Ashley Bell
Tags: Mary, Ashley Bell, The last Exorcism, The Day, Tisch School of the Arts, Cambridge University, the Miz
Ashley Bell literally bent over backwards to entertain us in The Last Exorcism. The film marked her major movie debut in a leading role, and quite an impressive debut it was as a small down girl possessed by a demon. Even though it was called The Last Exorcism, they’ve made a sequel and Bell is back.
Bell also gets to step up her physical work in the film The Day. The post-apocalyptic thriller casts bell as Mary, the toughest most fierce survivor in the wasteland. It may have become a cliché to see a woman kick butt in an action movie, but Bell makes it primal and vicious. The film premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival in 2011, where WWE Studios picked it up and is now distributing it.
Of course, that’s all acting. In real life she’s a total sweetheart. She even dresses up to meet reporters and look good on camera, even though her biggest roles have been stripped down and natural. Bell is a trained actor with a background from NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts and Cambridge University, so she shared with us all her tricks and secrets in a sit down interview that could have gone on forever. She was so gracious she would have kept chatting, but we wrapped after a healthy session.
Suicide Girls: We do see a lot of kickass women, but they’re not usually this full on survivalist. Was that something you wanted to add to the archetype?
Ashley Bell: I think that was in the script. It was right in the script, part of the Mary character description. I said to myself, “This is a challenge. I must do it justice. I must go there and figure out how to be her.”
SG:
Was your perception of her that it was one level beyond what we’ve seen before with tough fighting women?
AB:
Very much so. Very much so in the lack of how much she says. It wasn’t, for me, a matter of not having lines in the script. It was a matter of what has the writer chosen to have her not say. What is she hiding from these people. What is she looking at. What is preoccupying her mind. There was a basic, a lot of human qualities that Mary has to shut off the survive in this world. A lot of empathy has to be shut down to live. She can’t overextend herself to help somebody because she’ll be putting her neck on the line. She has to make those choices and make those decisions because she has this path of revenge to live up to and live for. She has to complete that in her life.
SG:
That’s what I got out of it. We see Kill Bill or Alias but there’s still a moment of, “Oh, I still like them.” Mary was someone who I liked watching survive, but she’s kind of scary.
AB:
Yeah. [Laughs] You know, it was interesting. A lot of people that read the role didn’t like her. When I read the script, there was something about her that I loved. Because I liked her, I could fight for her and I could get behind her and fight for what she believed in. I could pull for her. I understood some part of where she was hurt so badly that made her act this way and get this calloused over. I cared for her. That’s what attracted me to really fight to get the role.
SG:
Since WWE is distributing the film, has there been any talk of you appearing on WWE?
AB:
Oh, God, I hope so. I hope I get allowed at least near the ring. This is my second project with them which is very exciting. I also did The Marine: Homefront. It’s a wonderful family to be a part of. I love it. We’re also actively looking for projects for a third film possibly with them, with me possibly very much in an action position again.
SG:
Well, they had Maria Menounos do a fight at Wrestlemania and I don’t think she’s trained. You can probably pick up some lessons for a ring match.
AB:
I know, right? I’ll spring off of the side of the ring and put somebody in a headlock.
SG:
You could fight Eve Torres.
AB:
I could fight Ms. Torres, yeah.
SG:
How do you like appearing all glammed up like today, versus the very natural look you’ve had in films like The Day and Last Exorcism?
AB:
Oh yes, the hardest part of filming was no hair and makeup. No, I like being able to disguise to be a character like Mary. I really get a kick out of it. It’s really a lot of fun. It was a huge process every morning. I think I went through an hour of continuity makeup. They were painting bruises on me and then they just stopped doing that after a while because the bruises existed, but because I was in that dress, so much of my skin was exposed. They had to cover me in this fake gore pack of dirt and have dry scab in my hair and all this stuff. The dirt actually proved for a fantastic contour so I had wonderfully sculpted cheekbones. I like disguising as another character. That’s very fun for me to slip into something like else. I like that process.
SG:
When your body and your face is so much of your tool set as an actor, how is your self-image as Ashley?
