I think the Bettie Page big ball of snow is rolling along and one of the patches its pitched up is the straight to DVD movie Bettie Page: Dark Angel. It stars fetish model Paige Richards at Bettie herself and its directed by Nico B. The film recreates the last three years of Betties career.
Check out the official website for Bettie Page: Dark Angel
Daniel Robert Epstein: How did the role in Bettie Page: Dark Angel come to you?
Paige Richards: I had shot for a photographer in LA who threw a party where I met Nico. Nico wanted to do this movie for a long time but he couldnt find the right person. We met and decided to make the movie.
DRE: So if he hadnt found you he wouldnt have done the movie?
PR: I think it was on hold until he found the right girl.
DRE: Did you have to audition?
PR: No I didnt. We just met and he wanted to see my interest level and if I knew anything about Bettie.
DRE: It seems like you know a lot about Bettie.
PR: Not a lot. We had a stylist everyday we did hair and makeup. I had to take acting classes so I was pretty much a hired gun. The only thing I had influence over was my interpretation of how I felt her personality would be. No one really knows what shes like. There was a lot of leeway with Bettie Page because all we have is the pictures. I think Bettie was a cheerful person that felt misunderstood.
DRE: She is still alive; did you try to get in touch with her?
PR: Nico knows her but Im just an actress. There was some talk of her being involved but she is doing some big huge multimillion dollar Bettie Page movie. Bunny Yeager, who shot her in the 50s, was a consultant on the movie.
DRE: This was a very low budget movie, how was that?
PR: It was fine because I think we shot a really great movie. We had enough money to get everyone paid and everything we needed. We were able to shoot in three different cities.
DRE: How was it working with Nico?
PR: Nico was fine. Hes easy and fun to work with. Hes also a real artist. Like any movie you get frustrated with one another because youre together so much.
DRE: Did you know of Nico's work before this movie?
PR: Hes a movie producer who did a movie called PIG which I watched a few times. It has Rozz Williams from Christian Death in it and I really liked PIG. I watched it twice back to back and its really trippy.
DRE: Were you ever a Bettie girl?
PR: Not before this. I did like the 50s and 60s thing but I never did the Bettie Page thing. Now I do it sometimes because its good for my career. I dont want to be pigeonholed into being an impersonator because I just played a role in the movie.
DRE: Who do you think this movie is for?
PR: First its not for everybody because its kind of fetish oriented. But anyone who is interested in these fetishes would love it. But the casual everyday person that would go see Lord of the Rings might not be interested in this movie.
DRE: You were a fetish model before this movie, was the provocative stuff in the movie easy to do?
PR: Oh yeah, I thought it was really tame actually. It was no big deal. I would never show the movie to my mother because she would be freaked out.
DRE: Doesnt your mother know what you do?
PR: Pretty much but she doesnt know every detail.
DRE: Do you think she would ever bump into your pictures on the internet?
PR: She would never. Thats just not appropriate.
DRE: I looked at your site and I saw a list of the stuff you wont do. One of the things you dont like is to be tickled.
PR: Yeah I dont like to be tickled. Childhood trauma I guess but I just hate it. All I could think of is that my dad used to tickle me really hard and I hated it.
DRE: Its just funny that a fetish model is like I dont want to be tickled.
PR: Ill do it every once in a while though. There is this one guy who loves to tickle me and he pays me a whole lot of money. So I deal with it for one hour every three months for a lot of money.
DRE: I hate to be tickled too. Its painful.
PR: Its a horrible experience. Its not fun. It sucks and totally selfish because the person tickling you is having all the fun.
DRE: Exactly and they laugh.
How did you get into doing fetish photography?
PR: I think the way most girls do. I started doing magazines with a photographer in Atlanta and then I started getting on the internet. I like bondage and S & M in my personal life. Doing the research I found you can get paid and travel doing things that are up my alley. With the internet there are a lot of strains of income through different fetishes.
DRE: How long have you been doing it for?
PR: Since 1998.
DRE: Do you like the pain that can come along with bondage and S & M?
PR: Im not into pain but I like challenging myself. Some things I find erotic but getting your ass beat is not for me. I dont think thats hot. I have done some things like that but every once in a while you have to do something youre not into because its a job.
DRE: No one wants to be an accountant.
PR: Right, my mother is an investment banker and she hates her job. I love my job.
DRE: Are you married?
PR: Yeah and he shoots for all the adult magazines.
DRE: Where did you grow up?
PR: I grew up in Savannah Georgia and I went to Catholic girls school which fucks you up. I grew up in a very conservative environment.
DRE: Do you remember the first fetish thing you did?
PR: Yeah I did a bondage shoot with a guy named Cory Thompson. At the time he contacted me about doing a shoot.
DRE: What do you think of SuicideGirls?
