Creepy Crazies

MANILA, Philippines - Radha Mitchell is a force in Hollywood that she navigates the acting waters of both creepy genre films (Pitch Black, Silent Hill and now The Crazies) and adult drama (Melinda and Melinda and Finding Neverland). Thus, the Australian actress took a lot of introspect out of her experience with the latest zombie film The Crazies, and had a lot to say about small-town America. Having spent a lot of her career running away from ghouls of a respectable variety, the actress explains how the fear of such a horror film operates both intellectually and mechanically. In a roundtable interview, Mitchell also had a few things to say concerning one of her more popular films, Silent Hill.

This is an unusual film genre and it has a diabolic-state-of-mind at the center. From a character perspective, tell us what you thought about that.

“It was certainly interesting to me to see two adult characters, with adult issues, at the center of an apocalyptic story like this. It’s sort of unusual. In a way, you’re used to seeing teenagers. But it is interesting to see how it would turn out, with a sheriff and doctor on the run. I think they turned out kind of cool. There are these iconic images throughout the movie that create that sense of hip imagery. But in terms of character, there is some opportunity for character development. I really liked that there were four people who were completely dependent on each other. As much as they are victimized, their instinct for survival keeps them going.

A lot of films you have been involved with have a really heavily apocalyptic theme, and a real concern for technology. This is sort of the ultimate extension of that.

I grew up being afraid of nuclear explosions, and what the future was going to be for my generation. I was 10. I was a part of the Children’s Campaign for Peace. I don’t know if you remember, but our own fear as a generation was of being blown up before we grew up. I guess there has always been some sort of fear of this apocalypse. There is this idea that maybe humanity is not going to continue. Certainly that’s a possibility, and this genre has to explore paranoia.

And this movie is saying that we’re screwed, or out of luck.

What’s interesting about this movie, particularly for me, is that the film company has been able to parlay this into some social action, and if you look at the website it encourages people to lobby their senators to fix chemical plants. Apparently there’s like 300 chemical plants in America that are at risk, which puts a million people or more at risk if there’s an accident or terrorist attack. There are things that can be done to change that situation.

The movie also plays on the idea of enemy from within.

I think we’re cynical now of our own government at this stage. I think Romero has always pondered whether the government is actually protecting us. If a disaster like this does go down, does the individual count, or are we statistics? I think we know that we are statistics.

How do you feel about the whole aging issue as an actress in Hollywood?

What do they say in Buddhism? That “life is suffering”? It’s like birth, disease and old age. It’s what we all go through, and you can do it graciously. I think you celebrate youth while you have it, and then you kind of have to accept the beauty of the aging process. I don’t think anyone is excited about aging, men or women, as I get older I’ll tell you what it’s like.

In a way, The Crazies is about the death of small- time America.

Yes, but I think small-town America is already dead, don’t you? When we were shooting in Georgia, we were out in the middle of nowhere. What was essential to the area was Wal-Mart. So if you talked to anyone about anything, you could find it there. But (for the finale) we found this incredible truck stop location, an empty truck stop with a hotel on top. That whole thing was real. But every single store on the main road was a chain store, nothing that was local to the area. In a way, that’s America.

The Crazies opens today.