Erin Cummings landed the lead role in the independent feature Bitch Slap, a post-modern, thinking man's throwback to the "B" Movie/Exploitation films of the 1950's - 70's. Inspired by the likes of “Dragstrip Girls”, “Faster Pussycat, Kill, Kill”  “Kung Fu Nun“ and the pantheon of blacksploitation films. Bitch Slap follows three bad girls (a down-and-out stripper, a drug-running killer and a corporate attorney) as they arrive at a remote desert hideaway to extort and steal $200 Million in diamonds from a ruthless underworld kingpin. Things quickly spin out of control as allegiances change, truths are revealed, other criminals arrive for the score, the fate of the world hangs in the balance and they are forced to confront a villain much worse than they ever expected... themselves. In the film Erin will play “Hel”

Cameo appearances by: Kevin Sorbo (as Mr. Phoenix), Lucy Lawless (as Mother Superior), Michael Hurst (as Gage) and Renee O'Connor (as Sister Batril).  The film is directed by Rick Jacobson (Xena: Warrior Princess) and is written and produced by Eric Gruendemann. Filming recently wrapped up in the Palmdale Desert. Erin’s past credits include a supporting role in the hit film Welcome Home Roscoe Jenkins for Universal. Her TV credits include a series regular role on Dante’s Cove, and guest-starring roles on The Bold & the Beautiful, Charmed, and Star Trek: Enterprise  to name a few.

Erin recently visited the MediaBlvd Pop Culture Hour to discuss the filming of her latest movie, Bitch Slap.

Kenn> Welcome to the show!  We’re very excited to talk to you about your upcoming movie, Bitch Slap, and some of the other things you have going on.

Erin Cummings> Thank you so much, I’m very excited to talk about Bitch Slap.  I’m still sort of on the high because we only wrapped shooting about a week ago.  A lot of times you shoot something, then so much time passes that you’re like, “Oh yeah, that thing.  I kind of forgot about it.”  So I’m glad that I’m able to talk about it so soon after shooting. 

Kenn> This is actually going out live on the internet, we’ve got quite a few people hearing it live all over the world actually.  So it’s a great chance for you to talk about yourself and the movie.  So why don’t we start with you telling us about Bitch Slap?

Erin> Ok, Bitch Slap is… I like to think of it as the thinking man’s exploitation film, if you will.  It’s sort of a throwback to the grind house films of the 50’s, 60’s, and ‘70’s.  Sort of like Russ Myer with a brain because Eric Gruendemann and Rick Jacobson, who are the creators, the writers of the movie, they decided we want to watch a movie that has lots of cleavage, lots of guns, lots of fast cars and explosions.  But we want it to be well written and performed by very good actors.  So they set about writing this film.  It centers around three women from very different backgrounds who come together to find $200 million in diamonds that are buried in the dessert.  As is usually the case with these kinds of things chaos ensues, and truths get revealed, and paths get crossed, and all sorts of mayhem and drama erupts.  It finally sort of becomes this melee and all hell breaks loose pretty much.

Kenn> Sounds cool.  Can you tell us about your character?

Erin> I play Hel, which is short for Helen but obviously has other connotations.  And she is sort of a buxom corporate bombshell.  My character starts off being described as an accountants wet dream, and the type of woman that would wear a power mini business suit with garters sticking out the bottom of it.  And slowly by incorporating my own personal style into the character, she became more of a classic pinup.  I personally am not really into miniskirts.  I’d rather wear a really tight skirt that goes just below the knee with some sexy fishnets coming out of it.  That’s more my personal style and the wardrobe and producers really embraced that.  So she became more of a sexy Vargas girl type.  At the beginning of the movie, you really don’t know much about Hel, except that she is very calculating, very specific about everything she does.  She doesn’t show any emotion and is the mastermind behind the entire operation.  She is really the one in charge.  As the movie goes on, more and more is revealed about who she really is and why she is in this situation.  It was a great opportunity for me because I really get to go on a 180 degree journey.  By the end of the movie she is just a crumbling mess of emotion which is just completely different from what you see, or even imagine that she would be at the beginning of the film.

Angela> Wow, it sounds like an interesting movie.

Erin> It actually is, and that’s the thing I sit has this veil of being a total smut film, but underneath it, it actually has a heart and it has a moral compass of plot.  There’s a lot more to it than just cleavage and guns.  But those certainly help! 

Angela> I noticed in your bio that you graduated from UNT.  That’s where I went to school and graduated.

Erin> You’re kidding! 

