I don't care how old you are,
Poltergeist is still one of
the scariest movies of all time. The film gets under your skin and
stays there.
Recently, I had the pleasure of interviewing
Zelda Rubinstein to talk
about her memorable role as Tangina
Barrons in Poltergeist
and the soon-to-be-released Special Edition 25th Year
Anniversary DVD of Poltergeist.
Sadly, this is not a one-on-one interview. It was done in a
conference call with a bunch of other journalists. That said, I did
get in 3 questions, and Zelda
provided some fascinating answers.
Poltergeist will be
available on DVD on October 9th. Pick it up!
TONY: Hi. Thanks for your
time. I appreciate it. Happy Friday!
ZELDA: Happy Friday to you,
too. It's gonna be a good weekend.
TONY: I sure hope so. I'm
from Chicago.
ZELDA: I love that place.
I love it! I love it! I've worked a lot in
Chicago.
TONY: It's beautiful here
right now. It's in the 60's. |
|
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ZELDA: That's great.
TONY: I want to ask you
about Poltergeist III. I
read that you had a very eerie situation on set with your mother
passing away and a lighting bolt. What's the story behind that?
ZELDA: Well, my mother had
been ill for five weeks following open-heart surgery, and she was
alive, but not with us for those five weeks. And I knew she was
dying. I went home every weekend to
Oakland, California, where she was a patient, and I did not
have that experience ... the director did. Gary Sherman was taking
pictures with a still-camera, I think they were Polaroids, and over
one picture there was a very diaphanous shadow. And it scared a few
people, but it didn't scare me. My mother, if that was her spirit
it was sending, it didn't bother me. I had a superb relationship
with my mother, which is why I'm a healthy woman today. I'm also a
healthy old woman. Anyway, I don't recall anything happening,
because I was very depressed.
TONY: How do you feel about
the current state of
Hollywood in 2007?
ZELDA: The tendency is to
worship the beauties and forget about the depth. There's some very
good performers in
Hollywood. And there are also some very excellent writers.
I love the work of Paul Haggis. And among my personal friends are I
feel some of America's best directors. I think Hollywood is not in
such bad shape if they had some good scripts, and they could get up
off of the sexy body image.
TONY: You mentioned earlier
to another interviewer that you're an artist. As an artist, what do
you look for in a script? "What gets your creative juices flowing?"
ZELDA: Romantic comedies.
I like that quality and that humanity ... the chance to be men, and
the chance to be women. And the chance to date each other and not
hide that aspect of human nature. I would love to do a romantic
comedy that shows how different people can really have a fine
relationship, as I have in my own personal life. There's nothing
said about that. It was a big step years ago in
Guess Who's Coming to Dinner.
TONY: Oh, yeah. That was a
groundbreaking movie.
ZELDA: Very much so. And I
love films that allow people to be people.
TONY: Thanks so much for
your time. I really appreciate it.
ZELDA: You're welcome.
Thank you. |
