Mink Stole Returns to 'Serial Mom,' 23 Years Later

John Waters is a true independent film icon. His often outrageous and controversial early films were truly "underground," ("Pink Flamingos," "Desperate Living") but with each new expression of twisted madness, more audiences began to pay attention ("Hairspray," "Cry-Baby").

1994's "Serial Mom" represents the zenith in his mainstream popularity (and career). It had the biggest budget he was ever afforded and a true movie star playing the lead, Kathleen Turner. It also tapped into a dark desire in our culture that blended fame, murder and voyeurism with a surface devotion to living a good, clean life.

Suburban mom Beverly Sutphin (Turner), with her perpetual smile and fresh picked strawberries, is a model homemaker, preparing the perfect meals for her family (hubby Sam Waterston and kids, Ricki Lake & Matthew Lilard).

But when certain things just piss her off, she decides to take matters into her own hands and viciously murder those who she feels have wronged her, her family or the environment. In addition, she makes prank phone calls to the woman who stole her parking space once at a supermarket, Dottie Hinkle (Mink Stole).

The genius of Waters is you actually find yourself rooting for Beverly and as the warped and wacky narrative builds, you can't help but belly laugh when she takes her revenge.

The film features a car chase sequence that foresaw the O.J. Bronco insanity just a few weeks after the film's release.

For 12 out of 13 of his directorial features, beginning with "Mondo Trasho" in 1969, Waters has cast the delightful Mink Stole in varied parts of varying lengths. "Serial Mom" boasts one of her most memorable and quotable performances.

"Serial Mom" is now receiving a much-deserved Blu-ray treatment, thanks to Scream Factory, and just in time for Mother's Day!

EDGE had the great opportunity to speak with Mink about her work on the irreverent film as well as her collaboration with Waters and why he may never make another movie.

'It's a good film!'

EDGE: Revisiting 'Serial Mom,' it's such a good film...

Mink Stole: Y'know what? You're right. It is a good film! I just watched it again and I laughed just as hard this time as I did the last time, which was a long time ago. It holds up.

EDGE: It does. Did anything strike you in your most recent viewing?

Mink Stole: What I was re-surprised by was how much fun this movie is -- when you're watching Kathleen and how much fun (she's having). There seems to be nothing predatory in it or demented... She just wants to kill! I do question whether the urge to kill or the justification came first... I tend to think that the urge to kill came first and perhaps she has a history we are unaware of, in her backstory, of other murders that never got discovered. But she's just having the time of her life. She goes out and kills and comes home and offers strawberries to her family... with a big smile on her face.

Prefiguring O.J.

EDGE: Waters seems to like to have you curse a lot, doesn't he?

Mink Stole: Yes, he does. And it's partly because I rarely curse in my own life. I'm just not somebody who curses a lot. I do it well when I do it. (Laughs) I think 'fuck' is an absolutely beautiful word. It's an easy word to say and it's very expressive. And it feels good in the mouth. It really slams home what you're thinking, what you're feeling and what you feel about whatever it is or whoever it is that caused you to say it in the first place.

EDGE: Watching the film this time, it struck me just how Waters seemed to predict the media sensation that would engulf the O.J. Trial before O.J. And he pre-supposed where our fame obsession was leading.

Mink Stole: Yeah. He always had a thing for criminal fame. The early films, too. 'Pink Flamingos' and 'Female Trouble' were certainly about criminal fame. Even 'Desperate Living.' One of the things I loved about ('Serial Mom') is the slow car chase. I just thought that was brilliant. And the idea that that actually would happen just a few months later. The world watched. I watched it on television; from the angle of a helicopter... it is remarkable.

Glamour of criminality

EDGE: And to cast Patty Hearst!

Mink Stole: Who was a celebrity criminal. Depending on whose version of the story you want to go with. And I go with hers. She said she was brainwashed and preserving her life so I'll go with that. I like her. I can't believe that she would ever have been involved in anything unsavory by choice. But I think she might have gotten caught up in the glamour of criminal celebrity. But that's speculation.

And now we're all binge watching true crime and fake crime dramas. We seem to love them. But we always have. Crime dramas have been around a long, long time.

EDGE: You and John have been collaborating forever. Did you ever think way back when that the films you were making would be considered classics one day and be studied by film students and appreciated by new generations?

Mink Stole: No! Never. I was having so much fun. This was the most fun thing that was happening in Baltimore at the time. And I felt very lucky and privileged to be part of it but I was a really insecure child and a really insecure adult so I think had I known, in advance, what this was all going to lead to I would have been insufferable! People who are insecure either get overly conceited or overly humble and I was still sort of on the humble side... so it's a really good thing I didn't know. I would have been not fun to be around.

Working with Waters

EDGE: What is your working relationship with Waters onset? Does he give you freedom or does he work closely with you?

Mink Stole: It's a combination. He doesn't give me line readings anymore. He used to back in the old days. And I basically ignored them. He gave them to everybody, not just me. But he gave everybody the same type of line reading, everything was over-italicized. And overdramatized.

What he would tell me --
starting with 'Serial Mom'--was to bring it down. I'd always acted in fairly blunt strokes. He would tell me to calm my performance down, rein it in, tone it down. And that was a surprise and interesting. It was good direction.

EDGE: He hasn't made a film since 'A Dirty Shame' in 2004. What's going on? When are we getting a new one with you guys?

Mink Stole: Probably not ever. It's very likely he's made his last movie. It's a question of financing and I don't understand how it all works because I've never been in the business of financing a film but it's very hard to get money for independent films these days. And although John's movies have a wonderful shelf life... (they) won't make big money opening weekend. And that's what people want. They want their money back right away. They're not in it for the prestige or the art.

I think he should be making movies all the time! But he's also very busy. He writes a lot of books. He travels all the time with his one-man show... I don't think he's actively trying to raise money at the moment.

Fondest memory

EDGE: What's your fondest Waters' film memory?

Mink Stole: This is going to sound strange but one of my fondest memories was on 'Cry Baby.' In the version that was released to theaters, my part had been chopped way, way down so my only appearance is in the iron lung, smoking. But there are a few scenes that were shot with me and Troy Donahue that led up to that being the punch line of a joke.

I spent a day in that iron lung. And it was a surreal experience. I don't know how else to explain it because I don't know how else you could ever be physically detached visually -- there's not a part of your own body that you can see when you're in this thing. There was a mirror above my head where I could see other people, but I couldn't see any part of myself at all... I was in there for hours and when I finally got out the crew gave me an ovation for having been in it all day. And that made me so happy. It was a really nice moment. When the crew applauds an actor, something has been done. It means something. So I was very proud of that.

EDGE: In your 'Serial Mom' scenes with Kathleen Turner, you both interact really well. What was it like working with her?

Mink Stole: Fabulous! So much fun! She was having a great time and she brought that great time with her to every scene that she was in. She was always in a good mood. She was always really prepared. She was very generous. She never tried to upstage. She always focused on the actor she was working with. She was a delight. I had been nervous. She was the biggest movie star I had ever worked with. And she put me at ease immediately. I loved working with her. I still go to see her in plays. And she's come to see me in plays. I have great admiration for her. And enjoy her as a person.

"Serial Mom" is being released on home entertainment platforms, including a Collector's Edition Blu-ray, on May 9, 2017.

Watch this scene featuring Mink Stole and Kathleen Turner from "Serial Mom":