The Women of Horror: Shawnee Smith

The bad girl of <I>Saw III</I> talks to IGN about humanizing evil.

Actress Shawnee Smith is reprising her role as "Amanda" for the third time in Saw III, the latest installment of the hit horror franchise originated by Leigh Whannell and James Wan. Saw III expands on the last two entries, developing Jigsaw's back-story while recalling events from the previous films.

When Saw III opens, the devious and ingenious Jigsaw (Tobin Bell) has once again eluded capture and vanished. While the police attempt to locate him, Dr. Lynn Denlon (Bahar Soomekh) and Jeff (Angus Macfadyen) are unaware that they are about to become the latest pawns on his vicious chessboard.

Amanda – now revealed as the unlikely prot¿g¿ of Jigsaw – helps the puppet-master behind the cruel, intricate games that have terrified a community and baffled police. Jigsaw, however, is dying and he's saved the most shocking game for last.

"Expect the unexpected with Saw," Smith tells IGN in an exclusive interview. "I could have never guessed part 2 would have went where it went, and I could never have guessed part 3 would go where it went."

Despite this film being her third time at bat, Smith still finds the Saw franchise full of surprises to cherish and obstacles to overcome.

"Each one of them had very different challenges as an actress and as a character," the actress explains. "It's kind of a weird phenomenon because by the time we get to the end of Saw III, it's as if the character was carefully, methodically plotted out from the beginning. It's kind of a beautiful development.

"[Saw III is] going to shed more light on [parts] 1 and 2," Smith continues. "So I can't imagine where Amanda could go from here, but I could never have imagined 2 or 3. So 'Who knows?' is basically the answer to that. Also, I feel really lucky and pleased to have kind of developed this character as much as I've had the good fortune to."

In a strange way, Jigsaw and Amanda's eerie, intense bond blends mentor/student, father/daughter and quasi-romantic dynamics.

"Basically, Saw III is not so much an apprentice [relationship] as it is a true friendship and a real partnership between John [a.k.a. Jigsaw] and Amanda. His health has gotten worse. He's not as mobile as he used to be so I do the shopping. He likes his herbal tea. He's got a clean mouth and a clean body. You'll notice he never curses and never eats crap like Amanda. Amanda is very fond of her roast beef and chocolate."

The film's character development stemmed not only from the efforts of screenwriter Leigh Whannell, but also from Smith's off-camera work with co-star Tobin Bell.

"For us, when we read Saw III, the whole movie kind of hinged on the audience buying their relationship. So Tobin and I spent a lot of time just hanging out, walking the streets of Toronto, asking question upon question upon question. Just trying to fill it out. Fill out how they spent their days and try and find the humanity -- any kind of humanity that we could. Behind every serial killer is a human being crawling in there somewhere. That's what we focused on and, hopefully, it pays off."

In addition to her duties in front of the camera, Smith also played a role in Saw III's soundtrack.

"There's a band I really, really love. And there's never been a female artist on any of the Saw soundtracks. They're very heavy. [For] this, it's a band called Hydrovibe. They're from Louisiana and its female lead singer, Heather St. Marie, who is just stunningly beautiful, has the biggest, most powerful voice you've ever heard. I mean she's a superstar. Now there's one female voice on the Saw soundtracks."

The actress says St. Marie's vocals serve as "kind of the musical voice for Amanda. Plus, I got to sing some back-ups on it so that was really cool. I just did a few lines as Amanda. The song is called 'Killer Inside' and I just thought it was really apropos for Amanda. It's nice. The soundtrack's great. The people who love the really heavy, heavy metal are still going to get what they want. But there's also Blue October. There's a few songs on the soundtrack that have some different character to them, and I think that women are going to dig the soundtrack and especially they're going to dig Hydrovibe. So, hopefully, they're going to hear a lot more of them."

Smith is also hopeful that audiences will hear a lot more from her, but she seems content with her career, as well as her status as a horror movie scream queen.

"I'm always happy to have a job, but I've gotten to know the audience and the fans of this genre through the Saw movies, and after getting to know the fans of the genre, I'm so grateful to be on their list. They're very seriously loyal and dedicated."

Saw III opens October 27.

In This Article



Genres:Thriller, Horror
Platforms:Theater, DVD, Blu-ray
Producers:Twisted Pictures
Release Date:October 27, 2006