janejensen

Jane : Troma was the first "independant" film company that I was aware of as a teen. My ex-brother in-law was a gaffer , and working on various film crews in New York. He told me about "The Toxic Avenger" and this crazy independant film company in Hell's kitchen. The loner/vanguard mistique really captured my imagination at that time. A few years later when I moved to New York I saw the listing for auditions for Tromeo and Juliet. I thought the Troma style and Shakespeare were a perfect match- and I knew I was the only actress in New York who knew a lot about both so I put my fears aside and got to be Juliet for the summer.

Blake : Pearl Harbour was supposed to be this years blockbuster , yet it did very poorly at the box office . Do you think that audiences are tiring of big budget / low creativity event movies ? and if so , do you think we'll see studios starting to make lower budget , less commercial films?

Jane : Every big film I've seen this year is crap. There is no character development , and by the end of the film I always feel the same way : "I got cheated out of ten bucks and two hours of my life ". I am very big on character driven films.....Dancer in the Dark, Breaking the Waves, Baise Moi .... they remind me of the old classics ( except for the brazen sex scenes in Baise Moi of course ! I can only hope that the big studios turn to more interesting film ideas.....sadly I saw Pearl Harbour..... oh well.

Blake : James Gunn , the screenwriter of Tromeo and Juliet is currently working on writing a screenplay for a remake of Dawn of the Dead. Many people ( myself included ) consider it to be the greatest horror film ever made , and trying to make a better version seems almost sacreligeous. Can you tell us anything about Gunn, and his approach to filmmaking that might be able to re-assure Dawn fans that if a re-make must be made , that the project is in good hands, and will be treated with the respect it deserves ?

Jane : James is the only person in the world who could do the film justice and even take it to another level . It is his all time favorite horror film as well , and when asked to do the job he felt the same kind of excitement and trepidation that you probably feel . James is so adept and sensitive to what makes a "genre" film work - I have complete confidence in him. The only problems I could forsee would be possible interventions from the studio about writing edits / content / etc. It's definitely in the best hands with James.

Jane : I love Tromeo and Juliet , Cannibal : the musical , The Toxies, the Waters films, Rock'n' Roll High School......hmm - I need to think about this some more.

Blake : All of us have seen a movie in our childhood that has disturbed us. For me it was seeing The Exorcist when I was around 8 years old. A freind of mine found the Oompah Loompahs from Charlie and the Chocolate Factory extremely unsettling , and to this day he feels uncomfortable around midgets , and guys that look like Gene Wilder. What was the movie that most disturbed you in your childhood , and did it make you develop any phobias?

Jane : Hmmm. As a kid I wasn't too disturbed by anything. I'm way more sensitive now. For example , everytime I'm channel surfing and I fly by those Rugrats , or creepy babies, or any of the new ugly-kid animation....yuck. As much as I loved Ren and Stimpy - sometimes it was too much for me.

Made her mark on cult film history as Juliet in the Troma classic Tromeo and Juliet. She's currently making her mark on the New York music scene with her band The Dolls ( for more details, see the link at the end of the interview). I was fortunate to be able to catch up with Jane on-line , and get her thoughts on mainstream cinema , Dawn of the Dead, and a whole bunch of other stuff .