Top Scream Queen Mel Heflin graced our pages in October of last year when she was busy promoting her latest film project at the time, BigBoobenstein, in which she was, and still is, slated to play the title role of Adelaide DeCarlo/BigBoobenstein. Since that interview, BigBoobenstein has been temporarily postponed. Just temporally. It is still happening and Mel will fill us in on that.
Despite BigBoobenstein being put on hold, Mel hasn’t missed a beat with her film work. She, along with several other ladies who have been recently featured in interviews here, was cast in Steve Hermann’s The Legend of Tinker Hell, which has now wrapped and in post production. However, rather than taking a break, Mel tells me she is currently busy working on a song for the soundtrack to The Redneck Horror Picture Show and will soon start shooting scenes for The Wizard of Oz in Amityville, both due out this fall. Transylvania Bikini Carwash Ghouls is another upcoming film Mel has slated. Learn more about Mel’s upcoming projects, as well as a bit about her past, in the following exclusive interview she did with Idol Features.
CHRIS CHARLES: It’s a pleasure to feature you here again, Mel. In our last interview, you were promoting BigBoobenstein, but I understand production on that one has been postponed?
MEL HEFLIN: Hi Chris, so happy to be back. Yeah, this crazy world of indie film where you don’t always know what’s going to happen. BigBoobenstein is still happening. There have been a lot of changes and I’m happy to announce we are now back in pre-production. Bryan Wilson and I are going to be co-directing the project. I’m looking forward to getting back to it, it’s a story near and dear to my heart and needs to be told.
CHRIS: I see. So the burning question is; where is the BigBoobenstein prosthetic chest piece now?
MEL: That’s a great question (laughs)! I never did get it and I’m not sure where it is now, but I have Marcus Koch who is going to create an amazing one. Marcus is amazing. I worked with him on The Legend of Tinker Hell too and have worked with him prior, he always does really top-notch, incredible work.
CHRIS: So moving on. You have recently wrapped filming on The Legend of Tinker Hell. As you know, I have interviewed several of the actresses who are also appearing in that one, who are all a little newer to the industry than you are. Had you worked with any of them before?
MEL: I have worked with Beth Metcalf, Dee Hefner, Ash Hefner, Ann Myrna, Chloe Lutz and a couple others before, but many on this project I had yet to meet. Everyone was really wonderful and I enjoyed seeing how we all mesh and interact. One great thing about working with Acrostar is there is some downtime for comradery, it helps with the character chemistry a lot!
CHRIS: How about your co-director Lynn Lowry? Had you worked with her before on either side of the camera?
MEL: I have worked with Lynn a few times, but she wasn’t on set. I had most recently seen her on My Blade is Your Salvation where she gave a really incredible performance. Also, Night of The Dead Sorority Babes was really fun to work on with her.
MEL HEFLIN: Hi Chris, so happy to be back. Yeah, this crazy world of indie film where you don’t always know what’s going to happen. BigBoobenstein is still happening. There have been a lot of changes and I’m happy to announce we are now back in pre-production. Bryan Wilson and I are going to be co-directing the project. I’m looking forward to getting back to it, it’s a story near and dear to my heart and needs to be told.
CHRIS: I see. So the burning question is; where is the BigBoobenstein prosthetic chest piece now?
MEL: That’s a great question (laughs)! I never did get it and I’m not sure where it is now, but I have Marcus Koch who is going to create an amazing one. Marcus is amazing. I worked with him on The Legend of Tinker Hell too and have worked with him prior, he always does really top-notch, incredible work.
CHRIS: So moving on. You have recently wrapped filming on The Legend of Tinker Hell. As you know, I have interviewed several of the actresses who are also appearing in that one, who are all a little newer to the industry than you are. Had you worked with any of them before?
MEL: I have worked with Beth Metcalf, Dee Hefner, Ash Hefner, Ann Myrna, Chloe Lutz and a couple others before, but many on this project I had yet to meet. Everyone was really wonderful and I enjoyed seeing how we all mesh and interact. One great thing about working with Acrostar is there is some downtime for comradery, it helps with the character chemistry a lot!
