{"id":4407,"date":"2012-09-07T11:31:45","date_gmt":"2012-09-07T17:31:45","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.bmovienation.com\/?p=4407"},"modified":"2012-09-07T11:32:46","modified_gmt":"2012-09-07T17:32:46","slug":"mary-woronov","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.bmovienation.com\/?p=4407","title":{"rendered":"Mary Woronov"},"content":{"rendered":"

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The actor: Mary Woronov first came to prominence in the New York artistic community through her work with Andy Warhol and the Theater Of The Ridiculous, but it was her work with famed producer Roger Corman that brought her to the masses, most notably as the evil Miss Togar in Rock \u2019N\u2019 Roll High School. Although Woronov now spends most of her time as an artist and writer, she recently reunited with Corman for a role in the EPIX film Attack Of The 50 Foot Cheerleader and is in the process of working on Confessions Of A Cult Queen, a documentary about her life and career by filmmakers Francesca Di Amico and Claudia Unger.<\/p>\n

Mary Woronov: Oh, right, that one. [Laughs.] Well, first of all, I did it because I\u2019ve done so many films for [Roger] Corman, and when he asked me to do this, I thought it would be nice of me. So it\u2019s sort of a gift for Corman, because I don\u2019t really act anymore. But it was fun. The thing that happened in this movie was that\u2026 usually when you go into the makeup room, all these girls are talking and it\u2019s a lot of fun, where everybody\u2019s saying what they think and everything. But this was a very weird time. This makeup room I went into was silent. Every girl there\u2014and there were a lot of them\u2014was on her cell phone. It was like doing a movie without people. Absolute silence everywhere. Very strange.
\nThe A.V. Club: How substantial a role do you have in the film?
\nMW: The House Mother is a woman who obviously has an anger problem. It\u2019s a small role, but\u2026 she acts very, very nice, but when the girl doesn\u2019t do what she wants or something like that, she calls her a bitch and throws her in her room. So obviously it\u2019s my kind of role. [Laughs.] It\u2019s pretty campy, you know? I mean, I use \u201ccampy\u201d because it\u2019s the only way I can describe it. In other words, it\u2019s not really someone who has any humanity to her or is real at all. She\u2019s a caricature.<\/p>\n

AVC: Speaking of Roger Corman, you recently appeared in the documentary Corman\u2019s World: Exploits Of A Hollywood Rebel.
\nMW: I did, although I haven\u2019t seen it. He has a whole bunch of other people out there who really feel that he\u2019s The Corman School Of Acting. He got so many people started, so we\u2019re really, really grateful to him.
\nAVC: How did you fall into his camp? Was it through Paul Bartel?
\nMW: Actually, I was in New York, and I knew Paul because he was a friend of my husband\u2019s, and he called me up and said he could get Corman to hire me for Death Race 2000. Now, Paul is somebody who knows the Theater Of The Ridiculous in New York, has seen me in the Theater Of The Ridiculous, knows the kind of acting I do, and, of course, he\u2019s seen me in my Warhol movies. And he has a certain sense of humor, because I saw his first movie, which is amazing. It\u2019s called \u201cThe Secret Cinema.\u201d And he has a sense of humor that is definitely bizarre; I understand it, and we work very well together. We were friends. So he suddenly just called me up from California. It was the second movie he did for Corman\u2014the other one [1972\u2019s Private Parts] was for Corman\u2019s brother [Gene Corman]\u2014and he said, \u201cI can get you in on this movie, and I need you.\u201d I said, \u201cFine, I\u2019d love to drop everything I\u2019m doing in New York.\u201d I\u2019d just finished a play, In The Boom Boom Room, and I was doing a soap opera, of all things, to make money. So I said, \u201cYeah, I\u2019ll go out.\u201d And then he said, \u201cI\u2019ll just introduce you to Corman\u2014he\u2019ll look at your legs, so wear something that shows your legs off\u2014and he\u2019ll hire you.\u201d Of course, he never looked at my legs. He had a fight with somebody at the movie theater we went to, so he never even looked at me. But he did hire me. And that was that.
\nAVC: So how was your first experience working on a Roger Corman film?
\nMW: It was great. First of all, there\u2019s a subversive sense of humor in the film. And Paul always fought with Corman. Corman wanted more blood; Paul said, \u201cNo, no, no, it\u2019s about humor.\u201d So that was an ongoing thing. But for me, it was great. Corman has always let me ad lib. Paul was the one who started this. Paul and I actually became sort of this set item because\u2026 you know, we had a patter\u2014we were from New York and from the Theater Of The Ridiculous\u2014and we actually started getting hired by other people just to do our Paul and Mary act. But it was a lot of fun because it was the first time in my life I got a real costume. But I couldn\u2019t drive. I had to be towed. So that was humiliating. But it was my first real Hollywood set, and everybody was so pleasant to me. But it wasn\u2019t your normal Hollywood set. Everybody was just doing anything for this movie. Nobody was being paid, it was like team spirit, a group thing, and I had a lot of fun. That\u2019s why I did so many Corman films. <\/p>\n

