Interviews
Exclusive Interview: Danielle Harris
By Jonathan Stryker
Sep 7, 2007, 23:42

Danielle Harris is no stranger to Michael Myers.  Long before she fought him off in Rob Zombie’s HALLOWEEN, she portrayed the daughter of Laurie Strode (Jamie Lee-Curtis), Jamie Lloyd Carruthers, the niece of Michael Myers, in HALLOWEEN 4: THE RETURN OF MICHAEL MYERS and HALLOWEEN 5: THE REVENGE OF MICHAEL MYERS when she was eleven and twelve years-old, respectively.  Even then Danielle showed quite an emotional range for her age.  Those films were both filmed in Utah and Danielle was lucky enough to share scenes with Donald Pleasance who reprised his role of the indefatigable Dr. Sam Loomis. 

A naturalistic actress from the get-go, Danielle has acted from an early age and racked up a considerable number of television and motion picture credits to her name, among them MARKED FOR DEATH, DON’T TELL MOM THE BABYSITTER’S DEAD, THE LAST BOY SCOUT, FREE WILLY, DAYLIGHT, URBAN LEGEND, POOR WHITE TRASH, and the television shows "That's Life" and "Father of the Pride". 

Danielle has lived in Florida, New York, and currently resides in a suburb of Los Angeles.  She just recently turned 30, although she doesn’t look a day over 19.    I recently spoke with her concerning her career and her role in Rob Zombie’s HALLOWEEN. 

Jonathan Stryker: You were ten years-old when you landed the role of Jamie Lloyd for HALLOWEEN 4: THE RETURN OF MICHAEL MYERS.  Were you at all familiar with the original HALLOWEEN? 

Danielle Harris: No, actually, I didn’t watch HALLOWEEN, the original, until after I landed the part. 

JS: You’ve been acting for over 20 years.  What were some of your earliest impressions of different forms of entertainment? 

DH: I remember very vividly seeing GREMLINS and E.T. THE EXTRA-TERRESTRIAL at a drive-in.  I love drive-ins, but there aren’t too many left I don’t think!

JS: You’re right – in its heyday there were about 4500 drive-ins across the United States.  Now there are less than 400.  New Jersey has one new one in Vineland, but I go to Becky’s Drive-In in Walnutport, PA. 

DH: Yeah, I can’t remember the name of the one I used to go to.  What did you see at the drive-in?

JS: The first movie I saw was THE ADVENTURES OF TOM SAWYER with Johnny Whitaker and Jodie Foster in 1973.  Then I saw E.T. at the drive-in – I think everyone saw that at the drive-in!

DH: Yeah, drive-ins are great, they need to bring them back.  When I was a kid I watched a lot of cartoons at home.  I also remember seeing THE GOONIES, and all that PG and PG-13 stuff. 

JS: Have you done stage work?

DH: Yes, I’ve done a play, called “Civilization” by Christopher Brewster.  That was in Los Angeles.  I also directed a play. 

JS: How is the theater scene in LA?

DH: There is really no theater scene.  My favorite place to work was in a 27-seat black box theater.  So, it was tee-nee…

JS: Wow.  Kristina Klebe was just lamenting the lack of a “theater scene” in LA, and how she longs for New York. 

DH: Yeah, then there’s larger theaters in LA that seat about 300 people.  There aren’t very many huge productions the way there are in London or New York, like a WICKED, say.  There aren’t many independent theaters.  You know, everyone is doing TV work. 

JS: Out of all the work that you’ve done, do you have any favorites that stand out? 

DH: I think that THE LAST BOY SCOUT is a great movie, you know, it’s just fun.  I enjoyed making the HALLOWEEN movies and it’s great to be back almost 20 years later.  That’s just…unbelievable.  I feel that this new movie is my best work to date, film-wise.  But, I also loved doing DON’T TELL MOM THE BABYSISTER’S DEAD and that was a goofy comedy with a bunch of kids.  And WISH UPON A STAR, a Disney movie that I did with Katherine Heigl, is one that I like a lot. 