AB:
I think just the whole thing gets transformed. There were many different levels to attack transformation with this. With my body and my face they wanted that very gaunt look so I did have to drop weight to change the way my face looked, and they needed me to add on muscle so my body, when I got done filming, looked like it had been through the ringer. Because we were on this diet, there was no more color in my face. My body looked very different. I liked being able to change that, to go undercover as a different person. Nothing was added on. I was able to do it myself, like with some of The Last Exorcism stuff, there was no CGI or prosthetics added on. They let me do that myself to change it. I always find that to be a challenge as an actor and something I relish the opportunity to do is to change the way I look, to be a different person.
SG:
Are you looking for more physical roles or maybe a break from that?
AB:
I am looking. I love the path that I’m on in terms of doing physical things and action. I had a kick being on an action set. I love it. It’s so much fun. I would love for another action role to come along, but I also did do The Bounceback which is a romantic comedy. I did have a little break from that. It was very hard the first couple of days. I didn’t have a gun. I had to use my words and I wasn’t tripping and falling over things. I didn’t have any bruises. I was like, “What do I do with myself?”
SG:
Are you ever antsy with your body, like you don’t know what to do with yourself when you don’t have a performance to give?
AB:
Oh, I’m very antsy, yes. I always consider working is vacation for me and in between jobs is when the real work starts happening. I always find ways to occupy myself. I just went on point, I take ballet just recreationally but I just went on point shoes. I still continue taking ballet. I like to learn a different skill. I’m still studying Muay Thai every now and then and just keep my body prepared for wherever it next needs to go.
SG:
Don’t you have to maintain ballet every day?
AB:
I do it like two or three times a week but I do cardio every day. I’ve always been active so I need to keep active.
SG:
Do you get to be heroic in The Marine?
AB:
I do, yes. I did play the hostage in that film and The Miz rescues me but what I loved about this kind of hostage character was that she doesn’t give up. She doesn’t start to cry and there’s nothing wrong with that kind of character, but this character fights. She yells. She looks for the air holes in the situation. She looks for ways out of where she is, where she’s tied up and I like that about her. I like that she’s a fighter so that’s what attracted me to that role.
SG:
Who is the villain?
AB:
Neal McDonough. Most of my scenes were actually with Neal and he’s incredible. There is nobody that plays a villain like Neal McDonough, just that cool demeanor with those eyes. Acting with him is something I’d hope for every day.
SG:
In The Last Exorcism 2 are you able to step up the physical transformation?
AB:
Very much so, yes.
SG:
How important was it for you to stick with that character?
AB:
Very. Nell always has hit me very strongly. Actually from when I very first auditioned for the role, there’s something about that girl, that character that just hit me so viscerally. It was wonderful to be her again. I didn’t think that would happen. To become her again in the world of The Last Exorcism Part 2, it was great to get back inside of her skin. I’m happy to have had the chance to live her again.
SG:
Did you have questions still that had a chance to be answered?
AB:
Oh, I always have questions. That’s what gets me hooked on a role is when I ask questions. There was a lot about Nell the first time around that was such a question, which also helped inform me about Mary because a lot of going through the world of The Day, Mary internally was always asking questions, like when they go through the house. Where are the tracks? Where is the trap wire? How long has the dust been sitting there for? Is there smoke anyway? Would lighting a cigarette attract attention? Would it deter attention? What do I see? Things like that very much hook me into the world.
SG:
If The Day can be considered somewhat horror as well as action, are you getting a lot of horror scripts because of these two projects?
AB:
I do get some horror scripts. What I’m most flattered by what I’ve been getting is I’ve been getting really phenomenal character scripts. Even though The Day has horror elements, it’s not just gore for gore’s sake. It’s in very specific parts and everything. What attracted me to that script was the characters that are there. You see these very strong personalities and they’re what then generates the film and gets the audience hooked in and everything. The Bounceback is a romantic comedy but I loved the character I played. Again with Chasing Shakespeare, another film I did, was the character I played. I’m so grateful for these roles. They’re all very different characters and I like that.
