411 Movies Interview: Sonja Bennett of Fido Posted by Tony Farinella on 11.08.2007
411's Tony Farinella sits down with Sonja Bennett of Fido!
If you haven't seen Fido yet, what are you waiting for? I just know that you'll get a kick out of it. Recently, I had the pleasure of interviewing Sonja Bennett, who plays Tammy in Fido. She's the zombie wife of Tim Blake Nelson. What's cooler than a zombie wife? In our interview, we talked about her preparation for the role of Tammy, working with Andrew Currie, and a whole lot more. Check out Fido on DVD.
TONY: When you first read the script of Fido, did you understand the film right away?
Sonja Bennett: You know what, I got it right away. The script for Fido was somehow as magical as the movie is. They really took the time to describe the world very clearly, and even on the page, you could almost see the colors and how luscious the film was gonna be. Everyone was very, very excited about this film. I think they got a lot of people working on the film for a lot less than they normally get paid, because everyone was so jazzed about it.
TONY: I interviewed Andrew Currie a couple of days ago, and he's just one of the nicest directors I've ever talked to. Did you notice that right away with Andrew?
Sonja Bennett: Well, I actually had met Andrew before and done little things for their company before, so, actually, this role was the very first role that I was ever offered, which was very exciting to me. It was sort of like a new level in my career, where someone was offering me something. Of course I didn't speak, but it was still really exciting. On set, he's very, I don't know if he feels relaxed, but he emulates this Zen calmness, and he just seems so happy and excited for everyone to be there. He's wonderful to work with, and I just think he's a huge talent, and I just can't wait to see what he does next.
TONY:Fido features a number of talented actors from Carrie Ann Moss to Tim Blake Nelson to Bill Connolly. Did you ever get a chance to pick anyone's brain?
Sonja Bennett: You know, I did. I worked, of course, most closely with Tim Blake Nelson, and I've never seen an actor before be as meticulous with their performance and every element of their performance. I don't know if you remember, but Mr. Theopolis is a smoker in the movie, and Tim Blake Nelson was paying such close attention to the continuity of his cigarette and every little detail about his costume. Tim Blake Nelson directs as well, and I could see that sort of directorial eye in the way that he worked as an actor. And then I saw the film, and I was struck by how much those details shun through and what a difference they made and that extra energy that he put in. You could see it on the screen, so, as an actor, I try now to not just go, "OK, the costume department deals with my costumes, so I don't have to worry about that, and props deals with my props." But taking just that little bit of extra time to be a part of that creative process and put my two cents in and make those details more specific. I think he's just brilliant.
TONY: Since Tammy is a character that doesn't speak, how did you prepare for this film?
Sonja Bennett: You know, I actually had a panic attack, because when I first got the role and read the script, and like I said, it had been offered to me, which in some ways unnerved me a little bit, because then you don't know necessarily for sure that you're right for it. And I read it, and I was like, "I don't speak, but that's fine." And then about three weeks before we started shooting, I was like, "What am I gonna do? I better do something good with this." And I went to theater school, a school called Studio 58, and it's here in Vancouver and it's a conservatory theater school. So, I called up my old movement instructor, and I said, "Help me!" So, what we did was first I worked on the sort of 50's proper etiquette, and then I tried to add zombie on top of a proper 50's young woman. And I actually worked quite hard on it, because I knew that I didn't have any words to support me, so I was gonna have to convey everything through my body. So, yeah, that's what I did.
TONY: Did you and Tim Blake Nelson hang out before you starting shooting Fido in order to look authentic on screen as a couple?
Sonja Bennett: No. I mean, all the actors just arrived a few days before we started shooting. We had a table read, and we got to know each other a little bit. Again, like I was saying, he's very invested in every element of filmmaking. We worked on adding a little bit of dialogue with the teeth chattering. We added that in a few places, and we discovered that when I was doing my costume fitting that because Tim's short and that because I'm taller than him, we would accentuate that, so they gave me even higher heels, so I was even more tall than him. We got to know each other a little bit. His wife and kids were there, and I got to meet his kids, but, you know, usually with these things you just meet the other actor and away you go.
TONY: What's your most vivid memory from shooting this film?
Sonja Bennett: Well, my first day that I shot, I spent hours and hours and hours doing my make-up, and I had never had any contacts or anything in my eyes, and I don't know if you noticed, but the zombies have contacts in their eyes that make them cloudy. And we were just about to start shooting, and they go, "OK, time to put in your contacts now." And I don't know if you wear contacts, but if you've never had contacts in your eyes before, it was a bit of a struggle. I couldn't do it, so someone else had to put them in for me, and my eyeballs didn't want them in, and my eyes were crunching shut, and I couldn't get them open. So, finally the woman got the contacts in my eyes, and my eyes just started watering and watering and watering and washing off all of this detailed make-up that this poor make-up woman had spent hours putting on my face, and I just looked her, and she started crying. They had to basically bring me in extra early to bring the contacts in, and the funny thing is these contacts make you almost blinded. But because I was blind and they couldn't take my contacts in and out because my eyes watered so much, I sat in my trailer blinded. I had a lot of reflective thinking in this shoot.
