Interview with actor Annette Wozniak

Without a doubt, whether it was music, dance, modelling or acting, Annette Wozniak has always enjoyed sharing her many talents in the spotlight. Recently, we had a chance to talk to Annette while she was in Toronto promoting the DVD and Blu-ray release of the movie Bite at Fan Expo Canada.

Was acting always something you wanted t  o do or did the interest come later, more like a happy accident?

Annette: It was actually dancing and singing for a Polish community theater and my late father used to act so I kind of grew up watching him so it was really nice to see that in the family. Then I went to Randolph Academy, I was doing drama in high school as well, and then shortly after Randolph I got my agent and then I met Chad. Actually, I auditioned for him for The Drownsman and a year before I auditioned for Bite so it was nice to go back in there and see him. Eventually I got a call for a callback, read with Elma and then Bite happened.

When you read for the part in Bite, what was your first reaction?

Annette: It was literally how are we going to pull this off but then again, I don’t watch a lot of horror so I put all my trust in the hands of the Black Fawn boys and the whole cast and crew. I read the script and there were some revisions, we went down to the Dominican to film the first part of the film and then everything just started happening and the way they had figured out how to pull off some of the effects, it was really amazing.

Did being a part of Bite spark an interest in you to watch more horror films?

Annette: Well, I never liked watching horror but my friends did, in high school and college, so I ended up watching all the Scream movies, I Know What You Did Last Summer and the last horror movie I watched before I filmed anything to do with horror was The Ring and that’s it, no more. I was just talking with Chad about this and yeah, The Ring did it for me. I saw The Blair Witch Project as well and the camera work made me sick so I couldn’t enjoy the end of it, I still don’t know what happened and probably never will.

What was your experience like filming Bite? Did you find it easy to quickly bond with the other actors during the hectic schedule?

Annette: Well right from the beginning, when I did my read with Elma, I felt good about this movie. I got to know Elma and Denise, and of course we went away to the Dominican together, so that helped the bonding for sure. They’re awesome people and actresses and it was great because you always have down time when you are filming so what do you do? You talk and we all ended up getting along great, sharing stories, having laughs. It was really a great time making this film.

Obviously there are some very long days on set. What did you do to help pass the time?

Annette: My goal was to make Elma laugh and we always had a good time, especially when it came to our darker scenes. There was one day, a twenty hour day that also happened to be my birthday, where I was strapped in a chair and not looking so good, and Elma and I kept asking each other, do I look pretty, because she was also in her makeup so neither of us really did and we just would go into these fits of giggles, it was crazy.

How did you deal with all the special effects, like the huge amounts of goo and eggs, while you were filming your scenes?

Annette: I love watching how everyone creates all the special effects so to me that’s such an interesting thing. I see past the feeling of it and all the gross visuals of it. As far as the effect on me, the eggs were put in syrup and instant coffee to give it that look so when they put the webbing on me it was instant coffee and I was so tired that day but I was immediately wired, I’m hoping it was because the coffee was seeping into my skin because I was suddenly wide awake.

Horror fans are a passionate and intelligent group. What was it like doing a film in a genre with fans like that?

Annette: It was incredible, it really was. I never thought I would be in this genre and I kind of am now, even though I don’t watch horror. I’m more of a comedy/action/superhero movie fan but I’ve grown to love it and certainly all of the fans that I’ve met and what they know about Bite and how much they loved it. It helped me get through the movie because I didn’t know how I would react or even if I would be able to get through the movie but I loved it and I’m so happy I was able to be a part of it. I’d love the opportunity to do more horror movies now after having such a great experience with Bite.

I want to thank Annette for taking the time to talk with us