News: What the Fear

Girl Lost In 'Trailer Park' Speaks Out

by Gabrielle DiPietro, Wed., Feb. 6, 2008 10:54 AM PST
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Breaking news this morning: Deal or No Deal case girl #25 has reportedly gone missing! Hayley Marie Norman was last sighted entering an abandoned trailer park, but conflicting information reports that she attended the Slamdance film festival and is involved in a recent love affair with I Am Legend actor Will Smith!

Norman recently gave authorities an update to her whereabouts claiming she is voluntarily missing, but you'll be surprised why she's not returning to Howie's show anytime soon! Read on about her recent Trailer Park of Terror experience to find out more!

Can you tell us a little bit about your character in Trailer Park of Terror?

I play this girl, her name is Amber. She's kind of a bitch. She's the queen bee who's really quick with a putdown but throughout the film you find out what's under that and how she really became that way. And even though she is the queen bee you quickly realize that she's not as tough as she thought she was.

Do you see any similarities between Amber and yourself?

Of course. As an actress there are always parts that you have to relate to with yourself. I don't care if you're playing a psychopath or a serial killer you have to find those human characteristics.

This was your first large genre project with all of the gory special effects and bloody make up. What was that like to work with?

It was terrifying actually because Drac Studios did all the special effects and makeup, and their Academy Award winners who did Pirates of the Caribbean. They've done some great work and they did all of the monsters for our movie. It was truly terrifying. I had not seen them [the monsters] until the scenes. I had a scene where I get attacked but I didn't want to see them beforehand I wanted to see them while I was doing it. He agreed and so that's the way we did it but it was really scary. They just did an amazing job.

How did you come across the role of Amber?

My agent sent me the script and I knew from the name right away, Trailer Park of Terror, that it would catch my interest. And I thought it must be really bad or really good [laughs]. I read the script and it wound up being really good. My big concern was. "Will it deliver?"Because with a name like Trailer Park of Terror it has to deliver and it did. And after I read it I really liked it and met with the director and producer. They offered me the part and I just went with it.

Did you look at any of the comics that inspired the film?

You know what, I hadn't looked at the comic books before but I have a bunch of them now! They're really awesome. When we were just at Slamdance the creators of the comic were there too. They're just so happy with the way the film turned out because this is their baby that they came up with one night. I know they were nervous before when they sold the rights to it for the film but they're obviously very happy. They were with us on set and it was a really great match. They actually sent me all of the Trailer Park of Terror comics, so I have them all now.

So the comic creators did have a big part in the film?

Well they didn't have producer input but they were there. They respected and appreciated what we were doing because we respected and appreciated what they came up with.

What was Slamdance like? Was that your first time there?

It was, but it was really cool. It was a lot of work with a ton of interviews and photo shoots and things like that, but that just made it awesome. I wanted to do everything I can to get its name out there. Having worked so hard on the film and then getting to talk about it with people was really rewarding. I didn't go there and ski and hang out. I know a lot of people go there to get free stuff but I was very happy working. The movie got a lot of hype. It was supposed to be on one screen but it got so much hype it was on two screens, and they both were standing room only. We had a lot of different studios at the screenings, and I know there's a lot of interest in it for distribution. It was a really rewarding experience.

After working on a genre film do you think you would be interested in working on other horror films if the right scripts came along?

Yeah, I actually had someone send me a horror script that my agent and I are looking at right now. Horror films are really fun because you have to really go there. If you don't it sort of comes off as campy and cheesy. I'm always up for a challenge and always looking for something new. With horror films you get to do more than with other types of films.

What was it like working on a project like Trailer Park of Terror in comparison to your involvement on Deal or No Deal or Norbit?

Every film winds up being really different. You always become a family with the people you're working with for that month or that couple of months. From the director and producer every movie and TV show sort of has its own beat. The main difference with this [Trailer Park of Terror] was the nights. We shot at night and we were shooting at 4 o'clock in the morning. It was actually really scary since it was shot in a real abandoned trailer park where there were dead animals. And it was four in the morning so it was quite the experience! [Laughs]

You?re also working on Hancock with Will Smith and Charlize Theron. What was that like?

I actually just wrapped! It was nothing short of amazing. Will Smith is obviously a great guy to work with and very fun too. He is a very funny guy. He had me laughing a lot.

The director Peter Berg still acts, and he's a director and a producer so he gave me so much freedom as an actor that it was kind of a dream part to work on. To be given that much freedom as an actress really meant a lot to me, so I was really happy with my performance. It was just a really funny script and I just can't wait for it to come out.

What is your character like? Can you tell us anything about your role?

I don't really know what will get me in trouble and what won't, but she is this girl who is in love with Will Smith and he plays a superhero in the movie. I'm kind of obsessed with this superhero that the rest of the world is sort of falling in love with. I just do whatever it takes to try and find him and make him my own.

With all of your upcoming projects, will you still be on Deal or No Deal?

Last week I actually booked a role in Sony Screen Gem's new movie. So I am going to be leaving Deal to shoot this movie, but Deal has always treated me amazingly, and I always loved to be part of the show, so I'm definitely going back when I'm done with the movie.

What film is that?

It?s one of Sony's new movies that I have the lead in. It?s a cheerleading movie but I don?t know if I can say the name yet because they haven't tied up everything. It's a big-budget film I'm shooting with the same studio I did Hancock with. We start shooting next Monday, and I'll be working on that all the way until the end of April. But I'm obviously over the moon about being in a large studio film. I couldn?t be any happier.

So I'll be shooting that for a couple of months and I won't be on Deal. But whoever is going to be holding case number 25 won?t be holding it for long, I want it back! [Laughs.]

Do you ever know what?s in your case?

No, I have no idea. Backstage there are all of these lawyers who shuffle the cases. We have no idea what's in our case. Even if one of the cases accidentally opens we still have to shuffle all of the cases all over again. No one knows what's in the cases. Not the directors. There's actually a third party that?s puts the money in all of the cases.

It seems like the Trailer Park set was probably pretty scary but personally what are some of your own biggest fears?

I don't think there's too much I'm really afraid of. I kind of just take everything head on and I cant really think of one thing that I'm afraid of. I like it all.