Hello ladies and gentlemen, Muldoon here with a super brief chat with SCREAM’s Bex Taylor-Klause. I’ll be honest, while I had heard the show was shooting out in NOLA, and Wes Craven himself gave the show his blessing, I wasn’t initially interested in seeing another franchise I’d come to love retooled for younger audiences. Other than money, I just don’t see much of a creative reason to revisit films that did so well on their own. “Muldoon! You sound like an old guy kicking kids off his lawn.” Yes, I know, it’s just that reboots and sequels aren’t just limited to the big screen, but between this, 12 MONKEYS, FROM DUSK TILL DAWN, and MINORITY REPORT amongst the many Film-to-TV shows as of late – watching SCREAM played by kiddos who were barely walking when the first film came out just didn’t initially grab me. I don’t know the world of Snapchat, Twitter, or whatever the hot app of the week is, so I went into this show as “I might be a little lost with the social media aspect of the thing, but at least there will be interesting kills to satisfy my twisted curiosity.”
While I’ve only seen the first five episodes of the show, I’ve found it pretty enjoyable. You will have to tell the analytical side of your brain to chill out and just go with it, but you had to do the same with the original three (technically four…). I mean Jaime Kennedy’s cameo in SCREAM 3 was too perfect an example of how you can’t take the franchise too seriously. In that same vein, this series feels at home with the franchise, a nice companion piece that I hope to see more of. When offered the chance to speak with one of the show’s actors, of course I jumped at the chance.
Despite a bad connection on one of our ends, and the probability of Taylor-Klaus being contractually stuck in a room answering the same questions over and over all day (from folks like me), I really did appreciate my opportunity to ask her a few questions about the show and her career. I appreciate her time and can’t imagine the cotton mouth that must come with the rapid fire interview sessions that come with the territory. So without further ado, let’s jump on into the interview!
(Photo Credit: Eliza Morse for MTV)
Hi Bex, this is Mike with Ain’t It Cool. How are you doing today?
Mike, I’m good. How about you?
Pretty alright. So I know we only have about ten minutes. I assume you’re booked back to back to back, so I’m just going to jump on in if that’s cool with you.
Sweet. Sounds good to me.
First off, you’re in so many fun shows, like ARROW, THE KILLING, SCREAM, and now VOLTRON playing all sorts of different types of characters. When taking on a role, what type of questions do you ask yourself in order to take on a character’s headspace?
Well that’s the thing… Once I’ve gotten the role, it’s more of getting inside the headspace that I’ve given the character. So until I get notes saying “We want you to do it this way” or a change in direction… Each character requires a different headspace, so you work on it on your own until it needs to change.
Okay. So in regards to your character in SCREAM, Audrey, did they give you some sort of backstory like a few pages on who she is and what she’s done up to the point of that first episode? “She went to this school. She likes these kinds of tacos…” Or is this a case where you primarily just came up with her back story on your own?
Well I mean there’s a lot that’s given to you about Audrey that you just have to look for, that maybe weren’t said, but give me all the information I need. Her mother had cancer, she’s from Boston, she’s an only child, her dad… She and Emma have known each other since they were very, very unbelievably little. They’ve always been close to each other. She’s comfortable with the Duvals. There’s a lot of backstory and as the episodes keep getting written, there’s always something you can add to her backstory and in the end, the biggest part of Audrey is how she reacts as it happens. She’s a person who lives in her own world to a point, to an extent. You have to be present with Audrey. You have to be aware of the present situation as you can’t just rely on the past.
I’m only five episodes in and it’s obvious, even from the first episode, she’s into filmmaking. What kind of movies would she be into?
Audrey’s favorite movies are a lot of art films and she loves watching films at festivals and at the end of the day she’s a sucker for classic speed and weed horror films, but her true favorite things are art films. She loves WRISTCUTTERS: A LOVE STORY, because it looks at a world that most people don’t want to watch. What’s the other one that John and I watched… There’s… I can’t remember what it was.
And how about you? Perhaps not what kind of films you like to watch, but possibly films you’d like to be in yourself? You’ve been in a lot of geeky franchises now and I assume you’re a hit at fan conventions, but what are some genres that you see maybe not hitting your desk at the moment, but genres you’d like to explore? Romantic comedies? Something fans out there might not expect?
I mean I would love to play… I don’t know, something people wouldn’t expect?
Or simply something you’ve not done yet, but are looking to do.
I don’t know. I mean I’ve had a lot of projects hit my desk, it’s just I might not be right for it for this or that reason, but I do love playing the darker characters. It would be fun to have a comedy, like a straight up comedy. That would be fun to explore something new, but at the same time I really always want to push my characters darker and darker.
With Audrey, she is a absolutely dark and a bit edgy. So looking at what you’ve accomplished in the last three or four years, what’s some advice you’d give to your younger self?
Hmm. “Don’t doubt yourself. Don’t doubt what you bring to the table. Don’t go down a spiral just because you’re unsure.”
Great. Well I knew we didn’t have much time here, but I do really appreciate giving me what you did have. I’m really enjoying the show right now and looking forward to the next season.
Thank you.
There we have it folks, a little insight into one of the leads from SCREAM: The Series. I'm unapologetically a fan of the franchise and think the show makes for a great companion piece. How about you all? What are your thoughts on the show? You can get the first season of the show on DVD now and May 30th brings us the beginning of the second season on MTV.
- Mike McCutchen
"Muldoon"
Mike@aintitcool.com
