For the release of our new favorite movie ‘Zombeavers’, we had the opportunity to sit down with the stunning actress Cortney Palm. We’re not really an ‘interview’ type site so when the chance to speak with her came up, Tracy our resident Canuck decided to take the wheel since she claims she’s ‘the more articulate one of the group’.
Tracy: “Thank you for taking the time to speak with us here at StrangeBeaver. I’d like to start out by saying I’m Canadian, so I’m a little biased. I mean, my beaver IS aggressive, but it IS very polite. Were any beavers exploited in the making of this movie?”
Cortney: “No ‘actual’ beavers no. Maybe Lexi’s (‘Jenn’) when she was sitting on the table. It was her first movie so she’s just sitting there with her legs spread eagle for like an hour and I was like why don’t you get down and cover yourself up or something. Other than that no beavers, they were all puppets so it’s all kosher.”
Tracy: “You play the tough chick in the movie which is close to my heart so without any spoilers were you OK with the ending?”
Cortney: “Yeah, but there were actually a few different alternate endings and the 2nd ending prior to the one that made it into the movie I liked better. But the one that did make it into the movie kind of tied everything back together again which is good for the audience.
From a personal standpoint I am happy with my character’s arc and what happens to her.”
Tracy: “There’s been a lot of talk recently in the media about how women are portrayed in movies and we’re seeing a great trend with more powerful female characters. How does it feel to contribute to a little female kickassery on the big screen?”
Cortney: “In the film Sushi Girl I did a few years ago I played a woman that was very much in power and very strong willed and that reminded me of strong female roles I had seen before. Then when I read the script for my character Zoe in Zombeavers I remember thinking man, she’s awesome. Her character at the beginning seems annoying and you don’t expect her to come out like she does.”
Tracy: “I can’t imagine how crazy it must have been making this movie, how did you manage to keep a straight face the whole time and stay in character?”
Cortney: “There’s a few scenes that were really hard and when I was watching the movie at the premier I saw a few times where I know I was laughing my ass off and trying to hide it. I couldn’t help myself, Peter was so funny on and off camera and he just wouldn’t stop. Some of the things the guys came up with on the set was crazy. Rex walks on to the set and you think he’s going to be all serious but then he’ll say ‘Alright, killer Beavers!’ and everyone would start laughing. Overall it was definitely a blast. The whole cast was so much fun and the crew was great. It really wasn’t like going to work every day.”
Tracy: “There was some great dialogue between the characters, how much ad libbing did you guys do in the movie?”
Cortney: “We stayed pretty close to the script. When you read it there’s just so many great lines already in there so we didn’t need to. Jordan would throw some extra lines at us while we were filming but for the most part we didn’t need to add to it.”
Tracy: “With the movie finally getting traction in the US market what kind of fan response are you getting so far?”
Cortney: “Oh yeah, definitely. Since it was released in other markets previously I started getting a following from other countries but now I’m seeing more domestic and Canadian fans coming on. I’ve been asked to get married more time than I can count on my fingers and toes. It’s really weird to think someone wants to marry me and they don’t even know if I’m psychotic or not.”
Tracy: “In the movie Peter is telling jokes and beaver puns and one the last one was ‘Why did the beaver cross the road?’ then the scene cuts out. We’ve been going crazy and asking everyone if they know the punch line and no one knows it. I can’t even sleep at night now, do you know the punch line?”
Cortney: (laughing) “That whole scene was such a pain and we had to film it so many times and Peter was just throwing things out left and right and he kept adding that in whenever he could. I don’t really know the punch line but maybe we could say ‘To go get waxed'”
Tracy: “Ok, fair enough”
Make sure you check out Cortney in Zombeavers now playing in select theaters and available by VOD. Also keep an eye out for her in the upcoming Bond film ‘Kizuna’ that is still in production. She is a great actress that will surely be going far in her career and we wish her all the best.
Don’t miss our interview with actor Rex Linn as well.
