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Hollywood actress and producer Angela Landis stars in Boned, a new indie comedy written and directed by Bizarro novelist Laura Lee Bahr. In the film, Landis plays a struggling actress named Samantha Marlow who walks dogs to pay the bills. After accidentally denting the door on an attractive doctor's SUV, she is swept into a plot full of violent dog-nappers, gothic bondage cultists and starving actors who are in denial, and they all conspire to topple the unsinkable Samantha.
Landis herself enjoyed acting like a starving actor and working with her dog on set. She'll be in attendance when the film premieres at Mission Theatre on January 2.
Willamette Week: How do you balance being the lead and producing the film at the same time?
Angela Landis: Since I've produced so many smaller projects and web series, I kind of knew what I was doing. One tricky moment in particular was when we were tied up during the finale scene. I think the caterer needed a check. I'm in the middle of screaming and yelling and crying, and I'm all tied up, and they had to come in and untie my hands so that I could sign a check—and then get tied up again. That was pretty funny, awkward and weird.
WW: Was it fun to purposely act badly in the acting classes?
AL: Yes, yes, it was. [Director] Laura [Lee Bahr] and I talked about that a lot ahead of time. It definitely had to be a different style than Samantha day-to-day. In a lot of acting classes you see bad acting and that indulgent, over the top stuff. So it was fun to get to do it on purpose.
WW: Your character Samantha is not a romantic. How was portraying somebody whose final line in the movie is more about a dog's love being unconditional and that she's incapable of that as a human?
AL: That actually was sort of a challenge. I don't know that I would call myself a romantic, but I definitely believe that people can love in a way different from what Samantha did. I love animals as well, so I think I just tried to focus on that. That dog was my own dog, which I think helped.
WW: The tone of the film seems to shift constantly. One moment you're crying on camera and the next you're being jabbed from behind with an Oscar.
AL: It definitely was Laura's intention to have it shift and reflect what life in Hollywood is like. The ridiculous things that are thrown at you all the time are so varied. You just have to roll with it. That was partly her intention with the story; it's such a weird world here. "Hollyweird," we're calling it now.
I think just working with Laura has been so amazing because she definitely—just like Samantha—still follows her heart. I think that's what drew me and Laura together. That's what drew out these wonderful characters. It's just staying true to yourself. And it's definitely very hard in Hollywood to do that.
SEE IT: Boned shows at Mission Theater, 1624 NW Glisan. 6:30 and 9:30 pm, Saturday, Jan. 2. $4.
Willamette Week