Interview By Joseph McCabe
Aussie blonde bombshell Melissa George is already a genre vet, having appeared in Dark City, Mulholland Drive, Turistas and the recent The Amityville Horror remake. But her turn as Stella Oleson, one half of 30 Days of Night?s team of husband-and-wife sheriffs, may be one of the strongest horror-film heroines in recent memory, recalling her role as the diabolical Lauren Reed on TV?s Alias. We chatted with George last week in New York, during her 30 Days press conference, and found her to be as cool under pressure as Stella?

You?ve done other horror films. How does this compare?

"Well, I like to think that 30 Days of Night is beyond horror. I mean it?s vampires. It?s an exaggerated horror, which is fantastic. It?s one of those things? Doing Amityville Horror?that was based on a true story, a good character piece. That was a few years ago, and in between I?ve been doing a bit of comedy, a bit of drama. Then when this came along with Sam Raimi and David Slade and Josh Hartnett it was very hard to turn it down. It was one of those jobs I actually auditioned for really wanting it. I?m a fan of the graphic-novel world, and I really wanted to be part of a vampire film. So this beats a lot of them."

What do you think the fascination is with vampires?

"I think it?s otherworldly. There?s a fascination with that. I remember seeing Nosferatu and all sorts of vampire films. It?s very curious to see a vampire film. I don?t think it plays on something that can happen to you in real life, do you know what I mean? Like Amityville Horror for example."

Shooting so many scenes at night you must have felt like a vampire yourself.
"Yeah, I did. It was very difficult actually. I came home at seven in the morning, still with blood on my neck, went out for a coffee... The amount of times I went out for an early morning breakfast and was just covered? I?d look at my hands and go, ?Oh gosh!?"

Because the shoot was so tough, did you find it easier to relate to the character?

"Yeah. I mean, I like dynamic tough roles. Going back to the horror thing, in Hollywood you can often get the pretty little wife that doesn?t say much, you know? And these roles tend to be very, very strong women. And I enjoy playing those sorts of strong characters."

Did you read the graphic novel beforehand?

"I did not. I read it after. I was wishing it would look exactly like the graphic novel, just the colors. I love the fact that they made the movie look exactly like the graphic novel. And I love the story because of the end, you know? When I read the graphic novel, I thought, ?I love the ending of that story??the love story between Eben and Stella."

Was that the first graphic novel you?ve ever read?

"I?ve read others in the past; other movies that I tried to get, I?d read the graphic novel. I?m not a huge [fan]. I don?t collect them."

What do the vampires in this film want, beyond killing their victims?

"A feeding frenzy. To build up enough blood so that they can outlast the winter."

So why did they leave so much blood?

"I imagine?because I?ve never done it before, and vampires don?t exist?that when you gobble at someone?s throat there?s a lot of blood around.
Most vampires just sort of infect you, but they didn?t want their breed to keep going?they wanted to keep what they had already?which was a different version of the vampire film. So yes, the blood thing, it was messy. I mean, I kept getting told off for standing in the blood. I?m like, ?I?m really sorry, guys, but there was four gallons of blood around and I was trying to walk to the door.? So there was excess blood, yes."

Your character features prominently in the sequel to the graphic novel. Are you interested in returning to this role?

"Yeah, absolutely! I want to get a Mohawk. [Laughs.] And get paid for it! Really, I?ve always wanted to do a great Mohawk, but I want to get paid to do that haircut."

So you?ve read the sequel [Dark Days]?

"Yes, I did. I love it. It?s brilliant."

You?re character?s not really a victim in this film.

"No, I?m very careful with that. I always want to do a service for women. I don?t want to come off like a weak thing on the floor with her clothes ripped off, being eaten alive and lots of blood around. I want to pick roles that are strong and, okay, it?s a horror film. But look beyond that and there?s a lot more in there."

What was it like to be around the vampires communicating with one another in their own language?

"Oh my God. I just get chills thinking about it. They did this sound that they invented. They made up their own language, which took months, so they were having classes. I was like, ?What the hell are they saying?? Then they would do these sounds, when they were breathing. I can?t do it; it was like a screeching, but inward. I don?t know how they did that. But it was spectacular to watch them create this sort of dialogue, and the sounds that they came up with."

What was it like talking to these vampires between takes? Did you socialize when the cameras weren?t rolling?

"We hung out. You have lunch with them, but of course their hands?they couldn?t take off their nails. I mean, of course you could take them off, but then it takes so long to put them back on. So they?re just sitting there with their mouth and fork eating, with half their faces? It was interesting to have a great conversation with a vampire over lunch."

