My first introduction to my next interview subject came when I purchased a VHS copy of the John Hughes film 16 Candles from F.Y.E in 1999. I was 16 years old at the time, and I found myself being able to relate to a lot of the movie, despite the fact that I’m a guy. Liane Curtis played Randy, the friend of Molly Ringwald’s Samantha Baker, and her work was very funny.
About a decade-and-a-half later, I befriended Liane on Facebook, and came to know more about her life. Deciding that she would make for an interesting interview subject, we spoke on August 30th, 2016. I hope you all enjoy getting to know this talented actress and singer as well as I did.
Say hello to Liane Curtis!
Johnny Caps: Hello, Liane. This is Johnny Caps. How are you?
Liane Curtis: Hi! How are you?
Johnny Caps: I’m doing good. Thanks for taking the time out of your schedule to speak to me.
Liane Curtis: Sure, no problem.
According to the IMDB, you made your acting debut on the first episode of Sesame Street. When your career grew in the 80s, were you asked about making a return appearance on the show?
Liane Curtis: No, but it would’ve been fun.
Liane Curtis: Probably a cartoon called Dunderklumpen, which came out of Sweden. It was a heck of a lot of fun because there was singing involved. Don Scardino worked on that.
He’s a well-established director who directed The Incredible Burt Wonderstone and multiple episodes of 30 Rock, 2 Broke Girls, Angel From Hell and more. I met him as a child in NY when he was an actor. He was in the Broadway production of Godspell with Victor Garber and I’ve known them both a long time.
Liane Curtis: I think all teenagers are, well, teenagers…Looking to get attention, looking to figure out who they are. Any teen story is pretty true to teen-ness, I think. My time in High school was weird – I didn’t fit in and always felt out of place in “the box”.
I think in the film Jody needed attention and waned to fit in and she did it by sleeping with her friend’s boyfriend. I got attention as a teen by staying out til all hours at CBGB’s, stealing my mom’s car and other kinds of rebelling . So I guess the need for attention is the same but Jody and I behaved slightly differently.
What was your experience like working for Mr. Hughes?
I loved him. He was like a big kid. He wanted to hang out with the kids more than the producers.
I think he had to hang out with all those guys for business purposes, but when it was time to just chill, he was hanging out with all of us. He was very good. He was a lot of fun.
He knew what he wanted and he was good at getting it out of us.
Johnny Caps: I know he encouraged improv in his movies. Did you improvise any of your lines?
Liane Curtis: I actually did not, but Anthony Michael Hall did a lot of improv with those two geeks for sure.
Johnny Caps: Okay. What do you think has made 16 Candles continue to stand out more than three decades after its’ release?
Liane Curtis: I think that there’s always an awkward teen like Farmer Ted. There’s always a girl who’s crushing on someone she feels is unobtainable. There’s always that.
Someone’s always feeling all those things and those universal teenage truths. As long as teenagers are around, that movie will always be relatable.
Johnny Caps: When doing film retrospectives, some critics feel 16 Candles stands out, but in a negative way, saying it’s racist and makes light of rape. What are your feelings on criticisms like that?
Liane Curtis: Well, I feel definitely it’s a good point, and from some particular points of view, I can see where people would only focus on that. However, I also think, back in the 80s, people were not so obsessed with political correctness. I’m not saying that making fun of date rape is okay or good.
I’m just saying that I don’t think there was a preemptive strike mentality. “You can’t say this. You can’t say that”. Censoring this, censoring that,.
I mean, for crying out loud, people should be able to express themselves without being scrutinized to the point where you just never want to write another script again. That becomes ridiculous in and of itself as well.
Liane Curtis: Everything. I love John. I would work for him anytime.
I would drop what I was doing to work with John. He’s absolutely an outstanding filmmaker, a fabulous storyteller. He’s one of a kind, and I think my favorite part was just getting to work with him quite honestly.
Liane Curtis: You know? Yeah, I would, of course. I always have something to say.
That’s who I am (laughing), with relatively little censor, so yeah, of course I’d participate. I’d be happy to.
