October 2009 | blackfilm.com | SAW VI | An Interview with Tanedra Howard

October 2009

SAW VI | An Interview with Tanedra Howard

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SAW VI
An Interview with Tanedra Howard
by Wilson Morales

October 22, 2009

For most aspiring actresses, landing a part on a film is a difficult task giving the massive competition for auditions. But for Tanedra Howard, when she won the 2008 VH1 reality TV show 'Scream Queens,' she knew where, and what her first film would be - 'Saw VI.'

The Inglewood, California native, who previously worked as a Hooters waitress, would get a role in a very successful horror franchise that brings back Tobin Bell, Shawnee Smith, alongs with Costas Mandylor, Mark Rolston, and Betsy Russell in the cast.

Special Agent Strahm is dead, and Detective Hoffman has emerged as the unchallenged successor to Jigsaw's legacy. However, when the FBI draws closer to Hoffman, he is forced to set a game into motion, and Jigsaw's grand scheme is finally understood.

Blackfilm.com caught up with Howard as she shared the following thoughts ...

Getting cast in the latest 'Saw' film:

"Actually, to be completely honest when I auditioned for the show, 'cause a roommate of mine found the casting notice on Craigslist, it didn't even say that it was for 'Saw.' We didn't find that out until the first day of taping 'Scream Queens.' It just said that they were looking for an actress to put in one of their horror films that Lionsgate was going to put out this year. So it was like, "OK, Lionsgate, that sounds cool!"
People wanting more and more of 'Saw':

"I think the care they put into writing things. It's not, 'let's just put a movie out there and be done with it.' They actually take their time to come up with these traps and it's well written. 'Saw' is like the horror soap opera. You know how soap operas just keep going and going? It's a horror soap opera, except it's once a year not every day. You keep coming back for more. Jigsaw is a smart killer, he's not just going to come out of a closet and stab you. No one dislikes Jigsaw, but people want to see him live because he's smart. That's the odd thing."

Being a freak for horror:

"I love horror and I'll tell you why: I actually started reading horror before I was watching it, 'cause my mom was a big Stephen King fan. We're all readers, so she had all these books so I wanted to see what they were about. I think that the first one I read was either 'Gerald's Game' or 'Christine.' Then I ventured into the movies. When I saw the movie 'Child's Play,' that was the first horror movie I watched by myself.

Working with some of 'Scream Queens' judges who are also in this film...

"Actually I think that gave all of us some confidence because you're actually getting advice from someone who's done it as opposed to someone who's just observing and talking about it. Shawnee Smith was in 'Saw II' and 'Saw III,' and she had great insight into how to handle yourself on the set whatever goes on and how to make your story believable, and what the "Saw" movies are about. It's not just, 'In that part of the movie I'm gonna go act.' You really need to know what's going on in order to really feel the picture, how it fits into the whole puzzle. James Gunn was my first director, I'd never really done anything before that, a few plays. He trained me on camera cues, hitting my mark, learning the whole lingo on set. Also before "Scream Queens" I had never taken any acting classes. We had an acting teacher on hand, John Homa, and it was a boot camp and it benefited me a lot. I think I was the one there with the least experience and the least training.

Wow, I wouldn't know what to do in that situation, thank God it's only acting!'

Her role in the movie:

"I play a lady named Simone and she is in a lot of trouble. As you may have seen in the commercial I have a trap on my head. It's basically do or die."

Shooting the trap scene:

"It wasn't really scary but it does sort of weigh heavy on your head ... It gets heavy once you find out why you're in the trap, what the trap is about, and the damage it can possibly do if you don't get out of it! You take a little of that with you, like, 'Wow, I wouldn't know what to do in that situation, thank God it's only acting!'

Expanding outside the horror genre"

"I'm always open to doing more television or film, like going from horror to comedy. I love comedy, I love funny things. That would be a shocker to go from 'Saw VI' to 'National Lampoon's...' whatever whatever. I'm pretty flexible... I would love to do something where I was the heroine maybe, where I was a survivor instead of a victim."

Not giving up on 'Hooters':

"I go back every now and then but no, I haven't given that up. MmmMmmmmm, honey. If I get a big movie and get that big paycheck I put that money away. I make investments, I opened up a CD with one, and the rest is just savings. I'll be 30 next year so I need to buy a house. If I need money I go back to work one or two days a week. I'm acting in-between so I still get paid for that."
Lessons learned thus far:

"I've learned more in these 12 months... you really need the hands-on training. I used that knowledge from 'Scream Queens' on the 'Saw' set and then some extra because I was on a reSaw horroral set and not a reality TV show set. I learned a lot of laws, what you can do, what you can't do. The red carpet stuff was easy to adjust to, but you do learn a lot of patience. You learn that a lot of things are rushed and last minute which I hate, but you get used to it. You also learn tolerance, because some people like you and some people don't like you. You have to take the good with the bad."

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