Do you ever have nightmares about this sort of thing?

"No. It?s such a fun job. It is a bizarre existence that I live, but it is so fun. I don?t go home traumatized at all. I mean, a little bit with, say, Amityville Horror or this HBO series that I?m doing, because it?s about therapy and a little bit sort of resonates. But this is just a fantastic, fun vampire film."

What was David Slade like as a director?

"He is my modern-day Hitchcock. He really is. He looks like Hitchcock too, a little bit. [Laughs.] He was wonderful to us. Great energy, treated us so fantastically; I don?t have to say that if it wasn?t true. But he was wonderful, a wonderful director. Really sort of quietly spoken, leaning on the window of the car and giving great advice on how to play the scene. Just a fun guy. Never raised his voice. Never lost his cool?and it was a big, big heavy shoot. He?s the real deal."

You seem to have a fondness for warm places. What would you have done if you had to really shoot this in cold weather?

"Oh gosh, I don?t know. I probably would have been a bit difficult on set, I would imagine. ?More clothes, more clothes!? But I like warm weather. I like cold weather too. I?m very pale, very white. I like cold climate, it suits me very well. I mean, the sun? I don?t last a minute. I do live in hot sort of climates, but I cover up. So the winter?s perfect for me."

Have you ever been to Barrow? And will David Slade direct the next movie?

"I?ve never been to Barrow. I should go. I?m not sure if David?s gonna do the next one, and I?m not sure that there is a next one? [But] I think he has to make the next one! And Jo Willems, the cinematographer, has to do it as well."

What did you think of David Slade?s first film, Hard Candy?

"I was disturbed. But it was amazing to see him direct a film like that and shoot it in fifteen days. So I knew he was the right one for the job."

What did Josh Hartnett and Ben Foster bring to the table?

"I love watching Ben Foster work. He gets into it for real. Like, I think when he was walking across the snow, that long wide shot when he walking, I think the original shot went for nine minutes, and David and I were like, ?Yes, this is so European! A wide shot for nine minutes!? But it?s not very studio-oriented for America. Ben Foster filled his clothes with ice?I think; it?s a rumor maybe, but you should ask him?to really feel cold.
Josh Hartnett?s probably the most intelligent actor I?ve ever worked with. A deep thinker, really loves the rehearsal process, a gentleman, I can?t say enough good things about him. It?s just lovely to work opposite him. I?ve worked with Clive Owen. I?ve worked with John Cusack, Gabriel Byrne and Stellan Skarsgard. Right now I?m working with a lot of wonderful, wonderful actors. You know what I love about him? He?s a young handsome man, but he does not act like ?I?m gonna be this handsome, Hollywood heartthrob.? He?s all about craft. He?s all about picking alternative roles. If they don?t make money at the box office?you and I know that some of the best movies in the world don?t make money at the box office, and some of worst movies make a ton of money?he?s not interested in that. He just wants to go to work and tell a beautiful story."

Did a lot of the actors involve themselves in their own stunts?

"Yeah. A funny, funny story?it wasn?t funny at the time?we?re in the car, the sheriff car, in the scene where it gets tipped over, and I said, ?So, is my double on call today?? They said, ?No, no, no. You?re going for it.? I said, ?Oh, okay. So is there a harness?? They said, ?Yeah, there?s a little one in the back that holds you to the seat.? I said, ?Okay, but don?t make it too tight, because I really want to fall into the windscreen.? They tipped it over (and there?s a big hydraulic system on the right hand side that they sort of moved in post). They first threw it up on its nose, and we just went flying, like, the worst car accident you could imagine, just flying into the windscreen. My brother was over from Australia, and he went running, thinking I was just like? I said, ?No, Freddy. It?s acting!? [Laughs.] I?m going for it here, but everyone?s really worried, because we just went flying. Anyway, that was the first step, and then it had to be pushed over, onto the roof of the car. That?s where it got really tricky, because Josh and I were harnessed. But when they smashed it, the roof caved in about this much. And there was only about this much room above your head. So we were upside down with the roof caved in, and we kind of rolled into a ball, because there wasn?t any room anymore. I remember looking over at Josh to say, ?How was that? Are you okay?? ?Oh, I don?t know. It was a bit rough.? I said, ?Yeah.? Then we hear the director say, ?Okay, take two.? We were upside down, and they pull up the car and, because of the way that it caved in, it took forever for it to get off the floor because it had to sort of unbuckle. So I?m like, ?Are you guys pulling it up?? They said, ?Yeah.? And when it finally popped back out, on take two it went in even more, so for every take we were getting smaller and smaller and smaller. I said, ?Oh, I don?t know about this anymore. All of a sudden, something doesn?t feel quite right about this job.? [Laughs.]"

