Debbie Rochon [Interview]

Welcome to Day 28 of Trainwreck’d Society’s Month of Horror Showcase. Every day during the month of October, we will have a horror related interview and/or film review for your fright-filled reading pleasure! The set up will be the same as usual, but the topics will be far more terrifying. Enjoy!

So we are pretty much going to breaking out the legendary figures for the rest of our Month of Horror series, if you hadn’t noticed. Yes, every single one of the folks we have talked with this month are legendary in their own right, but we are reaching all new levels this week! Especially today!

I have been attempting to steal some answers from the legendary Debbie Rochon for a lot of years now. But, Debbie is just about one of the busiest and hardest working people in the horror business you will ever know about. She seriously does SO much. In fact, Debbie has worked so hard that she is built a legendary cult status around herself so much that she pretty much can pick whatever she wants to do now!

And for regular readers of Trainwreck’d Society, it should be noted that Debbie has been involved with two parts of the horror world that we love so much, along with all of her other brilliant works. That would be a a couple of Steve Sessions flicks (there he is again!) and the tremendous Troma Studios. Two things that we not only have brought up a lot during our Month of Horror, but on the site in general. We love Steve! We love Troma! And how could we not love Debbie when she obviously knows talent when she sees it, and works with the best! So ladies and gentlemen, I can not tell you how excited I am to share this amazing interview with you fine folks today. Please enjoy some amazing words from the brilliant Debbie Rochon!

Just looking at your film credits alone, it appears as though you are one of the hardest working actresses in the game! You are just always working! What keeps you motivated? And what is your secret to the output of brilliance you are able to continuously put out?

Well most artist type folks go through many different inventions of themselves. I have gone from being a student of film to a blue collar actress to where I am now which is to only take roles that excite me. If you follow your inspiration it takes you down many very different paths. The one I am on now is simply doing what I feel really deeply about. I love extreme roles but I don’t like to repeat myself. With that said I do like characters with a lot of angst and inner turmoil. Those are roles that I feel a special relationship to and feel I can bring the most to.

You worked with our favorite indie horror filmmaker, Steve Sessions, on his debut film, Cremains, as well as appearing in his seminal indie classic Dead Clowns. What was it like working under the guise of a filmmaker like Steve? How does a Sessions film differ from other work you have done?

I love Steve and his work! Sincerely he is a one man band that does so much and has such an incredible sense of style and does it all with very little. How many people can say they made a movie almost completely by themselves and have it picked up by Lionsgate? He’s really a terrific guy. The first movie I did with him was Cremains of course and it involved me just recording the lines he sent me on a cassette tape in my apartment and then mailing the tape to him! Wasn’t possible to record directly (or indirectly very easily) on the computer back then so it had to literally be mailed to him. The second film Dead Clowns we shot in Connecticut and the joke I had with him on that set was the fact that my character only acted with body language not words. I joked with him that the 3rd film we’ll have to bring both the voice and the body together so we can surprise people. It was pretty funny!

You have also spent a great deal of time in the world of Troma Pictures, where many of our past guests have flourished as well. What is that world like? How has your time been working in the world that Lloyd built?

Lloyd is a very longtime friend. I met him in 1992 and worked with him consistently on and off over the years. He’s a really smart man. I started with Troma prior to the Tromeo & Juliet period so I saw the ‘second’ rise of Troma if you will, the first being The Toxic Avenger in the 80’s of course. He has been in the business long enough to see many waxes and wanes of popularity with his movie and company so now that he has a hit musical running in England I feel very happy for him. His ‘world’ of Troma and all that makes it fun is really unique.

The nicest thing about it, besides Lloyd himself, is the dedicated fans. They are so cool and supportive. Love them. Some of the actors over the years that I have worked with in his movies have ranged from becoming great life-long friends of mine to not very supportive of Troma past attention seekers wanting to milk the Troma universe for some fame. This doesn’t have an affect on me though I am very happy and content knowing Tromaville is always there and I love the people that I love in Lloyd’s world.

What is it to you personally that you find the most appealing about the world of horror? What do you believe sets it apart from other genres of film?

Everything sets it apart really. If you look at any great TV series that lives in the horror genre you can easily see that it affords the writers and filmmakers the ability to say anything, comment on anything, from within the universe of horror. From The Twilight Zone to Masters of Horror to American Horror Story to The Walking Dead. You can deal with racism, sexism, politics – whatever you want to say and it can fit easily into horror. That’s the big appeal to me. Then you have the visual horror which is glorious, of course because it’s not real. If you attempted to tell similar stories in a drama or comedy it would likely fall flat or come off melodramatic or as too much hand wringing. With horror it just makes it even better, richer and more layered.

What is your favorite scary movie?

That is almost impossible to answer but a couple titles that would be right up there are John Carpenter’s The Thing and Stanley Kubrick’s The Shining.

Do you have any plans for this coming Halloween? Any traditions you try to uphold each year?

I always have plans! Most Halloweens I am attending a convention, last year I was on the road most of the year promoting my directorial debut Model Hunger. This year I am doing a lot of writing and at night watching a ton of horror films both rewatching and seeing for the first time many great films. It’s a time to celebrate all the wonderful talent working in the industry! In front of the camera, behind the camera, people who write the scripts, compose the music and the editors all deserve great celebration from all of us. It’s not easy to get indie horror films done and out there at this point so there’s so much to be grateful for when they do!

What does the future hold for you? Anything you would like to plug to our readers?

Thank you, yes! I would love folks to watch Model Hunger, it’s my first film as director and I am very proud of it. A few movies I have acted in will soon be released although I have no exact release dates for them… Nightmare Box, Death House, and Fantasma and I am sincerely very proud of all 3 so I look forward to folks having a chance to check them out.

What was the last thing that made you smile?

This interview. Thank you for that. 🙂

Check out this trailer for Debbie Rochon’s directorial debut, Model Hunger: