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Interviews, TV

Interview: Dana DeLorenzo talks ‘Perpetual Grace, LTD’

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A year after her classic role as Deadite-slayer Kelly Maxwell on “Ash vs. Evil Dead” came to an end, Dana DeLorenzo is once again living in a state of grace — and appropriately it’s in the critically acclaimed noir drama series “Perpetual Grace, LTD.”

Wrapping up its first season with its 10th episode on Sunday on EPIX, “Perpetual Grace, LTD” follows the twisty plight of James (Jimmi Simpson), a hopeless drifter who is lured into a seemingly simple plan to pilfer $4 million from pastor Byron Brown (Sir Ben Kingsley) and his wife, Lillian (Jacki Weaver). Unbeknownst to James, “Pa,” as the pastor is known, is far more dangerous than he could have imagined, and the unforeseen circumstances pull the deeply damaged soul into a labyrinth from which there appears to be no escape.

Damon Herriman plays Paul Allen Brown, the manipulative, estranged son of the Browns who concocts the plan with his scheming girlfriend, Valerie Spoontz (DeLorenzo) — a used car saleswoman who ropes an unsuspecting sheriff, Hector Contreras (Luis Guzmán), into the plot.

“The series is so gripping. I’m such a fangirl of this show,” DeLorenzo enthused in a recent phone conversation from Los Angeles. “And it has nothing to do with the fact that I’m a small part of it, which I am grateful for.  But I love the show as a viewer as much as I loved filming it.”

One of the most refreshing shows to come down the television pike in quite some time, “Perpetual Grace,” created by Steven Conrad and Bruce Terris, is a wildly imaginative series that clearly tips its cap to Alfred Hitchcock. Still, the series doesn’t take 100 percent of its cues from The Master of Suspense, and in fact, it sometimes seems to employ the dark humor of the Coen brothers. Almost seeming to defy any sort label, one thing is for certain: With “Perpetual Grace,” Conrad and Terris elevate the mystery genre.

“People are trying to fit it in a box and this show does not fit in a box. I love its originality,” DeLorenzo said. “How I’ve been describing it is a ‘Hitchcock-inspired, dark comedy thriller with heart.’ If there’s any influence that Steven and Bruce have talked about, it is Hitchcock, even in the script, it would say, ‘Hitchcock close-up.’ They bring in that dark, suspenseful thriller aspect in a very specific way — the way that Hitchcock might — but then incorporate comedy by turning the situation on its head in a way that borders on the absurd.  Because life can be pretty absurd during tumultuous times. And the absurdity makes it hilarious.”

By saying “absurd,” DeLorenzo doesn’t mean “Perpetual Grace” is a farce, but rather has moments where the scenes can be darkly comedic amid some very serious circumstances.

“In those really dark moments, you can have a character like New Leaf (Chris Conrad), carrying around a Chili’s buzzer that he rigged to his parents’ life support, which will light up when his parents die. He gets an identical buzzer while he’s waiting for a table at a Chili’s.  He confuses which one is which,” DeLorenzo continued. “Suddenly one of them goes off. Is it the parents-are-dead buzzer, or your-table-is-ready-buzzer? The suspense creates tension and ultimately some painfully funny dialogue.”

DeLorenzo added that the moment isn’t “funny like a one-liner,” it’s funny because in life’s darkest moments, there can be things that are oddly amusing.

“What makes ‘Perpetual Grace, LTD.’ such a compelling story is the characters. They are completely original, nuanced and wonderfully specific. And yet, relatable. You root for these characters because they’re broken, struggling to relieve the guilt for something they caused. Each of them wants to right their wrong,” DeLorenzo explained. “But the harder they try, the worse everything gets, and eventually they all become intertwined in a spider-web-in-quicksand kind of way.”

