Q&A With Rodleen Getsic of 'The Bunny Game'

Over the past few years of my movie watching career, a film has never tripped me up quite the way that The Bunny Game has.

No need to regurgitate all my ramblings and questions from that experience (go read it you wanker) but in case you missed it (you wanker) here is a summary...I don't know what to do with The Bunny Game. I'm truly still at a loss as to where I stand on it. Obviously there is no better way to try to solve your misgivings or confusion by talking directly to one of the stars of the film.

Rodleen Getsic is one of those rare human beings that isn't afraid to seize life by the balls and hold on. Her performance was one of the few things in The Bunny Game that did not leave me clueless and confused about myself and my stance on morality. In essence, Rodleen Getsic is a warrior. Enduring most of the film either without clothes or wearing the most insane shoes I've ever seen--Getsic lays it all out there fearlessly. Her performance is awe inspiring in that she is 100% committed right from the film's beginning. I was eager to talk to Rodleen about her experiences making The Bunny Game as well as her thoughts on everything from the film's ending, to how she walks in those shoes-- and because I like you all (even the wankers), you too can get in on the answers.

Planet Fury: First. let’s talk about how you first got involved with The Bunny Game?

Rodleen Getisc: Years ago, Adam Rehmeier and I decided to make a horror film together. We did not have a title for it. We called it our "horror film". We cultivated the energy for this film through photoshoots and filming, late nights, and long days, We never discussed the details of what the film would be. We just knew innately that we were creating a monsterpiece.

PF: According to the “Making Of” featurette, your former costar dropped out of the film before you began shooting. Can you talk a little bit about how that changed or affected your role (as either the star, producer, co-writer or all of the above). Did it change the dynamic of the film in any way?

RG: In the beginning, when Adam first came to my house with the idea of working together on a horror film, he brought Gregg Gilmore, who was to be the co-star in the film. All along, it was to be entirely improv, and we were calling upon the Powers that Be to guide us in the making of it. The concept was based on an experience I had in myyouth, that parallelled an idea Adam had. Girl being hunted in the woods by a bad man.... But Gilmore dropped out unexpectedly, just before we scheduled to shoot the film. Adam and I were devastated. The film was dead.

Yet, our horror film got reborn within us. We werent sure where it would take us. So, the dynamic of the film definitely changed into something else. Together, we were at the will of the Force, open to the story line that happened on film.

My role (in life) is to give everything all I got. From soul to soul, hear me roar. The world is awakening, and I am an artist put here to sound the bell.

PF: Your character in the Bunny game is sort of terrifying in her own right. Describe the process of filming those opening scenes. What was real, what wasn’t? How did you get into that kind of zone? Did people stare at you? How do you walk in those shoes?

RG:The opening scenes were scratched onto a piece of paper, simple guidelines, no details, bullet points - different johns, breaking the fast, stumbling downtown Los Angeles. The process was organic, raw, and real. We allowed the actors to use their own personalities, however they would come out. Everything was real. Even the fake cocaine and near beer. When I was drugged up, meditating into it, stumbling through the streets, it was a real performance. I could run in those shoes. Sure people were gawking. I didnt notice, tho. I was in the zone. I prayed, fasted, and meditated for 40 days , prior to the filming. Halloween and the Day of the Dead came upon us, and I called in the spirit of the film to take me for a ride. I know Adam did, too. So, together, we were unstoppable, completing this living nightmare.

PF: The main reasoning behind your former co-stars dropping out was because the film all of a sudden became too real for comfort. He sensed there was a danger in that. Did you agree with that sentiment or feel the same way at all?

RG: I was never uncomfortable. Ever since Adam and I began cultivating our horror film, I had implicit faith in the creation of it. Danger is something I have to face. I have felt compelled since I was a child to help the world. In the world today, there is so much corruption happening.

Women are the object of desire. This is something I personally needed to speak to - to face the evil man - and to make it all the way through.

Torture is happening in our world. Nature is threatened. It is timeto wake up, face the danger, and move through it, so we can all heal.

