William Ragsdale is a busy actor with nearly 100 film and TV credits to his name. He has worked across multiple genres throughout his career, and is known to horror fans for his starring role in the 1985 vampire flick, Fright Night. While attending Creature Feature Weekend, Ragsdale took a break to talk to Scoop about working on Fright Night, the sitcom Herman’s Head, and significant moments in his career.

Scoop: Have you had a good time this weekend?
William Ragsdale (WR): Yeah, it’s been great. It’s been really busy, but intimate at the same time. So, people have been able to visit with people and sort of connect, you know? As opposed to just signing and running. So yeah, it’s been good.

Scoop: Fright Night came out at a time when horror movies were dominated by slasher boogeyman. What did it mean to you to be in a film that focused more on a classic monster?
WR: It was refreshing. The Halloweens and the Friday the 13ths and all that stuff had been going on for a few years, so it felt like something that was more traditional, and you got to play with the mythology a little bit more. There are certain rules to the game that other monsters don’t really have. It was great and it was a real sort of homage to the classics, from [Bela] Lugosi to Hammer films, which I grew up on. So, it was nice, you know?

Scoop: Since you mentioned Lugosi and Hammer, let me ask if you have a favorite Dracula?
WR: I don’t know that I… I love Lugosi because it’s Lugosi and it’s a fine wine. I guess traditionally that would probably be the one I like the most. But I like the Christopher Lee movies, other versions of it too.

Scoop: What was your reaction the first time you saw the vampire makeup in Fright Night?
WR: Impressive. Yeah, it was an impressive thing to see. It was even kind of more impressive on the screen, honestly, because it’s in context and everything, it was more unnerving.

Scoop: Charlie, your character in Fright Night, spends most of the movie in a state of fear and agitation. How did you maintain that energy throughout the whole movie?
WR: Well, I was very fortunate to not have to make too much of a transition. From the very first moments of the film Charlie is suspicious of what’s going on next door and so that just got tweaked with each scene. But it was pretty much the same kind of through-line for the entire movie.

Scoop: Fright Night has maintained a loyal following over the years. What does it mean to you to meet the fans?
WR: Oh, it’s great. I mean, we had no idea when we were doing this 40 years ago now that… well nothing like this existed. We had no idea that it would continue to make new fans and become a tradition in a lot of families. It’s very gratifying. It’s a little weird, [laughs] it’s surprising, but it’s great. I love it.

Scoop: We’re obviously here to talk about horror, but I have to bring up Herman’s Head. In that show, you play the guy whose emotions are shown through the personality traits in his head. What appealed to you about that concept?
WR: I just thought it was really original, you know? It was an opportunity to illustrate the conflicting impulses that we have as human beings and really clarify it. I mean actually literally give it voice to the conflict that goes on. So, I thought that was really original and I wasn’t entirely sure how we were going to shoot it. But the way they ended up shooting it, which was as you see it on TV, it was the two things going on at one time and two separate sets. It was great. People really responded to it.

Scoop: A lot of his emotions play out through those personality aspects and those conversations. How did you strike the balance between letting the action happen that way, but also expressing it yourself?
WR: As Herman, I just had to follow the through-line of what it was. But it was fun to try and register the disagreements that were going on inside the head. Try and take that over into the real world, our sets and stuff, to see if I could convey it.

Scoop: You’ve been in a ton of movies and shows throughout your career. What are some of your favorite projects?
WR: I’ve enjoyed everything. Herman’s Head was great because, if you go back and you look at the guest star list of who we had on that show, it’s just insane. Like Davy Jones and Leslie Nielsen and Gilbert Gottfried and Jennifer Aniston was my sister and Megan Mullally. It’s really just incredible to have a chance to have worked with so many great people. I got to be in a movie scene with [Robert] De Niro, and do comedy with Leslie Nielsen, so it’s very gratifying.

Scoop: Do you have a favorite genre to work in?
WR: No, not really. I’d like to do a period piece if I could, you know something from the 19th century or 18th century or something like that. I’ve never really had that opportunity. Most of my stuff, all of it, I think, has been modern stuff, so I’d like to do something that would be a little more outside of today.

Scoop: Last question, can you tell me about projects you have coming up or conventions you’re doing?
WR: A lot of conventions. I’m doing one in Minnesota next month and it’s the NerdinOut Convention. It’s in Rochester, Minnesota, and several more. This is the 40th anniversary of Fright Night, so we’ve got a few coming up. There’s one in Chandler, Arizona, St. Augustine, Florida. Just kind of all over the place.

Scoop: Thank you so much.
WR: Yeah, my pleasure. Thank you.

Read about Creature Feature Weekend in last week’s Main Event coverage.