Chad Lindberg talks Grave Spitting

Out now from Anchor Bay/Starz is I Spit on Your Grave (2010) [review here] and Killer Film catches up with character actor Chad Lindberg who played the vulnerable Matthew in the remake. Fans will recognize Lindberg as Jesse from the first Fast and Furious film, Ash from Supernatural, and O’Dell from October Sky.

Jon: I want to thank you for taking the time to talk about I Spit on Your Grave (2010), which came out on Blu-ray and DVD recently. I believe though, now, you’re shooting an episode for Criminal Minds? How’s that going?

Chad Lindberg: Yeah, I am. Thanks for calling me up, I love talking about I Spit on Your Grave. I’m excited for Criminal Minds. It’s just a great show, great cast.

Jon: It seems like when you do TV it’s either genre shows like Buffy the Vampire Slayer [episode "I, Robot...You Jane"], Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles [episode ""The Good Wound"], and Supernatural or these criminal procedural shows.

Chad Lindberg: Yeah, I’ve been lucky doing both these genres things like Supernatural and the criminal procedural shows like CSI or Criminal Minds. Both have huge fan bases.

Jon: Getting back to I Spit on Your Grave, I read your rep wanted you do to another role, but you felt you were right for Matthew. Can you explain further?

Chad Lindberg: Yeah, what happened was they wanted me for Daniel Franzese’s character but I told them I wanted Matthew. I read the script and then told my ex-manager that’s who I’ll audition to play. I did it and they liked me and called me back. I didn’t know it was a remake at that time, I just wanted to be a part of a great script. I then looked it up online and saw the history of the film, and then wanted to honor the original’s legacy.

Jon: Did you do any research for Matthew, since he is mentally handicapped?

Chad Lindberg: No, what I did was I saw some Youtube videos on stuttering since we only had two weeks to prepare. So I came in with it, but I wanted to give Matthew a vulnerable. child-like, and sympathetic personality, even though he was pathetic and highly influenced. I didn’t try to hard, I just wanted it natural, so I came in and did that.

Jon: That’s interesting since the film is so canonizing. Matthew does die, and do you think he deserved too, even though he was the first to rape Jennifer?

Chad Lindberg: Yeah, actually. I’ve been asked that before. In many respects, yes he did deserve to die since he did rape Jennifer and strangle her. While he liked Jennifer and she kissed him, he was pressured into it against his will. But his hormones did overtake him in further the act. I can say yes and I can see why people would say “no“.

Jon: He’s just a domino in a line of dominoes falling.

Chad Lindberg: Yeah! But he did like it once he started. What do you think?

Jon: Well, it was fun to read Roger Ebert’s review, even though I reviewed it, because he hated the original so much, and even though he was harsh, I don’t think he was fair because of his hatred on the original. He didn’t give it a fair shake. It’s such a fine line, because of Matthew’s handicap. Yes, he deserved it, but that’s also interesting in Jennifer’s set-up to kill him. It was by accident in it’s execution.

Chad Lindberg: You bet.

Jon: How was working with Sarah Butler (Jennifer). She came out of nowhere and wowed a lot of fans.

Chad Lindberg: Yeah, she was great, one of the guys, but a total pro. It was a tough role and she got down there and dirty. Sometimes she needed her space, which the rest of us gave her. But she’s become a good friend of my girlfriend and I.

Jon: The film is such a cesspool of controversy, there’s little black or white about it. Gang rape and rape in general has been the subject of debate in Hollywood recently, especially in the documentary This Film is Not Yet Rated, you mentioned in another interview that if Steven Monroe stuck to closely to the original, there would be no point in remaking it, can you explain further?

Chad Lindberg: I’m quite fond of the original now that I’ve seen it, but he felt strongly on some of the revenge aspects. I don’t know in this film if Jennifer could so willingly flirt with one of them to kill them. He twisted it and made the connections deeper with the guys. It’s such a ride and it invites controversy. I don’t think he needed to stick so closely to the original, as that film was for that time, and it felt ready for a remake.

Jon: You knew about the original film’s controversy once you knew it was a remake, is there any hesitation or excitement as an actor that this work is going to be so widely debated? The film did have some notorious festival screenings…

Chad Lindberg: Sure! (laughs) I got excited because that’s the catch, to invite conversation. I’d feel honored if people would recognize me on the street for this film and come to talk to me about it. I’d ask them if they saw it with anyone, what did they think. Just like Ebert noted in his review (here) about people seeing it with other people, the questions. It has a purpose. I’m excited for more people to see it and talk about it. You don’t get a script or a film like this every day. It’s just thrilling.

Currently, I Spit on Your Grave is out now on Blu-ray and DVD.