Darren Stein

It clicked immediately for me as analogous to Sidney Prescott's story, and Sidney Prescott's story is one I am wildly familiar with.

Wes Craven, the director, one of the titans of horror.

You know, I look at, I look at the horror space, the very male-dominated horror director space of the '70s, '80s, '90s, and I absolutely can recognize the brilliance of John Carpenter.

Halloween is a perfect film.

You know, Tobe Hooper, George A. Romero, Dario Argento, Alfred Hitchcock.

And I am someone that is like, "Why is change happening to me? Why?" Rose fit in as Paige so immediately, so effortlessly, as an actor, as this character navigated these giant shoes, because in the show it was very much like, "Our sister Prue has died, and she was holding this family together, and now we have ex- have to accept this new half-sister." Like, the show played it as the big change that it was, and Rose McGowan had to come in.

And I think back and have to give Rose so much credit for coming into what I'm r- what we've heard is a very weird situation, a difficult situation, carving out a wholly unique space for herself, becoming a favorite, becoming such a core piece of the show, and is still so kind to fans from every walk of her career.

I think first to Jawbreaker, okay? She is, she's so good as the mean girl in Jawbreaker and is still very friendly with the director of that, Darren Stein.

There is a new show in Los Angeles called Jawbreaker: The Musical.

It is a musical based on the iconic 1999 film, and I have the writer of the book and also the writer-director of the actual movie, Darren Stein, on the podcast.

Uh, I also have one of the actors from the show, AJ Paramo, who plays the Judy Greer character in the movie, Fern Mayo, who becomes Violet, who has this dramatic makeover.

And in the new musical version, which is different than the movie, the character of Fern is a trans character, so becoming Violet, the popular girl, is, uh, a richer journey as a result.

We're gonna record a live episode and do other fun things, and you can learn about that at dnrtravel.com.

Uh, that's it for the plugs.

Uh, here now is my interview with Darren Stein and AJ Paramo.

[upbeat music] Joining me now, uh, from Los Angeles, it's Darren Stein.