brought you a joint interview with director Peter Tolan and star Matthew Broderick (and it was, if you ask me, a positively fantastic piece). Today we have another interview from the press day of the movie, this time with Matthew Broderick's co-star Brittany Snow, who plays the titular Amanda. The whole lot of us at the press day picked her brain with regards to love, laughter, Las Vegas... and her film Prom Night's nonexistant musical sequel.Hi!
Hi. I feel very corporate. [we laugh] Peter [Tolan] said that [he and Matthew Broderick] got you guys warmed up, and I’m just not as funny as they are, so just be prepared. It’s not going to be as good a time as they are, but—I’ll try!
They spent the time making a lot of jokes.
Well, I do know mime. I can mime for you. [does a demonstration]
But some of this is radio. Radio’s not going to—
Dammit!
[we laugh] But considering what it’s like talking with them, what was it like working with them?
Horrible. No, I’m kidding—but of course it’s radio so you’re going to use that clip. “What was it like working with them?” “Horrible!” [we laugh] No, it was so, so fun. Oh my gosh. It was weird how much they had their own dialogue—and we were just talking about this over lunch—how they would break into these old movie quotes or start singing musicals, and my facial expression was always the same, which was like, “I don’t know what the heck they’re talking about, but they’re so funny!” They’re just so crazy, especially together. It was fun. I found myself challenging myself to keep up with them on their humor, which was kind of cool. But Peter I’ve been a fan of, and also when I met him I fell in love with wanting to work with him and him as a person. I just thought he was so, so brilliant and talented, and also the way that he uses humor and also serious subject matter like in this script is genius, how he can do both and make it really relevant and heartfelt. I think it’s really cool. And Matthew’s not bad either! [we chuckle] He’s done a few things. I think he’ll make it. [we laugh]
What attracted you to the character?
There were a number of things that attracted me to the character. I think for the most part I loved that there was a mix of traits in her that I connected with and that I really felt that I could relate to, and there was also the line of things I had absolutely no concept of and things that I didn’t relate to, and that’s what I wanted to learn about and kind of experience and explore. And the two were very interesting to me because they were just so extreme. I mean, obviously I don’t know much about prostitution, and I can’t say that I’ve ever done it, but then there were things about her that I think everybody can relate to and that were very human and endearing, and qualities that I wanted to see what would happen if I explored more about myself. So I liked all those levels and I liked all the layers there were to her, and yet she could still be funny and likeable.
Do you have any idea why Peter thought of you? Because it’s a great role and I’m curious whether Peter saw anything of yours or anything.
I don’t know, actually. I do remember that he told me a story where my headshot, I guess, came across his desk and he said to somebody, “I hope she can act because this should be Amanda,” or something. And I guess it just had to do with—I look twelve sometimes when I don’t wear makeup. [we chuckle] And I look really young and I look like I should be holding a lollipop and like I’m all innocent. And I wish I didn’t, but—no, it’s nice, and I think he wanted that sort of shocking quality of “This is the girl that you wouldn’t expect to be a prostitute.” And that’s what’s so sad and funny about it in some strange way. So I think that had something to do with it, and—thankfully and I’m very grateful for it—I auditioned and somehow got the part. So it worked out.
At the end of the film your character hitches a ride and that’s where it ends; she says, “I don’t know where I’m going.” Do you think that she really resolved anything? What do you think happened to her?
I think it’s open to interpretation to anybody, and I kind of like that it’s not wrapped up and tied with a bow because it’s not a storybook ending, nor is it a storybook movie, because it’s based in reality. All that needed to be done to change Amanda was just the seed needed to be planted, and something occurred in her where she did change and she had a realization and—you know, people don’t change overnight, and so I kind of like that there wasn’t some big dramatic ending where you feel like she’s going to change her life and move away! There’s something that’s instilled in her now, and the audience knows that, and that’s all that needs to be said, which I think is true to life, you know, the reality of baby steps and taking it very slowly when you’re wanting to change your life.