MW: Now that\u2019s not a Corman film. I understood what they wanted: They wanted somebody who was very scary. And I\u2019ve gotten a lot of these roles. What I liked about it was that it was by a very young director, and he had a team of kids working with him. And I love working outside of the system, so I said yes to him. The part itself\u2026 The first part, where I sort of play somebody who is almost interested in consuming this woman, or perhaps biting her, that was fun. But the last part of the movie, where I talk to the Devil, somehow something went wrong. There was too much blood. And I didn\u2019t enjoy it. But the first part I did enjoy.
\nAVC: You and Tom Noonan seemed to work well as an onscreen couple, anyway.
\nMW: I can work well with anyone. <\/p>\n

MW: I loved that part. I was allowed to say anything I wanted, and, boy, did I mouth off. I was working with a performance artist who I knew, Johanna Went, and she was perfect. That whole speech and everything just came to me, and I just didn\u2019t let up. I just loved it. I would work with [Gregg Araki] anytime. I would do that part again and again and again.
\nAVC: Did Araki reach out to you personally to ask you to do the role?
\nMW: I really don\u2019t remember. All I remember is somebody said, \u201cThey want you to do this role as a lesbian, and they consider killing this kid,\u201d and I said, \u201cYeah, that sounds good. I\u2019ll do that.\u201d But you have to really\u2026 he didn\u2019t hold me back. Once he understood what I was doing, once I mouthed off, he said, \u201cYes.\u201d That was it. I think it was done in one take. <\/p>\n

MW: That was kind of a sad movie, because the director [Thom Eberhardt] was a very nice guy, but he had a really hard time with the cinematographer [Arthur Albert], and he was hampered by him. But he was very nice to me. Also, there is a scene in there that I do love. It\u2019s with Robert Beltran, and it\u2019s where I go, \u201cMerry Christmas,\u201d shoot up, and drop dead. And Eberhardt let me write all of my dialogue. I love a director who\u2019ll let me do that. Because I might become myself, not some mechanism that stands for \u201clesbian\u201d or \u201cterrible woman.\u201d I\u2019ve done a lot where it never works, but if they let me do what I want, I understand what they want and I can do it. And in this one, it was really wonderful. And Robert\u2019s a dream to work with. We\u2019d worked together before in Eating Raoul. I was very happy with that scene. The rest of it was just running around and doing stuff. I didn\u2019t really have a great role. But I love that scene.
\nAVC: It has a very different tone from most of the movie. A lot of the movie is pretty light, but that scene is surprisingly moving.
\nMW: I can perform the life of the snail and be moving. But I have to be let go, you know? <\/p>\n

