From Tom DeSimone Writer, producer and director of the movie 'Reform School Girls' The way we came about using Wendy in Reform School Girls was almost by accident. My original idea for the character of Charlie was a young, sexy girl quite opposite looking from the character. We were in the midst of casting and putting together the show when we hired a music coordinator to find songs for the film. It was my idea to use only girl-groups for track songs and that we would put out an album afterwards (which we did). Anyway, he came to me one day trying to promote The Plasmatics as a possibility, even though they weren't a "girl-group" per se.....they did have an interesting girl lead. Well, I took one look at the picture of Wendy and my producer and I said, "Get her!". We contacted her, through Rod, and there was immediate interest on their part, but several terms had to be met. I was reluctant at first, but considered the possibilities of using her, and went along finally. The schedule had to be rearranged because she was going to be in New Mexico during our first week of shooting because she was doing a nude sky-diving stunt for Playboy. We all held our breath hoping she would show up in one piece. I had never met with her, only spoke on the phone and was not quite sure what to expect from this very "unusual" girl! The insurance carriers for the picture would not let her do this stunt once she signed on for the film. Other terms were that she NOT dress like the other girls. She would ALWAYS wear her boots, even in the shower scenes! She would NOT change her hair style (style?) to anything other than the way she had been wearing it.....In short, she would NOT be playing Charlie but would, in fact, be playing Wendy O as her fans would want! It was fine with me because I saw that Wendy O was just what this picture needed. She was fairly easy to work with. Having never acted before she was very cooperative and attentive. She was never very much of a mixer with anyone on the show. Always showing up shortly before her call time. Would do two to three-hundred sit ups before going on and always stayed in her room or trailer when not on camera. She never ate with the other actresses or with the crew and me.....mostly due to the fact that she was a very strict health food junkie and on the movie sets the kind of food served is just this side of prison food! Very much into macro-biotics at the time. Rod did most of the talking off camera and most of the requests. I never found her difficult or uncooperative in the whole time we worked together. She WAS often unpredictable but never a problem. I was especially amused when she announced that she would NEVER work without her boots and when I suggested that they might look out of place in a shower she said, "Not for Wendy O" and she was right! The very first day she arrived was the day we were starting all of the Cafeteria scenes. Her first scene was up when she had to use the food and tease Jenny. The cameras started to roll and I told her to take some of the food and eat it in a sexy fashion and to try to taunt Jenny. Well, she put the food into her mouth, chewed it a little and then spit it out into her hand and offered it up to the camera and I knew we had found Charlie! The final scene, where she smashes through the windshield of the bus and leaps from the top just before it crashes was her idea as well.....or her's and Rod's..... The script called for Charlie to get in the bus, drive it into the tower and explode in flames along with Edna at the top of the tower. She and Rod felt that this was anti-climactic for Wendy and that her fans would expect more. We talked it out and came up with the bit where she would smash, leap and die. The studio said OK, but ONLY if we use a double. Wendy and Rod said NO WAY to a double. Wendy would do the stunt herself. Well, the studio said NO because they weren't covered for someone who is NOT ACTUALLY a stunt person to do a difficult stunt like that. Rod and Wendy agreed that they would do the stunt AFTER the film finished shooting and that way the insurance company would not be liable. (They were THAT sure that Wendy could do it.) The studio said OK, as long as she was officially off the picture. So, several days after we wrapped and, in fact the night AFTER the wrap party, we took three cameras out to an abandoned landing strip in Van Nuys near the airport and rigged the bus along a two mile stretch and practiced the run. We had one camera mounted in a truck in front of the bus and one on a truck running alongside the bus since we all felt that it would most likely be a one shot deal. The third camera was inside the bus but we never did use any of that footage. The stunt went like clock-work. Several local TV stations were there and some of those "natty" Hollywood "inside story" programs were all over us. Wendy was really flying! When we actually did the stunt the bus was going approximately 40 miles per hour and she did the windshield bit in one glorious take, smashing, kicking and getting through it without a scratch. Then, wearing heavy leather boots, with no safety wires or harnesses (couldn't hide them) she managed to climb up on the top of the bus from the hood all while it was moving at a rapid speed and get into her final triumphant pose. It was a glorious thing to witness.....and we all did! An interesting thing about Wendy was that she always felt that if she didn't somehow court death and danger she was not giving everything to her fans. I remember when we were shooting the famous dorm-riot scene. We had saved that scene as the final scene in the dorm because I wanted the girls to REALLY trash the set. We had installed a break-away window over Wendy's bunk and I told her that THIS was the fake glass and that other window was the real glass and that she should avoid hitting the real glass. Well, she informed me that she couldn't guarantee that she wouldn't because she "needed" to draw blood in this scene. When I told her it wasn't necessary she told me that it WAS to her. She felt that whenever she was on stage if she didn't draw SOME blood it was unfair to her fans. The cameras rolled, of course, and she immediately went for the real glass hitting, kicking and smashing it with the little TV set. Real glass shattered down, looked great and she actually did cut her hand and she was happy and my scene looks great. Did spend some short time with her in New York after the shoot. Went there to do the video and had dinner in her loft. She served up a concoction of blended wheat-grass and something else she had grown. It was almost impossible to swallow but I did my best. Later I was treated to a session with her and the band in a sound proof room that Rod had put together in the loft. Sound-proof from the OUTSIDE but when you were INSIDE you had all you could do to keep from going deaf! I was laying on some big heavy floor cushions and the band was about three feet away and the amps were surrounding us and it was Plasmatic hell! I didn't recover for days but it was pure Wendy O.