health: Lincoln Tribune

الأحد، 10 يونيو 2012

Lincoln Tribune

Local Woman Murdered By Michael Myers, Lives to Tell About It

Posted: 09 Jun 2012 01:11 PM PDT

Joan Schuermeyer plays Cynthia Knickerbocker in 'ZombieLand'.

By Allyson Levine

Joan Schuermeyer has been a zombie killer, a murder victim and a witness to "The Hunger Games." And she has her son to thank for all of it.

The Newton resident was a stay-at-home mom who ran a daycare and sold Tupperware and Mary Kay products until she found her calling a bit later in life. Inspired by her youngest child and only son, Chad, who studied theater in college, Schuermeyer decided to try her hand at being a professional actress.

"He came home from college, and I heard him talking about an agent," she said.

A native of Ohio, Schuermeyer spent her formative years in Columbia, SC. Later, she and husband Bill lived in Spartanburg, SC, and Crystal Lake, IL. It was while living in Spartanburg that Schuermeyer first tried her hand at acting, participating in a stage production of "Brigadoon." She did "Man of La Mancha" in Illinois. Once she and her family made their way to North Carolina, she began acting with the Hickory Community Theatre and The Green Room Community Theatre in Newton.

But it wasn't until her son got an agent and started auditioning for small parts and extra work that she turned her attention from stage to screen. Schuermeyer says she asked her son if he would "mind if mama came along" with him on auditions.

"We would go together," she said. "I got an agent, too."

At first she worked mostly as an extra. According to Schuermeyer, it isn't easy getting even a small role, speaking or non-speaking, in a major motion picture.

Schuermeyer's lifeless body lays in a hospital after an encounter with Michael Myers during "Halloween II".

"Most of the big movies…they bring their own people from Hollywood," Schuermeyer said.

Of course, says Schuermeyer, there's always a chance you could be the one who gets pulled out of the crowd for something a bit more substantial. That's sort of what happened to her when she worked on the 2009 film "Halloween II," directed by Rob Zombie. Schuermeyer was playing a nurse behind a desk in a hospital scene. She didn't make it on screen in that scene, but later on the director picked her out of a group to play a nurse who falls victim to crazed serial killer Michael Myers. For that scene, she sported blood composed of corn syrup and chocolate and brain matter made of chopped-up bananas.

"You could sit there and eat your brains," Schuermeyer recalled with a laugh.

After filmmakers saw her in "Halloween II," Schuermeyer went from appearing in a film directed by Rob Zombie to acting in "Zombieland." Her role wasn't credited, but fans of the film may remember her as Cynthia Knickerbocker, the "Zombie Killer of the Week" who offs one of the undead by dropping a piano on his head.

Schuermeyer also appeared in "Leatherheads," starring George Clooney, whom she speaks highly of.

"He is really a sweet guy," Schuermeyer said, adding that he was down-to-earth enough to look out for "the little people" on the movie set.

She also spent time with Lee Meriwether when she worked as the actress's stand-in on "The Ultimate Gift," a film starring James Garner and Abigail Breslin. The gig forced Schuermeyer to get creative, as she is 5'1", while Meriwether is 5'7". She solved the problem by duct taping sneakers to wooden blocks to make a pair of makeshift platforms.

"The director didn’t want me because of the liability," Schuermeyer said. "But Lee Meriwether said, 'No, she's gonna be my stand-in.'"

Schuermyer with "Halloween II" director Rob Zombie.

Schuermeyer has also done a lot of independent films, including one called "Beautifully Departed," in which she had to lie in a real coffin.

"I did a good job of being dead," she said.

She's currently filming an independent movie called "Tristyn's Trumphet." She has a speaking role as "Meemaw," the grandmother of the title character in a film based on true events that took place in Newton, where Schuermeyer has lived for nine years.

According to Schuermeyer, most of the work she's done has been on movies and TV shows filmed in North Carolina, South Carolina and Georgia, including extra work for "The Hunger Games," "One Tree Hill" and "Homeland."

She says her favorite part of working on movies and shows is the people she meets. On the set, she's known as "The Knitting Lady."

"I always bring my knitting," she said, adding that she brings along extra needles so she can teach kids the craft during the long waits between filming scenes.

Schuermeyer says she has auditioned for speaking parts in bigger films but hasn't had any luck yet.

"That would be on my bucket list," she said.

In the meantime, she's happy to be doing what she loves.

"If they need a silver-headed lady to say, 'Hi, how ya doin?' I'm there," Schuermeyer said.