MW: That\u2019s my favorite movie. Every part of that movie, I was allowed to do whatever I wanted. At one point in the movie, Paul goes to bed with a bottle of wine. I said to the crew, \u201cGuys, what am I, chopped liver? I want toys!\u201d And we were filming in a house that was somebody else\u2019s, but they ran around the house to look for toys and got me all those toys to sleep with. [Laughs.] The crew was working for nothing, practically. In fact, they were working for nothing. The script was okay. You know, it was bizarre. But everybody just did everything because they loved the turn that the movie was taking. It was funny, but it was really, really scary. But it was also comical and funny. And I love the combination of that. You know, he shot 21 days of film, but it took him a year to do it. He\u2019d call me up and go, \u201cMary, I want to shoot this next scene,\u201d and it\u2019d be the first time I\u2019d heard from him in two months. But you\u2019d just walk onto the set, and there it was. It was like a living thing. Also, I got along wonderfully with Paul. I act very, very well with him, because he understands the Theater Of The Ridiculous. But after the film, we\u2019d do interview after interview, and he\u2019d tell everybody that I was really married to him. And it disturbed me, because it wasn\u2019t true. And finally I said to him, \u201cI\u2019m not going interview with you anymore, because you keep on saying that.\u201d And he goes, \u201cOh, Mary, there\u2019s an interview in New York, it\u2019s a magazine, you\u2019ve got to do it.\u201d I said, \u201cNo!\u201d And then he said, \u201cOkay, I promise I won\u2019t say we\u2019re married.\u201d So we sit down at the table with this woman, and the first thing she does is smile at me and then look at him and go, \u201cSo you\u2019re married, aren\u2019t you?\u201d I look at Paul, and he says, \u201cNo, we\u2019re divorced.\u201d I didn\u2019t speak to him for a year.
\nAVC: Were you disappointed that the sequel to the film [Bland Ambition] never got off the ground?
\nMW: No, I wasn\u2019t, because the sequel dropped me like a hot potato. I was his wife, but I\u2019m totally in the background. The sequel\u2019s all about another girl. And I didn\u2019t even want it to get off the ground. What I was disappointed about was that, because of Eating Raoul, Paul got two other movies together, got financed for them and everything, and didn\u2019t hire me. When I easily could\u2019ve played both roles. One was a Girl Friday. But he just dropped me. And I said, \u201cWhy?\u201d And he said, \u201cYou know, these movies, these are real movies, and I\u2019m working with real actors.\u201d I hated him for that. You know, Paul was a little misconceived. But I do love him, anyway. <\/p>\n

AVC: How did you come to reprise the role of Mary Bland for Chopping Mall?
\nMW: You know, I don\u2019t know. I don\u2019t even remember doing it. I remember Paul saying, \u201cWe have to do this for Roger, we have to do this for Roger,\u201d but I don\u2019t remember. I don\u2019t even think I say anything, do I?
\nAVC: It\u2019s been ages since I\u2019ve seen it, but at the very least, you\u2019re in the trailer.
\nMW: I don\u2019t think I do say anything.
\n[Per Tasha Robinson, our resident Chopping Mall expert, Woronov does have lines, but \u201cfor what it\u2019s worth, in the commentary track, the filmmakers say the scene was largely shot at 4 a.m. and people were falling asleep; no wonder it\u2019s a blur to her.\u201d \u2014Ed.]<\/p>\n

MW: Hollywood Boulevard is another film that I love. It was done by Allan Arkush and Joe Dante, and there\u2019s a scene where I have two dogs\u2014it was filmed in Canoga Park\u2014and I\u2019m looking at the camera and everything else, and they told me, \u201cOkay, now pretend there are two dogs there, little chihuahuas.\u201d So I\u2019m going, \u201cCoochi, coochi, coochi\u2026\u201d Then when I see the movie, they have these giant fucking Rin Tin Tin dogs. Everything was like that. They used other movies from Corman to fill in. They shot a movie in a week\u2026 I mean, I would shoot a gun, and then there\u2019d be a scene of all these agents falling out of the palm trees, dead.
\nAVC: William Forsythe has a story about how he was forced to wear a particular hat in the film Smokey Bites The Dust because he was told that Corman had all this footage of a guy wearing that kind of hat driving\u2014and eventually wrecking\u2014a truck. He said the assistant director said, \u201cThat footage is probably the only reason we\u2019re making this movie, so shut up and put on the hat.\u201d
\nMW: [Laughs.] That was exactly what this was. And then I did another one called Cover Girl Models where Roger called me up and said, \u201cMary, I\u2019ve done a film in the Philippines, but I need two scenes. Would you mind doing them?\u201d So I did the two scenes, and he stuck them in the movie.
\nThe other thing I really liked about Hollywood Boulevard, though, was that it was a spoof on Corman. It was a spoof on doing a Corman movie. That was another thing I really loved. It was so funny. And to do that, to have everybody understand that joke and just rip through it\u2026 we didn\u2019t do any rehearsal, we didn\u2019t do anything. All we did was shoot the movie. \u201cGo, go, go, go! Shoot it, shoot it, shoot it, shoot it!\u201d [Laughs.] It has its flaws, but I especially liked every time I acted with Bartel. He played the director. It was great. I just think it\u2019s really funny and really good.
\nAVC: How were Allan Arkush and Joe Dante as directors, given that they were just getting their feet wet behind the camera?
\nMW: They were so busy, I almost didn\u2019t see them. They were so busy doing stuff and putting it together. They were wonderful, though. And they did other movies that were really great. I mean, Rock \u2019N\u2019 Roll High School! [Laughs.] But on this one, they were running around like chickens without heads. They had to do everything!
\nSuicidal Tendencies\u2019 \u201cInstitutionalized\u201d video (1983)
\nMW: I got a prize for that. Well, the video did.
\nAVC: What was the prize?
\nMW: I don\u2019t know. [Laughs.] But it definitely got a prize. I loved doing that. That was great. I loved the guys. In fact, Suicidal Tendencies are a favorite band of mine. They called me up and said, \u201cWould you do this?\u201d I said, \u201cWho are you?\u201d And they went, \u201cSuicidal Tendencies!\u201d I said, \u201cYeah, sure!\u201d I was into punk rock at that time, so I knew who they were. I felt honored. Also, the scene was great. And I did another one with them, too [\u201cPossessed To Skate\u201d]. <\/p>\n

