Interview With Jonathan Tiersten (2001)

"JT" played Angela's protective & angry cousin Ricky in the first Sleepaway Camp. He consented to an email interview which at the time was pretty controversial. Folks thought JT was being snippy with me and only did the interview to name-drop and plug his music. I won't go into the behind the scenes of it, but none of that bothers me, I thank him highly for his time.
 

Sleepaway Camp Films: You studied drama at the New York University, correct? What was that like?

Jonathan Tiersten: Well I studied with fantastic actors and people in the greatest city in the world. It sucked. Just kidding. I went to school with Molly Shannon and Adam Sandler. Maybe you should ask them what I was like. We were pretty close.

SCF: Your character died in the original Sleepaway Camp script... were you aware of that?

Tiersten: I had no idea I guess I should tell Robert thanks.

SCF: What's the story behind that goofy cowboy hat in the rec hall scene?

Tiersten: We bought it off the same porn actor that Tom Cruise is suing.

SCF: So more prank/baseball scenes were shot than were shown in the film?

Tiersten: Yeah, we shot that all day long. I remember my mother was there. I like to show off.

SCF: What do you think of the "Two Killer Theory", which implicates Ricky as an accomplice?

Tiersten: I don't know much about the theory. I don't think so only because Ricky's temper isn't nearly as bad as mine.

SCF: Even small time fame can be a double edged sword... so, do you have any whackjob stalkers?

Tiersten: All publicity is good publicity. No I don't have any whack jobs at the moment. Just people who really like the movie.

SCF: How's Bambi's Apartment going?

Tiersten: Bambi's Apartment just got back from The Breckenridge Film Festival where we had four songs featured in the full length feature, "Closing The Deal". You can look it up on the web under ClosingTheDealTheMovie.com. We are also going to work with the director, Art Altounian, writing songs for his next full length feature. The band is currently recording a CD. We are in the process of mixing at "Airshow". They have worked with bands such as Dave Mathews and The String Cheese Incident. Sometime in the future we plan on doing more recording back east. We are coordinating with Felissa Rose to do a series of Shows in New York City and would love to get back to L.A.

(Note: shortly after this interview Bambi's Apartment split like a banana.)