Angela> No, University of North Texas, for those who don’t know. 

Erin> Oh my God!

Angela> I graduated with a degree in Social Work, so we weren’t in the same areas of the campus.  Are you from Texas?

Erin> I am from Texas.  Well, I’m actually from all over.  My dad is retired military officer, from the Air Force specifically.  So I was born in Lafayette, Louisiana, and moved to Omaha, Nebraska, Seoul, Korea, Bossier City Louisiana, and then Huntsville, Texas is where my dad retired.  So I spent all of junior high and high school then stayed there for college as well, and then came straight out here after I graduated.  So my roots are definitely still in Texas.

Angela> Do you miss Texas?  I live in Colorado now, but I was born and raised in TX and they say once you live in TX you always go back.  I haven’t been back yet!  My family all lives there and we go visit, but do you miss it compared to living in… you live in California now, right?

Erin> Right, I live in Los Angeles.  I certainly miss it, but not in the same way that I’d want to move home.  Not in that aspect.  There are a lot of things about Texas that I miss.  I miss the really hot summers where it rains and you can go outside and play in the rain. I do miss the humidity; it’s so good for your skin.  Oh my God, I love it.  Whenever I get to go back to Louisiana or Texas and it’s so hot.  I think it’s good to sweat.  I think it’s really healthy to sweat.  Now granted, when I’m in it for too long I go, “We need to turn on the AC.”  But it’s nice to go back.  I have family in Louisiana, and they have a house in Grand Isle, which is kind of like the Hamptons if the Hamptons were white trashy and in south Louisiana.  There’s kind of a lot of crabbing and craw fishing and drinking beer that goes on.  There are some lovely homes there.  But we go, we sit on the porch and you just walk outside and immediately you do just start sweating.  So I do miss that sort of thing; the southern heat.  And I miss the people because a lot of my family and friends are there.  But at the same time, I love Los Angeles.  I’ve been very fortunate in that I’ve met some pretty amazing people during my time here.  And I’ve developed my own family out in Los Angeles.  I’ve experienced a lot of good people, and of course the climate is gorgeous so you can’t complain.  There are always so many things to do.  I never pass up an opportunity to go home.  I’m actually going back to Dallas to visit some friend in June, which I’m very excited about. 

Angela> Now Dallas, isn’t that where you were found by a talent agent?

Erin> Yeah, actually it’s kind of an odd story.  I was getting my degree in journalism and advertising, and I love advertising.  But I knew it was not what I wanted to do.  My favorite part of it was getting up and doing the pitch at the end, being up in front of a crowd and sort of selling them.  It was sort of like a Lana Turner out of the coffee shop sort of thing.  I was just out one day, and this woman saw me and said she was from Los Angeles.   Of course I was like, “Yeah, whatever.”  She asked if I acted or modeled.  I’m like, “No, I don’t.”  I’d always done theatre and I was very interested in it.  I was doing commercials in Dallas at the time.  But when you grow up in Huntsville, TX, the idea of moving to LA and being an actress sounds crazy.  Its like, “Yeah, why don’t I just sprout a tail too?”  But all of a sudden, I got a phone call a few weeks later from the same woman and she said, “I showed your pictures to the president of our company, and we’d like to fly you out to Los Angeles.”  I thought, sure.  And everyone I knew said, “Don’t go, it’s a scam!  It’s a scam!”  I thought, it’s a scam that’s giving me a free trip to Los Angles and I know martial arts and I’ve got a credit card.  So if I’ve got those two things I can’t get into any trouble.  So fortunately nothing bad happened, and I didn’t have to use my credit card or the martial arts.  I had a lovely visit in Los Angeles for a couple of weeks, and although that didn’t necessarily translate into instant fortune and fame, I was able to meet a few people who when I did decide to move to Los Angeles on m own volition, they made the transition a little bit easier.  They helped me get my SAG card and I met other people who were doing the same things that I wanted to do.  I always thought that nepotism had to be on your side in order to have a future as an actor.  Then I came out here to visit and I saw people just like me who were waiting tables, and sending out headshots, and going on auditions.  And they were doing the daily grind of being an actor.  And I thought, “Ok, I could do that.  I’ve been relatively successful at everything else I’ve done.  I could at least give it a go and see what happens.”  So I came out here and ended up falling in love with it.  It’s become a passion of mine.  So I’m still here.

Kenn> Going back to Bitch Slap for a minute, what is the connection with the Xena/Hercules franchises?

