{"id":69972,"date":"2014-09-29T17:32:57","date_gmt":"2014-09-29T17:32:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/0de2709a84.nxcli.net\/0-kjasnb\/2014\/09\/29\/veteran-actor-tony-amendola-battles-demon-doll-annabelle\/"},"modified":"2018-12-18T03:57:17","modified_gmt":"2018-12-18T03:57:17","slug":"veteran-actor-tony-amendola-battles-demon-doll-annabelle","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.blackfilm.com\/read\/veteran-actor-tony-amendola-battles-demon-doll-annabelle\/","title":{"rendered":"Veteran Actor Tony Amendola Battles Demon Doll Annabelle"},"content":{"rendered":"

Veteran Actor Tony Amendola Battles Demon Doll Annabelle<\/a><\/strong>by Brad Balfour<\/p>\n

September 29, 2014<\/p>\n

\"Annabelle<\/a><\/p>\n

What an appropriate place to entertain an interview with an actor who has a key role in a film about a demonically possessed doll \u2014 the gothic macabre nightclub\/restaurant The Jekyll & Hyde Club. About a week before the release of his latest film, Annabelle, the stately, charming Tony Amendola <\/strong>made a Mid-morning appearance not only to entertain questions but also to have selfies snapped with him and his possessed nemesis as well.<\/p>\n

Having played the Jaffa master Bra’tac in Stargate SG-1, American actor Tony Amendola had no problem playing the insightful priest Father Perez in Annabelle \u2014 both a prequel to and spin-off of the supernatural hit feature, The Conjuring, a psychological horror thriller that harkens back to the best of this genre from the 1970s. He tries to aid a couple, Mia and John Gordon \u2014 played by Annabelle Wallis and Ward Horton \u2014 who, after having acquired a rare vintage doll, are suddenly and horrendously invaded by a satanist group which unleashes a demonic presence.<\/p>\n

Also known for various recurring roles such as Geppetto, Pinocchio\u2019s father-creator on ABC’s Once Upon a Time and as Kagame, leader of the revolutionary group Liber8 on Syfy\u2019s Continuum, the 70-year-old Connecticut native has made his mark as a classic character actor, including a memorable appearance in Dexter, playing one of Dexter’s mother’s killers.<\/p>\n

\"Tony<\/a><\/p>\n

From movie roles in such notable features as Blow, The Mask of Zorro and its sequel, The Legend of Zorro (as separate characters), he has had a slew of television appearances beyond these regular slots, including Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman, Seinfeld, The Practice, The X Files, Angel, Alias, Star Trek: Voyager and She-Wolf of London.<\/p>\n

Given his East Coast roots, he has done time on the stage including such credits as Tupolski in the Berkeley Repertory Theatre’s production of The Pillowman, as well as Shylock in the Utah Shakespearean Festival’s production of The Merchant of Venice in 2010.<\/p>\n

As this interview demonstrates, the tall Los Angeles-based actor hits the right marks in assessing both his career and his current role in this film.<\/p>\n

What was most appealing about doing this? This movie is reminiscent of a certain kind of horror film from the 1970s. Have you been a fan of them?<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"Annabelle<\/a><\/p>\n

Tony Amendola:<\/strong> I was a huge fan growing up, a huge fan. It must have been in late \u201850s, early \u201860s. I remember going to a horror film, at eight, nine years old, and there was an ambulance outside the theater. I brought my ticket and there were two nurses; they had a special station. I remember just being, \u201cOooh.\u201d<\/p>\n

There was a lapse, a move down to other things; and then I did sort of a sci-fi horror called The Borrower when I was first in LA; I played a doctor, quite a nice part. Then time goes by, and finally I got cast in Annabelle. The first thing I did in my homework was to go out and see The Conjuring.<\/p>\n

I was 25 minutes in, and was taken with the quality of the movie, the acting, the psychology. It was just stupendous. It wasn\u2019t slash horror; there wasn\u2019t gratuitous nudity; it was all about real people, and that sold me on really wanting to do Annabelle. Also, I grew up in Connecticut.<\/p>\n

