Hollywood Has Got Some Sass

Posted on December 15, 2009

By Holly Hitsville

Sass Knuckles skates for the Pistolwhippers and played Smother Theresa in Whip It.  I asked her a few questions about being part of a major motion picture filmed right here in Detroit.  You can check out Sass on film and some of our other DDG star skaters/actresses at a special viewing of Whip It this Wednesday in Ferndale.

WHIP IT Brew & View - Magic Bag, Ferndale
Dec 16, 9:00pm

Doors open at 8:00pm
Admission $2.oo

Sass, on a typical day of shooting how long were you actually on skates?

We were on skates for hours at a time but weren’t actually skating unless we were doing second unit stunting.  Most of the time we were geared up and ready just in case they needed us.

 

What was it like skating on a banked track?  Was it strange to go back to a flat track afterward?

The banked track was fun, but I found it hard on my feet due to the slope.  It was a lot easier to gain speed but harder to time a hit than a flat track.  I prefer skating flat track as it feels a lot less restricted.
It wasn’t too strange to get back because we weren’t really playing on the banked track. We had warm up time and fooled around a bit, but I’ve only played “real derby” on the flat track.

In the Whip It trailer there’s a snippet from the scene where you and Black Eyed Skeez roll into a thrift store and slap some fliers down on the counter.  What was your initial reaction when you first saw yourself in the trailer?

I squealed a bit and called my mom.

If it was draft day and the Pistolwhippers got one pick from the roller derby actresses, who would you draft and why?

I would draft Zoe Bell.  I get the feeling she could learn anything.  She was doing 360 degree jumps on her skates the first time I saw her on wheels.  She tried and fell a few times and the next time she had it down.  She’s fearless.

What was your favorite scene to film?

My favorite is also my least favorite.  The food fight scene was awesome because everyone got to hang out together all day and before we filmed the scene… but the combination of chili, hot dogs, shakes, and pie was horrible.  While we were waiting for the actresses to do their parts some of us (like Whiskey) were making gross concoctions to throw once the time came.  Everyone smelled like vomit when we were done.  My carpool had to ride home with all the windows down.

Most skaters skated in the movie under their chosen skater name.  You didn’t.  Why the name change, Smother Theresa?  How did it make you feel to have a fake skater name, an alias to an alias?

They changed my name to pay homage to one of the derby choreographers for the movie, Axles of Evil.  She played for Texas under the name Smother Theresa.  It was confusing since the movie people called me Smother or my real name and all the Detroit girls called me Sass. I had a lot to answer to.

You just had your first child.  What do you think he’ll say when he’s old enough to realize that his mother was in a major motion picture?  Having a mom that’s a roller derby player and a movie star should give him some major street credit on the playground, right?

Either that or he’ll be totally embarrassed… “yeah, that’s my mom with all the tattoos and the weird hair… please don’t judge me.”  He’ll probably end up a young republican to rebel.  My mom and husband are saving all these clippings and pictures for him to see how “cool” his mom is.  I don’t know what he’ll think about it.  I don’t know what other parents will think about it either!

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