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Your upcoming film, the highly anticipated Ten Violent Women:
Part 2 - in a few words, what's it about, and what can you tell us
about your character in it?
Ten Violent Women:
Part 2
is (in Ted's words) a movie about female empowerment. I play the lead, Gloria Jefferies,
who is a lounge
singer and owns a gym, mostly for women. Her husband (played by
Jeffery Kobes) is a detective who is bringing down the drug syndicate.
After
her lounge show one evening, he picks her up and going to their car, there
is a explosion. He is killed, she is mamed and seeks vengence on
the people who killed her husband by including the women at her gym to do
so. What did you draw upon to
bring your character to life, and how much Donna Hamblin can we actually
find in Gloria? Well, trying my hardest to do character
work, I hope no one sees Donna. However, I recieved the script last
minute, so I didn't have much time to prepare. Plus, I had to learn
two songs to perfom during a lounge scene (something I had yet to do
as a actor). So I had a lot of stuff running through my mind. I
knew my character was a tough, strong woman, so as far as those two
charasterics go, you can find Donna somewhere in there. I drew upon
her dignity, strength, and power to go on after the tragedy she
encountered. not only that, I was replacing the beautiful, award winning,
sadly departed Francine York, (a legend in her own) as the lead. So I had that pressure as well. With Ten Violent Women: Part 2
being a rather action-centered movie, was this at all an issue for you,
and how did you prepare for that aspect of the movie? It is
a action-centered movie, however, most of my shooting (as you can see from
the promo pics) I was sitting on my butt in a wheelchair. So, no, I
can not honestly say that it was action-centered for me. Though I
would have had no problem with kicking some butt in the movie - "what
actor doesn't love that"? I had to bring all that energy while
sitting down, unable to move my legs. The violent women were the ones
doing the action. As far as my character goes? Wearing heels,
singing on stage was the most action for me... I was on set laughing to
myself and cheering on the women as I watched them kick ass though...
hahaha! How
did you get involved with the project even, and were you at all aware of
the original Ten
Violent Women prior to this movie?
Of course! I
love the original Ten
Violent Women (as a lot of people do). It's a
amazing movie! I was in PA filming Angel Of Reckoning with Len
Kabasinski [Len
Kabasinski interview - click here] and called Ted while I was
there. He told me he was going to
start filming Ten Violent Women Part Two and asked me if I would play the
reporter. A couple weeks later, we had a meeting and the deal was done. Ten
Violent Women: Part 2 has been directed by the legendary (and sadly
deceased) Ted V. Mikels - so what was your collaboration with him like? Well,
I was to originally play the part of the reporter, so I had that part down
and memorized (I was so excited to play opposite of Francine York).
He (Ted) then called me a week later and said that Francine may
not be able to do the part due to being ill and told me I was the only one
he wanted to replace her with. After catching my breath, I said,
"ok, let me know asap." A week later (two weeks before the
shoot) he called me and said I will be playing the new lead (Gloria
Jefferies), I picked up the script and went to work, getting aproval on
wardrobe, picking up original songs (from a local musician here in Vegas)
to learn for the lip sync scene, meetings, going over character points,
etc. Francine had called on set a few times to see how I was doing in the
part. She did go out of her way to call Ted on a prior movie of his
I was in, and paid me a beautiful compliment (something I will hold
close to my heart), so this being, I was very humbled by the calls.
Sadly, Ted passed away, with the movie not being finished.
with Ted V. Mikels and John Carradine's head |
Ten
Violent Women: Part 2 wasn't the first movie you made with Ted V.
Mikels - so do talk about your previous collaborations, how did the two of
you first meet even, and what kind of a person was he? To
answer the first part of the question: Ted and I met on the set of
Mark Of The Astro Zombies. From there, he asked me to be in,
Cauldron: Baptism Of Blood, then Demon Haunt etc. A few years later, he contacted
me and asked me to play in the lead of Astro Zombies M3 Cloned. I was
thrilled due to playing a character that was connected to the late
star John Carradine [John
Carradine bio - click here], and now, the late legendary Tura Satana who was in
the original movie Astro
Zombies. I played Stefanie DeMarco, the
grandaughter of Dr. DeMarco, played by John Carradine in the first movie.
Ted saw something in me and trusted me to endeavor in many of his films.
something I will be forever gratetful for.
