Tamblyn Follows Dad
TOKYO—Amber Tamblyn, who stars in the upcoming horror sequel film The Grudge 2, told SCI FI Wire that she's following in the footsteps of her actor father, Russ Tamblyn, who traveled to Japan in the 1960s to shoot the Japanese monster movie War of the Gargantuas and whose 1963 horror movie The Haunting affected Grudge creator Takashi Shimizu.

"Shimizu-san was a really big, huge fan of The Haunting, which my dad was in," Tamblyn said in an interview between takes on the set of the movie at Toho Studios on April 3. "So when my dad came, he was sort of like [mimes fumbling nervously with her pockets] ... doing all of this with his pockets. It was really cute."

In The Grudge 2, the sequel to 2004's hit ghost movie, Tamblyn plays Aubrey, the younger sister of Sarah Michelle Gellar's Karen from the first movie. Aubrey comes to Tokyo to investigate the mysterious events surrounding her sister's fate. Amber Tamblyn's father and mother are currently in Tokyo for a couple of weeks to spend time with their daughter while she shoots The Grudge 2. 

"He just loved it here," Amber said of her father. "This is his fourth trip to Japan. He really loved it, although this time it was a little different, because when they came in, they got in an accident on the way in from the airport, which was like a really bizarre experience. My mother, who had never been here before, was a little traumatized by that. But besides that, he loves Japan. And I told him, ... that they were really excited [to meet him], because of War of the Gargantuas. It's like a huge film here. And ... I think they're filming, like, another Godzilla, so every once in a while I'll be sitting outside to get some sun at lunch, and, like, between the two buildings, the two studio buildings, I'll just see this like giant thing being, like, pulled by eight men, this giant, like, Godzilla going through between buildings."

Tamblyn (TV's Joan of Arcadia) is in Japan for about two months to shoot the film. She described her character: "Aubrey [is] Karen's, Sarah Michelle Gellar's, younger sister. And she's sort of always been the underdog in the family and somebody who is not as ambitious or driven as her sister, as Karen's character. So she's sort of always felt like she's had to follow in her sister's footsteps. And even her mother sending her to Japan to figure out what happened to her ... sister—she wants her to figure out where she went and what happened and all this stuff about fire—I think she's even nervous about that, because it's the first time she's ever had to go experience something on her own. And it's something that scares her, because she doesn't know anything about it, and she's really alone in the whole scheme of things."

As for her own experience of Japan? "It's been amazing," Tamblyn said. "I'm actually extending my stay 15 days past wrap so that I can travel. I'd probably move here if I could." The Grudge 2 opens Oct. 13. —Patrick Lee, News Editor 

www.scifi.com   05-APRIL-06