CHRIS: How about your co-director Lynn Lowry? Had you worked with her before on either side of the camera?
MEL: I have worked with Lynn a few times, but she wasn’t on set. I had most recently seen her on My Blade is Your Salvation where she gave a really incredible performance. Also, Night of The Dead Sorority Babes was really fun to work on with her.
CHRIS: Next to Lynn, you are the most recognizable name cast in Tinker Hell. Did any of the newer actresses ask you for any advice or tips on anything?
MEL: I love having a plethora of knowledge, I’ve been around a long time and seen a lot and am always happy to help my fellow actors get to where they want to be. I’d love it if we were all acting full-time, so we could enjoy each other’s company more often. It is a joy for me to talk about my work and for others to pick my brain because I don’t know what they don’t know. We all talked about skin care, Stanislavski, character development, audiobooks, all sorts of wonderful things.
CHRIS: Please tell me about your character, Sophia.
MEL: Sophia is a sexy firecracker of a girl. She is sassy, a story teller, knows she’s hot, but she’s not the best friend to anyone, she’s kind of a mean girl, but doesn’t know how mean she actually is.
CHRIS: So with BigBoobenstein on hold and Tinker Hell wrapped, what are you currently working on?
MEL: I’ve always got plenty to work on! I’m potentially moving, but besides that, I’m working on my song for The Redneck Horror Picture Show, The Wizard of Oz in Amityville that will be happening this fall, I’ll be doing a few scenes for The Stutterer this summer, and I’m preparing for Transylvania Bikini Carwash Ghouls!
CHRIS: Wow. Gotta love those titles. So, I didn’t ask you about this during our first interview because I was focusing on BigBoobenstein, but I see your first film credits were in 2010 and from 2013 up to the present, you have several film credits for each year. I counted eight in 2017 alone.
MEL: I am so fortunate to get to do filmwork full-time. For the longest time in those years, I used to travel around the East coast continually and just work on film and photos all year long. These days, my work is a bit more condensed to a few days here, a few days there and being flown in most times, but I’m no less grateful for where I am!
CHRIS: Have you ever shot scenes for more than one film in the same day?
MEL: I have done this many times! I did scenes for Cheerleader Elimination on the same day we finished filming Axegrinder 7 and during our downtime from The Exotic Zoo of Terror we filmed Amityville Corndog just for fun!
MEL: I love having a plethora of knowledge, I’ve been around a long time and seen a lot and am always happy to help my fellow actors get to where they want to be. I’d love it if we were all acting full-time, so we could enjoy each other’s company more often. It is a joy for me to talk about my work and for others to pick my brain because I don’t know what they don’t know. We all talked about skin care, Stanislavski, character development, audiobooks, all sorts of wonderful things.
CHRIS: Please tell me about your character, Sophia.
MEL: Sophia is a sexy firecracker of a girl. She is sassy, a story teller, knows she’s hot, but she’s not the best friend to anyone, she’s kind of a mean girl, but doesn’t know how mean she actually is.
CHRIS: So with BigBoobenstein on hold and Tinker Hell wrapped, what are you currently working on?
MEL: I’ve always got plenty to work on! I’m potentially moving, but besides that, I’m working on my song for The Redneck Horror Picture Show, The Wizard of Oz in Amityville that will be happening this fall, I’ll be doing a few scenes for The Stutterer this summer, and I’m preparing for Transylvania Bikini Carwash Ghouls!
CHRIS: Wow. Gotta love those titles. So, I didn’t ask you about this during our first interview because I was focusing on BigBoobenstein, but I see your first film credits were in 2010 and from 2013 up to the present, you have several film credits for each year. I counted eight in 2017 alone.
MEL: I am so fortunate to get to do filmwork full-time. For the longest time in those years, I used to travel around the East coast continually and just work on film and photos all year long. These days, my work is a bit more condensed to a few days here, a few days there and being flown in most times, but I’m no less grateful for where I am!
CHRIS: Have you ever shot scenes for more than one film in the same day?
MEL: I have done this many times! I did scenes for Cheerleader Elimination on the same day we finished filming Axegrinder 7 and during our downtime from The Exotic Zoo of Terror we filmed Amityville Corndog just for fun!
