Interview: Betsy Russell Completes the Jigsaw Puzzle in ‘Saw 3D’

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CHICAGO – Betsy Russell possibly made one of the greatest feature film debut moments in movie history. In the early VHS and cable days, no one can ever forget her epic horse ride in “Private School.” It’s great to have Betsy back, adding her legacy to the incredibly successful “Saw” horror franchise, this time in “Saw 3D.”

Russell was a quintessential California girl from San Diego and was born into a family of intellectuals and educators. Her father, Richard Russell, is one of the most sought after economic/Dow Jones theorists, and her grandfather was the author and liberal lion Max Lerner. Russell added to that famous lineage by shooting her first commercial at 16 years old, and moving on to Hollywood to pursue acting full-time shortly thereafter.

A Star is Reborn: Betsy Russell of ‘Saw 3D’ Photo credit: Persona PR

The memorable feature film debut and the horse ride in “Private School” has been named one of the sexiest moments in movie history. The movie also launched the career of Phoebe Cates and takes its place among the great teen sex comedies of the 1980s.

From there Betsy Russell kept plugging away, raising a family (her ex-husband is Vince Van Patten), doing TV and bit parts until the Saw franchise came knocking. Since Saw III, Russell has played Jill Tuck, the ex-wife of the Jigsaw killer. Her role has expanded in the subsequent series, and keeps on going in the upcoming Saw 3D.

HollywoodChicago.com talked to Betsy Russell via phone from California and ran the gamut of her glamorous and well-deserved career revival.

HollywoodChicago.com: What has been the most satisfying aspect of being part of the Saw Franchise?

Betsy Russell: I was sitting here at my house after just being interviewed by the Los Angeles Times, and just thinking, wow, I just want to take a moment to reflect, this is pretty amazing. It’s happening so fast, and I’m not really thinking about it, but just to say at this point in my life I have really been in the number one horror franchise in movie history.

My friends at the gym are always pointing out articles where I’m in the same paragraph as Megan Fox, or this or that. It’s crazy, I can’t believe I’m back, yet along with this company. Working with the production team and getting a lot of recognition for the film has been amazing.

HollywoodChicago.com: Jill Tuck’s role has expanded with each of the subsequent sequels. How will the mystery of her character continue in Saw 3D?

Russell: I can’t tell you that, it wouldn’t be much of a mystery if I told you. Jill is Jill, we’ll just go with that. She’s a great woman.

HollywoodChicago.com: What is the difference between the filmmakers you were working with in your early career versus the filmmakers that work on the Saw franchise?

Russell: That’s an interesting question because I was just reading a little blurb online about a director on a movie I did called ‘Out of Control’ [1985, directed by Allan Holzman], and he went on to do award winning things, documentaries and other films. The directors I work with now are amazing, talented and insightful, but I’ve also worked with directors before who have gone on to do incredible things. For example, the dialogue coach from Private School [Jerry Zaks] went on to a Broadway career. All the people I worked with were fine. I don’t like to compare one to the other, they are all different.

HollywoodChicago.com: Why do you think audiences are fascinated with the dark side of human nature as perpetuated by horror films like Saw? Is it a survival mechanism for us?

Russell: Not everyone is a fan, there are definitely specific fans for these types of films, and their are certain types of fans for other types of movies. Most of the people in my life on a day-to-day basis won’t watch horror movies. With certain people I think it just gets their adrenaline going and gets their inner daredevil out.

HollywoodChicago.com: When you made “Private School” back in the early 1980s, the videotape revolution had just begun. What do you think of how your images from that film proliferated from VHS to DVD to the internet? What do you think of the ability to download virtually anything from the internet, including those pictures of your younger days?

Russell: When I said I would do the topless scene, because it wasn’t in the original script for Private School. I remember thinking I’m 19 years old, my body is great and for the rest of my life I’m going to have something on film that the people will say, ‘yeah, she’s topless but that is my Mom, that was my Grandmother, that was my Great-Grandmother’s first film.’

I remember thinking this is kind of cool, why not? Just to have it out there now in the ‘anything goes’ era, with Playmates becoming TV stars and the like, I am proud of it, I’m proud of my body and I’m proud of the sort of free feeling that my character had in that movie, not inhibited whatsoever. It’s more of a European-type feeling, that the body can be a beautiful thing. There is reason to hide it.

