Decompose Issue 12 Olivia Swanson Interview
Moviegoers have yet to find Olivia Swanson starring in a Hollywood Blockbuster. But that hasn’t affected her popularity. Walking with her around the streets of L.A. proves that. Fans young and old clamor around the Queen of B-Movies, and she loves it.
“It is kind of strange, knowing the types of films I’ve been in, when someone who’s ten or eleven comes up to me looking for an autograph.” Olivia then laughed before adding, “You wonder where their parents are.”
Olivia Swanson has never made it big, and she’d have it no other way. Most aspiring actors and actresses start out in low-budget horror films. They use it as a stepping stone to bigger roles in mainstream movies, hoping that one day they’ll get to star in a blockbuster or, better yet, a film considered for an Academy Award. Other times, older actors accept roles in these films as their careers begin to sunset.
Not Olivia Swanson. She’s having the time of her life. “When I was a little girl, I fell in love with Audrey Hepburn. I wanted to be just like her. The funny thing is, now that my career hasn’t, um… hasn’t veered in that direction, I’m fine with it.”
Despite Miss Swanson’s love for the Grindhouse type of film, our question is… What’s up, Hollywood? Her presence uplifts any film she stars in, and offers a great deal of credibility to the picture. Rarely does an actress pop off the screen like Olivia Swanson. This is something low-budget movie lovers have known for years.
This, along with the critical praise and audience appreciation of four of her last five films, makes this even more confounding. Mulberry Place (1975), The End of the World (1976), The Story Ends (1976), and One Last Goodbye (1976) each received high praise from critics.
“1976 was a crazy year for me. Three highly rated movies in a row. But that’s how I like to work. I treat acting almost like a nine to five job. Once I’m finished a project, I pick up and move on to the next. I mean, there was only two or three days' break between the end of The Story Ends and One Last Goodbye.”
Instead of using these movies as a springboard to even more mainstream movies, she’s returning to her roots with Rock Until You Drop. We asked what her favorite film to star in had been. We also asked about her least favorite.
“I’ll get the bad one out of the way, first. That would be Love Killers. Not only did I hate the premise and thought the Manson-esque movies had been done to death—no pun intended—by that point, but filming it was overly complicated for some reason. Lights constantly wouldn’t work, an expensive camera fell in a ditch and broke, the cast passed around the flu. The movie just seemed doomed from the start.
“As for my favorite, I’d have to say One Last Goodbye or Mulberry Place. I really like both of those, and I’m proud of the job I did in them.”
Spending so much time behind the camera, you begin to learn about the filming process. While filming Mulberry Place, Olivia got to sit behind the camera and film a few shots when the director of photography, Edward Hostetter, had to handle a family matter.
“Surprisingly, filming can be stressful. Reels aren’t cheap; if you miss too many shots, you get yelled at. They took it easy on me, but I did screw up one shot; probably added a few hundred dollars to the budget.”
Rarely has Olivia lost a role she auditioned for. In her career, only twice did another actress get the role she auditioned for. Both of those, Demon In The Mirror (1972), and Adolf’s Toy Chest (1973) came early in her career. These days, directors and producers often seek her out. Although her pictures never break the bank, that’s never been the point. For what they are, modestly produced flicks released primarily to neighborhood and second-run theaters, an Olivia Swanson picture has become a dependable draw for fans of exploitation cinema.
“The first audition I ever went on isn’t something I think I’ll ever talk about. It was… It was, um… partly humbling, partly humiliating, partly degrading, partly scary. Since then, though, casting directors are usually very professional.”
Our research found that Miss Swanson’s first audition was with Ron Melvin. As we all now know, Ron Melvin is serving a fifteen-year prison sentence after the 1975 crash, where he plowed his car into a bank while drunk, injuring three.
“Sundown Studios has kept me to themselves. I can’t blame them. It would be interesting to work for another studio here and there, but I’m not counting on that happening anytime soon. Unless another Studio buys me out of my contract, I’m signed with Sundown through 1980.”