In the past you’ve played a lot of teenagers, and now you’re branching out into different roles, such as playing a prostitute. So how do you think this role fits into that?
Well, I’ve played a prostitute now three times. [we laugh] Which is—I know. It’s a stereotype. People look at me and they go, “Prostitute!” [we laugh] It’s weird. But, no, I don’t know how it’s come about that way. But yes, I’ve definitely played girls who have all kind of been in high school, and I think that’s very important because a lot of life-altering things and a lot of challenging things happen in high school and I like to play those type of characters. But in terms of this I think it’s just a matter of me growing up and becoming a little bit older and wanting to play characters that have some layers to them that I can play with and that I can kind of look into about myself, and that just changes with how I grow up and what I want, what I’m passionate about. But I don’t ever rule out a character or anything because of an age. Life happens at any age, and if I can play it and if I want to and I’m passionate about the part then I’m willing to do that.
I loved the style of humor here, the kind of darker, more subtle humor. I’m kind curious as to whether on set when you finish doing a take do you ever think to yourself, “Is this going to be funny?” Do you know right off the bat if it’s going to be funny?
No—and that’s what’s so scary about the whole process, especially comedy, and with this type of thing, you know, it was a very independent movie and we did things very fast. As you know, as you saw, Peter talks very fast and we only did like one take and we were like running around, and so the pace was very intimidating because being an actor, you know, you want feedback and you want to think about it and Peter was just like, “We gotta go! We gotta go!” And he only did one take sometimes and I was just like, [yelps], like freaking out. But it was good because it was a change of pace and it forced me to keep up with the comedy and the tone. And, you know, there wasn’t really enough time to question, “Oh my gosh, is this going to be funny? Should we do it over?” or anything like that. We just kept moving, which I think added a lot to my character because I wanted her to be like that. I wanted her to just be “Keep going, keep going, keep going, be happy; if you stop, you’ll feel something, you’ll cry, you’re going to break down, but if you keep moving and you keep happy and everything’s fine…”—it kind of gave that illusion that she was going to be fine. So it actually worked out to my best interests that it was very fast and we didn’t have a lot of time to think if we were funny or not. Which was good. [we chuckle] Because I didn’t want the rejection of people being like, “Um… not so much!” [we laugh]
In this movie your relationship with the uncle was really interesting and in Hairspray your relationship with Michelle Pfeiffer was a really a very strongly clear relationship. So when it comes to doing those family rapports with the characters, how do you prepare and make it feel like it’s somebody you’ve known, somebody the audience can access?
Yeah, that’s a really good question, and it’s definitely something that I do consciously. With Michelle I spent a lot of time studying her, which sounds really creepy [we laugh], and I told that to her, and she was a little freaked out [we chuckle] but also a little honored? I don’t know. Or not honored, flattered. That’s the word. She can’t be honored because of me; I’m honored because of her! [we chuckle] But I would watch her in a certain way where I wanted the daughter-mother relationship to be—the way that she stood I wanted to stand like that, the way that she walked I wanted to walk like that, just so there was that element of “Wow, this younger daughter is looking up to her mother,” and it’s kind of an unconscious thing that they have and it’s connected. But I didn’t even want Michelle to be aware of it, because I don’t think Velma even knew that her daughter was growing up wanting to be her mother so badly. And I think that happens with, you know, a lot of mother-daughters. And in terms of working with Matthew, I loved from the very beginning when I first met him how I instantly knew that it was going to be great because his humor and his energy is so different from mine and I appreciate his so much, and I knew that I wanted to play the character a certain way and so I definitely played off of that a little bit. I knew my energy was going to be really high and really crazy because I wanted her to be overly happy, and I knew that he was going to play it a certain way, so I kind of liked that back-and-forth banter and chemistry that we had and hopefully it worked.
