Deborah Foreman, a graduate of Richardson High School, found herself as one of the top rising stars in the 1980s. Her largest role came when she was cast alongside Nicholas Cage in the teen drama Valley Girl. Foreman landed another large role in April Fool’s Day and was featured in a number of low budget horror films following. However, she decided to pursue other business ventures, being much more selective in her roles.

The actress is returning to DFW tonight for a screening of Valley Girl at Alamo Draft House in Las Colinas. The film starts at 7pm and Foreman will conclude the night with a Q&A session. She will also be a featured guest at the Dallas Comic Show this weekend in Lewisville. We were able to catch up with Deborah Foreman a little early to get an inside look at her acting career. Read below for our chat with the 80s pop icon.

You have played notable roles in your career. In April Fool’s Day, you essentially played two separate characters in the movie. Was it strange change playing two completely different personalities on the same set?

No. Fred Walton told me that I needed to make these two characters distinctly different or the film wouldn’t work.

How were you able to reset your mind between takes?

Interesting. I just did. I didn’t think about it. I did my homework, we did rehearsals, and I was up for the challenge. When someone challenges me like that and says, “This film is going to be a flop unless you do your work,” I rise to the occasion. I didn’t think about it. Like I said, I did my homework and I did the rehearsals, and when you put on a costume, it adds to the flavor of the roll. As I recall, I kind of felt like I was doing one character in one day and another character in another day. I don’t remember having to flip flop. I don’t know if it was designed that way but I don’t think so. I think it just happenstance. Good question.

Valley Girl is probably your biggest movie. It’s still among some of the top teen movies that are discussed today, and it was made in the 80s. Why is it still relevant?

Well, movies are about love, power, or death and that it has to go into one of those three categories. When it honors one of those three categories in which, of course, Valley Girl was about love, it is everlasting. That’s why Valley Girl has lasted to this day, because it still pulls on the heartstrings of young people and still pulls on the heartstrings of our age group and older. Also, I think our chemistry adds to the love equation that happened in that film. You really, really want chemistry like that, especially a love film. I think that’s why it lasted, because it really honored love. The 80s was the decade of the heart, which is the decade of love. It was all perfect timing, perfect timing.

So, you mentioned the 80s. What 80s trend would you revive if you could?

I think it’s already reviving. Everybody says “for sure”, “awesome”, and
“totally”. They’re just saying it differently than we said it back in the 80s, like we elongated the word a little bit. Now the kids have shortened it a bit, but everybody still says them often. They’re still saying, oh, my god. Omg. They’re still using this terminology.

How did your experience in the Valley Girl reboot compare to the original? I know you weren’t in a main role, but did it still kind of evoke the same feelings to you?

It was not the same at all. I was just hired to go in and play The Shop Girl and basically to be the Easter egg in the film to pay a homage to the original. When I walked onto the original set, we didn’t have video villages. We didn’t have a separate sound system and a separate focus pulling station or a soundtrack area for the music that they were actually going to be using in the film. We never had any of that. It’s been commercialized quite a bit. You can do playback now. It’s changed a whole lot. There’s more freedom, I feel, as an actor or an actress because you’re not so relegated to having to stay in a certain spot. The focus puller can basically follow you around from his station and still pull focus on you and without even being near the camera. There’s a lot more freedom as an actor.

That film signaled your return to acting, at least in a small role, after about a decade hiatus. You’ve got tons of different projects going on between yoga and jewelry and everything else under the sun. Can we expect to see you again in any upcoming films?

I never say never. I have passion for acting, but I would need to feel passion for the story. It’s based around what comes my way in terms of scripts and the story that they’re wanting to share and tell. I’m not in charge of that. That’s not in my hands. It will happen. In fact, I know that it’s going to happen. I just can’t tell you when and with whom.

So, if you had a preference, is there a specific genre or type of character that you’d like to play in the future?

I think I can play character roles because of my age and experience. I would relish those. When you’re an ingenue in Hollywood, they only see you as that and you’re plugged into that for a long time until you physically begin to change. Then, they’re more open to you doing other things. I would definitely do a social worker, lawyer, entrepreneur, or a business woman in some strong role. Those would be something that I would gravitate towards, women with strength that are trying to overcome something. I had an acting teacher that used to tell me me that in the future, I was going to be playing “giving woman” roles. I recently watched a series of this woman who is a cop. In the series, it’s not a Christian series, but in the series, she played a Christian cop with a family. That’s a “giving woman” role.

You have a Q&A coming up tonight at the Alamo Drafthouse. You graduated from Richardson High School. What does it mean to you to be able to come back to DFW to promote your work?

I think it is wonderful. This is where I was discovered. Bruce Cooper came through Kim Dawson when I was a senior in high school. I remember going to the office and being told that I was going to be too short for a role but that I should go ahead and meet him. So, I did. Within six months I was working in Los Angelas. This is where my launchpad happened. So, yes! It gives me tingles and it’s lovely. It takes me full circle. Wow, I am actually having a full circle moment right now!

Be sure to head out to Alamo Drafthouse to catch Foreman’s Valley Girl screening tonight. Also, don’t miss Dallas Comic Show this weekend at Music City Mall in Lewisville!