“It’s morbid and tragic, yet optimistic. But it’s also wonderful, comedically. I really love how Steven and Bruce know how to swing that pendulum a certain amount,” DeLorenzo said. “It never gets too serious or too silly. Right when it’s about to go one way, the pendulum swings back to the other. I really commend them for how effortlessly they do that.” DeLorenzo said the opportunity to do “Perpetual Grace” came around when she least expected it, thanks to her previous connections to Conrad and Terris, who she worked with together and separately 10 years ago on some TV pilots in Chicago. And while the actress’ screen time is far less than the time she spent on “Ash vs. Evil Dead,” DeLorenzo didn’t spend her time off away from the set, but rather shadowing Conrad directing every chance she could get.

Perhaps DeLorenzo’s biggest coup on “Perpetual Grace” was having the opportunity to watch Kingsley in the fifth episode of the series, which features a stirring, four-page monologue that the Oscar-winning actor shot over the course over three days. She said the opportunity was “a masterclass on acting” and gave her and Kingsley the chance to bond, simply because both are such huge admirers of Conrad’s writing.

“When Steven introduced me to Sir Ben,  of course, I fumbled, I couldn’t even say ‘honor to meet you’ in a complete sentence. But he was so gracious and kind, he took my hands and kissed both sides of my cheeks, so I finally stopped blabbering,” DeLorenzo recalled. “And then we started talking about the writing, and how he jumped at the chance to do this, which Steven said was thrilling because he was their dream choice for the role.”

What came next is a moment DeLorenzo said she will never forget, mainly out of potential embarrassment.

“I said to Sir Ben, ‘Yeah, Steven is such a brilliant writer that all you have to do as an actor is just say the lines, like David Mamet said.’ And his response was, ‘You’re absolutely right.’ I remember thinking after that, ‘I hope Ben Kingsley doesn’t think him I’m giving him notes on how to act!’” DeLorenzo said, laughing.

Luckily, DeLorenzo said, Kingsley is a “consummate professional with zero ego,” which made an already satisfying experience on “Perpetual Grace” all the more worthwhile. “Being part this show has been a tremendously exhilarating experience,” DeLorenzo said. “I’m just counting the days to when, hopefully, we go back to work. Because I miss it. I’m desperate to see where this story and characters go from here.”

And while DeLorenzo has already had a dream job as one of stars of “Ash vs. Evil Dead,” the opportunity to do a show like “Perpetual Grace” helped her scale even higher professional heights after a decade and a half of struggles trying to get a foothold as an actor in Hollywood.

“I’m passionate about ‘Perpetual Grace’ because after 15 years of the highs and lows and rejections and triumphs, it’s all worth it when I get to work on something I love with people I’ve admired for a while — especially when those people are all passionate about the work, and everyone’s there for the same reason you are: to bring a story to life,” DeLorenzo said, humbly. “I get to be part of a dream team and everyone is a team player. I don’t take a day of it for granted because that kind of camaraderie is what it’s about, man.”

Tim Lammers reviews movies weekly for “The KQ92 Morning Show,”  WCCO Radio, WJON-AM, KLZZ-FM, “The Tom Barnard Podcast” and “The BS Show” with Bob Sansevere. On TV, Tim has made hundreds of guest appearances on “KARE 11 News at 11” (NBC).

Copyright 2019 DirectConversations.com

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Cool Movie Toys, Interviews, TV

NECA unleashes Possessed Ashy Slashy to haunt Dana DeLorenzo (again!)

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Without question, one of the most entertaining scenes during the three-season series run of STARZ’s “Ash vs. Evil Dead” happened in Season 2 in 2016, when star Dana DeLorenzo’s kick-ass Ghostbeater, Kelly Maxwell, encounters a Muppet-like hand puppet in villain Baal’s insane asylum. Named “Ashy Slashy” after the institution’s newest resident Ash Williams (Bruce Campbell), the foul-mouthed, wise-ass puppet was first introduced as a warm and fuzzy therapy companion to Ash, but quickly turned to the dark side when he met Kelly.

