PODCAST: Tom Noonan (The House of the Devil)

Among other things, Tom Noonan is a musician, playwright, and writer-director of two acclaimed films (What Happened Was, The Wife), but most will sooner recognize this tall, reserved but eerily intense gentleman as a memorable character actor from films as diverse as Manhunter, Mystery Train, and Synecdoche New York. His latest chance to effortlessly steal scenes arrives in Ti West's wonderfully slow-burning, retro-horror flick, The House of the Devil:

Sam (Jocelin Donahue) is a pretty college sophomore, so desperate to earn some cash for a deposit on an apartment that she accepts a babysitting job even after she finds out there is no baby. Mr. and Mrs. Ulman (cult actors Tom Noonan and Mary Woronov) are the older couple who lure Sam out to their creeky Victorian mansion deep in the woods, just in time for a total lunar eclipse. Megan (Greta Gerwig) is Sam's best friend, who gives her a ride out to the house, and reluctantly leaves her there despite suspecting that something is amiss. Victor (AJ Bowen) at first seems like just a creepy guy lurking around the house, but quickly makes it clear that Sam will end this night in a bloody fight for her life...

Sitting down with Mr. Ulman himself in what sounds halfway through our podcast as if it might actually be Satan's homestead, Noonan and I spoke about his dramatic workshops, being naturally creepy, why he never reads the whole script, and anecdotal remembrances of working with John Cassavetes, Michael Mann, and Michael Cimino—"just a terrible human being."

To listen to the podcast, click here. (18:33)

Podcast Music
INTRO: The Fixx, "One Thing Leads to Another"
OUTRO: The Fugs, "I Command the House of the Devil"

[The House of the Devil is now playing in select theaters and is available on VOD through Magnolia Pictures.]



Posted by ahillis at October 31, 2009 5:52 AM