Interviews

Interview: Dee Wallace Talks ‘The Nest’ and Her Career in Acting

Dee Wallace, known for her iconic roles in legendary films like E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial, The Howling, Cujo, and The Frighteners talks with Horror Geek Life about her illustrious acting career, her experiences working with a plethora of different directors, and her role in the new horror film from director James Suttles, The Nest.

Horror Geek Life: Throughout your career, you have worked with some of the biggest directors in film history. Steven Spielberg, Peter Jackson, Joe Dante, etc. What are some of the major differences between working with someone like Spielberg, to working with someone like Wes Craven or Rob Zombie?

Dee Wallace: Wow! I don’t think I’ve ever gotten this question before! Well, they have more money. Creatively, their visions and their ability to work with actors are really pretty equal, I think. But, when you have more money, more studios behind you, and distribution already in place, you have a lot more freedom to create while you’re making the project. Working with Wes Craven was an incredibly invigorating experience for me, as quiet and humble as the man was. He really had very strong visions of what he wanted. Now Rob, I love working with Rob Zombie. I don’t know of any actor that doesn’t. Rob just gives you so much freedom as a creative person and encourages you…which Spielberg and all the big directors I’ve worked with did, too. That’s the sign of a good director to me, that they invite their talent, whether it’s behind the camera or in front of the camera, to bring in their best ideas. When everybody feels like they have that freedom, that’s when you get the best project.

HGL: You’re kind of known throughout the film and horror communities as the quintessential “horror mom” because of your ability to showcase protective and caring motherhood on-screen in a number of your films. Is that something that feels natural for you, and do you pull that from your personal experiences?

DW: I think an actor pulls everything from their personal experiences. Most of those films where I played those parts, I had no children, but I had a mother, and she was a strong mother, and pretty much a single mother for a lot of my life. All of the women in my family are incredibly strong and incredibly protective, so I had a lot of personal role models to pull from there.

HGL: Well, it certainly shows in through your acting. Especially in E.T., Critters, and Cujo.

DW: Thank you! I really appreciate that.

HGL: Which of your films was the most fun to work on, and which was the most strenuous?

DW: The most fun, I think, would have to be a toss-up between 10 and The Howling. I thought I’d died and gone to heaven when I got 10. We went to Las Hadas, Mexico, and they put me up in a suite. I was there for weeks waiting to rehearse and shoot. But, The Howling has a real soft place in my heart because my fiancee, who became my husband, Christopher Stone, and I did it together and we worked so hard. We worked six days a week on that and a lot of times, we would go night into daytime without much of a turnaround, but we just had each other to buoy each other up. We just had a ball on that and became very close to the crew. We took a lot a Honey Baked Hams to the crew on that one. Definitely a toss-up between those. The most strenuous for sure, hands down, would have to be Cujo. It also happens to be my favorite film of mine. I just think I went as far as I could go, as truthfully as I could get there, but man, they treated me for exhaustion for three weeks after that film wrapped. I’m still actually taking raw adrenal for my adrenal glands because I totally blew them out.

HGL: Wow, that’s insane! Speaking of Cujo, do you prefer taking the lead role like in that film or The Howling, or do you prefer strong supporting roles like in E.T. or Critters?

DW: I just like a good role, honey. Even if it’s a cameo. If I feel like I know her, and she can get inside me, and it serves the project, and the project is good, I like it. I had a lot of fun with my character in The Nest.

HGL: You’ve always kind of found your way into creature features, haven’t you? You were in Cujo, Alligator II: The Mutation, Abominable, and now The Nest. Is there something in the concept of humans vs. nature that draws you to them?

DW: Well, they definitely found me! They found me very early in my career. But…no. Haha. What draws me to them is that I like to do a lot of the highly emotional work, and there’s no better genres that afford that to you than the horror or suspense genres. You know, at the height of my career, all the “movies of the week” I did were battered wives and wives of alcoholics, which again, didn’t have any creatures in them, but had a lot of emotional ride in them. That’s what I love about The Frighteners, because she starts out this wimpy little victim, and makes this huge arc into this killer, you know, this horrific force of nature to be reckoned with, and those parts don’t come along a lot for a woman.

HGL: The Frighteners is such a great film, too.

DW: Thank you. It’s very underrated.

HGL: It really is. If you could revisit any of your roles in a sequel, remake, or reboot, which would it be?

DW: Well, it’s interesting that you ask that. It would be E.T., but I would never want E.T. to have a sequel. It’s a classic. Maybe when Mr. Spielberg is on his last leg, which I don’t see that happening any time soon, maybe then if they want to re-do something. But you know, it’s our Wizard of Oz and I think they should leave it that way.

HGL: When you did E.T. and The Howling, did you ever think they would achieve the statuses they did? E.T. is one of the most beloved family films ever in film history, and The Howling is a top-two werewolf film, even 30 years later, to almost every horror fan you could talk to. Did you even have an idea when you were filming these?

