Saturday, April 10, 2010

ALL ABOUT EVILThe Evening Class Interview With Noah Segan

I had a few conversations with Noah Segan during the shoot of All About Evil, wherein he plays the demented Adrian. At the time, Noah had produced and starred in Someone's Knocking At the Door and shared a screener. We talked about his performance in that film, along with one of my favorites—Deadgirl. Here are some thoughts Noah shared regarding his experience with All About Evil. [Not for the spoiler-wary!!]

* * *

Michael Guillén: How did you get pulled into All About Evil? Did you know Peaches beforehand?

Noah Segan: I'm very good friends with
Darren Stein, who is All About Evil's producer. He's also the director of Jawbreaker. As Darren and I were becoming pals—we met through mutual friends—we realized quickly that we'd like to work together. We'd been talking, running through various projects, and when this came on his radar and Peaches/Joshua started the casting process, it was an opportunity for Darren and I to work together and for Darren to help Peaches find his appropriate Adrian. The three of us got together and later I introduced Peaches to Tom Richmond, the cinematographer, who's an old friend of my family. Natasha Lyonne, of course, accepted the lead and the family just kept growing. It was originally through Darren but now at this point it just feels like one big family.

Guillén: How does it feel to be directed by someone who's in half-drag part of the time and full drag the rest of the time?

Segan: It feels great. It feels at home. This is a wild flick. This is an out there movie. My character Adrian particularly is an out there guy. Actually at the end of the film I end up in drag. There's a little bit of Mark David Chapman in my character. I want to kill to become. That's how I end up in drag because my character Adrian is so enamored with Deborah, Natasha's character, that I eventually want to be her. There's a lot of that even in my regular get-up. I have these fucked-up teeth and I'm this disgusting deviant guy. The same with Jack Donner who plays Mr. Twigs. The Twins. Everybody's wild and has their own style. So it's nice to have a director who has an aesthetic style. Know what I mean? Obviously, Joshua's only in drag when he's Peaches. He doesn't do it just for fun on set. But it is fun. It feels like it's an aesthetic collaboration. You're not just talking to somebody. You're thinking, "Well, that person's on the same team as me!" We're all a bunch of wild weirdos.

Guillén: I saw you dressed up in your drag and, pardon me, but you walked around like a drag queen looking for his horse. [Laughs.]

Segan: It's just my love of the western shining through, man. I'm a big fan of the western. But I have a newfound respect for women in high heels, I'll tell you what. It's been a challenge. I've done a lot of physical stuff in films ranging from getting my butt kicked to getting killed, being dismembered, but walking in high heels was a physical challenge! I've also gained a lot of respect for what women have to wear. I believe now that women are mostly cold all the time. I was freezing when I was wearing that dress! That's why I had the robe around me. It wasn't that I was bashful; I was freezing my ass off.

Guillén: I know you've been on the set of many genre films. By comparison to the many sets you've worked on, what is the set of All About Evil like?

Segan: The set? You mean the environment?

Guillén: Yes.

Segan: This is very much on the level of beyond the professionalism, competency and logistics of anything I've worked on. These people have it together. The mood on the set reflects the mood in the film. It's sardonic, absurd, and there's a lot of sarcasm, humor and irony floating around the set, even within the crew. Our production assistants, grips and electricians are all people who want to be here. We all understand that—though we're making a film that slots into the horror genre—it's a little deeper than your average horror movie, as well as silly and out there.

Cross-published on
Twitch.