I sat down for an interview with actress Carly Turro to talk about her on the zomcom series “Bunkheads” which is now streaming on Amazon Prime. She also discussed her role in the Golden Globe-winning series “Homeland” and Blood Puppet! Christmas ’94, a new horror comedy headed your way later this year.
Horror Fuel: “Tell us about you, what made you want to get into acting?”
Carly Turro: “It took me a little while to figure it out. I was originally studying biology in college and thought that I wanted to go into some kind of science as a career or research, then I thought maybe med school until I made a switch into acting. I figured out that I wasn’t going to be happy or have a long sustainable career in something like medicine. It wasn’t the right fit for me. I had to go back to the drawing board and figure out what it was I wanted to do. I had done musical theater in high school. I had always been in the arts but never thought of it as a career. It once I ruled out all the sciences that I thought about taking an acting class. Clearly, it didn’t stay just a hobby. One class led to another and another. I realized it was something that I really wanted to do.”
Horror Fuel: “It’s fantastic that you found your passion.”
Carly Turro: “Thank you, it’s been quite the journey.”
Horror Fuel: “I imagine. What’s it like to be a woman in Hollywood these days?”
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Carly Turro: “That’s a big question. I mean, I feel lucky to be building my career at this moment in time, when there’s so much more conversation about pay equality and boundaries, professionally speaking. People are speaking up about issues. It was accepted that if you are a woman in this industry, you’re going to get hit on, people are going to cross lines. That was the norm. Right now it’s exciting for me to be making my way because I feel like we are heading in the right direction as far as women getting treated equally and paid equally. I’m fortunate where I have so far had a welcoming environment where I am being treated as an equal. I’ve had really lovely collaborators and I feel really grateful for a lot of the production, Bunkheads included. It’s been super professional. Everything thus far has been really great. As a conversation, we’re heading in the right direction that feels long overdue.”
Horror Fuel: “I’m so happy to hear that. I wish that every woman’s experiences could be that positive, unfortunately, that’s not always the case. Sadly I ‘ve heard a lot of heartbreaking stories.”
Carly Turro: “I’ve heard friends share stories and there is a lot on the news. My experience has been very positive, but I know not everyone’s is.”
Horror Fuel: “I truly hope that it continues to a positive experience for you.
On a lighter note, congratulations on your series Bunkheads. Will you tell us a bit about it?”
Carly Turro: “Yeah, Bunkheads is best described as a zombie apocalypse sitcom. We are available on Amazon Prime. It’s a digital series with six episodes. It follows four strangers who met each other when they found an underground bunker. They are taking refuge as the zombie apocalypse rages above them. The series picks up one year into the zombie apocalypse. They are essentially driving each other crazy. They are strangers and they don’t necessarily get along, but they are trying to make it work for survival. They are stuck in this bunker essentially 24 hours a day.”
Horror Fuel: “That would drive anyone crazy.”
Carly Turro: “Yeah. Take any bad roommate situation that you’ve ever experienced and turn it up to 11. You have all of these emotions about what is happening, you’re thinking about your family members and your friends and if they’re going to survive and you’re stuck with these random people in an underground bunker, eating canned food and only listening to the music you found inside. There’s no connection to the outside world. ”
Horror Fuel: “What has been your favorite scene or episode to date?”
Carly Turro: “I’ve got a couple of favorites. Personally, a scene I really enjoyed comes in episode 2 where my character Dani kicks out the boys and sends them above ground with their weapons of choice to defend themselves, basically demanding some private time. The boys are all, in various degrees, are interested in Dani so there’s a dynamic happening. One character has a huge crush on her. She finally demands space to herself, kicks the boys out, and when they can’t quite behave themselves she finally lays down the law. They want to know if they – this is not so hypothetical – if they were the last people on earth who would Dani choose to maybe sleep with and repopulate the earth. She really puts them in their place and gives them the answer which she has rationally thought out from a very scientific perspective. That was really fun to shoot because my character Dani really takes control and puts the boys in their place.
My other favorite episode might be episode 5 where we get a glimpse into the dream world of the characters. That introduces their life before the zombie apocalypse. It was fun to see a glimpse of what they were doing before they got stuck in this underground bunker. There are also some really funny dream sequences where people turn into zombies, and there’s a rock video. It’s a really funny world of imagination.”
Horror Fuel: “I do like the second episode. What’s your favorite aspect of your character Dani?”
Carly Turro: “I think it’s her determination. Once she sets her mind to something she’s optimistic and gives it her all. She’s spunky and determined and that was fun for me to play as an actor.”
Horror Fuel: “That’s awesome.
Do you know if there is going to be a second season?”
Carly Turro: “We hope so, I know our writer Will Gong has talked about where he sees season two going. He’s got some really fun ideas. I think we’d see a little bit of the world outside the bunker in season two which would be really great to explore. Hopefully yes, if everything falls into place, we can shoot season two. ”
Horror Fuel: “Before Bunkheads you were in Homeland. What was that like?”
Carly Turro: “Homeland was amazing. I had recently moved to Los Angeles when I got a call from the agent I had been working with in New York that I had an appointment to audition for Homeland. I was like, ‘Okay, cool.” I didn’t know that was even a possibility at that time. I just so happen to be flying back to New York for the Christmas holidays to see family, so I already had a plane ticket booked and ready to go. The audition for Homeland happened to be the day after I flew home. It was amazing how the stars aligned for this audition. I was able to go in and audition and got the role. There was no callback. With the holiday schedule, everything moved rather quickly. I got a really good Christmas present that year by booking Homeland. I flew back to LA because I was filming a movie, a couple of days after that I flew back to New York to shoot Homeland. Everyone on that production was super lovely and professional. It was a fun day on set. That was a crazy couple of weeks career-wise, but it was wonderful.”
Horror Fuel: “Wow, that was a busy time. Speaking of filming, you have a movie about to come out, Blood Puppet.”
Carly Turro: “Yeah. The title is Blood Puppet! Christmas ’94. It cracks me up every time I tell someone. As you might guess from the title, it’s a very fun horror comedy. It’s a little tongue and cheek. That should be hitting the festival circuit later this year.”
Horror Fuel: “That title reeks of dark comedy. Who is your character?”
Carly Turro: “I play Katie, one of a group of friends who are spending the weekend in Joshua Tree. It’s Halloween and a group of friends from high school are having a little mini-reunion. They haven’t gotten together in a while. There’s missed love connections and old grudges. They get to this house in the desert and one by one they start to die. Someone is picking them off one by one and everyone has their own theory about who is doing it. Is it a monster? Is it the creepy guy they saw at the gas station? Is it a ghost? Everyone has their theory. I don’t want to give away to much, but more than one person turns out to be correct.”
Horror Fuel: “It sounds like a fun flick.”
Carly Turro: “It is fun. There’s was a great group of people on set. Everybody took it really seriously but had a lot of fun with it. It has a really great ode to different horror tropes scattered throughout.”
Horror Fuel: “I look forward to seeing you in action in Blood Puppet! Christmas ’94.”
Carly, who has a knack for comedy, has several projects coming up. To stay up to date be sure to follow Carly on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram as well on her official website.