Hollywood has never been an easy place to build a career, particularly for young actresses beginning in low-budget pictures. This hasn’t seemed to affect Olivia Swanson. She has nothing but good things to say about her time in the industry.
“Sundown has been very good to me. I know some women have problems navigating this crazy Hollywood world. For some reason, the upper brass of Sundown treat me well.”
Several crew members and actors echo these sentiments, describing the atmosphere on a Sundown set as much more relaxed compared to other independent sets.
Some parental groups have criticized Miss Swanson. They say her youthful appearance and cheery disposition make her popular among young people. This is true; she has quite a few young fans. Because of this, you can often find protesters outside her more controversial titles.
“I understand that kids shouldn’t watch some of the movies I’ve filmed. But, at the same time, adults have fun with these movies. I think it’s up to the parents to keep their kids away. I can understand that I have some responsibility when I’m out in public. But when I’m filming a movie, that’s just my work.
“Contrary to what people might think, I do vet the films I star in. Usually, I can tell whether I’m going to accept a job or not about ten pages into a script. And it’s not always about whether it’s ‘good’ or not, but whether I think I’ll be able to have fun filming it.”
Speaking of the fans of these films, they adore her. They’ve come up with some nicknames for her. The Tantalizing Terror, and The Queen of Splatter are a few of these names. From her signature long blonde hair—always a little messy—to her ear-piercing scream, when you buy your ticket to one of her movies, one thing is for sure: you’ll have a great time.
“Landon Waters, the head of Sundown Studios, where I film most of my movies, put it in my contract that I must have my hair down in at least seventy percent of the scenes I’m in, and that any promotional material I appear on, my hair must be down, too.
“A couple of years ago, when I filmed Mulberry Place, the director, John Meridith, wanted my character to have short hair. Landon blew his top. I don’t mind. I like my hair. It’s kind of my thing now.”
Interestingly, Olivia Swanson never watched horror films before coming to Hollywood in the early 1970s.
She grew up watching movies like Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?, Breakfast At Tiffany’s, and 2001: A Space Odyssey.
“There’s no real way for me to explain it. I came to Hollywood with big dreams. Then, somewhere along the way, I decided that having fun doing what I’m doing is more important. I think this is the only place in the world where becoming successful makes you more miserable. I’ve met so many people who, on the outside, seem to have it all, but they’re very sad most of the time. A couple of years ago, I decided that wasn’t for me. I’m going to keep having fun. In the long run, being on a low-budget movie set keeps me sane.”
She came out to Hollywood in the summer of ’71, living for a period in the famed hills of Laurel Canyon. Living in the same space where some of the most influential music of our lifetime motivated Olivia to keep pushing forward, even when times got difficult.
“I began my journey out here in a rat’s nest in Laurel Canyon. When I moved there, I wasn’t aware of its recent history—both good and bad. I mean, The Doors, Crosby, Stills, Nash, Joni Mitchell…” she then looked down at her hands as if embarrassed. “Charles Manson… Anyway, I’ll never claim to be a big part of its emerging legend; I’m just happy to have been there. It taught me a lot about… people—more than most will ever know. So much culture came out of those hills.”
Olivia’s newest film, ‘Rock Until You Drop,’ is about an all-girl rock band who play the clubs of L.A. at night, and kill their fans after the gig.
“This is one of the trashier films I’ve been in. And that’s saying a lot—I’ve been in Hollywood Hookers and The Love Killers. But yeah, it gets pretty crazy. I accepted it for two reasons. One, I rarely play a bad guy. In this, I get to play the head bad guy. And, two, because I always wanted to be in a band. This movie gave me the opportunity to act like I was in a real band.
“I’ll tell you, though, some of the shots in this are better than they have any right to be. The director, Carl Berenger, hates the traditional way of filming. I’m not sure if I’ve ever been on a set where more experimentation was happening. Regardless, I think fans of mine will love it.
