Have you seen American Mary yet? We highly suggest you do! If you are straight-laced, PTA members, soccer moms or dads, you’d better kick yourself into watching what’s out there, because you’d better believe that your kids are! They will show up with piercings in places you only recall from the days of diaper changes. You may wanna take a peek at some of what is available out there before it walks through your door. This really isn’t going to show you what is mainstream, but it will give you a sampling of what can happen, off the deep end that is. This is a splatter flick of sorts, but intelligent and with a plot and a story that will suck you in.
“The story follows medical student, Mary Mason, as she becomes increasingly broke and disenchanted with the surgical world she once admired. The allure of easy money sends Mary into the world of underground surgeries which ends up leaving more marks on her than her so called ‘freakish’ clientele”. – Written by Twisted Twins Productions
That right there should be enough to make you want to grab your popcorn and sit down for the evening and indulge in some cinematological pleasure! (we made that word up in hopes that it will catch on!)
Amidst this movie is a character that brings the world of body modification to our protagonist Mary’s doorstep: Beatress Johnson, played by the beautiful and talented Tristan Risk. RockRevolt’s favorite horror fan Sarah Church penned an interesting interview, journeying into the character of Beatress, and the concept of body modification as well! Read on and then enjoy the gallery of the most gorgeous, Tristan Risk!
Beatress Johnson’s face was amazing. Tell us about the make-up process. How long did it take to apply?
The Beatress makeup was applied in two hours and removed in one by two artists at the same time. I was first on set (actually, that’s a lie – the crew was the first on set) in the chair, and last out. Usually our first AD was in ‘hover mode’ near the end of my application. Because I got there so early and most people didn’t see me until I was in full drag, so they thought that the make up was my actual face. This speak volumes about the quality of the work of the artists at MASTERSFX and also that maybe people on set needed a tiny bit more caffeine out of their coffees.
How did you prepare for the character of Beatress?
Beatress was really fun to play. I practiced the voice by watching Ellen Green (Little Shop Of Horrors and Pushing Daisies) and Madonna in Who’s That Girl. The parts of the film where I was dancing and getting topless was easy being a burlesque and fetish performer I’m very comfortable with nudity and my body. I was also gifted a DVD set of Betty Boop cartoons back when I used to tour with my old band, so I watched all of them. Combining the body movement, the make up and the voice was very transformative. I felt like a total shape shifter. It was awesome!
Obviously the make-up was devised purposefully to look like excessive plastic surgery. What is your stance on plastic surgery? Have you had any or would you ever any? Where and why?
My stance on plastic surgery is that I’m all for people doing what they want to themselves to feel confident in projecting who they are. While I’ve not had any surgery done myself (conventional or otherwise) I do have piercings, tattoos, and I practice waist training with corsets, which is a very old form of body modification. With cosmetic surgery and body modifications you are literally wearing your heart on your sleeve so to speak, and I feel oftentimes because some of the procedures produce such dramatic results, it’s easy for the masses to look down their noses at it. But if it’s something that you can look yourself in the eye with and feel confident, I advocate it.
Beatress was a catalyst for propelling Mary into the world of extreme body modification, yet she had so little screen time. Do you feel this added or took away from the story?
Beatress actually got more screen time, but it was just a little and wound up on the cutting room floor. I feel she was almost like Mary’s Jiminy Cricket, in an odd way. I think just way she kept recurring in the film, much like the refrain of Ava Maria, also helped Mary’s own character arc. I’d have loved to do more dance scenes, but time and budget were at a premium. I think ultimately just the little glimpses of Beatress kept people interested in her and leave it open to their own interpretations. That said, I’m hoping people do some fanfic, since that would be an honour and interesting to see what stories people would tell with Beatress if they had their druthers.
Watch the American Mary trailer starring Tristan Risk
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Can we expect to see Beatress pop up in future projects?
Well, she did die at the end of Mary, so unless it was a prequel, it’s unlikely. But I never say never.
As a whole, what do you feel you learned from your American Mary experience that you feel you will be able to apply to future projects?
I learned professionalism and attitude will get you everywhere. Going in and being excited to work on a project is good. That applies to all things in life whether it’s your day job, your passion, partner, hobby… tackling anything with gusto and enthusiasm also not only makes it fun for you, but gets everyone your working with excited too. And trust, I cannot WAIT to apply those lessons to future films!
Where will we be seeing you next? Tell us about some of your upcoming and concurrent projects?
In 2014 I’ve a few films being released: Astron 6’s Giallo Love Letter The Editor, a segment in the upcoming horror anthology ABC’s Of Death 2, and the short film The Callgirl. Shooting wise, this year has a lot of goodies for me in store, but I can tell you happily that I’ve been announced to be the lead in Todd E. Freeman’s ‘Love Sick’ alongside Francisco Barreiro (We Are What We Are, Here Comes The Devil). If the number of happy air humps I’m doing is any indication, if I put a Black and Decker drill on my pelvis, I’d be making my way through drywall by now. Suffice to say, I’m pretty excited for 2014. Stay tuned!
~Sarah Church, Horror Fan and RockRevolt Contributor
Connect with Tristan at the links below!
FACEBOOK | TWITTER | WEBPAGE
Images by David Denofreo of Black Opal Images
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