Exclusive: Ted Atherton Explains the Pathology of Beauty in RABID – Dread Central

Exclusive: Ted Atherton Explains the Pathology of Beauty in RABID

To my fellow entertainment journalists and bloggers, take this advice: Dont let the ink dry on your Best Horror Movies of 2019 lists until youve seenRabid, the remake of David Cronenbergs seminal body horror classic remade by Jen and Sylvia Soska (aka The Twisted Twins). Its not only the first (and so far only) remake of a Cronenberg movie, its a gruesome and engaging romp that will leave moviegoers rapt and devastated.

Rabidarrives in US theaters and VOD this Friday, December 13th. Give the trailer a spin at the top of the article and peep the synopsis below.

Synopsis:Horribly disfigured after a freak accident, doctors perform a radical medical procedure on an aspiring young fashion designer. But when the bandages come off, the side effects soon cause her to develop an insatiable appetite for human blood.

Related Article: EXCLUSIVE: TRISTAN RISK PROMISES HER CHARACTER IN RABID WILL CAUSE SLEEPLESS NIGHTS

Yesterday, we shared an interview with the incomparable, multi-talented Tristan Risk, who explained what makes Rabid truly Canadian, and promising one of her three roles will lead to sleepless nights for many! Today, we continue our Week of Rabid with an interview with Ted Atherton. Atherton plays Dr. William Burroughs (a nod to the American Beat Poet of the same nameand Cronenbergs adaptation of Naked Lunch). Give it a read below.

Dread Central: Lets talk about the preparations you made for playing this character, Dr. William Burroughs, in Rabid. Did you look into the current state of human cloning and transhumanism in science?

Ted Atherton: Yeah, the Soskas sent a number of research bits regarding that, that were really wild about that particular sort of rabbit hole, and then I pulled it down on the internet a little bit. Although, what I really found kind of interesting about the movie, like all good horror movies, its about some deep, dark truth about the human psyche and Rabid has it. And I also watched the original Cronenberg movie and in this re-imagining, as conceived by the Soska sisters, this cultural obsession with a certain standard of beauty leads to a kind of pathologization of anything that falls short of that standard, do you know what I mean? As if to not be beautiful or fit means youre in need of a cure. And I found that particularly interesting from the character I was playing, Dr. William Burroughs, (with that nod to Cronenbergs obsession with William Burroughs of Naked Lunch fame).

The fact that Laura Vanderboots character Rose works for a fashion designer (really played beautifully in a darkly comic way by my friend Mackenzie Gray, whose new line is called Schadenfreude, the German word for the dark pleasure we take in anothers misfortune) really dramatizes the moral sickness at the heart of this obsession with physical beauty, particularly physical beauty thats competitive. And Rose is not a model but shes not ugly; shes average looking, or as average looking that hair and makeup can make you when youre starting with Laura Vanderboot! But average isnt good enough and it actually holds Rose back in events in her career. When this horrific traffic accident that drives Laura Vanderboots character into the hands of Dr. William Burroughs, its seen as a kind of good fortune because it provides the occasion for a complete physical transformationa cure for the sickness of her mediocre looks and the cost, of course. becomes a growing and unknowing hunger, a special diet.

She gets transformed from a human being, a member of society, with all the connections of human society, into this solitary predator. Thats what I found most interesting. Dr. Burroughs, he comes across as very kind, sort of paternalistic, that was a kind of a father figure. And Rose is ultimately his creation, his child in a way. But what hes transforming her into this child thats going to have no connection with anything else in the world, because anyone that gets anywhere near her, who comes close enough to care about her, shes going to destroy and turn into that same kind of lone predator.

Related Article:INTERVIEW: JEN AND SYLVIA SOSKA TALK RABID, DAVID CRONENBERG, AND TRANSHUMANISM

DC: Youve done a lot of sci-fi and drama but is it safe to say that Rabid is the most gruesome, brutal movie youve been in?

TA: Oh my god, absolutely. Ive seen all of those prosthetics and practical effects close up and I have to tell you, were absolutely disgusting.

Are you excited to check outRabidthis weekend? What do you think of our exclusive interview with Tristan Risk? Let us know in the comments below or onFacebook,Twitter, orInstagram! You can also carry on the convo with me personally on Twitter@josh_millican.

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Exclusive: Ted Atherton Explains the Pathology of Beauty in RABID - Dread Central