Actress/director
Helene Udy is best known for her role on Dr. Quinn: Medicine Woman
working alongside Jane Seymour in a reoccurring role as Myra, a
prostitute with a heart of gold. Her work in the horror industry on
films like The Dead Zone, My Bloody Valentine, and The Incubus gained
her the ranking of the #30 horror actor out of a list of 200 on
www.http://toptenreviews.com. She also had a rather dark starring
role in the film, Katie Bird Certifiable Crazy Person. Fans of soap
operas might recognize her from her work on As the World Turns back
in 1983. To fans of the Star Trek franchise she is also known for her
role as Pel on Star Trek: Deep Space Nine in the episode, Rules of
Acquisition. Helene also works behind the lens as a director. She
directed Nowhere Land and Naked in the Cold Sun and won a Hollywood
Fringe Festival Award for her work directing the play, Rehab! The
musical. Udy produced the documentary, 3 Billion and counting as
well, which is expected to hit theatres sometime this year.
We caught up with
her recently and managed to grab her for a chat.
A writer named
Helene Holden wrote a play for our school when I was a child and cast
me in the lead part of the Princess. It was a magical experience.
Previous to that I had tired ballet, but despite my tiny stature was
pushed to the back of the class due to a complete lack of talent. So
that was out. Later in high school my girlfriend Marla Neftin and I
took up the guitar. Marla was five times better than me in half the
time. Acting was the only thing that stuck.
2. Your father
was a city planner, professor, artist, and musician. Do you think his
creativity was a major influence to your own?
My father was a
constant source of inspiration. He would read us poetry and
introduced us to classical, jazz and Frank Zappa. He played the
double bass, he painted. He was incredibly inventive and under his
guidance, creative thinking and doing was something to be admired and
cherished. My Dad chose and coached the two monologues that got me
into theatre school. I was fifteen and about 4 foot ten at the time.
He chose Lady M and Lady Bracknell for me. Needless to say my
performance was memorable and I was the youngest child at that time
to get into that particular program.
3. What was
your mother like? Did they encourage from early on to always pursuing
your passions?
My mother was a
task master in a lot of ways. She expected the most of me. She kind
of scared me a bit. She was the disciplinarian. I can’t say she was
a lot of fun. But she was willing to be disliked to get the most out
of me and show me my potential. I needed both parents to succeed. I
do admire my mom’s courage in many ways. Without discipline, very
little is possible. Great choices are not always the easiest choice.
You have to have stamina to get through. I thank my mom for that.
No. I was really
determined to get and to do a great job with my first acting role. I
saw everything as an opportunity to make art. Or to communicate. I
have always seen even the worst sorry whether on screen or on stage
as an opportunity to elevate and illuminate either myself, or the
person watching. I still constantly look for ways to find the
greatest purpose for any project, large or small. And by that. To
stay as inspired as possible. I was so excited. My first day on any
acting job was actually as an extra on a movie that was shooting in
Montreal, starring Vince van Patten and Claire Pimpare about a hockey
player. A group of “extras” including myself were told to run to
the gate of the college and try to get in, or out, (can’t
remember). I ran and I believed it as hard as possible, is the only
way I can describe it. It was completely exhilarating. It was not the
best movie, but I felt in that moment that it was, extremely
important. And that thought elevated me into the moment completely.
5. How do you
think the acting world has changed most since you started your
career? How would you most like to see it change in the future?
I grew up with
movies that were character and story driven. Movies that I will
always cherish. Birdy, Gallipoli, Butch Cassidy and the Sundance kid,
American Graffiti, Annie Hall, Being There, The Godfather, and Last
Tango in Paris. The stories were about people and their relationship
to each other and the world. These were the movies that moved me. But
cinema is doing many different things, serving many different
functions all over the world; the beauty of it now is that I can
enjoy the story telling of such a variety of filmmakers now, not just
the American blockbusters. Pedro Almodovar is among my favourite
story tellers at the moment. Exposure to different cultures and
different modes of thinking is so pleasantly available. Inspiration
is everywhere. I would like someone to give me all I need to make my
own movie, and do a great job with it. Is that in my future? Hah.
Other than that, I feel we are headed in all the right, many and
varied directions that this new interconnected interrelated world
deserves. I have my preferred interests, but there is something for
everyone.
