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First of all, why don't you introduce yourself to those of us
unfortunate enough to not already know you?
Well, I’m Kelly Abbass. I’m a pin-up model, singer, and sometimes
actress. I live in Ontario Canada with my husband Steve Dilts and my cat
Cleopatra. You have
recently starred, as yourself, in the Italian zombie movie ChristmaZ
- so what can you tell us about that movie and your role in it? ChristmaZ
is a really cool Italian zombie/comedy/horror! It takes place at Christmas
during the beginning of a zombie apocalypse. Almost the entire movie was
filmed using iPhones with some Super 8 footage thrown in, and my part
filmed over the internet. The directors wanted to portray a worldwide
zombie apocalypse, so they came up with the idea of communicating over the
internet through chat, with someone facing the zombies across the ocean
– that’s where I came in. They came up with the idea of me being a
webcam model probably because I’m a model, although it might have been
because they wanted an excuse to see my boobs. LOL
As
you're playing yourself - how close is Kelly in ChristmaZ
to Kelly Abbass in real life? Similar, but there are
definite differences. For one, although I’m a model, I’m not a
‘webcam’ model, at least not in a working sense, LOL. I do my modeling
mainly for my website and magazines or books. I also think that Kelly in
the movie is much stronger and braver than me. I’m not sure if I could
keep the same composure or hack up zombies with a hatchet. However, we are
similar in that I feel I have the same compassion for others that’s
portrayed in the movie. I’m also a bit of a tease and a flirt like the ChristmaZ
Kelly. How did you get involved
with the project in the first place? And is the zombie genre a genre at
all dear to you? I was introduced to Giovanni Pianigiani [Giovanni
Pianigiani and Bruno Di Marcello interview - click here]
through the composer Marco Werba. Marco was working on the soundtrack for
Giovanni’s movie Darkness Surrounds Roberta. He found me on
MySpace through an old music profile I had on there, and he asked me to
sing for the soundtrack. It was actually done in a similar fashion as ChristmaZ. Marco sent me the bed tracks and I went into a studio here in
Canada to record the vocals. I sent the track to him in Italy and he mixed
it there. It’s funny, I’ve been in two Italian movies and I never left
my hometown. As far as the zombie genre being dear to me – truthfully,
horror movies of any kind scare me, so I don’t watch many. But I have
seen a few zombie movies that I’ve enjoyed, mainly because the heroes in
those movies really kill a hell of a lot of zombies! And it always takes
someone who is extremely brave or extremely crazy to save the day.
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ChristmaZ
was shot in Italy, yet your scenes were shot in your native Canada - so
how did that work out, and what was your collaboration with the movie's
directors Giovanni Pianigiani and Bruno Di Marcello [Giovanni
Pianigiani and Bruno Di Marcello interview - click here] like
under these special circumstances? I think we all thought
it was going to be much easier than it was. Gio and Bruno had software
that was supposed to film straight off of Skype. So we thought that we
would just chat and run through the scenes, and that would be it. We
agreed to chat the day before and get things set up, but when we tried to
film over chat, we discovered that the footage was unusable. Luckily my
husband is brilliant when it comes to this stuff... he said he would buy
me dinner if I said ‘brilliant’ in the interview. We got up early the
day of shooting and ran around buying cables and stuff, and then we came
home and he set up something I still don’t understand, but it worked. I
had Gio and Bruno on one computer chatting with me and we used another
computer to film with the webcam. I’d go through a section of a scene,
then Steve would upload the clip to the internet for Gio and Bruno to
watch. After they watched it, they would critique and direct, and then
I’d do it again and again until they got what they wanted. It was really
an amazing experience! What can you tell us
about the shoot as such?
Gio and Bruno were amazing to work
with! We shot this way for 12 hours straight, which meant that with the
time difference between Canada and Italy, they worked all night long. But
it didn’t seem like 12 hours – it was just a really great time! The
only thing that I didn’t like about me shooting in Canada while everyone
else was in Italy, was that I didn’t get to spend time with the rest of
the cast. They are all so amazing! I really feel privileged that they let
me be a part of the whole thing. There’s a lot of talent in ChristmaZ,
but they’re a great group of people as well. They’re my family across
the Ocean, and I hope some day I’ll have the opportunity work with them
in person. As far as I know, ChristmaZ
was your feature film debut - based on the experience, could you be
persuaded to shoot any more movies? And how would you describe yourself as
an actress? Plus, any other future projects you'd like to share? ChristmaZ
was the first to be released, but I actually worked on a Canadian film a
month before shooting ChristmaZ, but it’s still in post-production.
