What Do You Do With Yourself After Surviving The Human Centipede?

When 10-year-old Ashley C. Williams took her very first acting job, as Tiger Lily in a local theatre production of Peter Pan, it was a safe bet that she had no idea where her acting career would land her. More than a decade later she found herself smack bang in the middle of one of the most controversial horror films to ever crawl its way across the screen. And yes, before you ask, we do mean the middle.

For most people, being sewn lips-to-butt into a makeshift Siamese triplet isn't the sort of thing you'd want to include on your resume. But in Williams' case, the success of director Tom Six's notorious stomach-churner was a boon for her career, transforming her from an aspiring screen actress to sought-after horror film star. The old saying may well be true: there really is no such thing as bad publicity.

Williams recently made the trip down to Melbourne to promote her newest film, Julia, which recently screened at Cinema Nova as part of Monster Fest. A violent thriller about a gang-rape victim who takes revenge on her attackers one by one, the film seems guaranteed to stir up controversy — although whether it can outdo Williams' most infamous performance still remains to be seen. Ahead of the screening, Williams spoke to Concrete Playground about the trajectory of her career, from Peter Pan to The Human Centipede, Julia and beyond.

So when did you start out acting?

I started acting at the age of 10. My mother noticed that I had all this crazy energy in the house, and decided to take me on auditions for local community theatre plays. I auditioned for Peter Pan and got the role of Tiger Lily, and had an absolute blast. I loved every second of it, diving into somebody else. At age 19, I moved to New York City to go to acting school at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts. Around the early 2000s, I started doing more and more theatre, off Broadway, and eventually booked the role in The Human Centipede, my first film.

How did your casting in that film come about?

It was towards the end of 2008. I didn't have an agent, so I was submitting myself to a lot of the online breakdowns. They were looking for two Beverly Hills-type American actresses to be in a "controversial European film", which is how it was described to me. So I ended up submitting myself. That it was going to be shot in Europe was very enticing. I really wanted to get out of the city and go and be a part of something really crazy.

When you first got involved in The Human Centipede, did you expect it to turn into the crazy phenomenon that it ended up becoming?

Not at all. We had no idea what anyone was going to think of the film. I never saw any of Tom's previous work ... I knew that it was a lower budget European film, and especially because it was shot in Amsterdam, it was like "well, we'll be lucky if American audiences ever see this". And especially with the controversial, disgusting content, you just have no idea. I thought when I took the film that it would either make or break my career. So I took that chance, and luckily it ended up becoming a cult phenomenon. Whether people hated it or loved it, they knew about it and talked about. So for me, that was extremely exciting.

And is it on the back of that film's notoriety that you've been able to book other film roles?

For sure. In that genre, definitely. After that film came out I was offered a lot of lead roles in other horror films. I ended up turning down a lot of them because in the horror genre, scripts can be really similar. There's not a lot of original material out there. So I told myself that, because I was a part of Tom Six's very unique vision, that if I were to do another horror film, I would want it to be very unique and original.

So then how did you become involved in Julia?

I was living in New York City still, and a former manager that I worked with recommended me for the lead role of Julia. I was sent the script and two of the director's short films that he had previously shot ... When I read the script, I was just floored. I loved every page and the whole journey that Julia goes on ... I felt very in tune with the character.

With the recent release of Gone Girl, there's been quite a bit of discussion regarding women in genre cinema, and the idea of female revenge stories. Do you feel like Julia fits into that category?

It's definitely interesting. When I read the script I wasn't thinking "oh, this is a feminist revenge movie where this girl ends up hating men". This journey that she goes on, it's more of this ecstatic, beautiful, evil spiritual awakening where she comes into her true self. And that's the controversial part of it ... [her] being catapulted into taking back control of her life. That was what interested me the most.

Obviously this film contains some pretty brutal violence. What's your approach to shooting scenes like that?

Because I had to get to a very deep, dark place in the character, I had to find the beauty in the evil that I was doing. I had to find the ecstasy, the orgasmic sexiness of how it made me feel to take control — complete control — over myself and situations that I found myself in. So I threw myself into those situations completely fearlessly.

So what's next for you? Do you see yourself taking more roles in horror movies? Surely you must deserve a comedy by now?

I'd definitely love to be part of more light-hearted genres. But Julia's not technically a horror film; it's more like a psychological thriller with horror elements. That's why I was drawn to it. Not just the horror elements, but everything — the beauty, the darkness, the ecstatic energy. I think now, if I were to do another horror film, the script would have to be impeccable. I'm gearing more towards wanting to be a part of mainstream films, so anything that elevates my career towards more mainstream is what I'm looking for.

Though Ashley's new film already screened over the weekend, there's a bunch more gory madness going down at Melbourne's Monster Fest this week. Check it out here.