There’s a dinner scene that takes place in this cabin with everybody and there’s a shot of one of the other characters and that actually was taken out because they thought that it would be better to reveal this character much later on in the movie. That was the only thing that was taken out. Our deleted scenes on the DVD are going to run about 2.8 seconds. They will have to fill it out with some other stuff.
‘Betty’ has to be an extremely tough character to play because you can’t do too much winking at the audience.
Larry was really specific that that’s not what he wanted so I really just had to just say the words. It was a very, very fine line and I think all of the actors were kind of like, “Are we doing it right?” And Larry was great at keeping us in the framework of, “That’s just borderline.” There are a couple of scenes – a few scenes – that are slightly winking at the audience but other than that, you would never tell this is a movie not from that era. That this isn’t an original movie from that era.
It was very difficult for me, and I wasn’t really sure if I pulled it off or not by the end of it. I’d never played that type of character in this type of spoof movie where you are playing it dead straight. It was a very interesting concept; it was a very unusual experience. I literally played it as if it was real, like it was a very serious movie for this person. That’s the only way I think you could play it and have it work. It’s the kind of movie that you can’t really explain to people. They just have to see it.
Did you think you’d still be promoting this movie so many years after you finished working on it?
The World Premiere was three years ago at the Egyptian Theatre. They do a thing where they run independent movies. “Lost Skeleton” was on the bill and 600 people showed up, it packed the audience, not knowing anything about the movie. We never expected the movie to do any kind of business and it did the festivals for a while.
They loved it over there at the Egyptian Theatre, 600 people showed up and in the audience was Mike Schlesinger who is an exec from Sony. He saw the movie and just flipped out over it. He couldn’t understand how all these people [knew about the movie], where this movie came from and why all these people were there. They were laughing hysterically and when he found out how much it actually cost for us to make the movie, he was like, “I’ve got to have this movie.” Convincing Sony to buy such a small film, they didn’t understand the concept of it. It didn’t make sense to them. “How can a movie be good for $60,000?” It was like $40,000 to do the initial movie and $20,000 for post. We shot it in 10 ½ days.
And in 2004, it’s still got a buzz surrounding it.
We’re very surprised. It deserves it so we’re very happy, but we are very surprised because it is such a small film. Leonard Maltin, the film critic, teaches a class here at USC. He screened it for his students as part of his lecture series and they really responded well to it. It was actually a bunch of different students there of all ages, and they really responded to it. It doesn’t just cater to the lovers of the B-movies. It’s for anybody who can appreciate very dry humor and likes something a little different.
It’s been a joy to see it be so well received. All of us are so thrilled. We are just so happy, and just so happy for Larry because he is so incredibly talented. He really deserves to be a huge film director.
Do you prefer to work with a director who is also a writer or do you find that a little difficult because they have so much control over both aspects?
It hasn’t happened too many times, I have to say. And with Larry, I needed that. It was so helpful. I think Larry is the only person who could have directed “Lost Skeleton” because it was such a clear, specific vision he had. So actually working with him and having him write it was invaluable. It was absolutely invaluable. I think it was the key to the success of the film.
I think there is a tendency with writers who direct to not want to play around with it or certain people are maybe a little insecure about having an exchange of dialogue. But on the whole I would say 90% of the people that I have worked with that are writing and directing – or friends of mine – it’s always been a pleasurable experience. I haven’t found it hard in my experience. I found it’s actually quite good.
PAGE 3: Fay Masterson on Keeping a Straight Face and Upcoming Projects
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