The Original Gata, also known as Monique Dupree, is a continuum of balance between pure talent, presence, personality & movie star/rock goddess looks. Darling to Fangoria and Troma alike, she is more commonly known as “The First Black Scream Queen”, a title she continues to earn in front of the movie cameras, photos, endorsements and convention appearances. Love her, hate her or merely wait to see what the hype is all about, you’ll remember GATA. Today, she's in the Dollar Bin Horror Spotlight.
Q: How did you get into films?
A: .Well, I was a teenager when I first got into films. In fact, my first film was Lean on Me. Damn, does that age me any?? lol. I was only an extra. I worked three days on set and it was the most exciting thing I'd had ever done. It was even better than my theatre experiences. I knew at that moment, that was the type of acting I wanted to
Q: You've been in countless indie horror films, but you've also been on shows such as Law & Order and the Tyra Banks show, plus non-horror films. What has been your favorite project to date?
A: Wow!! that's really hard to say. To date I'd have to say its a tie between one of the Law & Order episodes I did entitled "Sweetie" & Oria: Shadowhunters 2, which will be out next year some time. Law & Order was really cool because the director (Mario Van Peebles) took out the time to talk to us..I mean, real talk. Oria because i twas the hardest character that I've had to date & that was the first time the people on set became "my family" It was a hard character for me because I played a snake demon and had no dialog. I had to convey my emotions with my body and my eyes. I was a challenging, but amazing experience for me.
Q: You recently were and associate producer of the film "Deadlands 2: Trapped" and you are producing the upcoming film "Grimmel:The Jester". Could you tell me a little about these films and what it is like to be a producer?
A: Well out of all of the films I've done production on I have to say I've had the most hands on experience with Grimmel: The Jester (which is still filming by the way). Being on the production team for Grimmel has been a great learning experience and sometimes a pain in the ass, lol. But you know, its the good kind (for lack of a better term) Its the kind of thing I can see myself doing more of. I hope to be even more involved with my next production project.
Q: On top of acting, producing, and modeling, you are the singer of a band called "Negro Childe". Tell me about the band and where the blog's readers can find more information.
A: Our band is made up of a mass of influences from various styles of music. I see us as a mutt band, lol We just don't have a label because there are too many influences. I sing lead (In the band, I'm more known as GATA, the tat on my arm) Saint does spoken word and we have a live, kick ass band joining us. You can here some of our tunes at
www.myspace.com/negrochilde Friend us!
Q: What new projects can people expect to see you in soon?
A: I have a few project with some names that I cannot mention at this time, for next year, but I can say I am SO excited to be at this stage of the game where I can be involved in such projects. I'm also slated to appear in the remake of plan 9 from outer space called "Plan 9" you can find it on imdb or check out the website and teaser
http://www.plan9movie.com/ I'll also be doing a movie with first time director and amazing actor David Chen called Love Don't Love me. I have many film projects and modeling projects on the horizon. Keeping checking under both my names Monique Dupree & The Original Gata.
Q: Is there anything else you want the readers to check out?
A: I want to take this time out for thanking you for conducting this interview & I hope to come back to do an update at some point.
Also, here are some of my websites that you can check me out on:
