Interview: Dee Wallace Discusses RED CHRISTMAS and Reflects on E.T. THE EXTRA-TERRESTRIAL and Rob Zombie’s HALLOWEEN

Being a mom during the holidays can make Santa Claus' job look like a holly jolly cakewalk. As the head of a dysfunctional family in Craig Anderson's Red Christmas, Dee Wallace not only has to worry about keeping the peace, she also has to try to keep her family members in one piece when a killer crashes their festivities. With the holiday horror film out now in select theaters, I had the great pleasure of speaking with Wallace about her multifaceted new role, and we also had the chance to reflect on her amazing film career, including the legacy of Steven Spielberg's E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial and her experience playing Cynthia Strode in Rob Zombie's Halloween.

Thanks so much for taking the time to talk and congratulations on Red Christmas. I’m a big fan of your career, and one thing I’ve always appreciated is that you play such a wide range of characters, and this is certainly no exception. How did the opportunity to play Diane come about, and what about that character appealed to you?

Dee Wallace: Well, it came about because I was going over there [Australia] to teach acting and my healing work and the guy that was bringing me over happened to know [writer/director] Craig Anderson, and Craig said, “Oh my God, I would die to get Dee Wallace.” He put us in touch and we Skyped and he sent me the script. I read it and I immediately took to the script. I thought it was really well-written. I loved the characters—such an eclectic bunch of characters. It’s not your typical horror film at all. I loved the social issues that they deal with in it and I thought, God, can I still do this? Can I still handle the emotional and physical demands of a part like this. And I said, “Craig, if you’re up for it, I’m going to try.” And I met him and fell in love with Craig. I just think he’s very talented and really genuine. I really liked him and his lack of ego. I had worked in Australia a long, long time ago in a little Christmas film, and I just love Australia and love the people there, so it was a no-brainer to me.

Watching the film, one of the things that really impressed me were the set pieces. It looks like you were in a Christmas candy-colored nightmare, and I loved watching that.

Dee Wallace: Exactly, and the lighting really adds so much to that. We had a beautiful cinematographer and crew, and it was like a big family affair. We all cooked for each other and ate together and most of them slept in that house that we shot in. It was a labor of love in a lot of ways and it really paid off. We’re all very proud of it, and rightfully so.

It’s almost like watching a play in a way, because you have all of these interesting characters and watching them interact is fun, and then all of a sudden things take a turn. On one level it’s a horror movie, but it’s a really interesting character movie, too. It seems like you all had the time to really get to know each other.

Dee Wallace: Yeah, and you just have a lot of really good actors, really seasoned actors in it. I love the fact that he used Gerard Odwyer, who is a Down syndrome adult, and it was fascinating watching him, but also watching Craig work with him to achieve this wonderful performance.

Like you mentioned, it was nice to see you get a role with these physical elements, too, and your character is put through the paces and has one hell of a night. You really dove into the role, too. Was it fun to get down and dirty again?

Dee Wallace: Oh heck yeah, that’s what I love the most. I love those big arcs with a lot of emotion. She’s [Diane] also very complicated and conflicted within herself about all of this that goes down about the abortion and all of that. She was a really complex, interesting character. All of them were. They all had such interesting backstories. Craig wrote really intricately interesting people and then put them in a horror film.

Was there any improv on set? Did Craig allow you to play with those relationships a little bit?

Dee Wallace: Craig allowed us all to bring in our creative juices and our ideas. Two or three of those people are top improv actors in Australia, which was challenging and exciting for me. There was nothing like, “Well, I wrote this line and that’s the way you have to say it.” None of that was going on. I would say, “Oh my gosh, it would be really exciting if I could hit the ground and take a roll here.” And Craig would go, “Dee, I don’t have a stuntwoman.” And I would say, “I can do this, I can do that.” [Laughs] I was pretty happy that I can still do that. Because I’ve done most of my stunts, at least 70% of them, in most of my movies. I’m not Tom Cruise. I don’t go flying over buildings with a wire on me. But I did all of my own flying in The Frighteners, and I did a lot of my stuff with the dog, because there was no other way to get it in Cujo.

