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In her own words...
I was Diana Scarwid's body double, in the scene where Perkins is spying on her through a hole in wall, as she undresses for her bath (before she slices her wrists.)
Somewhere around 1986, the call went out to Hollywood casting agents for Diana Scarwid's body double. They needed a slender, pale-skinned woman, about 5'3" and 100 lbs, without any tattoos. My modeling agent sent me to meet Tony Perkins in his office at Universal Studios.
I was instructed to wear a bikini under my dress. Mr. Perkins chatted with me for a few minutes to break the ice, then asked to see me in my swim suit. After mere seconds, he sighed, "All right, you're perfect!" I got the impression that certain scenes had to be reshot at the end of production, due to a bad lighting problem. Apparently Diana would have returned to do the reshoot herself, but she was obligated to a long-running play (I think it was "The Burning Bed") and had a scheduling conflict. I worked for a week on a soundstage at Universal. In my short blonde wig, I evidently looked enough like Ms Scarwid that friends of hers who visited the set mistook me for her.
In those scenes, I had to slowly undress and walk, naked, away from camera. After the first take, Perkins (both the director and male lead), said I moved with far too much grace and needed to be a little more awkward in my movements. As director, Perkins would set up the shot, yell action, and then jump before the camera as the co-star. Later, he would stop the action with "Cut!", and race back to the sidelines, asking "How'd I do?" It was amusing to watch. Mr. Perkins was very gracious and kind to everyone on the set. After the movie was released, an old friend called me and asked "Were you in Psycho 3?" When I admitted my role, he exclaimed, "I thought so! I'd recognize that butt anywhere!" I suppose it was meant to be a compliment...
Return to the Interview Section of Psycho III
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