you as "Chop Top" from fan favorite "Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2". What do you think resonates with fans when it comes to that character, and what did you reference to create the crazy Sawyer member we all know and love?
Adam: "Choptop" is ninety-nine percent inspired by Ed Neal's crazy turn in the original "Texas Chainsaw Massacre" as the "Hitchhiker". The movie itself scared the hell out of me when I caught it in
Boston in a Combat Zone Theater back in 1976, but Ed's performance really blew my mind. Not only was he loopy and laughable, when he cut open his hand with a straight razor just to get some sympathy from a van-load of hippies...well, I'd never seen anything like it in movies or in life. Playing his twin brother, "Choptop", was fun and easy, thanks to Ed blazing the trail. I was so excited to get the job, so excited to be a part of the Sawyer family, that I was always happy in my work. Plus the dialogue given to me by director Tobe Hooper and writer Kit Carson was a real hoot to spew! I mean, who wouldn't have fun saying things like, "Dog will hunt" or "It's like Death eatin' a cracker"?! I was so into character that I contributed "Lick my plate, you dog dick!"
Rob: This is very true! (Laughs)
Bill: I became pals with "Night Of The Living Dead" remake director Tom Savini on the set of "TCM 2",
back when he was merely the "King of Splatter". When George Romero gave Tom the job of directing the color remake, Tom sent me a copy of the script, told me to pick any character. I wanted to play Harry, the coward in the basement, because Harry had the most lines, and therefore, so I figured, the biggest paycheck!. When I told Tom that, he amended his offer, "Pick any character, just make sure it's Johnny!" After my grumbling subsided, I set to work studying Boris Karloff movies to get the right accent for Johnny's classic "They're coming to get you, Barbara." I settled on "Die, Monster, Die!", watched it a few times until the line rolled off my tongue. When we were on the set (a rural Pennsylvania graveyard), I ad-libbed, "They're horny, Barbara. They've been dead a long time." Tom & George both liked it, so it stayed in the movie.
Rob: And pure legendary dialogue was born! (Laughs) After "Chainsaw 2", you had acted in a
few roles, but as I read you were not able to receive a break after playing "Chop Top". What was that time like for you as a professional and did you feel that it was difficult to keep going?
Bill: My expectations were high after the success of "Chainsaw 2". I packed up my then-pregnant girlfriend and moved from New York City to Los Angeles, the actor's version of "The Beverly Hillbillies". I got an agent, had enthusiasm, but I ran into the buzz-saw of reality trying to make it in
Hollywood: one thousand actors for every part, auditions, the crushing load of rejections. I did get parts in movies like "Pink Cadillac" with Clint Eastwood and Disney's "White Fang," but for the most part, it was scratch-and-scrape until I got re-discovered by Rob Zombie in October 1999.
Rob: That's perfect! How did you get sucked into the world of Rob Zombie and "House Of 1,000 Corpses"? Was he familiar with your work, or was Otis a role that you auditioned for?
Adam: I met Rob when I emceed a Universal Studios "Horror Awards Show" dressed and made up as "Choptop". Rob was shocked when he came on stage and got handed his little demon statue by the real "Choptop". We talked after the show, and a month later, Rob's manager, the irrepressible Andy Gould, called me at home and asked if I'd like to play a character named "Otis Driftwood" in a Universal movie Rob was going to make called "House of 1000 Corpses." Uh, I said "You betcha!"