INT: Amber Tamblyn

Set
Visit Intro / director
Takashi Shimizu / Edison
Chen / Amber Tamblyn / Takako Fuji

You may remember young hottie Amber Tamblyn from her cult TV show
“Joan of Arcadia” and as the opening
victim in THE RING (remake). Now you’ll know her as the lead in the
upcoming THE
GRUDGE 2 (hitting the screens on October 13, 2006). A
bunch of us lowly journalists had the chance to chit-chat with the
smart beyond-her-years and charming actress on The Grudge 2 set in
Japan, and here are the beans that she spilled.

Amber
Tamblyn

You made an impression in Ring, and now you’re
in another Hollywood version of a Japanese horror movie. Difference in
working on the two?

Well, first of all, the major difference was that
the Ring was a very small part. It was just an opener. And obviously …
On this film, we have Shimizu-san, who was the originator of all of
these films. There’s an American aspect of this film, of having Sam
Raimi behind it. And The Ring was directed by Gore Verbinski, and we
have two completely different styles.

How they see things, horror-wise.
So, um, I don’t know. I’m trying to remember. To be honest, I had seen Ringu long before I had even done the Ring. So I knew about them. And
when I originally read the script for it, I thought it was really silly.
… And when I went and auditioned for it, … I think what I’m trying
to say is, when I saw that film, I never realized how terrifying it
really was until I saw it on the big screen at the premiere. I was like,
whoa, this is really scary. I mean, even when I was shooting it.

So … I don’t know. There is a major difference. I
think with … Obviously with what gets lost in translation with working
with a Japanese crew and set and working in America. Even though you’re
… remaking a horror film that is very big in Japan, there is a
difference as far as the actual working on set experience. Trying to
communicate things. Or things that you normally take for granted that
you never think about, like asking the cameraman if he wants you to
stand on your mark so he can … check focus. Things like which you
generally just do without even thinking about it? Now I have to be like,
Help!

Sarah Michelle Gellar told us it took a while to
get Shimizu san to say Action! because in the Japanese cinema they just
go.

It’s just certain words. … Like, when they say
Re-Set, that means going on to the next shot. So they’ll say, “OK, we’re
going to re-set now.” And … The literal translation of re-set is that
you are … doing it over again. … So that for me I’m always like,
“OK, we’re going to do it again.” And then Chiho, the translator is,
“No, no, no, we’re going to the next shot.” It’s like, “Oh, OK.” I
always forget that.

But, uh, it’s really funny. It’s definitely not I
would say an experience for an actor that needs their ego catered to.
Because there’s no room to be careful with what you say around actors.
Which I think is so amazing. Shimizu-san will come to me and he’ll say:
“That was good, but for some reason, the rehearsal was better.” And I
love that. Because … it’s that simple to explain something to you.
That for some reason, … what he saw looked better. Whereas, in
America, you’ll have a director who … will take 45 minutes to explain
what they mean.

Any scenes with Kayako yet?

Yeah, I have. … It was very interesting for me to
watch her work. She’s … It’s like amazing to see someone be able to
move their body the way she that she does physically. So it was really
interesting. She’s a really sweet girl. And we talk about fashion a lot.
And she actually brought me this Japanese magazine that had this whole
article on the Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants. And I didn’t
understand anything.

I guess the movie here was called Sixteen. And
I couldn’t understand anything. It was like written in Japanese. But
right in the middle, it said “boy.” And I’m like, “Why does it say boy on
this page?” I had no idea. So I took it to somebody and they translated,
and they said that that I drive boys crazy. That’s what the article
said. I don’t know what that had to do with the movie. But, anyway, she
brought that to me, and, yeah, it’s just been really interesting to see
how different things are. Comparatively.

Are you a fan of Japanese horror?

I think I’ve seen a good amount of it. Probably not
all of it. Like, I’m a huge fan of like Damon, like the demon, which is
a great film. … which is actually something that Shimizu-san and I
talked about when I first got here, because that was a film that he told
me to watch, but I had already seen it. That affected him as a child.
That he saw that around the same age as the little boy in the film. And
so it was, we were talking about things that were traumatic. And also
Shimizu-san was a really big, huge fan, of The Haunting, which my dad
was in. So when my dad came, he was sort of like, [mimes fumbling with
pockets]… doing all of this with his pockets, it was really cute.

Your father shot one of the most well-regarded
giant monster films here?

