The Signal: Lin Shaye on Her Mystery Character & Insidious: Chapter 3

This week’s sci-fi movie The Signal is full of surprises, and Lin Shaye is one of them, so we don’t want to give too much away. It’s about three college hackers who follow a signal from a rival hacker and end up under scientific observation, and meet several strange characters along the way. That’s sort of Lin Shaye’s specialty, with roles like Mrs. Dumars the landlady in Kingpin, Magda in There’s Something About Mary and paranormal investigator Elise in the Insidious movies.

Related: Watch an Exclusive Clip from The Signal

I spoke to Shaye by phone as I raced across town from another screening and she couldn’t have been more gracious and enthusiastic to talk about The Signal and her other memorable roles. Spoilers for the first two Insidiouses (Insidii?) are sort of assumed in our questions.

CraveOnline: This is a weird little role you got to play in The Signal, isn’t it?

Lin Shaye: Oh, I love her. I love her, love her. Yes, it was I think a really interesting role. I love the film and I love the story. Mirabelle is kind of the little poet in the middle of all of it in some way.

Did you understand her immediately?

No, but what I did understand was a feeling. It’s kind of interesting because dialogue-wise, you don’t really know exactly what it is, what she is. As I started thinking about the story, and her place within it, I really started to see who she was. It’s interesting because I remember people saying, “Oh, she’s crazy.” I said, “There’s nothing crazy about her.” She’s broken but she’s not crazy. And that was kind of the way I saw her, as a woman who’s trying to hold onto what she hopes she’d have, but was broken. She wasn’t able to, and she was trying to survive within that and trying to hang onto the past in a way. So I found her very sad and emotional, and I love her.

Are you surprised you’ve been making a name for yourself in horror movies after being known in comedy for so long?

Actually, it’s interesting because I’ve still been doing a bunch of comedies. I just did a film called Grow House with DJ Pooh directing it, which was high comedy almost going back to the Kingpin days. I don’t ever think about genre as much as just character. So for me, I don’t really classify myself in terms of that. Other people may and that’s fine. When I pick things to do, it’s really about if the character is engaging and the story’s engaging. I still like to think of myself as a storyteller and that whatever I do, I don’t really think of anything other than character and story, so I’m not so involved in my head with what kind of movie it is, as much as what the movie has to say.

Did director William Eubank make you audition for The Signal?

No, no he didn’t. I was invited. Brian Kavanagh-Jones, who’s one of the producers, he actually was one of the producers on Insidious and he was the one that asked if I was interested in that role. I was very grateful because I love the movie. I had such a visceral experience when I saw it having read it and knowing the story and even having worked in it. I lost sight of all of that when I saw it because it took me on such a personal, emotional journey. So I was very proud to be a part of it.

It’s one thing to be making the movie, but when you see the visual effects finished, was it surprising again?

Kind of because even reading it, you go, “How are they going to do that?” As an actor, I always think, ”How are they going to do that?” Without giving anything away, I think all the detail and all the different elements the actors had to work with, the physical elements which were very demanding and very difficult, was pretty astounding. The visual of the film in general, David Lanzenberg who did the cinematography, is like watching a painting unfold. I think it has such a powerful impact on the bizarre and exciting elements of the film couched in this beautiful landscape, this vivid, vacant desert landscape which to me was like watching a visual painting.

You came up with a very good way to describe Mirabelle without spoiling anything. Was that difficult for you to come to a way to talk about the role?

A little bit. You want to keep it, especially because the interviews are geared towards trying to gather together audience, to keep it a little bit mysterious but not just for the sake of being, ooh, mysterious. This movie really does have elements of surprise and delight and fear and emotionality is the only way I can really describe it. I think it’s going to be such an exciting ride for the audience. Will likes to call it a real mind-bender. It blows your mind. I think this film actually has elements in it that kind of blow your mind. It’s so unexpected what happens and it’s so riveting, and also so scary. It’s got a lot of elements to it that I really liken it to getting on a ride and just fasten your seatbelt, because it’s going to take you both on an external and interior ride. I think it’s very powerful. I cried like a baby at the end of this movie and I knew what was going to happen, so if I’m any indication, and I think I am.

Leigh Whannell is going to direct Insidious: Chapter 3. Had he ever given you any direction on the first two?

No. He was, as writer, very present in the first two. When there was discussion of changing lines and stuff or standing on something, he was very involved with that. I know he’s really excited about directing it. I’m very excited to have him direct it. No one knows the franchise, the story and the feel of the film more than Leigh and James [Wan]. They still are the creators basically so I think it’s very exciting to have Leigh step into this next step of his career and create something special. I’m looking forward to creating something special with him.

