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RadioFree.com: You've been credited as both "Olivia Dudley" and "Olivia Taylor Dudley." Just to be sure, how would you prefer to be referred to when we're writing about you and talking about you behind your back?
OLIVIA: [laughs] Oh, it's three names. I've always gone by my full name. Somewhere along the line, sometimes people miss the middle one. But I like all three, please! [laughs] I just like what my parents named me.
If a restaurant were to name something after you, what would be the most appropriate: a sandwich, a dessert, or a drink?
Oh, man...Probably a dessert.
And if I order the OTD, what do they bring me?
[laughs] Just, like, a giant pile of chocolate: cake with chocolate ice cream and chocolate sprinkles. I'm a big chocolate fan. It'd be a mess.
 
When did you first begin to pursue your career in acting?
Well, let's see...I moved [to Los Angeles] when I was 17 to become an actor. So I've lived here for quite a while, and I was just hustling the whole time. I've been working solely off my acting for the last, like, 8 years. A lot of my own projects, and then I've shot a lot of things that have been building up that are slowly coming out now. So it's going to be a busy year.
Did your interest in acting start at an early age?
I knew I wanted to be an actor when I was, like, 5 years old. And I kid you not, it was when I saw The Exorcist. I snuck into my godfather's living room, and he was watching it with my dad. And I got pinned behind the couch out of fear, and I was watching it and I couldn't move. I was just glued to the TV, and whatever Linda Blair was doing just blew my mind. And I was like, "I want that job! I want to go and be something that I'm not!" So I've wanted to be an actor since I was little. And my parents were really supportive, even though I didn't graduate high school because I knew I wanted to come down here and I couldn't take it anymore--I just needed to come and start acting. So I came down, worked in production for a long time, and met a lot of people and made my own stuff.
What's your hometown?
San Luis Obispo.
Did you participate in school plays as a kid?
No, I actually never got to do any plays growing up! I used to ride horses really competitively when I was younger, so that took up all my time.
Horseback riding seems like a useful skill for an actor to have on their resume...
Yeah, I know! I would love to do a western. I'm always bugging my agents. I'm like, "I want to do a western!" [laughs]
How did you originally get involved with 5-Second Films?
Well, Brian Firenzi started the company--I think it was a part of his project at school, his graduation project. And then he kind of invited a couple of us over, and I was invited over because they didn't have any girls, and they needed [some because] they were all dressing up in dresses for the first couple weeks. And then I came over and I just stuck. We just premiered our first feature at the LA Film Fest just yesterday! Sold out two theaters! Dude Bro Party Massacre III. It's awesome...We haven't announced a date yet, but that's coming out soon. And that movie is just so much fun. It's a comedy horror, and the audiences just have been flipping for it. So I'm really excited about that.
What kind of schedule was involved in putting together so many shorts?
We released a film every day, five days a week for five years. And we would shoot every Sunday. There's a big group of us, and we would write all week, and then every Sunday, we would get together and we'd shoot all five for the week, and then they'd be edited and released throughout the week.
Your work with 5-Second Films has you performing a lot of behind-the-scenes roles. How would you characterize your voice when it comes to writing?
I wouldn't call myself a writer. I mean, I'm on a writing team when it comes to 5-Second Films, but acting is my main focus. And I would love to direct one day. As far as writing goes, I would write more drama. But I end up writing with a lot of comedy people. Writing is so difficult, and right now, I leave it up to everyone else to write stuff. Maybe I'll come back around to it. But it's fun to write in a group of people, comedy--I mean, that's just great, they're my best friends.
How did the specific filming locations for Chernobyl Diaries and The Vatican Tapes inform your performance in those movies?
We shot Chernobyl in Serbia and Hungary, and it was terrifying. The locations are key in horror films, because if they're scary to begin with, then that does half of the work for you, you know? The hospital we filmed at [for The Vatican Tapes] was so scary. It's like in Compton, I think. It's this old abandoned hospital, and I think it got shut down because they had, like, record-breaking patient deaths when it was a real hospital. So I think it's been cursed from the beginning. We were told ghost stories before we got there, so when we got there, everyone was freaked out. And it was huge, and it was just this little crew moving slowly around, and it was at nighttime. Oh, so scary... [laughs]
Angela, your character in The Vatican Tapes, has Jedi-like powers of suggestion. What would you do with such a power, assuming it was not fueled by the Antichrist?
[laughs] That seems so stressful. I mean, I hope I would use the power for good--I can't imagine doing what Angela would do!
Thanks for your time, Olivia. It was a pleasure to speak with you.
Awesome, thank you! Nice to meet you.
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