R2R Ep. 8 - How to be a stand in with Theresa Donahoe

Welcome to Real to Real with Michelle and Peter. Welcome back everybody. Today we have with us Teresa Donahoe and she's got a really interesting stance on one of my favorite movies. We're going to get into in a little bit, but Teresa high and thank you for joining us. Hello, thank you for having me. Absolutely. Do you want to start by just filling us in about yourself a little bit before we get into the good goods? My name is Teresa Donahoe. I'm from the San Francisco Bay area. I grew up here and I still live here and I'm a Bay Area actress. I'm a Bay Area actress. And all around creative person who happened to work on a very special movie. Definitely. And I'm just going to say it right now. You worked on screen from the 90s, the very first one in 96. And I was like, well, I mean, we didn't know it at the time. Right. Right. No, I mean, I didn't, when I went to see it, I didn't even know it at the time. I kind of fell into go scene it because what I went to see I didn't want to see once we got in there. And my friend and I was like, we're like, let's just go see what else starts like right about now. And we hopped over like three theaters down. What is this? And it was Drew and I, I've been hooked since so that is such a great story. I love that you stumbled upon it. I stumbled upon it. We went to go see like Beavis and but had to America. And I walked in and I just looked at her. I'm like, we cannot sit through this. So off we went. And I mean, really, it's like that's like that's how my history and my love of it began. And it, my jaw was just like, because it did it just reinvigorated like horror for me. And it made it fun, which made it fun for a younger audience, I think, where you want to introduce them to like horror, but not really creep them out too much because it's not just slash or slash or like a lot of like a lot of comedy in it. I think I mean, Jamie Kennedy, I mean, Matthew Lillard, I mean, they're both just a sterical guys. So I mean, yes. Oh, so what I was going to say is that when you said a lot of comedy in it. So when we were filming it on set before the internet, figured, 96. So the Hollywood Reporter was the trade that listed all the movies that were filming and on the back pages, it listed. Movies and development, you know, movie screaming, screaming filming. And it said at the time it was listed as scary movie and it was listed as comedy slash horror. That was the genre it was under. And it felt like it really did. I've never heard that before. Has that happened before? I don't think so because all the other movies were like drama, comedy, you know, one thing or the other comedy slash horror. It's a great combination. Like it really, the science of it worked so well. Like I again, it's one, it is one of the go to movies for me. Like I don't tire of it. I love the soundtrack. I love the cast. I love. I love everything about it. It's interesting because it's a slash your movie, but it's not at the same time. It's the best thing. Okay. My friend Anthony and I talk about this all the time all the time. All we really do. It's crazy. But the nice thing about this franchise is, look, you have your five thirteenth word. It's always Jason. You have Halloween words always Michael with scream. It's always someone else. It's always ghost face. It's ghost face, but it's that Scooby-Doo mystery of who's behind the mask. Like you're red haired exactly who makes it dad in the first movie. He was a red haired. But no, like it's just fun because you're really especially after seeing the first one and going into the next four now. You're really trying to guess who's under that mask to begin with. So it is kind of a who done it. So I don't neck exactly know what the definition of a slasher movie is as come as opposed to just a scary movie. I do know that it was kept getting an NC 17 rating. So they had to keep cutting it all of the gory stuff to get it to a rated R. So it was definitely slasher in the beginning. Wow. I feel like I just say anytime there's a knife involved. There's a slasher. He does. He's not really big in the horror. Is that wrong? No, I mean, no. All right. No, no, you're not wrong. Or if a person is slash because what and I know you did last summer there was a fish. I expect fish. Well, what would that be considered that slasher? Cause it's still one. It would be a hooker. I was gonna say swiper. Swiper. Still still doing that motion with like swiping with a bladed pointy metal thing. Yeah, cause I'm really a blade on the ice pick hook fish. I don't even know what that is. But it's not a knife. It's not a knife. Now Teresa, tell us what you did on set there because you had a very interesting role in the production of it. And I think everybody be fascinated to hear what you did. So I was a stand in for Neve Campbell. And a stand in is actually part of the crew where our behind the scenes were not in the movie. Unless we are doing photo double work, which means they might use us our hands. You know, or or film from behind with the wig on. You know, we do that too if they need us to do that. But my main job was a stand in and a stand in. Works with the lighting crew and the camera crew. And we literally stand there while they're setting up a shot because a lot of people don't know that in order to light a room or set up a shot, it could take up to an hour just to light a room. So rather have the actor stand there. They could be learning their lines. They could be getting their hair and makeup done. So they have somebody with a similar, you know, height, build, a complexion. And they would stand there like if there's a scene in the kitchen that I would stand there and Neve would be getting her hair and makeup done and I would be, you know, they'd be lighting the room and putting a light meter in my face. And then if there's blocking like chase scenes with a steady cam camera, right. So the camera will follow you. So there was a scene where the Neve is running around the house. And the stand in will do that first with the camera and the camera man will follow me and then I would run and I would touch all the parts that she touched. And it's just a rehearsal for the camera, basically, with someone who's of a similar height and build and then they mark on the ground where she needs to stop. Right. Then they do that with me. They say, okay, stop right there. And then Neve comes in and she sees her marks that we've run with the stand and has done with the camera crew. Now filming filming that movie, when did that run like the filming of that ran from what to what? So my first day of filming, I start I picked up filming the second week, the first week. I think the first day might have been mid April. I can't remember if my first day was mid April, but so Drew did all of her scenes, the very first week of filming in April. And then we wrapped in June. So April 96 to June 96. And you were there every day once you started. I was there every day except one day. That might have been the video scene. I had one day off. And I remember the casting office called me before we started filming and this never happens, by the way. They called me and they said, these are the days that you're working and this is the day you have off. Usually when you work on a movie, you never know what days you're going to have off because you always go over. You know, film, always go over and then you know, you just keep going. That was the most organized movie set I've ever been on that they stuck to their call times. I mean, it's because the assistant director was so organized. And because I think it was a lower budget movie, they couldn't afford to go over. They did go over one week of filming towards the end. So we actually had our rap party before we wrapped. Yeah. So we had it because that's how we had planned it out. And we had a rap party in Santa Rosa. And it was great rap party, best rap party. I've ever been to since. But then we had to go back to set. So it was a little weird. Now with the rap party was that your crew and cast or just crew and cast that different party. Did you get to mingle? Right. For the rap party everybody was there casting crew. Beautiful. So that was great. Yeah. We also had, and this has never happened since before production even started. We had a pre-party, a pre-production, wine tasting get together at a winery. And I think it was a cinema. Yeah. And they casting called me and said, you were invited to this. you know, wine tasting, you know, get together, I guess to get to know the crew or whatever. So that was before filming started and that's where I actually saw who Wes Craven was was at the winery. And that was before filming started, but that was all crew. There were no actors there. And I think I don't know, that might have been a week before filming. I'm not really sure, but that never happens. Now, did you get to work at all one-on-one with Wes? So I mainly work with the camera crew, but there were a couple of times when I was doing photo double work where there's the scene where Neve is running up the stairs because the ghost face is chasing her. And then she slams the door, her bedroom door. It's so quick, you never know, but it's my hand that closes the door. I was very nice. So, but Wes had to direct me on that. We just hilarious, but he said, okay, I was, so we had worked a 12-hour day and so Neve had to wrap because you can't have the actor go over 12 hours in the contract. So I was practically half a sleep downstairs in the house waiting for Neve to wrap. So I could wrap. And instead I heard Teresa put on Neve sweater and come upstairs. So I went upstairs and they said, okay, we need for you to shut this door. I'm like one minute, I'm half asleep. And the next minute Wes Craven is telling me action. And I was so nervous. Just to shut a door. I've heard he was nothing but a gentleman though. Like I heard he was such a nice man in every interview that I've listened to about him. And even like the little vignettes that I've watched, he just seemed so down to earth and just like fun. Yeah, he super mellow, you know, because I got another movie sets after screen and not all directors are that mellow. So and he was just very, you know, very even tempered. And then and he would only do like two or three takes and then move on. You know, some directors, you they'll want to do 20 takes. But he would just, he would do, okay, that's good. Let's do it again. One more for safety. And then we moved on, you know, and it's probably like we only have so much money. Yeah, for sure. But he knows what he wants. And the script was so tight and it was cast so well that he could do that, you know, two, three takes. Let's move on. He was always even tempered. He never raised his voice. And got along great with the assistant director, Nick, Mastin, Drea. I don't know if I'm pronouncing his name right. They were just like a great team. And so it was just it was a well oiled machine. I'll say that now. Was that the first time you ever did anything like that? Was that your first experience? Scream was the first movie I ever did stand and work on. I had just the only thing I'd done before that was I was an extra like in a couple of movies. And that was it. So it's still fun though. Like that's fun. I feel like I went to film school. Like, you know, because I was there from pretty much the beginning all the way to rap. I feel like I had graduated. Yeah. When I got off that set, like how movie works? What people's jobs are, you know, I mean, everything that goes into it. I just I felt like I just yeah, I felt like I went to film school. It was just such a educational experience because I was so naive and green when I stepped on set. I didn't know what I was doing. And then by the end I was like, I got this. You are paid intern. Yeah. Big time. Hey to Prentice. Now you say you said you still act currently? Correct. What do you what do you do now? Like is there anything we can see when or is it all like theater where unless you're where you are, we're not going to catch you. Yeah. I'm maybe just theater now. Okay. And Sam's just go to the area. I'm working on a one woman show right now. Oh wow. Yeah. And it's autobiographical or semi autobiographical. And you're right. Most of my dates are in the San Francisco Bay Area. So like I have a performance coming up next week. Just an excerpt of my show. But then my entire show is 60 minutes. And I'll do the entire show in Marin County. And then I'll do it again in San Francisco in May. But yeah, everything is in the Bay Area. That's amazing though. Congratulations on that for sure. Thank you. Any plans to film it and put it out or keep it strictly live in person? Right now. Yeah. It's weird. Filming theater for me is weird. Because you just don't get the energy. But you know, it would be it would be better to adapt it to a film where you can get proper sound and coverage that when people film live performance for me, it kind of saps the energy from unless you're actually there. So I mean, lots of people film their performances because it's good to have that tape. And you can show people. This is what I can do. So and I do I have one recording of my show. I performed it in Fresno at a French festival and someone recorded the whole thing. So I have the tape of it. That's kind of fun though. Did you like watching it? No, I can't stand watching myself. Yeah. Yeah. Lots of actors don't we don't like watching ourselves. Some do. Good for them. And it's hard because you really learn a lot by watching yourself. So I have to make myself watch myself. But it's very painful. I'm just like, oh, my gosh. That's crazy. Um, I was just going to say. So screen wraps. And then do you get a call back for Scream 2 or had you, I want to say apply auditioned for Scream 2 or were you just doing other things at that point? So yeah, so Scream wraps and then and then you know, it was this hit. There wasn't any talks at the time after it wrapped about doing a sequel that I heard, but I mean, who am I? No one's going to tell me anything. But but then I heard as it, you know, it became a sleeper hit or whatever that there would be a sequel. And then I found out about the sequel, but it was filming in LA. And I'm in the Bay Area. So I was like, wow. I you know, like I submitted the casting, but it's such a long shot. It's like, why would they, you know, pick me or whatever. So I didn't really push that because I didn't, you know, I wasn't in LA. So, but you know, I just, you know, kept tabs on it, but it's fine. I know that when we spoke before, you said that you actually worked with Nev one other time after Scream. Oh, right. So so she was on a TV show called Party of Five. And so we wrapped Scream and then the casting office called me and said, we want to know if you want to stand in for her for a week on the TV show Party of Five in San Francisco, because Party of Five shot their exteriors in San Francisco and the rest of the and their interiors in LA. So they were only in San Francisco for a week and they would shoot all their exteriors for the entire season. Oh wow. Yeah. So they were running around and television. So that I had a bit of a culture shock because feature film, the pace is slower than television. So I say, sure, of course. And so I, I show up to set a Party of Five. And it's like, quick, we need you now. We need you now. We need you now. I was like, whoa. It was like so fast. And so that was a real culture shock for me. But yeah, I stood in for her on Party of Five. And I was standing there and she saw me and then she said, did you work on Scream? And it took me a minute to just think about what she was asking me because they had just changed the name of the movie. And I was going to be scary movie. Yeah. Because it hadn't come out yet. And she said, oh, did you work on Scream? And Scream was like, it got renamed like halfway through filming and I just still wasn't used to it. So when she said that to me, it took me a minute. I was like, oh, yes. And part of reason why she asked me was she said, I didn't know that I didn't know if it was you or not. But then I saw the pants. So she had worn these pants on set for the Party scene. And I bought a pair. After we had wrapped, they had like sometimes after a movie wraps, they have a big ol' garage sale, right? You know, we must sell everything. So word job was like, I'll sell these a pair of pants to you cheap. So the price tag on the pants that she had worn for the Party scene, it was like over $100 and they sold it to me for 20 bucks. Perfect. Love that. I called it, I called them my Nev pants. So I wore my Nev pants on Party 5. And then she saw the pants and then she said, oh, you worked on Scream. That's so much fun though. It's like you guys connected. Over the pants. Which is great though. You know, because that scene, you know, seeing people die people live, I mean, it just went forever. So she was in those pants. We're very long time. For sure she was. Now, did you get to watch all of the filming or were you, you wished away somewhere else once your part was done until they needed you again? It's both and it depends on if there's room for everybody to watch. Some, if there's a lot of room, you can gather around and watch or look through the monitor. If it's a tight space, you have to step out. So it just depends. So the house was so big for a stew's Party scene that you could pretty much watch everything. You know, because it's a big house. Or you could look through a monitor. But if there was scenes out of a tighter space, I'd have to step outside and just listen for when they would need me again. Did you get to buddy up with anybody on set that was actually in the movie? Because I know that you also said that it's not necessarily something where. What did you call the second team? I mean, I really interfaced with the first team a lot, but did you get to like, be buddies with anybody? Yeah, interface. Well, I didn't like become like, you know, besties with anybody. I mean, the person I became the most friends with was the stand in for Courtney Cox. Her name is Jolie Nordstrom. I mean, her were like, we were thick as thieves. We're still friends. Oh, perfect. So me and her kept in touch. But you know, I mean, not really. You know, the actors are, you know, they're busy, you know, rehearsing or whatever. So there wasn't a lot of crossover. And I don't even really know who hung out with who among the actors, to be honest. Like, I don't know who paired up or I mean, both besides, you know, Courtney and David. But that was kind of on the down low until the paparazzi caught them. And then I was like, I'm not sure if I'm going to be able to do that. Because there was a picture of them. I guess they were like flirting in a restaurant in San Rosa. And then pop brought to you got a photo of it. And then that article kind of went around set. What's going on guys. Now have you watched all of the movies or just the first one? Like were you a fan of the first film after seeing it? So I, so here's a funny story. And it comes out and in my neighborhood. So I live in the Bay Area, but the East Bay. And there was it was it filmed limited. It was like limited release at first. And it was in this like, I don't know what you call it. Like a second run theater where the movies are cheaper. And I think I pay two dollars. Wow. Yeah. And so it was, it's, I went, it was called the Capri theater and conquered. And it's there anymore. And there wasn't like anybody there. So I paid my two dollars or whatever. And I went in and there wasn't hardly anyone in the theater. I sat in the back. By myself. Because I wanted to go by myself so that I don't have a conversation in the buddy. And with the exception of the first scene, which I was so scared, because I didn't work that week. I laugh the whole movie. Because I was laughing. I was like, oh, I remember that day. And it wasn't scary for me at all. You know, because I knew it was going to happen. But I thought it was like so funny and so entertaining. And I was like, oh, this turned out great. Yeah. And then it started picking up all this steam. And then my friends found out about it. And then they loved it. And then they were like, we want to see the movie with you. You know, so then I kept going back to the theater with my friends who wanted to see it with me. You know, and it just sort of snowballed from there. And then I was like, you know, I loved one. And I, yeah, I've seen all of them since I think people always say this is my favorite. That's my favorite. I feel like for me, one is my favorite. And then I really like for. For some reason. And I don't remember why. Because I've seen them all in the theater once the rest of except for one. And so that was my like I saw two and I liked it. Saw three. I liked it. Saw four. I went, ooh. I can't even tell you why I just remember really liking four. And then I had a shot. She was crazy. Her. I don't know. I thought I was really clever. And then I just streamed five, like not too long ago. And I thought that they did that really well too. I thought that that that might be my third favorite. Yeah. I mean, I really I. I enjoyed it. Personally. This one. I think it's like, he has this thing where he likes to pluck things out that are unrealistic in movies. Say something. Go ahead. I know you want to. I appreciate what is suspension of suspension of disbelief. I'm not saying it right. But. Do you want help me? I need to get there. Fair. But I don't know what it was. Actually, we watched it. We watched with Andy though. We watched it. We watched it. We watched it. We watched it. So my brother is a nurse. And he. He brought up some. Some issues with the satin. The hospital itself. You know, where we're all the nurses. Where all the lights off. Where all the patients. It's a very empty hospital. It is. Now I went opening day. And I saw it all by myself. I went to the first show of the day. I'm like, I'm going. So I was going with my friends, but he was sick. I'm like, I'm going to be a nurse. I'm going to be a nurse. Yeah, fair. I mean, we're all over the place. I'm definitely more horror than anything, but and you're more probably not horror. Yeah, he's more not horror than me. But I mean, we both like comedy. We both like action, but I think action is like a different genre than it used to be. Yeah, there's subgenres for action because I feel like when I think action movie now, it's like a Marvel movie. It's a comic book movie is action to me now rather than back when it was like, you know, your Arnold Schwarzenegger, your Jean-Claude Van Dam and your Sylvester Sylvester and Bruce Willis, like those were your action guys. And now you've got like Captain America, you've got Iron Man. Like those are those are the action movies now in my head. Big muscles and a machine gun essentially. I have a question for it. When did you know you wanted to start getting into the film industry and movies and whatnot? When I was a little girl, it sounds so cliche. I mean, I, you know, I was in a school play in the second grade and then I copped the buzz or whatever. And so then I did theater in school and, you know, took acting classes took acting classes in college. And then in my 20s, I started taking film acting classes. So, and that was just to see what it was all about, you know, I, at the time I wasn't like, oh, I'd rather do film than theater. That's not really true, but trying to branch out. And so I signed up with the local casting office in San Francisco, film TV casting. And, you know, they call you up to do extra work or whatever. And then I got a call. And then I got a call from a couple of days back in the day to interview. I had to interview to be a stand in. Really on screen, which doesn't always happen. It probably usually doesn't happen. But, um, yeah, they wanted people to interview. And I wasn't a play at the time, but I didn't have a big part. And I had an interview to be a stand in on a Sunday when I should have been in a matinee of this play that I was. And then I had to do other actors to take my spot. And I didn't tell the director. I would never do that now, but I had such a small role. And I said, hey, can you act my part? I got an interview for this job in Santa Rosa. And then I drove up to Santa Rosa to interview. And they said it was just between me and one other girl. And I showed up. And I, uh, to the casting office. I had a production office in Santa Rosa, and I handed them my head shot. And they said, and I said, hi, I'm here to interview to be a stand in for me. And they were like, it's now. I'm like, oh. After a bad start. I know this isn't good. But, um, and that, you know, do you know, do you know what a stand in does? And I said, yes, simple, blah, blah. And then, um, they actually had a head shot of Rose there. And Rose had dark hair. And they said, well, she's going to dye her hair blonde for the part. And, you know, and they had that different head shots, the different actors, and then, you know, they had a picture of Neve. And then, you know, we just chatted and that was that. And then, um, I, you know, went home and then, you know, the director of the play grilled me for, uh, the leaf thing. But then I got a call from the casting office saying that, you know, I got the job. So that's awesome. That's very cool. Like, was it a structured interview or was it just besides the, do you know what a stand in does? Like did they have like questions prepared that's like they were like, so Teresa. I, you know, I barely remember. I remember it was, I think it was the two, a second A.D.s, um, Dan and loose. I think they were their names. I think they were the ones that were interviewing me. And I just, I just remember, like, do you know what a stand in is? You're available, confirming your availability. They might have asked me if I was willing to cut my hair, you know, you want to look like the actors much as possible. Oh, then they asked like, um, you have accommodations, right? So that we know, because there was a lot of night shoots. And they didn't want us driving home after, you know, too far away. That we'd fall asleep at the will. Yeah. So it was questions like that, you know, you have somewhere to stay, you know, I think, you know, if memory serves. So. That's fair. Did you get to bring any props home besides those pants that you bought? Wow. I'm curious. I'm curious. I can't help it. Oh, I don't think I did. Nothing. Oh, my gosh. Well, I saved a lot of my call sheets. Yeah. And I love those and the pants. Oh, wow. I don't think I did. I was so tired. You know, you worked all these 12 hour days. Everything was just a big blur and it took me about two weeks for me to recover. Because I was just going and going and going all the time. So sometimes you're not thinking straight because that's a grind. I can imagine. Yeah. Yeah, you weren't sneaking away like one of the couch pillows under your shirt when you were leaving to you next time. No, no, no. Seriously, because you were technically crew did, did you end up doing any other things to help out around set or you strictly stand in and just waited for them to say stand in. Well, yeah, we mostly, yeah, it was mostly standing and photo double work. Sometimes we were extras like there's a scene where it's going to be curfew, right? And it's curfew in the downtown and businesses are closing their shops and there's a scene where do these Jeep drives by I'm in the backseat. It's not. But it's so far away. You wouldn't be able to tell except for my friends are like that's you. But it's so far away, you know, stuff like that. I mean, you're in the movie. I take my hands are in the hands. And mostly, um, Deborah Alexander, who was the stand in for, um, for Rose, her hands are all all over the movie because since Rose's character dies kind of early. Um, Deborah had all this time on her hands. And so they had her do all this photo double work using her hands for all the scenes or most of the scenes. The Jew Barrymore shots where Jew Barrymore unplugged, you know, a plug out of the wall socket. That's Deborah's hand. Oh, well, um, or where Rose is dropping to her knees throwing beer bottles at the ghost in the garage. That's Deborah Deborah was dropping to her knees. And throwing beer bottles and she got stunt pay for that she actually got upgraded. Oh, thanks. Yeah, because this because we were technically non-union because we're filming outside the union zone, the stand and the stunt coordinator saw that Deborah kept dropping to her knees. Throwing beer bottles and he was like, that's a stunt and we need to pay her for it. And so she got bumped to she got to tap heartly. Uh, on that movie, so that means that she could become union issue wanted to be so, so, so yeah, so Rose a stand and did a lot of photo double work. So they'll do that sometimes. I was just I was curious about that because you figure, um, the stunt doubles, you want them to look similar to the actors too. So, I guess I understand why you have a stunt double and a stand in and not just have the one person do the same thing or is there just that much work that needs to be done in time constraints, you would have two separate people. Yeah, well, they the pay is different. So stunt doubles man, they do, they do, you know, a lot. And so, you know, they have to be certified or whatever. And I guess I guess you could have this the stunt double do stand and work. I'm not sure why they don't do that. Maybe that's it. They're just too expensive to use for stuff that's not. They're like, no, we have to pay them, we have to pay them at that rate. Yeah, I stumped up, so I'm sure you get paid more than stand and to do so they're like, no, unless there's a stunt. No, it's a pay at the time was, I think stunt doubles made more and then stand and then photo doubles and then extras. I think that was how it went. And it's made a certain amount of money, then well, we're already there. You might as well use us for photo double in for extras. You said it was outside the union zone. Is that like location zone or I don't understand what that meant. Right. So San Francisco has a union office. So if you film over 50 miles outside of the union office, you can you no longer have to pay union wages for the extras and the standings. You can feel cheaper. So they found a location outside the union zone Santa Rosa over 50 miles so that the standings and the extras could be paid non union. Yeah. So we were paid a non union wage, but the actors are paid union because they have contracts, but we don't have contracts. So I was non union. I was technically non union on that set. I mean, that's smart for the business, but also kind of awful for for the. It's just a way to save money. Right. Yeah. Like go into the grocery store with coupons. If you have them use them, I got it. Yeah, but you're talking about like people. I don't know what. I'm just saying, you've got to cut. No, again, I totally get it from a business standpoint, but you at the same time for the standings. You know what? That was probably the only one that had non union background because if scream to a civil now, a that's union. And I don't know about Georgia. I don't know what Georgia's union rules are and where they filmed on location in Georgia for, you know, three, I think. I don't know how that works or. And then they were in North Carolina, right. I think so. I feel like everything's filmed in North Carolina now though. Really? A lot of TV, a lot of movie stuff. And I don't know the Indian rules for North Carolina. I don't know how it works, you know. But yeah, that's usually, you know, wherever it's the cheapest to film. That makes sense. Yeah. That's logistically possible. Yeah. So, Jason, I'm curious, you've got, you're doing the one woman show. Can you tell us a little bit about that and how that came about? Oh, okay, sure. It's not scary. All right, nevermind. It's autobiographical. I started doing, I started doing solo performance in technically 2013. I did like a 10 minute, just 10 minutes, a bit comedy about like, you know, being a cat person, you know, silly stuff. And then I started taking classes on solo performance and then I started doing more serious pieces. And I was always doing like 20 minute pieces short and sweet. And this is my second full length 60 minute solo show. This show is called Born Again and Berkeley. It's actually about beat. This is like, this is not all about scary movies at all. This is about being a Christian and Berkeley. And Berkeley is very liberal. And I'm not not liberal, you know, but there's a stereotype people have on their heads of when you hear Christian people think, oh, she's a Christian, she's, you know, they have. Yeah, they're conservative. So this is about me being a person of faith in Berkeley. And the culture shock I had when I kind of moved over to the Berkeley area because where I grew up was just a half hour away from Berkeley, but a whole other world, you know, a small town for Bay Area. Uh, by Bay Area standards, I grew up in a one high school one zip code town called Martinez where everybody knows everybody. And it was probably like, you know, 60% Democrats, 40% Republicans. And then I moved over to the Berkeley area. And it was like 99.9 Democrats. And the culture shock that I had that if I said I was a person of faith, there was this look like there's something wrong with me. So it's about that. Very interesting. So you you've written this yourself, like if you had anybody help you. Right. So I take a solo performance class at this theater called the marsh. The marsh theater, there's two locations, one in San Francisco, one in Berkeley. And I take classes at the Berkeley location and the teacher, we have a teacher who helps with script development. And so you write something and then he gives you feedback and that's how you get your scripts done. Oh, beautiful. Yeah. So every week I'd say, okay, how about this? And then he'd give notes and then that I would write a script that way through him. And I would, I've taken lots of, I've been taking classes with him for years, names David Ford and he's just this amazing, amazing person in regards to script development, just really intuitive and gets gets the good stuff out of you. Now I'm like, I don't know how anybody can write a script by themselves. I need help. Now do you have an agent or a publicist that helps you look for roles or things you want to do or is it something where you've really just kind of took the helmet done your own, your own like stomping ground. Like I wanted to their open casting call for this. I'm going to go and do it. I don't have an agent when I was younger, I had an agent, but you know, agents haven't really helped me a lot. And I don't know if it's because the San Francisco Bay area is a very commercial town. And so they have a very specific look in their head of what they want you to look like looks matter a lot. And I guess I didn't look like I could sell milk or whatever. And so I've never had really a lot of lock with agents. So I just kind of, I just kind of gave up on them. But the plus side of that is the few times that I've gotten really good paying jobs. The checks have been mailed straight to me. And the full doesn't get their cut because they're not representing me. I got the job myself. So that's awesome. That's the plus side of not having an agent. It is hard to define works sometimes. But if you find it, you keep all the money. That's beautiful. I'm just stuck on the next time I see a commercial for milk. I'm just going to shake my head. Now I wouldn't buy milk from that person. I just don't have the commercial look. I guess. That's funny. Now. Have you thought about writing any movies yourself? Well, rip like full, like full length feature kind of thing. And my head, you know, I love to write. I'm always coming up with ideas to write. But I've been so focused on this show that I'm doing right now that I haven't so much. But I have a friend who's written a full length feature and he's written a lot of shorts. And I got an idea in my head for a film and I started the script. As so many of us do. And then I kind of trailed off. I do have an idea in my head. And here's the crazy thing. It's a little creepy. And that's so loud. People know it. It's everybody. We just don't know it. I guess I'm like, where is this kind of scary idea coming from? This is not who I am. But I'm like, oh my gosh, I have this really weird idea. So I started a script, but I haven't gotten very far. Will it be funny to though? I hope so. And you know, when you write it, you write it with an actor in mind. And I have this actor in my head. I'll just say it. She was in Ozark. I don't know if you ever seen the show Ozark. We saw the first season. Yeah. Okay. First season. Good. She's in the first season. And she is the actress who runs the blue cat. The first thing. I think it's the bar. Right. I forget. Anyway, I'm forgetting who she is. I'm sorry, but I just have her stuck in my brain. And I started writing this story with her in mind. I don't know why some people you just need to mull sometimes to get the story going. So did I haven't gotten that far? Well, we definitely if you do we definitely want to know about it because we just love new things coming out anyway. I appreciate someone that like tries their hand at it. And I mean, like we've talked to a lot of like independent filmmakers. And I just think it's so great that like they just have so much passion and drive and they just. They're making these things come to life. And it's just like wow. So you're so motivated. It's like when you sleep. Well, that's the question though. And you finish it. Would you just try to sell it or would you try to go the indie route and make it yourself? Definitely try to go the indie route. I have a friend who helps. Who helps struggling filmmakers to get it done. Beautiful. It's what he does. He runs a nonprofit called Brave Maker where he likes to partner. Brave maker dot org. I think that's right. Where he likes to partner with struggling filmmakers to help get their movie done. That's beautiful. What's his name? Tony Gapastoni. That's a wonderful last name. Gapastoni. Good Irish heritage there. Yeah. Yeah. So no, he would be the guy. I mean, he's the he's the cheerleader. He's like, how how are you going with that script? How's it going? Let's shoot it. You know, I mean, that's awesome. I want to be the one on your team. So I would definitely, I ever get the script done. I want to go through him for sure. And you said right now you're currently performing the, the show. How long do you see that running for? So I'll have a performance a week from Monday and Berkeley, but that's just an excerpt. That's just a little short, a little 15 minute. It's a class performance. So it's everybody in my class. I'm doing about 15 minutes. Oh, okay. So it's a showcase basically. So that's just like you get a little taste, you get a little teaser. So that's that's Monday, the 18th and Berkeley. Okay. And then I'll do the whole entire show in Marin on April 30, which is a Saturday at a place called the quest in Novato. And that's a church. It's a liberal church called the quest in Novato. So I'll perform the whole 60 minutes on a Saturday night, April 30th. And then I'll perform the whole entire show again in San Francisco at a theater called stage works on Thursday, May 26th. Wow. Those and those are the ones, those are the like dates I have so far. I mean, we'll see after that. Awesome. So that's just so much fun that you're just, are you nervous at all? Are you nervous? Yeah, you know, I always get nervous. But I might, I guess my concern is, I hope I do the show justice. You know, I hope I'm sincere and I'm honest in my performance and, you know, you know, I, yeah, I perform in front of people for a long time. So I, not so much that I get nervous about performing front of people is that I want to do the show well. Is it easier when it's your work, your writing, your story? I think it's harder because you're more vulnerable. Yeah, it's easier for me to perform somebody else's writing. I'm not telling on myself. You know, so the first time I perform my own writing was in 2013 and I was only on stage for 12 minutes, but I was so. petrified because it was the first time I'd ever before my own writing. And it was like, "A great, now they get to judge my acting and my writing." If you perform somebody else's writing, they can't judge you on the script. If they don't like the writing, well, I hang on to my fault. Hey, the elevator of a scapegoat there, like, no, I was great, but the material. That's right. This is what I had to work with. But if it's your own writing, then it's like a double judgment. So I think that's way more hard. No, that's fair. No, but I mean, like, you just. You have such this easy quality about you. I can't imagine anybody like just not like, enjoying what you're doing up there. Easy quality? Yeah, like, but it's that. Like, you're just. You're very light and you're very, like, you glow. Like, you just smile. And. Very natural. Very natural. And I mean, a lot of people are, a lot of people are like super stiffer. She is an actor though. Oh, yeah. You do have experience. I could be fooling you right now, no. You might be. Right now we'll never know. We'll wait. Yeah, I'll like. I'll finish this and I'll be like, "Grrr." God, they're the worst. I can't wait to finish this interview. Oh my god. That's amazing. No, but that's very cool that you. That you wrote it. You're going to perform it. And then you've got the potential movie on the back burner. Do you have a working title for that? Back burner. Say that again. Do you have a working title for it? Oh, you did. Yes, the working title for my very, very back burner. I've probably only written 10 pages of it right now. It's tentatively titled "Border Town." Okay. That is. That is. And what I have in my head right now, it's about a woman who. She's left the town that she grew up in for whatever reason, but she's back. And she has all these unresolved issues that come out. Because she comes home and she gets triggered. And all of these negative experiences from her childhood come pulling up. And it makes her just a little crazy. Just a little. Let's see what's going to happen to her, you know, when she goes home. I hope you finish it. I really do. Well, I do want to finish it. It's I don't multitask very well. So I'm just like super obsessed with my one-person show right now. For sure. Just always just jot your idea. Like, if you have something that comes to you, just like message yourself. Like, voice recording yourself. Like, don't forget to add this because this is too good to forget. Yeah, I forget things all the time. Like, it's so ridiculous. I don't even know why I walk into a room sometimes. I just have to leave. I'm like, that was pointless. Like, I don't know. Like, what am I doing here? And it'll keep happening the older you get. I know it's terrible. How big are the theaters that you're going to be performing this in? Oh, okay. So the next week's theater. Oh, they're all smaller. I would say like 90 seats. They're just these, you know, smaller 90 seat theater spaces. Probably all of them are around that size. You know, it's an intimate setting. That's. I love that. When you hear like, stand-up comedians and people that do these shows, they always talk about the benefit of doing under a couple hundred people. Just because of that. It's more intimate than the bigger venues. So that's horrible. Right. I think that solar performers and stand-up comedians, they use the audience for their show. They need to bounce off the audience. The audience is part of the show. Yeah. So if you could get energy from the audience, and you can see them, and you can make eye contact with them, and you can get their reactions, and you can use it. And I think, proud. That's. I'm guessing maybe that's why stand-up comedians like that. Yeah. Because if it's just people, you don't necessarily know. Well, then they get to try out, um, and, you know, the bounce the jokes off and they can work. Gave you talent work. Yeah. It's an honest opinion rather than your best friends say, "Oh, that's great even if it doesn't because they're your best friends." Well, too to laugh, they don't know. Yeah, exactly. And every audience is so different. You just never know what you're going to get. An opening night crowd is very different from a matinee crowd. You know, energy level, town, cities. I just. Oh, that's super fair. Especially given the basis of it, have you thought about how that's going to play out, where your. who your audience is going to be, and how receptive they'll be to it? So this is what I'm trying to figure it out right now. Who is my audience? Are we marketing-wise? They always say that that's so important. Yeah. And it feels like. Because I'm a show. I did it at the Rogue French Festival in Fresno last month. And I had people coming up to me that I guess you would call them "Recovering Evangelicals." People who had been. "This illusion from the church." And I feel like that might be part of my audience. You know, I was like, "Oh, I did not see this coming. Okay." But now you're prepared if it happens. So then I'm like, "Well, maybe I need to do the liberal church route. Maybe that's my tour." Okay. I can't. I can imagine the culture shock of somebody, especially as many from a small town, where everybody knows everybody. And everybody sees. You know, their neighbors in church or they see. And then you go to a bigger city where it's so much more liberal and different and out there. It's gotta be crazy. Yeah, that I mean that I. It took me a couple years, you know. Really? Yeah, and I got really quiet too. Because fortunately for me, I'm a mental processor. So I just kind of like. You know, took it all in and didn't go off on anybody. But. But I was like, "Oh, wow, this is different." You know, and I felt very much in the closet about my Christian faith. Because I felt like I would be so judged that it took me a couple years to like find people who I'm like, "Okay, this person is a safe person." You know? And so like the tagline, if that's what you call it for my show, that my teacher wrote for me, it says, "In the San Francisco Bay area, what's treason has a secret?" In the San Francisco Bay area, where people are flinging open their closet doors, treason that show should be accepted. Help treason come out as a Christian. That's what I love that. What kind of concept, too? Yeah, definitely. I'm saying we won't be able to see it. I am too. We're on the other side of the country. Oh, there's. Yeah, I mean, you know, I could always like send you the. There's a link on YouTube if you want to watch it. Yes! I get send it to you, but I mean, it's just not the same when you're there, but sure. I love that. And you know, you could always take your show on the road. That's true. Yeah, if there were people that are saying, you know, you know, we'll put you up, you know, we have a venue, we'll do the marketing, because that's the hardest thing is getting people to come. So if people are like, "We have a crowd already waiting for you?" (Laughter) Then of course, I would travel and perform my show. Do you do a lot of social media self-marketing or anything like that? Yeah, you know, I do the use, you know, like Facebook and Twitter and Instagram. And I have a blog and I write it in every night. I'm very faithful to my blog. Oh, that's amazing. Where do people read your blog? Yes, it's WordPress. So is it WordPress.com or TBABE29? Okay. I think it's tbabe29.wordpress. But if you Google TBABE29 WordPress, it'll pop up. Or if you even just Google my name, Theresa Donoho, it'll show up. Okay. Very cool. Because we'll definitely have links to that stuff in the show notes when this, when this comes out. At some point we're going to have a WordPress website for the podcast. So, yeah. That's very cool. What's your blog about? Well, before I would just blog about anything and I'd only blog every once in a while. And then shelter in place happened. And then I told myself, I'm going to blog every night until we're not wearing masks anymore. And in California, we're still wearing masks. So, the day where we're no longer wearing masks, I won't blog every night. So I literally number every night. Like day number 785. I read about it. So it's just, you know, the reason why I'm doing that is because I wanted to document. This is what it looks like to live through a pandemic. Because I'm such a fan of documentaries that I thought I wanted to document something myself. So, and, you know, a lot of the posts aren't about, you know, the pandemic at all. But every once in a while, it'll come up again. It's kind of, it's really kind of just for me too. So I can look back and go, yeah, and see what I went through. You know, I'm really big on perspective. I want to see what I've learned, how far I've come, you know, all that. Well, it's great is perspective is such an interesting thing because so many people, everybody has gone through the same essentially two and a half years. But the perspectives are so different, depending on the person, how they experienced it, or even what they remember of how the beginning was or because I mean like you were out you had a work every day. Yeah. And like there were other people that just still haven't left their house if they don't have to. Yeah, a lot of places are just now going back to. And we're going back there recommending here in New York in Central New York that we're wearing masks. Gonna out I haven't stopped because yeah, you know, I don't like not being sick. Like I like not getting anybody's anything like not even COVID like. But I was gonna say, um, oh god. Oh sorry, I said I learned my lesson. Um, so California is more conservative in certain parts of our state and that I'm in the most liberal part, right? So everybody's got their mask on. But when I went to Fresno to do the French festival, it's more conservative. And a lot of people were not wearing masks. So I was like, well, when Rome, I got so sick when I got back. I was like, I put my mask back on. I mean, just with us, I mean like, you know, we get those days right now where a high 60s and then it's like 30 and like snowing again back and forth. It's like it's crazy. So I mean, just the weather. I think people are getting sick. And at this point still, I think people are still, I mean, they're assuming that it's probably COVID until they find out it's not. I will hold the cough if I'm out in public. I don't want to be my eyes are like just bleeding. I'm not gonna do it. Yeah, do it. I can't do it. They're gonna think I'm like hearing the plague. It's like, yeah, no, sometimes it's not to cough. Like it happens. It's that scene from Monster's Inc. Yes. Where they come out in the suits and just spray you down. Oh, my goodness. But yeah, no masks are a great thing. Like I said to my mom, I'm like, I don't know if I'll ever not wear one again out because like it really has just saved me from like every flu and cold and anything else. It's going on. You just like being able to hide your facial expressions when someone says something dumb. But no, my eyes don't my eyes aren't covered. Well, we've got when you've got sunglasses on. Oh, that's true. But I also do like fact, I don't want to have to wear eye makeup and I don't have to do my whole face. It's like great. Yeah. That's very cool. Yeah. I definitely want to check out that blog though. And I do hope you send us the link to that show. Yeah, she's so cute. Sure. I mean, it has nothing to do with scary movies. I didn't really know. It's okay. We're not just scary movie related. I again, that's my main wheelhouse. But for I mean, in general, we love everything. I just think I just think it's a funny concept and an interesting concept. So I'm just curious on what that perception was. And we want people to see your one woman show and we want people to. There's a lot of drama in it, though, too. So I have to warn you. I mean, it's there's some jokes in it, but it's actually all I'm serious. I need to warn you. Okay. We do serious here. I've tried. Yeah, he tried. I do. We don't do serious well, but serious definitely happened. No, I tend to smile too much. He does. In fact, the moral comfortably gets the bigger the smile gets because it's like, oh, my God. That's all true for the funnier it is, too. That's true. He just always smiles. Like, it's great because you can't read it. Just I don't know what he's thinking. He's just smiling. Like it's just Peter. I like it. Thank you. Wait, I've been married to that smile for years now. So a lot of years, a lot of years, a lot of years. On the 22nd, we will have been married for 16 years. Same day, we've been together for 19 years in total. Wow. Congratulations. Thank you. Yes, Earth Day is our day. Yes. So we'll see if it snows. It probably will. Right. Pour the day we got married. So that's good luck though from what I've heard right now in your wedding day. It doesn't feel like it when you're wearing light, but trust me. Is there anything else you want to chat about with us? Like I said, I don't want to keep you all night. And I mean, I'm just so happy that you chatted with us at all. Oh, I just, for me, I always want to people have, you know, any questions about scream that sometimes when people ask me questions, it triggers a memory that I hadn't thought about. You know, you got anything? Yeah. I mean, we literally are fresh off watching the original. I wish we knew this before we watched it because then we could have looked for her hands. And was it both hands or just one hand? Was it just the bedroom door or the bedroom door and the closet door that created that. I think it was my right hand and it was just the bedroom door. And I knew it was the right hand. It's not like familiar. Yeah. Oh, man. Like what do we have? Like I'm, oh my gosh, I feel like I know the spot. I'm on the spot with this because like, this is like, my movie. Like I came into it. Like I didn't just want to ask you about scream because, you know, we're a person. But we didn't want to ask you about like, Hey, do you remember your drama on the set? Was anybody like fighting with anybody? We don't want, we don't want gossip like that. We want like, we want your recollections. We want your experiences. Let me ask this. You said from start to finish, it felt like you'd gone to film school. What was the biggest takeaway that you learned from being on the set that you've used in either other projects or that you still remember that was big lesson from being there? Um, I think just the flow of, of, you know, rehearsal, uh, set up, um, you know, rehearsal, film, it moving on. So I just feel like the rhythm, uh, all of what it takes just to film one scene, you know, and, um, I, so I just, I feel like the flow of actual film making I learned and then, you know, when I did stand in work when I got another set, I stood in for a Dean of Manzell on the movie rent. And, you know, net as a stand and once you know what you're doing, you step on set, you know, you check in, you go straight to wardrobe and you get your color cover. So I think just the flow of filmmaking in general, I feel like is what I learned, um, and just how much goes into it and how many people are behind it. It's just like so many people and, uh, for me, just the flow, I think. And then, you know, at the end, there's all those credits and then people say, do you really need all those people to make those videos? And I say, yes. Or sometimes people are like, well, does, does, does a caterer have to make the, uh, the lunches? Can't you just like serve people spaghetti? And I was like, no, because it's, you're working these intense 12 hour days. You need to give these people a hot, good meal. Yeah. You know, so food is important. Right. It starts to make, starts to make sense you why so much money is spent on certain things when I worked on, um, it was a Robin Williams movie. And I'm spacing on it. But every Friday they had ice cream. And that's from a row to keep people's energy up. You knew that ice cream was coming on Friday. So, you know, because you were such long hours, you could work, you could work 14 hours in a day. And so, yes, you need all those people and you should spend good money on food. Yes. Do you remember the concept behind the movie or anything about other than Robin Williams being on it? Oh, well, I worked on, oh, I can remember now, bicentennial man. Okay. And I was a stand in for M. Beth David, who played opposite him. And I stood in for her for about six weeks. There was someone else and then I took over for the other person. So I finished the film. So I went to the rap party for um, bicentennial man. Uh, scream still has the best rap party. Just saying. And pre-shoot party. Yeah. That was the only pre-production, uh, you know, party. I've ever been to since then. Wine tasting party. Oh, so, I just never happened. That's where I found out who West was. I didn't even know it was West. It was just a man and a, I mean, there's a deep purple blazer with a beard. Now with the rap party, did you get the, was it was a bottle of wine that had scary movie on there? I believe is whatever it was getting. Really? Yeah. I mean, I heard that from somebody. That's very possible. I mean, I didn't get in on that if that was at the rap party. Um, so yeah, I'm, you know, it's so, but I also didn't get swag either because I wrapped the second to the last day of filming. And I think on the last day of filming, a lot of swag was handed out. And I actually wrapped second to last. And I was so tired. I was so exhausted that I was like, bye. Like I didn't think about it. Oh my gosh. But my friend, Joleen, who stood in for Cornie Cox, I think she filmed the very last day and she got the swag. Oh my. Now I do know that on that, um, one page on Facebook where I I found you the the woodsboro page you post a a lot of interesting stuff. Are those just your call sheets? Where do you get all that stuff from? - You mean just the trivia kind of the thing? - I know that I've seen things that look like articles and all that fun stuff. Half me wants to just go peek at that page right now. Oh my gosh. Because I just thought it was so much fun. It's like, oh my gosh, I'm like, this woman's amazing. I'm like, I love that she just has this stuff from there. - It's possible that my friend, Jo-Leen posted that for me because she's the one that had a lot of-- - Okay. - She had a lot of articles. She had pictures from the rap party. I mean, she was better about that than I was. - Oh, okay. - There was somebody on the, I think it was a Woodsboro page. That thought I was lying about working on the movie. So Jo-Leen started posting all this proof. (laughing) - I love that too. - I love that was hilarious. - Oh my God, yeah, I can't even, it's so funny. - You were a part of scream, you liar. - Yeah, she was like, you're making that up. And I didn't say anything, I'm like, I don't even care. And then Jo-Leen just got in there and started posting all these photos. (laughing) - That's awesome. - The original comments still needed. - We were not making this up. (laughing) - I don't think so. - I don't think so. - I called out the wrong person. He raised, he raised, at it. - Oh my gosh. - And the thing is that it's actually not hard to do a stand-in, so there's no reason to lie about it. - Yeah. - No, it's like, anybody can be a stand-in, you just sign up in a film TV casting office. And if you have the look, you could possibly work on a movie. It's actually something that's accessible. It's not that hard. - And it's a great way to get your foot in the door. - Yeah. - Because it could lead to, you know, like your other friend who turned into the stunt double. - Because, you know, it helps. - Yeah. - You learn so much about what it's like to be on a set. It's just valuable information. Especially if you're background a theater. It's like, oh, this is a whole other animal. You have cameras like right in your face. And you don't have to be so big at the atrical for the camera. A lot of it's very technical. You have to make sure that you don't trip over cable cords. I mean, you're thinking of all this other stuff while you're acting. And all these people are staring at you. (laughing) - I would break everything. I can't even not hit the mic sitting here because my hands just flopped through. - Faking of breaking. And I don't remember I told you this before. So, oh my gosh, Jamie Kennedy. So there was a breakaway table in the hallway of Steu's house. And it was there first stunt where it breaks. And I'm forgetting exactly what scene it was. Well, Jamie didn't know it was a breakaway table. And he leaned on it. (laughing) And it shattered. (laughing) And he, I remember this. He looks at me and he says, it's a good thing I got a few lines in this movie. (laughing) You know, 'cause if that had been me, I think I just would have been fired. - Oh no. - I would have said lose the standard. But he, you know, he, he, he, he, who was already in the movie, he had already had all these scenes in the can. They weren't gonna fire him. But they just replace the table. (laughing) - Oh my goodness. And obviously did what it was supposed to. Broke away. - You know. - Is that something that would actually cost somebody lower ranking their job? Just an accident like that? - It could. Depending, if you were a peon, if you were an extra, if you were doing extra work and you leaned on a breakaway table, they would let you go for sure. (laughing) - Oh man. - Oh, it's like, it's like, "It's good to my side. "Don't move. "I must statue." - You would definitely get fired for something like that. For sure. If you were just like, you're just an extra. Even though it's, that's horrible to say because you need extras to make your movie. - Absolutely. - But that happens. There's definitely a pecking order. And if an extra were to do that, they probably would get fired. And which, you know, it kind of sucks because, again, you need those people to make your movie. You should be grateful that they're willing (laughing) to do it because when you do background work, it can be actually incredibly boring. There's a lot of waiting around and, you know. - Now, okay. So being the stand in position for Nev's character and you basically physically went through the motions of everything she did. Did you have to learn the dialogue too? Like, did it make it easier for you if you learned the dialogue? - It definitely makes it easier for you to learn the dialogue. You don't have to learn the dialogue, but it will definitely make it easier for you. I, you know, 'cause like, when I got on another TV show and they wanted us to memorize the dialogue and, that doesn't always happen. It actually didn't usually happen, but I get why. - I just feel like with pacing, it's like you would know where you're supposed to be when you're saying something. - I think it's, yeah, I think it's a good idea to memorize it if you can, you know. But you get handed the sides, that's part of the script just for the day. So you don't, you look at it and you're like, you gotta start memorizing. I mean, you don't have to, but, you know, it helps. So it's like, you gotta get on it and go, okay. And then I learned how to anticipate, okay, I think they're gonna film the close up here. I would just learn how to read the call sheet and anticipate, I bet you're, they're gonna film this next shot. Next, you know, and I started to get like into the rhythm of, oh, I think I know what they're gonna go for next. And yeah, but memorizing the lines, definitely. I think makes it run smoother for sure. - Do they give you a copy of the script? Are you sad? They just give it to you while you're there to memorize? - They just give us the sides for the day. So just the parts that they're gonna film. I never saw the whole entire script. So I actually didn't know who the killers were. - Okay. - Until we got to the house. And so I'm just going along guessing like everybody else. I have no idea. - Mm-hmm. - You know, and then when we got to the house, and then it was revealed that there were two killers. And then I was like, whoo! You know what I'm saying? I had no idea. So yeah, so yeah, I just get the scenes for the day. - I love the idea that there's somebody that doesn't have the full script. And they're just seeing it at the day and then the brooding to take because you just have something in the background. Oh snap. (laughing) No way. - That would be hilarious if like an extra did that like, were they filming? - That is worth getting fired for. - Yeah, that would be worth getting fired for. (laughing) - Just hand them out, the super loud. Oh my God. It was him. - It's Billy. - I know. - I would. That would've been hilarious. - You really would've. (laughing) - Now, did you have like a favorite scene that you went through the motions of? - Anytime there's any sort of quasi stunt work is really fun. There's the scene in the bathroom where the ghost face is in the stalls, right? And then Nev's like, she kinda looks and then she sees the boots or whatever and then she runs and she hits the trash can and she leaves. So the AD, the assistant director said to me, Hey Teresa, can you run, slide, hit the trash can and then exit 'cause we had to rehearse the scene with the camera. - Uh-huh. - And I said, yeah. (laughing) And that was so fun. So I said, - That sounds like a stunt. - What is a stunt? - Probably, probably. - But it didn't hurt. I was okay. But I thought it made me wanna go, I wouldn't mind doing stunt work as long as I don't have to fall out of a window 'cause that I couldn't do. (laughing) - Yeah. - But the stuff on the ground is really fun, you know? - And so, I could fall out of a window once. (laughing) - I thought of the bottom step and I'm like broken for a year. - When they filmed Nev's stunt double falling out of the window, right? - And landing on the boat. - The boat was a boat. - We all gathered around for that one, you know? Because that's so cool to watch. We were all like, (laughing) - Watch the stunt. We were all like, you know, and I was blown away. I mean, I was just so in awe whenever the stunt double was on set. But to me, I feel like those pop out to me of the most fun scenes. - Yeah, did you have to dress just like her for each of the run-throughs you went through? Or was it just when they were like using like your hand for the bedroom door where? - So, yeah, color cover where you don't have to wear exactly what they wear is okay when you're just doing stand-and-work. But if you do photo double work, then you gotta go to the wardrobe trailer and they dress you just like them. - Right. - And it's funny, the scene at the school, she's wearing this red shirt. It's where she tells, she off-spilley is your brain leaking. And she's got the red shirt on and the brown coat. That red shirt with the little flowers was actually from the gap. And I went to the mall like over the weekend and I found the shirt and I'm like, oh, this is exact same shirt that's in the movie. So I just bought it. (laughing) - Well, then I just wore it to set twinsies, no. But. (laughing) - I like to even look at that two ways. On the one hand, that's awesome and twin-ing. On the other hand, we have a psycho. - Now she's dressy like that. (laughing) - No, they were like, oh, if you can get the shirt, yeah, you should totally get it. It wore a dress like this. - Let's also. - Go ahead and buy it. So I owned the same shirt that she wore for that. So yeah, so but you do have to wear the exact outfit for photo double, but just similar color for standing. That's all. - Interesting. - I love that. - 'Cause it was so much more. - That's what I would have known. I wouldn't have known. Yeah, there's really so much more depth in these, in making a movie that I definitely realized. - I mean, you're definitely giving us insight. We didn't even know about it all. - Not at all. - And I love that. Because there is so much to learn. There are so many working parts that nuances. - We just don't know about them yet. So I love learning. - It's all I've got. - It's all you've got? - It's all I've got. - I don't know. - There's gotta be more. There's gotta be more we want to ask about the movie. It was 25 years ago. Like, oh, I want to like, rattle your brain, but I don't even know. I don't know what else we can ask you that isn't like nonsensical. - What does that mean? - Well, it's like not pertaining. Like you weren't there for it or you didn't interact with them. Or you know, it's like, because I think when we were on the phone, she said you weren't really like, as a stand and you're not really allowed to talk to that first team in theory, like you kind of keep separated from them. But you said that Nev was, she said hello to you first. So it's not like you got in trouble for her. - And that rarely, right. So yeah, so when you work, the cast team will tell you to not approach the talent unless they approach you first. So on my first day of filming, so our first day of filming was the grocery store where they were getting ready to shop for the party that night. And so I was just standing there and I saw Nev and then she saw me and then she came over and introduced herself and that has not happened since on any other movie set I've ever been. - Really? - Yeah, they don't actors don't come up and introduce themselves. 'Cause you're in your head and you're thinking about, you're your job, you're not thinking about other stuff, but she did and which was really cool. You know, not all actors are that down to earth, but she was. - Now did you get to, did you have conversations with like, Rose or Ski or David or Courtney or Matthew? Obviously you had your little exchange with Jamie there, which was fun. - You know, there was a part where I had to, it was just for eyeline. So the line where Sydney says, why, what was it, Jamie, they critisened all these movies or what is it she's saying? And she's reading all the, you know, the list of the horror movies she's looking at them. And Tatum says, "Tits, see?" So Rose said that to me. So because Nev wasn't even on set. So I had to say the line first and then for eyeline, Rose said the line to me. - Okay. - So she says, "Oh, you want me to say it?" Okay, for Adam, got it. So she was very cool about that. And then the scene where Billy has been stabbed and he's coming down the stairs and he says, "Sude, he said that to me." Nev wasn't even on set for that. Nick, the AD said, "Oh, so he's, you know, "Skits getting already for the scene." And he says, "Skits, you're gonna say "you're lying to Teresa." (laughing) So he's like, "Okay, you know, eyeline." So, "Oh, well Matthew did say, Matthew Lillard is hilarious. And we were at lunch and we were, you know, with our little trays getting our food and he said to me, "I can't remember how, we were talking about how old we were "and I was 25 at the time." And he said, "Oh, so you were old enough "to remember humping in the 80s." (laughing) - So awkward. (laughing) - And I'm like, "Okay." And then, and I think I posted this, I posted this on the Woodsboro site, the other scene where, so when, so when Matthew and Neva are tumbling, right before she puts the TV, - Okay. - When they're doing a tumble, they had to like, we were setting up that shot, right? So that means that I have to wrestle with the stand-in of Matthew Lillard. - Right. - Okay. - So we're doing that motion. And then they said, "Hold that position." So the position where, you know, we're now with throw the TV over Matthew, I had to freeze that. So it looked like I was straddling the stand-in (laughing) from Matthew, and Matthew's watching us rehearse. (laughing) And he says, it's kinda like being in a porn, huh? (laughing) Oh my God. - I'm like, "Oh, awkward." (laughing) - Fun, though. He just had fun. - You know, but he's just so nice. I mean, just, you know, he's exactly goofy and funny, and you know, all those things that, you know, you want him to be. - Yeah, super down to earth and approachable. Like, I'm sure that if I had approached Matthew and talked to him, I was so afraid to talk to anybody 'cause you know, those were the wills. But if I, but if I had approached him, he would have been super cool. You know, he wouldn't have been all weird. And, but anyway, yeah. - So this is some of my stories. - I love them. I love them. Thank you for sharing them with us. That's so great. Are we good to wrap? And are you sure there's nothing else you want to tell us? Anything at all. Anything at all. - I mean, I just need people to ask me questions. I can tell you that Henry Winkler is so, so nice. - Was he super nice? - So he's exactly who you want him to be. Right? I mean, he came up to me. That never happens. We were filming principal himbri's scene, right? And we filmed that on a set in a warehouse in Santa Rosa. And in the warehouse, there was a basketball hoop and people were shooting hopes in between takes. And I, you know, trying to like do it or whatever. And he came up to me and he came up to me and he said something like, "Oh, it anybody tell you that you have a good layup shot?" Or I don't remember what he said to me. And I was all I could think was, "Oh my God, the fonz is talking to me." - Oh, you know. So I mean, I think about him, you know, and how cool he was, you know. - Yeah. I don't know why he had to get killed off. - Well, somebody had to. - Some people did, but why did the principal, he was such a great character. - Because it's scary or that way? - Actually, I love the scene right before he gets killed. When? - The janitor. - Well, I love that too. No, just the like, the angle where in his pupil, you can see the ghost face mask coming at him. I just think I thought that was just amazing. I'm like, I'm like, it's so over for him, but I love that shot. Like it was so good. And then I heard that like he actually had his actual Fonz hijacket in his closet there. - Oh, that's so smart. - Right, I was like, how fun is that? - That's brilliant. I love that. - Yeah. - With the janitor, I guess Wes Craven actually wore one of Freddy's original sweaters when he was in that. And I just thought that was really fun too. Like just bringing it all together, like having it connect, having it be. It's just so much fun. I really do love this. I really do love this movie. - No, I remember when we filmed Wes's cameo. So a lot of the actors before they start rolling, they'll jump up and down to get their energy up. And I think, I don't know if Wes just thought that was funny. So that when Wes was getting ready to film his scene as the janitor, he just starts jumping up and down. (laughing) It's like he was making fun of the actors. He's like, wait, then he just starts jumping. (laughing) - That's great. I mean, the whole movie poked fun at the genre. So it's even better that off camera, he was poked and funded the people in the movie. I love that. - Oh man, that's fabulous. - It really was. I don't know if it was ahead of its time, but it was just such a different movie from anything else that had come before it or even during that time. - Mm-hmm. I mean, Williamson made a great script. - I just remembered something now. So really my only interaction with Wes besides my hands was, so I had a reputation for chewing gum on set, and I guess you really shouldn't do that. (laughing) He cut, well, because your face is in the monitors and it looks like-- - Mm-hmm. - Oh, yeah. - And I would chew gum on set. (laughing) And people would come up to me other crew and they'd say, you know, you really shouldn't chew gum on set. And I'd be like, hmm, I don't know. (laughing) And then my last day of filming, which was the second last day of filming, Wes looks in the monitor and he looks at me, and I'm like, (laughing) and he says, oh, Theresa, I'll never forget the gum. (laughing) And I was like, what's talking about? (laughing) - Can you offer him a piece? - I know, hold on a second. It's like, why didn't I stop chewing gum? What's wrong with me? - It made you memorable. - It sure did. - Give you a unique, that's separated you from the rest of the crew. - I remember me, I'm the one that she was gum. (laughs) - Never remembered you because of the pants. I mean, it's great. You made you, you made a mark. - That's right. - You said to mark, I love that. - Oh, she's the gum chewer in the pants. I remember. - Right. (laughs) - Oh man, that's awesome though. - What an experience. And then, it's gotta be kind of surreal too, to have it have been so long ago. And there's still such a active following the community for it that you got to be a part of on such a big level. - Right, that kind of blew my mind, especially, you know, online group started happening. And, you know, I didn't really get it. And I really, really didn't get it until I attended, I guess it was at ScreamoWeen or, when they had, I don't know if the first one was called ScreamoWeen, but where they had the event at the house where they filmed Stu's party scene at Tommal's Bay, right? And that's when I really saw the following, you know, meeting these people in person. And, I mean, that really like blew me away, you know. And, you know, we had a Q&A there. And all these fans had come from all over to stay the night in the house. (laughs) It's Stu's house. - Yeah. - Where they all, like, dressed as characters or just some of them were. It was kind of amazing. They will definitely for ScreamoWeen for sure. - Yeah. - Because I've gone to the house a couple of times since then. And, yeah, you know, people were like, just up. But I went as Nev is just easier. - Yeah. (laughs) - So there were like a hundred Casey Becker's running around there with that white cable knit sweater. (laughs) - Big, fluffy phone. - Big fluffy phone. Oh my gosh. (laughs) - So, yeah, so that kind of, you know, that's really fun to be a part of something that has such a following. You know, I mean, so. I'll always talk about it. It doesn't bother me at all. And people ask me questions about it. And I know people think that, you know, I get sick of talking about it, but I don't. And what's amazing is how much I remember because it was one of the first movies I ever worked on. So I remember it. - Yeah. - It's like, you never forget your first. - You know, for sure. - No, that's fine. I think I definitely, I didn't want to come on too strong with Scream 2 because I know that it was something you had done, but you've done other things as well. - Yeah. - I don't know if you only get, talk to about Scream. So if you were sick of it or like, we're doing Scream again. - Yeah. - Like just let us, like, yeah, we definitely want it, like, where are you now? Like, what can we see you doing? - Yeah, no. I mean, no. I'm talking about it at all. - That's awesome. - It's awesome though. Because it definitely is an experience for a lot of people. Like, there are people that just love, I mean, more than me love this movie, like more than me. - Oh, I'm sure. - I mean, I love it, but I mean, there are people that are like, - I'm so just filled with memory. - And I'm not even mad. Like, I'm not mad that I wish I was more on their level. He's probably glad I'm not because I also would be filled with. - Absolutely. - It really would be. But, no, like, I just, I think that I think that it's amazing that you are part of such a community with that because I can't not touch that. I'm sorry, my fingers. I'm sorry, I'm sorry to reason my fingers. (laughs) Um, I have this thing where my hands are always getting the way. - Oh, okay. - Like, the mic. It's right there. - Oh, okay. - And I've got these big hands. And then there's a cord that I wish wasn't on my headphones because hands fly. And sometimes the thumb, like, just gets in there too. It's a mess. And I always get the side eye for him. It's like, you're moving again. It's like, okay, I'll put. - Oh, my God. - Mm-hmm. - And with that. (laughs) - No, I'm definitely. What's going to happen is Michelle is going to end up emailing you or messaging you, like, 80 other questions. Like, oh, my God, I want to ask you about this. - You have to ask me to ask you that. And I'm the worst. And that's okay. That's okay. - But this was a lot of fun. - That just means we're going to have to be like friends and just chat and whatever when you have time. Again, again, do you want to email me questions? That's fine. That's awesome. And I mean, we do work looking forward to the link. You're going to send us. No, you don't laugh. We can't wait to see that. And we are definitely going to keep our like ear to the ground for your back burner. For your back burner script that you will finish. You will finish it. Border. Border. Border town. Border town. Border town. Because I want to be borderland like the game, but I need that as well. I want to be like border city, but I don't want. But. But. No, like, thank you so much. We're going to. Well, I mean, that's a wrap until next time we've had. Teresa, Donahoe with us tonight. We've been talking about screen. We've been talking about her one woman show. And the potential for an amazing movie script that's going to be coming our way in the near future. We will find links to her information in our description. So if you want to get in touch with her and see what else she's been in. Definitely check it out. You've been wonderful and so much fun. And thank you so much for chatting with us. Thank you for having me on. It's always fun to talk about it. Love it. Amazing. Thank you. [Music]