SG:
How important was your training at the Tisch School at NYU and Cambridge?
AB:
Oh God, that training was unparalleled. I studied mainly Shakespeare at Cambridge. I studied acting and directing and they taught us Shakespeare, and there’s no Shakespeare I’ve ever gotten like what it was like at Cambridge. That was very helpful. I opened up all those notes while I was doing Chasing Shakespeare because my character was doing a lot of scenes from The Tempest so I was opening all that up again. Then NYU was wonderful. I was in Playwrights Horizons to start out with and then I was in Strasberg for my last year of training and that’s the method, which I was curious to learn because I just had heard so much about it. I wanted to make up my own mind on it. It’s been very informative, especially in picking what I’ll need to pull from for Mary or picking what I’ll need to pull from for Nell to kind of have those tools to dig into the character. It’s very, very helpful.
SG:
Are there any roles where you don’t use it, where you just go in fresh?
AB:
No. Sometimes it doesn’t require as much of that but I always go in doing tons of research and “homework.” I do my homework before I’m going in. My scripts are just piled with notes and coloring stuff. They become a tapestry. The more messed up they are the better.
SG:
Do you ever feel overqualified for some roles?
AB:
Never. No. Never. God, in The Day just to start alone, I did my preparation but I just was fighting to keep up with who I was acting against. I’m acting with Dominic Monaghan, Shawn Ashmore, Cory Hardrict and Shannyn Sossamon. That’s a strong, strong ensemble. Every day I just was fighting to keep up with them. Look at the places I’ve been. I’m acting opposite Neal McDonough. I would stay on set to watch Neal act. With The Last Exorcism Part 2, the cast is an ensemble of a phenomenal group of actors. Movie sets are so wonderful for that reason because you get to sit and just be in this whole microcosm, just stare at everyone and watch what they do and learn.
SG:
Since The Last Exorcism was a found footage movie, did a lot of people think you weren’t even an actor?
AB:
Yes, there was a question as if it was real or not which was the biggest compliment I ever got. All I had heard was that some audiences thought this was a real girl which was such a compliment. I love that about the found footage genre because you can’t lie. That was something Daniel [Stamm] so searched for those truthful moments of being no vanity, no anything, to unearth that. I love that about that style. It was very raw, like The Day. It was very raw. What is so phenomenal about the day is Guy Danella and Doug Aarniokoski, the producer and director, this started out as an independent film. Guy took this script that Luke Passmore wrote and ran with it to get it financed. And he did it. He brought it to life. Now that the WWE acquired it at Toronto, it gave it this whole new life. It’s now being seen by the world. If not for Guy Danella’s sheer spirit and determination to get it done, he did it. He, with Doug, and a phenomenal script with Luke, they did it and they now made it seen.
SG:
Have you gotten to be on any films with lavish trailers and all the trappings?
AB:
God, I think any trailer’s quite lavish. I don't know. There are all those wonderful perks but I only realize them once the job is done because I’m so worried about doing my job. Yeah, there were trailers for The Day but once we started shooting at the beginning of it, we were pretty much in that house and we were very tight as a cast together and that kind of bonded us. We all have this experience in our past that bonded us.
SG:
Have you had a chance to meet young girls who’ve been inspired by your work?
AB:
I have and it’s remarkable. It’s just something that I never in a million years could have dreamed. They’ve seen things and they said it’s why they want to be an actress, and they said they’d been inspired by certain things I’ve done and it is just unbelievable. To make a living as an actor, as an artist, it’s such a privilege. It’s nothing I take for granted. It’s so special.
SG:
What is your character in The Bounceback?
AB:
Her name is Cathy and throughout the span of this film, in this weekend in Austin, she’s getting over an ex-boyfriend and then meets someone new there. It’s very cool about this character to both break up and fall in love in the span of 48 hours.
SG:
Who are your leading men?
AB:
I worked with Zach Cregger who’s on Guys With Kids. He’s so funny. Sara Paxton plays my best friend and also Michael Stahl-David plays my ex-boyfriend.
The Day opens August 29 in theaters.
The Day opens August 29 in theaters.
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