Yeah. War of the Gargantuas. Yeah, and he shot on
Toho Studios.

Any Japan stories?

He just loved it here. This is his fourth trip to
Japan. He really loved it, although this time it was a little different,
because when they came in, they got in an accident on the way in from
the airport, which was like a really bizarre experience. My mother, who
had never been here before, was a little traumatized by that. But
besides that, he loves Japan. And I told him, … that they were really
excited, because of War of the Gargantuas, it’s like a huge film here.

And … I think they’re filming like another Godzilla, so every once in
a while I’ll be sitting outside to get some sun at lunch, and like
between the two buildings, the two studio buildings, I’ll just see this
like giant thing being like pulled by eight men, this giant like
Godzilla like going through between buildings.

Plot? Your character’s relationship with her
sister?

I think … Aubrey obviously plays Karen’s, Sarah
Michelle Gellar’s, younger sister. And, um, she’s sort of always been
the underdog in the family and somebody who is not as ambitious or
driven as her sister, as Karen’s character, so she’s sort of always felt
like she’s had to follow in her sister’s footsteps. And even her mother
sending her to Japan to figure out what happened to her … sister–she
wants her to figure out where she went and what happened and all this
stuff about fire.

I think she’s even nervous about that, because it’s
the first time she’s ever had to go experience something on her own, and
it’s something that scares her, because she doesn’t know anything about
it, and she’s really alone in the whole scheme of things. So it’s
really, like, this huge step for Aubrey trying to figure out where she
is in her family’s life and in regard with her sister, her relationship
with her sister, and she goes in a lot more tentatively, I think, you
know with her experiences with the ghost and going to the house. I mean,
she’s really the last one to go to the house and have a horrific
experience with it. She’s sort of the soft lamb, I would say, the
character is.

Talked with Sarah Michelle Gellar about her
experiences living and working in Tokyo?

No, actually, Sarah’s coming next week. But I’ve
been told she’s got some advice for me, so I don’t know what that’ll do
at this point. I’ve had to learn it the hard way (laughs).

What’s it been like to be here?

It’s been amazing. I’m actually extending my stay
15 days past wrap so that I can travel. I’d probably move here if I
could.

Why’s that?

Why would I move here? I love the culture. I think
it’s just a beautiful country.

Have you learned the language?

You know what’s interesting? I actually just took
my parents to Kamakura, and like there was a guy sitting behind us in
the bus, and I was understanding what he was saying. It was kind of
freaking me out a little bit. He was talking about a small village and
where it was. … Like, I can understand general grammatical structuring
and like … a few words, and I can just piece it together. … Like, if
you really pay attention, I think it only takes you like two months to
start to figure out what people are saying a little bit.

SMG told us that as she learned Japanese, they’d
move away…

That’s very interesting. Yeah, I sometimes now,
even with Shimizu-san, like, he’ll say something, and I’ll recognize a
word. So like if he’s making a joke, I’ll kind of understand it. And so
Chiho will pout. She’ll like, fine, “Nobody needs me. Forget it.”

What’s your relationship with Shimizu? How do
you communicate? What’s it like working with a non English speaking
director?

Well, I think that the only challenge. … First of
all, I should say that I think he’s one of the most remarkable human
beings I’ve ever worked with. He’s just got such a great sense of humor.
And he’s very sweet and very open in explaining things to you
beforehand. And I just … really admire that quality. And I kind of
wonder where such a dark side can come out of a person. … He’s got
this kind of David Lynch thing. Because David Lynch has this [mimics
Lynch’s voice] really squeaky voice, and he’s really nice when he talks.
And then, his movies, “What happened in your childhood?”

But I think that Shimizu-san and I have, … we
have a great working relationship because we’re able to even each other
out in certain aspects. Like, for instance, things that I feel might be
too over dramatic, which is typical of sometimes Japanese films to be
more expressive physically, and with sighing or just general body
language things, I can pull back and tell him why I think it should be
this way. Or even with your language. Things are very written out
grammatically, the way things are written out, and we can talk about it,
and say, “Well, you know, I think you can run these few sentences
together just to make it look more realistic when she’s talking.” That
was an example of the scene we were doing today. We did that. So I …
That’s what’s great. He’s really open about that, too. Whenever you want
to suggest something or say, “Well, I see it this way.” Or “my
experience has given me this,” he’s very open to it, and ten times out
of ten, he’s all about it. He’s for it. So.

