r\
fl
l'
ri,*
ltt
,tt!
By CHRIS ALEXAI{DER
I
{t
tt
'/
r,
t
JI
.
{".t
I'
I
I
{
d.,
1
ii.
For rocker Cherie Currie, ,,parasite,'was a
role she'd now like to Runaway from.
t first
glance, running a feature
on legendary pop-punk princess
Cherie Currie might seem an odd
choice for FANGORIA...but read on. Currie was only 15 when she was recruitecl by
eccentric, megalomaniacal rocker/pro_
ducer/wannabe svengali Kim Fowley in
1975 to front the all-female rock-and-roll
experiment The Runaways. The band was
a scrappy, flamboyant act (whose youthful
ranks also included band brainchild
Joan
t
l-e_tt,
West) that took the world by storm, capitalizing on their Fowley-touted ,,jailbait"
-Currie
status and making the lip-curling
a
il
h
ll
reluctant underage sex symbol. After
i1
rl
tl
.Lita Ford, Jackie Fox and Sindy
.
three albums and hundreds of electric
stage appearances (the controversial per_
formance of "Dead End Justice,' featured
Currie beaten and covered in stage blood),
it
was a given that too much,loo soon
woul.d get the upper hand, and Currie
spi
raled into excess and substance abuie.
Dgqqting from the band at their peak in
1977, she went on to forge her own-adven_
tures in Hollywood, both high ancl low.
Fitting somewhere between the two
extremes is her odd turn as a co-star in
Charles Band's grimy 1982 3-D horror
flick Parasite, a picture that has achieved
cult stglus (thanks in part to showcasing
Demi Moore's first screen appearancej
blt is not necessarily good by any tradi_
tional definition of the word.-Currie also
starred alongside Jodie Foster in the
cheeky Foxes and opposite Robert Carra_
dine in tlre scifi drama Wauelength, and
acted for director Joe Dante in his ,,It's a
Good Life" segment of Tttitight Zone: The
Mouie, all while standing hei ground as a
solo musician. Over the past decade, she
has made a legion of new fans as one of
the world's most recognized chainsaw
artists (more on that below), and interest
in}ler myth has spiked considerably since
this year's release of Floria Sigismondi's
biopic The Runawags, in whiiir Dakota
Fanning played Currie to critical acclaim.
But for a real-deal Currie-o. her role in
laraslte as a postapocalyptic punk, roamrng the desolate wasteland and getting
sucked dry by Stan Winston's goopy]
toothy test-tube monster, can't bJleai,
and is a skeleton in her closet that needs
to finally escape.
FANGORIA: Your mother was an actress
and certainly your brand of rock and roll
was theatrical, but was film acting something you intentionally sought olit uJt",
departing the Runaways?
CHERIE CURRIE: Not really, no. Six
months after I left the band, I did a little
show at The Golden Bear in Newport
Beach, and a guy from the William Morris
agency came backstage and asked if I
would ever consider acting, and I said,
"Well, why not?" The first auditions he
sent me out to were for Roch ,n,Roll High
School and.Foxes. I actually got the partln
High School , but turned it down to di Foxes.
FANG: Foxes is a fun litfle film. ..
CURRIE: It was a B-movie, it was Adrian
[Fotal Attraction] Lyne's first film and I
think it could have been better, but it was
remarkable to work with Jodie Foster, and
stayed friends with her for many years
after that.
I
FANG: From Adrian Lyne to...Charles
Band. TWo very different directors...
CURRIE: [Laughsl That's for sure!
FANG: How did you end up in a grotty little film like Parasite?
CURRIE: To be perfectly honest, I did not
.e
want to do that movie at all. [Producer]
Irwin Yablans called me and said, "We
want you to do this film," and I initially
said no. So they wrote me a bigger part,
and I relented. We shot it ancl tley filmed
the expandecl role, but then they went ancl
took it out in the etliting room anyway! I
didn't like working with Charlie Band,
he...I...really...well, hell, just look at the
film, for crying out loud!
