Wanna Be Popular? Get It With Darren Stein's "G.B.F."

Look, Caught In A Popularity War, It's The "G.B.F.!" 

Hey? Have you heard about the latest must have have Teen Queen accessory, The G.B.F.? Well in case you have been living under a rock...

"The acronym G.B.F. stands for “Gay Best Friend” which has recently been deemed the 
hottest new fad at North Gateway High School; the Queen Bees need a G.B.F.! But there is 
one big problem: none of the gay guys at their posh suburban high school are out of the 
closet. The vicious lady monarchs of the school, a.k.a. the three lead prom queen 
candidates, are not going to let this minor glitch get in their way; a G.B.F. is just what they 
need to give them that edgy, high-fashion appeal and win over the ultimate prize: the high 
school popularity crown."

Here to tell us more juicy details is the Director of  "G.B.F." and the cult hit "Jawbreaker" Darren Stein!

MS: Hey Darren I really enjoyed "G.B.F." you and writer George Northy are really simpatico.

DS: Yes, it definitely felt like something I could have written. It's not like I'm only out to make "Teen Films" it's about the characters and the story a script tells, and this is a story I wanted to tell.

MS: One of the things I am quite shocked by is "G.B.F." got an "R" rating.

Director, Darren Stein

DS: That was unfortunate. We definitely went out of our way in the writing and the direction to make sure th film had a "PG-13" tone. It was never my intention to make an "R" rated movie, I made one before, and this is not that.

MS: It really wasn't. There was a gay scene on "Scandal" that was more explicit than anything in your movie.

DS: Well I was told that when it comes to ratings the MPAA is really behind TV. I was even told by our MPAA consultant that they are harsher on films with gay content or characters. My opinion on what "hurt" "G.B.F." from the beginning was it was a High School Movie that told it's story from a gay perspective. The fling is still intense, but I think because it is a gay oriented fling it's more taboo.  

MS: Wow! I really like your use of actors making cameos in the film. I'm a teenager of the 80's, like yourself. I  Loved the Jonathan Silverman and Megan Mullally cameos. 

DS: Jonathan brought so much soulfulness to his role he was awesome! I've always been a fan, but when I got to work with him I was truly blown away by his talent. 

MS: I agree, Jonathan's role is such a small one, but you remember it.

DS: Megan was really great too!

MS: Sasha Pieterse was a draw to the film for me as I am a big "Pretty Little Liars" fan.

DS: She is so brilliant. Sasha has this wiseness that is beyond her years, and she is gracious, intelligent and lovely. When she started "Pretty Little Liars" she was really young, I think she is eighteen now. They were looking to potentially cast her as "Hanna" but because of her age they couldn't, I would work with her again in a heartbeat, she brings so much loveliness to the role. 

MS: It's nice to see the flip side of her talent, because on "Pretty Little Liars" she is a total bitch.

DS: Her character "Fawcett" is really sweet. It's a twist in the movie that she's a bitch at school, but she makes conditioners and shampoos in her bathroom. She's the science nerd at home, that's so not "R" rated, you know?

Get Yourself One!

MS: Yeah, I agree, the only other reason I can think of that you got slapped with an "R" rating is the content regarding the Mormon Religion, but...

DS: There is the scene where the Mormon character grabs "Tanner's" hand and puts it on his crotch and says "Does this feel straight to you?" Like I said the level of playing and sexual situations are not anymore extreme than other "PG-13" straight films. It's because it takes place between guys, like you said "Scandal" is more provocative with the gay content, but it's also adults, "G.B.F." is teenagers.

MS: "G.B.F." is the kind of movie, as gay men, you or I wished we had when growing up. Younger gay guys today have it a lot different than we did.

DS: Yeah, they live in an all access world. Which is why I think the screenplay is great, because screenwriter George Northy is a whole decade younger than me. To read lines like "I knew how to clear the Internet History when I was twelve" - It's like "I don't know how to clear the Internet History now!" (laughs)

MS: I don't either! (laughs)

DS: One of the great things about "G.B.F." is it presents a typical High School mainstream romance, like "Mean Girls." Yet it's from this gay protagonist and his perspective, I think it's important. I think people are going to look back at it ten years from now and see it was the first film to do that and had a tiny little release. (laughs) 

"G.B.F." Hits select theaters and Video On Demand this Friday January 17th

Love your "G.B.F." at: https://www.facebook.com/GBFmovie

Daughter Of Chucky: Fiona Dourif

Fiona Dourif

Hey all of you Chucky Fans no doubt you've heard about the latest and one of the best films in the series "Curse of Chucky".

