Sara Paxton Goes Tomboy in "The Innkeepers"

Today at a glam boutique hotel in Bev Hills, pretty blonde actress Sara Paxton is dressed casually but her hair and make-up are all stylin’. In her new scary film The Innkeepers, Sara looks very tomboyish in short hair and zero make-up. Her wardrobe consists of a polo shirt and khakis. She is telling us about her real supernatural experiences in the old hotel where the film was shot and the cast and crew stayed.

Sara’s character Claire is in a dead end job at a spooky old hotel that is going out of business. She and fellow desk clerk Luke decide to prove or disprove the ghostly legends of the hotel before it is closed forever.

TeenHollywood: Okay, let’s get this out of the way.You have something to do with “Sponge Bob Square Pants”?

Sara: [laughs] Yeah. I sing the theme song. It goes “Who lives in a pineapple under the sea?” and I go “Sponge Bob Square Pants!” in a random little kid voice. It was a long time ago.Any little kid voice on the first two seasons of the show was me.

TeenHollywood: Cute! Your fellow cast members and director on The Innkeepers say you are goofy fun.Are you just funny when you are on a set?

Sara: Yeah, I guess. This character is the closest to myself I’ve ever played. Claire is just a part of me that I turn up the volume on in some parts.

TeenHollywood: Tell us about how you started in show biz.

Sara: I was six. My aunt owns a children’s clothing store and she wanted some girls to model and do pictures. She got me and my five cousins to do it and the photographer gave my mom his card. She was like “Whatever”. She’s a dentist and didn’t care but I was interested in it. Back then I loved the Muppets and loved the TV show “Fraggle Rock” and wanted to be a Fraggle. “Let’s do acting classes!” I convinced mom.

I did it as an after school activity, then commercials then acting when I was 15 or 16 in a few Disney things “Darcy’s Wild Life” on TV and then the movie Aquamarine. Then I still wanted to be a veterinarian. At 17, I realized that I missed acting when I was thinking about school so I continued with the opportunities I was given.

TeenHollywood: If your mom is a dentist and not in the business, she must be proud of you.

Sara: Oh yeah.She is. At first it was like “When are you gonna get a real job?” But now they love it. I’m an only child so my parents are obsessed with me. There’s stuff about me all over the house but they don’t treat me like a celebrity.

TeenHollywood: Did you enjoy the short hair, no make-up non-glam look your character has in The Innkeepers?

Sara: Yeah. I loved it. I didn’t cut my hair for the movie. I happened to have short hair and when [director] Ti [West] called me for the movie, he said “What do you look like right now?” and I said “I look like a little Dutch boy” and he said “Perfect!” [she laughs] so he called me “Dutchie” the whole film.

The whole shoot was just so easy and awesome. We stayed at the hotel where we filmed so we just walked downstairs to the lobby to go to work. I put on the same outfit every day and wore no make-up so it was brilliant! Ordinarily I do three hours in hair and make up at 4 o’clock in the morning. Just kill me.

TeenHollywood: Did you have something weird happen in the supposedly haunted hotel?

Sara: Oh yeah. I don’t know if it’s ghosts but the whole hotel is so weird. It’s such an odd place. It’s 1800’s with a ‘70’s bad renovation. My phone would ring and nobody would be there. My doors would violently fly open. The lights would flicker on and off. It’s an odd place.

TeenHollywood: Do you believe in ghosts?

Sara: I don’t not believe in them. I’ve never actually seen a ghost but the day a ghost just pops out and goes “Hey there!” I’ll go “Oh shit, there’s ghosts” [laughter]. That hasn’t happened.I am a big baby. I do get freaked out. The woman next door to me just died, rest in peace.All last night I’m like “Don’t come over here”. I’m a little superstitious but I don’t know. I’m half a skeptic I guess.

TeenHollywood: Do you think your character Claire wants to help the ghost of the woman who died in the hotel or what?

Sara: I think it all ties into the fact that she’s stuck in this dead-end job at the front desk and she’s like “Should I go back to school? I don’t know”.I think when the ghost stuff starts going crazy, she’s totally invested. “This is the thing I can do [hunt for ghosts] because everything else is so lame”. She really gets involved and stuff starts happening and it gets crazier and crazier.

TeenHollywood: You didn’t have any real time to get to know your partner in this film, Pat Healy who plays the desk clerk Luke. You guys are hilarious. Was that easy to act with him?

Sara: It was great working with Pat. Zero rehearsal period. I flew in on Saturday on my birthday and started shooting Sunday morning. “Nice to meet you. Let’s do this”. So I think that was a testament to Tai. He works with people he gets along with. Everybody on this movie I’d like to be friends with in real life. That made it all flow.

TeenHollywood: Your character has asthma and uses an inhaler. Did you have to practice with that?

Sara: Tai the director has asthma so he showed me but I actually had to use one once on a project where there was so much dust that I used an inhaler for a few months so I knew how but I had to make it believable.

TeenHollywood: What kind of music are you into now?

Sara: I’m a really big loser. I grew up on classic rock and Motown but now I have cool friends who update me on the new stuff. If they don’t I’d be like “Have you heard this new band. They’re really good.. Coldplay?” They are like “You’re an idiot. They have like 11 Grammys”. So, I’m trying be keep up better so I don’t sound so dorky.

TeenHollywood: What fashions do you love?

Sara: In a perfect world when I read fashion magazines and pretend I’m a zillionaire, I would love to wear fashions such as Prada and Chanel and Balmain. I personally go to Bloomingdale’s when things are on sale.

TeenHollywood: What pet project you have in a drawer. Is there someone you want to play someday?

Sara: I feel like I grew up with all these ideas, then I see them get made and my dream is crushed. My big idol growing up was Goldie Hawn. I read her books. I love her so I would love to re-make the movie Overboard. I love that movie and I love her. And when I was a little kid I loved the film Roman Holiday and I wanted to do an American version and they made it and Katie Holmes was in it. I was like “s**t”!

TeenHollywood: You are playing a lead role that was once played by Linda Evans on the TV series in a movie version of The Big Valley?

Sara: Nothing’s happened yet. They’re waiting for everyone’s schedules to match. Jessica Lange (who will play the family Matriarch) was in “American Horror Story” on TV so we are still waiting to do it. It’s still in the works. I would love to start that tomorrow. I made a few independent films last year and waiting for those to come out.I’m excited for this year!