Barbara Crampton is returning to the surrealhorrorworld she does so well inThe Blue Diamond. Crampton is one of the most iconic names in the horror genre after making her breakout debut in Brian de Palma’sBody Double, with some of her most notable projects being in such H.P. Lovecraft adaptations asRe-Animator,From BeyondandSuitable Flesh, as well asacclaimed indie hitsYou’re Next, We Are Still HereandJakob’s Wife, among others. The star has also found frequent success in the soap opera genre, starring inDays of Our Lives,The Young and the RestlessandGuiding Light, among others.
Crampton stars inThe Blue Diamondas Jacqueline Diamond, the founder and CEO of a lifestyle brand largely inspired by skiing and snowing, having amassed a dedicated following through her company. The short film primarily centers on Jacqueline’s estranged daughter, Alison, who reluctantly comes back home upon learning of her mother’s death and holds a funeral and wake, which is attended by some of her mom’s followers. As Alison tries to grapple with her conflicted feelings about her late mother, Jacqueline’s followers not only further challenge her process, but also raise questions of whether her mother is even really dead.
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Alongside Crampton, the cast forThe Blue Diamondincludes Desiree Staples as Alison, Elias Alexandro, Emily Ashby,Stream’s Jadon Cal, Ethan Daniel Corbett, Gillian Jackson Han and Meredith Kirkman. Hailing from co-writer/director Sam Fox, the short is not only perfect forfans of Lovecraftian storytelling, but also absurd dysfunctional family comedies, currently making its way through the indie film festival circuit in time of the Halloween season.
In honor of its festival run,Screen Rantinterviewed Barbara Crampton to discussThe Blue Diamond, why she was intrigued by the bold indie horror short, the joy of supporting up-and-coming filmmakers like Fox, her surprising involvement in part of the short’s special effects, as well as her reunion with Jeffrey Combs forHysteria!, how their cameo may be expanded if a second season and her thoughts on a potentialOnyx the Fortuitous and the Talisman of Soulssequel.
Crampton Was Suggested To Fox By Someone (Even Though The Filmmaker Didn’t Know Her)
“…but as soon as we met, we completely clicked immediately…”
Screen Rant: Always good to see you, Barbara, and I love that we’re talking in the Halloween season, by the way, it’s just perfect timing.The Blue Diamond, I loved it from start to finish. I can’t wait to see what Sam does as a director when she jumps into the feature-length sphere. How did you come to be a part of it?
Barbara Crampton: I think I was suggested to Sam by somebody, and I actually don’t know if she knew who I was at the time, because she’s in a different world. [Laughs] I mean, she does these comedy-horror things, but I’m not sure if she really knew. And you’ll have to ask her. I’m not sure who recommended me, but as soon as we met, we completely clicked immediately, and I saw her other short, F—-ng Nuts, and I was like, “That is so creative, so cool, and has such a strong visual image to it that, and it was just so tongue in cheek and funny.”
I said, “I really want to work with this gal.” And for a long time, I’ve felt like I wanted to do more comedy, but I guess people don’t really see me that way. So, I was able to do this with her. And I’ve done a couple of other shorts recently that have had that leaning towards comedy. So, maybe this will open up a whole new world for me.
More people should be able to see the comedy you’re able to bring. I mean betweenOnyx, this,Jakob’s Wife,even, you’ve got the comedy bug in you!
Barbara Crampton: I kind of do. And I did another short recently called, Roger is a Serial Killer, that’s also on the film fest tour, and that’s also a comedy. So I’m like, “Okay, maybe something’s happening here.” And then Brea Grant did one, too, called MLM. I don’t know if you saw that one. She’s also very funny all the time, Brea, her stuff always has a little comedic bend to it.
Another thing I couldn’t help when watching this was to have flashbacks toBeyond the Gateswith that sort of in-universe video that adds to the surreal atmosphere. Did you have that at all while working on this?
Barbara Crampton: I didn’t even think about it at all, but now that you say it, yeah, I totally get that. I totally get that. It’s very similar, yes.
