Dan's Movie Report: Monique Ganderton Interview (C) 2012 Dan's Movie Report (Exclusive!)

Friday, January 20, 2012

Monique Ganderton Interview (C) 2012 Dan's Movie Report (Exclusive!)

Above Pic: Monique crouched and ready for action: Photo Credit: Camilla Camaglia (Berlin) All photos can be made wallpaper size by clicking on them, right clicking on the larger image and then selecting view image.Images are EXCLUSIVE to Dan's Movie Report! Enjoy! Monique can be seen onscreen in 2013 in The Package and Hansel and Gretel: Witch Hunters! Acting! Watch out, Monique is ready for Action!

The 2012 year of action continues with the amazing Monique Ganderton. She is a multi-talented performer on both sides of the camera. This Canadian born lady has worked on dozens of TV shows and movies and even has a produced several short films with her partner Sam Hargrave. It is time for me to shut up and allow the beauty to speak, or else I might get injured.

Were you a daredevil as a kid, is that why you got into stunt work?

Almost embarrassingly the opposite! I didn’t go on a rollercoaster until I was 18! But I guess I did do a ridiculous amount of athletics because of my dad. I am the oldest of three girls so he made me his sport buddy! I played softball, skied, pole vaulted, rode horses and eventually taught snowboarding. I think I am into the mental game of stunts more than being a daredevil! But I do love flying and crashing so maybe I am just in denial…

I have to ask what is the most dangerous stunt you ever performed for

a movie or TV show? Describe the set-up.

Its hard to gauge the level of dangerous since there are so many factors and a simple stunt can be dangerous…But the one I took extra caution too was on Conan The Barbarian when we were galloping in a horse chase sequence. I am driving a two-horse chariot and then I jump from the chariot to the horse. It was kind of nuts since I had to get the horses up to gallop speed driving them then, plan out my timing with camera to step on the edge of the chariot, keep my balance and jump to the galloping horse then ride them off bareback and finally have to stop them and turn them around and go back to one! It was a cool old school style stunt but it could have potential to be a disaster! Glad it worked and I am proud of it.

Above Pic: Playful and dangerous Monique. Photo Credit: Camilla Camaglia (Berlin)

I am not gonna lie I am a huge X-men fan, and that was a bad ass stunt you did for Rebecca Romijn in the interrogation room on X-Men 3, how long was the set-up? Share a story from the set.

That was a crazy day!!! We came up with the fight in the morning and didn’t get the hand cuffs until that day. They were not made to give at all! All metal. Usually with prep you can make ones with bungy or with foam. I was rushed to set, tons of pressure and had never attempted to jump through the cuffs yet. They set up a mini tramp by the table and I am supposed to jump on the tramp and through the cuffs. I am basically naked just to remind as well! And a cold concrete floor under the tramp. You know where this is going? I catch my pinky toe on the first attempt and eat it from table to tramp to the floor with my little toe caught in the chains to the cuffs! It was insanity! The on-set photographer actually caught athe moment of my toe getting caught mid air! That day ended up being a 17 hour day then add the make up times of 6 hours and it was epic. Tons of takes of everything but it was a blast!

On King of Fighters you did stunts, and also played the character

Mature, on films where you have a dual role are you less daring to do

the stunt work?

I always want to do everything. I can really appreciate that about actors wanting to maintain the integrity of their characters and performances by being involved in everything. However sometimes the ego has to take a time out and you have to worry about the acting and let someone do their job and do the stunts for you! I had a stunt double for KOF who was awesome. The producers couldn’t let me do the stunts because of risk so I had to deal with it.

Above Pic: Monique screams, everyone run! Photo Credit: Camilla Camaglia (Berlin)

Be honest, were you happy with the outcome of the King of Fighters?

Haha I fast forwarded most of it but I thought some of the action was cool. But no. I wasn’t overly thrilled by the product but I think we knew what it was when we made it. There were a lot of big personalities squished into a little movie. Wink Wink. But I did meet my amazing boyfriend Sam Hargrave on that show so something great came out of it and I don’t regret it at all!

Hansel and Gretel: Witchhunters seems like a cool project, how did you

get the part of one of the Witches and stunt double work for Famke?

Well…Funny you should ask…I had told David Leitch, a stunt coordinator that I work with a lot, that I was focusing more on acting. Then Famke got cast for the part, Sam was already working on the show and they were really trying to get me to come out. I said I had to act or my manager would KILL me! So they found the uncast roles and set me up with auditions and it worked out! So Everyone was happy in the end! I got to act, got to perform some action and work with Sam! It was so much fun!

Famke is a great actress she must be cool to work with, did you guys

share some time on the set together?

