Interview: Scream Queen Tiffany Shepis on Monsters, Marriage & Motherhood

Tiffany Shepis took a brief break from juggling her roles as wife, mother of two and horror film scream queen to talk about all three in this exclusive BWW interview.

BWW: You made TROMEO & JULIET when you were 16. When did you head west?

TS: I left New York when I was about 20, but my whole family kind of moved to Arizona. After I had my daughter Mia, I was like, "Maybe Arizona's a good place to raise her." So, we ended up in Arizona for about seven years.

BWW: And Mia recently celebrated a birthday.

TS: She did, she turned 12! Being the mom of a 12-year-old is pretty crazy because she's not a little baby any more - sure, she's not a grown up, but you know what her personality is and that's so cool to see.

BWW: What does she think of the horror business?

TS: She thinks some of it is really cool. When I did SHARKNADO 2 that was like a big deal. A lot of the other stuff is "pretty lame" and "boring" and "Yuck...another one of your silly movies."

Mia's gotten a chance to be in a few of my films. We have a movie coming out called TALES OF HALLOWEEN -- which like every horror movie director and actor was involved in, and she got to play the kid who killed me.

BWW: What 12-year-old daughter wouldn't want that role? (Both laugh.)

TS: She came to Horror Realm in Pittsburgh with me and probably signed more autographs than I did -- which is hilarious because in TALES OF HALLOWEEN, we have equal screen time, but the adult characters are very much forgotten and it's all about the kids. These kids are cool, but I like to say that she gets it all from her mother...naturally (laughs).

BWW: Had you worked with Debbie Rochon before she directed you in MODEL HUNGER?

TS: We were both in TROMEO & JULIET. That was actually my first film; I had a teeny part, she played Ness the lesbian lover of the Capulet family. She and I then worked together many, many years later.

It wasn't until Ivan (Zuccon) cast us both in WRATH OF THE CROWS that we both went to Italy and were there for about three weeks. It's really easy to bond when you both make horror movies and you're stuck in parts of a country where no one speaks any English.

BWW: What about Lynn Lowry, had you worked with her before MODEL HUNGER?

TS: I was in a movie with Lynn called BASEMENT JACK, but we were in completely separate scenes. I played a cop and she played a crazy mom and serial killer.

BWW: And now she plays a crazy ex-model.

TS: Apparently, she does crazy well.

BWW: What was it like working with both of Lynn and Debbie on MODEL HUNGER?

TS: Oh, it was great! I didn't have any scenes with Lynn except for the finale. Most of the time, I was spying on her from across the street. Debbie, she's an actress, so she knows exactly what she wants out of an actor -- which is always nice.

BWW: It's early yet, but do you have any ideas about a post-acting career?

TS: I do actually dabble in the producing end of things. I did write a short (film) recently that we have out as part of a package for some other stuff. Eventually, if we don't sell it that way, I'll probably ask my husband (Sean Tretta) to direct it.

BWW: You and Sean have worked together on several projects...THE FRANKENSTEIN SYNDROME, M IS FOR MATCHMAKER, 12 MONKEYS...what was it like working with him?

TS: Working with Sean is great, because you know what you're going to get. He's a great writer, a great director. The flip side to that is, when you work with your spouse, you might occasionally butt heads that you wouldn't if you were just working with a random stranger.

Primarily because you both know you're really good and you're both really opinionated. Like, "Oh, my God, I can't stand you! Why did you write this?" (laughs)

We had the best time shooting FRANKENSTEIN SYNDROME, although we weren't married then. When we shot MATCHMAKER that was like our little labor of love. We used a lot of local Arizona actors and we were just super, super happy with it.

BWW: What do you remember most fondly about Arizona?

TS: The Monsoon Season...sitting outside, drinking a glass of wine, looking at the monsoon and then hoping the lightning didn't crash down anywhere near where I'm sitting (laughs). Monsoons are possibly the most beautiful thing I've ever seen in the desert.

I shot a movie called EXIT TO HELL in a town called Cleator, Arizona. It had a population of seven...we got all of them to work on our movie! We shot TRADE IN in Tucson and DIRTY LITTLE TRICK with Dean Cain and Michael Madsen in Phoenix. THE FRANKENSTEIN SYNDROME was all shot at Phoenix Memorial Hospital.

We shot around 30 films in Arizona, but we had problems...like I think they still do. For a long time, the tax incentives weren't there and it was just a lot cheaper to go to New Mexico. Most of the horror films that came through Arizona, I was right there for them.

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Tiffany Shepis will be back in Arizona for the Phoenix premiere of MODEL HUNGER during FANGORIA FearCON at SUN STUDIOS, Oct. 7-9. Order tickets online.

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