Your new movie The
Amityville Legacy - in a few words, what is it about, and what can
you tell us about your character in it?
The
Amityville Legacy
tells the story of a family get-together to
celebrate a father's 50th birthday. The father is gifted an
antique toy monkey which just so happens to have been present during the
DeFeo murders at the original Amityville house. The toy monkey soon
possesses the father and all hell breaks loose. The film, in my opinion,
is very much in tune with the latter day Amityville films such as
Amityville: The Evil Escapes, Amityville: It's About Time, Amityville:
A New Generation and Amityville Dollhouse. I also feel that it draws upon
Amityville 2: The Possession since it tells the tale of a family that has
deep rooted issues and hints around the taboo topic of incest (though
hallucinatory in our film). In the film, I play the boyfriend of Tony
Janson (played by my actual fiance Tony Brown [Tony Brown interview -
click here]). My character is a nice guy
who is there to support his boyfriend, who has never brought a partner
over to meet his family. How did you get
involved with the project in the first place? Dustin
Ferguson [Dustin
Ferguson interview - click here] approached Tony and
me about being in a film of his. When we
learned that it would be an Amityville film, there was no hesitation in
our decision to do the film. I had been a fan of Dustin's work since his Black
Tree Forest trilogy and always wanted to work on one of his
productions. What did
you draw upon to bring your character to life, and how much Jade can we
actually find in Jade? I didn't draw upon much to bring my
character to life, honestly. I am not a method actor. I go with the flow
and just try my best to hit my marks and memorize my dialog. My biggest
challenge when shooting a movie is to not be so “big” in my
performance. I trained in theatre in which you are supposed to project to
the very back of the auditorium. In film, you have to bring it down a few
notches. I am essentially playing myself in the film, however, in real
life, I am not as “happy-go-lucky” as my actual character. I
definitely have a little bit more of an attitude than The
Amityville Legacy's Jade.
In The
Amityville Legacy you actually play the boyfriend of your real
life fiancé Tony Brown [Tony Brown
interview - click here] - so how did that influence your performance (if
at all)? And while we're at it, how did the two of you first meet even?
Jade with Tony Brown and Schuylar Craig |
Obviously,
playing opposite of your fiancé is awesome for onscreen chemistry. This
was the biggest influence on that aspect of my acting in the film—the
chemistry was there and hopefully audiences will notice that. Strangely
enough, Tony and I met on a film set back in 2008. We were both extras in
the New Orleans-shot Night of the Demons remake. After that, we became
close friends for a couple of years due to our obsession with the horror
genre and eventually started dating at the end of 2010. What
can you tell us about your directors Dustin Ferguson [Dustin
Ferguson interview - click here] and Mike Johnson, and
what was your collaboration with them like? I
enjoyed working with both directors very much. Tony and my shoot was very
fast, and we were under time constraints with our scenes in the film (Tony
and I shot on the the film for 3 or 4 days total since we were not
locals). They were open to suggestions and very accommodating to Tony and
me. Dustin and Mike's approaches to directing were different. Dustin
shoots fast. Mike seemed to take more time. However, the combination of
having two directors, in my opinion, benefited the film. The director of
photography, Mark, was also vital with giving the film a very polished
look for being shot on a low budget. What can you
tell us about the shoot as such, and the on-set atmosphere? The
shooting was fast for Tony and me since we were there for a limited number
of days. The on-set atmosphere was very positive and everyone got along
great. Unfortunately, I became very sick on my second day of shooting so I
tried to stay away from the other cast members in order for them not to
catch what Tony and I labeled The Amityville Infection, lol.
Any
future projects you'd like to share? The
only future project that I am currently cast in is Reuben Rox's Lurking
Evil. I will be acting alongside Tony again. What got you into
acting in the first place, and did you receive any formal training on the
subject? The first taste of acting I
received was in a short student film called The Road Less Travelled. After
that, I took theatre acting classes in high school and college. As for
film acting, I have received no formal training. What can you tell us about your filmwork prior
to The
Amityville Legacy? Besides the short film that I
mentioned in the above answer, I have been in the horror films Wolfika,
Torment, The Inherited, Indestructible, Silent
Vengeance, Zydeco, Evil Deeds: Full Circle, Final Curtain
Part 14: The Seance, The Slayer and Shelter in Place. Additionally, I have done voice-over work on
Evil on Queen Street 2: Domination, Evil Deeds 2 and Evil
Deeds 3. I have done extra work on
the Night of the Demons remake, SyFy
Channel's Wolvesbayne and The Expendables. Going through your
filmography, one can't help but notice that most of your movies are of the
horror variety - a genre at all dear to you, and why (not)? I
have been obsessed with the horror genre ever since I was a child. It is
just a genre that I have always loved, and it has been a pleasure being
able to be involved in genre films. How
would you describe yourself as an actor, and some of your techniques to
bring your characters to life? I do
not know how to describe myself as an actor. I take each role I'm given
seriously and just try to give the best performance that I possibly can. I
am my own worst critic and sometimes cringe at seeing myself on camera. I
am slowly getting over that... slowly lol. I do not have any special
techniques that I use to bring my characters to life. As I mentioned, I am
not a method actor. I just make sure I have my lines memorized, hit my
marks, and take direction from my director.
Jade with Lynn Lowry |
Actors (and indeed
actresses) who inspire you? I
wouldn't say any actors or actresses really inspire me. I do have great
respect for character actors such as Jay Richardson, Eric Roberts, and the
late Christopher George. Actresses that I have great respect for are
Tiffany Shepis [Tiffany Shepis
interview - click here], Lynn Lowry, Barbara Crampton, Maria Ford,
Sissy Spacek, Catriona MacColl, Nancy Allen, Asia Argento, the late
Marilyn Burns, Betsy Russell, Debbie Rochon [Debbie
Rochon interview - click here], Catherine Hickland, Laura
Gemser [Laura Gemser bio -
click here], Jessica Morris, and the holy scream queen trinity -
Linnea Quigley, Brinke Stevens, and Michelle Bauer. Your favourite movies? My
favorite movies would have to be the Massacre series of
films produced by Roger Corman [Roger
Corman bio - click here]. This includes the Slumber
Party Massacre series, the Sorority House Massacre
series, and the Cheerleader Massacre series. I am a huge fan
of early 80s slasher films such as Friday
the 13th (1-5),
The Dorm that Dripped Blood, Hell Night, Satan's Blade,
To All a Good Night, and so on. I really enjoy Italian productions,
such as The City of
the Living Dead, The Beyond,
Zombi 2, Athropophagus,
Absurd, Ghosthouse,
Stage Fright and Burial
Ground. ...
and of course, films you really deplore?
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I am not a fan of
fantasy type movies such as The Lord of the Rings and the Harry
Potter films. Your/your
movie's website, Facebook, whatever else?
Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/jade.lafont
IMDb:
http://www.imdb.com/name/nm2361584/
The
Amityville Legacy
Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/The-Amityville-Legacy-1701781906718536/
Anything else
you're dying to mention and I have merely forgotten to ask? I
definitely would love to be in another Dustin Ferguson production one day,
and, hopefully I am able to work with Steve Sessions again in the near
future. Thank you for the interview, and I hope to continue acting in the
horror genre. Thanks
for the interview!
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