Interview: Tanit Phoenix Gives Us Reason to Watch ‘Femme Fatales’
Interview: Tanit Phoenix Gives Us Reason to Watch ‘Femme Fatales’
Interview conducted by Marc Patterson – May 2011
Femme Fatales is a new TV series set to premiere this Friday night from Cinemax as a part of their Max After Dark programming. Sitting in the vein of the Twilight Zone, but with more seductive sadism, the show promises to tread a darker path. In each of the first seasons thirteen episodes everyday women find extraordinary ways of coping with their problems, often in the most brutal of ways.
We had the opportunity to chat with the hostess of this new series, Tanit Phoenix, to hear what the show is about, and what horror fans can expect. Tanit Phoenix hails from South Africa and has been called “The next Charlize Theron” by Indiewire Magazine. In addition to her acting work, she’s a model popular amongst the lads, having appeared in Maxim and FHM Magazine, and also having appeared on the covers of Cosmopolitan and Marie Clare, but we get a feeling this show is about to make the boys a bit more cautious.
As a quick personal disclaimer – and you can choose to skip this paragraph if you’re not a regular reader – When the opportunity was presented to us to chat with Tanit I openly hedged a bit, going so far as to tell the PR company setting the junket up that I wasn’t sure this was the type of show that would resonate with our readers. However, the plot outlines for a few episodes and the show teasers hinted at a darker more sadistic tone and this is what ultimately pushed me to find out what the deal was. With apprehension I got on the phone with Tanit, not sure what to expect. Would this be just another conversation where an actor or director sits bored and spews out the same scripted responses to the same canned questions a dozen other journalists just asked, or would it be something different? While I didn’t have a lot of time with Tanit she impressed me with her candor, humor, and energy. While obviously the verdict is still out on how this show will pan out, (Yes, I’ll be tuning in on Friday) it was great to see Tanit break the mold of convention, exhibiting genuine enthusiasm for a project she’s clearly passionate about – and that is the kind of attitude Brutal as Hell is all about.
BAH: We just heard about this series and it sounds really interesting. Having not seen too much we were hoping you could take a quick moment to tell us a little about the show and your role on it.
Tanit: Of course! Femme Fatales is a thirteen episode contemporary noir film series and every episode is completely different to the other ones. The only thing linking them is the Lilith character, which is whom I play. She opens and closes the show, and then, something I thought was interesting, was there is a small character in each of the shows for the Lilith role, and yet she doesn’t play Lilith. She plays a different person. So I get to play different character roles which is really exciting. And this all ties in to the last episode where some of the women look back and they recognize Lilith because she was around when all of these bad deeds of them killing men were going on. Nothing that I’ll reveal too much but it’s quite exciting. Basically it’s about women that kill men.
BAH: Yeah, it sounds uh… (laughs)
Tanit: (laughing) Yeah – every time I say that to my guy friends, they ask “What’s the series about?” And I’m like (quiets her voice and gets serious when she says this) “It’s a series about women killing men”, and they stop and their eyes go wide. And I’m like “What? It’s just a series. I’m not going to fuck you up”. I’m sorry. It’s very exciting. It’s fun to be part of a show like this.
BAH: Well, it sounds fun. So what attracted you to the role of Lilith? You’re both host and taking on roles within the part.
Tanit: She’s the leader of the show. She basically runs everything. (laughs) They [the creators] have a lot of tongue-in-cheek with the show being about mystery and horror and romance and all of that, and the fact that I get to narrate it, it was a challenge in itself. Plus I’d also just been in LA for a week. It was the first audition so I was quite excited about it. They literally told me on the spot “You got the job”. So being cast into something I liked and sort of just getting into the LA vibe I was like “Hell yeah I’ll do this. This is awesome.”
BAH: Are there any teasers you can give us as to what might be in store, knowing we’re a bunch of die-hard horror fans?
Tanit: Well I can’t say too much, but what I can say is that it’s going to be a very suspense driven series to watch. Every one is different. The woman that went through revenge or greed or just something that’s happened to them, to kill these men in whatever way that they do it – and I think just from the novelty sense of actually watching these women become empowered that way – it’s definitely something to watch. It’s going to scare the crap out of guys. That’s what I can say!
BAH: You’re no stranger to supernatural films. Most recently you did the Lost Boys sequel, so are there any supernatural elements that are brought to the series or is this grounded in more of a reality based world?
Tanit: Well, because it’s film noir, a lot of it is set in real time and a lot of it isn’t. It keeps changing. Every episode is written that way to keep it interesting. There is one episode specifically that is a little bit more based on the surreal. I don’t want to give too much away. But that gets into another episode and every episode is linked in some way. I’m being very abusive to you right now. You just have to watch the show. It’s so exciting. I’m telling you now, once you start you’re not going to stop.
BAH: I like the idea that each of the episodes, even though they’re stand alone are linked together. It keeps people watching.
Tanit: Well the thing is, if you don’t watch beginning to end I’m pretty sure you’ll be able to follow it. But it’s better to watch from beginning to end because in the thirteenth episode everything is revealed as to why Lilith has been following these characters AND it’s revealed that some of these women recognize Lilith and you find out why she has been watching these girls.
BAH: You’ve done work in the past in this genre, and you’ve come back to this genre, so I’m curious what have you enjoyed most about working within the horror genre?
Tanit: Well, thankfully in this series I don’t have to do any of the crazy death scenes myself. I’m not going to give too much away but I know when I was shooting on Lost Boys with Cory they hooked me up to fake blood. Oh my gosh, that was intense! Blood went everywhere. I was not expecting it. I was prepared for it, but I was shocked when it actually happened. It was when they attached the piece onto your neck and it was ripped off, the feeling of it getting ripped, and the blood is so cold and sticky… and ugh…
BAH: (laughs)
Tanit: But that was exciting and it was gross at the same time.
BAH: So is there a lot of blood in this series?
Tanit: Yes.
BAH: That was the right answer!
Tanit: (laughs)
BAH: And our final question as we’re about out of time – Do you have a favorite episode that particularly stands out for you?
Tanit: There are a few, but my much favorite one is the thirteenth episode because it ties them all together. I wish I could tell you more. I really do, but Lilith explains what’s been going on with some of the girls and I like the twist on it a lot.
BAH: Well cool. You’ve given us some great insight into the show and something to look forward to.
Tanit: It was very fun talking to you. Thank you so much.
BAH: Thank you for your time!
Femme Fatales premieres this Friday, May 13th at 11PM on Cinemax. Check out the teaser trailer below and tune in. Much thanks goes out to Tanit for taking a few moments of her busy schedule to speak with us.
Teaser Trailer:
