Emmy-nominated actress Veronica Cartwright (“ER” and “The X Files”) chatted about starring in the new horror film “The Ruse.”
The movie opens in theaters nationwide on Friday, May 16th. It was written and directed by Stevan Mena.
The synopsis is: An in-home caregiver fears for her life after being assigned to a mysterious elderly patient in a remote seaside home.
“It’s like an old-fashioned thriller, and these days, we don’t have very many of those,” Cartwright admitted. “The house is a character in it. ‘The Ruse’ was fun to do.”
Cartwright on playing her character Olivia
On what she liked most about her character Olivia, Cartwright said, “My character was a conductor; she was apparently quite famous and had records and everything.”
“Now, she has a bit of dementia going on and she is relegated to her house. This is the house that she wants to die in. She has these nurses that come to take care of her in three-day stretches at a time,” she explained.
“The new nurse shows up because the first one is missing and nobody knows where she is. Then, it turns into a whole mystery of whodunnit,” she added.
Working with Michael Steger
On working with Michael Steger, she said, “Michael was great. He is very cool. He is a nice guy, and he is very good in the role. It was so interesting because it was a low-budget movie with a small crew, so everybody pitched in.”
Lessons learned from this screenplay
On the lessons learned from this show, she responded, “My character had dementia in the movie, and my mother had dementia in real life, so she came in there a lot. My mom got very angry at the end… she was determined to drive when she couldn’t drive. It was interesting to be able to use my mom as somebody to go off of.”
Working with Maura West on ‘General Hospital’
Cartwright appeared in three episodes of “General Hospital” as psychic Sibley Gamble, where she worked opposite Emmy winner Maura West. “Maura West was great. I liked her a lot. She was really cool and just terrific,” Cartwright said.
Cartwright on her three Primetime Emmy nominations
Throughout her respected career in the entertainment business, Cartwright earned three Primetime Emmy nominations for her acting work in such shows as “ER” and “The X Files.”
“Those Emmy nods were really exciting. We still go on,” she admitted. “I had a great time doing both ‘The X Files’ and ‘ER,’ where I got to work with George Clooney.”
Cartwright continued, “George had just broken his foot the day before playing basketball on the lot. Then, he comes over hobbling over and says ‘hi, I’m George Clooney’ and he told me ‘I am so excited we have people of your caliber doing our show.’ I thought ‘Oh my God.’ Of course, I watched every episode of ‘ER,’ so that was lovely. ‘ER’ was really great.”
Success
Regarding her definition of the word success, Cartwright said, “Success means satisfaction. I don’t think it necessarily means having all the money in the world.”
“If it’s satisfying to me, then I feel I am successful in my life. Also, having good friends, having my house and my animals. That is success to me,” she added.
Message for fans and viewers
For fans and viewers, Cartwright remarked, “I hope the fans enjoy it and find it to be thrilling because it is an old-fashioned thriller and just go with the flow. It’s fun.”
To learn more about “The Ruse,” check out its official homepage.