DW: No, and I don’t think any creative person ever does. It just takes so much. Did it come out at the right time? Is the public ready for it, and the message? Was the music right? Was the promotion right? There’s so many things that have to come together to make a perfect storm of a hit movie that lasts. I think any creative just goes in to do their very best, and then hope for the best. You know, E.T. was supposed to be Steven’s little film in between all his blockbusters.

HGL: Haha, that didn’t quite work out that way, did it?

DW: No, not at all, thank goodness, haha.

HGL: Recently, you’ve taken on a lot of smaller roles and cameos, as you mentioned, in smaller films with lower budgets like The Nest, even after performing in these massive films by legendary directors. A lot of other actors kind of phone it in by this point in their careers, but you routinely give it your all. How do you maintain your love for the business and your talent, after being involved with the business for so long?

DW: Well, the quickest answer to that was I was raised by my mother, and my mother taught me to always give your all and do your best, and if you can’t, don’t do it. That was the way I was raised. When I was a high school teacher, I went into that classroom with as much tenacity and exuberance as when I walked onto the set of E.T. I just think it’s a responsibility to myself to be the best that I can be, no matter what I’m doing.

HGL: That really shows, too. When I watched The Nest, and another one I watched during the holidays, Red Christmas, there you were, adding incredible acting to smaller movies, and it really just shows the dedication to your craft and talents.

DW: Let me tell you, I had a wonderful time doing that movie. We shot it in Australia. I loved the cast, and they were so talented, and I loved the director. There’s a lot to be said for a director and producer that guide the ship with a lot of love and respect. We know there are directors that don’t respect their actors, but for me it makes all the difference in the world. I was just so respected and listened to, and it was such a different kind of shoot. We all stayed in the same compound and would take turns cooking for the group that lived there. I made beef stroganoff and it was just a very different shoot than you’d find in America. When you’re in an environment like that, it makes you even want to give more.

HGL: You can definitely tell a difference between actors who aren’t enjoying themselves in a film, and actors that are.

DW: Well, and even then, if you’re not enjoying being there, you still have the responsibility of bringing your all when the camera is rolling. Period.

HGL: Regarding The Nest, it clearly had some psychological horror elements and symbolism of substance abuse and familial loss. Do you think those messages will hit home with horror fans?

DW: I hope so. I have a whole other business where I do healing work, and I can tell you, the biggest monsters we’re running away from are ourselves. For me, movies like this are kind of statements about how we infest ourselves with our fears and with our beliefs systems, and ultimately that takes us over. Because we’re taken over, the people we love are affected, and then it branches out from there. Yes, I hope they get those underlying messages in there.

HGL: What do you think it is about possession or parasitic films like The Nest that makes them so scary for the audience? Is it a control thing?

DW: Bingo! Right on it. The biggest thing we fear is that we can’t control what happens to us.

HGL: Before we finish up, what’s one horror franchise you would still love to have a role in, that you never got a chance to be in?

DW: Oh, wow! Oh boy, putting me on the spot here! I’m trying to think of all of them now. I’ll tell you, if they ever did anything else with The Exorcist, that’s something I’d really love to play around in. I’ve also always wanted to play, not necessarily in a horror film, but I’ve always wanted to play a nun that’s tormented and questioning her faith, and things that might happen to her in her fear system. Somebody just sent me…well, I can’t really mention what the franchise is…but I read it, and it I went, “It’s just not what I do. It’s too sexually graphic. It’s too violently graphic.” Most of the horror films that I’m involved in don’t have a lot of those elements contained in them. They’re really true, old-fashioned films based on “let’s get to know the people” and “let’s get to know the characters,” and build the story. There’s usually some kind of statement involved.

HGL: Well, that’s really all we’ve got for you Dee, it’s been a pleasure.

DW: Those were some really really great questions, and I appreciate them. After doing interviews for 45 years, it’s great to get some new questions. This was a really great interview, sweetheart.

HGL: Thank you so much! Before we go, are there any upcoming films you want people to be on the lookout for, or any organizations you’d like to plug?

DW: I have several films coming out! The first one is 13 Fanboy, which was buzzing all over the internet before the pandemic hit. I’m really excited about that. Deborah Voorhees directed it, and I think it’s going to be a really interesting piece. I don’t know why somebody hasn’t thought of it yet. It’s such a great storyline about real horror actresses getting stalked. Another one, Await the Dawn, is another really interesting combination of sci-fi and horror. I don’t know if it’s gotten distribution yet. You know, with the pandemic, everything’s got to be picked up again and re-evaluated. It’s so weird. I’d love people to visit my website, which is iamdeewallace.com, and maybe look at my Ted Talk on YouTube. I think that will give some good insight into those places. As far as a charity, it would be Save the Children, or anything with animals. I’m a very big animal lover.

HGL: You’d never guess that after watching Cujo! Alright Dee, thank you very much for meeting with us.

DW: Thank you, and have a great rest of your day.

Horror Geek Life thanks Dee Wallace for the wonderful interview. If you would like to follow Dee on Twitter, you can find her @Dee_Wallace. The Nest will be available exclusively at Redbox from July 6 and available on Digital, On Demand, and DVD July 20 from 4DigitalMedia.