Karen Cliche on Ice Cream Man, Reuniting with Eli Roth & Her Creepiest Scene

[00:00:08] Karen, thank you for joining me today on Pop Culture Unplugged. Thanks for having me. Nice to see you again. Welcome back. Last time I said we spoke about Thanksgiving, now Ice Cream Man. It seems like you're building that resume with just a horror. Just keep going with it. Yeah, except this time it's an upgrade. I went from being a turkey to his wife. So hey, I feel like that's a plus. So maybe the next movie could be the killer. Who knows? Oh my God. I mean, I've had so many killers in Lifetime movies. I want to. I'm in. I'm available.

[00:00:38] Yeah. So yeah, congrats on Ice Cream Man. It's been out now for almost a week. What's been the fan reaction with you, the fans and everybody else, family, friends? Yeah, you know what? I mean, I just flew back from LA, I think yesterday. I don't even know where I am. And I haven't even had a chance to talk to people about it. Really, I've just seen kind of some reviews online that which are mixed. So I hear but I just think that it's, it's so like unique.

[00:01:08] It's unique in its own way because it's, you know, featuring all the kids mostly. It's like I, when I watched, I saw it for the first time in LA. And obviously I read the script, so I knew it was happening. But to see it on screen and to, the way that I saw it was like, it was so different than a regular kind of movie. It was more like very chaotic assault on your senses, which I thought was great. It's a shorter movie than usual, which is great for us, you know, ADD culture.

[00:01:32] And I just loved it. I thought that I, because in movies, I find they drag on too long. And a lot of times they have like these like slower pace scenes that you're just like, okay, let's go. I felt like this was so refreshing in a way that it was just like, I didn't think about anything else. I just, you know, I was just kind of engrossed in it. So I think that that, if people look at it that way, they can appreciate that for sure. So I don't know. I enjoyed it that way because it's very rare to keep my attention for that long.

[00:01:58] Now, did Eli Roth call you, say we have a part for you? How did this happen? How did he get you back on for this one? Yeah. So we had been in touch since Thanksgiving. We had even done some horror conventions together. So we were all constantly kind of in touch. And then when I did, I think it was like last year or a year and a half ago, one of his fake trailers, don't go in that house. Okay. Yeah. So I was in one of those trailers. So I saw him, I think that was like in the fall of the year before.

[00:02:25] And that's when he brought it up to me, told me about this concept. And then it was, you know, he kind of alluded to, he's like, yeah, yeah. So, you know, we'll play the parents. And I was like, did you just offer me a part? Like, I need clarity. Yeah. And then, then it became official like a little while later. And then we were part of the casting process for our kids too, which was awesome. Yeah. Awesome. So, so he, he gets you on board and everything. You read the script. What was your reaction after you went through that whole script?

[00:02:51] Well, I laughed so much and I laughed even harder when I saw it come to life on screen. I don't know what it is about me, even on Saw 6. When I was like, see like the blood and guts, like splashing all over my head, I was just dying. Um, so I find that stuff really funny, but to see it come to life. And I thought the kids were so good. You know, it's always a little tricky to work with kids. You don't know how good they're going to be, but all the, they just sold it. You know, they're the, they're the main characters in this movie. And I just thought the acting was fantastic. So I was really pleased about that.

[00:03:21] For you as an actor, what did you want to establish about Allison as a mother before everything completely falls apart? I guess. Yeah. It's so funny. Cause at Thanksgiving, I was like, kind of like the evil stepmother and nice, cool mom. Um, yeah. Eli and I kind of talked about the relationship that we want. We wanted to kind of be cool parents, but obviously strict when we needed to be and wanting the kids to get on the right path and follow in our footsteps with our careers and stuff like that.

[00:03:50] So we really wanted it to be fun. Like a lot of that scene that we did was mostly improv, not mostly improv. I would say like the beginning and the end, we did a lot of improv. I mean, it was a 12 page scene on paper. And then Eli just kind of went, you know, let's roll.

[00:04:06] And then before we even started our dialogue, he's like, let's just do like five minutes of improv and then we'll dialogue. Yeah. So it was very long. And I was like, at one point I was like, dude, if we don't start doing the scene soon, I'm going to forget all of my lines. But it was so fun. So fun to act against him too. That was really. Um, I don't want to give out too much about the movie because I want people to go see it too. But like how much did knowing the history of the family in the past influenced the way you looked at Allison and the family too?

[00:04:35] Um, you know, like not so much because I, it's funny when I approach roles like that, I kind of just in a moment with the audience and stay present to what the audience is knowing about me at that time, unless it's really, really, really important. And it's like essential to the specific scene that I'm, that I'm filming. But I kind of was just like, I didn't put too much thought into that because it wasn't really that necessary in the scenes that we shot.

[00:05:03] Um, but yeah, yeah, it was good. And you guys shot this out of sequence too, right? Oh yeah. Always. Yeah. Most films are shot out of sequence. So I was totally used to that. Um, maybe my first scene was the ending. I think my first scene was that, which is always kind of cool. I was like easing into movies like that with a little bit of the, uh, less dialogue scenes than just kind of getting the vibe.

[00:05:28] Yeah. Did you see Allison as another victim on the cycle of revenge? Would you say? Well, yeah, let's just say the kids are grounded. Yes. Yes. I did. Uh, yeah, they were definitely a victim victims of this, of this ice cream curse.

