Like many actresses toiling in the Canadian film industry, Vancouvers Katharine Isabelle has found stardom hard to come by. However, she does enjoy the enviable consolation prize of being an icon for a certain breed of moviegoers.
You dont get rabid fans of depressing Canadian dramas. You get rabid fans of cult horror movies, shrugs Isabelle, who first first endeared herself to horror devotees with the sardonic bite she lent her role as a teenage werewolf in 2000s Ginger Snaps. More than a decade later, her brilliant deadpan performance as a rogue medical student in American Mary written and directed by locals Jen and Sylvia Soska once again has discerning genre enthusiasts taking notice.
Characters like Ginger and Mary come along so rarely that Im thrilled to have been given both of those roles, she says. In turn, its impossible to imagine anyone other than Isabelle playing those parts. As the macabre events of American Mary plunge her aspiring surgeon down the proverbial rabbit hole and into an underworld of radical body modifications, Isabelle assures us that Mary Mason is keenly aware of just how curious her circumstances are. Through her sceptical facial expressions and wry line-reading, she accentuates the sly humour of the Soskas film without sacrificing its menace.
That happens to me in real life. I can be in circumstances that are really traumatizing but I still have this sh*t-eating grin, Isabelle admits. When youre watching a movie thats so bizarre, I think you need one character who has their tongue in their cheek.
Working on movie sets since childhood has left her well-versed in the art of eye-rolling. Citing the example of shooting 13 Eerie, she laughs, Youre standing in the middle of an abandoned zoo in Moose Jaw, you havent slept in three days, youre covered in blood, and you cant get the chipmunks to shut up for (recording) sound. Youre just standing there saying, Really? This is happening right now?
A similar sense of disbelief arose when she was unexpectedly anointed a horror icon. When we did Ginger Snaps, it wasnt until two years after the film came out that I found out it was popular. We went to a couple of film festivals and critics were like, This is weird and good. Then, two years later, it was like, Didnt you know? Its this cult classic. I was like, What the f*ck are you talking about? she laughs. Now, its so instant.
American Marys immense and immediate popularity has indeed been impossible to ignore. Cutting a swath through the genre festival circuit for the better part of a year, the film has deservedly racked up both awards and admirers.
Only furthering Isabelles excitement over its success is the fact shes discovered two kindreds in the Twisted Twins, Jen and Sylvia. I love them and I think theyre brilliant. And, I think theyre only going to get more confident with their material and with their abilities as directors.
In closing, she announces, Theyre not allowed to do anything without me again. Ever. Im going to be the Johnny Depp to their Tim Burton.
