An Interview with Anastasia Elfman – Screen Actress, Dancer, Choreographer

Posted on by Grimoire of Horror

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Raised in Laguna Beach, California, Anastasia Elfman is a stage and screen actress, dancer, choreographer, burlesque artist, as well as make-up/sfx artist, and producer known for her work in such titles as Brides of Satan (2023), Bloody Bridget (2024), and the horror anthology Shevenge (2019). Now residing in the Hollywood Hills with her husband, Richard Elfman, the pair now collaborate on music/dance projects with their band Mambo Diabolico in addition to the pair’s cinematic work. We were lucky enough to get the chance to chat with Anastasia about her work as an actress in film, check out the interview below.

1. Anastasia, how is Bloody Bridget doing on the festival circuit?

Incredible! We’ve created vaudeville/roadshow experience at our screenings that have been a huge hit.  We’ve been Dark Bridges in Canada to Fantaspoa in southern Brazil—and everywhere in between.

Festivals fly Richard and I out and we produce a wild live pre- show performance. Richard uses local talents to create a band to open our screening and I do an insane bloody burlesque where I literally rip the beating heart out of an audience member just before the film starts. Fans have been losing their heads (and hearts) over how fun and immersive our events are! 

 

2. Could you tell us how the film came about?

During the COVID lockdown Richard started writing more scripts, including Bloody Bridget. He’s a professional Latin percussionist and knew a lot about Haitian folklore and voodoo deities—each has there own rhythm. Hence the foundation for our film, Baron Samedi and his wife Bridget, the only red head in Haitian folklore!

3. Any favorite horror film directors? 

Horror is my favorite genre, so where do I even begin?! For me horror started very early in life with seeing Lon Chaney Sr 1925 Phantom of The Opera, in which he directed his iconic scenes.

I’m also very inspired and moved by Tod Browning (1927 The Unknown), John Carpenter (1982 The Thing), Robert Zemeckis (1992 Death Becomes Her), James Whale (1933 The Invisible Man), Joe Dante (1984 Gremlins), Tim Burton (1988 Beetlejuice) and of course my husband Richard Elfman!

4. How did you get interested in horror films?

I had a very odd upbringing. Both parents were career Marines turned (semi) hippies. Growing up I wasn’t allow to play video games and instead (along with Young Marines every weekend) I was immersed in cinema, performance, sports, cello and classical ballet since 3 years old. While I wouldn’t change anything about my immense exposure to iconic cinema or growing up in the theater it did alienate me a great deal from my peers. Feelings as the outsider film freak helped me gravitate towards horror, but horror has also just always been a part of my life and one of my deepest loves.

5. You also do burlesque. How did you get interested in this? 

I personally don’t consider my performances “burlesque,” in the classic sense, though I do call it that as a generic term so audiences know there will be some nuances of nudity (though it’s mostly smoke & mirrors—you’d see as much skin at the beach). I’m a professional and classically trained dancer. My numbers bend more into the dark and horrific surreal with a pinch of comedy and are heavily choreographed. I like to tease that I’m no Dita Von Tease, where she looks absolutely stunning in each and every photo she has from her shows. I in turn end up resembling a goblin. Thus I usually frown on unapproved photos/ videos of my live performances. The insanity is meant for the unlucky folks in the theater!

6. Do you often collaborate with Danny Elfman?

I welcome the opportunity, but I really haven’t worked with Danny yet. Other than our various overlapping films & projects we have with Richard. Since I’m Richard’s creative partner I hear the scores & themes as they are being created and give notes, then they are passed through Ricky to Danny, if he agrees.

Knowing what I do about Danny I feel like our influences and styles overlap quite a bit naturally, so I wouldn’t say it’s unthinkable that one day we’ll collaborate.

7. Tell us about being in the film Shevenge.

My dear friend Staci Layne Wilson created/produced the horror anthology Shevenge and wrote/ directed my segment “Karma Is a Bitch,” which we shot at my house. I love Staci, we’ve collaborated on several projects and I’m always thrilled by the roles she writes for women.
 
Without giving too much away, my character shifts mid film and I had a blast taking things from one end to the other, but that can only happen with the support of a great director. Staci is also very collaborative, which is important to me. I’m very hands on. I enjoy the work that goes into building a character, choosing their wardrobe, makeup, etc.

 8. You were also in Fat Fleshy Fingers. Tell us about this film.

Yes, more dear friends and constant collaborators! Sophia Cacciola & Michael Epstein! We’ve worked on so many of each others projects and films it’s hard to keep track. They are so talented and my go-to for filming my local live performances and I always say YES immediately when they send me a role.

Fat Fleshy Fingers was a surreal project. I played two characters and had a total blast! One of my characters had a scene with Michael St Michaels of The Greasy Strangler which was a hilarious experience. It was hard not to break character. My second character was an ancient Egyptian tomb explorer who I tried to style like Evelyn from 1999 The Mummy. Now I don’t want to disappoint anyone who’s seen the film, but we really didn’t go to an actual Egyptian tomb. We shot at a local escape room with wild tomb themed rooms. I remember it being so hot and I was worried about my curls falling and my makeup melting— but one of my favorite things about Michael and Sophia is that they both have very distinct and stylized visions for their scenes and shoot incredibly fast, which is wonderful for a stage trained actor like myself!
 
9. Any future plans and projects?

Many many future plans and projects, unfortunately, most I can’t quite divulge just yet and must remain mysterious— but there are a few I can share!

Thanks to our film festival tour with Bloody Bridget I’ve made a lot of friends in the horror podcast universe! I now have two reoccurring segments, Film Fever With Anastasia Elfman on Geek In The City Radio & Anastasia Elfman’s Crypt of Cult Classics on Cereal At Midnight! I pick my favorite horror films and deep dive them. I also seem to be the go-to Lon Chaney Sr fan/ historian and have been invited on numerous podcasts to chat about Lon’s career, genius and importance to film and horror history.

I just finished shooting Drew Marvick’s Pool Party Massacre 2, which was killer!

And I’ll be creating some dark, bloody “burlesque” with our band, Mambo Diabolico, for the fortieth anniversary of the film Re-Animator at the Cannes Film Festival in France next spring. I’m working with producer/director Brian Yuzna. I’ve ripped his heart out at Bloody Bridget screenings—maybe I’ll chop his head off for this one.

10. Can you tell us something about your band?

Life imitates Art. Richard wrote and directed a play for my theater company–I played a wild, psychotic floozy, and he wrote a “band” into the play. Our good friend Ego Plum—he composes our film scores along with Danny—got some players together on stage. Another friend, director Darren Lynn Bousman, saw the play and wanted to hire the “band.” We ended up performing at his month-long immersive extravaganza. Mambo Diabolico has been bringing the house down at local gigs, it features five octave opera singer Lena-Marie Cardinale, and me of course, creating my dark, bloody “burlesque.” I also play cello, and soon Theremin. It’s been fun!

Grimoire of Horror would like to thank Anastasia for taking the time to chat with us. This interview was provided to Grimoire of Horror by John Wisniewski.

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