One of the interesting things about 30 Days is the way it jumps forward and the chemistry between the two of you changes, and there are a lot of things we don?t see in those thirty days. Was it difficult to play these varying degrees with those jumps?

"That was the biggest challenge for us. Eben and Stella are this estranged couple, and we meet in the diner after nine months of not seeing each other. And when the town just starts to go into this terrible phase, just to document how we?re going to play us reuniting our love?that was challenging. Because we didn?t want it to be too soapy, like, ?Oh, I love you and I?ve missed you so long.? It was all in the lines and very subtle. And the ending of the movie says it all, how they feel about each other. That?s my favorite scene. It makes me want to cry, thinking about it. I mean, I think I cried for like a week after that. We really connected, Josh and I, and it really made sense for the film. It just said so much about them. I never worried about the steps leading up to it, because I knew that the ending was gonna say it all."

There?s an interesting early scene in the diner, in which Josh?s character apprehends Ben?s character, and you have this sly smile. Does Stella get off on Eben?s machismo?

"Yeah, she?s a little like that. She kind of gets off on that. But you know what I wanted to do? I said to David after the first rehearsal, ?What about if I just walk in and I just find him so hot. I?ve missed this man. He?s just more beautiful than ever. Instead of being that kind of woman I hate?which is ?Well, you didn?t call me for nine months, so I?m just mad at you,? which would be just so ugly.? I just said, ?You know what? Live up to it. Look at him up and down and say, ?Damn, I?ve missed this.? Give it a little something.? And David loved it, so I?m grateful that they used it."

(*Spoiler Alert*) There?s also the scene at the end in which you?re holding him?

"He was phenomenal in that scene, Josh, I thought. I mean, just sort of in between takes, we sat together and didn?t want to leave. I think we sat in that spot for eight hours. Just didn?t want to leave. Didn?t want to go to the trailer. We just wanted to stay close, you know?"

Were you worried you?d get infected?

"That could be great, for the audience to think, ?She could be infected? What happens in the next movie??"

They zeroed in on your eyes?

"The finale is shot with a zoom-in on her eyes. Two things were going on?we wanted the audience to think maybe she?s infected, but also ?I?m gonna get those fuckers. I?m gonna get them.? It?s very emotional when someone?s burning in your arms, and someone you love. [Laughs.] It?s not an easy thing. I wanted to recreate that emotion into fire and toughness. There?s a couple of things going on. But I tell you what?that tracking shot went on for a minute, and there was a lot of wind. I didn?t want to blink, because as soon as you shut your eyes, you shut off the audience. As an audience, you shut the story, you close the door. So I really had to try. I had to do twenty takes of that. It was, ?Zoom, zoom, zoom, zoom, zoom, zoom, zoom, zoom?please don?t blink?and then hold it?and then close.? Then the movie?s done."

Do you have a favorite horror film?

"Yes, Creepers! Oh my God, I think I watched it fifty times. At every slumber party, we?d watch the same movie. You know, when he snaps off his thumb so he can get his hand out of the handcuff? It was a disgusting movie. [Laughs.] My stepdaughter loves them now too. She?s twelve now, and she only recently watched Amityville Horror. I was like, ?You?re not watching this.? She?s like, ?I watched The Ring and I watched 28 Days Later!? I said, ?Okay, you can watch Amityville Horror then? But whose house did you watch those at?!?

What?s next for you?

"I have Music Within coming out the 26th of October, with Michael Sheen, a beautiful story and I wish for you to all see that and support that. It?d be awesome. And I?m starring in an HBO series with Gabriel Byrne and Dianne Wiest called In Treatment, about therapy. I play a patient in therapy, and it?s all in one room, in close-up, with a monologue every week. I?ll have my own show every Sunday night starting in January. It?s very exciting. Having to learn forty pages of dialogue every time we shoot was a big challenge. And I?m starring in the lead with John Cusack in Jan DeBont?s new action film, called Stopping Power."

You said making films like 30 Days doesn?t give you nightmares. What does? What?s your biggest fear?

"As a woman, I think the obvious really."

I?m sorry, but, as a man, I don?t know what that is.

"Ah, you?re such a journalist, aren?t you? [Laughs.] No, like?somebody breaking into my home. I don?t know?a lot of things?to be attacked in the middle of the night, or to one day not have my family around me, or to never be able to have children. There?s a lot of fears I have. But vampires? I don?t expect one to really wake me up at night. [Laughs.]"