FANG: You're obviously not a fal.
CURRIE: It's just not very good. I don't
want to bash Charlie, but I also don't want
ttlhey wrole me ct
bigger pcrt [in
Pg,rgrsilel, but
then they wenl
crnd took it out in
the ediring
toom!tt
to kiss his ass; the movie speaks for itself.
FANG: Your role includes getting fed on
by one of Stan Winston's early monsters.
Do you remember Stan?
CURRIE: 0h, yes-wonderful, wontlerful
ald he was unbelievably
talented. It was incretlibly exciting clealing with all of the effects, antl it was fun
to get to know Demi-but wow, I wish I
was never in that film, that's for sure. I
had a terrible accident on Parasite, and
because of it, I ended up getting reverse
curvature of the spine. There's a scene
where Robert Glaudini carries me in a
sleeping bag and runs with me through a
warehouse, after I've been attacked by
the creature. I was hanging onto Robert's
neck, but Bantl wouldn't let me, saying
guy. Loved him,
r";?
career move, but it tloes have its charms..,
and its admirers.
CURRIE: Well, that's something. But
it
was tlre wrong film to make. I was very disappointed. I trusted Irwin, and was misled.
It's funny that you were known
internationally for your mouth antl how
you used it vocally-and yet in Ibilight
Zone: The Moure, you have no moutJr at all!
CURRIE: One day Joe Dante called me
FANG:
I love your eyes...can I
use t}rem?" and I was honorecl. I mean, it
ancl saicl, "Cherie,
was Joe Dante, right? An<l that was a
great experience, because I got to work
with Rob Bottin and he's off-the-wall talented, and we had so much fun together.
Loved him.
FANG: You have had a fascinating life
thus far, and it's great that you've jumped
from rock and roll to B-movies to author
to, now, celebratecl purveyor of chainsaw
art. How did this twist come to pass?
CURRIE: Well, I got off the drugs in 1984
and became a fitness trainer, I worked
with kids who had drug problems, I married [actor] Robert Hays and we hatl a
child, I dicl some voice work and was a
mom. When Bob and I divorced, I went to
the beach one tlay and saw guys carving
on tlre side ofthe road. A little voice told
me to go back, so I walked into a gallery
saw all these beautiful pieces of art antl
tlought, "Hey, I can ilo that." I went to the
owner, and he taught me how to basically
not kill myself with the saw. I took to it; I
FANG: Perhaps Parasite wasn't your best
can dream up, I cal <1o.. .it's fun.
FANG: You're going back into the studio
too...
CURRIE: Yes, for the first time in almost
30 years. I endecl up opening for Joan in
August 2010, and I had to throw a bancl
together in four weeks. So I contactecl my
friend Matt Sorum from Guns N' Roses
and he put a group together-which inclutles my son, Jake-ancl soon afte! he
found a label that wanted to sign me. The
album should come out in early March.
trANG: You obviously have legions of fans
out there, but do you ever encounter admirers of your role in Parasite?
CURRIE: 0h, it's very very rare. I used to
clo signings at conventions and once in a
while someone woultl bring up Parasite,
but no one really comes back to me about it
or the other movies I did. Antl who knows?
Maybe one day I'11 even act again. ..
r""t.
F. .,1
ti 1
rd.
til"j *
it;,*,
that I was supposetl to be almost dead,
drained ofblood, whatever, and should lie
limp. So Robert was running with me and
trippecl on the sleeping bag, and we fell
down onto this concrete floor ancl I
smashed my back up. I was actually luclry
I didn't break it!
had a knack for it.
FANG: Were you attractecl to its danger?
CURRIE: Somewhat, but really, it just fascinatecl me. Chainsaws are the fastest
wood-removing utensils, and since I have
no patience, it was perfect for me. I had a
gallery for some time, but I closed it down
anil do special orders now Anything you
(urrie lore up fte stoge os port of The
Runowoys, ond now (uls up 0s on orlist.