Tattooed artist Pandie Suicide – who you’ll recognize from a slew of TV and film roles, as well as music videos – talks about her newest venture, Massacre, a bloody jaunt into terror that saw her wearing triple hats – actress, writer and director.
You’ve become somewhat of an icon on the internet – and all through your own hard work and self-marketing knowhow. Was that always the intention, to become somewhat of a distinctive and unique face amongst the masses?
First of all, thank you for saying that! My intention has always just been to be myself and to work hard at everything I do and that includes of course the marketing side of things. I definitely enjoy social media in some respects, I have a Bachelors degree in media so things like this have always fascinated me, as well as the power and potential of the internet, but at the end of the day I think good work, hard work, and consistent effort pays off way more than any other kind of marketing strategy! While we’re talking about it though, feel free to find me and follow on twitter or instagram at @pandiesuicide, ha!
Did you have a plan set out for yourself or do you just take it as it comes?
It’s a little from column A and a little from column B!
As a teenager, what did you originally want to be?
As a child I always wanted to be a writer, and a fashion designer. And to some degree I was, I was always writing and drawing and designing and making things, and then I started learning to play piano first then guitar and writing songs. So after that I wanted to be a musician and an actor – I studied drama at school and used to put on plays for my family as a small child, and the dream of being a writer that never went away. I was always writing, I have always been a writer, I think I was born one, maybe not a particularly good one to start with! But a writer all the same. For as long as I have been alive I have always had this innate drive to create in all these ways – through writing, music, art, and now especially, filmmaking. I studied journalism in high school and became a music journalist as a teenager and still occasionally do that kind of work to this day, though mostly I am focused on acting, writing and producing films at the moment. I also made my first film as a teenager.
Did you move to Hollywood to chase the dream of being an actress?
I don’t think I necessarily consciously moved here to chase the dream of being an actress, though probably subconsciously! I have definitely always been drawn to Los Angeles for one reason or another.
Is there a role or gig that’s been a blessing to your career?
All of them have been blessings to my career! I treat any day on set as a learning experience, every audition, every meeting, rehearsal, everything, they’re all blessings no matter the outcome or how big or small, because they’re always a chance to learn and to grow. I have been fortunate enough to work with some really amazing directors and actors though, like David Lynch, Mark Pellington, Zach Mercks, Bryan Cranston, Salma Hayek, Ama Lea, Ricardo De Montreuil and more!
Do you think it’s easier to gain a following when you’re in horror movies?
I think it’s easier to gain a horror-loving following, that’s for sure! Plus horror lovers are die-hard into their genre, myself included!
You use to write. Do you miss journalism?
I still write constantly, every day in fact, but it’s mostly scripts, short stories, that kind of thing at the moment, anything I can draw from to create, but I do miss reviewing and interviewing shows, yes! I am on a hiatus right now as I am so very busy with my own projects as well as acting in others’, but I used to cover a lot of metal shows, and I miss the shows and talking about music with the band and fans, I wish I had more time to do everything!
And how was the experience of making your own movie? Was it nice to be able to call the shots?
It was amazing, though certainly a lot of work! I do not recommend it for the faint of heart! But for those that really want to see their vision come to life and make a film, it really is the most rewarding experience there is. The film is called ‘Massacre’ and it’s a short film in the slasher genre. I wrote and produced the film and it was directed by the talented Erik Boccio, keep an eye on him he’s got a lot of great things coming up, and also produced by Damian Lea. I play the role of Marianne James, a girl who wakes up at the site of a grisly mass murder and can’t remember what happened. It was very interesting playing this character because she’s a blonde with no tattoos, and I am a brunette with many, many tattoos! My co-stars were two rockstars – Billy Morrison, who plays guitar in Billy Idol and has appeared as an actor in all kinds of things including one of my favourite shows ‘Californication’, and London May who plays drums/ bass in Glen Danzig’s post-Misfits band Samhain. They were both supremely amazing in their roles as ‘The Paramedic’ and ‘The Detective’, respectively. We also had Jeordie White who appears in David Lynch’s ‘Lost Highway’ and plays in Marilyn Manson make a cameo along with Rob Patterson who previously was a touring guitarist in Korn, Filter and Otep and the two also scored the film. I am so stoked with the way the soundtrack turned out, Jeordie and Rob are so, so talented, the music is just perfect for the film. In fact we just won an award at Massacre’s first screening at the Fantasmagorical Film Fest at Fandom Fest in Louisville, KY last month for the soundtrack! Jeff Hilliard and Katy Foley also make an appearance in the film. It’s playing next week at the Horror Hound Festival in Indiana on Friday the 11th of September and it looks like we may have a special screening event in Los Angeles on the 17th of September, so stay tuned!
You can check out the teaser trailer for Massacre here!
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