Make a higher focus, find your purpose, be a good person, purify yourself.

PF: Again, the special features segment tells us that almost everything was real. You were essentially tortured for the duration of the filming. You were actually branded, your head shaved etc. Because of this—do you consider your role in the film as an actual actress? Or do you view it more as……I’m searching for the right word but I’m failing. I guess what I mean is, it never seems like you’re actually acting. Do you agree with that?

RG: What is acting? We are all living on this stage of life.

I DO. I ACT. I AM. I BECOME. When I experience life, I experience art happening. The way I create art is different every time. It is improv, just like my life. I do not script anything ahead. Sure, maybe I am open to memorizing a script, poem, or song of someone's, tho I am only able to do this if I am deeply inspired at a soul level, and even then, it will come out in a unique, unexpected way, even to me, everytime, because I am at the will of the All in All. Which is "GOD", or whatever you call it. I am what I am: An artist who is free, not confined to any rules, other than that what I do may cause peace and awaken souls.

PF: The film’s events were partially based on real events from your life. Do you feel comfortable talking about that and why you and Adam chose this event to make a film about?

RG: After watching THE BUNNY GAME several times, it reveals to me even more than I knew ahead of time, about the reasons why I made this film, about real experiences this film is based on. I was never a prostitute, nor a drug addict. In fact, this whole film is its own story. Adam and I - we just let it take us.

I've always been a fearless explorer. Of course, fear sets in at times- and that is a tool. When responding in the moment, one can save herself, if she is caught or being sought.

One night I was hunted all night long in the woods, by a man with a knife and a flashlight. He drove a white van.

PF: The film is essentially devoid of real gore yet it still leaves a very big scar on the viewer. Why do you think the film is able to do this without taking the usual route of “torture porn".

RG: Oh I have no idea about torture porn. And I wonder if it is true? That the film leaves a scar on the viewer? Though I have plenty of scars, and I love them all.

I do not watch many films, and especially horror, so you will have to bare with me (no pun intended)...

THE BUNNY GAME is not just a film. It is a piece of art. It is a spiritual experience, only for the strong at heart. It is created to cause change. Adam and I did not plan this out. The spirit of thefilm moved through us. We were held captive by it, for 13 days.

PF: There’s a longstanding and often incorrect feeling that women characters in horror films get treated with the least amount of respect and strength. Your character gets beaten, raped, branded and tortured and is naked for a large portion of the film—yet she seems to me to be unbelievably strong and I do end up respecting her. Why is that?

RG: It is time for our society to stand the fuck up together. As a woman, I was raised in America to believe that it was my job to please man, to look sexy, to be an object of desire. This is not the role of woman. Change is happening.

I don't know about other horror films, but I do know that we created this film in a spirit of complete submission to the piece. The story being told was not ours to claim. We were slaves to the telling of it. My reaction in the film is completely intuitive and real.

PF: The ending of the film is not quite how I imagined things unfolding. Obviously your character appears to have won although we don’t really come away knowing her ultimate fate. Do you have your own idea of what happens to her afterwards?

RG: My idea about what happens changes as time goes on. Every time I watch it, new reasoning surfaces. I'm not sure she won. But I know I did.

PF: These days, people are obsessed with a deeper meaning or “point” of a film. To you, and you alone what does The Bunny Game represent? What is its deeper meaning or intention?

RG: THE BUNNY GAME is a finished piece of art. It's meaning evolves over time. It unfolds like a universe in its own revolution, destroying and building up, dying and being born. It's intention... wow. I am not sure. It is bigger than me. It is its own entity. I feel that its intention changes as it releases itself onto the earth. I feel it is a wake up call.

PF: Where do you go from here? Do you have any projects coming up that you can discuss with us?

RG: After Adam finished editing the film, and it was ready to hit film festivals, I had a freak accident, resulting in a traumatic brain injury. My life is currently being redirected. I have faith in my destiny, and I look forward to everything.

To find out more about the wonderful Rodleen Getsic, head over to getsic.com