Leah Pipes talks about starring in SORORITY ROW

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Leah Pipes talks about SORORITY ROW



By Gary Dean Murray

Leah Pipes is nothing like her character in her new movie Sorority Row. This sweet, down-home, girl-next-door plays Jessica, the leader of the Theta Pi Sorority. Her character, she acknowledges, is a true pregnant dog - self-centered and mean, spitting evil and bile with every line. In real life, she's a talented actress who will soon be starring in a new ABC law series that will be shot in Dallas. Her trip to town was equal parts promotion and acclimation to the area, something she is looking forward to.

The admitted liberal Democrat was worried about being in a conservative Southern city but said that every person she's met have been wonderful. And on getting used to Dallas, she said, “It's so easy. It looks like LA but with better people. Similar people but really cool people.” The show is going to fake LA in Dallas much the way Prison Break turned Big D into Chicago.

The movie she is promoting, Sorority Row, is the tale of a group of Theta Pis who pull a prank that goes horribly wrong, and they end up killing a fellow classmate. Swearing never to speak of it again, a year later it seems that someone is seeking revenge on the sisters, killing them off one at a time. Leah calls the demises of her sisters some of the most creative death sequences put on celluloid.

This film was shot in Pittsburgh, another city that she had never been to. She just loved the steel town except for the weather. Said Leah, “It is so cold but the people are so warm.” And on being a traveling actress, she said, “They give me a ticket on where I'm going and I go there. I cross my fingers and I hope it's okay.” The self-admitted home body, she says that she's more comfortable in her house, wearing sweats.

Leah stated that the audition process for Sorority Row was pretty much the same as for every part. “You go in and you audition. If the casting director likes you, they bring you back for the director. If the director likes you, he brings me back in for the producer.” Though she did find the audition for Sorority Row unlike others. “This audition process was a bit different because it was super comfortable. I went right away because I knew the casting directors really well. Stuart (a casting director) gave me a big hug after the audition.”

Her character Jessica is “mean, she's real mean. She takes mean into this whole new level. It's almost being creative. One of the lines is 'you make being a pregnant dog an art form'. I take pregnant doginess and make it somewhat creative.” She was determined to get the role even when she had to audition for other parts. She calls this part a one-time thing, playing against her usual girl-next-door roles.

Being the mean girl was therapeutic for Ms Pipes because it was so out of her normal mind-set. “I got to say and do things that I would never do. I would never do it because of the integrity I have for other people. But to lose all integrity for other people is oddly therapeutic.” Though Leah did admit that Jessica does have moments of vulnerability, which makes her characters someone you can relate to. “It's a gift and a curse,” she said of this aspect.

But she doesn't see Sorority Row as a straight slasher film. “This movie doesn't take itself too seriously,” Leah said. “It invites you to laugh at it because we are laughing at ourselves. It has such an element of fun. This movie is not silly fun, it is dark, witty humor. And I think it going to draw a more intelligent crowd because of that. I think a lot of people are going to appreciate how creative it is. This movie is so good, so much fun to watch.” She noted that there is a wittiness to every part of the film which includes many layers of jokes. Leah thinks that this film will be watched again and again, just to find more jokes buried in the subtext of the cinema experience.

Calling it more of a character piece, she sees the film with strongly developed characters. “We are not all the same girl walking around in scantly-clad clothes, dying off one by one. We all have individual personalities. They are quirky characters and it really dives into the almost bizarre insanity of some sorority girls and that world.”

Leah said that she ate an amazing amount of celery to look great in her skimpy clothes. “But I tried to keep an amazing amount of pregnant doginess for the ladies,” she said with a laugh. “You love to hate me and you love to see me go. So please enjoy what you see on screen.”

Asked what was the hardest aspect of making Sorority Row, Leah stated with a laugh, the wardrobe of wearing a bustier. “They are so uncomfortable, you can barely breath. They make you look real good, they make your waist look way smaller than it is. But I was in immense pain.”

Carrie Fisher, the international star of film and literature, plays the house mother of the girls. Leah said, “She is a really amazing woman and I had no idea how amazing she would be until I met her. I assumed that she would be pretentious or crazy. She is this super down-to-earth intelligent woman.” Leah praised Carrie Fisher's literary work and stated that everyone should be reading those tomes.

On working with director Stewart Hendler, she said that “I felt that I really connected with him and when I got on set, I connected with everyone in the cast.” Calling Hendler 'a genius', she praised the first shots of Sorority Row as some of the most amazing camera work she's ever seen on film. There is this sincere feeling that Leah Pipes is proud of this work. She said that every single person on this film had a passion for it and had a lot of fun with it. “We all put our A game into it,” she said. “We saw it as a real gem and respected it. And we hope that you do.”

And now, if you please, check out the video interview Mark Walters did with Leah Pipes while she was in Dallas to promote SORORITY ROW.

Check out more about SORORITY ROW here - thetapi-ordie.com/