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Rob Zombie’s Halloween: An interview with Scout Taylor-Compton

halloween-scoutAs if starring in a remake one of the greatest horror films ever made wasn’t a daunting enough task, imagine taking on an iconic role originated by Jamie Lee Curtis. In writer-director Rob Zombie’s Halloween (in theaters Aug. 31, 2007), that weight fell on the shoulders of 18-year-old Scout Taylor-Compton. Live-Metal.net caught up with her during the annual Horrorfind Weekend in Hunt Valley, Md., where she was both a celebrity guest and a fan picking up some memorabilia of her own.

Live-Metal: How was it working with Rob Zombie?

Scout Taylor-Compton: Horrible, horrible. [laughs] No, I’ve been a fan of his music and his movies and whatnot, and it’s kind of intimidating at first meeting him. And I first met him with Danielle [Harris]. Danielle was filming Dr. Phil, and she came over, and I met Rob and we were doing these scenes for my screen test, basically, with Danielle to land the role, and he’s so laidback. I felt so comfortable. Just meeting him one time, I felt so comfortable with him. And on set, he comes up and he’s wearing almost the same thing, tight pants, the big old boots, the vintage T-shirts, with his hair all ravaged with the hat’and he’s just like such a chill person. I enjoy working with him. I like directors that actually understand actors. So it’s pretty good. It was pretty nice.

How did you feel coming into the role, filling such big shoes as Jamie Lee Curtis?

I was scared as hell, actually. I got really intimidated at first. First, doing it, and finding out how fast it hit the media and finding out people comparing me to Jamie Lee Curtis. I was so scared. I think I turned to my family and I was like, “I don’t know if I can do this.” I was being compared to this icon, and I hadn’t even started shooting. So I was scared as hell, but going on set, Rob kind of calmed me down a little bit, and working with Danielle, and Rob saying, “You’re attached to this. You’re family now, and some people are gonna like you, some people aren’t.” So I just kind of let it go. You know, you kind of have to in this business. Everybody’s gonna compare you to somebody eventually.

[Scout stops at a vendor to buy a painting of Halloween co-star Malcolm McDowell.]

Did you become pretty close to Malcolm on Halloween?

Did you see Malcolm give me a big ol’ smooch?

No, when was that? A big ol’ smooch? In the movie?

No. Here. The first time Malcolm kissed me on the lips, I kind of was like, “Whoa, whoa!” But he did that every day. Kind of got used to it.

[laughter]

He’s a flirty little man. He’s a cutie.

There’s been a lot of criticism about the Halloween remake. All of the diehard fans are really worried. They’re really upset. What can you say to ease their minds that this is gonna be a worthy remake and a great movie to go see?

I think all I have to say is “Rob Zombie.” That’s all you’ve gotta say. You got Rob, you got Udo [Kier], you got Malcolm, you got Danielle!

You.

Me, hopefully everybody likes. I mean, you got all these classics. Sybil [Danning], you got Dee Wallace. They’re all in one. That’s something the original did not have. So I think it’s gonna be great. It’s gonna be the shit. Sorry. It’s gonna be great.

Do you do a lot of these conventions?

Actually, recently. But I’m growing to love them. I love interacting with the fans and doing this stuff. I did Comic Con and I did Fangoria, but those are panels, like I was with Rob and Tyler [Mane] and Sheri [Moon Zombie]. But actually sitting down and interacting with [the fans] I think is great. I hate just being away from everybody and they have so many questions that I can answer. I’m loving it.

Have you had any strange encounters with people at these things?

None I will mention, but yeah.

Is this one of them?

[laughter]

No, no. You guys are actually working with me. [laughs] No, I don’t know. I honestly went into this being scared. I didn’t know what to expect. I thought you guys were gonna be freakin’ weird as hell, but you guys are just like me. I love horror stuff, and I love all the skulls and stuff, so I feel like at home right now. I wish my boyfriend was here. He’d love this crap.

Your boyfriend, I’ve seen him on MySpace, Andy 6.

Yeah, his band, his little metal band.

What can you tell us about that?

He’s looking at some record labels right now, but he might be touring, I heard, in October.

What’s the name of the band?

Black Veil Brides is his band. It’s a little metal band.

So any news on a possible sequel?

You know, I know Malcolm signed on to a lot, and I know Tyler signed on to two. Rob told me that he wasn’t going to direct it, so I didn’t sign on for any. I’ve been approached about doing another one, but they’re waiting to see how well this does.

What’s your next project?

I have April Fool’s Day, the remake, in North Carolina, then I come back and do a couple other movies that I can’t really mention right now. So that’s it right now. But the premiere’s about to come, the press junket’s about to come and then the next day after the premiere, I leave on a red-eye to North Carolina. It should be pretty interesting.