Leslie Easterbrook

Film The Devils Rejects

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0395584/

HorrorYearBook: Were you and William friends off screen or did you find it easier to maintain some distance for the sake of the film?

LE: We had only met once before we filmed the two jail sequences. Our initial meeting took place at the first read-through of the script. All we said to each other, personally, was “How do you do?”

It was such a difficult and time-consuming physical preparation for me, the day we filmed together, that by the time I arrived in the dungeon, it was already time to rehearse. Douglas Noe, our make-up artist, spent hours putting carefully crafted prosthetics on my face (initially he had closed one eye entirely, but Rob had him give me the eye back – I was greatly relieved. I have one eye that sees much better than the other and Douglas had covered my good one! I must admit, though, I did love the look) to simulate bruising and swelling from an earlier beating. My hands and arms were made-up by Luis Garcia. A whole army of guys chained me up and Cat Marcotte put individual extensions in my hair – it was an endless day before it even started!

The scene sets it’s own perimeter of interaction between Mother and Wydell. Because we hadn’t had any social time that morning, we fell into the scripted relationship. It suited us that day and served the film well, I think. It was far from a pleasant experience, even a painful one for me, but so glorious in retrospect. An actor doesn’t choose the profession to look good and have fun – we want to push the envelope and Bill and I certainly got our chance!