It’s called Jackie Boy and it’s a psychological thriller. I only
have a small role – I’m ‘Massage Girl #1’ – but I think they
manage to get my boobs in that one too. LOL I’d love to do more movies!
My modeling and singing have always taken priority, but acting is
something I’ve been interested in for most of my career. ChristmaZ
was
my first speaking role and thanks to Gio and Bruno making the experience
what it was, I’m definitely more interested than ever to go after more
roles. Maybe you should ask the rest of the cast of ChristmaZ
how they
would describe me as an actress – they’re the ones that had to put up
with my performance. I’m really comfortable being in front of the
camera, and when it comes to playing a role, I just try to be an actress.
When I step onto a photo set, I turn it on and do my job as a model.
That’s how I approach acting. I’m not a method actor or something like
that. I approach acting like modeling – it’s a performance. I had a
non-speaking role in Jackie Boy, so to me it was exactly like
modeling. I had to put a lot more work into ChristmaZ, and I discovered a
great respect for the rest of the cast. I haven’t any plans finalized
for future projects, but I have been talking with both Gio and Bruno about
certain projects, and I’ve also been given a script for a Canadian film
called A Tear In The Paper which I’m very interested in.
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Movies
aside, your main claim to fame is as a model, with a predilection for
artistic nudes. So what can you tell us about that aspect of your career,
and how did you get into that line of work? I actually
don’t do as much artistic nudes as I did at the start of my career. Most
of my work is more of a pin-up style. I shoot in sets of photos that start
out in different outfits and/or settings, and then do a slow strip tease
as the pictures progress. I find it much more exhilarating and I’m more
free to be myself and pose the way I choose. I also like telling stories
through the photos. In that way, it’s very similar to acting. Modeling
was a dream I had since I was really young, and originally I had started
out thinking I would like to be a fashion model. However, when I stopped
growing at 5 foot 4, I had to face the fact that I would never walk the
runway. It actually turned out to be a blessing, as I’ve found the
fashion industry to be quite brutal and regimented. I like to feel free to
express myself in my way. Anyway, I posted a photo on a modeling website
and things just sort of took off. Can you
still remember your first time naked in front of a camera, and what was
that experience like? I began receiving a whole lot of
offers, but most of them were for artistic work. Posing nude was not
something that I had ever considered – at that time, the only person who
had seen me naked was my future husband. I received an offer to do a
themed shoot – sort of a 1920s style with different outfits, but also
would include some nudes. I decided that I really wanted to do this, so I
went to the shoot. When it came time to shed my clothes – off they came,
and I haven’t looked back since. In the beginning I did mainly nude art
posing. I loved being naked in front of the camera. However, for that
modeling I didn’t get much say in the posing, and I liked the idea of
starting clothed and slowly revealing myself. That became my passion, and
I still love it more than a dozen years later.
What kind of photographers do you
look for for your shoots? I like photographers that are
open to collaborating with me. I try to avoid shooting with anyone that is
only interested in telling me what to do. I’ve worked with some
photographers who have their own vision, but they’ve been really good
about it and treat me with respect, so I’m more than happy to shoot with
them. But I won’t be bossed around or treated with any sort of
disrespect. I mainly shoot for my website now, so collaboration is
important. The photographers get great shots that they can use for
themselves, and I get content for my website. Everyone’s happy. Which is
what I like – fun, happy, relaxed photo shoots J Do talk about your website
www.kellyabbass.com
for a bit, and the philosophy behind it? It’s really just
a website to show off my modeling and to highlight some of the other
projects I work on, and a way for people to learn more about me. I started
it about nine (9) years ago because I had done so many shoots and had so
many photos, plus some videos, but only a few were being seen. It’s now
approaching 5000 photos and dozens of videos. It’s gone through
different incarnations to get where it is now. When I first started the
website it was more like other sites with a monthly membership fee etc.
However, now there is a one time fee for a lifetime membership. It helps
to offset the costs of running the site, and doing photo shoots and
videos. But I also have a free gallery and video each month to present
some of my work for anyone that is interested.
