Rachel Sweeney’s DEAD GIRL, which just screened at the Oxford Film Festival, begins with every actor’s basic, routine, indignity on a film set. In this case, it’s an actress playing the dead girl in a television procedural. Not enough to drain the life force out of one by having them lie around with a wide-eyed death stare while other actors preen over them, but then she learns they need to reshoot it with her turned over with her face in the dirt. That’s right, rubbing it right in the actor’s face. Literally. If you have ever been an actor, then trust me – you can relate.

But Sweeney is barely getting warmed up with her character’s trip down Hellsville, as we watch her go through the wringer – in the guise of her barista job supervised by a creeper young daddy-type, the emotional meltdown with her boyfriend, the excitement and renewal of faith by getting a call from a former acquaintance/now an important casting director – only to have said casting director literally use their get together to pitch her side hustle, selling skin care products. As we teeter on the edge with Sweeney’s aspiring actor, we’re less concerned about who will show up to see her production of “Hamlet” as we are concerned whether or not her boyfriend will need to have her committed before the curtain is raised.

 

1 What is your personal favorite among the true crime or procedural shows? And which one would be (or would have been) the dream to do a guest spot on?

Even though it is serialized, Veronica Mars had (and will have again!) some of the best procedural writing on television. I’m a Marshmallow! The per-episode mysteries were so beautifully woven into Veronica’s life and the big mysteries of each season. The endings were always satisfying and never even remotely easy to guess. And Veronica is a badass. She uses the fact that everyone underestimates her—that no one takes her seriously as a PI—to her advantage. I really related to her when I was in high school, that feeling of being underestimated and being an outsider, of feeling rejected by people who were once your friends. I can’t wait for the next season. 

I’m not big into true crime, in all honesty. I listened to Serial while working at a call center whenever my supervisor wasn’t looking, but beyond that, it’s not my go-to genre. 

As for what show I’d like to have a guest spot on, same answer—take me to Neptune! Since it’s back for a fourth season, I can continue to dream of playing an 09er who killed her stepdad or a whistleblower at Kane Software.

 

 

2 What is the best part about directing yourself and what is the worst part about directing yourself?

Best: I always know what the director wants from me.

Worst: Watching myself while editing.

 

3 DEAD GIRL nearly hits every single “actor’s lament” from the impossibility of getting that first agent to getting on the radar of a casting director, to getting people to attend a play you are acting in. Of all of these, which one will forever hold that special place in your seventh circle of hell?

I’d combine them in a way—getting agents and casting directors to come to a play you’re acting in. Friends will make it if they can. If they don’t, it’s not as personal as it feels. You learn that. I have my fiancé’, my immediate family, and a few friends I can always count on to show up, and beyond that, I am pleasantly surprised and grateful when someone else comes to something I’m performing in. People are busy. People forget things. But getting industry to come—that’s the worst. Because even though it’s relatively easy to learn to forgive your friends who don’t always show up, it’s equally hard to learn to not let industry attendance become your main concern. And it’s not terrible because they won’t come—because you already know they won’t. It’s the worst because that struggle to get industry to come just eats away at the joy of performing.

This is actually very much what DEAD GIRL is about. When you’re so focused on “making it” or “getting seen,” you start to hate doing the thing you used to love most in the world, because you feel like you’re doing it in a vacuum. But if, say, your fiancé, your immediate family, and the few friends you can always count on to show up are there, then that’s not a vacuum at all. Constantly having to remind myself that doing the art for the people who show up matters more than getting seen by the people who seem to matter more—that’s my boiling river of fire.

 

 

4 DEAD GIRL was the beneficiary of a successful Kickstarter campaign to raise its production funds. What (do you think) was the biggest reason for that success?

My producers, Allie Kolb, Marygrace Navarra, Chris Wright, and I put a ton of effort into the campaign. We thought about it as a pitch, not just as an ask to family, friends, high school exes, fourth cousins, and old camp counselors to give us money. We didn’t want anyone to contribute because they love us or feel they had to. We wanted them to actually believe in the idea and contribute because it was something they actually wanted to watch. We wanted to reach people we didn’t know and create at least a small fan base for the idea. I think that approach to designing the campaign really helped us succeed in not only getting the money we needed, but in actually generating excitement about DEAD GIRL.

 

5 What is your personal hall of fame “dead girl” and “dead guy” performances?

Sheryl Lee as Laura Palmer. Twin Peaks is a Dead Girl show—it’s the Dead Girl show—and I love it. But Laura Palmer really was supposed to be no more than a Dead Girl. A literal framed picture of small town humble beauty that haunts Agent Cooper and everyone else in Twin Peaks. But Sheryl Lee took this Dead Girl role and created an opportunity for herself, and together, she and David Lynch created one of the most powerful and raw portrayals of sexual abuse. I relate to that passion so much. I’ve eaten a lot of shit in my quest to break into this industry. Any actress has. In my film, the actress playing dead literally eats dirt. We do these things in the hopes they lead to something more, even when we know they probably won’t. I respect anyone who might say no to a Dead Girl role, but, as an actress, I relate more to the woman who takes it and turns it into something more. 

 

 

6 Popcorn or Candy?

Whatever I can fit in my purse.

 

 

BONUS – What film festival or film festivals are coming up where people can see DEAD GIRL?

Actually, right now, I’m trying to get interest in Dead Girl, The Series. The short doubles as a pilot. In the series, each episode focuses on a different woman who is playing a Dead Girl, and the Dead Girls become an ensemble as their stories interweave. For example, in the short, we meet two other future Dead Girls—Eileen, who we meet on set while she’s playing a Dead Girl on another show, and Tara, my character’s coworker at the cafe. Eileen and Tara each have episodes that focus on them. Well, they will—if I can get somebody to produce it. If you’re reading this and interested, my e-mail is rachelvictoriasweeney@gmail.com.