Two years later …  just when you thought it was safe to go back to Sesame Street (or more appropriately Avenue Q) … movie and TV collectibles-maker NECA has released its second full-scale version of the Ashy Slashy hand-puppet, the Possessed Ashy Slashy. Unlike the first release of Ashy Slashy last year, the possessed version has jagged teeth and a chainsaw with its own set of teeth sticking out of its blade. In short, he’s battle-ready for those who dare to bring him to life to take a bite out of anybody who gets in his way.

In a phone conversation about “Ash vs. Evil Dead” earlier this year, DeLorenzo fondly recalled her time filming with the fuzzy little bastard, or as she famously called him in the scene, “you felt f—k!” The scene began with Ashy Slashy trying to sweet-talk Kelly, until he bares his choppers, starts up his chainsaw and an all-out throwdown begins.

Among the most memorable – and disgusting – parts of the scene was Ashy smashing Kelly’s face into a used bedpan. As it turns out, DeLorenzo recalled, producer Rob Tapert didn’t  think Ashy Slashy splashy bedpan sequence “wasn’t gross enough” and had her blow bubbles to enhance the effect.

Photo: STARZ

“The blowing bubbles in the bedpan was added later. It was an insane, intense 13-hour day of shooting the original scene with just the puppet, it was exceptionally complicated, it was all crew on deck with stunts and blood rigs, like when Ashy’s puppet head exploded from the gun at the end — that took almost a hour just to set up. So  weeks later when Rob Tapert  said, ‘We need to reshoot the puppet scene,’ and my stomach dropped, and with big eyes I asked, ‘The whole scene?’ and Rob said, ‘No, just the bedpan scene. We’re going to add something to it … we need you to blow bubbles.’ I guffawed because this is what it means to be an actor on a show called “Ash vs. Evil Dead,” DeLorenzo mused. “But hey, at least the scene was with a puppet! Not many people can say that they were in a scene where they got their head slammed into a bedpan they had to blow bubbles in by a demonic, perverted puppet.”

Of course, the duel ultimately ended with DeLorenzo saying the classic line, “Always bring a gun to a puppet fight,” where Ashy Slashy was effectively reduced to a bloody stump with Kelly’s decisive kill shot.

“That’s one of those lines that you know is sooo good and you have to resist the urge to show that you know it’s a good line and try not hitting the gas, or put your weight on it. I recalled the lessons I learned from Bruce Campbell, which was, ‘Just let it be, say the line,'” DeLorenzo recalled. “Since we filmed the scene in sequence that day, by the end I was exhausted and a little sore so it came out in a authentic way, and I think we got it in one take. What a great line. I’m in perpetual awe of writers, particularly ours.”

As it turns out, DeLorenzo said filming the Ashy Slashy fight scene was one of her favorites during the entire series – and lucky for her, she’s been immortalized in world of toys and collectibles since NECA put a photo of her kicking the puppet’s ass on the both sides of the Possessed Ashy Slashy packaging.

“Filming the scene was one my biggest challenges, but like life tends to be, the biggest challenges end up producing the biggest rewards,” DeLorenzo enthused.

•How Sam Raimi saved Dana DeLorenzo from possessed escalator
•Flashback: Bruce Campbell talks original ‘Evil Dead’ in 2002
•Interview: Dana DeLorenzo talks Kelly Maxwell’s journey 
•Interview: Dana DeLorenzo talks ‘Ash vs. Evil Dead’ Season 3
•Interview: Groovy Bruce Campbell talks ‘Hail to The Chin’
•Interview: Bruce Campbell talks ‘Ash vs. Evil Dead’ Season 2

Oddly enough, the Ashy Slashy scene was somewhat wish-fulfillment for DeLorenzo, although she originally imagined being a part of a much more innocent puppet scene.

“My first seedling of being an actor and an entertainer when I was 2 came with watching ‘Sesame Street,'” DeLorenzo recalled. “There were kids on there talking to puppets, and I was obsessed with Big Bird, and Bert and Ernie, so it’s always been a bucket list item. The Ashy Slashy scene was not quite that, since I never knew my puppet dreams would come true by grabbing myself in the thigh and giving myself Charley horses, but man, it was pretty close.”

