Sometimes, when you least expect it, magic can happen. Growing up in the rural surroundings of Columbia County in New York, Kristine DeBell always had an interest in singing and film, but never foresaw a career as an actress. However, by her early twenties, she was appearing in numerous television episodes before co-starring alongside Richard Gere in the 1978 coming-of-age story Blood Brothers. Then in 1979, she took on the role of Camp Counselor A.L. in the Comedy classic Meatballs, opposite Bill Murray.
With momentum, DeBell continued to find success throughout the ’80s in major motion pictures, including 1980’s The Big Brawl next to Jackie Chan in his first American film, and 1982’s Action Comedy Tag: The Assassination Game, which featured Linda Hamilton in her first film role. An impressive resume, which deserves attention, DeBell’s infectious personality, and a memorable smile made her one of the most recognized faces of the ’80s. Continuing to satisfy her creative side in the theater years later, in 2025, DeBell could have new projects just around the corner. Humble about her unpredictable journey, Kristine DeBell sat down for a talk about everything from Meatballs to her love for nature.
Cryptic Rock – You grew up with a passion for the arts and have been involved in them for a long time. How would you describe your journey in film, acting, and everything you have done through the years?
Kristine DeBell – I would say it was all sort of accidental. It started because I sang in the choir. Then, the Mac-Haydn Theater came to the town I live in. I auditioned for the last show of their first season. I ended up getting the role of the naughty postulant in the first show, which was a very small part, but it was only because I could sing. That was the beginning of it. I ended up doing four years of Summer Stock Theater with the Mac-Haydn Theater. I was in ninth grade, so it was from ninth through twelfth grade.
Cryptic Rock – Interesting. You then went on to professionally work in film and stuff. You had a very extensive career. You worked on some big movies and a lot of television.
Kristine DeBell – Yeah. I was very tall and slim/slender, shall we say. All the other young ladies that I knew were curvy at that time. What happened was, I ended up seeing an ad in a magazine for Twiggy. I said, “Oh, that’s what girls with my shape are supposed to do.” The second I graduated from high school, I went to New York to the Ford Agency and started modeling there. Many of the models were going to film auditions. I said, “Oh, well, I can do that too.” That’s basically how it started. Then I ended up in LA, and the rest is history.
Cryptic Rock – That is great. You mentioned that you briefly considered modeling. That led to the film, even though you started acting at a younger age.
Kristine DeBell – Yes. Singing, like I said, at Summer Stock Theater. I didn’t have big parts because I was a local. They brought in the leads from New York City. I participated in four, possibly five or more. It was fun because, as I said, I had started out singing. I just thought it would be fun.
Cryptic Rock – It is fascinating because you said it was all accidental. Nothing in life ever is planned.
Kristine DeBell – Right.
Cryptic Rock – One of your first big films was 1979’s Meatballs with Bill Murray. While it was released in 1979, it is one of the most beloved Comedies of the 1980s. It launched a big career for Filmmaker Ivan Reitman (who went on to make films like 1984’s Ghostbusters) and, of course, Bill Murray.
Kristine DeBell – Yeah. Ivan knew Bill from Second City Television. That’s how it all started and how they met. I have shared before that no one knew if he would be showing up on set or not. He’s still like that. We were filming the opening scene of Meatballs with the campers while they were still there. Ivan was a little nervous, and suddenly, Bill walked across the lawn. He was like, “Phew.” (Laughs). The rest is history. He was amazing, funny, and fabulous.
I’m not sure if I mentioned this, but in the second scene, when we separate the girls and boys, and Bill is standing over the trash, ripping up papers – “saying the rules will be in here,” that was the script. The entire film became improvisational from that point on. Which is what Bill was good at.
Cryptic Rock – That is pretty wild. Bill has historically been known as a fascinating individual. Meatballs also opened up a lot of doors for you. You began working on more television, etc. Television and film are very different in terms of how quickly they move.