Crampton’s Character Was Partially Inspired By Fox’s Own Father
“…you always have this hope that a relationship that’s not good with somebody that’s in your family is going to mend…”
Looking at working onThe Blue Diamond, I love that you and Sam immediately clicked. I’d love to hear how you two developed the character of Jacqueline together?
Barbara Crampton: Well, I don’t know if you know this, but it’s based on her relationship with her father, actually. He passed away, I believe — and I don’t think it’s a secret — he was somewhat of a narcissist, and this was her way of getting it out of her system, working on this short sort of just working out her demons. So, she just started telling me all about her relationship with her dad, and how meaningful that was, and how impactful that was.
Then I just discussed it with her and just tried to put my own spin on what it was for me, being somebody who’s all controlling and all consuming. And then, there’s one part of the short where — we both talked about this, you always have this hope that a relationship that’s not good with somebody that’s in your family is going to mend and is going to be better. So, there’s a moment when I come down the stairs and I see my daughter for the first time, and I was like, “I think I have to play this like this could be it. This could be her moment where she finally gets what she wants all of her life, but guess what? No, she doesn’t.”
So, we talked about having that element in it, too. We’ve all had [those] relationships. I’ve had relationships with people in my life where I just feel like, “Oh, could we heal this? Could this be better?” And then it just doesn’t get better.
Staples Really Helped Crampton Realize How Funny The Short Was
“…she just knows where the joke is…”
I do love the confrontation between Jacqueline and Alison near the end, so I’d love to hear about getting to work with Desiree and, even if it is only a brief scene, finding that dynamic with each other.
Barbara Crampton: Oh, completely. We really worked on it a lot, and she’s a comedy genius in reading the material. When I read it, I didn’t think to myself, “Oh, this is laugh-out-loud, funny hahahaha.” I could see where the humor was, and I could see where the bigness was. Sam likes her stuff to be big, but I wasn’t thinking, “Oh ha ha, this was funny,” until I was with her. But then, I saw the whole short and the things that I wasn’t in, and I’m like, “That girl is amazing.” Her timing is great, she just knows where the joke is, and I just think she’s so talented. So, it was such a pleasure, we just had the best time working together, all of us.
Jacqueline’s Look Came From Fox Wanting To “Swing Big”
“…she just wanted my look to be wild and a lot of makeup…”
So in talking about how Sam likes to go big, I’d love to hear about Jacqueline’s look, as it is a very striking, very specific look.
Barbara Crampton: Yeah, she knew somebody, or she met somebody, at Sundance who was kind of a clothing designer of fashion wear for skiing. She talked to the woman, and she said, “I need this for this character,” and she’s like," I got you. I’m going to help you out, blah, blah, blah." So, they kind of created the costume together. She’s very hands-on with production design and with costumes. They call it The Blue Diamond, I guess, because The Blue Diamond is a type of ski run. It’s an easy ski run, actually, to go down the Black Diamond, Blue Diamond.
So, I think that’s where she got that from, so she wanted an emblem of a blue diamond on my belt, and she just wanted my look to be wild and a lot of makeup, and just really done up and kind of full of herself. So, between the costume designer and the makeup artist and herself and me, we all came up with this look. I think Sam isn’t afraid to swing big, and a lot of people swing big, and they really miss, but I think she swings big and she nails it.
“…I have a little expertise in that.”
So, I don’t want to go into spoilers per se, even though it is a short, but there are special effects that get involved towards the end of the short with your character. I’d love to hear about being involved on that side of things.
Barbara Crampton: Yes, I think it’s okay for the spoilers. We had tentacles and that’s very Lovecraftian. So, they had somebody on the set with the tentacles, and they had this, I forget what it’s called, thin wire that you use that’s kind of invisible to pull it along. We were all trying to figure out how best to pull it and adjust it so that it really looks like it was wrapping around her. At one point, it wasn’t working, and I said, “I’m right here and my arm is around her. Let me grab the line, and I’ll pull it as we’re talking.” So I helped with the special effects of the tentacle, I have a little expertise in that. [Chuckles]
Crampton Loves Using Her Career To “Lift Up New Filmmakers”
“…I feel very lucky that I was able to work with them, and I want to shine the light on them.”
