In Night of the Animated Dead, siblings Barbara and Johnny visit their father’s grave in a remote cemetery in Pennsylvania when they are suddenly set upon by zombies. Barbara flees and takes refuge in an abandoned farmhouse along with stranded motorist Ben and four local survivors found hiding in the cellar. Together, the group must fight to stay alive against the oncoming horde of zombies.
Revisiting George A. Romero’s 1968 horror classic Night of the Living Dead in an altogether unprecedented presentation, this star-studded animated recreation of the movie was released on September 21 on Digital and arrives on October 5 to Blu-ray Combo Pack and DVD.
Actress Katharine Isabelle is something of a legend in the horror world and is, of course, an icon after starring as one of the original "Scream Queens" in Ginger Snaps. Since then, she's appeared in the likes of Freddy vs. Jason and Hannibal, but is now taking on another huge horror role in Night of the Animated Dead as Barbara, a woman left catatonic by the zombie apocalypse.
In this interview, the actress talks about finding ways to breathe life into a character who quickly enters a catatonic state and the work that went into bringing Barbara to life in the recording booth. Katharine also explains her approach to reimagining the movie's female lead for today's audience, being surprised by the sheer level of animated gore, and how she'd survive a zombie plague!
You’re no stranger to the world of horror, so when the offer came in for this animated retelling of Night of the Living Dead, how did that feel?
Oh my God, I was so thrilled. I’d worked with Michael Luisi, the producer, in the past and when this came around…there’s nothing better than to be in a horror movie without having to be covered in blood [Laughs]. I’ve always wanted to do voiceover animation work and to be able to recreate such an iconic character and such an iconic film from the safety and comfort of a warm studio was just lovely. I’ve always wanted to try my hand at that, so I just jumped at it.
What did you enjoy most about stepping into the recording booth to bring this character to life?
We really tried to stay true to the original film. I really looked into the Transatlantic accent and really watched Judith O’Dea’s performance several times. To get into that physicality because everything that happens to her is so physical and visceral, but to be doing it stripped away of all the things that usually help you on set get into that like the scary house, scary zombies, and hair and makeup. All of that stuff really adds to your ability to fall into that role and that world. To do it when all of that is gone and just have it in your imagination was new to me and a challenge I was very ready to go for. Hopefully, I did well at it [Laughs].
Barbara veers from being actively involved in what’s happening to that catatonic state, so in terms of your performance, what sort of challenge did that present?
There’s so much dissociation that happens with her and so much trauma and shock. To be able to see her at the beginning where everything is normal and she’s just having a fairly normal back and forth sibling rivalry with her brother, and to watch that normality be stripped away and for her to completely fall into that catatonic state…I mean, it’s a lot of hyperventilating [Laughs]. For me, it was really about separating the coherent, capable Barbara from the absolute grief-stricken, terrified Barbara. I had to try and encompass what it means for someone when they’re in that state and when they’re completely out of their head in fight or flight, and she’s obviously in flight.
Female characters were written differently back in 1968, so did you have any initial reservations with how Barbara’s story might play out in this fresh take?
I know there were some adjustments to that character in the remake in the 90s to make her more of a fighter and to have more strength. As we were doing the original, it felt different. We like to see these characters in movies be strong women who fight back and give it all they’ve got, but sometimes, real people just freak out and they go catatonic and into shock. That’s very real. I don’t mind seeing that. I don’t always need to see what the ideal female would do in a situation. I don’t mind seeing what an average person would fall into. We all don’t know how we react when it comes to situations of extreme stress, crisis, and chaos. I think it's a very realistic representation of how some humans react in situations like this. I don’t mind revisiting that aspect of a character.
That opening scene with Barbara and her brother is such a great way of setting the stage for everything that follows and it’s a sequence with some humour in it, so how much fun was that for you as a performer?
Yeah, I loved the banter they have. It really establishes their long-running relationship really quickly. Within a few minutes, you really get who they are to each other. If you watch the film brand new, you might think that Barbara will be the protagonist for everything and the one, if you have no knowledge or history of the film, who is the lead character. As soon as she gets to the farmhouse and falls into that catatonic state, she is the catalyst for introducing the rest of the group of survivors. It was interesting to me to see that happen and go, ‘Okay, this is our main girl, but wait, she’s not. The reason we get to the place where we meet all these different aspects of humanity during a crisis like this is because of her.’ I didn’t mind the way she falls into this state of shock because it is very realistic. You see her with her brother, you see this incident happen and think you’ll see her do all this stuff, and then she just falls into this state that she cannot be shaken out of. Through that, you realise more about what’s happening around her and meet all these different people. For me, I’m totally down with all of that and had no problem with it [Laughs].