Kristine DeBell – Oh, yeah. I had actually done a lot of television before Meatballs. I worked with Angie Dickinson and a lot of terrific actors. Coming from the theater, it was a huge transition because you had to learn to talk to the camera. I learned that doing all the episodic television that I did before Meatballs.
At one point, they stopped filming. I’m like, “What’s going on?” I guess it was an earthquake or something… I had no idea. I had never been through an earthquake. I thought, “Why is everyone standing still right now?”
Cryptic Rock – (Laughs) That is unbelievable! As you said, you applied what you were doing from the theater, and you learned as you went from working in television. A lot of what you have done has been a mix of Drama and Comedy. It seems like you have worked in a lot of Comedy. Do you have a favorite genre?
Kristine DeBell – Well, honestly, because I’d worked in a lot of Comedy, I really enjoyed the Drama. Comedy is fun, and it’s not easy. Many people would say that Comedy is a more difficult genre than Drama. I ate it up. Going from musicals and being happy, to being kidnapped and that sort of thing in Drama was pretty exciting,
Cryptic Rock – As you said, Comedy is challenging because, working in film and television, you are not getting an instant reaction from the audience when you are filming. It’s a little different.
Kristine DeBell – Right. I had no idea. It’s like, “Oh, no, no. You’re talking into the camera, or you’re doing this.” It was all new to me. It was learning all these new things that I had no idea about. I enjoyed it immensely.
I used to watch TV. My favorite show is Star Trek. Then suddenly you’re involved in it. It’s like, “Oh, wow. This is how it all happens.” Sometimes it’s in pieces, or it’s out of sequence. It’s like, “Oh, well, we’re filming the last scene first.” It’s like, “What?”
Cryptic Rock – It is entirely different than when you see it on a television or movie screen. You worked well into the early ’80s, but then you took some time off. Why did you step away? Was that to concentrate on family?
Kristine DeBell – Well, I didn’t have a family, but it was starting to form. I met someone in Los Angeles. He wanted to have a family. I grew up on a farm in the country, where we raised our own livestock and grew our own vegetables. I thought, “I want to raise my kids in the country. I don’t want to raise them in the city or in Los Angeles, where oftentimes it’s like, what kind of work does your daddy do?” I left.
Then, what happened was that there was a theater company very close to the farm. Once the kids were old enough, I hired a sitter and returned to the theater.
Cryptic Rock – You returned to your original love, where it all started. It is a very admirable and selfless thing to do, to give up yourself for the sake of your children. You do not often see people make such sacrifices as frequently in today’s world. Everyone wants to have everything. That is not to say it is a bad thing. We are just living in a different time.
Kristine DeBell – Yeah. Maybe some people can juggle both, or they want to stay, or for whatever reason, they had a different experience. When they were old enough, I dragged my youngest back and said, “I’m going to go back.” The marriage was ending. I had three boys in a row, and then eight years later, I had another. I gave it up for three of them. In the fourth, I’m like, “Okay. Come with me. We’re going to LA.”
I still found a town that was outside of Los Angeles, up in the mountains, and where it was more normal. It seemed like a normal upbringing. He did well there.
Cryptic Rock – That is good. It is a matter of some structure in the aspect where you are living, where it is not chaos all the time.
Kristine DeBell – Yeah. Honestly, a lot of my boys knew what I did. One of them chose to be in the business. He’s in LA now. He’s a writer and was an actor. They all did a little acting in the beginning, but then went their separate ways. My oldest sort of stayed. He chose that.
Cryptic Rock – Understood. When you returned to acting, you mentioned doing theater, but you also started working on some films here and there again.
Kristine DeBell – Yeah. I said, “Let’s go back and see what happens.” I dragged my youngest, as I said. It’s a normal thing that happens, but when I went back, I couldn’t get that momentum back. I was making big movies with prominent directors. When I went back, you could submit yourself for some stuff, so I did. I submitted myself. The first guy that I submitted myself for a film, he said, “You don’t need to audition. I know who you are.” We made several films together, such as 2013’s A Talking Cat!?! and A Talking Pony!?!. Then I met others and made a lot of those types of movies with smaller budgets. It was still fun, and I got to act.