Ted and I were always close, he was like a father to me, and a grandfather
to my daughter, everybody loved him, he was so nice and so kind
hearted, Have I seen him mad? Yes! But that would turn into
dissapointment soon after. He had only kindness towards others in
his heart, he cared deeply about people he knew in the professional and in
his personal life and was always concerned about them. He always put
people before his personal self. He was always willing to share his
expertise (let us not forget, this was a Hollywood producer who went from
silent film, all the way to the now used CGI), so he had a lot of knowledge
and was willing to share that with any aspiring person who wanted to
learn, he would lend out his equipment, guide them on shots etc... If I
had to sum him up in words, I would say that he had a very kind soul with
a lot of passion. But he always had that professional, Old
Hollywood producer in him at ALL times...
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surrounded by some of the violent women |
Do
talk about Ten Violent Women: Part 2's shoot as such, and the
on-set atmosphere? Well, ha ha ha... the first night we were
filming on the Vegas strip here with ice cold winds, tourists that were
highly intoxicated interupting the shoot, and they had just finished doing
a marathon on the strip. It went pretty good. The second night, I
had to do the lounge act lipsyncing, we were in this beautiful club, and I
was very nervous to lip sync, Tura Satana's two daughters were there
helping fill in the audience. Sharla,Tura's grandaughter was playing one
of the Violent Women. I was talking to them about how concerned I
was for this scene and that I wanted to remember not to sloutch during the
scene, Jade (Tura's daughter) said, " My Mom always said, suck in
your tummy and push your chest out." I was very gratetful for
the advice and it made me more aware, it gave me the boost of
confidence I needed at that time to get through what I thought was going
to be a grueling shoot. Now, fast forward to the following evening,
THE BEDROOM SCENE!!!!!!!!!! In this scene, I am in bed with my
husband (played by Jeffery Kobes), we are sitting up in bed in our
nightwear while Ted and the crew are at the foot of the bed sitting down
ready to film, I am rubbing his forearm asking him if he's going to
see my lounge show the next evening, Ted yells, "CUT!!! Donna,
what are you doing with your arm?" I said, "I'm rubbing
his arm while I'm talking to him, I'm madly in love with my husband, and
this is what I would do." Ted then looks very puzzled and very
sincere he says, "we can't see your arm, that's not what it looks like
you are doing." Well, nedless to say, we all roared
with laughter. And as always, there were times arriving on set in wardrobe
getting ready to film a scene, and Ted would say, "Now Donna, in this
scene, I want you to say (then go on to a full page monolog that isn't
even in the script)," and then he would say, "You don't have to say it
word for word, but get as much of it in there as you can and get to the
point. Andddddd ROLL"! While I'm sitting there like a deer in
headlights saying, "ok, what was that?" Hahaha this
was typical of Ted, I don't know how to this day I don't look confused in
so many scenes in his movies, as this was a usual occurence filming his
movies, moments I will now miss...
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At least according to the IMDb,
you're also cast in Timo Rose's Ted V. Mikels remake The Corpse
Grinders - anything you can tell us about that project yet? Oh
yes! Timo Rose (award winning producer in Germany) along with Nils
Heftling (who played in Ten Violent Women Part 2 alongside Ted) did a remake of
Ted's original Corpse
Grinders. Ted and I did a cameo in the film
together (filmed in Ted's back yard) we play the parents of Landau,
the new owner of Lotus Cat Food. God, we had a lot of fun filming this,
I was completly thrilled to be part of an amazing cast with an amazing
production. It's going to be a hard core, bloody, punch to the face
movie... I know that Timo, Nils, and all the cast in the movie, do it
justice in it's own right. Again, very grateful, you can see the
trailer for it on my Facebook page as well as Timo's Facebook and YouTube. You've
recently also been in Len Kabasinski's [Len
Kabasinski interview - click here] Hellcat's Revenge - so what can
you tell us about that one and your character? Hellcat's
Revenge is a hard core, territorial, biker movie. I play Rosie a
tatoo artist who is also "an informant that plays both sides of the
fence." It was a lot of fun playing all the dynamics and putting this
"cocky badass" personality into play. I had a lot of fun
with this role (as with all others Len writes). So how
did you prepare for that role then?
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with Len Kabasinski |
The character came
through just on the first read through, so I just built on that and took
it further. Of course, I always look back and say, "Damn!
I should have done that or, that would have really added to the scene",
but that's how we learn, and I never stop nor will I ever stop trying to
learn when it comes to acting. I will say that in preperation for
this character, I imagined a more "whitty" person. Things can
always change your mind when you arrive on the set though. Len usually
will let his actors know what he wants to see in the character, give you
a build up of it, etc.