You mentioned this a little earlier, but did you find it helpful to revisit that movie and look at Judith O'Dea’s performance for inspiration?
Absolutely. Because we were doing a very true to the original, pretty much shot by shot remake, I wanted to honour the character and the performance as true as I could. I watched the film many times before I went into the studio and then, that morning, before I was going in, I turned the TV on and it just happened to be on with that very beginning scene. I was like, ‘Oh my God, perfect,’ because I got to watch it again literally ten minutes before I went into the studio so I could have her performance fresh, her voice fresh, and even her tone fresh. I think it was very helpful for me to watch that a lot.
Much of the movie deals with Ben’s attempts to protect Barbara, but what about their dynamic most intrigued or interested you?
Poor Ben [Laughs]. He’s doing the best he can and this woman just cannot get her shit together! I think it’s fairly quickly that she learns if she can trust him, but it’s not right off the bat. Even in her state, she’s worried about this man she doesn’t know and that quickly falls away when she goes deeper into her shock and he constantly continues to try and help her and to get her to proactively pull her attention away from her shock and trauma and into something helpful. There are so many people who react in so many different ways when something like this happens, and Ben is the perfect example of the opposite of Barbara. He’s the person who will snap into immediate action without all the answers, not knowing what’s going to work, and constant problem-solving. Poor Ben dealing with poor Barbara. This is the first person who shows up? This woman? [Laughs] This is your helper and co-survivor? What an eye-roll moment for poor Ben.
On another note, it feels like discussion of a Hannibal revival has never gone away since that show ended; if it does become a reality, do you think there’s room for Margot’s story to continue in some way?
I have been told so by our incredible creator Bryan Fuller. I do know that he has ideas for Margot’s continuing life in the future. There was some talk of her turning their slaughterhouse empire into, like, a vegan something or other to change the world in a better, positive way. I would hope so, of course, and I absolutely love that show. I still haven’t seen the final two episodes because, to me, and I do this with books and TV shows I love, if I don’t finish it, it’s not over [Laughs]. So, I actually haven’t seen the last two episodes of Hannibal because I’m just like, ‘No, it’s fine. I still have that to go back to. It’s not over for me.’ [Laughs]
There’s been talk of reviving Ginger Snaps as a TV series, so I was wondering what your thoughts on that are and whether you think we could see you involved in any way?
I’m very, very happy and very supportive of giving Ginger another reincarnation. I think that was always in the back of their heads since day one that there would be some kind of series at some point, maybe. The fact that John has got together with the producers of Killing Eve...I just can’t even imagine how freaking cool that would be. Of course, I would do anything that they requested of me if they should request anything of me at all. I definitely think that character and that story is still very relevant these days, and the sort of themes that went along with the feminist and the sisterhood and the fight against your own body and your own base instincts is all very relevant. I think they’ll do an amazing job and I’m just as excited as anybody else to see it! [Laughs]
This may be an animated project, but there’s still plenty of gore for horror fans; did the brutality of the violence surprise you when you got to watch the finished product?
Yeah! It had been over a year, probably more than that, since we recorded. You have no idea when you’re doing animation what that or the characters are going to look like. The animated gore was something I don’t think I was ready to be so impactful for me. There’s blood spatter on the staircase, a corpse…it’s sort of a retro animation vibe, so I didn’t expect the gore to be impactful and it really was [Laughs]. There’s a scene in the basement that I won’t give too much away about, but someone is attacked with a small gardening trowel and it’s…it’s very disturbing. I think the gore is still there for horror fans.
Finally, Barbara does get to see some action in this movie, but if a zombie outbreak were to happen in real life, what do you think would be your go-to item to help you survive?
Oh, okay, so in my house, I have a lot of plants. I would start throwing ceramic plant pots at them and then I have a Canadian award [Laughs] called a Gemini Award that was like the Canadian Emmys back in the day, and it’s very, very sharp and point and heavy. I would bludgeon them and ruin their brains with that. That’s what I’d go for.