Casidee Riley: Return of the Starlet

Casidee Riley! she's an actress whose first leading role on film was in a low budget horror movie. We've heard that before! (Think Elisha Cuthbert in Robert Tinnell's Believe, Anna Faris in Lover's Lane, or Joan Collins in the horrible early 1970's version of Tales from the Crypt) Casidee Riley not only made her start in So, You've Downloaded a Demon, but has a recurring role on TV's Deadwood. She's the typical story: a pretty young thing moves out to Hollywood to pursue her dreams of becoming an actress. Will she avoid the pitfalls of becoming, GASP!, a Low budget indie horror actress? Will they make her take her top off right before they slash her with a machete? Or will she, like the lucky few, get to act in real movies where she gets to play real people in real situations?...

It's an old clich?; the young starlet travels from her hometown to become an actress in Hollywood. It's a story we've seen played out since the beginning of Hollywood itself. Thousands of women every year come out to gain fame, recognition, and to act, in the glamorous and glitzy world of film.

What inspired you to make the trek out to Los Angeles from Billings, Montana, and make a completely new start as an actress?

I'm the youngest of five kids, so growing up I always had to be twice as loud and outgoing as my siblings to get noticed. I was five when I got my first solo in a Christmas pageant at church. A microphone, a spotlight, and all eyes on me? â€' This Gemini was hooked.

Most actresses, unless they know someone big, get their start in several places; Commercials, Low budget independent films, and Horror Movies. In this case, Casidee used two of the latter; low budget horror film.

I was always a bit of a geek growing up. I stuck pretty close to my dad and brothers and their love of the science fiction genre rubbed off. I have always received my fair share of slack from friends over my love of Star Trek, comics and Xena. The 'horror' genre came to me a little later in life. I was in college when I first watched the Evil Dead movies (loved 'em!). So when Nick first told me about this movie with comedy, demons and a little bit of projectile vomiting I thought it would be a blast â€' and it was.

I met Nick in 1998 when I joined the Venture Theatre Improv Troupe. It was early 2001, I think, when he approached me about So You've Downloaded a Demon. I'd worked on a 30-minute short film earlier that year and had fallen in love with the movie-making process . . . so the chance to be a part of a feature film was very exciting.

But despite the clich? of the naïve young starlet coming out to Hollywood to seek her fortune, and subsequently being ravaged (spiritually, if not physically) by the depravity, fakeness, and general overindulgence that the 'business' inspires, Casidee is not going to stick to weak, secondary characters. She is very much a woman, however, and has some strong opinions on today's roles that chicks get offered in The Biz.

I'm not exactly what you would call a hard-nosed feminist. In fact, I don't know, as I'm much of a feminist at all. I like women characters that kick butt. But, I like women characters that KNOW that they're women...and embrace it (while kicking butt of course)! I think that's what draws me to female characters in comic books â€' they can wear a tight, yet practical outfit (with a fair share of cleavage of course) and still win the day over the villain. And that translates to women in horror films; they can be the heroines without being butch. They can wear combat boots AND a push-up bra.

My all time favorite movie heroine? Sarah Conners. Original? Probably not, but I could watch T2: Judgment Day twice a day any day of the week.

So what's it like, for those who are thinking about making the big leap, to leave the world behind and try to be an actress in Hollywood? Honestly?

I moved here three months ago and began working as background talent in late July. I was cast as a Bella Girl on the third season of the HBO series Deadwood â€' which has been my most regular work thus far. Other than that, just doing the usual grind to find work.

What, if anything, is "wrong" with Hollywood?

It seems half the people here take themselves way too seriously, while the other half don't take things seriously enough.

So, standard horror film fare: tell us something funny about So, You've Downloaded a Demon. Even though you're going to be a real actress, Pretty/Scary will never let you live down the fact that you started out in horror. In fact, this interview will stay online throughout your whole career, embarrassing you, unless aliens come down and take over the internet, making communication between humanity impossible and destroying life as we know it.

Aside from the stray boob that nearly cost me my eye? (Ask me about that one another time) I don't know. I'm bad with the funny stories. I guess what I found terribly funny was our living situation throughout the shoot. As we all know, we were on a bit of a shoestring budget for SYDD, so a good share of the crew became one big happy family under the Capetenakis roof. Now I loved it . . . except for one tiny problem â€' every single one of us was allergic to the Capetenakis cat. Our director, script supervisor, DP/editor, 2nd Cameraman and I spent an entire month hopped up on Tavist D. It was like a crack house (without the crack, of course)!you could find little packets of Tavist strewn all over...I'm sure if you look real closely at any of the shots filmed at the house, you'll be able to see little shiny silver squares somewhere.

What happens if things don't go your way? Will you shack up with an old man like that guy in Sunset Blvd did, except that he shacked up with a woman? And the woman was crazy?

I'm here for the long haul, baby. Despite what everyone back home told me before I moved out here, I like L.A. Don't get me wrong, Montana will always be home, but in ten years I will be here, paying the bills working in this industry.

Visit Casidee at her website Casidee.com and visit the Official Website for So, You've Downloaded a Demon