Erin> Sure, Eric Gruendermann, who is one of the writers and the producer of the film was one of the creators of Xena, warrior princess, and ultimately the spin-off of Hercules, as well.  Rick Jacobson, who directed Bitch Slap, he directed many episodes of both Xena and of Hercules.  They had been in the business for a pretty long time, and when they decided they wanted to make a movie that they wanted to go see in the movie theaters, they were able to call in a lot of favors from people they had worked with over the years.  Obviously, Lucy Lawless and Renee O’Connor from Xena and Kevin Sorbo and Michael Hurst from Hercules, all of them are in this film.  Michael Hurst actually has the largest part.  Lucy, Renee, and Kevin all have cameos, but Michael Hurst, who played Kevin Sorbo’s sidekick in Hercules has quite a large part.  I was able to work with him for quite an extensive period of time during the shooting of this, and he was wonderful.  Kevin and I actually worked together.  When he came in, all of his stuff was with me.  So to hear the stories that they had and just watching the two of them work opposite each other, not even on camera, but just clowing around and having fun, you can see why such a great group of people emerged from the Xena and Hercules group.  It was really just an instant connection.  Zoe Bell who was our stunt coordinator was actually Lucy Lawless’ stunt double for Xena.  She also doubled for Uma Thruman in Kill Bill 1 and 2.  Then Quentein Tarantion loved working with her so much, he actually wrote a role for her in Grindhouse.  I don’t know if you saw Death Proof, which was the Quentin Tarantino film of Grindhouse, she was the girl that was strapped to the hood of the car during the big car chase scene.  She was our stunt coordinator.  And fortunately for me, she was doubling for the girl that I do a lot of my fight scenes with.  So I got to fight with Zoe for a majority of the fight scenes, which was such a treat because she is so wonderful and incredibly talented. 

Kenn> That’s great!  That’s definitely the first thing I noticed when I saw the movies IMDB profile was that connection, with all of the main cast of those shows having parts in this movie.

 Erin> Yeah, and that really speaks volumes about the people that we’re working with.  The bottom line is that no body wants to work with a jerk.  So people like working with people that they know, and people that are their friends.  If you screw over too many people, people are eventually going to go, “You know what, I’ve got enough money, and life’s too short for me to spend another day working with that guy.”  Lucy was in the middle of shooting a new Adam Sandler movie.  She was very busy, and on her one day off she said, “Yeah, I want to come in and I want to work on this movie, because it sounds like a really great project and it sounds like a lot of fun.”  She didn’t have to do that, but she did.  So it really speaks volumes about these guys.  And William Gregory Lee, who was also on many episodes of Xena, he and I were actually cast mates together on a show called Dante’s Cove.  And he came in and they wrote a part for him in this movie.  He said the same thing, he said, “I remember ten years ago working with these guys, and they were amazing then, and they are amazing now.”  So I really feel fortunate to have found a group of people who are great to work with and who are fun and incredibly creative and smart, but also enjoy recycling their actors.  I’d certainly love to work with them again.  They talk about if Bitch Slap does well, the possibility of having a sequel.  So I hope when the movie comes out, everyone will support it so I’ll be able to be in the sequel.

Shaun> What projects are you working on now, and how do you feel about the pending actors strike?