It appeals to all
my senses and all my personal age groups. I’m fascinated with the
unknown, and what’s out there. It shows human potential at its
best. These are good men and woman and on a journey of friendship and
exploration not decimation. So that’s a hopeful depiction of
humanity. The Trouble with Tribbles is such a fun episode. I have
seen it 10 times and could see it ten more. It is only now clear to
me William Shatner’s ability to self-parody and to be amusing, that
his huge personality, and willingness to wear black stretch flood
pants as if it was an invincible suit of armour truly sustained and
elevated the show. I identify with his commitment to possibility.
Maybe he did not even know consciously then, what he has mastered as
a personal art form now. But ultimately it is still the most fabulous
exploration of kitsch, and fun and who can resist any tale where
everything always works out for the best in the end?
7. What was
your role like as Pel on Deep Space Nine? Did you enjoy playing such
a character?
Pel was a very
determined young woman who was trying to change the role of females
within her species. She had tremendous courage and tremendous honour.
And she was a boundary breaker. The character was an absolute honour
to play because the character’s soul was so full of honour.
8. What is your
fondest memory from the set?
We had the hardest
time with the kiss, because the dentures were modelled very carefully
after Piranha teeth. And they were extremely sharp. We had a few
painful encounters. But Armin was such a lovely and welcoming guy.
And very funny. He had great comic timing. We got over it.
9. How did you
prepare for your role as a Ferengi? Did you know anything about the
characters before you landed the job? How did you research the role?
The character
started with the voice for me. Once I found the voice, I found the
character. I loved the characters courage. That was my grounding
post. I did not actually study too much on Ferengis except with the
information I was given. I am glad of this. It allowed me to look at
the needs of the script and the story and form the character form
there, as opposed to getting caught up in what the producers might
expect, and getting lost in that vortex of people pleasing. The need
to please can often kill the ability to venture out. It is always
best for me, to come from my own heart and hope for the best.
10. What is it
like to have to be in makeup for four hours? Did make you feel a
little more comfortable to be in your own skin and not have to bother
with so made up?
The most
unfortunate thing about doing this show was my discovery that I was
dangerously claustrophobic. This uncontrollable need to tear my face
off as the day wore on almost overcame me one very long 14 hour day.
In my delusion, I called my then boyfriend and told him that I was
very close to pulling my face off. Lucky for me, we lived 5 minutes
from the set and he appeared immediately to make sure I did nothing
stupid. But I do think the producer was aware that I was losing my
mind. Apparently after my stint on the show, they put a huge warning
that no-one with claustrophobia should audition for the show. Kind of
a pity. Pel had the potential to recur, but they knew in that first
episode that my claustrophobia would make that unlikely.
11. What are
your feelings on aliens in general? Do you believe in life on other
planets?
I am not obsessed
with thinking about it, but it seems unlikely that we are the only
living form in the whole universe. Sometimes I find the behaviour of
certain factions of humanity so inhuman, it does make me wonder if
aliens walk among us even now. I try not to think too much about the
un-humans I have met here on earth. As none of them are particularly
nice. But perhaps there are folks I have met that give me the sense
that they are a greater and better breed of human. So maybe aliens
good and bad exist here already, at least metaphorically. I’m happy
to see it that way.
I feel that
thoughts are energy in as much as we are made up mostly of water and
may arguably therefore manifest some form of electric something. I’m
a plebe. I don’t have the language for such things. But if backed
against a wall, I would have to admit I have a vague unformed,
uncertain feeling that more is happening than the human eye can see
or science can necessarily prove. My dog is barking at the air quite
deliberately as we speak. There is nothing there. Who can explain
this? But she is taken with something.
13. Have you
found faith is a helpful virtue to possess in your career and life in
general?
I think having a
dream and trusting your instincts keeps you on the path of
possibility much more effectively than wandering around life without
a reason. I believe in virtue. I have no proof that being bad is
better than being good. Sometimes it appears to me that virtue is
always overcome by darkness. But maybe it is that I naturally resist
darkness as it seems endless and formless and ultimately useless for
anything other than to produce nightmares. As maudlin as it may
sound, I definitely prefer to stand firmly in virtue where light, as
it were, is most likely to appear.