[00:05:51] Oh, well, we mentioned Eli Roth before too, you know, uh, he's, you know, he's directing this violent movie, but also playing your husband. What was it like having your scene partner all of a sudden say, cut, go to director mode and back?

[00:06:02] Yeah. You know what? I was trying to think if there's any other time that I've had that happen. If I've been directed, maybe like one other time that my co-star has been the director as well. So I just loved, cause he's so talented. He's been in this business for so many years. So he was just really cool and just very kind of collected, but very, very intense and focused as Eli is.

[00:06:22] So it was really cool to watch him work and to be able to wear all those hats. I don't know if I could, like, I really liked to just like focus on one thing at a time. So it was really nice to see him not only just act with him, but see him as the director and be able to like look through that lens of himself as the actor and then, and us too. And yeah, I don't think I'd be able to do it. Well, for you, what was the biggest challenge for you for this movie then? Would you say?

[00:06:50] Hmm. Well, you know, it's funny. Cause like, again, in Thanksgiving, being in that tight space, that oven, people are always asking me like, Oh my God, were you claustrophobic? I was like, no, it's pretty good. Like it was cool about it. It was like torture being in there for that long. But the end scene of Ice Cream Man was a little, I had a moment there where I was like, like I, you know, you know what I'm talking about? The depth and the area that I'm in, I was like,

[00:07:16] because it was a real cemetery, let's just say. So yeah, I, I, I had a little creepy moment with that, to be honest. Well, I mentioned it when I was talking to Kiori the other day, she was like, it was just like body parts everywhere at one point. That's what she kept saying. It's like, I walk in a room and there's just body parts everywhere.

[00:07:32] Yeah. Welcome to an Eli Roth film. But that's even worse. Like this one was just like literally like just body parts. I wasn't in those crazy school scenes. So I didn't really have that experience. My scenes are pretty normal, you know, they'd seen, they'd seen outside. So for once I wasn't assaulted with all the amazing prosthetics that he gets done. But yeah, it was a lot of blood and guts for sure. So how did you build that family dynamic with Sarah and Charlie?

[00:08:03] Like so easy because I don't know. I was so impressed. And even like seeing them all at the premiere, because I hadn't worked with a lot of the other kids. I just worked with my kids. Sarah, I was like, from the beginning, I was like, girl, you're a star. You're, you're off. Like you are just, and then she booked like the body right after Ice Cream Man. And we were chatting about that. I was like, I was like, she's a star for sure.

[00:08:23] And Charlie is just like so talented. I mean, both of them are dancers. I mean, Sarah doesn't sing, I don't think, but Charlie can play guitar, sing, act. And the maturity in these kids, like I wasn't like that when I was a kid. I was kind of like shy, like kind of a normie kid. This generation of kids were just so mature and so eloquent. And I'm so impressed with them.

[00:08:46] So now, so now you've worked, you know, horror, like I mentioned earlier, science fiction, action comedy, you know, like what's your favorite, would you say out of those? I love comedy. I love comedy. I like whether it's improv, but I just love comedy. I want to do more because I remember even in my twenties, I started off not only comedy, but I did a lot of comedic films.

[00:09:08] And, and then kind of got into that like action sci-fi, very serious, tough girl roles, which I always tried to sprinkle a little bit of sense of humor, whether it was a dry sarcasm. I really, it was important to me. And then, yeah. And then the horror. So I'm just like, oh my God, I just dying to do just comedies after this. Whoever's listening to this, cast me in a comedy. Do you think Allison could have survived at Thanksgiving?

[00:09:36] I think, I think Kathleen fought for her life. So I think that in a battle between Allison and Kathleen, I mean, Kathleen, for sure. Like I think, you know, she didn't, she didn't win, but she fought the good fought. So I'm, I'm on team Kathleen for that. I think she would have done better. So after making a movie like this, do you even want to hear an ice cream truck ever again?

[00:09:57] I didn't before this, I always thought they were creepy and I never liked them. I swear to God, since I was a kid, I don't think I went to an ice cream truck more than five times in my entire life because there was something about that creepy truck and the music and the men. I don't know. So maybe I'm the weirdo, but when Eli told me about this concept, I was like, oh my God, you are in my thoughts because those creep me out. It's true. So it's definitely, it's a definite no now. And I kind of feel sorry for ice cream trucks around the world because this might have a negative effect.

[00:10:26] Maybe. Yeah. So what, now that this is out of everything, you know, I know we're still, people are still watching it, but what's next for you? Any other projects you'd like to tell us about coming up or? Yeah. So I just wrapped a movie, which I'm so excited for it to come out with Vince Vaughn. It's all my scenes were with Vince, Theo James, Patrick Schwarzenegger. So it's directed by S. Craig Zoller, who's amazing, very film noir, very kind of indie film vibe. And it's a period piece, 1950s, New York City, Mafia. Oh, okay.

[00:10:55] And just, it was just such a beautiful experience for me. And I can't wait for you guys to see that. Any idea when that's swinging around? No, he's editing it right now. He was, he usually releases his films at the Venice Film Festival, but we're not going to see that. So hopefully early next year. I don't know. We'll see. Maybe some more horror movies down the road again. I'm in. I'm sure, I'm sure Eli's got another plan. Well, we'll see if those trailers actually come to fruition. If so.

[00:11:25] Karen, I want to thank you for keeping your feelings today. Good luck with the rest of the press and hopefully we can get more reviews on this. Thank you so much. Thanks for having me. Thank you.