Johnny Caps: That seems right up Criterion’s alley. I should probably mention that to them on their Facebook page.
Liane Curtis: A good thought. Thank you for that, Johnny.
Johnny Caps: No problem. In 1987, you played Debbie, one of Kelly Bundy’s friends in the Married…With Children episode “Married…Without Children”.
Liane Curtis: (Laughing) Yes, I did. I think that was the first booking I got after having moved here for pilot season. I remember that very clearly.
Johnny Caps: Was that a one-shot role, or were you going to make future appearances on the show?
Liane Curtis: Oh, no. That was just a one-shot. I don’t think that I was one of her “friends” at all.
I think I was just one of the people who ended up at the party. I think I just came along with the boyfriend, like fries come with your hamburger, unfortunately. I would love to have been on a Ron Leavitt/Michael Moye show.
They were a talented team.
Were you nervous about carrying a film like that?
I loved being in Girlfriend From Hell. That was another very fun shoot…I think probably the most fun shoot I have ever participated in. It was a whirlwind.
I had done Critters II before that in 1988, and I was a lead there, too…The only times I was above title, I think.
Johnny Caps: Similar to my question about The Brother From Another Planet, I believe Lionsgate currently has the rights to Girlfriend From Hell via their ownership of the International Video Entertainment library. If they were to release it as part of the Vestron Video Blu-Ray collection, again, would you participate in extras?
Liane Curtis: Of course I would. I’m not a cat. It’s not a turd.
I’m not going to bury it. I’d be happy to do commentary on it years later. I like to talk.
Johnny Caps: I really hope that Lionsgate’s Vestron Video revival will get around to releasing Girlfriend From Hell on Blu-Ray.
Liane Curtis: I wish they would give up the booty because I know a couple of people at the New Beverly, or maybe even The Cinefamily, who would be happy to run that and have people come attend. I’ve been approached by several people to see if I knew anybody at Lionsgate. I kind of don’t, but maybe it’s worth mentioning in print.
Liane Curtis: Wow! Well, first of all, I got to meet Phil Morris and work with him. I was his character’s camera girl.
I got to hang out with Phil and what a lovely man, and what a lovely family he has. That’s the first thing I’ll say. My favorite, favorite, favorite part of that show was Marvin Westmore, the make-up man.
If I looked a little surly in the morning, he would come and start pulling my arm hairs. He said, “I’ll give you something to look mad about”. (Laughing) He was the best.
He’s 81 now. The only other thing I can think of is Peter Golden, who is now VP of casting over at CBS. I don’t think he had anybody else audition for that part, so that was flattering.
When I signed in, I was the only one on that WHOLE piece of paper going in to the producers, auditioning for the role of Trudy. It was kind of stacked in my favor. I like that a lot.
Johnny Caps: One review on IMDB that spoke positively about the show said that Gulf War One impacted the run of the show, leading to its’ cancellation after one season. Do you know if there’s any truth to that?
Liane Curtis: I don’t know exactly what happened. I really don’t. First of all, I was recurring, but I wasn’t that big a part.
Actors don’t usually hear about that kind of mumbling, unless they’re more hooked into producers and privy to that kind of thing.
Liane Curtis: It was a lot of fun. I remember the last thing the director, Debbie Brock, said to me. She said, “You can play guitar, can’t you?”.
I said, “Yeah, I can. Absolutely”. She said, “My B.S detector is on right now, and if you’re lying, I’ll find out”. I’m like, “Um, no. I can play guitar. I promise”.
(Laughing) It was a lot of fun. I had a lot of fun shooting that, and I was flattered to be invited into that whole thing.
Liane Curtis: Well, I will say this. When you’re acting, you’re speaking somebody else’s words. You’re a hired gun.
You have to get permission to get the audition, insofar as the casting director has to want to see you. You have to get permission to get a callback, which mean the producers have now decided that you’re worthy of their 5 minutes. It’s this whole exhausting process of getting permission to do what you do best.
In music, nobody has to give me permission. It’s completely my idea. I can write what I want.