TONY: What differences have you noticed between The U.S. and Canada? You've filmed in both locations.
Sonja Bennett: Well, actually, I've only shot in L.A. once, and it was just for a few days, and it was for an Atom Egoyan movie, which is, of course, a Canadian director and it was an all Canadian crew. I've worked with American crews, well, no, I mean, I suppose most of the crews are still Canadian. I don't really know because most things here are a combination of American and Canadian crews.
TONY: Personally, from talking to you and Andrew, it seems like Canadians are a lot nicer than Americans!
Sonja Bennett: I don't know about that. I find sometimes Americans are more honest.
TONY: Sometimes too blunt!
Sonja Bennett: I like it. I like it. I don't know how familiar you are with Canada, but they say that people from Toronto are much harsher and blunt and louder than people from Vancouver. There's so much of a Yoga kind of culture in Vancouver, and I love Toronto. I love it. I love watching people lay on their horns and yell at each other.
TONY: When you showed Fido to your friends and family, how did they respond to it? Did they get the film right away? I enjoyed the film quite a bit, but you really need to pay attention to the film and have a different sense of humor.
Sonja Bennett: I don't know anyone that doesn't get it, but then again maybe they are biased, because they're related to me. I don't know anyone that doesn't love this film. I'm so proud of it. I just think it's a magical film. Yeah, I'm only vaguely aware that some people didn't get it, because I don't go online and google things. I just know from my experience of being at the screenings, and I know people just went crazy when they saw it. They loved it.
TONY: What was it like working on Where The Truth Lies and dealing with that subject matter? Also, what was it like working with Kevin Bacon?
Sonja Bennett: Unfortunately, I didn't get to work with Kevin Bacon or Colin Firth, which I was very, very sad about, but a lot of my stuff was over the phone, so it was very quick. It was sort of an odd shoot, because I was very separated from the rest of the film, but one of the neatest thing about Atom, again, he's a director like Tim Blake Nelson that's just obsessed with details. They had rehearsals in Toronto, and I had been working out quite a bit before the shoot, and then I did my costume fitting, and they said the muscularity of my body didn't fit the 70's. It wasn't era-appropriate. That was more of a time where people were naturally sort of thin and lanky, because serving portions weren't the size of our heads. So, when I was talking on the phone, they pre-blocked ways for me to sit. It blew me away. I thought they were joking, but that is how true they wanted to be to the era. He's another just fantastic director.
TONY: What's the biggest difference between working on a television show compared to working on a movie?
Sonja Bennett: Well, obviously, there's huge differences between Canadian and American film and television, but, I mean, I'm not saying anything that hasn't been said before, but the speed of television and even Canadian film works at quite a quick pace, because they never have enough money, but to be able to move more slowly is so invaluable. And the other thing about film, of course, is, especially in Canada, the script is probably being bounced around and people have been trying to fund the thing for half a decade, so by the time it gets made, that script is perfect, whereas in television, people are writing to keep up. I can feel the love and the passion in the writing in film. Sometimes that happens in television at the beginning of the season, but once you get to the end, it's always rushed.
TONY: Who would you like to work with in the future?
Sonja Bennett: Well, another fellow Vancouverite Seth Rogen. I mean, I know he's really hot right now, but I just think that Seth Rogen is the cat's ass. Superbad is my favorite movie I've seen this year. I think that Seth Rogen is a genius. I think I've sad the word genius many times in this interview. (laughs) I've worked with so many amazing people, but I would love to work with Seth Rogen.
TONY: You've also worked with Jennifer Love Hewitt, and I've heard nothing but great things about her. What was it like working with her?
Sonja Bennett: Oh, yeah. She's super kind and generous. It was my birthday on set when I was working with her, and she caught wind that it was gonna be my birthday the next day, and she said, "Oh, Sonja, I really want to get you a birthday gift. What would you like for your birthday?" And I kind of laughed it off and said, "Oh, you don't have to get me anything for my birthday." I mean, I'd only known her for a week and a half or something. She was like, "I really want to get you something for your birthday." So, I said, "OK. I'd like your breasts attached to my body." I said it as a joke, and she kind of laughed. Then on my birthday, I came into my trailer, and she had had flown in from L.A. for me these special, you know, lots of actresses wear them now, they're called cookies, but they're basically like a silicone cup, and they kind of mold to your body. Anyway, I get asked them to wear them all the time, because I'm kind of flat-chested, but she had them flown in from the states for me, and then she got me this huge ice cream cake and a cartoon of me on the cake with the giant breasts. How cool is that?
TONY: Finally, what are your plans for the future?
Sonja Bennett: Well, right now I'm working on Battlestar Galactica and then later on this month my boyfriend and I are going on a much-needed vacation, and we're going to Vietnam and Cambodia for seven weeks. And I cannot wait to do some traveling. It's something that I've been putting off and putting off and putting off because of career, but now is the time to take a little break.
TONY: Thanks for your time and enjoy your vacation!