When you read the script for the Ring, you said
you found it kind of silly. What appealed to you about Grudge? And have
you noticed trend of TV actors moving into horror?

The first thing was, obviously, the fact that
Shimizu-san was going this film again. And because it’s something that
he created, I think that he really has no choice but to make it the
absolute best thing that he can, because it’s really his neck on the
line. It’s really his baby. And I think you couple that with, like I
said, Sam Raimi, who’s such a legend as far as American film is
concerned and otherwise. To me, that seemed like a really, really
incredible match team to put together. Script was really sold when I
read it. So I think … it’s a double-edged sword, too, because not only
is it a remake of a Japanese film, but it’s also a sequel, which is
twice as scary. But I think at the same time, it makes people work on
this end twice as hard to make it the best film that we can possibly can
to put out.

Because I’ve already heard people saying that …
it’s going to be better than the first one, but, I mean, that could be
just producer talk floating around the studio. … From what I’ve heard,
it’s coming together really, really well. So … And, you know, it’s all
about like making leaps. Like, when I did Sisterhood, for me, that film
could have been terrifying, because it could have been this like sweet
little syrup teeny bopper film, and I really felt like it carried a lot
of weight for young women and didn’t marginalize them. And that to me
was a risk in its own mainstream level. So no matter what you do I think
you’re risking something at a certain level. But I’m definitely proud to
be working with these people in specific. I feel like I’m in really good
hands.

Raimi come over?

He’s doing Spider-Man, yeah. He has not come over.
We’ve all spoken to him via satellite communications or whatever it may
be, get your notes from him from an alternate universe. I think he’s
getting everything, absolutely.

He cast you?

Yeah, he was a part of it. It was Sam Raimi, and it
was everybody at Mandate, Nathan Kahane at Mandate, and Sony.

Takes more as an American to scare you?

No, I think it’s gotta be less. That’s just my …
I think every great sequel, … like here’s a classic example for me,
… I don’t if you guys are film buffs and you’re going to hiss at me
right now, but the sequel to Alien I thought was really good. And really
well edited and put together. … I say that because … You were
expecting things flying out of walls and being this tumultuous thing the
whole way through the film, but in reality they were just building you
up continuously, and I love when that’s done in a film. I think that’s
the best part of it. … is to through little pieces. And that’s why the
Ring works so well, because you were throwing little pieces in there.
…

It’s like bait to the shark. And eventually, you get swallowed up, I
guess. This film has a lot of that. But what’s interesting about it is
that it’s a lot … smaller disperses of it throughout the entire film.
Until you get to the end. And there’s definitely a grand secret that
they’re going to deliver to everybody that is completely different than
the sequel to Ju-On. So it should be interesting. I think they’re very
aware of that, too, that because you’re working with … This isn’t
really a thriller. This is a film about ghosts and about haunting and
about things like that, so there’s a thin line that you thread with
violence, and keeping people interested and scared throughout and hour
and a half or two hour period.

Do you believe in ghosts?

No. … I think after you die, your brain shuts
off, and that’s it.

What look for in a director?

I think, with the experience that I had on Joan of
Arcadia, and with being in every medium from theater to daytime to
primetime to film, the most important thing that I’ve found is when you
have a director who knows exactly what they want from every scene, from
every shot, and if you … I love being in the position of having a
suggestion for something, and they go, “No. It’s this way.” And you go,
“Cool.” Like, totally get it. You know, where they have such a vision of
how they want something to be that they’re driven by that. Not to say
that they’re not open, but there just is a real drive for a vision. I
think that is so incredibly important. And that’s the way it is with
Shimizu-san. I mean, he’s got storyboards and shot lists and playing
with little figures and like figuring out where he wants [things].

I
mean, everything. He’s got everything covered, and it makes you feel as
an actor, it makes you feel really comfortable to then be explorative
and be able to move within scenes and make them your own and sort of not
feel like you’re afraid people don’t know what they’re doing or anything
like that. Because I’ve been in that position, and it’s really horrible.
It’s like the worst thing possible for an actor, is to feel like people
are just sort of guessing what they’re doing…. And I think also just
… there’s also this amazing thing about Shimizu-san, is that he can
just be really … at any second, he can just like think of a new shot
to add or a new scare or something, it will just like come to him at the
moment. So he can go either way. He’s … he’s really fluid like that
and sort of loose and easygoing and open to everything. It’s definitely
a nice treat.

