Taking on more roles later on in life, actress Joyce Curtis is experiencing a career renaissance recently as she's returned to acting after initially starting off in minor roles in the 1980s and 90s which includes plenty of genre roles. Now, in honor of Women in Horror Month I talk with her about her recent comeback effort, roles in films like Friday the 13th: Vengeance and other upcoming projects.
Me: Hello and thank you for taking the time to do this. First off, how did you get into acting?
Joyce Curtis: I was a soloist with the Colorado Concert Ballet, in Denver. I loved dancing, performing on stage, letting the music lift my spirit. Toward the end of my performing career, I became injured and even though I was finally able to come back things had soured politically and I quit the company. The ballet company had a fashion fundraiser. I was one of the models. The store fashion director booked me for 25 ramp shows and told an agency to sign me for both acting and modeling. My first audition and acting job I found in the newspaper. I was hired to travel with Storytellers, which was a children’s theater company. We were paid by the public school system in small towns to sing, tap dance, and perform stories from literature. It was a great first acting job.
Me: Were you always into genre films growing up?
JC: Somewhat. I must admit my mother always loved musicals and old black and white films so that is what we watched mostly.
Me: What films specifically got you into watching horror movies?
JC: Twilight Zone, Hill House, Room Thirteen, Rosemary’s Baby, and The Exorcist really scared the pants off me growing up! Also loved and still loved Evil Dead.
Me: Is there any specific type of character you prefer playing?
JC: I love playing comedy-horror the most. Great Grandma Abigail Jarvis is comedy relief in Friday the 13th Vengeance.
Me: While you didn't have a big career in the 1980s and 1990s, you came back to acting in the beginning half of the decade. Was the return from the time-off familiar at first?
JC: Actually, I did work in the ’80s and early ’90s but nothing that IMDB really posts. In Utah, where I lived at the time, it was a smaller market but had lots of acting in training/industrial videos, local and national commercials. In fact, for a good ten years, I would say I was the top actress in Salt Lake City. But when my corporate job moved me to Seattle, I did take a long break from acting just trying to get established. I believe that Twin Peaks and Northern Exposure were wrapping filming in Washington and the local market was slim pickings for acting after that. Eventually, I came back but very part-time.
As for the return, not at all! I had never acted in a horror film which is a particular favorite in the Pacific Northwest. Also, the whole way that films were cast was changed by self-taped auditions and audition notices on FaceBook. It took some time and work too in classes and acting on stage to become a professional caliber actress again. Also, the Indie market is very big in the PNW.
Me: Having worked on plenty of short films in this stage, what tools and skills do you acquire working on those that transferred to future film-projects?
JC: I really think short films take just as much time and attention to a role as a feature. Usually, though, short films, are done by more inexperienced film directors and can be really long hours as they can be somewhat unprepared and have a small crew. You get good at shooting multiple scenes in a few days, with long hours at a time. The big-budget shoots, where you have your own trailer etc., are mostly planned out and kept to a strict schedule. I did learn a lot about acting in horror films, through the shorts.
Me: Your first big role was in the fan film, Friday the 13th: Vengeance. How did you come to that role?
JC: I already had an agent but had just hired an acting manager, Alexi Angelino, that was also working on the film. She decided to rep me after seeing me in a SYFY movie channel movie called Big Foot where I am a tour guide killed by Big Foot. Alexi had the director ask me if I wanted to audition for Great Grandma. He sent me the script and my first audition was more of a kindly grandma, not what he wanted. He asked me to try again and the second time I nailed it. I’m so glad Jeremy gave me a second chance. Funny how you are cast in things sometimes.
Me: Did that bring about more of an appreciation for the character of Jason by the end of the film?
JC: Oh definitely yes! The Jason films are iconic and have very loyal fans. I really was not familiar with him before Vengeance. Now I’ve watched all the films and think Jason Brooks as Jason Voorhees is one of the best Jason’s if not the best! However, I worked mostly with C.J. Graham as Jason’s father, Elias Voorhees, that brings Jason back and decides to avenge his son. In the film, something I did in the past is responsible for Jason drowning. C.J. is an excellent actor and is famous for his own interpretation of Jason Voorhees.
Me: What was the set like while shooting the film? How did the cast and crew react to the type of film being made?
JC: The set was one of the most fun and a great professional crew. There was a lot of crew but we all soon knew each other. After I’d wrap a scene they would clap for me! There were lots of pranks and jokes. It was sad when I wrapped. I miss them all.
Let’s see. I did some ballroom dancing in between takes with my killer, Elias Voorhees. As the cat lover lady, my house was filled with a cat clock, cat posters, cat food and on and on. So cute! One of my scenes with my nurse, Flora, was cut but Jeremy decided to film us doing an improvisation, where we jokingly insulted each other. Part of our improv made it into the film.
Me: As well, you're also involved in the recently-released short "Hospitem (The Host)." What can you tell us about that?
JC: Hospitem means host in Latin. It was written and directed by an up and comer Australia Kincannon. One of my best friends was cast in it and she suggested me to the director. The best thing was acting with my bestie in a very dramatic scene, where I die. You ill have to wait to see the film for more.
Soon to be released is a film by another newcomer, Elena Stecca called Silent Threads. I play a homeless crazy woman that has her eyes and mouth shown shut. The theme is about abuse women suffer and how they are silenced.
Me: What else are you working on that you'd like to share with our readers?
JC: Next I will be filming Midnight at the Diner by Mark Robyn, which is a TV series where I play Edna, the head waitress and lead in this story. The shooting schedule will be different since we are actually shooting at night in a real working diner after they close at 10:00 PM until breakfast at 5:00 AM. I am so excited!
Also in March, I'll be filming my scenes in Park Dead: The Awakening. I'll be Cathy Pruitt, P.H.D., and is once again a comedy horror film so I'm really looking forward to that!
Me: Lastly, being that this is Women in Horror Month, what special message do you have for any women out there looking to join in the industry in any capacity as you are one yourself?
JC: Find out what is going on in your city and volunteer to be a production assistant and work your way up with the crew! Take classes and find a mentor.
For acting in a horror volunteer to be an extra. Take acting lessons and get into some community theater.
Must-haves for horror acting:
A great scream!
Ability to look terrified!
A little overacting!
Die Horribly then play dead!
Thank you again for your time!
This interview ran as part of our month-long Women in Horror Month celebration. Click the banner below to check out all of our interviews and reviews we've conducted for the event:
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