Of course it is not lost on you guys that the female lead bears the same last name as the voice of "Chucky" Brad Dourif.

Yes, we have the actual "Daughter of Chucky" here for an exclusive Halloween interview - Fiona Dourif!

Fiona actually carries more horror cred than being the female lead in the current "Chucky" movie as well as being his daughter, she has also appeared as "Casey" one of the Witches in Marnie's Coven on "True Blood" and was in Paul Thomas Anderson's Scientology based story "The Master".

You are all in for a treat, hit it Fiona....Happy Halloween!

MS: Hi Fiona. Wow! It's four o'clock straight up!

FD: I am punctual! (laughs)

MS: I like that! Your father used to come into a video store I worked in when I first moved to Los Angeles, when I still was a little on the "star struck" side and I used to get so excited that "Chucky" was in the house.

FD: Oh God! How funny!

MS: I'm surprised this entry into the "Chucky" series went straight to video with all of the great reviews it has gotten.

FD: We weren't really sure it was going to take that direction at first.

MS: The word is it's more scary, than funny like the earlier entries.

FD: Yeah, that was the mission a return to horror.

MS: I've seen you in other things you have done, you are really good,  did they decide to cast you as the lead because of the "Chucky Connection"?

FD: You know I have no idea. I can tell you what Don Mancini (the writer/director) told me. I went up for the role of the bitchy sister, then I got a call three days later, saying I wasn't right for it, but Don thought I might be right for the lead, prepare that. I went in and I met Don, and you know, I didn't think it went that well to be honest. Then I got called back and the studio wanted to make sure I was soft and likable enough. My manager had me go back in with big eyelashes and a flower dress - and then I got it, I was really surprised. Don told me later that they had conflicting theories about me being "Chucky's Kid" they thought it might be confusing, but he thought it might be confusing in a surprising way, it's really an open ended question. I don't think the story in the movie says I'm his kid at all.

MS: Are you a horror fan yourself?

FD: Well, I wasn't one forever and when I was cast in this my boyfriend at the time was a horror writer and told me "You need to figure out what you are doing." So, I went back and watched a lot of the old stuff and have become a fan of the genre. A great horror film is the best, most primal stuff you can watch.

MS: The original "Halloween" is the first horror film my Dad took me to and it scared the shit out of me.

FD: Yeah, totally! My feeling is good writing is good writing, Don is a good writer.

Fiona at the Season 4 "True Blood" Premiere

MS: He is. Let's talk about another horror credit you have you played "Casey" a Witch in Marnie's coven on season four of...

FD: From "True Blood", yeah (laughs) that was really fun! Wait, I'm sorry I'm actually at a restaurant with the "Chucky" doll, because I am taking him to a friend's bar for the next couple of days. What happened while I was talking was the waiter just came up and tried to hit "Chucky" in the back. (laughs) It's probably the most expensive thing I own and I'm like "No"!

MS: Jeeze doesn't he know he's not real? (laughs) You were in "The Master" which was controversial as it is based around the beliefs of Scientology.

FD: Paul Thomas Anderson is one of my favorite Directors. I think "Magnolia" is one of the great American Masterpieces. I shot a lot of things most of it got cut out, I ended basically not being in the movie, that happened to so many people that were in that movie. The final cut is pretty much like a skeleton of what the original movie was. It 's OK, I got upset, but I got over it.

MS: What's your take on Scientology?

FD: I am secular, but I have a respect for organized religion. Do whatever you want Scientologists, I don't really think it's a cult, just like I don't think being Mormon is a cult, it's people making beliefs and rituals in their lives. To each his own. I was actually audited by them to prepare for the role, and that was kind of interesting and they never stopped calling me after which was kind of annoying.

MS: Tell everyone, what are you going to be for Halloween?

FD: I still haven't figured it out. God, I don't know yet, maybe I will be a houseplant! (laughs)

Follow Fiona on Twitter at: https://twitter.com/fionadourif

Go beyond "Chucky" on IMDB: http://www.imdb.com/name/nm1875040/?ref_=fn_nm_nm_1