Is the script done? Has he shared it with you?

Oh yeah, we’re starting shooting July 7.

What can we expect from Elise learning her new ghostly powers?

I’m not telling you. [Laughs] But it’s a wonderful story and Elise is very prominent in the story.

I’m sure. As much as the ending of Insidious made us think what’s next, the ending of Insidious 2 makes us think she’s really in it now.

Yup, she’s in it to win it. No question about that.

Has it been really special to you to play sometimes small roles in very memorable movies?

Yes. I love my job. I love my work. I love acting. As I said, the experience of creating a character, and Mirabelle in The Signal is an example, it’s not about the size. There’s the cliché, there’s no small roles, there’s just small actors but there are small roles, but it doesn’t matter. It depends what you contribute to the story and to the experience of the film. That, for me, is what’s most important. If I can feel that I can make that contribution with very little to do, I don’t count my lines.

It’s really about, again, filling out the experience and the story. I love everything I’ve ever done. I really do. I’m proud of everything I’ve ever done. I can see my own growth as an actress sometimes looking back at older things and go, “Oh, I was just a little puppy there.” And how much I have grown confidence in terms of my ability to tell story, which is very exciting because it’s always scary. I’m always scared. I’m always excited and always open to the experience. I feel very fortunate, full of gratitude.

Most people probably know Kingpin, There’s Something About Mary, Nightmare on Elm Street and for me Snakes on a Plane. What are some of your most memorable experiences on some of the other movies?

Oh boy. There’s been so many, which I’m so grateful for. One of my favorite experiences was Kingpin because it kind of is a long story which I’ve told a couple of times in other interviews. Pete [Farrelly] really didn’t want to see me for the role because I’d done a little tiny part in Dumb and Dumber. In Kingpin, the character’s described as the angriest, ugliest woman God ever let loose on the planet. I come out of theater. I did theater in New York for many, many years and so for me it’s like a challenge. I thought, “Oh, I can do that.” Actually, they weren’t really interested in seeing me for it.

At the 11th hour, I wrote notes to people, I wrote notes to Pete, I wrote notes to the casting director and they all said, “We really love your work but we really don’t think you’re right for this.” Literally at the 11th hour, I called on one of the producers, Steve Stabler, who was working on the film who I’d met on Dumb and Dumber. Pretty much he started saying the same thing and I worked on that character for six weeks all by myself on my bedroom. I bought that wardrobe and I worked on my filthy hair. I used eyelashes coming out of my nostrils looking like I had nose hairs. I really just was obsessed with creating this woman. Steve said, “Okay, come on in and show it to us.” Literally, it was I think five days before they were starting principal photography and I don’t actually know who they had in mind for the character, because I’m sure at that time they had somebody at least on their radar.

I went in dressed in that outfit I found at Aardvark’s on Melrose. I went in as Mrs. Dumars, knowing I could go that far because they knew me a little bit from Dumb and Dumber. You’ve got to be careful as an actor because sometimes people get scared. If you come in as the character, it’s like, “Get ‘em out of here.” But I went in and they were blown away and I got the part. So I think that was probably one of the most rewarding experience, due to my own tenacity and my own bravery really. It’s forever my favorite experience I think in terms of auditioning and getting a job, really having that happen.

Was the line “What is it about good sex that makes me have to crap” in the script or your own improv?

Of course it was. Everything that Mrs. Dumars says was completely scripted. There was no improv. We did what was in the script because they know the movie they’re making. If you had an idea, Pete was certainly willing to hear it but he was very clear about what he wanted and didn’t want. I had to fight for the line, “You really jarred something loose, Tiger.” Because he said, “We’re not going to say it. It’s not going to work.” And I said, “Oh yes, I can make it work.” So it’s some people’s favorite line. That’s still one of my favorite things ever. It’s so well written. That’s one of the things about it that’s so great. She’s got an introduction, she falls in love, she’s betrayed and she takes revenge. It’s a perfect arc for a character.

Have the Insidious movies made you more prominent with audiences?

I don’t know. People recognize me some of the time from them. I honestly don’t even think too much about that. I kind of operate in my own bubble a little bit and I’m always very courteous and nice when people do recognize me or stop because they’re your fans. No one is really that intrusive. I suppose if you’re really that recognizable, losing your anonymity is not so much fun to be honest. It’s nice to be able to just go do what you want to do and not have people all over you. I think because I’ve done so many different kinds of characters, I think I’m probably a little more recently recognizable, but people are kind and generous. I love my fans and it’s so nice to have them. Again, for me it’s always about the work and what’s next. I don’t really dwell on the other stuff so much.