Have you always been a fan of the Christmas season?

Dee Wallace: Christmas is so huge for me. I spend half my year getting ready for Christmas. My family laughs at me, but now they’re doing it, of course, now my daughter’s doing it. I adore Christmas. I love being with my family at Christmas. Part of me was in heaven and the other part of me was in the hell part of the story [for Red Christmas], but we just had a really good time. It was a very civil set. Nobody was killing themselves with 20 hours a day. It was just a great experience all the way around for me.

There are so many memorable moments in the movie like the bear trap scene, but is there anything in particular that stands out to you when you look back at making Red Christmas?

Dee Wallace: I love the scene when I find the necklace and reveal some of the backstory. It was the only scene that I couldn’t grasp right away. I got into my head too much. I don’t usually sit down and figure things out and do all of that, so I just said, “You know, Craig, I don’t know what’s going to happen in this scene. I’ve just got to play it and I really would like to play it on camera.” And it’s one of my favorite things. I also love the scene where I mistakenly shoot Jerry, my son. In the script, it had me going straight after the bad guy, and I said to Craig, ‘Oh gosh, I think we’d really be missing a huge moment if you don’t allow me to go to Jerry and play that. We’ve created such an amazing relationship between the two of us. There’s such a backstory that if there’s not that completion of anguish, I think we’re missing something.” And he went, “Oh gosh, Dee, that’s a great idea.” And we did it, and I think it’s a really incredibly powerful scene.

Rob Zombie’s Halloween recently celebrated its 10th anniversary. I love your character, Laurie’s adoptive mom, in that film, and watching those scenes with you and Scout [Taylor-Compton], there’s such humanity that you brought to that character, and the physicality of your death scene in that film is really raw and realistic. Looking back at that experience, was it interesting to step into that world?

Dee Wallace: I love Rob Zombie and we worked with three handheld cameras. We went in and we did it as scripted and then Rob said, “Everybody bring in your best ideas and just let ’em rip.” And that’s when all the fun stuff with the bagel happened and that’s the way I love to work. The more freedom you can give an actor, the better stuff you’re going to get, as long as there’s a clear direction for it.

I was supposed to originally die going down the bookshelf, and three weeks later the producers called me and said, “We need you back.” I said, “I’m already dead.” They said, “Rob wants to kill you better.” So I went back and they followed me through the hallway and into that other room where he throws me through the table and everything. And then I did The Lords of Salem with Rob. I think he’s a genius. He’s the nicest guy, and I adore Sheri [Moon Zombie]. They’re enigmas, for sure.

This year also marks the 35th anniversary of E.T. [the Extra-Terrestrial]. You had another commendable performance representing a single parent. Did you ever realize that the film would become such a fixture in pop culture?

Dee Wallace: Like Blake Edwards said to me, “Honey, if we knew what made a hit, we’d have a lot more of them.” I knew it was an amazing and beautiful script that would touch the world. I knew I wanted to be a part of it, but there are so many great films that don’t become hits and so many crappy films that do. You can’t get into the mind of the public. So much has to do with, are they ready for it, is this where the mood is of the country, is the marketing plan right for the film? So many choices go into it. You just have to go in and do your best.

With Red Christmas out now in select theaters, do you have any other projects on deck that you wanted to let your fans know about?

Dee Wallace: I’m just finishing the series that I’ve been doing for three years called Just Add Magic for Amazon Prime, and I’m going to do a film called Ouija House as soon as I finish this. It’s a good script and a really good character. I’m really excited because I’ve been playing kind of myself for three years and I’m getting a little bored with me [laughs]. I want to crawl into some character somewhere and really get going on that. I have three films that are in the festival circuit right now, and my daughter’s film, It Happened Again Last Night, that she co-wrote, co-directed, and stars in, is winning all kinds of awards. So we’re very busy and we’re having a good time sharing our successes together. It’s really nice.