On your
website, one can also find quite an array of erotic video clips - do talk
about those for a bit, and what's shooting them usually like? At
one point I wanted to do sort of a video blog that let people see a little
more of my life, but I didn’t want to just shoot boring “this is my
life” videos. So, it became a bunch of short movies, with themes and
music – mini productions. I did one video per week for a year. I enjoyed
spending the first part of the week planning what I’d do, and then
usually have the video filmed and edited at the end of the week. It did
become very time consuming, but it was a very fun and creative year. Some
of the videos come from everyday life, like something as simple as taking
a candlelit bath, or coming home from work and changing into my pjs before
cooking dinner. Other videos are themed based on the season, like carving
a pumpkin at Halloween or decorating the Christmas tree. Some videos are
just for fun, like a game of strip poker or wearing a bikini and eating a
melting ice cream sandwich on a hot summer day. Every video has at least a
little naked fun, but that’s part of what I enjoy about making them. I
also did some behind the scenes videos of photo shoots I was working on at
the time. Even though I’m not doing a video a week at this point, I
still like the idea of making videos whenever time allows. I guess it ties
in with my desire to continue acting in other movies. You
of course also have to talk about your band Pristine for a bit, and
your style of music? My band is a labour of love. I’ve
been singing since I was a child. My mom is a wonderful singer, and she
was always playing piano and singing around the house and at church. She
was a real inspiration and I followed in her footsteps, singing in church
and school choirs, then eventually singing solo anytime I could.
Pristine |
It took a
long time for me to find my place and what I really wanted to do
musically, until I connected with my guitar player, Steph Dilts. I really
got into singing jazz and swing, and Steph was playing with more of a rock
and pop influence, but we were listening to very much the same music in a
wide array of genres. I remember the first time we played together – I
was wanting to record a song. I had heard her play and asked her if she
would be interested in playing with me on the recording. After that we
started playing some other songs together. Every time that we played a
rock song it ended up with a jazzy feel, and every time we played a jazz
song it had a pop sound. And when we wrote together, it was a Pristine
sound, lol. So, I guess our style is Pristine-jazzy-rock-pop. We recorded a
song and shot a video last year of our version of a Tom Petty song called
“Swingin’”. We called our version “Yer So Swingin’”, because
Steph sings and plays an intro to the song which is a portion of another
Tom Petty song called “Yer So Bad”. It was an amazing experience doing
the recording and the video, and I think we’ve both found our direction
musically, so we’ll have to see what we do next J
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Any other talents of yours I might
not be aware about? That’s probably the hardest question
you’ve asked so far. I’m thankful that people see some talent in all,
or some of the things I do. Let’s just say that I’m enjoying
everything that I’m doing artistically, and at this point I can’t see
myself moving in any other artistic direction. And honestly, I feel like
I’m already doing everything that I’m good at, and maybe a few things
I’m not so good at, lol. Actresses, models, pin-ups,
musicians, whoever else who inspire you? I’m always
finding new inspiration, but some names that I always go back to are
actresses Keira Knightley, Olga Kurylenko, and Marie Liljedahl; model
Bettie Page; and musicians Billie Holiday, Eva Cassidy, Adele, Ninet
Tayeb, Lzzy Hale, Heart, Nichole Nordeman. Your favourite
movies? I really enjoy movies, so the list could go on
forever! However, some of my all time favourites are Lie With Me, Snow
Falling On Cedars, Wanted, Casablanca,
It’s A Wonderful Life, Hitman, Domino, Pride &
Prejudice, The Assassin Next Door, Lord Of The Rings,
Never Let Me Go, The Princess Bride, City for Conquest,
Atonement, Edward
Scissorhands, V for
Vendetta, Love Actually, Tipping the Velvet, The
League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, Entrapment, Eternal Sunshine of the
Spotless Mind, A Knight’s Tale, Great Expectations, Garage
Days.
... and of course, films you really deplore?
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There’s
a certain style of horror movies that involves torture and mutilation.
It’s a little too much for me. I prefer a good scare over all-out gore. Your/your
movie's/your band's website, Facebook, whatever else?
www.facebook.com/kellyabbass
www.imdb.me/kellyabbass
www.twitter.com/kellyabbass
www.instagram.com/kellyabbass
www.facebook.com/ChristmaZmovie
www.facebook.com/thisispristine
www.facebook.com/FromDawnTilMidnight
Anything
else you are dying to mention and I have merely forgotten to ask? I
think you pretty much covered everything. Very good interview! Thank you
J Thanks
for the interview!
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amazon.com
amazon.co.uk
amazon.de
eThaiCD.com
find Kelly Abbass at adultvideouniverse.com