Famke is the coolest. I adore her! She is so tall so we would head out in Berlin and both wear heels and be HUGE! It was amazing! She had a tough time on the show because of the extensive prosthetics but she was a trooper.She totally killed it witch style, all the fights and action. She was always so game to fly in the harness. It was hilarious. She would want to do more takes for fun.

Who are some of your favorite actresses to double?

I love them all! That sounds corny but I think the 5’10 ladies in Hollywood must be the coolest laid back gals because I have never had any drama, issues or anything. Just all super cool! Tricia Helfer, Rachel Nichols and Famke I have double a couple times. They are all hilarious and love action and are always cool and game for anything. Sigourney Weaver is SO badass and was my movie hero growing up. And Nicole Kidman is such an amazing actor to watch work. I really have been so lucky.

How long was your portion of the filming process of Hansel and Gretel?

The Candy Witch was about a couple weeks, I also play a Mom in there somewhere which was a few days and then doubling Famke was a couple months.

Above Pic: Monique attends 2011 Hollyshorts Short Film Festival.

On to your short films, you and Sam have a sick twisted sense of humor

just like mine, how did Love and Vigilance idea come?

Well thank you! We had been talking about a vigilante couple thing for a while and wanted to shoot another short ourselves. So we just wrote it and it kept getting crazier and crazier! Then ta da!

How long did it take to film, shoot and edit?

Filming took about a week. It was really tricky because Sam had to shave his facial hair for the second character. We needed to make sure we were finished all of the hairy one! The edit took a few days. We worked on it whenever we had time. But it was pretty quick. The shoot was the crazy part. Talking to people that are not there, making sure focus was good and sound levels were right, then perform! We both appreciate EVERY aspect of film making now for sure!

You and Sam want to develop this idea into a feature length film or a TV series?

This short is pretty silly but the idea in a more sophisticated comedic state would make for a pretty awesome series I think. We have pitches for similar ideas so who knows!

Ok tell me once and for all where did you two get those props for the

Love and Vigilance film? Hahahaa!

That may have been the most hilarious shopping event we have every been on. We went to a sex shop in LA and asked them to show us the largest realistic dildo they had that would be safe to smack someone in the face with. Without batting an eye the lady helping us walked us to an isle full of dildos so we had to take them all out and test them. I am hitting Sam on the head with every kind of dildo you can imagine, laughing my ass off! Then we picked The Big Boy! A steal BTW at 35.99.

Above Pic: Monique seated and sexy. Photo Credit: Camilla Camaglia (Berlin)

Even though you are not a formally trained martial artist, stage

combat is obviously in your arsenal?

Not so much stage but I learn as much as I can from whomever I am working with. In this past few years dating Sam I have learned a ton from him since he is a bit of a fight genius! I really love to fight…is that bad?

Your love of animals, must have started as a kid, my mom has a rescue

dog, how many do you have? How did you find them?

I have loved animals as long as I can remember. I used to find stray cats when I was little and convinced my dad to get us a dog. I also love horses and started riding at a very young age. Now I have Rocky a Rottweiler mix from SPCA Vancouver Shelter, Apollo the orange cat that I found in a box in an alley, Baby, a horse that was in a shady situation outside of Vancouver and our two newest rescues, Piper and Hannah, both from the South La Shelter. They destroy millions of dogs in the US every year. Just go to the South LA shelter. It is heartbreaking. The staff at S LA have the hardest job and I really appreciate them. Never EVER buy puppies, always adopt.

Above Pic: Monique stands out. Photo Credit: Camilla Camaglia (Berlin)

What are the charities you support?

Animals!!! I love these charities, Last Chance For Animals – their site is so informative. http://www.lcanimal.org/, and for horses, The Grace Foundation.http://www.thegracefoundationofnorcal.org/. I also have supported friends traveling to Africa on a house building mission, and a friend who needed some financing for her powerful documentary, To the Moon and Back. I also give out to some of the folks of Hastings in Vancouver, a hub for the homeless. I think its great to give and help where you can. I prefer to see a direct influence of my charity which is why I rescue animals and give to people I know. You see your help working immediately and that is so rewarding!

What is in store for 2012 for Monique, new projects on the horizon?

I hope it will be a combination of being of part of some cool projects as well as creating a few more of my own! I am always looking to collaborate with new people. AlsoI have a couple web series pitches I’d love to see fly so might try to shoot one while I am in Vancouver. I’ll be up here spending some much needed time at my second home in Gastown. I LOVE Vancouver and have a lot of family and friends here so it’s a nice change from the perfect LA weather and people!

Wow, Monique great perspective on the film business, with an inside behind the scenes look into the life of an active stunt woman!

For more on Monique Check out her official site @ http://moniqueganderton.com/

Twitter Monique your thoughts and desires @ https://twitter.co/#!/MoGanderton

Watch for more news and new hot pics from sexy Monique upcoming on your home for action, Dan's Movie Report!