You seem to be leaning more toward independent movies now. I was curious because you’ve also headlined big studio movies, so do you just prefer these kinds of movies, or what’s with the switch?
It’s weird, because it’s not really a conscious choice to veer away from studio movies or make any sort of decision when it comes to—I genuinely, honestly go for both, but sometimes, because I am really picky about the scripts that I do, sometimes the characters that I find the most compelling and the most interesting and the ones that I want to play are sometimes in independent movies because there’s more of a chance there, it’s more scripts that people can really take chances on and there’s not so many cooks in the kitchen, you know, the things that go into making a movie. But I’m not partial to either one of them; I think they’re both really great and different experiences. So it’s really all about the character and the material. I kind of pick and choose what I want based off of what I can gain from it and what I can experiment with and challenge myself with.
You don’t have a manager or agent saying, “You’d make more money off of this”? Because they get a percentage of that! [laughs]
Yeah, I know! But luckily, thank goodness, I don’t have a manager and I’ve been with my agent since I was eleven so we have this very clear thing where we know that it’s not a money thing. And it’s never been for me, I want to do this until I’m 80 years old, and I like being constantly challenged and pushed and just working. And sometimes you have to do the big movies but sometimes—I don’t know. I try not to think of it as a strategy or a money thing because that tends to take the fun out of it, I think!
Do you tend to be a giver or a taker in a relationship?
Um… I would like to say that I’m both, but I think—I’m definitely a giver but I am victim to giving in order to take, a little bit. But I think that’s with everybody. I am one of those people that I just love being in love, I love being with my friends, I love any type of relationship that I have, be it friends or boyfriends, and so I give a lot to it but I also expect something back, and sometimes people let you down. So it’s an interesting thing to learn, especially out in LA: how to take for yourself and not give away too much in that balance, which is hard to figure out sometimes, but it’s good.
I’m curious, what do you find that you gain personally from playing a role like this? Because, I mean, you go from people running to get you bottled water to having to do a scene where you get spit in the face. And just the visceral nature of playing the character and feeling those feelings—is that a humbling thing? What do you walk away with personally?
Um… after I play every character I always walk away feeling a little bit different. And that’s why I act, completely, is because at the end of the day I like to feel like I’ve grown a little bit and changed a little bit. And it’s not like a conscious thing, it’s just that I feel like I’ve experienced something that’s not my life but I’ve made it my life, and what does that do to me? And it is humbling in a way to get to see what happens to me when I become somebody else and see what I do and how I feel in certain situations and the differences between the character and myself. But it—it’s never easy but at the same time when you figure it out and really sink your teeth into it, it’s almost easy because it is hard. It’s so rewarding and you have a high at the end of the day that is so great—you want to do all these challenging things all the time, you know? And that’s why I like acting, is that feeling. If that answers your question. I’m not sure, it seemed a little convoluted, but—[laughing] I hope it made sense!
Watching the film it felt very much like Vegas was almost a character in the film, and your character Amanda had a very particular relationship with that city. Could you talk about that?
Yeah, it’s interesting because Vegas is such a big part of the movie and we didn’t film anything in Vegas. Nothing, actually. We were supposed to, but we didn’t! [laughs] It’s just like, “Yeah, well…” No, but we filmed pretty much all in LA and Pasadena. And I think the interesting thing about Amanda is she has such a connection to Vegas because that’s where her home is, and she has such a connection to what she thinks is her home, and it’s the perfect home and she has the perfect couch and the perfect car and the perfect boyfriend, and it’s like this sacred place and yet it’s ironic because it’s in Vegas. So she has this holy place that she can’t put her shoes on and yet it’s in Vegas, the city of sin, and so it’s very ironic and symbolic in a lot of ways of what she feels about everything, and she’s so naïve and in her own world about thinking that that’s her heaven when really it’s not as it seems. So she really does have that connection and that love for Vegas.
