Sheri Moon Zombie is known best for her roles in her films like “House of 1000 Corpses”, “The Devil’s Rejects”, made by her husband Rob Zombie. She is the star of his latest film “The Lords of Salem” and it is her best role yet. Media Mikes had a chance to chat with Sheri Moon about “The Lords of Salem” and what we can expect from the film.
Mike Gencarelli: Your role has a much more serious tone from films like “House of 1000 Corpses”. How did you give life to your character, Heidi?
Sheri Moon Zombie: After I received the script, read it and discussed the character with Rob (Zombie). We talked about what direction we wanted her to go and also about everything from her appearance, dreadlocks, tattoos, wardrobe and to the way her apartment looked. There were so many components to focus on for this character. It was quite an undertaking.
MG: Having worked with your husband, Rob Zombie, now on all of his films. How did this project differ for you?
SMZ: I approach every character that I play differently. They all have been challenging in their own ways. Heidi was particularly challenging for me. I had to work every day on the film. The emotional decline of Heidi was a lot for me to go through and just getting into her head everyday was a lot of work.
MG: Your character has a bunch of tattoos and dreadlocks, how long did it take to transform?
SMZ: Well, some days it was two hours and some days it was three. The tattoos would last for a couple of days. So if the they survived from the day before then it would be a little easier. But it definitely was a process [laughs].
MG: Tell us about working with the phenomenal female cast in the film?
SMZ: I loved working with all the ladies in the film. It was a very female driven cast, which is something you don’t see very often in films these days. The witches from 1692 were so great to work with and they were so free and liberating. Meg Foster was wonderful to work with. Of course, the modern day witches in the movie played by Dee Wallace, Judy Geeson and Patricia Quinn were just amazing to work with as well. I loved how they weren’t overtly looking like witches and were like normal woman for their age. I have known Dee before but working with Judy and Pat were a great experience for me but at the same time very intimidating at first. They were all so warm and fun to work with.
MG: Meg Foster was amazing and really transformed for this film.
SMZ: Yeah, she was fucking insane! What a pleasure to work with her as well!
MG: What was your most favorite scene in the film?
SMZ: My favorite scene that I worked on would have to be the palm reading scene with Patricia, Dee and Judy. It was like seven pages of dialogue that we had to do. I loved the set for Judy’s apartment. That was also the first scene that I had with the three women together. It was a really good day shooting that scene.
MG: The film had some great jumps; anything scare you during the shoot?
SMZ: Nothing really scared me in the film. I wanted to hold some things back for my character’s point of view. When Heidi was sleeping in bed and we see they character Amon, played by Gabriel Pimentel standing beside her bed, I didn’t want to see him in that suit until we actually shot. When you are there on set it is different, nothing is scary.
MG: So ladies choice…you a Rush fan outside of the film? [Note: If you see the film you will understand this question]
SMZ: You know what, I honestly was not a Rush fan in anyway before. When Rob wrote that in the script and picked out the music, I was listening to them because Heidi would have. So there are a few songs that I really like now. I have grown to love me some “Tom Sawyer” since then!