KATHLEEN WILHOITE ABSOLUTELY SWEARS BY 'MURPHY'S LAW'

Twilight Time Blu Ray Insert Signed

Kathleen Wilhoite is a talented, energetic, versatile character actress. She's played a wide variety of roles including teenage delinquent Arabella McGee in the underrated 1980's Charles Bronson crime vehicle MURPHY'S LAW, where she's not just a side-character but is teamed up with the iconic tough guy throughout the entire film...

Kathleen Wilhoite

No other actress can claim they were handcuffed to Charles Bronson in a film… How was it working so close with the iconic Charles Bronson in MURPHY'S LAW?

Unbelievably fantastic. Charles Bronson is a brilliant actor. The real deal. I think whatever you might imagine working with him would be like; you probably wouldn't be far off... He was funny and kind, and brutally honest in a good way, smart, worked hard to get a scene just right, valued his family above all else. He became protective of me. He told me that my boyfriend had a head like a chicken. “How come you're dating a guy who's got a head like a chicken?" he'd ask. I had to laugh... Again, the guy was brutally honest. I had no answer for him.

Charles Bronson and director J. Lee Thompson had made several films together before MURPHY'S LAW… Did the production flow smoothly?

Bound & Gagged

Oh, yes. I remember the day before I went to work, J. Lee had a meeting with me and told me not to expect too much from Charlie, that he was a quiet man and just because he didn't say much, didn't mean he was thinking there was anything wrong.

He said a lot of the actresses Charlie had worked with in the past would get progressively more paranoid as the filming went along.

Charlie's Sidekick

He told me that it was important I was made aware of that. My father's a lot like that, so when Charles and I had a long car scene, or when we were handcuffed together for long period of time, I just sat there quietly and let him steer the chitchat.

He couldn't have been kinder and more interesting. When he was finished with his story, he'd say, "Let's shoooooooooot!" and the film would be rolling again.

MURPHY'S LAW was very physical – lots of action and fighting and your character was the brunt of most of it… Did you do any of your own stunts?

Sure. I love that stuff. I'm a tomboy and an ex gymnast. In my last life, I might have been a stunt chick. I developed a fear of heights but it was long after MURPHY'S LAW. I remember the stories surrounding all the guns on the set and how careful the prop people were with them.

"Hey, Scrotum Cheeks"

Your character had an interesting vocabulary, phrases such as “Chism Breath”, “Scrotum Cheeks”, “Snot Rags”, "Camel Crotch", "Monkey Vomit", "Booger Bits", “Dinosaur Dork”… Were there any particular phrases that you were embarrassed to say aloud?

Kathllen Wilhoite

Oh, holy crap. All of them. Who talks like that? It was big part, but no potty mouth that I know of would ever "nail" someone by calling them a donkey dork. I was a student of Peggy Fruerry and Bill Traylor from the Loft Studio. We were all about "keeping it real," so to get a script like that, I had to just throw away my ideal about shaving my performances close to the bone. They didn't want me to swear too much.

Last time I checked, swearing is kind of central to being a "potty mouth." I had a blast though. No doubt, except afterwards when I was doing a play in New York and every time I went down to Times Square, someone would follow me and say, "Hey, hey, Scrotum Cheeks, Jizz Breath. . ."