Like most of her films, there’s plenty of nudity in Rock Until You Drop—more than usual for an Olivia Swanson film. Regarding this matter, Olivia used to be a hard no. Often, she told directors, scriptwriters, and producers alike that she wanted to keep herself to herself. In this film, that changes.
“Why did I decide to do a nude scene? I don’t know. I think as anyone gets older, the taboo showing yourself naked loses its… what’s the word I’m looking for? Its scariness. For the longest time, I kept my clothes on because I didn’t want my parents to see me nude. But they’ve stopped watching my movies years ago. I guess over the years the joy of seeing their kid on screen lost its luster. Since they hate horror movies, they don’t watch them. Also, I’ve been in so many movies where girls in their early twenties are brave enough to do it; why can’t I at my age?”
Hearing about her parents surprised us at Decompose Magazine. Family life is kept private. In every interview Miss Swanson has participated in, she refuses to discuss this topic.
“I don’t want to speak anymore about them. They’re very private people. And… well, never mind.”
We do know that she grew up in Pennsylvania and lived in rural New York for a year before moving out to Hollywood.
“I’m in Silver Lake now. But I’ve moved so much over the years—I’m not even sure if I can recall all the places. But before coming out west, I lived in Narrowsburg, New York, a little town near Bethel.”
Hearing she lived near Bethel, New York, during the late sixties piqued our attention, and we asked if she attended Woodstock in 1969. In response, Edna offered a polite smile and told us she had, but didn’t want to talk about it.
“I did go to the Moratorium to End the War in Vietnam in Washington, D.C. in 1969. That was eye-opening. A lot of people gave speeches, but nothing changed. Then Kent State happened in 1970, and here we are, seven years later, and it seems like those four people never lost their lives that day.
“I’m a pessimist, really. I think I could be an optimist if certain people decided to stop killing others.
“It’s not that I’m a revolutionary—at least, I don’t think I am. I’m kind of like a Thomas Jefferson liberal.” She then reconsidered her statement. “Depending on who you ask, I guess he was a radical. But I do wish the elite faced the same punishments as us peasants.”
The movie she’s currently filming isn’t horror in the sense she’s used to.
“Caged Vixens makes it sound like a porno. It isn’t. It’s a prison drama with some sleaze thrown in.” She laughed at this. “There are no zombies or vampires in it, so there’s that.”
Another thing Olivia likes about filming Caged Vixens is the laid-back attitude of everyone behind the scenes. It doesn’t hurt that they trust her with the role, too.
“Of course there are deadlines and schedules to keep. But this current project seems looser, somehow. Which is strange considering it’s a prison flick. Whether that translates to the screen or not, I don’t know. I do know I’m doing my part to make this a success.”
Before wrapping up, we played "Five Questions” with Miss Swanson, a game where we ask everyone who sits down with Decompose Magazine five questions. We hope their answers offer a glimpse into the off-camera life of your favorite horror actors and actresses.
“What’s currently in my 8-Track player? Late for the Sky by Jackson Browne. As for the last movie I watched, it was Wait Until Dark—which was excellent, by the way. Audrey Hepburn is so good. My co-star in Rock Until You Drop, Candice Lake, came over to my place last night and we watched it.”
The next few answers were rapid fire. We asked: What’s in your cup? How many fingers and toes do you have? And, if you can achieve one thing by bedtime, what would it be?
“I’m drinking Coke. I have five fingers and toes…” she then cracked up before amending her statement. “I mean twenty fingers and toes. And, if I could achieve one thing before bedtime, it would be getting the 12:00 digital numbers to stop flashing on my new range. I don’t think I’ll accomplish this, though.”
The future is bright for Olivia Swanson. After her big year in 1976, studios other than Sundown are inquiring about the Queen of B.
“I’m just going to keep having fun filming movies. L.A. is great. I can visit the ocean in the morning, go hiking in the afternoon, and have dinner at a five-star restaurant in the city at night. I’m up for a role right now that’s classified as a horror-comedy. More than anything, I want this role. It would be so much fun showing off my comedy chops.”