Cryptic Rock – That is good. Are there any upcoming projects you can speak about?
Kristine DeBell – I can talk about it, but I haven’t heard from him. A producer from London contacted me. I think he’s a writer-producer. He sent me one of the films that he had written and produced, and it was really terrific. He wanted me to come to London and make this film. It was like espionage. She was not CIA, but MI6, which is the British secret service. It was about the English accent. I said, “Look, I can do an English accent very well, but if you want to make me an American, that’s just one less thing I have to learn.”
His producing partner fell ill, was hospitalized, and he continued. He had several films lined up to make. He’s currently making those films. At some point, when his time is freed up, we’ll go back to the film he wants me to do. That’s what he said.
It’s exciting because I’m here in the country, thinking I’m retired. I get a phone call from a producer in London who wants to fly me to London to make a movie. I’m like, “Get out of here! What?” I’m not sure when it will happen, but it will.
Cryptic Rock – That is exciting. As you had mentioned, we were semi-retired when this happened. Is it nice to see that people have not forgotten the work after all these years?
Kristine DeBell – Oh, yeah. I guess he’d been a huge fan of Meatballs since he was a kid. It’s all about Meatballs; it has an effect, I think. I still watch it. When it came out on DVD, my youngest was still fairly young. I made all these new friends because I was back in LA, I have kids, and they have kids the same age. I invited them over to watch Meatballs because of the release. He said to me, “Mom, that’s so embarrassing. You’re inviting people over to watch you on TV.” It was pretty funny. I’ll just never forget that reaction. But then suddenly, when Meatballs was re-released, it was like, “Holy crap, mom, you’re on TV.” I said, “Yeah, dude!”
Cryptic Rock – It is funny to see how your kids react. Meatballs was released originally in 1979, but it launched a new brand of Comedy in the ’80s. There were many good Comedies in the ’80s that followed suit thereafter.
Kristine DeBell – Yes, I agree. It set the stage. A lot of it was with Bill and Ivan. They went on to star in films such as Stripes (1981), Ghostbusters, and others. Speaking of Bill, someone had come up with a television version of Caddyshack (1980). I was cast as the lifeguard, but it never got picked up or made. It would have been fun.
Cryptic Rock – Wow. That is interesting and would have been fun to see. It is just one of those things that did not happen.
Kristine DeBell – Yeah, exactly. I guess it didn’t get picked up. We did the pilot, and then I guess no one thought we should be copying. They could be correct in that it should not be redone.
Cryptic Rock – There are a lot of films that have been made into television series.
Kristine DeBell – It is really interesting that they tried to do it with Caddyshack. It didn’t work, whereas in other cases it did.
Cryptic Rock – To that point, more films and television series are being made now than ever before because of all the streaming services. It is hard to keep up with all.
Kristine DeBell – Yes. The studios were upset about it, but I think it’s kind of cool. There’s so much more. There’s more work for actors. There’s more work for people who work behind the cameras. It used to be that it was a studio thing. There were maybe three or four big studios. I think it’s terrific. It’s totally expanded. It’s given actors more work, producers more work.
Cryptic Rock – That is an excellent point. As you said, it is also hopefully giving more independent ideas a chance that they may not have had in the past. Like you said, there were only three or four big studios where you were releasing films.
Kristine DeBell – Yeah. Then, even independent films, you just mentioned, some of them would try to get it produced on their own if a big studio didn’t want it. That’s where I think the tiers began to emerge. People could have a small company that they weren’t a studio, but they would produce or help get films shown.
Cryptic Rock – Right. You would hope that with more independent filmmaking, it would become more artistic and more art for the art’s sake. Opposed to something commercially viable, primarily just there to sell tickets.
