While promoting his teen romantic comedy “A Cinderella Story,” Chad Michael Murray provided a little info on the new “House of Wax:”
Were you there for the fire on the “House of Wax” set?
We were in the middle of a scene when it went down. I can’t really say much more than that. We’re doing some tricky stuff, some very, very difficult stuff that’s something you’ve never seen before. And what can I say? Accidents happen.
How bad is the damage?
That, I don't know. That’s not really my business. All I know is the producers did a great job of calming everybody down.
Speaking of “House of Wax,” what do you think of remakes?
What can I say? I’m like the remake king around here. I think if you’re going to do something differently, call it a remake as much as you want, but it’s the same concept and they try to do a different spin on it. “Cinderella Story” was a contemporary idea for [the] Cinderella story. Great, you know, “Freaky Friday” was a remake, great. “House of Wax” is a remake but “House of Wax” is very different. It’s like a background concept but it’s a completely different story.
Did you watch the old films?
[For] “A Cinderella Story,” what are you going to do, go back and watch “Cinderella?” I mean, really, there’s no mice. What can I say? “House of Wax,” I went back and watched the 1953 version with Vincent Price. I just thought it was eerie. But that was in choosing if I wanted to do it or not. I wanted to see what kind of feeling I got and it was eerie. There’s just something really creepy about wax.
How do you make wax statues scary for modern audiences?
You’ll see.
Who do you play in “House of Wax?”
His name’s Nick. He’s got a twin sister, Carlie, and basically he’s one of those guys that gets in a lot of fights and he’s that rebellious type. I wanted to find out, you know what, instead of playing that one note rebellious type, why is he rebellious? What is it about him that makes him who he is? And so in backstory I just realized that it all stems from insecurity. I don't think it’s what he wants to do, what he wants to be. He’s a really insecure guy with some emotional issues. I want to create a guy who’s strong but yet has a vulnerable side to him. Those action heroes like Harrison Ford, you watch him and he’s great, he’s the man but at the same time, they’ve got those moments where he’s running from the Indians and he’s petrified. That’s what you love about him.
How did Paris Hilton do on the set?
She’s cool. I think the stereotypes suck because she’s really a sweet person. She really is. I mean, she was one of the nicest people on the set. She never had a negative thing to say and she tried really hard. She tried really hard on the film. She impressed me.
What type of roles are you looking for?
I feel like I took a lot of the things…I did what I had to do to get to where I want to be, and I’m going to continue to do what I do to get to where I want to be. I take an ideal like Sean Penn’s career. I think Sean Penn’s the epitome of what every actor could and should want to be. He just is. He’s incredible. And I feel like at this point, and this stage of the game, I’ve only been working in this business for five years. I’ve been very fortunate and I’ve worked very hard. And I guess I just want to keep doing that and try different roles and try different characters and create different things. “House of Wax” is completely different than anything you’ve seen. And I wanted to make the character interesting to the audience regardless of whether it was horror or not. I want people to be interested in what’s going to happen to this guy. And next, I really want to do something that’s just artistic, something that just has real life qualities, real life situations that I can really just turn my cell phone off, turn my life off, and just invest in this character solely, 100 %, that’s all I do.
What goes through your head when you go out and girls scream?
I assume they have beer goggles on. I don't know. I think it’s weird. It’s really, really weird. I guess I don't know, I’m just going to try to make them happy. I’ll find out if I was charming in this movie. I tried. We’ll see what they think on the 16th and I just want to keep them happy, do different things, let people know that I’m just not some guy that wants to get famous. That’s not what it’s about for me. I just really want to do good work.