You recently did the film Prom Night, which—whenever they have a big film they want to do a sequel and stuff. [Brittany chuckles] Your character obviously survives; have they talked about—do you go to another prom?
[laughs] Yeah! Right. Like I’m the loser who goes back to prom after everyone has graduated, like, “I’m here guys!” [we laugh] “Party!”
Well, the last prom didn’t go so well, so maybe a second chance!
Yeah—gosh, if any more people die around that girl, like, something bad is going to happen. [we laugh] By the end of the movie I don’t even—I don’t even know what to do with this. Everybody has died! Which is really sad that I just told that to everybody who hasn’t seen the movie, but… [we laugh] But I survive! No, it was actually a running inside joke with everybody on set that we were going to have Prom Night 2: Dance of the Dead and everybody who dies is going to come back like zombies and we’re going to have a zombie dance. [we laugh] And we made up dances on set. Yeah, we had that all planned out. [Director] Nelson McCormick wasn’t big on the idea, but I think we’re going to make it happen! [we laugh] Yeah, I don’t think there could be really a Prom Night 2, just because, well, everyone’s dead and there’s really no prom to be had. But look for Dance of the Dead on DVD coming soon! [everyone laughs] It’s going to be a bit hit!
There is a movie called Dance of the Dead, actually, believe it or not.
Really!? Well, crap. [everyone laughs] Stole my idea. Somehow.
Peter [Facinelli] was also so good in this film, though. He played such a good scumbag. What was it like working with him? I mean, your scenes with him and Matthew—just so good.
He was hilarious. And the crazy thing about Peter is that he played such a scumbag but he’s so funny and so silly about it that you almost like him because he’s so dumb. And he was just the nicest guy on set, and we would go in and out of him yelling at me for something and then we would say, “Cut,” and he’d be like, “Are you okay?” And I’d be like, “I know you’re kidding! I know you’re acting!” No, he was such a nice guy and we had such a great time playing around. And one of my favorite scenes is the dinner scene with the spaghetti and the wine because Matthew and Peter together are just so funny and, you know, I’m almost on the verge of tears just trying to keep it together, and it’s so symbolic of what the movie is all about: I’m just trying to have everything perfect, and everything is happy, and everything’s going to be really happy, even though I’m falling a part, and Matthew and Peter are bantering back and forth and spilling things on each other and it’s hilarious. So, yeah, I think that scene kind of sums up a lot of the movie. But both of them are just the best guys. I was really lucky to work with them.
In the movie Amanda’s very frank about some not-so-nice parts of her past which maybe led her to make the choices that she’s making now and needing to have a sanctuary. How do you feel that her past helped shape the character?
I think her past definitely helped shape the character in a lot of ways and I think what’s really interesting about her is that she has such a huge façade going and such a huge front of wanting to be okay, and convincing herself that she is, that she puts everything very frankly because if she lets it touch her, if she lets it affect her, then I think she would probably crumble. So she uses that frankness and that openness as a mechanism to not let it affect her, which I really liked about the character, because she’s putting on such a huge façade—and her past definitely affected her in a way because of course it shaped who she was and the decisions that she made and things like that. But she doesn’t let it ever sink in.
Right. So in a way it’s like an “If I bring it up you can’t use it against me” sort of thing, right?
Yeah, and I think it’s more for herself. Like, she can bring it up all day long and she can talk about it all she wants and anything that her uncle wants to know she can tell him; it’s just how she puts it. It’s almost like a numbness that’s there where she doesn’t really feel it because if she does then it’s too hard to handle.
I also wanted to ask about your role in the upcoming film Black Water Transit, which was directed by Tony Kaye.
Yeah, I play a prostitute in that as well. Which, I know, is really awesome. But it’s a completely different type of movie because it’s not a comedy at all; it’s a very experimental arthouse kind of piece, almost like A Clockwork Orange meets Wizard of Oz meets Natural Born Killers. On drugs. It’s like crazy. So I play a girl who’s mentally insane and has different personalities and is in different time periods and kind of has a whole world created before her eyes that she lives in. So it was a very intense movie to be a part of but something that was very challenging and rewarding.
