At Boston Comic Con last week, there was a lot happening. There were artists and writers selling prints and comics, other vendors selling toys, clothes, etc. There was a gaming room, impromptu cosplay photo ops, celebrity autograph and photo op sessions, and of course, panels with the stars.
One of those stars was Cassandra Peterson, who is known primarily as her character alter ego, Elvira.
Peterson may not be as main-stream as the other stars, like Marvel actors Brett Dalton and Hayley Atwell, but she has a devoted cult following and her career has spanned decades, with her alter ego Elvira being the key part of it almost from the very beginning.
The cult favorite comedy-horror star, whose Elvira character is most known as a horror host, appeared as herself for the panel. The love for both Peterson and Elvira was clear by the fan's line of questioning.
To kick things off, she told a story about being in a Halloween parade in New York City with Gene Simmons and Paul Stanley. They were all in their full drag, freezing and while waiting in a trailer, Gene jokingly asked how long they'll keep getting into that drag, since, as Elvira agreed, it was amusing they were still doing it at their age (Peterson is 63).
She then discussed a reunion show she did with the Groundlings, a noted improvisational company that has launched the careers of many esteemed actors and actresses. She wasn't thrilled that they had to rehearse for it, but in the end was happy they did and said the show "turned out really funny."
For her next subject, Peterson talked about her relationship with Pee Wee Herman (Paul Reubens). She said they're "cut from the same mold." The two are very close, in part because they both developed their characters at the same time and are two of few people she knows who own the rights to their own characters. Additionally, because their characters are so distinct and different from, and transcend the actors themselves in pop culture, she and Pee Wee can go out as their real selves and go unrecognized.
"It's fun at first but after a while you get over the fame stuff, so it's nice that I can go out."
She added that people usually recognize Pee Wee first. One time, when they met the Rock (Dwayne Johnson) he jumped "up and down like a little girl" when he recognized Pee Wee.
On what she's working on now...
She has two long term projects that are slow going but coming. One of them is an Adult Swim-type Elvira cartoon. She plans to do the voice-over for that, as she loves voice-over work and has plenty of experience in it. Her second project is an autobiography that's "taking forever." She joked that she's been at it for 15 years and is only up to age 2.
She also mentioned having projects coming out in October but under contract, couldn't say more.
On past projects...
She discussed The Elvira Show, a pilot CBS did that everyone raved about, but never aired. The president got sick the week of the meeting to green-light the show, Howard Stein, then head of sports at CBS stepped in and decided they couldn't put "the chick with the big boobs" on CBS. The project was killed, and the next year Sabrina the Teenage Witch came out, which was exactly like her show but younger.
As an extra tidbit, Elvira noted that when casting her niece for the show she was down to two girls. The one she did not choose was Hilary Swank and when she saw Swank years later, she asked what she was up to. Swank said that she had just won an Academy Award. Peterson also rejected Brad Pitt for a role once because he was too cute for it. When she saw him later, she joked that she saved his career by not casting him.
On women in horror...
When she started out, she said there were no conventions like Boston Comic Con and at the ones she went to, there were no women. When she got more into horror the only women she saw were perhaps victims of the films.
"But over the years it's grown and grown, it's been building and I'm so happy to see at these conventions that there are as many women as there are men... and they're interested in producing, it's not a men's club anymore," said Peterson.
On how she's stayed in shape ...
She said she just eats well and works out, and proudly noted that she's never had to change her dress size except for when she was pregnant, and her waist is the only thing that's gotten bigger.
On her favorite part of doing Elvira: Mistress of the Dark...
"It was so much fun, we had a huge budget, I got to write," said Peterson. "My favorite part was writing it, but in the movie itself it was the game show scene."
On how she gets into Elvira's personality...
"The character is odd, I don't know how but it just went that way," said Peterson.
She compared Elvira to a very old teenager because she's moody, has an attitude and seems tough but is vulnerable... like "a hooker with a heart of gold."
On the lack of horror hosting on TV now...
She said she thought it was over in the 90s because syndication gobbled everything up and films became hard to get, but she's seen a lot on the Internet, so she thinks it's back.
"I'm happy to say horror hosting is not off the map," said Peterson.
On what Marvel character she'd want to be...
She has been in Marvel and DC comics, but is always talking to Stan Lee about doing more. She loves comic books, but it's tough to get into the business because it's a small audience and not very good money. She said even Lee tells her to skip comics and go straight to the Internet.
Other tidbits...
-She and Pee Wee fought over then-new director Tim Burton to get him for a live-action film. With a studio and thus, more money behind him, Pee Wee won. She's never gotten over it.
-Of the movies she's hosted, everyone loves Attack of the Killer Tomatoes but she thought it was tough because all the ketchup jokes were in the movie.
-The secret to keeping her voluptuous breasts up is that she found a bra in 1981 in a stripper's lingerie store, and when the store went out of business, she bought all of the bras. She jokes they're industrial strength and extra push up.
-At Comic Con she met two people named Cassandra after her
-She has 100 scripts for a movie about Elvira facing off against lesbian vampires but she has never been able to find a market for it so she's ready to shred them.
-She has launched a crowd funding campaign to help her get a star on Hollywood Boulevard. It costs $30,000 so she's asking for just $5 from each fan.
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