The most preparation was in the wardrobe! I'm sure I bugged the hell
out of Len and Chris with that messaging back and forth.
Me: What about latex?
Len: Hell no! bikers would never wear latex!
Me (sending many shots of clothing): This work? (I had no
clue)
Len: Yes, maybe, no, no, def not! Hahaha.
Len then told me, "think of something like Tura Satana in Faster
Pussycat, Kill, Kill!" Then BING, a lightbulb went off. I
thought, what a great way to pay homage to Tura (a very sweet person I
have had the fortune to be around a few times). I had a old leather
like jacket, scissors, duck tape and came up with a similar, highly
uncomfortable, shirt such as Tura's in the movie, sent a pic to Len,
he said, "Yes! thats it!" Tura's daughter sent me some of
her late mothers jewlery to wear for luck (I wore that in the scene I do
with Snake aka Len). I also wore Ted V Mikels' famous bone necklace in the
movie, you will see them in the scenes. Felt very fortunate to pay
my respect to the both of them by doing this. Again, do talk about
your collaboration with Len Kabasinski [Len
Kabasinski interview - click here] - again no stranger to you -
and the shoot as such? I met Len (who is like family to me)
through my best friend, actor Luc Bernier [Luc
Bernier interview - click here]. The first movie I did with him
was Blood Mercury, I then went onto play Beverly in Angel of
Reckoning,
and after that, Hellcat's Revenge. And hope to do many more films with
him, I mean, who doesn't love this guy? Len is really a inspiration to
people like myself in this industry. He is a no-nonsence,
proffesional guy on AND off set. He has the upmost respect and
gratitude and treats every single person on set no matter what part of
involvement they have in the movie with that same gratitude. That says a
lot about him and makes people like myself respect him even more, I
feel completley honored that producers such as himself have faith in me
when you sometimes doubt yourself and try to strive harder in this
industry. I have made good friends with most people I have got to
know on his sets, always an added bonus. We filmed in some amazing
locations and everybody was right on and knocked it out of the park with
their characters... We filmed in a strip club, with some beautiful
dancers, a real tatoo shop etc... So it felt very real all the time
arriving on set. Yunh Pham (a tatoo artist) drew all the tatoo's on us and
did a marvelous job. There were bikes, bikers, you name it, had a great
feeling showing up on set and seeing this, walking away feeling
completley grateful, not wanting the experience to end. He also has
Chris Young (editor) [Chris Young
interview - click here] on set at all times. Definitely a added bonus. AND
another "who doesn't love this guy", Chris is amazing, and a
great, great person as well.
Hellcat's Revenge |
Any other current or future
projects you'd like to talk about? Absolutely! I am
filming Stained Encounter, a psychological thriller next week
with Luc Bernier, Mark Gordon and Demona Bast. Cant wait! It's a great
script with great character dynamics.
I will film the other part of this movie in Montreal in March.
This summer I will be filming a movie with Jim Haggerty
(producer and owner operator of the Yellow Ape Film Festival) [Jim
Haggerty interview - click here] in New York.
I'm very excited about that. He says he has been eager to
work with me - we shall see... hahaha... naaa, I'm actually pretty easy
to get along with I think. And very well at taking direction. No Diva
Here!!!! I should have more information on that movie shortly.
Currently I am in talks with a few other producers, hopefully it works
out. I had a extremly busy year last year with filming and am hoping for
the same in 2017. Your website,
Facebook, whatever else?
www.donnahamblin.weebly.com
(you can get up to the date news on here ect..)
www.facebook.com/donna.hamblin.54
... and of course, imdb.com/donnahamblin Anything else you're dying to
mention and I have merely forgotten to ask?
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Yes! I want to
give a shout out to Kevin Scott Collier for involving me in the book he
wrote, Unmasking the Astro Zombies, a biography he did of the
making and involvment of Ted's Astro Zombies franchise, and dedicating the
book in my name. Nothing has touched my heart as dearly as this. And of
course to people like you Michael, for keeping this industry alive and
thriving. And every producer, crew, actor I have worked with in this
idustry that have not only been so kind to me, but had faith in me and
gave me a chance. Again, thank you for all the email, mail etc from
everyone all over the world, it truly overwhelms me with such pride, and I
am in awe everytime I recieve such... You are the ones that ROCK MY
WORLD!!! Touche... Thanks for
the interview!
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