The movie 9.9.09 was recently awarded Best Sci-Fi Feature at the New York Independent Film & Video Festival.  The talented Kelly Pendygraft took home Best Actress for her role of Sarah in the film.  Buzzine editor-in-chief Richard Elfman sits down with the lovely lady to get her behind-the-scenes story:

Richard Elfman: What can you tell us about 9.9.09?

Kelly Pendygraft: I play the role of a young girl named Sarah Prescott who grew up and lives in a small town.  It’s a story that’s told from the future — from 60 years from now, but we reflect back on the events that happened on September 9, 2009. There seems to be something infecting the people in town and it’s going around killing everybody, and we try to find out what’s causing that and we try to save the world from a small-town point of view.

RE: By the way, I thought you did a terrific role, and you were absolutely gorgeous on screen and believable in the part. Now “believability” is always key to an actor’s performance. How did you approach your character?

KP: I was a little surprised that they were going to have the same actress play the old Sarah and the young Sarah. I guess I had to come up with a way to incorporate the young Sarah in with the old Sarah. For the young Sarah, it’s more about going within myself and pulling out the traits that I feel this character possesses that are my own, so I wanted her to be a little feisty and a little firey, but on a small-town level. I don’t think she’s a girl that has ever been outside of maybe a 60-mile radius of her town; I think she is a creative, spunky type, but just on that level. I don’t feel like she would have ever gone anywhere or done anything. Maybe she was banking on this relationship with Deke that didn’t work out, which would have taken her out of her own element, but when that didn’t end up happening, she stuck around. So I wanted to make sure that I stayed within the limitations of someone who is limited by their environment. At the same time, I wanted to make sure that the old Sarah still had some of that spunkiness to her. There is an arc of the character through the story — she becomes brave and branches out of her shell, and it’s a glorious moment for her because people rely on Sarah, and she gets to be the one reasoning with everyone and handling these men. She gets to be the sensible one, and I think that’s a prideful moment for her. I definitely just wanted to keep it as real as possible, taking from what’s in myself, and I didn’t want it to be too much of a caricature of an old lady. I wanted it to be as real as I could possibly be of that as well.

RE: Speaking of which, what was it like being in that makeup and prosthesis? Have you ever worked in that sort of a thing before?

KP: I have worked with prostheses before, and I’ve worked with heavy makeup, but it’s never been in a film; it’s always been on the stage. This time around, I was sitting in makeup for about five hours each time, because we were building all the pieces and we didn’t have any prosthetic pieces that were bought and manufactured, so we had someone sculpting white on my face, and by the tenth hour of shooting, that stuff gets pretty itchy. It was such a joy and I really was looking forward to doing it, but by the second day when I had to do it, I wasn’t looking so forward to it. It takes a toll on you — on your skin and everything. You’re also pretty limited by facial movement and, from an acting standpoint, there is a little bit of an obstacle there.

RE: Howard Wexler is a veteran cinematographer. Does it help to be directed by somebody that knows his way around camera and lighting so well?

KP: One thing that’s really great about Howard being a cinematographer and knowing what looks good is that he knows what looks good. He knows how to make pretty pictures. Just from what I saw while we were filming, and the final product too, the lighting is really great. I think he definitely creates the atmosphere that’s pretty eerie and pretty dark, and it’s all kind of cartoony in a way, and vivid. He’s really great to work with because he helps you to make those pictures as well to make it look good.

RE: I know it was a low-budget independent film. Was it a tough schedule on the actors?

KP: The only thing that was tough on us — I don’t think it had to do with being a low-budget film — but the fact that it’s taking place over one night — day into night into morning — and we had to shoot night shots for the majority of the filming, that takes a toll on anyone. Plus, it was very cold at night, so a lot of the outside scenes weren’t so comfortable. But I love independent films so much because you know what you’re getting into with a low-budget film. You know that you’re going to be working for the final product and for it to be the best it can be, whether that means you help out and wear all different hats and help other departments with their jobs… Everybody is rooting for the film and are really behind it and are willing to work their hardest. As the actress, this film in particular was really great because they kept everything that was happening on the production side separate from us, so even with a low budget and everybody sometimes scrambling around, I never experienced any setback or dilemmas or compromises, or whatever you have to do to make things work sometimes. They really kept it separate from us, so we were just very focused on our jobs.

RE: Speaking of your ensemble, tell me something about working with Lochlyn Munro, who was the sheriff, and Bryan Brewer, who I understand wrote it as well as co-produced. These are these two mail egos you have to juggle as Sarah…

KP: Male egos on screen and off the screen. [Laughs] Lochlyn is a blast. He is such a giving actor. He really helps you. He makes it easy on you to work opposite from him. He’s a very genuine guy. He’s really precise and really professional, and he takes you along on board with him, when you’re in a scene with him, and I really appreciated getting the opportunity to work with a seasoned actor like him. Brian and I…it’s really funny. Off-screen, we kind of had a feisty sort of relationship — very personable and very friendly.  We’re definitely friends. We like to make fun and pick at each other, and we definitely did that off camera a lot — pretty much the whole time, and it was all in good fun. I usually get concerned when there’s a writer who’s also starring in the film, because you have an idea of what you want it to look like, but sometimes the actor can bring a little something different as well. But I don’t think his vision was ever compromised or his writing, in any way, and he was very lenient with us being the actors, so that was great.

RE: What’s next for Kelly Pendygraft?

Kelly Pendygraft and Byran Brewer in '9.9.09'

KP: Next week, on September 10^th, 11^th and 12th, I’m going to be shooting my own show. Over the last year, I’ve been developing, creating, producing, starring in my own web series, called Water Signs. It’s about three girls, told from my point of view. The background is the LA music industry, but it’s about these 20-something girls in the midst of their careers, their love lives, and what’s next to come and who they are, but told from an astrological point of view. Everybody always says, “I’m this because I’m a Scorpio…” and “I’m this because I’m…” whatever, you know, and people kind of identify themselves through that, but on a larger scale, it’s about the signs of the universe and how you pay attention to what is being given to you, or just the subtleties of the way you give in to the universe and the signs there, and if you pay attention to what the universe is telling you, things can run a little smoother. It’s just about opening up yourself to hear it, and that’s what the series is about.

The New York International Independent Film and Video Festival was held in Los Angeles in August. 9.9.09 received the BEST SCI-FI FEATURE AWARD, and Kelly Pendygraft received BEST ACTRESS IN A FEATURE FILM award for her work in 9.9.09.  The Award Ceremony will be in New York City on October 22, 2009.

See Buzzine’s review of 9.9.09
9.9.09 Official Website