Horsing Around: Betsy Russell in ‘Private School’ Photo credit: Universal Home Entertainment

HollywoodChicago.com: You were beautiful then, you are beautiful now, nothing to worry about. Do you remember the name of the famous horse on which you rode to 1980s movie glory?

Russell: No, because he almost killed me. I didn’t know how to ride very well and I got on it just to get to know the horse. We didn’t have a very big budget so that the stunt guys had gotten some kind of wild horse. The minute I got on the horse it took off with me. Of course, everybody was at lunch except for the stunt guys, the horse wranglers and me. I thought I was going to die, because it started to run out of the stable area. Somebody finally stopped it. So I don’t remember the name, but it ended up being a quiet, passive horse after that incident.

HollywoodChicago.com: You were fairly busy in the 1980s with your career. Was there anything that you auditioned for or didn’t do that you think might have led to a different career track?

Russell: Yeah, I was a favorite of a casting director name Wally Nicita, and she eventually became a producer. She was a big fan of mine after Private School, and there was a film coming up called ‘Silverado.’ I was shooting ‘Avenging Angel at the time and I had an audition. It was a night shoot, I was very tired and I didn’t really understand the ins and outs of the business, I relied more on my manager to take care of that, and he was learning to as we went along.

So they called for me at the audition for Silverado, and I didn’t pay attention to who had been cast in it. I just looked at it as an ensemble piece, and the other movie I was auditioning for was a ski movie, in which I would star. I just said let’s go for the bigger part. As luck would have it, the audition was in the same building as Wally Nicita’s office, and she kept saying how much the directors and producers of Silverado would love to see me. I told her no, I was here for the other audition. She looked at me like I was the stupidest person on the planet, and never contacted me for anything again.

Everything happens for a reason. I always believe my career would have been different had I done that part. I can’t say if it would have been better or worse. I’ve had a good run.

No Distress: Betsy Russell as Jill in ‘Saw 3D’ Photo credit: Brooke Palmer for © Lionsgate

HollywoodChicago.com: You have an interesting pedigree growing up, with your father as a famous Wall Street theorist and economist. How did that focus challenge your family dynamic, did it make you more aware of the how the world really is in an economic sense?

Russell: Well, let me put it this way. My grandfather, Max Lerner, was more famous at the time than my father. When I went to see my grandfather’s lectures, he was more well known, he lived at the Playboy Mansion. He was much more high profile than my Father. Hugh Hefner would drop to my grandfather’s feet when he told his stories. He was brilliant.

I never realized how famous my Dad was becoming, because my parents were divorced and down-to-earth, and my sister, Mother and I lived in a church she had bought, which was basically a commune. So I wasn’t say I was running around saying my life was great, and I’m so spoiled because my Dad is a famous economist. There was a lot of times where he would predict something would happen, and he was wrong.

Eventually he got it right, and at 86 years old he is at the height of his iconic status. I’m so happy that he has lived to see that. When we go to parties where he isn’t expected, people are actually shaking sometimes when they meet him.

HollywoodChicago.com: In your biography, it states that you have studied Spiritual Psychology. What, in your opinion, is the human psyche missing most in their various pursuits in life that you have discovered through this study?

Russell: Compassionate love for ourselves, compassionate self-forgiveness and love. If we were all healed from our issues and flushed ourselves with love, compassion and understanding, we wouldn’t blame everything on everyone else. Broken hearts and broken souls would truly be healed.

HollywoodChicago.com: Finally, your grandfather, Max Lerner, once said that “the turning point in the process of growing up is when you discover the core strength within you that survives all hurt.” What is that core strength for you and how does it help you survive?

Russell: That’s so interesting that he said that because he used to say to me all the time ‘how did you survive your childhood?’ My core strength was an inner love for myself, I have to go back to that. An inner love for myself and that I could achieve anything I’ve set my sight upon, and that I worked hard to get.

For me, it was about crawling out of the crazy atmosphere I grew up in, and becoming an adult and really going for my dreams.

By PATRICK McDONALD Senior Staff Writer HollywoodChicago.com pat@hollywoodchicago.com