“I Have an Online Posse”

New York Post: POP WRAP
http://blogs.nypost.com/popwrap/archives/2008/10/scream_queens_p.html
Posted by Jarett Wieselman at 1:55 PM on October 20, 2008

Brat Pitt and Angelina Jolie, M&Ms and pretzels, Sundays and crossword puzzles. Life is always better when two of your favorite things merge together in an unholy union of sinful sensations. Such is the joy I am getting from “Scream Queens,” VH1’s new show that takes my two favorite pop culture pleasures – horror movies and reality TV – tosses them into a blender and pours me a tall glass of awesome.

On tonight’s premiere, 10 girls move into a mansion and compete in a series of slasher-inspired challenges in hopes of taking home the grand prize: a role in “Saw 6.” Mentoring the girls are acting coach Jon Homa, “Saw” star Shawnee Smith and director James Gunn.

I’ve loved James’ movies – “Dawn of the Dead,” “Slither,” “Scooby-Doo” – before I even knew they originated in his warped and wonderful brain, so I lept at the chance to chat with the writer/director about dipping his toes into reality waters, his controversial “PG Porn” web series and his shockingly rabid fans.

Pop Wrap: What made you want to host a reality show?
James Gunn: It was by pure chance. I was on MySpace and a fan wrote me saying he was cutting the pilot for a reality show and asked if it was something I’d be interested in. Now, I get a lot of things like that on MySpace but he mentioned this show was produced by the same people who did “Beauty and the Geek,” which I thought was one of the better reality shows, so I gave him my manager’s info and two days later we made a deal.

PW: Shawnee told me that you two duked it out during the first elimination – did that happen a lot?
James: No, because I started to see that Lena (the girl they fought over) did have a lot of talent. I mean, Shawnee – who I love – is a weirdo so she totally loved this improv bit Lena did that was like an Asian character from a 2 Live Crew video. Shawnee kept saying it was entertaining but that’s like “Plan 9 From Outer Space” entertaining – it was freaky.

PW: So out of the 10 girls, how many of the girls actually have what it takes?
James: In the beginning I thought maybe seven people could possibly win and three girls didn’t have a chance in hell – but as time went on, that changed. One girl in particular who I thought was awful ended up improving drastically in a way that I didn’t think a human being could. That was one of my favorite things about the show, watching the girls improve.

PW: So what does it take to be a “Scream Queen?”
James: Obviously they have to be a good actress but they also need to have sensuality, charisma and to be able to show vulnerability so the audience is frightened for her but simultaneously people need to believe that she has the strength to make it to the end.

PW: What kind of challenges can we expect to see?
James: People can look forward to me pouring 15,000 live cockroaches on the girls as they have to act out a scene, jumping off buildings, getting covered in sticky blood. I mean, they’re really put through the ringer. These girls were physically, emotionally and mentally exhausted by the end.

PW: Was being a judge harder than you anticipated?
James: It was, you know, I was the one who was joking around about kicking girls off in the beginning – I used to kid that John Homa had a monkey on his back that Shawnee and I didn’t, which is integrity. But by the fourth or fifth girl we had to eliminate some girls I thought could would all the way but they just weren’t doing what they were capable of.

PW: Some reality shows live and die by their elimination phrases – what’s yours and do you get to say it?
James: I don’t, that’s Shawnee – and it’s “You Get The Axe.” It’s all right, I shot the pilot for “Scream Queens” and we had to do a bunch of alternative lines and one was “Don’t Quit Your Day Job,” which is pretty mean. At this point you’re staring down two girls who are sobbing and to say “don’t quit your day job” just felt a little cruel.

PW: You direct all the girls in their challenges, did you develop friendships with any of them?
James: Yea, even some of the girls who weren’t that great on the show I became emotionally attached to. Some of the girls, I just liked as people and some of them I would cast in one of my movies, but for the purposes of this show we had to find the best girl for “Saw 6” and we definitely did that.

PW: So will you cast any of them in a James Gunn project?
James: Well, one of the girls already won a part in an Internet project of mine.

PW: Oh yes, you’re becoming quite the Internet auteur with “PG Porn” I hear you even make a cameo in an upcoming one?
James: Yes, I am in “Roadside Ass-istance.” We also have Alan Tudyk [“Firefly,” “28 Days”] in one – he’s just the nicest guy. It’s funny, I met Alan through Nathan Fillion [star of the first “PG Porn” and “Slither”] and I always thought Nathan was the nicest guy, but Alan’s a bit nicer. His episode is probably going to be the pinnacle of “PG Porn’s” first season.

PW: First season? Does that mean a second season is a lock?
James: We’ll see – right now we’re focusing on these 12.

PW: There was quite a backlash for “PG Porn.” The Huffington Post did a whole story about it. Were you surprised that so many people didn’t grasp the humor?
James: Well, I was surprised by that particular post because that woman writes for porn web sites, so she was saying that since no one was complaining about “PG Porn” but are somehow offended by Max Hardcore movies where there is a small amount of physical pushing in addition to sex that it was our fault. I mean, “PG Porn” is a satire, it’s not a substitute for porn – it’s a comic strip, it’s “Peanuts.” You always want Charlie Brown to kick the football, yet he doesn’t. It’s about the eternal frustration that we all feel as human beings.

PW: And your fans went off on her in the comments – are you surprised by how devoted your fanbase is?
James: I really do have the best fans, but I have to be careful who I make fun of because that person will start getting tons and tons of messages. The guy who writes “Dilbert” got a little taste of that because he wrote some article about how horror movie fans are sickos because his assumption was that people who watch those movies put themselves in the shoes of the killer – which is ridiculous, most people put themselves in the victim’s shoes. When I watched “Alien” I was Sigourney Weaver, not the alien. So I wrote a post about it and, oh my god, that guy got murdered!

PW: You’re so forthcoming on your blog, people probably feel like they can relate to you more.
James: Absolutely, I have to be rigorously honest with myself at all times and being honest means being non-judgmental about whatever my thoughts or feelings are. Sometimes that means I say things about myself that may be weird or dark or bad or wrong – but I don’t necessarily see them that way, it’s just another thing about me.

PW: But I think that’s why your fans are so passionate, you don’t judge them
James: Sometimes I don’t know where to draw the line because I am so honest about who I am and what I’m about that people think they’re my friends because I have a blog. I’ve had real problems – I mean there are a few situations that have gone too far, but most of the James Gunn fans are extremely supportive and they do get defensive if people cross me. I appreciate that, I have an online posse.

“Scream Queens” premieres tonight at 10 pm on VH1 and you can check out “PG Porn” at Spike.com.