I can sing what I like and play it when I want to. I don’t have to play it if I don’t want to. It’s basically a control freak thing, I think.
I shouldn’t say that, but it definitely plays into a control thing and a freedom thing. Maybe I should put it that way.
Johnny Caps: I can understand the control freak thing. As you’re speaking as you’re in charge of it, I don’t necessarily think of it as a pejorative term when you’re speaking about your music. Who have been your biggest influences as a musician?
Liane Curtis: Let’s see. I’ve always really, really, really loved James Taylor and Peter Gabriel. Now that I have a 17-year old daughter who is also a musician, she’s invited me into her music catalog.
There’s an artist I love named Trevor Hall, and another one called John Bellian who does some fabulous work. I also like The Beatles and Paul Simon, both solo and with Simon & Garfunkel. I haven’t mentioned any women, have I?
(Laughing) Oh, well. It’s okay.
Johnny Caps: Since your daughter is a musician as well, did she get that from you or did she make the decision to become a musician on her own?
Liane Curtis: It’s funny you ask that. She kind of came out singing. By the time she was 6 months old, I would look in the rear view mirror, and there she’d be in her car seat, nodding her head to the music, but in perfect meter.
When she was just learning to walk, she would pull herself up onto tables. At a friend’s house, we had a little get-together and there was music playing. My friend Rich, who now plays drums with Jaq, my daughter, said to me, “Liane?”.
I said, “Yeah”. He said, “Look at Jaq”. I said, “Yeah, what about her? She’s bouncing”.
“Yeah, but look at it. It’s in perfect meter”. I said, “Funny you should notice that”, (laughing) and then we moved on. It’s funny now how he plays drums with her, and he will assist on recording some of her stuff, which she’s self-producing.
She’ll go over to Richard’s house. He’s got some better sounds on his rig than we do, so she’ll go over there and he’ll help her out. I play bass for her, and it’s just a very family foundation of music, I guess.
I will say, to answer your question, I think she was born doing it, but I think it probably didn’t hurt that I do it, too. Plus my mom is a Jazz composer so 3 generations of music-makers are still here on the planet.
(The previous video is of Jaq Mackenzie’s song “101 Days”, directed and produced by Liane)
Liane Curtis: Wow. I feel like a one-note song, but I like James Taylor, Jackson Browne and Peter Gabriel. You’re talking about famous musicians now, aren’t you?
Johnny Caps: If there are some independent talents you would like to give a shout-out to, you can mention them as well.
Liane Curtis: Well, I’ve kind of always wanted to work with my Mom, Paulette Girard and because he’s a jazz composer, and we would be very juxtaposed in our styles, but I wonder if it would create sort of a cool hybrid. There’s a fellow named Dee Bramble. I’d like to work with him at some point, maybe.
Johnny Caps: How exactly would you define the music you play?
Liane Curtis: Well, I would say my music falls into the Americana/folk/singer-songwriter category. I’m an 80s girl, so when I write, I tend to go into 80s-hooky kind of stuff, which seems to be coming back lately, so that’s a good thing as far as the songwriting.
Liane Curtis: I would say, as long as it’s the kid’s idea, not the parent’s. That’s the first thing. The child has to want to do it, and then you have to be prepared along the way, if you’re not an industry family, to learn a lot of stuff, and hopefully not at your child’s expense.
I would say to definitely read up on stuff. If you’re going to do it, make sure you’re in a state where there are child labor laws in place, so you don’t have a child who’s on the set for 18 hours, and then they have to get up 5 hours later, in a situation where there’s no set teacher or social worker required because the state hasn’t dealt with any of that. There, amazingly, are still states that don’t have child labor laws, which I find incredibly bizarre.
That’s judgmental on my part, but that’s basically why A Minor Consideration is in place…To educate parents when it comes to what to and what not to do, when you’re told certain things by producers and if that’s absolutely a good thing, or if you’re working with somebody who’s a little sketchy. You really need to be able to tell the difference, so I think educating yourself on the rules and regulations is a good thing.
Johnny Caps: Okay. Another industry-oriented question: What would you say has been the biggest change in the entertainment industry between 1983, when Baby, It’s You came out, and 2016?
