[INTERVIEW] Bill Moseley on ‘3 FROM HELL’

For horror fans born in the 80’s, most of us know Bill Moseley as Chop Top from Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2. However, a new generation (and us 80’s kids) know of him as Otis Firefly or Otis Driftwood from Rob Zombie’s House of 1000 Corpses and The Devil’s Rejects. Rob Zombie and Bill Moseley team up once again for 3 From Hell which will be showing in theaters nationwide as part of a Fathom Event this coming Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday! Recently, after viewing the film, we were able to get Bill on the phone to talk about the new film. There are some slight spoilers in this interview so proceed with caution or come back after you see the film.

---

What was your preparation process as an actor to get back into the character of Otis Firefly given the 14-year gap between The Devil’s Rejects and 3 From Hell?

Well, first of all, it took me about 16 months to grow that beard. That gave me plenty of time to ponder. Obviously, when I prepare for any part, I read the script a bunch of times. Having played Otis a couple of times before, it was kinda like riding a bike but not really. The pressure was to basically to preserve the integrity of Otis in The Devil’s Rejects and do him justice but also to evolve the character with 14 years of hard prison time and see what comes out of Otis 14 years later. It helped a lot to have Rob a really cool script. So that was certainly a big part of it. I thought it was fascinating to see how much Baby had evolved and I loved the addition of Foxy. There was a lot going on there and it kinda made me almost feel like I was in a Sam Peckinpah movie. There was a “Wild Bunch” feel to it. The thing about “The Wild Bunch” that is so cool is it’s a great action-packed buddy, road picture film. But there’s also a certain nostalgia of the “vanishing west” and a way of life that seems to be vanishing and I think there was a little feeling of that in “3 From Hell”. That we ended up like “Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid” and a lot of American outlaws ended up immigrating to Mexico just because that seemed to be wherever that “fading glory” was happening and it seemed to lead everyone South. That’s kind of a long answer.

I think it’s a good answer because obviously once you guys get down to Mexico and inhabit the isolated town the film evokes Peckinpah’s “The Wild Bunch”. I thought much like the influences you mentioned that this might be the last stand for Otis, Baby, and Foxy and that you might not make it out of there.

We just seem to be “death proof”, to borrow a title from another filmmaker. It’s very funny because I love the fact that one of the very small subplots is that Otis doesn’t want Baby to drive because if she gets behind the wheel, we’ll get pulled over in 5 minutes, etc, etc. And then at the very end, as the credits are rolling, there’s Baby behind the wheel with a big grin driving us to God knows where.

I’m curious if Otis thinks that Baby is losing her grip on reality due to the fact of her being in prison for that long?

I think Otis is certainly aware that she was because that’s why Otis attempts to break her out. Otis is no stranger to the bars. For Otis, being in prison that long is just another stretch. It’s not the first stretch, it might be the longest stretch but not by much probably. Because I think, according to Rob, a long time ago on the “House of 1000 Corpses” website posted some backstory and I think Otis and Captain Spaulding had met in prison. Prison isn’t so much for Otis as it is for Baby. Otis isn’t so sure how she’s going to handle her 14 year stretch. So, I’m [Otis] a little worried at first and maybe a little overly sensitive seeing if she really has snapped. She starts getting into the weird stuff with the headdress and I’m not really sure what’s going on. But then she shows her true colors and Otis is very satisfied with her evolution that she’s not only made it but she’s still very much a Firefly/Driftwood. By the end, I’m letting her drive so I guess it all worked out well.

I thought that was kind of interesting because this time out you’re not with Captain Spaulding/Cutter and you have a new dynamic with Foxy. The fact that Baby is kind of grounding of the family for what you’ve previously gone through since Spaulding is executed. Otis, to me, cares about the family perspective but it is interesting to see it tested in the fact that you don’t know if Baby is the same person after prison or not and how that comes into play throughout the movie. There’s one scene where you get the sense that Otis might be having second thoughts about breaking Baby out and bringing her along for the future.

Yeah, because I mean Otis does have concern for her head but also, right alongside it, there’s the concern for not going back to jail. I don’t want her going out into town when she leaves us playing Go Fish in the motel room and she’s going off to get a “soda” and she comes back with blood on her dress. There are a lot of red flags that get raised but when we get to Mexico, when we’re really in the shit and the Black Satans being some worthy adversaries, I think Otis feels that she does a good job and assures me that she’s still Baby and that’s why I’m sitting in the back seat grinning in the end.

How was working with Richard Brake? Since Sid was out of the picture, I was interested in seeing how you felt since there was a strong family dynamic between you, Sherri and Sid from the past two movies (especially in The Devil’s Rejects since we weren’t aware of the connection to Sid in “House”).

I thought it was great. I thought he did such an amazing job. The first day I met him was the first day we worked together or at least I met him on set as we haven’t worked together and I wasn’t in 31. Of course, Rob, Sherri, Jeff Daniel Phillips, Pancho Moler all worked with him on that movie and said what a great guy he was. Sure enough, from our first initial handshake, it was great. I felt very comfortable. When we were actually doing the scenes, working together, he was funny as shit I gotta say. He totally improvised Mr. Salami, his whole vision of getting into the porn business and that was so funny. I love that kind of stuff. I’m a big improv guy when it works. Man, we just had a ball doing that. Also, in the scene when he is startled by the bounty hunters and he smiled and said “You got the wrong guy” and talks about the woman’s titties, I was laughing my butt off. I was standing right off-camera. The woman that played the female bounty hunter is my wife in real life so that was especially funny. So I thought that was the greatest and she did too, by the way, which is good. [laughs]

Thanks to Bill for lending his time to answer a few questions on this one.

Monday, September 16th: Moviegoers will see a special video introduction from Rob Zombie with the first 50 attendees at each theater receiving an exclusive poster (while supplies last).
Tuesday, September 17th: Audiences will be treated to a nearly 30-minute behind-the-scenes look at the making of the film.
Wednesday, September 18th: Moviegoers will experience the ultimate double feature including “3 From Hell” and “The Devil’s Rejects.”

Tickets for “3 From Hell” are now available at www.FathomEvents.com and participating theater box offices.