Thank you so much!
Thanks, you guys!
They spent the time making a lot of jokes.
Well, I do know mime. I can mime for you. [does a demonstration]
But some of this is radio. Radio’s not going to—
Dammit!
[we laugh] But considering what it’s like talking with them, what was it like working with them?
Horrible. No, I’m kidding—but of course it’s radio so you’re going to use that clip. “What was it like working with them?” “Horrible!” [we laugh] No, it was so, so fun. Oh my gosh. It was weird how much they had their own dialogue—and we were just talking about this over lunch—how they would break into these old movie quotes or start singing musicals, and my facial expression was always the same, which was like, “I don’t know what the heck they’re talking about, but they’re so funny!” They’re just so crazy, especially together. It was fun. I found myself challenging myself to keep up with them on their humor, which was kind of cool. But Peter I’ve been a fan of, and also when I met him I fell in love with wanting to work with him and him as a person. I just thought he was so, so brilliant and talented, and also the way that he uses humor and also serious subject matter like in this script is genius, how he can do both and make it really relevant and heartfelt. I think it’s really cool. And Matthew’s not bad either! [we chuckle] He’s done a few things. I think he’ll make it. [we laugh]
What attracted you to the character?
There were a number of things that attracted me to the character. I think for the most part I loved that there was a mix of traits in her that I connected with and that I really felt that I could relate to, and there was also the line of things I had absolutely no concept of and things that I didn’t relate to, and that’s what I wanted to learn about and kind of experience and explore. And the two were very interesting to me because they were just so extreme. I mean, obviously I don’t know much about prostitution, and I can’t say that I’ve ever done it, but then there were things about her that I think everybody can relate to and that were very human and endearing, and qualities that I wanted to see what would happen if I explored more about myself. So I liked all those levels and I liked all the layers there were to her, and yet she could still be funny and likeable.
Do you have any idea why Peter thought of you? Because it’s a great role and I’m curious whether Peter saw anything of yours or anything.
I don’t know, actually. I do remember that he told me a story where my headshot, I guess, came across his desk and he said to somebody, “I hope she can act because this should be Amanda,” or something. And I guess it just had to do with—I look twelve sometimes when I don’t wear makeup. [we chuckle] And I look really young and I look like I should be holding a lollipop and like I’m all innocent. And I wish I didn’t, but—no, it’s nice, and I think he wanted that sort of shocking quality of “This is the girl that you wouldn’t expect to be a prostitute.” And that’s what’s so sad and funny about it in some strange way. So I think that had something to do with it, and—thankfully and I’m very grateful for it—I auditioned and somehow got the part. So it worked out.
At the end of the film your character hitches a ride and that’s where it ends; she says, “I don’t know where I’m going.” Do you think that she really resolved anything? What do you think happened to her?
I think it’s open to interpretation to anybody, and I kind of like that it’s not wrapped up and tied with a bow because it’s not a storybook ending, nor is it a storybook movie, because it’s based in reality. All that needed to be done to change Amanda was just the seed needed to be planted, and something occurred in her where she did change and she had a realization and—you know, people don’t change overnight, and so I kind of like that there wasn’t some big dramatic ending where you feel like she’s going to change her life and move away! There’s something that’s instilled in her now, and the audience knows that, and that’s all that needs to be said, which I think is true to life, you know, the reality of baby steps and taking it very slowly when you’re wanting to change your life.
In the past you’ve played a lot of teenagers, and now you’re branching out into different roles, such as playing a prostitute. So how do you think this role fits into that?
Well, I’ve played a prostitute now three times. [we laugh] Which is—I know. It’s a stereotype. People look at me and they go, “Prostitute!” [we laugh] It’s weird. But, no, I don’t know how it’s come about that way. But yes, I’ve definitely played girls who have all kind of been in high school, and I think that’s very important because a lot of life-altering things and a lot of challenging things happen in high school and I like to play those type of characters. But in terms of this I think it’s just a matter of me growing up and becoming a little bit older and wanting to play characters that have some layers to them that I can play with and that I can kind of look into about myself, and that just changes with how I grow up and what I want, what I’m passionate about. But I don’t ever rule out a character or anything because of an age. Life happens at any age, and if I can play it and if I want to and I’m passionate about the part then I’m willing to do that.
I loved the style of humor here, the kind of darker, more subtle humor. I’m kind curious as to whether on set when you finish doing a take do you ever think to yourself, “Is this going to be funny?” Do you know right off the bat if it’s going to be funny?
No—and that’s what’s so scary about the whole process, especially comedy, and with this type of thing, you know, it was a very independent movie and we did things very fast. As you know, as you saw, Peter talks very fast and we only did like one take and we were like running around, and so the pace was very intimidating because being an actor, you know, you want feedback and you want to think about it and Peter was just like, “We gotta go! We gotta go!” And he only did one take sometimes and I was just like, [yelps], like freaking out. But it was good because it was a change of pace and it forced me to keep up with the comedy and the tone. And, you know, there wasn’t really enough time to question, “Oh my gosh, is this going to be funny? Should we do it over?” or anything like that. We just kept moving, which I think added a lot to my character because I wanted her to be like that. I wanted her to just be “Keep going, keep going, keep going, be happy; if you stop, you’ll feel something, you’ll cry, you’re going to break down, but if you keep moving and you keep happy and everything’s fine…”—it kind of gave that illusion that she was going to be fine. So it actually worked out to my best interests that it was very fast and we didn’t have a lot of time to think if we were funny or not. Which was good. [we chuckle] Because I didn’t want the rejection of people being like, “Um… not so much!” [we laugh]
In this movie your relationship with the uncle was really interesting and in Hairspray your relationship with Michelle Pfeiffer was a really a very strongly clear relationship. So when it comes to doing those family rapports with the characters, how do you prepare and make it feel like it’s somebody you’ve known, somebody the audience can access?
Yeah, that’s a really good question, and it’s definitely something that I do consciously. With Michelle I spent a lot of time studying her, which sounds really creepy [we laugh], and I told that to her, and she was a little freaked out [we chuckle] but also a little honored? I don’t know. Or not honored, flattered. That’s the word. She can’t be honored because of me; I’m honored because of her! [we chuckle] But I would watch her in a certain way where I wanted the daughter-mother relationship to be—the way that she stood I wanted to stand like that, the way that she walked I wanted to walk like that, just so there was that element of “Wow, this younger daughter is looking up to her mother,” and it’s kind of an unconscious thing that they have and it’s connected. But I didn’t even want Michelle to be aware of it, because I don’t think Velma even knew that her daughter was growing up wanting to be her mother so badly. And I think that happens with, you know, a lot of mother-daughters. And in terms of working with Matthew, I loved from the very beginning when I first met him how I instantly knew that it was going to be great because his humor and his energy is so different from mine and I appreciate his so much, and I knew that I wanted to play the character a certain way and so I definitely played off of that a little bit. I knew my energy was going to be really high and really crazy because I wanted her to be overly happy, and I knew that he was going to play it a certain way, so I kind of liked that back-and-forth banter and chemistry that we had and hopefully it worked.
You seem to be leaning more toward independent movies now. I was curious because you’ve also headlined big studio movies, so do you just prefer these kinds of movies, or what’s with the switch?