CHRIS: Man! More titles you gotta love. So have you shot scenes for many films that are yet still incomplete and you fear may never get finished?
MEL: Oh gosh! Where do I even begin? Unfortunately, a large amount of my films may never release. I show up, do my best, then go home and what happens after is so far out of my hands. People have passed away or put a film on hold so long that the actors don’t look close to the same age anymore, here’s just a few: Zomboner 2, Apocalypse, Hiding, Menstra Psi Kill, Reptilians, Sateen’s Baby, The Pit, The Trip, Deceiver, Darknet, This Film Hates You. There are more, but I’m still holding onto hope for some. My IMDb currently reflects about 130 films as an actress that I’ve worked on, but that number of films that either came out with a very small release or never even made it onto IMDb is much higher, I’ve done well over 150 film projects. It’s a shame so many never came out, I loved them all.
CHRIS: My God, some of these movie titles are fabulously outrageous. Do you sometimes come up with them?
MEL: Goodness! I wish! I don’t come up with them, but I sure do get drawn in to these interesting titles. Most times the title is the tip of the iceberg and there is a whole lot going on with that. I love how creative everyone is!
CHRIS: How often would you say you pass on roles after reading the script?
MEL: If I’m willing to read a script, I’m already very interested. I pass on roles over half the time, I try to prioritize roles where I’m doing something new or fun, or seeing people I love, but I’m always open to being persuaded to come have fun on set with new people. It’s always fun for me, but I can only fit so much in.
CHRIS: You’ve worked with so many people in indie films. Is there anyone on either side of the camera you have not yet worked with whom you would love to work with?
MEL: There’s so many people I would love to work with! I would very much love to be on set with Cassandra Peterson, though I know how big of an ask that is.
MEL: Oh gosh! Where do I even begin? Unfortunately, a large amount of my films may never release. I show up, do my best, then go home and what happens after is so far out of my hands. People have passed away or put a film on hold so long that the actors don’t look close to the same age anymore, here’s just a few: Zomboner 2, Apocalypse, Hiding, Menstra Psi Kill, Reptilians, Sateen’s Baby, The Pit, The Trip, Deceiver, Darknet, This Film Hates You. There are more, but I’m still holding onto hope for some. My IMDb currently reflects about 130 films as an actress that I’ve worked on, but that number of films that either came out with a very small release or never even made it onto IMDb is much higher, I’ve done well over 150 film projects. It’s a shame so many never came out, I loved them all.
CHRIS: My God, some of these movie titles are fabulously outrageous. Do you sometimes come up with them?
MEL: Goodness! I wish! I don’t come up with them, but I sure do get drawn in to these interesting titles. Most times the title is the tip of the iceberg and there is a whole lot going on with that. I love how creative everyone is!
CHRIS: How often would you say you pass on roles after reading the script?
MEL: If I’m willing to read a script, I’m already very interested. I pass on roles over half the time, I try to prioritize roles where I’m doing something new or fun, or seeing people I love, but I’m always open to being persuaded to come have fun on set with new people. It’s always fun for me, but I can only fit so much in.
CHRIS: You’ve worked with so many people in indie films. Is there anyone on either side of the camera you have not yet worked with whom you would love to work with?
MEL: There’s so many people I would love to work with! I would very much love to be on set with Cassandra Peterson, though I know how big of an ask that is.
CHRIS: When did you do your first nude scene?
MEL: I had a nude scene in my very first feature film, Scarlet Rain.
CHRIS: Did you know in advance your character was going to have a nude scene?
MEL: Yes, this was either 2007 or 2008, and they specifically stated that in the audition information. In those days, it was a bit harder to cast because there wasn’t much for social media and the film community was much smaller, so it was an occasional issue of actors agreeing to nudity and then backing out, so it was really common to film those scenes first.
CHRIS: So many indie actresses these days have tattoos. Some ladies have many. You don’t have any large, prominent tattoos. Is part of the reason for that because your feel being heavily tattooed may limit the roles you could be cast for?