\"Annabelle<\/a><\/p>\n

That\u2019s scary enough!<\/strong><\/p>\n

TA:<\/strong> It is scary. You know, it\u2019s funny; everybody thinks Connecticut is bucolic. As it is, it\u2019s a gorgeous state \u2014 but there are scary things about it.<\/p>\n

Well, The Amityville Horror is in Amityville, New York, which isn\u2019t that far from Connecticut.<\/strong><\/p>\n

TA: <\/strong>Absolutely. The museum where [the actual] Annabelle resides is in Connecticut. And as a matter of fact, coincidentally, I went to a small state school in Connecticut where the Warrens taught. In my research, I realized, my god, they were teaching a class when I was there! I didn\u2019t take it, but \u2026<\/p>\n

\"Tony<\/a><\/p>\n

When you\u2019re in a horror film, is there any way in which you approach acting differently from the way you would in any kind of other film?<\/strong><\/p>\n

TA: <\/strong>In all acting, you go to the given circumstances. But films do have a style. If you\u2019re doing a Zorro film, the clothes will give you the style.<\/p>\n

In Annabelle, I play Father Perez, who\u2019s an ordinary priest caught in extraordinary circumstances. Being Catholic, the cassock and the vestments are very, very potent to me, and I think they\u2019re potent to the audience, so you have to figure out who the guy is. It\u2019s not like I act \u201cpriestly.\u201d<\/p>\n

Although I\u2019ll tell you the truth: when you play a priest, or if you are saying Mass, as I do in the movie, the vestments, the cassock, are so powerful [that] you have to look for the man. You could be a grumpy priest; you could be a warm, loving priest; you could be a passionate priest; you could be a doubting priest. This guy is a warm-hearted man.<\/p>\n

I\u2019ve been around enough priests to know that they come in all sizes and shapes. My favorite being the one, as an altar boy, who used to drive us around the park, lighting cherry bombs. Fortunately, I didn\u2019t get to play that kind of priest in this film; I got to play an openhearted, loving, protective priest.<\/p>\n

\"Annabelle<\/a><\/p>\n

Or you could be an alien priest who could be…<\/strong><\/p>\n

TA:<\/strong> An alien!<\/p>\n

Who\u2019s fighting a rebellion!<\/strong><\/p>\n

TA:<\/strong> Oh, that hasn\u2019t been done [laughs]… Maybe we should get together on a screenplay.<\/p>\n

Were there any things that you needed to know about a priest dealing with demons or exorcism?<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"Annabelle<\/a><\/p>\n

TA: <\/strong>You do your research. I read a book about the Warrens, and I spoke to a priest, and mainly realized the Church doesn\u2019t want to go there. They don\u2019t want to go to demons; they don\u2019t want to go to exorcism.<\/p>\n

They have to be persuaded that there\u2019s no other answer — there is no answer in physics, there\u2019s no answer in nature. Then they\u2019ll call in someone, a specialist like the Warrens\u2026 who come in and deal, and try and document [what happened]. There has to be concrete proof that something like this exists before they\u2019ll move at all.<\/p>\n

It was wonderful to do that, and it was wonderful to wear that investigative hat that I love as an actor, no matter what character you\u2019re playing.<\/p>\n

Does it change any of your belief systems being in a movie like this?<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"Tony<\/a><\/p>\n

TA:<\/strong> I always operate from the fact that as an actor, you have to be a blank sheet of paper. Actors have beliefs, they have strong passions, but it\u2019s immaterial when it comes time to do the job. I have to step into the world of the play. And being Catholic, being an altar boy, it was a little bit easier.<\/p>\n

Because you\u2019re coming in and interacting with them in a different way from someone who has known them for awhile, did you keep yourself separate before you came in and played your part, or how did you play [it]?<\/strong><\/p>\n

TA: <\/strong>You have to make a decision, a choice. I could have played it that way. Annabelle Wallis [the actress, not the prop], Ward Horton, and myself, we decided that I had been close with Ward. So I knew him, he was close, and he brought his wife when they were having these problems. So there was a connection; they weren\u2019t strangers.<\/p>\n