411 Movies Interview: Betsy Russell of Saw V

Posted by Tony Farinella on 10.24.2008

411's Tony Farinella sits down with Betsy Russell for an exclusive interview about Saw V, which hits theaters this Friday!

Betsy Russell returns as Jigsaw's ex-wife in Saw V, which can be seen in theaters as of October 24th. Saw V also features Julie Benz and Meagan Good along with series regulars Tobin Bell and Costas Mandylor. Saw V also features the return of Scott Patterson as Agent Peter Strahm. In my interview with Betsy Russell, we talked about her role in Saw V, Tobin Bell, Cheerleader Camp, and a whole lot more. Be sure to check out Saw V this Friday in theaters!


TONY: After doing three Saw films, how comfortable do you feel with the character Jill Tuck?

Betsy Russell: I feel very comfortable with her. I love this character, and I feel like I really know her inside and out. And I just love playing the role.

TONY: Did you have a lot of discussions with Tobin Bell off camera about your relationship on camera?

Betsy Russell: Well, we've talked about it a lot. Before I started Saw IV, we got together and really discussed everything about our characters and really bonded and got to know each other really well and spend time together. It's all out there. He wrote me poems and gave me gifts and, really, we just got very comfortable with each other, and he's very sweet and very nice and a wonderful person and a great on-screen husband and a great actor too.

TONY: What was it like changing directors on Saw V? This film is directed by David Hackl, and Saw III and Saw IV were directed by Darren Lynn Bousman.

Betsy Russell: Well, the set was really, really different, because they just have different styles. Darren's really out there and crazy and wild and hilarious and he knows how to get what he wants from the actors with a certain approach. And David is very different and very quiet and you can barely hear him speaking. Maybe because it was his first time directing a Saw movie, he was a little more .... maybe he'll be throwing his weight around there next time. Hopefully, he'll direct another Saw movie. But this time, he just took a backseat and was very relaxing. But, obviously, I saw the movie last night, and it's incredible, so he got what he wanted, and he's a great director. I'm very proud of both of them.

TONY: Saw V also includes Julie Benz and Meagan Good. What was it like working with them, and how did they fit in with the rest of the cast?

Betsy Russell: They're both great actresses. I had seen Julie before in Dexter , and she's really great. And I didn't really know anything about Meagan before, but she's solid. They're just solid actresses, and it's always good to have beauty and talent, so it's nice to have them.

TONY: Do you feel comfortable in front of the camera again after returning from your retirement? Do you still feel rusty at all?

Betsy Russell: Well, I'm definitely not feeling rusty anymore. I'm really feeling better than ever, as far as my craft. I'm doing a play now in L.A. called It's Just Sex. It starts November 14th at Two Roads Theater in Studio City. I haven't done a play in a long time, so I'm nervous about it, but I'm very excited about it. It's not easy getting work, that's for sure, being an actress over, shall we say, twenty-eight in Hollywood. I'm happy to be working at all and just taking it one day at a time and just when I think nothing more is gonna happen, something kind of falls into my lap, so I've been very lucky in that way. And I'm just gonna hopefully enjoy the ride.


TONY: You just mentioned that you're taking Hollywood one day at a time and you're just enjoying the ride. Do you look for certain projects or do certain projects find you? How do you balance everything in your life? You also have three kids.

Betsy Russell: Well, obviously, the parts that are gonna come to me, hopefully they're gonna find my representation and come to me, so I don't worry about those. But, yeah, it is interesting finding a balance, because not only do I have three kids, but I go to school. I go to a master's program in Spiritual Psychology, so I'm finishing that up in June. But it is a balance. But I have to say, besides my spirituality and pursuing all of that, I love acting more than anything, so I am kind of really giving it a push now, because I am having some success and I just wanna take advantage of it. So I'm just going for it again.

TONY: What's it like being thrown into the Saw franchise after being retired for so long? I mean, the Saw fan base is just huge.

Betsy Russell: I can't imagine it any other way. It's amazing. The fans are so die-hard, and they know everything about every single movie and every frame, and they go and see them so many times. I feel kind of like my fans in the eighties who were really die-hard fans are maybe kind of resurfacing and coming out to see this stuff. I think it's great, because not only do they get me, but they get to be a part of this whole franchise experience. So I think it's really cool.

TONY: Speaking of the eighties, you've mentioned in previous interviews that Darren Lynn Bousman asked you to autograph his copy of Cheerleader Camp. Are you surprised that people still remember these films and still talk about them?

Betsy Russell: Oh my god, it's incredible. Two things: I remember once my sister going to college said, 'Betsy, they're showing Cheerleader Camp up on a building near my school.' And I was like, 'Really? I didn't even think anybody ever saw that movie.' And then I come to find out it's kind of this little cult, silly, comedy, horror movie that people just loved and they still have the DVDs, and I just think it's amazing. And then on the other side of it, I remember when I met, I don't remember his name unfortunately, one of the producers from Entourage, and he was like, 'Oh my god, I'm your biggest fan.' And I was like, 'Hey, hire me!' Because I love that show too. That's one of my favorite shows. So I dunno, it's nice to have fans. And it's also nice, because the producers actually put you to work, so it's great. I love it.

TONY: What's changed about the business side of Hollywood from when you started out in the eighties?