JS: Do you watch your films?

DH: Sure!

JS: I talk to so many actors who say that they don’t watch their films.

DH: Oh, they’re lying.

JS: I think, How can you not watch your films? 

DH: I think that if it’s good, they say they watched it, and if it’s bad, then they wanna say that they haven’t seen it before. 

JS: What are some movies that you’ve seen that have had a big impact on you? 

DH: Oh, I loved THE SILENCE OF THE LAMBS, TRAFFIC, THE ACCUSED, WHEN HARRY MET SALLY…, TERMS OF ENDEARMENT, you know, just the classic, really great movies.

JS: HALLOWEEN won’t be released until August 31, and it’s doubtful that there will be any screenings for the critics, so without giving too much away…

DH: (smiles knowlingly and laughs)

JS: …is there anything that you can share with us about the film?  I don’t want to know too much, because I don’t want it ruined, and I don’t like these websites that want to put the entire script up so everyone can read it…

DH:  You know what, here’s the thing: even if the script is printed on the Web, the movie ends up being very different.  The film, and any film really, goes through many script changes and revisions.  Rob (Zombie) changes things on the fly.  So, you can’t base the film off of any published or leaked script on the Web.  Rob has done an amazing justice to the original.  It’s a Rob Zombie movie and he put his own twist on certain things.

JS: You play Annie, the role originated by Nancy Loomis in the original.  Were you able to keep her characterization out of your mind as you did the film? 

DH: Yeah, I mean it was sort of what like Rob was doing.  I didn’t…I’m not going to copy her, there’s no point to that.  Because I can’t – then it looks like I did a bad job trying to copy her, you know?  So, I did something totally different, I’m just being me, and I did it the way that I would do it if there was no original HALLOWEEN.

JS: Do you like horror films in general?

DH: Oh, yeah…I see tons of them.  I just saw WOLF CREEK the other day.  It scared the crap out of me – what a great movie!  It was sooooo creepy! 

JS: Oh, my God – that movie made a huge impression on me.  It’s one of the scariest films I’ve ever seen.  Just when you think that you’ve seen it all…I’m not big on movies where women are treated cruelly and brutalized…

DH: Right.

JS: …but I’ve seen this film twice and it’s an amazingly effective thriller.  Have you seen HIGH TENSION?

DH: No, I haven’t. 

JS: Check it out – it’s very scary. 

DH: I will!  Did you see THE DESCENT?

JS: Oh, yeah!  Twice in the movies!  That was phenomenal. 

DH: Yeah, I love movies like that!  I loved THE HILLS HAVE EYES.  Just great stuff.

JS: Are you familiar with Dario Argento’s work?

DH: Not really.

JS: Check out his films when you have a chance, like SUSPIRIA and PROFONDO ROSSO.  I always like turning people on to his films.  It’s very easy to see his films now on DVD.  It’s not like 20 years ago when you had to look high and low for mom and pop video stores that carried them. 

DH: Thanks for the suggestion!

JS: What are you working on after HALLOWEEN? 

DH: After HALLOWEEN, I’ll be in LEFT FOR DEAD, which was shot in Ontario, and THE BLACK WATERS OF ECHO POND. 

JS: Two family films!

DH: (laughs) Yeah!  Bring the kids! 

JS: What can you tell me about LEFT FOR DEAD? 

DH: I can’t tell you a whole lot because I haven’t seen it yet.  It’s not done so I don’t know what they’ve changed.  They re-shot a bunch of stuff and it should be out by the start of 2008.  It’s directed by Chris Harrison and it’s a very basic, 80’s-style old school horror flick. 

JS: How about THE BLACK WATERS OF ECHO POND? 

DH: It co-written and co-produced by Sean Clark of “Horrors Hallowed Grounds” and I co-star in it with Robert Patrick, Electra and Elise Avellan, and a bunch of genre actors, and I just finished it around the second week of August, so I won’t know what it’s gonna look like until I see the final cut.  But, I think it’s gonna be cool. 

JS: Thanks for your time, Danielle.

DH: Yeah, sure!