It’s weird, because it’s not really a conscious choice to veer away from studio movies or make any sort of decision when it comes to—I genuinely, honestly go for both, but sometimes, because I am really picky about the scripts that I do, sometimes the characters that I find the most compelling and the most interesting and the ones that I want to play are sometimes in independent movies because there’s more of a chance there, it’s more scripts that people can really take chances on and there’s not so many cooks in the kitchen, you know, the things that go into making a movie. But I’m not partial to either one of them; I think they’re both really great and different experiences. So it’s really all about the character and the material. I kind of pick and choose what I want based off of what I can gain from it and what I can experiment with and challenge myself with.
You don’t have a manager or agent saying, “You’d make more money off of this”? Because they get a percentage of that! [laughs]
Yeah, I know! But luckily, thank goodness, I don’t have a manager and I’ve been with my agent since I was eleven so we have this very clear thing where we know that it’s not a money thing. And it’s never been for me, I want to do this until I’m 80 years old, and I like being constantly challenged and pushed and just working. And sometimes you have to do the big movies but sometimes—I don’t know. I try not to think of it as a strategy or a money thing because that tends to take the fun out of it, I think!
Do you tend to be a giver or a taker in a relationship?
Um… I would like to say that I’m both, but I think—I’m definitely a giver but I am victim to giving in order to take, a little bit. But I think that’s with everybody. I am one of those people that I just love being in love, I love being with my friends, I love any type of relationship that I have, be it friends or boyfriends, and so I give a lot to it but I also expect something back, and sometimes people let you down. So it’s an interesting thing to learn, especially out in LA: how to take for yourself and not give away too much in that balance, which is hard to figure out sometimes, but it’s good.
I’m curious, what do you find that you gain personally from playing a role like this? Because, I mean, you go from people running to get you bottled water to having to do a scene where you get spit in the face. And just the visceral nature of playing the character and feeling those feelings—is that a humbling thing? What do you walk away with personally?
Um… after I play every character I always walk away feeling a little bit different. And that’s why I act, completely, is because at the end of the day I like to feel like I’ve grown a little bit and changed a little bit. And it’s not like a conscious thing, it’s just that I feel like I’ve experienced something that’s not my life but I’ve made it my life, and what does that do to me? And it is humbling in a way to get to see what happens to me when I become somebody else and see what I do and how I feel in certain situations and the differences between the character and myself. But it—it’s never easy but at the same time when you figure it out and really sink your teeth into it, it’s almost easy because it is hard. It’s so rewarding and you have a high at the end of the day that is so great—you want to do all these challenging things all the time, you know? And that’s why I like acting, is that feeling. If that answers your question. I’m not sure, it seemed a little convoluted, but—[laughing] I hope it made sense!
Watching the film it felt very much like Vegas was almost a character in the film, and your character Amanda had a very particular relationship with that city. Could you talk about that?
Yeah, it’s interesting because Vegas is such a big part of the movie and we didn’t film anything in Vegas. Nothing, actually. We were supposed to, but we didn’t! [laughs] It’s just like, “Yeah, well…” No, but we filmed pretty much all in LA and Pasadena. And I think the interesting thing about Amanda is she has such a connection to Vegas because that’s where her home is, and she has such a connection to what she thinks is her home, and it’s the perfect home and she has the perfect couch and the perfect car and the perfect boyfriend, and it’s like this sacred place and yet it’s ironic because it’s in Vegas. So she has this holy place that she can’t put her shoes on and yet it’s in Vegas, the city of sin, and so it’s very ironic and symbolic in a lot of ways of what she feels about everything, and she’s so naïve and in her own world about thinking that that’s her heaven when really it’s not as it seems. So she really does have that connection and that love for Vegas.
You recently did the film Prom Night, which—whenever they have a big film they want to do a sequel and stuff. [Brittany chuckles] Your character obviously survives; have they talked about—do you go to another prom?
[laughs] Yeah! Right. Like I’m the loser who goes back to prom after everyone has graduated, like, “I’m here guys!” [we laugh] “Party!”
Well, the last prom didn’t go so well, so maybe a second chance!