Look for DeLorenzo to be sharing her stories about Ashy Slashy and other memories from “Ash vs. Evil Dead” at a pair of upcoming horror conventions in the coming months. From September 21-23, she will appear with fellow “Ash vs. Evil Dead” cast members Ted Raimi and Lindsay Farris at the New Jersey Horror Con and Film Festival in Atlantic City, New Jersey; and on October 27 and 28, DeLorenzo will appear at Crypticon Minnesota in Minneapolis along with fellow “Ash” cast member Lee Majors.

Until then, fans can now see the complete “Ash vs. Evil Dead” series with the release of “Ash vs. Evil Dead” Season 3, new on Blu-ray and DVD (STARZ/Anchor Bay).

As for the real Possessed Ashy Slashy, the puppet went for $5,102 in an “Ash vs. Evil Dead” prop auction earlier this summer via VIP Auctions. Sorry, fans: The puppet’s demise in the show was just a stunt — and a bloody good one at that!

Copyright 2018 DirectConversations.com

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Film, Interviews, TV

The time Sam Raimi saved Dana DeLorenzo from a demonically-possessed escalator

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Sadly, it’s the end of the road for “Ash vs. Evil Dead” when the series finale airs Sunday night on STARZ, but before fans start mourning the loss the show, they can take comfort in knowing that the amazing memories of it will live on not only in the episodes of the horror comedy, but in the stories about it from the likes of its bloody great cast members.

For Dana DeLorenzo, who made the ass-kicking role of Kelly Maxwell her own, she’ll always hold dear the pilot episode of the series, because it gave her the unique opportunity to work with director Sam Raimi, the architect of the “Evil Dead” universe. For a glorious 22 days, DeLorenzo and her fellow cast members shot the pilot in New Zealand, which would be the production home for the show for the entirety of its three seasons; and where she marveled at Raimi’s passion for the craft of making the impossible possible and giving “Ash vs. Evil Dead” its crucial first breaths of life.

The wonderful thing DeLorenzo discovered about the “Spider-Man” trilogy filmmaker was that he was just as much of a superhero and person off the set as he was on. In one instance, she was a first-person witness to his heroic actions as he rescued her from, appropriately, a demonically-possessed escalator in Auckland, New Zealand.

In a recent phone conversation from Los Angeles, DeLorenzo said it all occurred at SkyCity, which includes a massive tower like the Seattle Space Needle, after Raimi wrapped up his work on the “Ash vs. Evil Dead” pilot.

“It was Sam’s last night in New Zealand and we were all celebrating. Bruce and his wife, Ida, were there, me, Jill (Marie Jones) and Ray (Santiago), as well as Sam,” DeLorenzo recalled. “We were at the Sky Tower and in the center of it — I can’t even give you the scale of it because it is so big – there were two escalators that were the biggest things I’ve ever seen in my life. They went on for days.”

At the end of the night, DeLorenzo said, the group was coming down one of the monster escalators when suddenly the jovial atmosphere turned into something that you would see in, well, “Ash vs. Evil Dead.”

“We were goofing around and dancing on the way down, and I’m the first one off the first of the escalators to turn and go down the final escalator. I was wearing this very loose, stretchy, spandex-y, very wide-legged jumpsuit, and when we got to the bottom I was starting to walk, and something pulled by leg back,” DeLorenzo said. “All of a sudden, because the jumpsuit was all connected, the elastic top – strapless, by the way – starts pulling down. It’s was truly like Kelly trying to get through The Rift and I couldn’t move forward, and the jumpsuit is slowly being ripped off me from the top to the bottom. This all happened in a split-second, but it was very slow in my mind as things very terrifying at the moment are, and I screamed instinctively.  I screamed because in a second I was going to be standing in the middle of Sky Tower for all to see, naked!”

DeLorenzo said as she tried to hold her top on, Jones hopped in front of her to cover her chest, and “then comes this hero Sam Raimi.”