Betsy Russell: Well, I have to say that I just think there's probably a lot more actors flocking to Hollywood every year to become huge stars. Maybe I was just more naive when I was seventeen and I moved here, but I knew there were a lot of people trying to be actors, obviously. It just didn't seem as extreme as it is now. I think because the paychecks have gone so sky-high for the one percent or half a percent of the actors like Tom Cruise and Julia Roberts and those people, I guess everyone just thinks that they could be in that small percentage and they give it their best shot. I don't feel like there was as many people when I was seventeen. But then again, I talk to my friends that were doing it then, and they're like, 'Are you crazy? There was hundreds of people on every callback then too.' So I think I just got lucky back then and hopefully I'll continue to get lucky in my little genre or whatever it is and keep working.

TONY: It's interesting that you mention that, because you really paid your dues in Hollywood by modeling and waitressing. Did those experience give you a new perspective on Hollywood and teach you not to take anything for granted?

Betsy Russell: Yeah, definitely. If you think you're gonna move to Hollywood and make it and be a star and not have any backup plan, well, think again, because most actors and actresses don't make it and don't get lucky and don't have that "it" factor and aren't at the right place at the right time. But I've wanted to be an actress since I was about eight-years-old. So I really did take a lot of acting classes. I was always on stage. I was always doing theater. I was doing school plays since I was eight. So when I was seventeen, I just kind of thought, 'OK, now I'm really gonna go for it.' And I had one friend in town that was a producer and he kind of guided me to the right agents and stuff like that. But, yeah, I just think people need to have backup plans and they need to say, 'Hey, I'm gonna be an actor. I'm gonna get in acting class. I'm gonna go on auditions. I'm gonna try and get an agent and a manager, but hey, why not go to college at the same time?' You can at least take a couple of classes, so in ten years you'll finish but so what? In ten years, you'll probably realize you're not getting work as an actor. And I don't mean to say like doomsday, but realistically, it's great to follow your dreams, but I really believe that it's not bad to have education as a backup plan and figure out what else you can do, because you don't have a lot of control of getting jobs in this business.


TONY: I'm sure this is a hard question to answer, but when you're on set and you're looking at all of the crazy traps, as a mother, do you ever say to yourself, 'How would I handle that trap?'

Betsy Russell: No. I try not to think about it, because I remember years ago thinking, 'How would I act if I was ever held up at gunpoint? What would I do?' And I kid you not, within a year, I was held up at gunpoint. So I completely and totally believe in the power of the mind and what you ask for, a lot of times, you receive. I believe that. So I don't ask questions. Deep down, I know what I would do to get myself out of any situation. I mean, I'm tough, I'm strong, and a mother would put her kids first, for sure, take a bullet for her kids, and do anything for them. So if you're asking me as a mother what I would do, I would do anything for my kids and to get out of any situation, I would do the same. But I try not to think about it.

TONY: Are your kids allowed to watch the Saw movies?

Betsy Russell: Yeah, my older son is almost sixteen, and he was there last night and he loved it. His friends really, really loved the movie. One of them said it was the best one yet and another one said it was as good as the first one. And then my thirteen-year-old came last year with a bunch of his friends, and I think it was a huge mistake, because he left the theater looking like a ghost and he had flu symptoms for a week. So he doesn't want to hear the name Saw, he doesn't want to see the commercials, and he doesn't want to think about it. But a lot of his friends do like it.

TONY: Another aspect of the business that has changed is our obsession with gossip. As an actress, how do you feel about that?

Betsy Russell: Honestly, I don't have as much of that as the big stars or anything like that or any of it, really. But I truly believe that when you get to be an actor for a living and you're doing what you love, and if you're working, you get paid so well, that I truly believe that going into it, you have to know, 'OK, I'm gonna get to put on makeup and act and get paid tons of money and have fun and be catered to and have people falling all over me. But the downside is everyone's gonna know my business, they're gonna be lying about me in all the papers, and I'm gonna have photographers all over me.' Well, that's just a choice you have to make then. If you wanna be a serious actor, then do stage and do TV for money, but don't go to the clubs or the IV and don't go to places where you're gonna have your picture taken. I mean, it's not that difficult to be low-key about it and mellow. And some people handle it so well. I mean, I saw Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes at the Malibu Football Field a few months ago, and they have their people around them, but they were shaking hands and smiling, and it just goes with making thirty-million dollars to work for six months. It's just part of the game, so you either take the whole thing or you don't. I just think it kind of goes with the territory.

TONY: Finally, how do you think fans are going to respond to Saw V?

Betsy Russell: Well, since I saw it for the first time last night, I think, honestly, that this one, for me, was the most intense. I mean, the traps, oh my god, they just took it to the next level and it was unbelievable. The story, the way that they tie the story together and explain things and the backstory and the characters, it's just unbelievably intense and so brilliant. I'm in shock every time I see a new movie that they can do these for this budget and in this amount of time. And I give them all so much credit: The writers and the producers and everybody at Lionsgate and everybody that sweats so much blood to put these movies together so quickly. And I think the audience is definitely gonna be very, very happy when they see it. There was one fan that was just a die-hard fan and he knew everything about every movie, and I said, 'What did you think?' He said, 'I'm in shock. I can't even talk until I see it again.' So that said a lot.

TONY: Thank you so much for your time, Betsy. It was great talking to you. I appreciate it.

Betsy Russell: Thank you so much.