Exclusive Interview: Jenna Jameson Tests Her Boundaries

Posted by Kevin Carr (kevin@filmschoolrejects.com) on May 5, 2008

Jenna Jameson’s fans usually don’t get to see her on the big screen, but they have a shot now. Jameson’s first starring role in a mainstream film is Zombie Strippers, which is currently in limited release in theaters from Triumph Releasing.

“It’s one of those movies you can’t take super serious, but it’s a real departure,” Jenna told Film School Rejects. “When you go to the movie theater, you don’t have to worry about crying. It’s all gore. It’s all beautiful, sexy, hot women.”

A self-proclaimed horror movie fan, Jenna welcomed the chance to do a movie like Zombie Strippers. But the film was not without its challenges. She explained, “When I signed on to do it, the producer looked at me and said, ‘Jenna, I want you to know this is going to be a really, really hard movie. We’re going to test your boundaries.’ I thought, ‘Wow, I’ve heard that before, but in a different context.’”

What she wasn’t prepared for was the six-to-eight hour stints in the make-up chair, or the fact that it sometimes took her more than two hours to get all the blood and latex off her body at the end of the day. But this was all necessary for the satirical message of the film. After all, in what other context would people pay decaying zombies for lap dances.

“In America today, we find the weirdest things attractive.,” she said. “We go to incredible lengths to be beautiful, and we kind of poke fun at that. It was a really weird experience to be up on stage with a huge cheering crowd and have half my leg fall off and my face just crumbling before me. It was a fun thing. I never had to worry about being beautiful or putting lip gloss on or anything, which was kind of fun.”

One of Jenna’s biggest thrills during the filming was working with horror legend Robert Englund. “When I first met him, I was scared,” she said. “Without the make-up, he still looks like Freddy Krueger. And he walked up to me and shook my hand, and out came this sweet voice, and he was like the nicest guy ever. It was really cool and very surreal meeting him.”

Jenna, who is no stranger to strip clubs from her touring days, notes that some scenes are strangely accurate. At one point in the movie, a patron writes one of the dancers a blank check. “I actually have had that happen,” Jenna said. “And I’m like, ‘I’m sorry. I can’t accept this. But you can give me your credit card.’”

Then there’s some of the dancers she’s met over the years. “There are a lot of clubs where dancers are worse than zombies,” she admits.

So look out all you zombies, strippers and Jenna Jameson fans. According to this adult film vixen turned scream queen, they’re already talking about making Zombie Strippers 2.

Sound Off: Who is scarier… Robert Englund as Freddy Krueger or Jenna Jameson as a zombie stripper?

Read more articles by Kevin Carr