If you think you’ve cursed out Jared Padalecki‘s TV character Dean for constantly fouling up his relationship with The Gilmore Girls precious Rory, just wait until you see the moronic things he’s up to on the big screen in the horror film remake House of Wax. His character Wade is about as sharp as a wax statue, which ends up being all to appropriate in the film. Jared’s far brighter, as his conversation with Hollywood.com demonstrates.
Your character’s that classic horror film guy that always has the audience thinking ‘Don’t go in there! Don’t do that!'”
Jared Padalecki: “People always ask if I’m upset to play a character that everyone’s always pissed off at and I said ‘No, it’s kinda fun to rile people up a little bit. And people know this is all my fault. I’m always trying to find a way to blame it on Chad or Elisha’s character. I think it is Wade’s curiosity that killed the cat. But it was very fun to play a character that everyone thought ‘You idiot’ I was saying that if one person yells ‘stupid’ to the screen, then I’ve done my job.”
I bet you took a lot of wax home with you at the end of the day.
Padalecki: “Luckily, actual wax doesn’t look like wax on screen, so I took a lot of food preservative home with me. If you could imagine curdled milk mixed with hair gel–that sort of thing. It had a good consistency that showed up on camera and it was easier to maneuver than actual wax, which would’ve been too hot. So, lucky me, because the first thing that happened to me on my first day on set was someone came up to me and said ‘Are you Jared?’ And I said yes and he pulled out his walkie-talkie and said ‘Heat up the wax gun!’ I was like “What do you mean? Who needs to heat up the wax gun?’ He said were going to do the hot wax test, I was like ‘What?!?‘ Lucky for me the hot wax was switched with cold food preservatives.”
In the film you have a slightly different kind of waxing experience with your eyebrows and facial hair. Can I assume that was your first?
Padalecki: “That was so funny, because I remember reading it and thinking ‘Are they really going to want to get rid of my eyebrows?’ But of course, the whole time they’re messing with you, saying ‘It’s going to be the last shot, so you’re not going to need them.’ Finally, the day of, they did the whole sort of thing on my face. Then they said ‘Cut’ and pulled it off and shaved off my goatee and shaved my chest hair–all two of them–and they had this latex-y material that they put on the bridge of my nose and around my eyebrows and matched it to me. The same with my chest, cut it and matched it to my skin tone. It was interesting and fun because it took awhile to put on so I got to sit there and rest while they were putting it on.”
It must have surreal to see yourself in the mirror like that.
Padalecki: “Yes, very. I have pictures on my computer of ‘Cro-Magnon Man’ with a cigar, and I have all sorts of photos. The cast photo was that day where everyone had on nice clothes, and I’m here with sweat pants because I was practically naked all day with only boxer brief underwear. And I had a big orange jumpsuit on with no eyebrows, so I was like ‘Great.’ So here I am with no eyebrows for this picture in front of this burnt down stage. I’m thinking of sending the pictures out as Christmas cards.”
At least you got to kiss Elisha Cuthbert .
Padalecki: “Elisha’s really funny. She’s about one foot shorter than I am. It’s funny to work with someone where you’re like ‘Hey, you’re too short!’ And she’s like ‘Hey, you’re too tall!’ I know her fiancé Trace, and she knows my girlfriend Sandy, which makes things more comfortable because playing boyfriend-girlfriend on screen and having actual girlfriend-boyfriend in real life, you want them to know you’re just acting and nothing’s really going on. It makes things so much more comfortable on set because you know you’re just acting. There are so many on set romances because you start thinking that you actually have chemistry.”
What did you think when you saw the finished film?
Padalecki: “It was a fun little ride. I went home and I didn’t get to sleep when I wanted to, so I think that was a good sign. It was unsettling and it turns your stomach, but it was fun to watch. I’m a fan of horrors. I love the ones that make you jump. My girlfriend hates it. I’ve been dating her for one-and-a-half years and I’m crazy about her, but she’s terrified of horror films. Not the cute ‘Will you hold me?’ way, but she’s weeping. With ‘House of Wax, we’ll be sleeping and I’ll go to the bathroom and she’s sitting up waiting for me. So I feel bad, because she only watched it because I was in it.”
Had you ever been to Australia before this shoot?
Padalecki: “I filmed a movie there. I did a Disney movie called Ring of Endless Light with Mischa Barton about four years ago. I love it and I love Australians–they’re very laid back. They actually rib you because you’re an actor. Usually people are like ‘That’s so cool,’ but they’re like ‘Ahh…pretty boy, eh?’ They buy you a beer, not because they want one back, but because they want to have a good time. It was really fun comfy and cozy to be with real people.”
What was it like working for a producer like Joel Silver?
Padalecki: “He is, I mean he’s Joel Silver, and he didn’t get to be Joel Silver by not being in charge of what he does. The first time we all really met as a cast, he has this amazing office. It used to be Frank Sinatra‘s office and now it’s his. You push this button and curtains open up and there’s a rock cascade waterfall. You know you’re in the presence of success that is definitely not undeserved. He’s worked so hard. You feel like you’re on a ship with a captain that is tremendous and infallible. It’s great to be a part of a project that you feel so good and confident about. You have to be trusting of your other actors, producers, director, writer and trust that each person is going to do what they’re supposed to. Let’s make a film that in 30 years we’ll still love. That’s my dream, for my kids to pull out my movie out of a DVD collection and be scared. This is a remake of the original, but the only similarity is the title. There’s a whole new generation, a new script and idea. It shares the wax.”