What are you most looking forward to people taking away from this short, whether it be seeing Sam, whether it’s Desiree, or the whole product?
Barbara Crampton: I’ve been in this business for 40 years, and my whole vibe is that I want to lift up new filmmakers and other people that I work with. Everything’s a collaboration, and it takes so many people to make something as good as it is. So, I really give it up to Sam and to Desiree, because they’re really best friends, and they work very closely together. I just think they’re spectacular, so I feel very lucky that I was able to work with them and I want to shine the light on them.
Crampton & Jeffrey Combs’Hysteria!Cameo May Just Be The Start Of Their Roles
“Julie Bowen’s amazing, Anna Camp’s fantastic, and the kids are great.”
Before I let you go, I had a few questions aside from the short.I did recently watchHysteria!as well, the first six episodes, and I am 99% sure that was you with Jeffrey Combs. Am I wrong?
Barbara Crampton: Yes! Did they tell you that or did they let people see for themselves?
No, I did the junket for it, so I got to watch the first six episodes and I immediately was like, “Hey!”
Barbara Crampton: I know Matthew, the showrunner, you probably were on with Matthew. He told me that people asked about me. I don’t know if they have announced that Jeffrey and I are in the show, but they said, closer to whenever you guys are able to release things, you’re able to talk about it and whatever. I have a podcast, so I had ‘em on my podcast, too, to talk about it. That kind of just came out of the blue. I met Matthew at a mutual friend’s party and we just started talking.
This was a couple of years ago, and it was kind of right at the end of COVID, and I said, “Oh, who are you? What do you do?” And he said, “Oh, I have this show that we shot a few episodes for, and we had to shut down because of COVID, and I don’t know if we’re going to pick it back up or not.” And I was like, “Oh my God, that’s terrible.” That’s what happened to a lot of people. Then, when the show was able to resume, he reached out to me personally, and he said, “Listen, I have a flashback episode, and I’d really like you to play Anna Camp’s mother. I think you guys kind of look alike anyway, and I think it would be really cool to have you, and maybe Jeffrey would do it too, and bring you both back together.” And I’m like, “That sounds awesome to me.”
So, I read the material, and I was like, “This is so cool.” I read the first five episodes, and we’re in episode five, and I loved it, and I said, “Sign me up.” So that’s what we did. And if they get a second season, they’ve sort of intimated to us that they would bring us both back. So, fingers crossed. Julie Bowen’s amazing, Anna Camp’s fantastic, and the kids are great. you may never go wrong with Bruce. And I’ve become really friendly with some of the young people. And yeah, Anna Lore’s been over to my house now, and she plays my daughter in that episode, she plays Anna Camp’s younger herself. Yeah, I just think they’re a great bunch.
Crampton “Would Love” For AnOnyx The FortuitousSequel To Get Made
“It was so hard for Andrew to get that off the ground…”
My final question, before I let you go,I mentionedOnyx the Fortuitousnot too long ago. We talked for that last, I love that movie so much, I even rewatched it recently. Have you heard anything about possibly of a sequel, because they left it pretty wide open?
Barbara Crampton: Oh gosh. It was so hard for Andrew to get that off the ground, he did a Kickstarter. I would love that, it would be so much fun. I loved working with him. I don’t know, it was such an undertaking, and he’s still giving away prizes for people that contributed to the Kickstarter, so I don’t know how he feels about continuing that. I actually haven’t talked to him about it. They did leave it open, and he loves that character, and he’s so good at it. Who knows? Maybe, I don’t know. Yeah, I love that movie. It’s so funny.
AboutThe Blue Diamond
A young woman named Alison returns to her childhood home after her mother’s death, hosting the funeral in spite of still holding resentment about their lack of a relationship. When the followers of The Blue Diamond, the lifestyle program founded by her mother that invites people to adhere to a skiing-type mentality, attend the funeral and wake, Alison finds her sanity slowly beginning to crack.
The Blue Diamondis currently performing on the fall film festival circuit.