PR: I think its a great site. Its Goth girls meets Playboy!
by Daniel Robert Epstein
SG Username: AndersWolleck
Check out the official website for Bettie Page: Dark Angel
Daniel Robert Epstein: How did the role in Bettie Page: Dark Angel come to you?
Paige Richards: I had shot for a photographer in LA who threw a party where I met Nico. Nico wanted to do this movie for a long time but he couldnt find the right person. We met and decided to make the movie.
DRE: So if he hadnt found you he wouldnt have done the movie?
PR: I think it was on hold until he found the right girl.
DRE: Did you have to audition?
PR: No I didnt. We just met and he wanted to see my interest level and if I knew anything about Bettie.
DRE: It seems like you know a lot about Bettie.
PR: Not a lot. We had a stylist everyday we did hair and makeup. I had to take acting classes so I was pretty much a hired gun. The only thing I had influence over was my interpretation of how I felt her personality would be. No one really knows what shes like. There was a lot of leeway with Bettie Page because all we have is the pictures. I think Bettie was a cheerful person that felt misunderstood.
DRE: She is still alive; did you try to get in touch with her?
PR: Nico knows her but Im just an actress. There was some talk of her being involved but she is doing some big huge multimillion dollar Bettie Page movie. Bunny Yeager, who shot her in the 50s, was a consultant on the movie.
DRE: This was a very low budget movie, how was that?
PR: It was fine because I think we shot a really great movie. We had enough money to get everyone paid and everything we needed. We were able to shoot in three different cities.
DRE: How was it working with Nico?
PR: Nico was fine. Hes easy and fun to work with. Hes also a real artist. Like any movie you get frustrated with one another because youre together so much.
DRE: Did you know of Nico's work before this movie?
PR: Hes a movie producer who did a movie called PIG which I watched a few times. It has Rozz Williams from Christian Death in it and I really liked PIG. I watched it twice back to back and its really trippy.
DRE: Were you ever a Bettie girl?
PR: Not before this. I did like the 50s and 60s thing but I never did the Bettie Page thing. Now I do it sometimes because its good for my career. I dont want to be pigeonholed into being an impersonator because I just played a role in the movie.
DRE: Who do you think this movie is for?
PR: First its not for everybody because its kind of fetish oriented. But anyone who is interested in these fetishes would love it. But the casual everyday person that would go see Lord of the Rings might not be interested in this movie.
DRE: You were a fetish model before this movie, was the provocative stuff in the movie easy to do?
PR: Oh yeah, I thought it was really tame actually. It was no big deal. I would never show the movie to my mother because she would be freaked out.
DRE: Doesnt your mother know what you do?
PR: Pretty much but she doesnt know every detail.
DRE: Do you think she would ever bump into your pictures on the internet?
PR: She would never. Thats just not appropriate.
DRE: I looked at your site and I saw a list of the stuff you wont do. One of the things you dont like is to be tickled.
PR: Yeah I dont like to be tickled. Childhood trauma I guess but I just hate it. All I could think of is that my dad used to tickle me really hard and I hated it.
DRE: Its just funny that a fetish model is like I dont want to be tickled.
PR: Ill do it every once in a while though. There is this one guy who loves to tickle me and he pays me a whole lot of money. So I deal with it for one hour every three months for a lot of money.
DRE: I hate to be tickled too. Its painful.
PR: Its a horrible experience. Its not fun. It sucks and totally selfish because the person tickling you is having all the fun.
DRE: Exactly and they laugh.
How did you get into doing fetish photography?
PR: I think the way most girls do. I started doing magazines with a photographer in Atlanta and then I started getting on the internet. I like bondage and S & M in my personal life. Doing the research I found you can get paid and travel doing things that are up my alley. With the internet there are a lot of strains of income through different fetishes.
DRE: How long have you been doing it for?
PR: Since 1998.
DRE: Do you like the pain that can come along with bondage and S & M?
PR: Im not into pain but I like challenging myself. Some things I find erotic but getting your ass beat is not for me. I dont think thats hot. I have done some things like that but every once in a while you have to do something youre not into because its a job.
DRE: No one wants to be an accountant.
PR: Right, my mother is an investment banker and she hates her job. I love my job.
DRE: Are you married?
PR: Yeah and he shoots for all the adult magazines.
DRE: Where did you grow up?
PR: I grew up in Savannah Georgia and I went to Catholic girls school which fucks you up. I grew up in a very conservative environment.
DRE: Do you remember the first fetish thing you did?
PR: Yeah I did a bondage shoot with a guy named Cory Thompson. At the time he contacted me about doing a shoot.
DRE: What do you think of SuicideGirls?
PR: I think its a great site. Its Goth girls meets Playboy!
by Daniel Robert Epstein
SG Username: AndersWolleck
VIEW 15 of 15 COMMENTS
paulnikon:
It popped up under the "new" interviews on the lower left.
keith:
But Daniel Robert Epstein literally passed away five years ago and sadisticmika has a huge strike through his name and a clear timestamp right above his post? 