Sybil Danning played the scantily clad blond werewolf Stirba in “Howling II Your Sister Is a Werewolf”. Sybil has also appeared in a variety of sci-fi and other genre films. Most recently Sybil appeared in Rob Zombie’s “Halloween”. Sybil took time out of her busy schedule to speak with Movie Mikes about her career and her upcoming projects.
Adam Lawton: Can you tell us how you became involved with “Howling II: Your Sister Is a Werewolf”?
Sybil Danning: It had gone through my manager at the time. My manager was talking with a casting lady that had cast me in a previous project and she was the one who actually brought my manager the role. She had also suggested me to John Daly who was a producer on the film. John thought it was a great idea and before I knew it I was doing costume fittings with Peter Mitchell who also did the wardrobe for the “Mad Max” movies.
AL: What were your first thoughts when you saw the costumes or lack there off for the film?
SD: I was asked previously as to how I would see my costume. I asked Peter what our parameters were going to be and he told me that whatever we thought was right we were going to do! The script for “Howling II” was not trying to outdo the first film. “Howling II” was going to be more fantasy based and the fact that I was going to be the first blonde werewolf. Peter said let’s get sexy and creative. I gave it to him at that point and everything he later showed me was amazing. As a side note probably my most famous costume from that film being the leather and brass outfit is going to be auctioned off at a huge convention this fall in Los Angeles called Comikaze Expo. They had asked me to come as a guest and because it’s going to be such a huge deal they also asked if I had something to auction off. I had never thought of auctioning off that costume until now.
AL: Can you tell us what it was like working with Christopher Lee?
SD: I have done four movies with Christopher prior to “Howling II” so we knew each other well. We would have dinner each night together as he really has just the best stories. We filmed that movie in Czechoslovakia at the time of the “Iron Curtain”. One night during dinner, we discovered a little guy sitting in a corner where we ate with horn rimmed glasses and a dead squirrel on his head watching us. He must have been appointed by the KGB to watch what us crazy Americans were doing. (Laughs) We had a wonderful time as always.
AL: Can you tell us how you got involved with Rob Zombie?
SD: I was watching “Devil’s Rejects” one day and decided that I wanted to re-enter the business after being gone for some time. I called up a good friend of mine Ken Foree who has been in most of Rob’s films and I told him I wanted to work for Rob. Ken talked to Rob and told him that I was looking to work with him. Within about a week of me talking with Ken I received a call from Rob’s office asking if I would like to be in “Werewolf Women of the SS”. It was great timing. When I called his office Rob had told them to tell me to come right in. When I got there they had wigs for me to try on with Sheri to see if we could look alike for the project. While we were shooting “Werewolf Woman of the SS”, I told Rob I wanted to be in “Halloween”. He told me that it had already been cast but he would give it a thought. By the end of that day he came to my trailer and told me he was going to have me be the last person that little Mikey was going to kill and that it was a very important role. I told him anything he wanted to me to play I would. Rob is a very creative guy.
AL: Do you think we will ever see a full theatrical version of “Werewolf Women of the SS”?
SD: Rumor has it that Rob has shot around 30 minutes of the film. Rob was very busy shooting even after the actors had left for the day. We had such a great set and Rob really took advantage of everything he had on hand. So the rumor is that there is about 30 minutes of footage shot. Of course “Machete” was made and I really think this will be the next one to go full length.
AL: Do you have a favorite project you have worked on?
SD: “Battle Beyond the Stars” is one that sticks out and in more ways than one! (Laughs) I actually am going to be at the San Diego Comic Con in July for the release of the Blu-Ray. That project was great because I got to be the hero sort of and do all these different things like flying a space ship. I am a real fan of the sci-fi genre. I also really enjoyed working on “Operation Thunderbolt” because I played a character that was a different departure from my normal sexy type roles. The character I played in that film was much more serious. For that project I raised the money, brought the distribution and did the casting. We were actually nominated for best foreign picture.
AL: Can you tell us about your latest film “Virus X”
SD: After working with Rob Zombie and Quentin Tarantino…where do you go from there? I received a lot of film offers and “Virus X” was one of those. The film was directed by Ryan Steven Harris and it was one that I really enjoyed the screen play. I got to play the villain in the film and it was great fun. You can get it on DVD and digital download.
AL: Can you tell us about any upcoming projects?
SD: Where do I begin?…I am in the process of producing my own vampire movie but I don’t want to say too much because a lot of things are still in the process. I am currently writing an autobiography with the help of my editor Marshall Terrill. I also have a character that I own called “Ruger”. “Ruger” is a police officer turned bounty hunter character from the film I did called “ L.A. Bounty”. Along with my partner Les Thomas, we are developing a first person shooter cloud video game. I own the screen play for “Ruger” as well so we are also looking at that for a movie and or a movie with a pilot for a television series.
For more information on Sybil Danning you can go to:
www.Sybildanning.net, www.myspace.com/sybildanning, www.twitter.com/sybildanning, www.facebook.com/sybildanning
To bid on Sybil’s costume and information on Comikaze you can click here