MEL: It is, part of what I like about doing indie film is always getting to be someone different, I feel if I were as covered in tattoos as I’d like to be, it would typecast me and that’s not something I want. I had a huge issue with that when I began doing indie film, I wasn’t afraid of nudity, so for a long time, that’s all anyone wanted from me. It was incredibly difficult to get out of that, besides bit parts and it took me over a decade of dedicated film work to finally land a lead. I’d love more tattoos, but I love indie film more.
CHRIS: You have also done a lot of voiceover work. Do you think AI is eventually going to put voiceover actors out of work?
MEL: AI has already cost me an incredible amount of voice work, most voice over castings I see are asking for voice cloning rather than an actual gig. My main income is from audiobook royalties, so it hurts pretty deep.
CHRIS: With that, I’ll thank you for doing this again with me Mel. In closing, will you be attending any events in the near future when fans can meet you?
MEL: I’m currently open to attending conventions! I have the Illinois Horror Movie Festival in October and Mainstreet Comic Con in Waynesboro in September. I love meeting fans and talking about film, so I hope to do many more next year too! I’m always so grateful for every fan that comes to see me, it’s just as much my honor to meet them!
CHRIS: Oh, one last question. Throughout your career so far, how many gallons of stage blood would you guess has been used on you?
MEL: Conservatively? Probably about 75 gallons. Aggressively? Enough that if I would squeeze out each of the blood covered costumes over time, I could fill a large kiddie pool. One scene alone, I remember having used 20 gallons, it was a glorious shoot, though I do wish that film had come out.
MEL: I had a nude scene in my very first feature film, Scarlet Rain.
CHRIS: Did you know in advance your character was going to have a nude scene?
MEL: Yes, this was either 2007 or 2008, and they specifically stated that in the audition information. In those days, it was a bit harder to cast because there wasn’t much for social media and the film community was much smaller, so it was an occasional issue of actors agreeing to nudity and then backing out, so it was really common to film those scenes first.
CHRIS: So many indie actresses these days have tattoos. Some ladies have many. You don’t have any large, prominent tattoos. Is part of the reason for that because your feel being heavily tattooed may limit the roles you could be cast for?
MEL: It is, part of what I like about doing indie film is always getting to be someone different, I feel if I were as covered in tattoos as I’d like to be, it would typecast me and that’s not something I want. I had a huge issue with that when I began doing indie film, I wasn’t afraid of nudity, so for a long time, that’s all anyone wanted from me. It was incredibly difficult to get out of that, besides bit parts and it took me over a decade of dedicated film work to finally land a lead. I’d love more tattoos, but I love indie film more.
CHRIS: You have also done a lot of voiceover work. Do you think AI is eventually going to put voiceover actors out of work?
MEL: AI has already cost me an incredible amount of voice work, most voice over castings I see are asking for voice cloning rather than an actual gig. My main income is from audiobook royalties, so it hurts pretty deep.
CHRIS: With that, I’ll thank you for doing this again with me Mel. In closing, will you be attending any events in the near future when fans can meet you?
MEL: I’m currently open to attending conventions! I have the Illinois Horror Movie Festival in October and Mainstreet Comic Con in Waynesboro in September. I love meeting fans and talking about film, so I hope to do many more next year too! I’m always so grateful for every fan that comes to see me, it’s just as much my honor to meet them!
CHRIS: Oh, one last question. Throughout your career so far, how many gallons of stage blood would you guess has been used on you?
MEL: Conservatively? Probably about 75 gallons. Aggressively? Enough that if I would squeeze out each of the blood covered costumes over time, I could fill a large kiddie pool. One scene alone, I remember having used 20 gallons, it was a glorious shoot, though I do wish that film had come out.
See more of Mel at IMDb, her Facebook fan page, Instagram, and X (formally Twitter).
About the author
Originally from the San Francisco Bay Area, Chris flirted with the music business there and in Nashville before joining the U.S. Army and serving in South Korea. He remained in Asia for several years afterwards, teaching English, traveling, and covering the regional entertainment scenes. A former Xanga blogger ("Xangan"), Chris is still in a mindset between Seoul and San Francisco. Besides Idol Features, you can also catch his writings in the print edition of the monthly magazine, Effective.
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