Date of publishing: 27th
August 2013
Christian Pitre stars in the action adventure film
Bounty Killer, also featuring Gary Busey, and Kristanna
Loken. Christian portrays Mary Death, the most popular
celebrity bounty killer in this post-apocalyptic world
where white-collar criminals’ greed has turned
the US into nothing but a barren wasteland. Bounty
killers are regarded as the most beloved heroes and
at the top of the ladder is Mary Death, a woman that
will slit a criminals throat with a smile on her face.
The film is also a celebrated graphic novel by the
same name and is written and illustrated by the film’s
director Henry Saine.
Check out the trailer here!
Gilles
Nuytens: Hello and
nice to meet you! So, let us know what's behind your
love for acting. How did the passion start?
Christian Pitre: It's something that
I have always loved and always knew that I wanted
to pursue. Even as a child I always talked about moving
out here to make movies. I often would be told that
I needed to prepare for what my "real job"
in life would be but I just refused to believe that
it was impossible for me to make a living doing what
I loved, so I just stuck with it!
Gilles Nuytens: What
do you like so much about "being in front of
the crowd and entertaining"?
Christian Pitre: Well, honestly,
I am pretty shy and being in front of a crowd makes
me extremely nervous which is why I enjoy film making
because it is usually just you and your crew there.
The "entertaining" is what I do have a love
for and I think a lot of it comes from growing up
in a small town (in a log cabin out in the woods!)
where I found myself constantly looking for an "escape."
My mother used to tell me that I lived in a "dream
world" but I never minded because in that world
anything was possible! To be able to play even a small
role in someone else's discovery of what their dream
is or what their "escape" would be, for
me, is a dream come true!
Gilles Nuytens: What
is the most difficult part of acting for you? And
the easiest?
Christian Pitre: The most difficult
part for me would be finding the "truth"
in every moment. It is important because I believe
it is what keeps you and your audience connected but
it is far from easy and I still have a lot of learning
to do! I haven't really found an "easy"
part of acting yet except maybe memorizing my lines
comes very easily to me.
Gilles
Nuytens: How do
you work your character usually, do you have a particular
method?
Christian Pitre: I tend to read the
script over and over until I find clues as to who
the character is and then I start relating those clues
to personalities that I know of. It's nice to have
an open line of communication with your director so
that the two of you can bounce ideas off of each other.
Mostly I find that it is like getting to know a new
friend and figuring out what they stand for and how
they respond to things, then just becoming that person
when the camera is rolling and using their instincts
as your own.
Gilles Nuytens: If
you had the opportunity to choose the role you really
want to play in the movie of your choice, what would
you choose?
Christian Pitre: Well, I really love
"Mary Death" and I would love nothing more
than to have the opportunity to play her again at
some point but if I had to choose something outside
of that... I have always wanted to play Priscilla
Presley in Elvis' story. I am a huge fan of his (my
daughter's name is Presley) and to be any part of
a story about his life would be an absolute dream
come true!
Gilles Nuytens: Each
experience is a whole new opportunity to learn things.
So what's the most important thing you've learned
lately, acting-related?
Christian Pitre: As I mentioned earlier,
finding the "truth" in everything. No matter
how extreme the character or the circumstances, just
like in real life, every character is driven by a
need for something. If you can pinpoint that need
then you have pinpointed the motivation for everything
they say and do and your performance will come across
as truthful. The explanation is much easier than the
execution though!
Gilles
Nuytens: How was
the whole experience on Bounty Killer?
Christian Pitre: Bounty Killer has
been one wild ride! I have been on board since we
shot the short 3 years ago and it has been nonstop
madness the entire time! Shooting the feature was
a really special time not only for me but for everyone
involved. Each day was more exciting than the next
and everyone grew closer and closer as a family throughout
the shoot. We were working in extreme conditions in
the desert but every individual gave one thousand
percent one hundred percent of the time!
Gilles Nuytens: What
did you enjoy the most being on that movie?
Christian Pitre: It's hard to say
what I enjoyed most. I enjoy pushing myself beyond
what I'm sure that I am capable of mentally and physically
which I definitely did on this shoot. The stunt work
was especially trying but it gives you such a feeling
of accomplishment when the day is done. I have to
say that outside of working with my wonderful co-stars
Matthew Marsden and Barak Hardley, I was delighted
to have the opportunity to work with Beverly D'Angelo!
I still watch our scenes together and can't believe
that it' s me on the screen with her!
Gilles Nuytens: How
close (or far...) is "Mary Death" from you?
