Madison Davenport – From Dusk Till Dawn

By: Lisa Steinberg

Q) What are the recent projects that you are working on?

A) I also have the movie Sisters coming out this December and I have a little indie film making its way around the circuits now called A Light Beneath Their Feet. Then, there is the season finale of “From Dusk Till Dawn.”

Q) Kate was shot on “From Dusk Till Dawn.” What was your reaction when you found out that was going to happen?

A) Of course I was worried! I was wondering how I would do the stunt because I’ve never been shot before. I didn’t want to look like a dork being shot. My first reaction was how was I going to do this stunt and then my second reaction was, “Oh my God! I get shot?! What?” I was sad. I didn’t want to die. It was hard and it was a hard scene to film. Wilmer [Valderrama] kept apologizing and I said, “Wilmer, we’re actors! Sometimes we have to shoot each other. Sometimes I have to call you a bastard on Twitter. It’s not me! It’s my character.” Except, I did call him a bastard on Twitter. [laughs] I didn’t know how people would respond to it, but I think they liked it. I’ve said this before, but we don’t get the script at the beginning of the season. We don’t get all ten episodes at the beginning. We get them the Sunday before the Monday when we start shooting. I got the script on Sunday and I was supposed to be shot that Friday. So, I had a whole week to prepare and I was basically locked in my house so depressed.

Q) What was it like filming the stunt for you?

A) I had the stunt guys telling me how to move my body and the reaction your body has when you get shot. I had the effects guy who put a bodysuit on me on my torso/stomach area. It has squibs, which simulate your stomach being blown out. It’s a mini explosion with a pocket of blood. You have a hard metal plate against your stomach so you don’t get hurt. It was my first time having that small explosion on my stomach. It was a little scary, but it didn’t hurt. I was afraid it was going to hurt, but it didn’t. It just feels like someone pushing back on your stomach. They set it off and it looks like you get shot. “Blood” was gushing everywhere and it was a crazy night. It all happened so fast where they are teaching me how to do it, putting the squibs on me and they told to pretend like I didn’t know the shot was going to happen. I had to react, but not react. It was overwhelming, but a lot of fun!

Q) What were your thoughts actually seeing it play out on screen?

A) When I watched the episode, I live tweeted because I wanted to be there when people experienced watching me get shot. Watching it back, I was very happy with it. When I watched it back, I thought that everything went smoothly and I was very happy with it. Sad, but happy! I was happy with the mechanics of it, but sad with the outcome of the season. I’m sad my character got shot because I’m growing along with Kate as well.

Q) What kind of fan reaction have you gotten to that episode?

A) I can’t believe the reaction people have been giving me on social media and my friends were texting me, “No! No! You can’t! No!” I was like, “Yeah. I did. I got shot.”

Q) What can you tease is in store for the finale?

A) I really can’t tell you a lot. We have to keep the mystery in this relationship. I can tell you that it has that classic Rodriguez unexpected twists and turns throughout the whole episode. I say watch it all the way to the end because even if something happens in the show where you are like, “No! No! I’m turning it off,” keep watching it because there are so many unexpected twists.

Q) Fans have expressed an interest in Seth and Kate getting together romantically. How does that make you feel?

A) I can definitely see where all of the fans are coming from.  I think DJ [Cotrona] and I really like each other in person and I feel like our chemistry in real life comes cross on screen. In the 1996 movie, we were all rooting for George Clooney and Juliette Lewis’ characters to run away with each other into the sunrise. So, I really do see the chemistry between Seth and Kate. I think Seth kind of sees Kate as this pure and innocent being that he feels he has corrupted so much already that I don’t think he would ever want to corrupt her in a romantic/sexual way. I think he looks at her and wants to protect that part of her. When he punches the guy who calls him Cherry Pie and he gets mad at Sex Machine for hitting on her – it’s kind of that big brother protection. And I think he admires she is so strong. I could see the romantic possibilities, but I think as of this season and what has been written I don’t think they are romantic yet. If anything, their relationship is very protector/protectee. It switches back and forth. Sometimes Kate is protecting him and sometimes he is protecting Kate. They are very dependent on one another.

Q) Who do you wish you had more scenes with on the show?

A) I haven’t had any scenes with Eiza [Gonzalez]! We need to bring that girl power together. We always talk about it when we’re together! Eiza says, “The only time I’ve had a scene with you Madi was when I was shaking my butt in your face.” I said, “Hey, that was great. it really opened my eyes to things in this world.” I had never been to a strip club before! So, if there is one person, I think Eiza and I deserve to be in a scene together with dialogue. My character has been very fortunate that I have had good interaction with everybody. I have had Seth, my family (Brandon [Soo Hoo] and Robert  [Patrick]) and even Ranger Gonzalez [Jesse Garcia]! Kate has kind of been tossed around to all of the groups. I’ve been very fortunate in that way.

Q) You are a part of social media. What has the instant fan feedback been like for you?

A) I’ve never live tweeted before so when the show asked me to live tweet an episode I had no idea what to do. It was so much fun to be able to tweet about the episode and give me input to the episode. I’m very sarcastic and this is who I am, I can’t change it. To be able to have the fans asking me questions and me getting to answer, I hope I give them answers they are okay with. I think it’s so cool because I’m getting to see how much people really do love my character and that’s what you hope for as an actor. You hope that when you are playing a character that people will respond well, but this is just going over and beyond. The fans of me and Kate are so sweet and I just absolutely adore it. I think it is great. It kind of reaffirms my belief in my acting. So, I think it is great.

Q) What would you like to say to everyone who is a fan and supporter of you and your work?

A) I would thank everyone for watching the show and thank you for caring so much about Kate. I can’t tell you what happens, but just keep watching the show!