“He jumped off the escalator in his suit and gets down on the floor on his hands and knees and starts yanking the bottom of my jumpsuit from the evil, possessed escalator,” DeLorenzo said while literally acting out the madness of the moment. “He was pulling with all his might. He was ripping and grunting because it would not rip, and finally, on the third tug, they did, and half of my pants went up the escalator – they’re gone – but luckily, Sam Raimi saved my life. I was physically being pulled into the escalator because it was that strong. I was not only about to be dragged up the escalator, but humiliation-wise, I was about to be butt-ass naked in front of half the city of Auckland, New Zealand. After saving the day, Sam slowly stood up and started brushing himself off and said, ‘Well that was sobering!’ and everyone laughed.”

Pure class

While she can laugh now about the time Raimi selflessly jumped in and saved her from the demonically-possessed escalator, DeLorenzo is completely serious about the pure class of the filmmaker from the day she auditioned for “Ash vs. Evil Dead.”

“I’ve said from Day 1 since I had my screen test with Sam and Bruce, and Sam was the man behind the camera – it was an actual camcorder on a little tripod, which I loved – and in a three-piece suit, that he is both the most and least intimidating person in the room,” DeLorenzo said. “When talks to you, he is so disarming and looks at you as if no one is there, no matter what else is going on. So, I’m in this room full of producers, shaking this man’s hand who I know is the great Sam Raimi, and he is just asking me about my shoes, he’s asking how my day was, and it felt more like that I was talking to Sam the butcher at the grocery store. He then walked away, and I realized, ‘Holy shit! That was Sam Raimi!'”

​DeLorenzo said she is also grateful to “Ash vs. Evil Dead” casting director Lauren Grey, who brought her in for the initial audition and callback. In addition to Grey and showrunner Craig DiGregorio, DeLorenzo feels Raimi is one of the main reasons she was cast as Kelly Maxwell.

“It was because he made me feel so comfortable,” DeLorenzo said, admirably. “Comfortable enough to do something I’ve never done in any audition – even for a commercial, let alone a production as big as this – and ask for another take and do it again.”​

As fate would have it, asking for that second take is the reason fans had the opportunity to watch DeLorenzo not just play – but define – who Kelly Maxwell was through three seasons of “Ash vs. Evil Dead.”

“I owe so much to Sam, and I have taken so much away from not only the screen test with him,” she said. “He set the bar for the show for me and for the character of Kelly, and he showed so much class because of the way he collaborates with people.”

DeLorenzo said that because Raimi is such a high-profile filmmaker, he could have just said, “‘We’re going to do it this way’ and everybody would have said, ‘Yes! Sure! Fine!'”

But he didn’t.

“Instead, he set the bar and not only learned everyone’s names – and go up to everyone in-between shots, to the people doing the thankless jobs that no one ever credits them for – and ask them how their day was,” DeLorenzo said. “With me, regarding Kelly, h​e asked me to sit down and said, ‘I want you to help me write this scene. I want to rework this thing,’ and I said, ‘Uh, Sam, I’ll just do whatever you want!’​ And he corrected me and said, ‘No. I asked you because I want you to help me.’ I was just so blown away by that.

“Sam Raimi was willing to take his baby and say, ‘I want you to have some input. I want to hear you say what you think Kelly’s backstory is and what do you think happened Kelly’s mom. Why did she die six months ago in a car accident?'” DeLorenzo added. “Because of that, it informed Kelly for me for the rest of her journey. It was so vital because that stuff matters. You might ever see that backstory on screen, but that matters and informs who I am playing. I am so indebted to Sam.”

MORE:
•Interview vault: Bruce Campbell talks ‘Evil Dead’ in 2002 (NEW)
•Interview: Dana DeLorenzo talks Kelly Maxwell’s journey (NEW)
•Interview: Dana DeLorenzo talks ‘Ash vs. Evil Dead’ season 3
•Interview: Groovy Bruce Campbell talks ‘Hail to The Chin’


Interview vault: Tim Lammers talks with Sam Raimi in 1999.

