Actor David Arquette’s directorial debut, the comedy/slasher “The Tripper,” came out on video last week (add it to your Netflix queue, or win a copy of the DVD), starring Jason Mewes (the talky one of the Jay and Silent Bob duo), Lukas Haas, Jaime King, Thomas Jane, and Paul Reubens. Oh, and Stephen Heath. Heath doesn’t earn poster credit, but he shares as much screen time as almost anyone, including the killer. If you’ve seen “The Tripper,” he’s the one who says, “If the vans a rockin’, don’t come-a-cock-blockin.'”
Heath graciously answered some questions for Creepy LA. Read on for his experiences working on set with Arquette and company, his toxic Mr. Peanut costume, and more.
Creepy: Know any good Los Angeles ghost stories?
Heath: I was driving behind Dodger stadium with a friend who has lived here for 30 years, and as we passed a dirt road I commented, “That’s a total Hillside Strangler road.” It was just a bit creepy… a sort of dead end, a few trails… lotsa garbage.
Anyway, my friend Greg responds, “It is!”
After some back and forth, I realized that he was telling me that the street I was talking about was in fact the hillside strangler street where he killed a few people. I have a sixth sense. Or a sick sense.
What was your favorite Halloween costume?
My best costume ever was a giant paper mache Mr. Peanut that I made. I was probably in 8th grade?
Anyway, I fashioned a chicken wire shell, and papered is up, painted it Mr. Peanut yellow, glued a top hat on, giant monacle, two eye holes, wore black tights with spats, and had a cane. To make it dry faster, I added bleach or something to the paste, which started making me dizzy when I wore it. That coupled w/ the fact that I made the eye holes too far apart had me walking into things all night long.
Eventually I took it off and told people I was a ninja with no mask.
Give me your pitch of “The Tripper,” and how your character fits in.
A bunch of friends head to an outdoor music festival for a weekend of fun, drugs, and music, only to be killed off by a Reagan worshipping killer. I play the drug vacuming good time guy that keeps the party going, and is only serious about one thing…fun.
It’s a throw back slasher, has a visual look similar to the first “Chainsaw,” with a nice dose of politics. And plenty of blood and guts.
Including your own!
That wasn’t my call. It was probably deliberate, in that you need to find a couple of your main characters dead in any horror movie.
You worked with a pretty solid slate of seasoned, well known actors, who, I understand, all knew each other previously. How was it fitting in?
The idea of it was pretty nerve wracking going in, but as soon as I met everyone and got to spend a little time with the cast, it was very easy. The real up side to many of them having worked together, etcetera, is that they were all very relaxed.
I don’t have that much to go on, but the comment going around set seemed to be that it was a really fun, relaxed shoot. People generally seemed to think I was funny as opposed to annoying, which is also good.
David was very generous and easy to work for, really open and ready for anything, so I think it all trickled down from him.
For more on Stephen Heath, check out the web page or MySpace page for his band, Heath!