14. You have
said your role as Myra has been your favourite so far. What did you
enjoy most about playing her?
Oh Gosh. I truly
loved Myra. Myra was a better person than I can possible ever expect
to be. But she made me a better person. She was courageous, sweet,
and extremely naïve. But how wonderful to be so naïve and believe
so much that change is possible. And she was funny. Myra was a very
funny person. I’m not sure she knew it. But it was lovely to
inhabit her for a time.
Dedication and
tirelessness are what I learned from Jane. She was in almost every
scene, working 12 hours a day 5 days a week with a very short break
in between. She never complained about the work, and she was always
available and very kind to the fans that appeared on set. She made
the connection that it was these devoted people that continued to
fuel interest in the show, and in her. She did not get where she is,
and remain relevant, by accident. She has maintained her career
through tremendous devotion, determination and hard work. It’s
exhausting just thinking about all she manifests through her guided
actions, and her perseverance. She’s a very dynamic and admirable
personality in that way.
16. How did it
feel to win the Hollywood Fringe Festival for your work on Rehab! Can
you tell those not familiar with it a little about it?
Rehab! The musical
was written by a friend form high school. I grew up watching his
talent grow and bloom and then watched as life side tracked him and
he had to focus on a making a living and taking care of his family.
It was such a pleasure to participate in the fuelling of his creative
revival. Such a fantastically talented guy. He is, and always has
been, talented right through and down to his very toes because the
production itself was so fraught with misery and difficulty in more
ways than I have time to explain. But I was determined for Patrick’s
sake, to see it through. Winning the Hollywood Fringe festival for
best Musical was such a shocking surprise to us both; it was so much
more than we had expected. There is nothing like a small miracle to
make one feel that indeed, anything is truly possible. I think
Patrick is a creative Monster now. There’s no stopping him. That is
how it should be.
17. How does
stage work differ most from film work?
Repetition,
repetition, repetition... ha. With stage you discover, you question,
you doubt, you forget, you rediscover, you try desperately to hang
onto what’s working and then it morphs on you again. Then the
audience gives you instant feedback for better or worse. Theatre
produces a very visceral interaction between the audience and the
performers. Theatre frightens me far more than film does. I would say
theatre, in more ways than one is the ultimate endurance test
I prefer acting to
anything. But I can’t seem to stop producing. If I see something
that speaks to me, I have to find a way to get it done in whatever
capacity. It’s like a duty. Kind of horrible. It has gotten me in a
lot of tough spots. But it’s usually worth it
19. Do you feel
lucky to be able to work in a field that offers people a much need
little bit of escapism?
That’s funny. I
see it more as human communion. We’re all together in the dark.
20. Katie Bird
left an impression on you as well, why do you think that was?
Katie Bird was an
absolute torturous character to play. And the director was a complete
maniac. I underestimated him. He is a complete genius and the film
itself makes that plainly clear. Sometimes you have to go through
hell, to explain hell. That’s what playing the character of Katie
Bird was like. And as art would have it, I was dating a truly
horrible person at the time. A horribly sort of mind bending guy. I
have to think him for the inspiration he provided. Completely
coincidental though his presence in my life, at that time, may appear
to be.
21. What are
your feelings on how the world views mental illness in our time? Do
you feel people are viewed unjustly for such things?
I feel there are
many and varying levels of truth and that truth is relative. It is
hard to say what motivates a soul. But no-one walks around this
world, thinking they are nuts, or evil. They are generally projected
into action through a sense of their own weird truth. I like to
believe that the truth of any matter eventually rises to the surface.
Sometimes, it does appear that crazy folks are just highly motivated
truth seekers it’s true. But some are just plain nuts.
22. How do you
hope to be remembered when your time comes?
As having made a
difference and moved humanity forward towards a better way of being.
Isn’t that so with all of us? I think we all innately want to help.
It’s the question of what’s helpful that we sometimes differ in.
23. What do you
think you would be doing if you hadn't chosen this line of work?
I’d be a news
reporter or a marine biologist or maybe I’d head up an orphanage in
Africa. Hey, there’s still time. You never know…
24. What are
you working on at the moment?
I'm working on a
horror movie about what it is to be human. No really. Funny huh? I
just noticed that now.
Helene, it has
been a pleasure speaking with you. Many thanks
