Interview with Sarah Palin....sort of

New film, Iron Sky (out on Thursday) is a comic action, science fiction film, whose central premise is that the Nazis escaped to the Moon after the end of World War II and returned to conquer the earth in 2018. Kiwi actress Stephanie Paul is one of the stars of the film, playing a Sarah Palin-esque President.

Tell us how you heard about Iron Sky? I heard about the film when I was asked to audition for it and sent the script. However, before I auditioned I went online and read all about it and learned how it started from the ground up with its fans.

It’s quite a unique project to be involved in – what were your thoughts about the online community having such a hand in it? How much input did they have during the filming? I think they way they used multimedia to build a fan base and get initial funding was amazing! It created an awesome community, and ultimately I got to meet many of them at the Finnish premiere. As far as how much input they had, I do not know as I was not involved in the “crowdsourcing” aspects of the website and how they used wreckamovie to work with the fans to gather ideas and funding.

What was the filming of this like? It was awesome! I got to live in Frankfurt Germany for a month and work with an amazing cast and crew! I didn’t have much green screen stuff to do so I think I had it a little easier than some of the other actors.

What’s your favourite part of the film and why? When James Washington (Chris Kirby) and Renate Richer (Julia Dietze) are arrested for fighting in the streets of NYC and the cop is questioning them at the police station. I personally think it is hilarious, ridiculous and it always makes me laugh. And I love it when the huge Nazi space ship comes busting out of the moon, for that alone you have to see it on the big screen. The special effects are fantastic and really creative.

What’s been your reaction to the final product? I have really enjoyed seeing the film and I have seen it five times now. Each time I noticed more small jokes within the film and little nuances that I did not see before.

What do you make of the reaction to the film? It is like any film or creative thing. The beauty is in the eye of the beholder, some will like it and some will not like it. But it has a following and they seem to love it.

How much research did you do into the Sarah Palin aspects of the role? Not much as the director didn’t want me trying to “be” Sarah Palin. He wanted me to create a President that just happened to look like her. Which I think made my role so much fun to play.

I did study George Bush Jr, Barack Obama, and Sarah Palin. I think I channeled more George Bush Jr than the other two in the end. If you ever notice politicians in America, when campaigning, change their accents depending on where/who they are talking to. So I never actually kept my accent within any particular State on purpose.  I decided to take it all over the map just like the politicians of America do, I guess in the sense of the film “taking the piss” really. 

What was the most fun part of this film? Being made up to look like someone completely different. Bliss who did the make up and hair was amazing. I went to set one day in the middle of a run I was taking around Frankfurt for a bit of exercise, and one of the actresses asked me to bring her something from her hotel room as they were short of PAs. I had only been seen by crew members as “The President” in costume. When I arrived on a closed set in running gear without credentials several people came over with concerned looks and were ready to throw me out. It was fun not being recognized by people I had been working with all week.

What’s been the best part of being involved with Iron Sky? Making new friends and being apart of an amazing production.

Will you be involved in the prequels or sequels at all? Not the prequel as it is set around the Nazis moving to the Moon, so that will be all about Udo Kier’s character Wolfgang Kortzfleisch I believe. I may be involved in the sequel but we will just have to wait and see!