Interview by Benjamin Poole (@filmclubchs)
Hello Jennifer. In your new film Clinger you play the girlfriend of a very needy guy, who, even in death, won’t accept you breaking up with him. Fern is an interesting character, and at times seems conflicted regarding her feelings for Robert. Did you draw on any real life experiences in your portrayal of her?
Sure, I think that most of us have had the experience of being confused as to if you really like a person, or if you are just interested in them because they have shown an interest in you. There’s confusion in wanting a connection, but being on the fence about whether or not it’s really going to be good for you. Fern definitely deals with that, but in a more high stakes situation then what I’ve ever experienced!
The role of Fern seems very physical. You begin the film as an athlete taking a tumble and end it, without wishing to get too spoilery, as something of a teen warrior! Not to mention the various times you get sprayed with blood… Was the role as demanding as it looked? How did you go about preparing for it?
The role was super physical, and that was a really fun aspect to play with! Our fight choreographer always made everything very safe and was open to seeing what we could do. It was a lot of learning new things on the go, for me!
Clinger is tremendous fun, there is so much energy created by the cast. What was the atmosphere on set like? Was director Michael Steves open to any improvisation?
Set was always a fun time! We all got along really well, and that just made the work so enjoyable. Michael was definitely open to improvisation! Some of the funniest lines came out of that. A lot of goofy things came out of improv that ended up not making it in the film as well.
Clinger shakes up a strong cocktail of comedy and horror. What attracted you to the script - are you a fan of this sort of genre yourself? Would you be interested in doing more horror roles in the future?
I was really attracted to the comedy aspect of the script, and I loved how unique the horror elements were. The horror genre is really inventive, and I think it’s quite cool! I’d definitely love to do other interesting horror roles in the future.
The Movie Waffler really likes Clinger! But now over to you - in your own words, why should our readers give Clinger a go?
It’s a typical High school romance story gone really, really wrong. I think audiences will find it to be really funny and entertaining. It’s a goofy, bloody, good time!
