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HORRORHOUND #33

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While at the Flashback Weekend convention, we were able to sit with actor Jonathan Breck and talk to him about his role in the JEEPERS CREEPERS films. Here’s what he had to say:

Kitley’s Krypt: Did you have any idea when you first landed the role as the Creeper in the first JEEPERS CREEPERS that it would turn into something like this, with the sequel, doing conventions appearances, and so on?

Jonathon Breck: No idea. When I first got the role, this was one of four films that Francis Coppola was making and they were all low budget features; by Hollywood standards they were low budget. We thought that maybe we’d get a limited release or something like that, and be at just selected theaters. We had no idea, and didn’t even really know until about a week before it came out, when I got the call from him that it was going to out in over than 3000 theaters. So it was just like a snowball.

KK: As an actor, does it bother you at all to have your face hidden under all the makeup, since your real face is not being seen?

JB: No, it doesn’t bother me at all. As a matter of fact, I think it’s one of the strangest and greatest roles I’ve ever had. It’s like being a kid again. Running around scaring people, carrying a 14^th century battleaxe. So I don’t mind having the makeup at all. I think it’s great. I mean the character definitely needs it. And it’s been a real blessing to me too because I have a career outside of the JEEPERS CREEPERS movies and this way I can continued to do them and not just be known as synonymous with this character. I can continue to have a career outside of that.

KK: If they end up doing more sequels, will you be there, if it was up to you?

JB: Yea, if it’s up to me, I’ll say this. I’ll definitely consider more sequels. But a lot of things can happen when they start doing 3 and 4 and 5…I’m really interested in working with the people that I worked with on the first and the second one. The director, Victor Salva, is really important. And the story is really important. If they really start to cheese the franchise down or dumb it down, I’d really have to make a decision at that point. So I can’t blindly say, “yea, I’m in.” It’s important to me that they take the story and go to the next level with it. Or else I’ll do something else.

KK: How was it working with Victor Salva?

JB: Incredible. Such a talented filmmaker. Writer. Director. He’s a genius. And every time I work with him it’s collaborative. Being our second film that we’ve done together, we start to develop a bit of a shorthand. It’s nice working with someone that you have that kind of a connection with.

KK: Are you concerned about being typecast in horror roles?

JB: No, and for the very reason as I said earlier, cause I’m under all this latex and makeup, I don’t think I run that risk as being typecast.

KK: How do you enjoy doing the conventions and meeting the fans?

JB: I think it’s great. I’ve only been to two conventions actually so far. This is my second one. I’ve appeared at a couple them just to do some Q&A. But I didn’t actually have a table or a booth and I didn’t really get the kind of one-on-one interaction that I get when I’m actually here. I really like it, and I think it’s important to get out and meet the fans. Because there’s nothing like horror fans, the best fans in the world, the most loyal fans in the world. I think it’s important to get out and do it. I won’t ever be one of those personalities that you’ll see at every convention just because I’m busy with the rest of my career. But I’m going to try and get out to a couple, maybe three shows a year. Stay out, stay present.

KK: How would you compare the first JEEPERS CREEPERS film with the sequel?

JB: Very same stylistically, because since we had the same cinematographer, the same producer, the same writer, the same director. The differences in the two is the first one is slower, moodier…the second one is in your face from the first frame to the last frame. It’s just much more of an adrenaline ride, more action, more stunts. It’s still creepy though. But we had double the budget, so we had double the fun.

KK: That is one of the many things I liked about the first film was the atmosphere. For example the scene in the beginning where they drive by in the car and see you carrying the bodies to the well, you stop and watch them go by. And then have the truck pull out on the road behind them. Classic stuff, and very effective.

JB: Right, right.

KK: Has the makeup gotten any easier, as far as the duration, since the first one?

JB: No. It’s the same. It’s brutal. Four hours on a good day, seven hours on a bad day, and then you got to work for ten to twelve hours, then you got to take it off for an hour or two. So it makes for a long workday.

KK: What would be your best memory from the first film?

JB: The first shot, which is actually that shot you just spoke about. Where I’m dumping bodies down the tube, they drive by in the car, and I stop and look at them. The reason it’s my favorite thing is because it’s my very first shot, the very first movie. And I kind of improv that shot a bit. The director had just asked me to be throwing bodies down the tube and I thought wouldn’t be cool if I actually sensed them and I walk out the to the end of the church and kind of just stare at them. So I asked him if I could mess around with that shot and do something different and he said sure. So I did that, and all the set just kind of exploded after he yelled cut. It was so great to start the movie that way, on that foot. It’s just a really scary way to start the movie, and it inspired my confidence within the character, and it just skyrocketed from there.

KK: What would be the worst memory from the film?

JB: I had a day where the walls kind of came in on me. Where the room started spinning on me, you know. I’d been in the makeup long time; I’d been working for a long time. Sweating so much I had no more sweat left. It was a scary feeling, kind of like an opposite of vertigo, I guess, came in on it. Just the one day, really wigged me out.

KK: What about the new film, what would be your best memory?

JB: Best memory, believe it or not, is the first shot. We had another shot, I’m running through the cornfield and I throw something. I won’t ruin what I throw. But it was a very difficult shot to pull off and we nailed it in three takes. So once again, it kind of sets the mark for the whole movie.

KK: What is your worst memory from the new film?

JB: Ooohh…..hanging upside down on wires for an hour, in the makeup.

KK: Well, I appreciate you taking the time to talk to us today.

JB: You bet.