INTERVIEW: Scout Taylor-Compton on her journey from the horror genre to westerns
Photo: Scout Taylor-Compton stars in the new western movie Apache Junction. Photo courtesy of Saban Films / Provided by KWPR with permission.
For Scout Taylor-Compton, an accomplished actor known for her performances in Halloween and The Runaways, her latest adventure in the western genre has been a welcome one. This past week saw the release of Apache Junction, a new film directed by Justin Lee, starring Taylor-Compton, country music star Trace Adkins, Stuart Townsend, Ed Morrone, Thomas Jane and Victoria Pratt.
“I grew up in Napa Valley, which was very known for Roy Rogers, and my dad and I would watch a lot of westerns when I was growing up,” Taylor-Compton said in a recent phone interview. “So this has been in my blood, this whole world, and of course when I first read the script I was just instantly attracted to Annabelle, her guts and her bravery. And then the story of her befriending this odd partner of Jericho [Townsend] and teaming up together to take down a couple bad people in this Apache Junction, I just thought it was such a cool, wild ride, and it was interesting because when I grew up watching these western movies, not a lot of them had these strong female leads. That’s honestly what attracted me to the movie.”
Taylor-Compton said working with Lee, known for Badland and Swell, was a lot of fun, and the director let her choose the details for her character of Annabelle Angel, a big-city reporter who has landed in the tucked-away town of Apache Junction.
“He kind of let me just roll with her and be as creative as I wanted in how I saw her,” she said. “I definitely wanted a journey for Annabelle. She’s this big-city reporter still trying to prove herself and make a name for herself in this man’s world, and she volunteers to go to this place, Apache Junction, which is this dark, dark place. Not even a lot of men go to this place or have enough courage to enter, and she goes with all this wit to write the truth on this land. You can see her growth from this vulnerable woman to this strength that we see at the end, so I definitely wanted to show that with her journey.”
Working within this ensemble was also a positive experience for Taylor-Compton, whose other credits include Stay Home, The Coven and Penance Lane. She worked mostly with Townsend because the two pair up in many scenes, and she was delighted to have the chance to meet and work with Adkins (“Country music was definitely played in my household,” she said). She also learned a great deal from Jane’s performance.
“Thomas Jane, I’ve been a fan of his forever, and it’s so cool to watch him on set,” she said. “He’s very calm and collected, but brings so much to his roles. It’s insane, even when I was filming, I’d watch him, and I’d kind of be lost for a second because I was just watching him in awe. It’s such subtlety with him, but yeah all of them were so great.”
Apache Junction is the latest bullet point on Taylor-Compton’s résumé, and it’s a step away from her earlier roles where she often played the victim. She wants to grow as a performer and seeks out parts that are strong women. Too often, she said, women are typecast in Hollywood roles because of previous characters they’ve played, and she is making a concerted effort to break from that cycle.
“I’ve played vulnerable women,” Taylor-Compton said. “I’ve played the victim so many times that I feel like when I read a script now I just really need to have a strong female to portray, or at last it’s a journey that’s leading to a strong female on the end, that it’s not just victim-y, help me, save me, save me. I’m kind of over that. It’s interesting because I think my career has also gone in line with my life, with who I am and how I am progressing as a human. It’s so interesting. It’s like victim, victim, to I’m becoming a strong, independent woman, and it kind of portrays that in the characters that I’ve been portraying.”
Perhaps Taylor-Compton’s most famous role was Laurie Strode, the lead character in Rob Zombie’s remake of Halloween and Halloween II. She has fond memories of making those movies, and she is thankful that the films allowed her entry into the horror community, which has embraced her as one of their own.
“Honestly, I can’t say enough good things about Halloween and what it has done for my career, and the opportunity to do it and to be able to play Laurie Strode was hands down one of the best experiences of my life,” she said. “When one person sees you as one thing, it’s very hard for them to see you as anything else. It’s happened to so many of us, and mine just so happens to be in the horror block. That’s a big genre, so when you enter it, you can sucked into it. But needless to say, the horror genre — and I do a lot of cons — has one of the most amazing fan bases I’ve ever encountered in my life. These people are so dedicated and so cool that it’s honestly a genre that I’m so honored to be a part of. They support you on everything that you do, even if it’s not horror. I’ll go to these cons, and they’ll bring me things from a movie I did called Sleepover or Charmed or Gilmore Girls. And it’s like they really support me. It’s really interesting, and I’m very honored to even be in that genre and to be called a Scream Queen. It’s pretty cool.”
By John Soltes / Publisher / John@HollywoodSoapbox.com
Apache Junction, featuring Scout Taylor-Compton, is now playing in theaters, on demand and on digital platforms. Click here for more information.