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Interviews, TV

Interview: Dana DeLorenzo talks ‘Ash vs. Evil Dead’ Season 3

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With renewed efforts in the entertainment industry for the search of great women roles in film and television, the powers-that-be needn’t look any further for an example of greatness than in a series that’s had fans buzzing since 2015. It’s in the STARZ horror comedy “Ash vs. Evil Dead,” where the effervescent Dana DeLorenzo fully realizes the potential of Kelly Maxwell – an electronics store trainee-turned-no-nonsense, F-bomb slinging demon hunter — who aids the lovably flawed antihero Ash Williams (Bruce Campbell) in his fight against gnarly, netherworldly beings known as “Deadites.”

While Kelly was initially billed as one of Ash’s sidekicks (along with Ray Santiago’s Pablo Bolivar), the character has easily asserted herself as a force to be reckoned with in the first two seasons of “Ash vs. Evil Dead,” where she’s gotten just as drenched with blood, guts and goop as Campbell via devices appropriately dubbed “blood canons.” The great thing is, if you’ve loved everything Kelly has stood for so far in the first two seasons of the series, you’ll find out in Season 3, which premieres this Sunday on STARZ, that she’s only getting started.

In a recent phone conversation from Los Angeles, DeLorenzo said that while it’s a thrill to have such a memorable role in the series, it’s even better to know that the role is in a genre known to stereotypically portray females as sex objects and/or victims — where “women fell into the horror movie trope of being the girl running naked through the woods and being the damsel in distress.”

Dana DeLorenzo in "Ash vs. Evil Dead 3" (photo: STARZ)

The tricky part about how things play out in “Ash vs. Evil Dead” is that the character of Ash — who first appeared in “Evil Dead” in 1981 and was back for “Evil Dead 2” in 1987 and “Army of Darkness” in 1992 — continues to be a bad-Ash in the series, even though times have changed considerably for the aging lothario. Basically, Ash is a 1980s and ’90s character living in 2018, and Kelly isn’t having anything of it.

“What we love about Ash Williams are his great flaws. He’s ignorant. He has antiquated views about a lot of things, including women. What I love is how ‘Ash vs. Evil Dead’ had the foresight to keep Ash Williams as Ash Williams and not apologize for who he is, yet put him toe-to-toe with a strong female character like Kelly who was going to call his ass out and not let him get away with it. It still gives Ash the opportunity to say those spectacular one-liners that only Bruce Campbell can do, yet it lets Kelly hold her own and allows her to be the voice of the audience. I love that in the very first scene of the series where we meet Kelly, Ash is being Ash and is immediately hitting on her. She’s looking at him like, ‘Are you kidding me, dude?’ and then ‘thump!’ she just throws his ass down on the counter. I love that scene.”

•Interview: Groovy Bruce Campbell Talks ‘Hail to The Chin’
•Interview: Bruce Campbell Talks ‘Ash vs. Evil Dead’ Season 2

As refreshing as that first scene is, DeLorenzo is thrilled that there’s much more to Kelly than her toughness. Apart from the character’s physicality and her keen ability to handle any weapon she can get her hands on to dispatch her Deadite foes, DeLorenzo feels fortunate that Kelly can display real human emotions, too.

“While it’s nice to play a badass female that kicks ass, what I like most about Kelly is that she’s flawed and vulnerable. She’s not afraid to show her fear. You can see when she’s afraid — she’s not just gritting her teeth like Annie Oakley — you can see these vulnerable moments with her,” DeLorenzo said. “But I think what makes her a true warrior is that she pushes through that fear. She has the courage to dive into the deep end, because that’s when we root for the underdogs. That’s what we want to see, to go into a situation when you’re most afraid and take the leap. I love that most about her, that she’s multi-layered, and that she’s got a bit of a mouth on her. That’s pretty fun to play.”

