The Arrow
interviews Neil Napier
Well…this is a first for me! I got to interview a friend! Neil Napier was
my co-star in the
feature film “Welcome“, where we first met. We also
acted together in “Alien Conspiracy: Time Enough”
and now Neil
is starring in the recently released horror flick “Slashers”
and the upcoming
porn-star filled gore fest “Samhain”. Neil came over to the “Arrow”
offices (yes, my room) and we got to shooting the shite. Here’s what
went down.
A: What’s your fav horror movie?
N: You know I was kind of
afraid you would ask something like that.
A: I always ask that question, duder.
N: I don’t watch lots of
horror movies; I tend to be in them. “Happy Birthday to
Me” is one of
my favorites. I love the shish-kabob scene.
A: Good choice.
N: “Evil Dead”, of course.
A: You’re doing okay so far.
N: I like the original
“Halloween” too.
A: Nice! You’re off the hook!
N: Thanks.
A: Now, you started acting like 2 years
ago.
N: Just over two years ago. I started in May 2000 with
that movie I did with you bro.
A: Yeah, “Welcome”.
N: That’s it; it was the
first thing I ever did.
A: So what prompted you to hop on the acting
train full time?
N: A spinal tumor.
A: Ouch!
N: I had spinal surgery
at the beginning of 2000, to remove a tumor that was on my spine.
While I was recovering, a friend of mine who’s an actor from Toronto
was staying at my place for an audition. Basically
we were just shooting the shit, talking about our past lives and all
the craziness we had done. He eventually suggested that I get into stunt work. I
jumped off moving trains, been in a couple of car accidents and did
contact sports all my life so stunt work fit right in. Since I
couldn’t train anymore due to the surgery, I went to a couple of
auditions and “Welcome” was the first gig I got. When I shot that
first scene, it became clear to me that that’s what I wanted to do.
A: You’ve been going all out since.
N: Yeah, theatre, shorts,
horror movies, that Alien flick with you…I ran into you a
couple of times.
A: Yeah, we always seem to hook up on some
set in one way or another. Now did you learn a lot on the set of “Welcome” in
terms of acting?
N: I learned a lot on
what NOT to do. There were things I had to go through and things I
had to discover on my own. Looking back, there’s a lot I would
do differently today on that shoot; but that’s part of learning,
right?
A: You bet it is. Now let’s hop on to
SLASHERS. How
did that come about?
N: I was doing anything
and everything. Somebody wanted a sixty year old black woman? I’m there
for the audition. You’ll see me for an audition and I’ll audition. I
was cruising the net and came across this casting posting. I called, left a
message, forgot about it, got a call back 2 weeks later, went in,
auditioned for two roles and got both.
A : Nice! Once shooting began, how did you
handle playing two roles as an actor?
N: I had to go a little
“scooters”!
A: Please define the term “scooters”.
N: They’re both kind of
like cartoon characters. There’s a WWF bigness about them so it was
lots of fun to go over the top with both characters, to act in ways
that civilized society would have you going behind
bars for. It was really nice to be able to do that and get paid for
it. Chainsaw Charlie was a lot like
clowning, it was a great release. It was a little crazy switching
between the two though. At the same time I was also doing a Theatre
project which was 2 one act plays so I had four characters going on
at the same time in my life, multi personality disorder all the way.
A: Did you get home and freak out the
girlfriend?
N: Yeah, it was kind of
exciting for her; she never knew who to expect when I walked in the
front door.
A: Would you stay in character in between
takes on SLASHERS?
N: Yeah, I drove a couple
of the girls, Carolina and Sarah namely, a little nuts. I couldn’t get out
of character, I’d put the Chainsaw Charlie mask on for 8 hours a day
and went full on Chainsaw. It was ridiculous, but it was fun. If I’d
stop for a minute and think about what I was doing, I would’ve felt
a bit silly, so I just stayed in character the whole time.
A: Well, the film is now out and most of the
reviews out there are very positive. How do you feel about that?
N: I feel great, I’m glad
people are enjoying it. It’s a funny, campy horror movie. If you
watch in the right spirit, it’s a fun
hour and a half.
A: Fun cheese.
N: Exactly.
A: Not Citizen Kane.
N : No. But there is a
message in there as well, Maurice addressed the whole progression of reality
TV and
where it’s going. It’s kind of a satirical look at that. That
message is underlying the whole thing…which is kind of fun.