Christian Pitre: You know, I get
this question a lot actually and I always answer the
same way... To me, Mary is who I wish that I could
be in so many ways! People say to me "Christian,
you are Mary!" but I'm really not. I find it
very easy to embody her because I feel like I "get"
her but she is actually a lot more flighty than I
am. I feel like she is confident about who she is
as a killer but she tends to hide behind her celebrity
so she can mask her emotional immaturity. Maybe it
was losing her parents at such a young age and being
raised by savage gypsies, but it seems that around
the time of the corporate wars she just quit evolving
emotionally and shut down her feelings in order to
cope. I probably relate to her in that way more than
I like to admit as I also have been through some traumatic
times that closed me off a bit but I ended up working
very hard to break through those barriers. I hope
to have the opportunity to play Mary again so that
we can allow her to grow into who she is capable of
being also.
Gilles
Nuytens: What did
you bring to her? Which part of your personality did
you give to "Mary Death" that wasn't especially
visible on the script?
Christian Pitre: I think a lot of
times what is hard to read on the page is "heart."
I feel like in order to make this superhero relatable
to actual people I had to find ways to bring her to
life by adding the "heart" that can only
be captured in a look or in a breath or in a tear.
It was really a lot of fun to work with Henry and
Jason on developing who she is. They very much had
this woman created when I met them but were trusting
enough to allow me to put my spin on her.
Gilles Nuytens: How
difficult (or easy) was it to enter and portray this
character, who seems to be a very strong and pitiless
woman!
Christian Pitre: Well she actually
isn’t pitiless at all! Mary may be a bad ass
but she is not a bad guy! She feels justified in what
she is doing because of the reasons that she chooses
to do it. In the world she lives in she is a hero
because of it! It wasn't as difficult as you would
think... of course, I have had years of getting to
know her so her instincts come pretty naturally at
this point!
Gilles Nuytens: I've
read you weren't really fond of sports at school...
but playing this character must have been very physical...
How did you prepare physically for that movie?
Christian Pitre: I am actually much
more athletic now than I was growing up... don't ask
me how that happened! Luckily I had some great people
helping me for this movie. My trainer, Alfred Kendrick,
who owns FitArts studio on Sunset Blvd in Hollywood
trained me in Capoeira style fighting and mixed martial
arts. We worked together for about 4 months prior
to shooting and it really helped whip me into shape
for this role! I also would meet with my stunt coordinator,
Randy Archer, and my stunt double, Stacey Carino before
certain fight sequences to work on making it look
good for film. As cool as martial arts are in real
life, sometimes you have to change them up a bit to
look awesome for the camera. Henry Saine is definitely
all about making things look awesome!
Gilles
Nuytens: We love
hearing funny stories, anything funny to say about
Bounty Killer, anecdotes on the sets or anything related
to the movie?
Christian Pitre: Let's just say that
when I hear "Bounty Killer" I think blood
and lots of it! I am not sure the exact amount of
fake blood that was used during shooting this movie
but I know that every time I turned around Henry was
asking for more! For whatever reason he believes that
it is possible for someone to hold an entire Solo
cup full of blood in their mouths. I'm sure there
were many of us that managed to pull that off so that
he was happy! Actually, when he is directing, after
every take Henry yells out, "Who's not happy?!"
so the crew ended up making t-shirts that said "In
Saine we trust" on the front and "Who's
not happy?!" on the back and we took a cast and
crew picture on the last day of shooting with everyone
in their shirts. To be honest, I could tell stories
all day about Bounty Killer because crazy things were
happening 24/7! In fact, I think the guys are still
taking turns on babysitting a severed head from the
shoot. I won't give away who it belongs to!
Gilles Nuytens: Any
future goals, challenges you want to do?
Christian Pitre: I would love to
continue working in these types of roles. I enjoy
the physical challenge of them. Next time I would
like to be able to say that I did all of my own stunts.
Not that I want to put my friend Stacey out of a job,
but it would be a challenge that I think I could overcome.
Gilles Nuytens: A
free question to you. Ask "yourself" a question
as if you were the interviewer (something that you'd
like someone would ask you), and answer it :)
Christian Pitre: If
you could give any advice to someone thinking of pursuing
acting what would you say? I would say what
my acting coach, Myra Turley, said to me...."If
you can do anything else and be happy, do it. If not,
then commit and be ready to work hard." This
is one of the toughest industries that you can choose
to be in so you have to be a little crazy to choose
it but in the end, the payoff is like none other!
Watching your dreams become reality right before your
eyes is something that not a lot of people ever get
to experience. It takes hard work and insane persistence
but if you can keep the "good" as your focus
in spite of the "bad" then you will find
enjoyment in the journey and elation in the success!

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