AVC: How did you first cross paths with Andy Warhol?
\nMW: This guy Gerard [Malanga] saw me at Cornell, because he came up there to do some poetry readings, and he just said hi, so I knew him. And then the school sent me and a lot of other students on a field trip to some other artists\u2019 studios. We came to Warhol\u2019s studio, and Warhol wasn\u2019t there, but instead of the walls being white, they were black, and strange people were walking around. This was the first time I\u2019d ever seen anything like this. Then Gerard came out and said, \u201cOh, Mary!\u201d I said, \u201cYes?\u201d He said, \u201cWarhol\u2019s going to do a screen test. Do you want to do it?\u201d I said, \u201cYeah, sure.\u201d So I watched my class move out, and then Warhol came out of the staircase where he\u2019d been hiding. [Laughs.] And they put me on a stool, and then they turned the camera on and they all walked away. And I thought, \u201cOh, great. This is some kind of joke.\u201d I got completely paranoid. And I thought, \u201cThey just want to see how long I\u2019m going to sit in front of this camera as it\u2019s swirling around.\u201d And then I thought, \u201cWell, maybe it\u2019s not a joke, so maybe it\u2019s better if I just sit here and wait them out.\u201d So I did. And that was my first screen test.
\nAVC: The dates are a little sketchy from source to source. Do you remember the very first film you did with Warhol? Was it Superboy?
\nMW: No, the first film\u2026 I think it was called Milk, and it was with Mario Montez. But then the second film I did was Hedy, and that\u2019s a big role. That\u2019s where I play the arrested cop to Mario Montez\u2019s Hedy Lemarr when she shoplifts, and I come on to her. I kiss her. I knew exactly what to do. Because when you have a drag queen\u2014by this time, I was well into the Warhol crowd\u2014you don\u2019t try and out-feminize them. You don\u2019t act girly. It\u2019s not going to work. So I used to butch it. I was like a guy. I\u2019d pull the chair out for him, I\u2019d light the cigarettes. And I knew I was very beautiful and sexy, so I didn\u2019t have any problem doing that. I thought it was funny. And Warhol saw that, and that\u2019s what he wanted. Because he was into gender slippage, and he was into a thing where sexuality is not male and female. It\u2019s very strange. I mean, when you see his movies, the boys, the young boys of the night, are sexy. The girls often come off like shrews. Especially Viva. And I didn\u2019t want that. Also, I had this image\u2026 the one thing I was lacking as I fumbled through Cornell was power, and I realized that my life was going to be like that just because I was a girl. And the structure with Warhol was that he gave me power, which is what happened with Hanoi Hannah. But with Mario Montez, I was also very sexy by being male. It was interesting for me. And I caught on very quickly. I had a really good time with him. He never directed anybody, but I realize I could easily hold my own. And I didn\u2019t want to be one of those screaming ugly girls who thought they were going to be a superstar. Also, the other thing is that, the entire scene was gay, and these men, they didn\u2019t want to screw me. They told me I was really beautiful, they told me I was really talented. I liked them. I liked every one of them. Of course, they were all nuts. [Laughs.] But I didn\u2019t care.