Without question, part of the reason Kelly resonates so much with fans is her willingness to say exactly what she thinks, which oftentimes includes her authoritative use of F-bombs and mother F-bombs. The bonus for the audience is, since DeLorenzo has such a command on the delivery of those curse words, her prolific use of the F-bomb and its variations easily ranks her alongside Jack Nicholson and Samuel L. Jackson in the pantheon of the all-time great screen swearers. When Kelly curses, the audience listens — sometimes laughing out loud and other times pumping their fists — because it’s so (insert F-bomb here) entertaining.

DeLorenzo said it was a conscious decision by Campbell and Tapert to have Kelly the character swear the most on the show, mainly because she was able to give those curse words some extra meaning.

“It was in Season 2, after we had a whole season under our belts, when Bruce and Rob both said, ‘I really think that only character that should really swear is Kelly,” DeLorenzo recalled, gleefully. “Swearing can be something done for just a cheap shot — swearing for the sake of swearing — but they very much enjoy the way the lines are written and the creative ways that Kelly can swear, so I’m happy to take on the role of the sailor.”

Not toying around

One particularly memorable time where DeLorenzo got creative with her use of the F-bomb was in Season 2, where Kelly got into a verbal battle and physical throwdown with a demonic hand puppet named “Ashy Slashy” (think one of the puppets from Broadway’s “Avenue Q,” except that it looks like Ash Williams). The scene was such a hit that collectibles company NECA made a full-scale replica of Ashy Slashy, which DeLorenzo can’t wait to get her hands on … maybe.

“I was at first thinking, ‘Do I really want that thing my house?’ I’m sure I will be tormented by it,” DeLorenzo said with a laugh. “I honestly feel like I’ll have to chain the little brat down.”

For those who were knocked out by the Kelly-Ashy Slashy battle in Season 2, DeLorenzo promises there’s a scene in episode 6 this season that rivals it. This time, though, it involves Ruby (Lucy Lawless) — the villain of Season 1 who becomes allies with Ash, Kelly and Pablo in Season 2, only to return to the dark side for Season 3. The stakes are raised this season because Ruby is going after Brandy (Arielle Carver-O’Neill), the teenage daughter Ash never knew he had.

'Ash vs. Evil Dead' (photo: Starz)

“I stay relatively clean in the first five episodes, unlike the bar scene in the opening episode of Season 2, where I had 26 gallons of blood on me,” DeLorenzo cracked. “This whole season for Kelly is about forging her own path. She finally gets an opportunity in episode 6 — a small window — to potentially end the battle with evil once and for all and goes toe-to-toe with Ruby. But since Kelly has this pent-up rage after being painted in this bloody corner for the first five episodes and having her hands tied, she goes ballistic. It’s reminiscent of the Deadite deli slicer scene from Season 1.”

Anybody who can recall that magnificently manic scene (or countless others) well knows that DeLorenzo has an incredible passion for her work, and it shows everywhere, whether it’s on-screen, off-screen at conventions with fans or in phone calls to talk about the show. DeLorenzo is in the unique position to help build upon one of the best horror comedy franchises of all time, and that’s something she’s never lost sight of. Even casual fans don’t have to look hard at one episode of “Ash vs. Evil Dead” to see DeLorenzo gives her all to the series.

“I’m exceptionally passionate as well all the people who are involved in the show, from the crew to the stunt people to the writers, it truly is a passion project and a bloody love letter to the fans,” DeLorenzo said, humbly. “For me, not a day goes by where I don’t think about how I finally got that little streak of luck after so many beatdowns for so long while chasing the dream. I was working at a bar when I got the audition for this job. In fact, I almost couldn’t go to it because I was working at the bar until 2 a.m. and I had to learn my lines driving in the car as I was on the way the audition.”

But lucky for fans, DeLorenzo made that audition and they’ve embraced her and the indelible character of Kelly — something DeLorenzo is reminded of in and around the course of making “Ash vs. Evil Dead,” if not every day.

“It’s great to meet with fans and talk with people like you who share our excitement and are entertained by our over-the-top silliness and gore,” DeLorenzo enthused. “I mean, what more could you want? Give me a blood cannon in the face any day.”

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