Matt: Like I said above, I auditioned that Spring. I wasn’t really involved until I actually showed up on set. Which was the the middle of November, I think. To show you how peripheral I was, I showed up with a completely shaved head. Damien took one look at me, and was like “Crap”. See, I thought it would make it easier for him to construct the skull with out my wisps of side hair. But he had already added the hair. The problem was, we were shooting that day and I couldn’t grow my hair back in  an instant. But, like I said, Damien is confident about this stuff. He was like, “Ah well, I’ll just have to meticulously take it out. It’ll be fine.” He really is a super chill dude. 

Robert: You play the character of Mike Serling of Serling Bros. Pest Exterminators. I like how you portrayed Mike. He’s competent and kind; he’s not a leering, creepy jackass to Vickie and Tara. Was that written into the script, or did you bring that to the character?  Were you trying to resist being a stereotypical character in a horror movie?

Matt: I think it’s actually written that I be a little creepy. Pretty Sure that line Catherine says, “he’s creepier than the clown,”, when the audience first meets me outside the warehouse, that line was in the script. Maybe Catherine just thinks I’m creepy! Anyway, it became pretty clear that was just supposed to be a minor head fake. 

Matt: That’s funny, because I respectfully disagree. I thought we played it perfectly. The thing is, if you listen to what Pooya’s saying, she’s making perfect sense, but she’s frantic and her thoughts are jumping around. Maybe if Mike spotted her coming down the hall or something, he could have calmed her down to make more sense. But that opening salvo, where she is creeping right behind me is my personal favorite scene. I said fuck the same way every time, because I knew I said it right the first time. 

Matt: I have no recollection. Either way, he didn’t touch me. We were very concerned about safety. They had a whole setup with plywood and a mattress I was supposed to fall back on. I was pretty much willing to make a go of it, but when it was time to shoot, Damien took one look at it and was like, “No.” He was right, it wasn’t constructed properly. 

Robert: While the movie focuses on the murderous clown and his tortured female victims, you in fact were the male protagonist of the film. How did it feel to play the hero?

Matt: You literally just sit there as Damien does it. I am pretty sure we picked one expression of “Oh shit, something’s about to break my face”, and that was it. I am not sure I had to hold the look. I am pretty sure he had to do the teeth mold separately. Then for a full hour or so, I had to sit in complete darkness as he essentially paper-mached’ my head. I was fine most of the way through. But towards the end I started to feel claustrophobic. It was pretty intense. I remember just telling myself, “Well, if  you really can’t handle it, just rip the damn thing off.” That would  have totally ruined Damien’s work! But I just needed to tell myself that to mentally get through the last 15 minutes or so. Luckily, I did. 

Robert: During the Battle Royal with Art, he hits Mike with a compressed air tank. Was the tank real or a prop? What steps did you and David do as far as blocking the fight for safety?

Robert: All indie productions have some sort of wacky behind-the-scenes things happen. Did you encounter anything wild or weird the days you were on the set.

Matt: Totally. The warehouse we shot in Trenton was insane. NONE of that is set dressing. I think the guy’s were pretty sure it was a chop shop, but it also had some more reasonable office function at some point. Either way, it was a complete mess. There had been half-hearted attempts at renovation that were obviously done in fits and starts. I worked construction, and was pretty bad at most of it. There was this room where someone had attempted drywall, it’s right next to where I was listening on my headphones when Tara screams out for me. As we were shooting it, I kept looking it at, just  marveling at how bad they screwed up the skim-coating. For the life of me, I could not figure out how it ended up looking the way it did. Even I couldn’t have messed it up that bad. 

Matt: I’ve seen it twice with audiences, and all I can say is that if you can manage to – definitely see it with one. Even if it’s in your buddy’s basement with some friends. Like all slasher flicks, it’s meant to be seen with audible reactions. The first screening I went to, me and my girlfriend sat next to a jumper/yelper, that was awesome. She did it so much, Angela thought it was a little phony, but I didn’t care. I thought it added to the experience. Both audiences really liked the movie, and I think it’s in part because it’s such an event, that movie. 

Matt: That was great for a guy like me. It was just one day, right? We were at the Hammerstien ballroom for, like 12 hours. It was really fun, I had a tiny room in a trailer. I was on what’s called first team with Ray Romano. Who I really enjoy, and he was completely unassuming. We all had to introduce ourselves, and say our character’s name. He did, and said his characters full name, Zak Yankovich, and then he was like, in such a Ray Romano way-“Ahhh… nobody cares.”