Liane Curtis: Well, I think that, not in all instances, people like to make money, and they’ll make whatever they think is going to garner them box office. I think the more producers and production companies are concentrated on making money than making art, you run the risk of having a bunch of really crappy movies out there, but I will also say there are so many different outlets now. Everybody’s looking for content, so it’s a lot easier to find ways to be able to produce content and make stuff happen with cable channels and the Web.
Johnny Caps: Definitely. Of course, we also have stuff like Kickstarter and IndieGoGo helping to get projects out.
Liane Curtis: Exactly. You don’t really need to have MGM opt in to buy and produce anything. It’s just like in the music industry.
All the music my daughter and I make? We don’t go to a big fancy studio. Why?
Johnny Caps: Right. You have your own set-up going on, and your friend’s as well.
Liane Curtis: Exactly. I have radio stations that play the music that’s coming out of our house, so why am I paying for that, unless it’s something that’s completely out of my knowledge or Jaq’s knowledge, or unless Jaq is feeling, “I don’t want to do this myself, Mom. Can we hire somebody and can I just tell them what to do?”. So far she’s done really well, and the learning curve of her friends?
She’s doing just fine.
Johnny Caps: Okay. Related to this question: Hollywood nowadays is well-known for doing a lot of remakes and reboots, and not many of them do well. If you were to get news that 16 Candles was about to be rebooted, how would you react to that?
Liane Curtis: I’d probably roll my eyes because nobody could do it better. It might be different, but nobody could do it better, and could you not come up with an original idea? Why do you have to go back and keep making remakes?
It kind of drives me nuts.
Johnny Caps: When it comes to remakes and reboots, it’s like for every one Scarface, you have 10 Jem And The Holograms.
Liane Curtis: (Laughing) Uh huh, exactly. You know what, why don’t you do something clever, like Mr. Robot? When have you ever seen somebody, except in House, be a complete jerk?
I mean, the things that fly on that show. He’s a complete freak drug addict with mental illness out the wazoo. People want to complain about glorifying date rape in 16 Candles and dialogue like, “A black guy?” “No, a pink guy. A black Trans-Am”, and then the look of relief on Randy’s face when Samantha doesn’t want to date a black guy.
I mean, is that really any worse than flagrant mental illness being put up as entertainment for people? It’s crazy. People just want to tell a story, you know?
Liane Curtis: Yes. I would’ve listened to my team. I would’ve been less out of control.
I would’ve been a better listener. I would’ve been more manageable, probably…Then again, if I could go back and do anything differently from the aspect of I am who I am now as a result of all the things I’ve done collectively, all the experiences and activities like the 80s or whatever, I kind of like who I am. If going back and doing anything differently would alter who I am today, then I don’t know about that.
As far as being specific to my career, I might have listened a little bit better and not been such a lonely-child upstart (laughing).
Johnny Caps: I see. Well, that about does it for my questions. I thank you again for taking the time to do this.
I actually saw 16 Candles for the first time when I was 16 myself, and even though I’m a guy and not a girl, I could definitely relate to a lot of what was in it. You were part of what made it such a memorable movie, and it was an honor to speak to you.
Liane Curtis: Well, it was an honor to be spoken to, and to have you ask me to do this interview. I really, really appreciate it. I’m incredibly flattered, and it’s my privilege to talk to you, Johnny.
Thank you so much for giving me a call and giving me your time.
Johnny Caps: No problem.
Liane Curtis: How lovely of you. I really appreciate it.
Johnny Caps: And I really appreciate your time as well. I hope you have a good afternoon.
Liane Curtis: I will do that, and I hope you do the same.
Johnny Caps: I’ll talk to you soon.
Liane Curtis: Thanks, Johnny. Be well.
Johnny Caps: You, too.
Liane Curtis: Okay, bye.
Johnny Caps: See you later. Bye.
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I would once more like to thank Liane Curtis for taking the time to speak to me. For more on Liane’s work, visit her Facebook fan page and her website.
Who will I Flashback with next? Stay tuned.
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