Interview with Tracy Coogan - August 2008

BONJOUR FRANCE,

I was born and raised in Trim, County Meath, Ireland, as one of five children of Michael and Ann Coogan. (Mel Gibsons "BRAVEHEART" was shot in my hometown)

Upon graduation, I went to New York City for the summer, where she represented Ireland in the Helen Rogers International Model and Talent Association. After an exciting and productive summer, I remained in New York City to pursue my acting career. My New York theater credits include "The Playboy of the Western World", "Colleen Bawn" both at The Irish Repertory Theater, directed by Charlotte Moore and "Poor Beast in the Rain.
My first on screen credit was the Woody Allen movie "CELEBRITY", later I starred in "LOVE WITHOUT BORDERS", a television series filmed in Moscow. I played the roles of Mary and Natasha -- grown twins who were separated at birth during the fall of the Soviet Union, and raised in different countries!
Know I'm relocated at Los Angeles with my Austrian husband.
My recent film credits include, "ZOMBIE HONEYMOON", "THE DEVIL'S DUNGEON", "DARK WOODS".

I used to watch all the oldies with my mother. She knew every actor and actress. She used to talk about it with such passion. She loved it, still does. I blame her. :)

Later I did numerious theatrical productions at my school the mercy convent and later on in New York. Theater is raw and spontanoues. Scary as hell. I would get so nervous, afraid I would forget my lines. Sometimes you would and you just have to keep going. With theater you get to do it once and that's it, with film you get a second, third, tenth take, depending on the budget!
Silly things would happen on stage. One time, in poor beast, the handle of the door came away in my hand. I couldn't even say my last line I was laughing so hard. I love theater. It's great to get the immediate reaction from the audience. They are another character in the play. Theater makes you a better actor. Your constantly working your muscles and exploring. .

That was so much fun. My best friend, Jodi, and I went to a massive cattle call in New York. We were just two girls having a fun day out. We didn't think we'd even get in. They were handing out numbers and we didn't even get one. But we hung in there and then we were sitting outside someones apt and this guy came over and said, you two, come with me. He walked us right in and we meet Woody Allen, it was so cool. He's very quite. So many people were in this project. It was pretty fun to be around all of them. Especially Kenneth Branagh as he is a fellow irishman.

Well, I was originally auditioning for the role of Nikki and when I got there they had me read for the lead, Denise. It was a really scary audition because there was very little known about the project. Dave gave very little details till they day of. He wanted really honest reactions. Sometimes when you have material for too long you can over think it and those organic reactions are lost. So I got the sides read them a couple of times and in I went. I was told to just walk in a start. React to what you see. And that's what I did. It was a brilliant way to audition. You don't have time to analize or sensor yourself.
We did it twice and both times it felt great. Really great. I left thinking, that's the way you should feel eveytime you audition. I think when you get that feeling it yours. Everything felt right. I wouldn't have changed a thing.
By the time I got home that evening I had a call from Dave. He was so excited and couldn't wait to talk to me about being Denise. Of course, then I knew it was mine: :)

The french DVD version of "ZOMBIE HONEYMOON" is the only one where you can see my audition in the special features.

So so excited. I was shocked at how grounded I was going up and giving my speech. I always imagined myself being nervous and crying and all kinds of stuff.
I left thinking , wow that felt great, I could get use to this.

Dave Gebroe is so great. He's extremly passionate and driven. He knows what he wants and goes for it. The first day of shooting was really intense. We started with the hospital scene. You could have heard a pin drop. It really set the bar for the rest of production. There was no going back from that point for sure.

At the time of the shoot, we didn't know what was going to happen with "ZOMBIE HONEYMOON". It got some momentum and then kept going and going. I love it.

I came into production toward s the end of "DEVILS DUNGEON". Everyone welcomed me. It was a great set to be on. I did an interview with fangoria on set. Graham Mc Tavis was awesome and Garrett Jones, was so nice. Jake Kennedy, the director, shot the movie at a mental institution. Tt really added a creepy vibe to the movie.

"DARK WOODS" is more of a psychological thriller than a horror film in the classic sense, there are no zombies this time. Monster's come in many shapes and sizes. Susans health deteriorating rapidly, and she's spiraling into dementia. She starts to hallucinate, and believes demons are coming to take her away. She struggles between consciousness and dementia, getting glimmers of her life, her love, her husband and her ultimate demise.
The true monsters are in us.....

We are in preproduction right now. We start filming this winter. So I have a lot of work ahead to get into my character susan branch.

Lots of reading, lots of movies, there are so many performances that inspire me. Its amazing, the feeling that I have when I let myself be completely vulnerable. also, my imagination, my mind is a scary place then.
I really like how complex my character is. There 's many levels to Susan branch and I get to explore and play around with that.

Jake had seen "ZOMBIE HONEYMOON" and he called me in to audition. When I got there he introduced himself straight away and said he saw the movie and was excited to meet me. I was so flattered and in that same moment I thought shit I better be really good now since he thinks I'm so great already. Auditions are funny because you have a minute to give them what their looking for and if they already knew your work the pressure is even worse and then if you do a bad audition forget. We do a number on ourselves. So that evening he called and he really wanted me to be a part of his project. (Thank god, the audition was good!)
Naturally I said yes.

I do like this genre. I think over the years horror movies are getting more and more respect.
As long as the work is good and the passion is there I'll be involved.
There are great stories being told through horror movies, true stories and as long as there being told, messages are being sent out I think that's fantastic.

I love French movies, I love European movies. They are so raw and real. Very honest performances. Betty Blue is one of my favourites. "LA VIA EN ROSE" was one of the greatest movies I've ever seen. Marion Cotillard is an incredible talent!
Cache....... Great!

Rob Zombies "THE DEVILS REJECTS", Friedkin's "THE EXORCIST", Polanski's "ROSEMARYS BABY", Greg Mclean's "WOLF CREEK".

The one that scared me the most has to be "THE EXORCIST" !!!

Actors I would like to work with : Marion Cotillard, Judi Dench, Helen Mirren, Sean Penn, Johnny Depp and of course Daniel Day Lewis. Theres so many...

Well, I just finished shooting a pilot for the US TV with director jerry zucker ("GHOST", "MY BEST FRIENDS WEDDING", "THE FIRST KNIGHT",....). We will start shooting "DARK WOODS" in the winter, I also worked with avante garde director Owen land a project called "DIALOGUES" which will premier in Switzerland next year. Last but not least I finished a short called "RETURN TO SENDER" written and directed by german filmmaker Boris Schaarchmidt which is currently being submitted tofestivals.

To say it in the words of the french "gourmet bible" Michelin, I reward Oh My Gore three stars for "exeptional horror coverage, worth a special web journey" one always reads extremly well articles here, often superbly. Distinctive articles are presisely executed, using superlative knowledge of horror.

Thank you so much for giving me the oppurtunity to talk about what I love !