LAUREN ASHLEY CARTER
Getting Behind The Mask
By Thomas Amo
For our premiere issue of Nightmare Alley we are excited to bring to you our exclusive interview with the very talented and awesome actress, Lauren Ashley Carter. Sitting comfortably in her swanky upscale hotel room in Atlantic City, waiting for room service, Lauren and I both admit we're cafinated and ready to rock this interview. First thing you should know about LAC is, aside from the fact she has a wicked sense of humor, she is a diehard horror film fan and a perfect choice for our first celebrity feature.
She is the star of the horror film Jug Face, directed by Chad Crawford Kinkle and also makes an appearance in what will surely become a cult film, The Woman, directed by Lucky McKee. She is the mastermind behind the YouTube web series, Tea Time, and Under the Covers.
TA: Lauren, welcome to Nightmare Alley.
LAC: Thank you. Thanks for having me.
TA: First thing we have to ask you about is, "Shelly Coutour."
Wide eyes and a big laugh follows.
LAC: OMG, Shelly Coutour! Oh my gosh that is so funny! So, Shelly Coutour the imaginary line in high fashion, devoted to Shelly Duvall's wardrobe in The Shining. It started when I was filming The Prodigies. There was a young actor named Jacob, in the film with me, and he had never seen The Shining before. So, I show the film to him and he made some comments about Shelly Duvall's wardrobe. Of course, when I first saw The Shining I never paid attention to just how awful her wardrobe was, and we started making jokes about Shelly Coutour. Whenever he and I hang out we try to impliment some Shelly Coutour into our lives.
TA: So, Star of stage, screen and YouTube, how did a nice, quiet Jewish girl from Ohio end up in show business?
LAC: I was never really a quiet girl. I had colic as a baby and don't think I stopped screaming after that. At first, I didn't know that acting was an actual occupation and that I could do that as a job. Growing up it had always been, be a doctor. I remember my mother being concerned about getting older, so she wanted me to be a plastic surgeon. (Smirks with raised eyebrow)
My grandmother was a nurse and I went with her to work one day and she was cleaning the wound on a man's head, I saw the blood, turned green and passed out. To this day, I'm really sensitive to real blood, I will faint at the sight of a papercut.
When I was little I began writing plays and would get my friends to be in them. I wouldn't be in them at first, then slowly I would say, "That's not how you do it, move over!"