Back to series television?

I don’t think so. It’s an ambiguous question that
would get an ambiguous answer.

Ever write a screenplay yourself?

I think that could be in my near future at some
point. There’s a few things that I’ve been exploring and thinking about.
It’s just, to be honest, like finding the time. Which kind of sucks.

Disappointed when Joan of Arcadia ended, or
because you have a movie career, not so much?

I think everybody was just disappointed, because it was a great show and
we especially were disappointed because it had a great cast and a great
crew, and it was a rare situation where everybody seriously got along so
well. It’ll be just like God, it’ll be one of the great mysteries.

SMG had a boyfriend in the first movie. Does
your character?

She comes alone.

Love interest in the film?

Not really. Which I’m really glad that they decided
not to do that. Because love and horror don’t mix. It really pisses me
off every time I see it. I mean, there’s a little bit of that with
Eason, Edison, but not to a degree where it’s distracting. I think
Aubrey should have a love interest with Kayako. That would be the …
weird … fraternizing with the enemy.

What’s next?

I’m doing a film called Normal Adolescent Behavior,
which is sort of like a Carnal Knowledge for teenagers. A study of
MySpace and sexuality and young kids and what exactly monogamy is to
them. and relationships. First time writer director. Her name is Beth
Schachter. Brad Wyman is producing the film at New Line.

What do you think the film is about?

I think that they’re about the dark side of human
nature. I don’t know. They could be about ghosts, too. To each their
own. I think everybody takes a piece of it. But just like I said that
Shimizu-san told me he was affected by that film Demon, and, you know,
about this young kid who has to live with the devil of a stepmother. I
think that there is … a huge undercurrent in all of these films with
domestic violence as well. In fact, there was a whole sequence … Did
he like release a director’s cut of the first one? So I didn’t see that.
Did it show the scene where Takeo is like beating the crap out of Kayako?
OK, that was a scene that they shot and apparently they were not allowed
to release it because it’s not PG-13, because of domestic violence.

And
that was like a really crazy thing to watch. But when you watch a thing
like that, it’s really interesting to think about how you as human
beings can almost take on a ghostly affect, or your spirit can take on a
ghostly affect, if you have gone through any traumatic experiences like
that, whether it be any kind of abuse on any scale. So I think you’re
talking about real human nature, but you are emphasizing the unknown
about it: What it does to your psyche and your brain and those areas.
And so that’s what make it really scary, the idea that someone who can
go through such a terrifying violence that we can identify with, like
domestic violence or whatever–not personally identify with it, but we
know what it is–and then they themselves can go on and do a violence
against you as an audience member, which is to terrify you. So it’s
almost like you are second-hand experiencing what they are going
through. I don’t know, that’s the way that I see it. I see these films
being a commentary on what we as humans, what violence does to us.

What affected you?

The Haunting. That was like, that movie still to
this day really terrifies me. Rosemary’s Baby, probably one of the most
brilliant. … The first time ever that I had really started studying
the editing and the way that people shot horror films. And like the
first time I had ever started to think about what makes a film scary.
Going from like huge wide shots of an empty room into tights of Mia
Farrow’s face, so that you feel isolated and things like that. It’s just
really interesting, the psychological trip that horror films take you
on. Way more than thrillers. Way more than most films. Interesting.

Your family is here with you in Tokyo?

Yeah, my mom and my dad are both here, and they’re
here for another week. They’ve been here for a week already. Yeah, it is
nice. It’s good.

Give your dad a cameo?

(laughs) That’s what they’ve been talking about.
I’ve been trying to get Shimizu-san to bust an Alfred Hitchcock in his
own films. Just a shadow somewhere. Pop up in a screen. I don’t know.
Maybe he could just show up like a Miyazaki character, like some little
like wood nymph on a tree somewhere, just like tiny in the background,
just perched there and you won’t know what it is. I don’t know. We’ll
see what shows up.

Anybody in the future you’d like to work with?

I think David Lynch. Yeah, my dad got to work with
him. And I’m extremely jealous. So that would be a real honorable moment
for me.

You got to meet him at least?

Uh-huh. But I was like seven, so I don’t even think
I knew who he was. I was like, “Oh, he’s got a funny voice.”

Thanks to Amber for this
compelling interview. Kick that ass in Grudge 2!

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