Dee Wallace is perhaps best known for playing the harried single mother, Mary, in Steven Spielberg’s 1982 sci-fi film “E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial.”
But beyond her memorable role in the alien blockbuster, the acclaimed actress is a revered stalwart of the thriller and horror genres, having graced the silver screen in true “scream queen” form with classics such as “The Hills Have Eyes,” “The Howling,” and “Cujo.”
“I did not go looking for horror—horror definitely found me,” Wallace, 76, told The Epoch Times in a recent interview.
“I’ve really loved the horror genre. It gives you, as an actor, a huge emotional arc to play and a lot of different emotional feels to delve into. It challenges you not to overact, and it’s become incredibly satisfying for me.”
Wallace garnered her first major on-screen role in 1975, appearing in the psychological thriller “The Stepford Wives,” based on Ira Levin’s 1972 satirical novel of the same name. After starring in “E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial,” she portrayed a suburban housewife in the 1983 Stephen King adaptation “Cujo.”
Since then, she’s appeared in films such as “Critters” (1986), “Popcorn” (1991), “The Frighteners” (1996), “Halloween” (2007), “The House of the Devil” (2009), and “The Lords of Salem” (2012).
Now nearing her 300th film and television credit, Wallace is set to play the horror heroine once again in the forthcoming indie suspense movie “Southern Scares,” which wrapped filming in Columbus, Georgia, at the end of August.
“The film follows Ellen, a skeptical college student who discovers a box of lost VHS tapes containing episodes of an eerie, unfinished horror documentary series hosted by her missing sister, Roberta,” the synopsis reads.
“As Ellen watches the tapes, she unravels a chilling mystery involving haunted tunnels, forgotten cryptids and ghostly figures that may have been more than just stories. With each episode, Ellen pieces together clues about her sister’s disappearance while discovering that something sinister was watching Roberta all along.”
Wallace portrays Myra, who serves as a gatekeeper to the paranormal at Columbus’s historic Springer Opera House.
“It’s a vignette in a very complex, interesting story that I really think is well written and very interesting,” the actress said, noting that the film is “very different” from the average horror suspense story.
Rise of the ‘Scream Queen’
Born and raised in Kansas City, Kansas, Wallace was drawn to acting at an early age. As a child, she would regularly watch her mother, Maxine Bowers, perform on stage in local theater productions.“My mother was a beautiful actress,” Wallace fondly remembered. “She also directed religious plays at our church and performed every Easter and Christmas, giving half-hour readings about the birth of Christ and the crucifixion of Christ.”
It was during one of these shows that Wallace first began dreaming of following in her mother’s footsteps.
“People from four states would drive in to watch my mom do these performances, and I was sitting there at Easter—I was sitting with my grandma in our pew—and I looked around and the sanctuary was filled and everybody was crying,” Wallace recalled.
“And I remember thinking, ‘I want to do this. I want to touch people like Mommy’s touching them.’ And I believe that that’s the moment everything was solidified for me.”
Wallace said her late mother, who passed away in December 2004 at the age of 88, played an integral role in shaping her into the woman she is today.
“My mom was a force in every area of my life,” Wallace said. “And I thank her every day for how she raised me.”
In a full circle moment, the actress was able to make her mother’s own acting dream come true by helping her secure a part in the television series “The New Lassie,” which Wallace starred in from 1989 to 1992.
“She always wanted to have her [Screen Actors Guild] card. And when I did ‘The New Lassie,’ [there was a part] for this older woman who has this beautiful scene, and I went to my producers—whom I was very close with—and told them about my mom, and I said I’ll figure out a way to audition her from Kansas City if you’re open to looking at her,” Wallace recalled.
“He looked at me and said, ‘Dee, if you tell me she can act, she can act.’ And they hired her, and she got her Screen Actors Guild card. It was one of the grandest days of my youth.”
