Exclusive Interview: Eileen Dietz (The Last Slay Ride)
How did you get attached to The Last Slay Ride?
I got attached to The Last Slay Ride because I had shot three other films with Jason Hawkins, Director, producer Writer, and we loved working with each other, and I believe he wrote this part especially for me, also, how many horror actresses my age are out there doing horror films lol.
What was your role in The Last Slay Ride?
As I just mentioned, I played Granny vampire, who is totally lost, doesn’t know who she is doesn’t know where she is and desires, meat and blood. Jason wrote me an incredibly funny role that I fell right into.
What is your favorite scene?
Actually, my favorite scene in the film is the last one, but I can’t tell you anything about it because it’s a great moment that has to be seen not talked about.
How would you compare this to other Christmas horror flicks?
Well other Christmas films are really quite horrible although that’s not what you meant by horror but all these Christmas films on the Hallmark Channel and Lifetime and the other movie channels or romcoms and I got to tell you they are so stupid you know the plot you know whats gonna happen, two people meet and they either have incredible problems with each other or they don’t know who each other really is but eventually they end up together celebrating Christmas. The Last Slay Ride is a horror, comedy, and an absolute delight and unique about a group of vampires sharing a house together, and the unexpected absolutely happens.
What inspires your creativity?
I am inspired by my absolute love for acting and creating characters, and in this case, an absolutely unique character who is absolutely so funny and so lost and desires, a lot of blood. I just love to act, and every time I read a script I can imagine myself in that role and then when I get to sat and meet all the people it’s always that dream coming true that I had when I was seven years old and practiced writing my autograph in one of my notebooks.
What is the biggest challenge while making this film?
I think one of the biggest challenges was staying in character while I was shooting silly and absurd stuff around other actors that were taking their stuff most seriously as vampires and all of us trying not to laugh, but knowing we were making this wonderful comedy. Also my biggest challenge was keeping one my fangs in my mouth because I have this bridge in the front and the kind of fangs we had were different due to the pandemic and not being able to get stuff they were not what I’m used to wearing and it kept falling off my teeth until finally we left it on askew because it was so funny.
What was your most rewarding moment?
I think it was kind of after the fact when they had a screening up in Portland and the word I got back is that everybody got exactly what Granny Vampire was trying to do and I made them laugh and cry for all I know. That was so rewarding and also as an actress, just knowing I got the scene right that it was happening. My acting teacher always said we had a shit detector in our brains that always told us if we were being true to the character in the script, even if the character was totally absurd and my shit detector said yeah this is going really well and that made me really happy.
What is your favorite horror decade?
Two decades, actually, the mid-70s and the early 80s where we saw films like The Exorcist where I played the demon and who possessed a little girl, Reagan, and shot many of the most memorable scenes such as the vomit scene in the desk scene, and the abuse to the cross scene, but also wonderful films, such as Halloween, Friday The 13th, The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, The Omen. And a little earlier Night Of The Living Dead, created zombies. A Nightmare On Elm Street and The Evil Dead and so many others.
What is the best piece of advice that you ever received?
To never give up, if you drop a dream it breaks, and to just not listen to all the negativity out there, for some reason negativity is so more powerful than positivity and that this little skinny buck toothed, flat chested little girl in New York City who wanted to be an actress and everybody told me I wasn’t pretty enough I wasn’t busty enough, and how could I succeed when thousands of people wanted to be actors so I closed my ears didn’t tell anybody and absolutely succeeded. And I say that to everybody who has a dream, whether it be an Actor, Director, to own a wardrobe store, to be a Mom, to be a hairdresser. Whatever it is you want to be and don’t let anybody tell you otherwise.
What is next in your career?
Wow, my career is absolutely exploding. I got four films that I’m going to shoot next year and each one I swear is absolutely better than the next, wonderful horror films and I have one of my favorite films I’ve ever shot coming out. I think in March called Night Of The Caregiver which is basically a two character film and so scary and unique. And we are celebrating the 50th anniversary of The Exorcist which I find hard to believe and I can no longer lie about my age. Ha ha but I have horror Conventions booked all over the country and so far in the UK and at an international film festival in South America. This is all so far with many more to come, I am so blessed.