A: Let’s move on to Samhain…which is your
next horror flick. Dude, you’re becoming a Scream King!
N: I know, it’s cool!
A: A horror whore!
N: At least now it’s a
different kind of whore.
A: Exactly, no more late nights on the
street corners peddling your ass.
N: (laughs) Exactly!
A: In regards to Samhain, you had to work
with a lot of porn stars. Now I was “Samhain” for a couple of days
and was honestly distracted by all the lovely ladies. I gotta ask…how was your
concentration affected by these hot dames?
NL: It was tough.
A: Was it?
N: No, I’m kidding. The
only porn star I had a scene with was Jenna Jameson and to tell you
the truth, going in I was kind of
scared, I didn’t know what to expect. But Jenna was a treat…
A: Yeah, she was kool.
N: She was very down to
earth; she knew her lines and seemed to be having fun. It was
strange though, I had a real “how did I
get here” moment. That day after you had left the set, I was invited
to lunch by Jenna
and her manager. I was sitting at Bueno Notte with Jenna Jameson and
her manager! I was like ok, what’s happening in my life that I’m
here now with the number one porn-star in the world?
A: I’m sure it was a beautiful and heartfelt
moment.
N: Yeah, it was a great
moment! I found out a nice tidbit of information through that lunch
with Jenna. I now know what a “Rusty Trombone” is.
A: I’m sure my readers would also be
interested in knowing what that is…
N: This is not a G-Rated
movie site is it?
A: You fuckin’ with me, dude? Give it to me!
N: I don’t know how to
say this…
A: Just say it straight.
N: It’s a girl eating a
guy’s ass out while reaching around and giving him a hand job at the
same time.
A: Hmmm….interesting. You gotta love Jenna
and her priceless insight. But why “rusty” trombone? Why rusty?
N: I don’t know man, but I
just wanted to put that one out there.
A: (laughs) We love you Jenna, you rock!
N: (laughs) You don’t
return my calls!
A: (laughs) I’m going to put you on the
spot here. You got a set full of porn-stars, all of whom have their
own
baggage, and you have Richard Grieco, who isn’t a choir boy
either. Did the
shoot go smoothly?
N: I was pleasantly
surprised. On set, things went smoother than I thought; I, like
you, thought it would b
A: The checks cleared?
N: Yeah, I got paid and
cleared it all with the Unions.
A: That’s what counts. Are you signed on for
any sequels, either to SLASHERS or SAMHAIN?
N: I’m not signed for any
sequel. Every movie I’ve ever done, except for students films, I
die. Maurice and I have talked about ideas for a Slashers sequel;
it’s all out there but nothing is official. Also, since we’re never
sure if Chainsaw Charlie is out of the picture or not…
A: Well, it’s the horror genre, if fans dig
the character; you can bring him back, dead or not, it doesn’t
matter.
N: Yeah, you’re right.
Well, I’d love to do a SLASHERS sequel.
A: Did you have any sex scenes in SLASHERS
or SAMHAIN?
N: Nothing heavy but I
had a kissing scene in Samhain. That’s always interesting. You go to
work, make out all day, you get home, and your girlfriend asks you:
how was work? And you’re like: fine, I was making out all day.
A: What’s next on your plate? Any feature
films, what not?
N: Nothing yet, I’m
auditioning a lot. Theatre-wise, I just finished a show and am doing
another one in January with an old teacher of yours…Gabrielle
Soskin.
A: Gabrielle? Wow,
a blast from the past. Hello
Gabrielle…if you read this (which I highly doubt), I have to say:
Thanks for the tutu lessons!
N: Right. She was your
ballet teacher in acting school.
A: Yeah, I loved ballet! (sarcastic)
N: So I have a play
coming up with her in January. But I’m not worried in terms of
feature films, things always fall into place, I go out there and do
pretty much anything and things work out. Kind of like a whore.
A: (laughs) Yeah, we already established that
early on in the interview, you tramp!
N: (laughs)
A: Thanks for coming in Neil.
N: My pleasure Johnny.
I’d like to
thank Neil for his time and putting up with my silly behavior.
You’re on your way boy, keep hustling and being the audition whore
that you are and I’ll see ya on set. Gotta love the biz!
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