Local film icon talks making ‘Trouble’

Mink Stole is a scene stealer in John Waters’ films. From her roles as Connie Marble who vies with Babs Johnson (Divine) for the title “Filthiest Person Alive” in “Pink Flamingos” to the prudish Dottie Hinkle who is scandalized by obscene phone calls in “Serial Mom.”

But Stole’s career goes beyond John Waters, with appearances in popular indie queer films including “Leather Jacket Love Story,” “But I’m a Cheerleader” and several “Eating Out” films.

On June 28 at 8 p.m., Stole will be at PhilaMOCA (531 N. 12th Street) for the 45th anniversary screening of “Female Trouble,” John Waters’ 1974 classic comedy. Stole plays Taffy, the bratty daughter of Dawn Davenport (Divine).

Stole, who was in her mid-20s when she played the teenaged Taffy, is hilarious in the film. The actor spoke on the phone with PGN about working with Waters and making “Female Trouble.”

 

PGN: What do you remember about filming “Female Trouble?”

MS: Very little about making it. It was 45 years ago! I remember the dinner party scene, because that was when Divine was going to hit me over the head with a chair. You can tell I know it’s coming. I’m shaking and whimpering. My expression is: Will you please just hit me: The chair was made of balsa wood. It was a fake chair. I kept thinking: How long do you think I can stand here? It seemed interminable.

 

PGN: I was going to ask if you did your own stunts… I mean, you bravely walked through a puddle of water in one scene.

MS: Of course, everybody did their own stunts! Yes, I did that. That was actually me. My actual feet. I did not have a body double for the puddle scene. I actually really liked walking through the puddle. I wasn’t directed to. It wasn’t an “acting choice.” It was there and that’s where I had to be. It would have put me out of focus if I didn’t and John would have been mad at me for having to reshoot.

 

PGN: John made you do some pretty outrageous things in this film and others you’ve made together. Was there anything you refused to do?

MS: Setting my hair on fire for “Pink Flamingos.” The problem is that I said I would. I’d made three movies with him, and he asked, “In the next one, would you set your hair on fire?” I wasn’t thinking about what that meant. I said, “That would be cool.” We were in the middle of filming and the time was drawing near, and I started thinking about it, and I thought: I can’t do that! I was terrified. My hair was completely bleached out. It was like cotton candy in texture. The plan was I was to sit in a chair, and Divine would say, “Liar, Liar, hair on fire!” and light a match and then someone would put it out with a bucket of water. I knew I couldn’t do it. John was upset. He’d bought me a wig to wear until my hair grew back. I never regretted not doing it. I regret saying yes and making John upset.

 

PGN: I love that you were an adult playing a teenager in “Female Trouble.” How did you “prepare” for the role?

MS: I didn’t! [Laughs]. There was no prep. There was a certain physicality that just came from putting those little baby dresses on. I just fell into this posture and it worked. My physicality is very specific. The makeup helped, and I purse my lip and pout a lot. I totally committed to it.

 

PGN: Taffy has some scandalous scenes that play as high comedy. Can you talk about making light of serious subject matter?

MS: We did not play them for high comedy. The comedy comes from the fact we played them for real, for drama. There’s no attempt to be funny, with Taffy. She’s funny, but I played it totally straight and that’s why the comedy works.

 

PGN: There’s an early scene where Taffy plays “car accident” in the living room, upsetting Dawn with the ketchup (for blood) and broken glass. What were you like as a teenager?

MS: Miserable. I hated my teenage years. I was unhappy, lonely, angry. I was disenchanted. I had been a religious child, and at 14 I realized I could skip mass and not die. The whole house of cards fell apart for me. I didn’t fit in my neighborhood. I live there now. I moved back to the street I grew up on. As a teen, I didn’t fit in. It was a preppy neighborhood then. I was trying to fit in to a group of people I wasn’t really like. Gay kids have a lot of the same feeling. I wasn’t gay, but I felt I wasn’t like these people. I wish I could be. Why am I not like them? What’s the matter with me? When I met John when I was 18 and Divine, I was like, there are other people like me! I was very lucky. I grew up in a world I was very uncomfortable in. 

 

PGN: What can you say about working with Divine? You had scenes with Divine as both Earl and Dawn. Did you approach Divine differently in and out of drag?

MS: I loved working with Divine. There was such a connection. “Female Trouble” is, I think, the best role Divine ever had. It showcases Divine’s talent as an actor so brilliantly. She never looked more beautiful — before the acid gets thrown in her face. She’s stunning and the outfits are amazing. It’s a tour de force performance. As Earl Peterson, he went for the grossness in the character. It was like working with a different actor. “Female Trouble” is a movie where I kill Divine and Divine kills me.

 

PGN: Do you feel the film holds up after all these years?

MS: It’s kind of timeless. It is art directed brilliantly. I’ve not seen the film in a few years. I’m not Norma Desmond who sits in the dark and watches my old films. Maybe I will see it in Philly. It’s been a while. It’s a bit of a home movie for me. These were my friends and most of them are dead. I have some survivor smugness, but I’m not proud of that. 

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