Kris with her husband Brian Fassett
Meet Kris Carr
Writer/Director/Producer
Kris is an award-winning actress, a photographer and writer.
Crazy Sexy Cancer is her first feature-length documentary. In 2002, Kris directed a short entitled Redemption, about the 20th anniversary of the Bottle Bill and the homeless men and women who rely on the nickel deposits for their livelihood.
As an actress, Kris has worked both on and off Broadway, in film, television and dozens of commercials. She has directed and choreographed productions regionally and abroad and has been a faculty member at Playwrights Horizons Theater School, a studio program for the New York University (NYU) Tisch School of the Arts.
In 2006, Kris and her husband Brian Fassett founded the film production company Red House Pictures. In addition to the film, Kris's advice-from-the-trenches Crazy Sexy Cancer Tips book, a practical (and funny) survival guide with insights from other young women with cancer, will be published this fall under the new skirt! imprint of The Globe Pequot Press.
Q: What inspired you to begin filming?
A: When I was first diagnosed, there wasn't much in the way of books or movies that dealt with the situations and problems facing young women with cancer. Everything was geared toward either kids or people much older than me, and most of it was either really sappy or really depressing. I hadn't raised children, gotten to the end of my career, entered into a second marriage, or buried my parents yet. I was just getting started!
This is crap, I decided. Cancer needed a makeover, and I was just the gal to do it!
So as a creative outlet, I began writing and filming my journey. I documented everything and everyone--the physicians, teachers, gurus, alternative doctors, and the other young women. The camera was my buddy. I talked, it listened, no judgment. The lens allowed me to vent and say the scary things I didn't want to admit to anyone. At times it provided distance from my drama by allowing me to be an artist instead of a patient. What I ended up creating was the film I needed to see in 2003.
Q: How long did it take you to make this film?
A: The film took four long and wonderful years to make.
Q: Tell me about the title — Crazy Sexy Cancer. What do you mean by that?
A: Many people have asked me "what's so sexy about cancer?" My response: The women who have it!
We're crazy, sexy, vibrant, whole women, with or without the disease. It amazes me that in 2007 we're still whispering about it. Well, with a name like Crazy Sexy the people who face it are encouraged to roar! It's important to poke fun at it, use humor and speak openly. So if I can stir the pot a bit, perhaps I can remove the darkness.
Cancer is now the number one killer in America. We need to approach this disease in every possible way. We need to eradicate the stigma because it is silly, painful and out dated. This isn't your grandmother's cancer, we are the new face and the new attitude and we use lots of humor and sass to get our point across!
Q: What are some of the misconceptions people have about cancer?
A: I think for me the main misconception is that in the world of cancer the outcome is either cure or death and there is nowhere in between. I am an example of someone who lives with cancer, manages it and still has a perfectly normal dynamic life. Cancer has opened me up to the best life possible. It hasn't been a gift but it has been an extreme catalyst for personal revolution and I am grateful for it. Truth be told, we are all saddled with something. Adversity is universal. But what you do with it determines the quality of your life.
Q: Tell me about some of the women you've met along the way. What most moved you about their stories?
A: Each of the other wonderful women in the film helped to open my eyes, teach and transform me. Their stories are brash, soulful, hilarious and full of moxie. I feel truly blessed that they allowed me to get to know and film them on such a deep level. They're my cancer posse, my support and my inspiration. There have been times over the past four years when I have wanted to put the camera down and burn the tapes. They kept me going. Their stories are treasures and I felt responsible (and lucky) to be the one to share them.
Q: At what point during filming did you realize you had feelings for your cameraman/editor Brian?
A: Well, I thought he was awfully cute from the start but I wanted nothing to do with a serious relationship, a little freelancing maybe, but at the time I only had room for one serious thing in my life and cancer filled the slot. I remember the day he said "I love you." It was after a particularly difficult hospital visit/shoot and my walls just crashed, with rivers of tears flowing from my core. I felt incredibly scared and helpless and he stood right by my side and vowed to keep staying there. We've been together ever since. I couldn't have done the film or written my book
Crazy Sexy Cancer Tips without him. So I guess you can say it's a cancer love story too!
Q: What do you hope viewers will gain by watching your film?
A: Of course I hope viewers will be enlightened and inspired. The film has many powerful meanings -- empowerment, education, attitude, strength. But the most important nugget is choice. We all have something we wish we could change. We have all faced hard times. How we transform the obstacles determines the level to which we allow ourselves to grow. Not everyone will be cured - this is true - but we can all be healed, especially when we replace our fears with love and head-butt adversity with grace. It's a choice we make.
Q: What do you feel the future holds for you?
A: A very beautiful, much-appreciated life.
