Mercedes McNab

Whedonopolis: Hi, Mercedes. It’s nice to see you again, as we’ve met before.

Mercedes McNab: Yes, a couple of years ago now…

W: Tell us about your character in “Hatchet”.

MMN: My character’s name is Misty. She’s an opportunistic, very selfish girl who lives in L.A. and wants to be an actress, so she hooks up with the character Shapiro, who claims to be a producer and says he’ll help her start her career. And well, you know, that’s not quite the case! (laughs)

W: As it often happens. Any similarities between Misty and our old friend Harmony?

MMN: Well, I think they’re both pretty shallow, both are not the sharpest knives in the drawer, but other than that… You know, since I was with Harmony for eight years, she had a lot more arcs and when you only have an hour and a half to tell six people’s stories, you don’t quite get as much time as you can to perfect the character.

W: Fair enough. What do you think was Harmony’s fate when “Angel” ended?

MMN: It was left up in the air; the way Joss ended the show, with me running away with my tail between my legs like every other time was kind of her thing, you know, just keep repeating the same pattern as she always had.

W: What’s next for you?

MMN: I did three other movies after “Hatchet”, so they’re all in post-production, and they’ll all be out within the next year.

W: Very good. Thank you so much for talking to us.

Tony Todd

Whedonopolis: So, tell us a bit about your character in this movie.

Tony Todd: I play Reverend Zombie, and he’s an interesting person because the kids, upon arriving in New Orleans, are looking for a night of fun and want to do this “Swamp Tour Adventure”. They hear that I used to run this thing, they come to me and I tell them, “Don’t bother, don’t do it.” because I’m out of business. And that sets up the premise; of course, they do it anyway, getting involved with someone who’s a con artist, and that goes wrong, which sets it up for “Hatchet 2” when I’m gonna have to come out of retirement to go into the swamp to deal with the person who ruined my business in the first place.

W: Good! Was there a conscious decision to do mostly horror films or…? Because I have seen you in other things that were not horror, playing like a Senator or something like that…

TT: No, no, no. You know, actually, right now, I do about 40% horror work, which is not overwhelming. I’m on a TV series right now called “Chuck…”

W: Oh, my God! You’re in “Chuck” too? Cos we’re covering that tomorrow. (Adam Baldwin is in “Chuck”, as well.)

TT: Oh, yeah? Cool! It’s wonderful; I play the head of the CIA on that, so I’m blessed. I can play many different characters, thanks to my theater training.

W: Very good! Do you have any memories of your guest spot on “Angel”, in the episode “The Shroud of Rahmon”?

TT: I remember that it took 4.5 hours to put on the makeup! (laughs) I’ve done a bunch of prosthetics work; that was a tough one, because it took a long time. I just did “Masters of Horror” and that took 5.5 hours, because it was complete body paint. Started at 5AM being spray-painted in places that will never be seen on camera! I told them that! “You’ll never see these on camera! Why are we doing that?”

W: Er… cos?

TT: I get so irritated at certain people in this business, with their anal-retentive behavior… (deep sigh)

 

W: That happens sometimes. (Tony laughs) Can we talk a little bit about “Shadow Puppets”?

TT: Have you seen it?

W: Yes! I was there opening night.

TT: Oh, were you?

W: Yes, I was covering it for our site.

TT: Did we meet? Cos I was running late…

W: No, we saw you park the car…

TT: Around the corner? Wow!

W: Yeah, and then we went by you, and Michael (Winnick) talked to us…

TT: That little Nova that I had? Okay…

W: Yes, and Michael saw us go by and said, “I’m so glad you guys came!”

TT: Michael is a great guy, another good young director.

W: Can you tell us a bit about your experience shooting “Shadow Puppets”?

TT: You know what? I’ve been blessed in that I get to work with these great, young filmmakers who like my work and trust me and put me in their films and allow me to continue working out my craft. “Shadow Puppets” was a blast, because me and James Marsters really hit it off, and we were on the set together playing PSP, so you can do wireless PSP if you have the same program, and it was so cool!

W: He’s said that you ripped him off and stole his game from him.

TT: (surprised) Did he say that?

W: Yes, he did say that. Care to comment?

TT: (walks away, then comes back) Let’s get this straight, OK? I told James to go out and get a fighting game. He refused to do that. Yes, he loaned me a game. And no, he hasn’t gotten it back, yet. But he will. M’kay?

W: Oh, okay. Well, that settles that.

TT: When did you talk to him?

W: Actually, he mentioned it at Fangoria’s Weekend of Horrors in Jersey a few weeks ago.

TT: Oh, he did? He said it in print?

W: He said it to me, actually, because I asked a question about “Shadow Puppets” in the panel, and now it’s reported on our site.

TT: Oh, okay, then, excellent! I love James. He should be big enough that the games people are sending him the games. Tell him I said that! “Use your dues, dude!” (laughs)

W: I will. Thank you very much for talking to us.