Yeah—gosh, if any more people die around that girl, like, something bad is going to happen. [we laugh] By the end of the movie I don’t even—I don’t even know what to do with this. Everybody has died! Which is really sad that I just told that to everybody who hasn’t seen the movie, but… [we laugh] But I survive! No, it was actually a running inside joke with everybody on set that we were going to have Prom Night 2: Dance of the Dead and everybody who dies is going to come back like zombies and we’re going to have a zombie dance. [we laugh] And we made up dances on set. Yeah, we had that all planned out. [Director] Nelson McCormick wasn’t big on the idea, but I think we’re going to make it happen! [we laugh] Yeah, I don’t think there could be really a Prom Night 2, just because, well, everyone’s dead and there’s really no prom to be had. But look for Dance of the Dead on DVD coming soon! [everyone laughs] It’s going to be a bit hit!
There is a movie called Dance of the Dead, actually, believe it or not.
Really!? Well, crap. [everyone laughs] Stole my idea. Somehow.
Peter [Facinelli] was also so good in this film, though. He played such a good scumbag. What was it like working with him? I mean, your scenes with him and Matthew—just so good.
He was hilarious. And the crazy thing about Peter is that he played such a scumbag but he’s so funny and so silly about it that you almost like him because he’s so dumb. And he was just the nicest guy on set, and we would go in and out of him yelling at me for something and then we would say, “Cut,” and he’d be like, “Are you okay?” And I’d be like, “I know you’re kidding! I know you’re acting!” No, he was such a nice guy and we had such a great time playing around. And one of my favorite scenes is the dinner scene with the spaghetti and the wine because Matthew and Peter together are just so funny and, you know, I’m almost on the verge of tears just trying to keep it together, and it’s so symbolic of what the movie is all about: I’m just trying to have everything perfect, and everything is happy, and everything’s going to be really happy, even though I’m falling a part, and Matthew and Peter are bantering back and forth and spilling things on each other and it’s hilarious. So, yeah, I think that scene kind of sums up a lot of the movie. But both of them are just the best guys. I was really lucky to work with them.
In the movie Amanda’s very frank about some not-so-nice parts of her past which maybe led her to make the choices that she’s making now and needing to have a sanctuary. How do you feel that her past helped shape the character?
I think her past definitely helped shape the character in a lot of ways and I think what’s really interesting about her is that she has such a huge façade going and such a huge front of wanting to be okay, and convincing herself that she is, that she puts everything very frankly because if she lets it touch her, if she lets it affect her, then I think she would probably crumble. So she uses that frankness and that openness as a mechanism to not let it affect her, which I really liked about the character, because she’s putting on such a huge façade—and her past definitely affected her in a way because of course it shaped who she was and the decisions that she made and things like that. But she doesn’t let it ever sink in.
Right. So in a way it’s like an “If I bring it up you can’t use it against me” sort of thing, right?
Yeah, and I think it’s more for herself. Like, she can bring it up all day long and she can talk about it all she wants and anything that her uncle wants to know she can tell him; it’s just how she puts it. It’s almost like a numbness that’s there where she doesn’t really feel it because if she does then it’s too hard to handle.
I also wanted to ask about your role in the upcoming film Black Water Transit, which was directed by Tony Kaye.
Yeah, I play a prostitute in that as well. Which, I know, is really awesome. But it’s a completely different type of movie because it’s not a comedy at all; it’s a very experimental arthouse kind of piece, almost like A Clockwork Orange meets Wizard of Oz meets Natural Born Killers. On drugs. It’s like crazy. So I play a girl who’s mentally insane and has different personalities and is in different time periods and kind of has a whole world created before her eyes that she lives in. So it was a very intense movie to be a part of but something that was very challenging and rewarding.
Thank you so much!
Thanks, you guys!
Brittany Snow can be seen, of course, in the now-playing Finding Amanda, about which you can read more on its IMDb page.
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