Paul
Partain
Questions by Aine,
interview conducted by Larra
Did you have
a hard time with the wheelchair in Texas Chainsaw Massacre?
Yeah, it was difficult;
it gave me a heck a lot of respect for the people who deal with
them and live with the every day because it’s a tough
deal.
What do you
think of the brief return of Franklin’s skeleton in Texas
Chainsaw Massacre 2?
I just saw part 2 for the
first time about six months ago, and I thought, yeah this is
cool. I thought it was funny.
How was it in
the van scene, particularly with Edwin Neal?
It was hot in the van, and
Ed’s a great actor. He’s very good; I thought that
it went very well. We spent a lot of time in the van.
Have you seen
the TCM remake yet?
I have not, not yet.
Any plans to
see it?
Well, after they talked
about Jennifer Beal’s tits being shown in it, I think
I need to go see it. Just for the research value. So many people
have asked me if I’ve seen it and I said “No, I
haven’t seen it.” And they ask me if I’ve
seen Jennifer Beal’s tits, and I said, “No, I haven’t
seen those either.” So I could kill two birds with one
stone right there.
So you haven’t
actually kept up with the series?
No, I haven’t. I saw
four because I had a real brief role in it; I had a cameo. That’s
the one with Renee (Zellweger) and Matthew (McConaughey) in
it. With this new one that came out, I just didn’t see
it.
When were you
were doing all the spitting in the van, did it make you dizzy?
No, not that I recall; I’m
a pretty good spitter.
It’s probably
wrong to laugh, but when you started rolling down the hill,
it was hilarious….
Everybody laughed; it was
supposed to be funny. It was supposed to be, you’re seeing
the guy in the wheelchair and you’re saying, “oh,
isn’t that too bad, and isn’t that terrible,”
and then he roles down the hill and you laugh at him. If you
look back at the film, there’s times in there where Tobe
Hooper just kind of yanks your chain a little bit. He knows
that you’re going to feel sorry for him and then he knows
that you’re going to laugh at him, and that’s gotta
be all on purpose.
Was that actually
you that they rolled down the hill?
That was actually me. I
just rolled down the hill.
So we kind of
already touched on this, but it was hot, and sweaty, and gross….
Well, it’s what we
call in Texas, balance temperature. Temperature is 98 degrees,
humidity is 98 percent, and so you just have a nice balanced
day and you sweat.
It’s not
that nice Vegas dry heat.
Huh, no. I’ve got
dry heat in my oven, it still bakes biscuits.
So what are
you doing now?
Right now I am semi-retired.
Trying to get back into the film industry a little bit, havin’
a ball. I just did an audition for a new film by Robert Rodriguez,
he’s been wantin’ some new people. I don’t
think it’s going to work out ‘cause he’s wanting
somebody a lot meaner and tougher. Things are coming up though.
