“I don’t know why, but I’ve always been fascinated by serial killers.”

She’s young, she’s intelligent, she’s talented, she’s gorgeous. She also loves hockey, is an HTML Code Warrior, and knows her horror films. What more could you ask for in a woman? Ok, how about this: She’s funny and she’s an actress, singer, and model. She's Canadian Amélie Paul, and in "Stories of a Gravedigger" she plays a woman caught up in the middle of a murderous legend. I spoke with her soon after she saw herself up on the Silver Screen for the very first time.

Horrorwatch: How was your first premiere? Was it exciting? How was the movie received, and did you enjoy it?

Amélie Paul: I really liked the Premiere; it was exciting, and I thought the movie was really good considering the small budget. I was just disappointed that there were no Bloopers in the Extras section of the DVD, but adding more things would have meant [higher] production costs and a later release date. So anyways I was satisfied. Let's say that it was not easy to watch myself acting. Sometimes I was like "AHH I’m so bad!" (laughs) And sometimes I was kinda proud. But this was shot almost two years ago, so I changed a lot and I think I gained more experience in acting. And I don't have such a big French accent anymore!

HW: I’ve never thought about that before: sitting in the audience knowing you could do better now, but not having the power to change it. That must have been hard!

AP: You bet, it was horrible sitting there and not being able to change anything about my acting...[or] about the way I looked! (laughs) When we shot the movie, I had just came back from two months in France and I had gained about 15 pounds, and it shows in the movie I think. I'm telling you, if you want to go on a diet, DO NOT go to France. The food is so good! And the alcohol too... (laughing)

HW: You mentioned that you were disappointed that the DVD release didn’t have a blooper reel on it. Are there any bloopers you remember that you were looking forward to seeing?

AP:: Well, I wanted to see the bloopers [from] the other two stories since I wasn't on the set, but I remember a couple of scenes where we couldn't stop laughing and it was impossible to get through them. I laugh pretty easily and Snake (Karl Reinhard) was making me laugh all the time. The thing is, the story "La Diable" is everything but funny! It's rather dramatic and tragic with all those people dying. So it was making it a lot harder to stay serious.

HW: Did you find it difficult to avoid taking that darkness home with you? I know a lot of actors say horror films are the hardest movies to make for that reason.

AP: To tell you the truth, I didn't think the shooting was hard at all. We were always having fun on the set because there was such a good chemistry between the cast and crew. As you can see in the "Making of" on the DVD, the Digger film team has a strong sense of humor and they don't take themselves too seriously. Even in the movie, you will see that it's a horror movie with monsters, murders, [and] zombies, but it's also funny sometimes.

I would say that the hardest thing was actually the opposite: [to] stay in the darkness and stop laughing! Of course, we did have some harder scenes to shoot and when it happened, the team had the respect to keep silent and stay serious on the set; otherwise we would have never been able to portray our characters. What I did is before shooting those scenes, I would try to stress myself, holding my breath - kind of like what happens when something terrible happens. I would just try to recreate the physical things that happen in our body when we are in a critical situation.

The kissing scene was also a little weird to shoot since we had to do it 4 or 5 times with 5 people holding lights around us. It was a little awkward but it went well since it was the last scene I had to shoot and I had became friends with J-C Côté, the actor I had to kiss.

HW: I just found out that you and Mélanie [NOTE: Mélanie Alain plays "Maggie" in "La Diable"] switched roles...is that true? Was that difficult for either of you, or did you have time to prepare?

AP: Yes, during the second day of shooting, we had to reshoot a certain amount of scenes and Mélanie wasn’t there that morning. It was important to reshoot the scenes right away so we wouldn’t [be] late in the schedule. So that morning, I became Sarah instead of Maggie.

Anyways, we thought that those roles fit us better. I didn’t have much time to prepare but I had a good idea the day before how I would have played Sarah. Sarah is more like me than Maggie. During the first day of shooting, I was playing Maggie in a more naïve, excessive kind of
way, so it was a good thing that we switched roles because we avoided the stereotype of the blond playing the "dumb" girl.

HW: Is that really you in the film shooting through those rapids in a canoe? What was that like?

AP: Yes it's really Mélanie and I. Snake and JC went through the rapids first and then they thought it was too dangerous so we weren’t supposed to go. But while waiting in our canoe, the rapids were so strong that they carried us [off] in spite of us! We had to go through them and curiously, Melanie and I were pretty calm and it went well, except at the end where we got stuck on a big rock near the river bank. We were about to capsize when, out of nowhere kind of like in a superhero movie, Snake arrived running from the bank, jumped to reach us and
grabbed the canoe so we wouldn’t capsize! I’m not even exaggerating, it was quite a rescue ! (laughs)
I wouldn’t say that he saved my life, but I would definitely say that he saved my dignity!

HW: Maybe they should re-open casting for the new "Superman" film! And speaking of films, do you watch horror movies? What’s your favorite?

AP: I love horror movies; I’ve been watching them for as long as I can remember. I think I was about 6 years old when I started watching the "Friday the 13th" [film] series over and over again. I wasn’t scared because Jason Voorhees doesn’t kill little children. I don’t know why, but I’ve always been fascinated by serial killers - not only Michael Myers, Freddy Krueger or Leatherface, but also real life serial killers like Ted Bundy, Ed Gein, Jeff Dahmer. Maybe that’s why one of my favourite movies is "Psycho" from Alfred Hitchcock, who was [very much] inspired by Ed Gein. And also, of course, "The Texas Chainsaw Massacre" and "Silence of the Lambs." I also like movies that have to do with possession by the devil like "The Exorcist" and "The Amityville Horror."

HW: Do you have a warm, fuzzy feeling right now? That’s from everyone on HorrorWatch falling in love with you after that answer!

AP: I'm not even exaggerating; I love horror movies. I even took a course in University called Horror and Science Fiction Movies. I don't know why I love serial killers so much... I'm just a normal little girl who wouldn't hurt a fly! (laughing) I just like the psychology of those killers, I guess. I've studied the psychoanalysis of horror movies a lot and it's rather fascinating.

HW: So what's coming up for you? I've read on your website that you've been performing on stage lately and you're currently in the studio?

AP: Besides acting, I also sing and I'm working in the studio on some pop songs right now. I did a couple of shows and it's going well. There are things coming up with a record label in New York but I can't really say more for the moment. Right now I also sing in a band and we are going to sing in Thailand at the end of the summer so I'm really excited about it.

HW: That's great news! Is there a way that our readers can hear you online, or should we wait for when you're all over the radio?

AP: There is actually a little demo on my web site (http://Améliepaul.com). It's called "I Believe In You" and it was co-written by me; the music is by Derek Falls who is a well known producer and musician in Montreal. I do some shows once in a while, often in Car Shows or events like that, but nothing's coming up right now because I'm working on the show for Asia with my band.

HW: Can you tell us more about that?

AP: The band is called "Moxie" and we do covers of recent Hip Hop hits like "Hollaback Girl" from Gwen Stefani or "1, 2 Step" from Ciara. We are gonna leave for 3 months and perform 6 nights a week in a 5 star Hotel, probably in Bangkok. I say 'probably' because the country in Asia is not confirmed yet. I want to take this opportunity to gain more stage experience and confidence so I'll be more comfortable and better [able] to perform my own material on stage when I come back and when I'm ready to hit the market. Making an album is a lot of work but I want to do everything right. I'm very excited about this because I'll be paid to do the 2 things I prefer in life : travel and sing. What would make the deal absolutely perfect is if I could find some acting work over there. That would be the ultimate dream!

HW: I've heard a couple of rumors I need to ask about. First, your website is quite impressive. I've read that you do that all yourself?

AP: Yes I did my website all by myself. I must say that I worked hard and it took me a lot of time but I really liked doing it. It's just hard to find the time to update it now.

HW: I can imagine! The second rumor is that you're a sports fan. Also true?

AP: Yes! I love basketball and I played for 4 years but I’m mostly a hockey fan. With the lockout of the NHL, I now follow the LNAH in Quebec. It's a very tough league with good quality hockey too. I also won a contest that was held in Canada and the US called "Hockey Gladiator Girl" for a hockey fight tournament. They needed 3 ring girls and I won first place.

HW: Any plans to do another "Gravedigger" film?

AP: Yes, the guys from Diggerfilms asked me to be in their next project and of course I said yes. I don’t know if it will be in the next chapter of "Stories of a Gravedigger" or something else, but I’m looking forward to it.

HW: And my final question is: What's the one question you wish someone would ask you? And what’s the answer? (laughing)

AP: Well, that is a pretty good question so I guess I would say that, and I would answer just that. (laughs) Ok...seriously, maybe I would like to be asked "What is your favorite horror movie quote?" and I would say that funny quote from the Devil himself in "The Exorcist":

"Your mother's in here, Karras. Would you like to leave a message? I'll see that she gets it."

HW: I can't think of a better way to end an interview. Thanks, Amélie. You've been a real sweetheart, and I know everyone at HorrorWatch wishes all the best for you. Stay in touch and let us know what you're up to!