“The Search for the Next Elvira” is exactly what it sounds like. While the original Elvira (a.k.a. actress Cassandra Peterson) is not planning on hanging up her beehive or covering up that cleavage any time soon, she is looking for a doppelgänger to make her Halloween appearance schedule a little less hectic. And, of course, to give Elvira fans everywhere even more campy horror-hosting humor to love.
Elvira opened up to us about her costume-heavy past, Al Gore and what she’d like to dress as for Halloween. You know…if she wasn’t Elvira.
What is happening with this show? Killer clowns, girls that can’t even pronounce “macabre” and some really big…well, lungs. There are some screamers in there!
It’s really kind of sick and wacky. I think people just won’t know what to make of it. Sort of like a car wreck…in a good way. You know you should turn away, but you can’t help yourself—you have to look!
And what’s your take on all of these mega-fans who auditioned?
The people that auditioned are just unbelievable. It kind of says it all when 2,000 people were interested in being on the show and, of that, more than 1,000 didn’t pass the background check. Right there, that gives you a clue! [Laughs]
So, a diverse group, if you will…
We got some really interesting, unusual people who came up with their own take on being a horror host. There’s one of everything. Man, woman, child, every race, creed, color, age. And everyone had an interesting take on what Elvira is to them.
You said child…how young was the youngest person that tried out?
There were little kids! Little girls! People brought their children. Unfortunately, they had to be 18 years old to compete. A little creepy…and some of them could’ve played my grandma. [Laughs] We weeded out a lot before we got down to the real contestants because there were some that were just not in the ballpark.
So beyond age and, um, physical attributes, what other talents are you all specifically looking for?
There is an attitude and a humor. A lot of these girls and guys that we saw took themselves a little too seriously. The major thing that sets Elvira apart from a lot of horror hosts and icons over the years is that she combines three things: the dark side, being sexy and, most importantly, the humor…very tongue-in-cheek. She does the whole thing with a little wink. We wanted to be sure that the person gets that and has that sassy attitude.
So do you want people to bring their own twist to Elvira?
Because it’s such a trademarked brand, it really is going to be like another me. Like a little mini-me. It’s become such a pop culture icon, we really didn’t want to change it too much.
After all these years, why now?
I got a load of how Santa Claus was running his business. When he gets requests to be places, there’s a million of him, but there’s only one of me. So even though I get hundreds of requests every year to be at every imaginable Halloween event, I can only do one or two a day at the most, and they’re all over the country. So I thought, Wouldn’t it be great if I could have another Elvira? Clone myself? We looked into cloning, but they’re only doing that with sheep. And a sheep is not gonna look so good in my dress.
You’ve been a showgirl, an actress, the lead singer of an Italian rock band, a comedian…
People always say, “Oh it must be exciting being Elvira.” And actually, when I got the part of Elvira, my life calmed down considerably. Before then I really was all over the place. I began dancing as a go-go dancer when I was 14, then went on to be a showgirl—I believe the youngest showgirl in Las Vegas—at 17. I met some interesting people along the way, like Elvis Presley, who gave me some really good advice, which was, “Get the hell out of Las Vegas!” And thank god, or I’d now be the oldest showgirl in Las Vegas.
You’ve also declared your candidacy for President more than once. Assuming you’re not joining the legions already running for office in ’08, what do you think of the only other chick who is running?
Oh, Miss Hillary…I go back and forth almost every week. One week I’m really for Hillary, the next week I’m like, there’s no way in hell. My ideal candidate? Al Gore. Al’s my man.
What was your favorite Halloween costume growing up?
I was the luckiest kid in Halloween Land when I was a kid because my mom and my aunt ran a costume shop. In those days, people bought those plastic costumes, with the little facemasks. But I would see whatever TV show was really cool. Like “Gunsmoke,” there was a saloon girl named Miss Kitty—I think she was just a glorified ho actually—but my mother and my aunt sewed me a little can-can saloon girl dress. Hot pink velvet with black can-can pinafore stuff under it, a garter belt, high heels, a big pink plume in my hair—this is me in second grade—and I won $100. I won that contest every year. “I Dream of Jeannie,” Ginger from “Gilligan’s Island,” I was the costume freak. Very fitting.
So what would be your dream costume for Halloween now?
I would go as a Hawaiian woman in a muumuu and flip-flops. I would want to be comfortable for the first time in 25 Halloweens! [Laughs]
If you weren’t Elvira, what would you be doing right now?
Oh, for God’s sake, who knows! [Laughs] Probably working at a car wash. [Laughs] I’ve never even thought about it! I think I’d live in a really small town somewhere and be an organic farmer.
Any words of wisdom for fans and aspiring Elvira wannabes out there?
Always try your hardest, because opportunity only gives you knockers once.
”The Search for the Next Elvira” premieres Saturday, Oct. 13 at midnight ET/9 p.m. PT/8c on Fox Reality.
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