Erin> I’m pretending like it doesn’t exist.  Right now, what I’m most excited about is Welcome Home Roscoe Jenkins, which I did last year, and it came earlier this year.  The DVD is coming out in June, which is great for me because I shot some amazing stuff which was supposed to be really, really funny.  All of my scenes with Martin Lawrence were at the opening of the movie, and everyone from the studio and the director were saying, “It’s so important, it’s the most important scene I the movie.”  And of course the movie comes out, and it’s been cut.  So fortunately, they liked me enough to call me about a week before the premiere and they said, “So we’re saving your scene for the DVD special features.”  I said, “That’s a really nice way of saying my part got cut, didn’t it?”  And they said, “Yes, but we love you.”  Yeah, right, whatever, I’ll take it, it’s fine.  So on June 18^th, Welcome Home Roscoe Jenkins will be coming out on DVD, and people can see me.  I play a white girl who wants to be black.  I’m having a major identity crisis and when I come out onto the stage, I’m actually wearing corn rows and an afro.  It’s just completely obnoxious and hysterical and lots of fun.  So I’m definitely looking forward to that.  But as far as the upcoming actors strike, I really hope that they can reach some sort of deal that works for everyone, and also looks towards the future.  Certainly with the way that the industry has already evolved and changed in the last five years with the amount of shows and movies that people are watching on the Internet, there’s no way that you can deny that that is the future of television and film.  People are watching programs now.  If you can get on a plane with your IPhone and watch a three hour movie because you downloaded it on ITunes, then people need to be compensated properly for that.  At the same time, the crippling and devastating effects that the writers strike had on….  I don’t even want to say the industry, because who even knows what that means.  I don’t know what the industry is, but I do know that my friends who were writers, some of them lost their homes.  I don’t know who the industry is, but I know who people that all of a sudden their lifestyles changed and their worried about their kid’s college tuition means.  I honestly don’t care about the industry, I care about the people who work within the industry.  Unfortunately, because such a small percentage of the SAG membership actually are working actors, and everyone can vote, I really hope that the people who are working in real-estate, and not actively working as actors take into consideration what will happen to the people who are actively working as actors.  I don’t want to have to get another job.  I want to be able to stick with acting.  For someone like me, I’m just now at a point in my career where I’m working on a regular basis, and that’s exciting for me. It’s wonderful.  But of course the writers strike put a series halt on that.  It’s very difficult for people who are in my position, just now at a point where my dreams are coming true, for the whole industry to come to a grinding halt.  Then you have to sort of start back up.  So I hope that everyone is just going to do what would be right for the people who are going to be the most affected.  And that’s not just the actors, it’s everyone.  It’s the caterers, it’s the limo companies, and it’s the florists.  It’s the bus boys that rely on…. I remember when they were talking about possibly canceling the Academy Awards or the Golden Globes, there were a lot of people that I knew that were doing bus boy or hospitality type services that rely on those special events to bring in an extra kick for the year; to give them a bonus time.  Although award season certainly isn’t going to be affected by an actor’s strike, there’s still a lot of things that gone on that affect people all the way down the food chain.

Kenn> Erin, we have a caller on the line who has a question, so I’m going to go ahead and bring them in now.

Erin> Great!

Kenn> Caller you’re on the air with Erin Cummings, what’s your name?

Caller>Hello everybody, this is Rammy from Texas. 

Erin> Hi Rammy from Texas, how are you?

Caller>Pretty good how are you?  I was looking over your profile and you’re very beautiful, I just wanted to say that.  It looks like you’ve had a great career.  I noticed that you did a Star Trek episode.

Erin> Yes, I did.

Caller>I was wondering are you a Sci Fi person, or do you like to stay in drama or some other genre, or does it matter at all?

Erin> Well, certainly when you’re an actor, you almost become a whore for whatever you get in the begging.  But personally, I love the fantasy realm, whether it’s Sci Fi or horror.  And a lot of times, drama and comedy certainly have fantasy elements to them.  I was really excited to do Star Trek: Enterprise.  It was my first television role and I had two lines.  I played a prostitute and I didn’t care.  I called my parents, and I said, “I’m playing a prostitute on Star Trek: Enterprise.”  There was dead silence, then all of a sudden my dad goes, “Well, that Julia Roberts played a prostitute and she’s done just fine.”  I was like, “Thanks daddy!”  But I really do enjoy Sci Fi and anything having to do with the fantasy genre, because I believe that is why people watch television and why people watch movies.  Real life can sometimes get boring.  That’s why I don’t really understand the fascination sometimes that people with shows like The Hills, and shows like that.  You have your own life to lead, why are you watching somebody else’s’ drama.  I think it’s sometimes fun to watch people that are dressed up in alien outfits or that have problems that are not on a human level.  But we can identify with them on a certain level as well.  I think it’s interesting to step out of own world of reality. But also how do we know that that’s not real.  I think that the possibility of other species is interesting to explore.  So certainly to be able to explore that as an actor is so much fun.  And prosthetics are fun anyway.

Caller>Thank you, that’s awesome.  I’m the biggest Sci Fi fan in the world too.

Erin> Oh good, I’m so glad to hear it.

Kenn> We’ve got just about a minute here before we need to cut off.  Do you know when Bitch Slap is going to come out?  Is there a release date?

Erin> Bitch Slap; at this point, they are knee deep in post production.  So they said December 2008 is when it should be finished.  So I’d just keep telling everyone to go to bitchslapmovie.com, and sign up for the newsletter.  They’ll keep everyone posted of upcoming events.  I think we’re going to be at Comic-Con in San Diego in July, as well.  So anyone who is in the area; be sure to come visit us. 

Kenn> Definitely, we’ll have to look you up there.  Maybe we can have you back when it’s gets a little closer.

Erin> I’d love to do that, thank you so much!