Teri McMinn

Interview by: Elaine Lamkin As any horror fan worth their salt knows, back in 1974, a little film was released (or unleashed) upon the public with the off-putting yet intriguing title, The Texas Chain Saw Massacre. Most horror folks have heard all the stories about the film including The Dinner Scene shoot and about the deal with Bryanston, which led to years of legal wrangling. The cast has, to one degree or another, stayed in the public eye and director Tobe Hooper, DP Daniel Pearl and Production Manager Ron Bozman all moved on to other films, even an Oscar win. But one cast member has remained mysteriously quiet. And she is the most iconic of them all – Pam, the girl on the hook. Every TCM poster has her image along with Gunnar Hansen’s Leatherface, but no one really knew what happened to her once the film was wrapped. Now, Teri McMinn, who so memorably played Pam, the Girl in the Red Shorts, has emerged from her self-imposed silence and TCM fans are rejoicing! Dread Central recently interviewed the delightfully vivacious Teri McMinn and got the scoop on where she went after the film, what she remembers from the shoot and what she REALLY wishes she had kept from the movie. Elaine Lamkin: Thank you so much for taking time to speak with Dread Central, Teri. It seems you are definitely the It Girl right now. Teri McMinn: Well, there are definitely a lot of "Pam" fans I have met this past year, since my debut at Monster Mania in 2008. It was pretty overwhelming at first. EL: The obvious question, which I’m sure you’ve already been asked a million times is: Where did you go after Chainsaw? It was almost as though you fell off of the face of the earth. And there was talk that you wanted nothing to do with the film after you did it. What brought you out of retirement now? TM: There was never any time unfortunately. I was for several years, in the late '80's, an Event Planner and after that I ran my own floral business until 2004. From 2004 until 2008, I moved back to Los Angeles where I managed a hotel on the beach. I was extremely focused and committed to my work. The luxury of 'your own time' just doesn't exist when you run a business. When you run any business, especially your own, you can't just take off whenever you like, to do interviews and conventions. If I go to a convention, as I do now on occasion, I'm gone a minimum of 5 days. After they're over, we're all completely exhausted, because from the moment we arrive at the conventions, we're busy from morning until late at night, meeting fans all day signing, and usually numerous interviews. There are always parties, screenings, and Q and A's. This includes 2 days of flying and traveling to get there and home. Conventions are so much fun to do, but they are also very hard work. I realized more than ever, once I 'came out', it's very time consuming being "Pam". I am contacted by sweet, loving, and devoted fans, every day... and it is growing with each convention. After Cinema Wasteland in April 2008, I had over 500 email messages, comments, tags, and requests in a month. Geez~ and a gazillion hits between My Space and Facebook. I'm not complaining, just stating the logistics! "Pam" is so beloved. EL: How did you originally get involved in the film? Were you a student at UT-Austin? TM: No, not UT. They refused to accept 1 hour of my 40 hard earned hours from the year I was an Apprentice at The Dallas Theater Center. The DTC was affiliated with Trinity University in San Antonio. Unbeknownst to naive me, there was a bitter, jealous rivalry between Paul Baker at Trinity/DTC and the Drama Director at UT. It was insane! I ended up just taking math and English classes that year. The next year I switched to St Edward's University in Austin, where the head of their Drama Department, Dr. Ed Mangum, accepted all my hours. I was waiting tables at a little restaurant/ bar called Mrs. Robinson's, and going to school. Tobe and Kim saw my picture in The Austin American Statesman, the local newspaper. I was doing the play, "Catch Me If You Can", with the actor, Frank Sutton. Frank was famous for a popular '70's TV series called, "Gomer Pyle", and St Ed's brought in LA people for their shows. I got the chance to work with several L.A. 'celebrities', while I was there. EL: What memories do you have of the shoot and would you mind sharing any of them? No matter how many interviews are done, books written and documentaries filmed, people STILL have questions about The Texas Chain Saw Massacre. TM: We were all so excited in the beginning. I was to shoot for 2 and a half weeks, and was paid $200 a week. After 2 weeks, we were way behind schedule and they ran out of money. We were all asked to sign on to finish the film for 'deferred money' aka 'points' on the eventual selling of the film. It would go on another 4 weeks. Toward the end of filming I was offered a six-week run, to play the lead, "Lizzie", in “The Rainmaker", Get Paid, and get my Actor's Equity Card. This was a very big deal to any serious actor, as I was. Tobe and Kim needed to do 'a couple of days of pick-up shots', and had to have me for them. They had gone a little crazy by that time. I'm sure you've heard, as is common knowledge. If you don't, Wikipedia talks about some of the set problems. The crew had walked off twice, during Sally's scenes. Anyway, they absolutely refused to work around my schedule. I was young and felt very coerced to do what they 'needed'. If it were today, of course I would have done the play and let them work around MY schedule. There's a famous picture Sallye Richardson took of me sitting on the steps of the house, when I say the line, "Let's go!", and stomp toward the swing. I was very sad that day because, after a two weeks of losing good sleep trying to decide, I had finally turned down the play. I was tired, totally broke, very depressed. No one can really understand that we'd all been through the ringer. Believe me, none of us had a clue if all our hard work would ever come out of the can. Two and a half weeks became almost 7 grueling tense weeks. EL: Your character, Pam, along with Gunnar’s Leatherface, are the iconic images people see everytime a TCM poster is displayed. How does it feel to be known, possibly forever, as The Girl on the Hook? And just how uncomfortable WAS it to be on that hook? I have heard that pantyhose came into play, to hold you up there. TM: It feels Great... today! It was more embarrassing at the time because of the contraption inside my tiny little costume
Submitted by thebellefromhell on Tue, 11/30/1999 - 2:00am.