Kristine DeBell – Yeah. That’s what it became. Studios were only interested in producing huge films that would make them loads of money. That left a gap. That gap got filled, which is great for all the smaller independent filmmakers who got to have their films made.
Cryptic Rock – Most certainly. We spoke about some of the work you have done in the past and some of the job you are doing now. You said you are enjoying semi-retirement.
Kristine DeBell – Yeah. I am. It’s nice. I live in the country. I live on a horse farm. It’s just nice because it’s calm. I’m not sure how to put it into words. I just love it. Also, I’m home. Then, as I mentioned, I received an email on my fan page, kristinedebell.com, asking, “Would you like to make a movie?” I’m like, “Wow, yeah, I kind of would like to make a movie.” You never know.
I don’t think I want to get back into it or anything like that. If someone periodically contacts me and says, “You want to make a film or TV show?” I’d be like, “Yeah, sure. Sounds like fun.”
Cryptic Rock – It will be fun to watch everything develop.
Kristine DeBell – Yeah. We’ll see. I’m thinking possibly this summer.
Cryptic Rock – As you said, you live on a horse farm. You said you grew up in the country in upstate New York. There is a distinct mentality associated with someone who grows up in a rural area, surrounded by family, working with animals, and on a farm, compared to someone who grows up in a more urban setting. Do you think that shaped your outlook going into acting like you did, and everything that transpired with how everything moved forward?
Kristine DeBell – I’m not sure if I can answer. You could certainly have actors that grew up in suburbia or who grew up in Beverly Hills, and they still end up making movies, and they have their experience. They could certainly play someone who grew up on a farm. I could play someone who grew up in Beverly Hills as an actor. That’s what we do.
Being in the country gives me a warm feeling. It makes me feel at home. I just love it. It’s brood mares that I have. They have babies. It’s all about racing. One of my boys is a trainer. On our farm, we had brood mares, and we had one horse that raced.
It’s hard to say, right? It just depends on the person. I wake up to birds chirping. There is just cool stuff. I like trees. I point them out, saying, “Oh, wow.” My son says to me, “Mom, it’s a tree.” (Laughs).
Cryptic Rock – These are things that we all should try to appreciate more. Nature is beautiful. It makes you appreciate life more.
Kristine DeBell – Absolutely. Things like seeing babies being born. There was a baby owl on my lawn that had fallen out of the nest. There was a notch in the tree. I picked it up with a towel and put it in the notch, and then checked later. Mom and Dad had come and taken him back. There are small experiences like this.
I grew up on a self-sufficient farm. We were putting up fencing because we kept getting more animals. My dad, he’s got the auger, and he puts the post in, and up comes a ground hornet’s nest. There are things you’ll never forget. My brother and I are running through the field, ripping our clothes off while the hornets are stinging us and following us. (Laughs)
Cryptic Rock – That is something you certainly will never forget. You have experienced an interesting trajectory of where you came from and where you are now, and everything in between. What would you say is some of the advice that you would give to someone else who is looking to pursue a career in any of the arts?
Kristine DeBell – I’ve been asked that question. It’s just a very difficult business to get into. You just have to do small things or do whatever you can. You go on auditions and try your best. I used to teach acting, but not on a major scale. It’s not an easy business to break into. You have to have an open mind. In some ways, I would say that I just got very lucky. You never know, but you just keep trying.
Doing theater in between, trying theater, because lots of people go to the theater and they’re like, “Wow, that was amazing.” Then they want to meet you. Then who knows? Maybe doing some Comedy. My friends would say, “You’re so funny. You should do an act at The Comedy Store.” Nothing scares me more than standing up in front of people as myself, cracking jokes. I have a huge fear of that. As an actor, I’m becoming someone else. It’s not me. You ask me to be me? Crack jokes? No. It’s totally different. Whatever genre you’re interested in, you just have to go after it.
Cryptic Rock – That is good advice. You talk about theater and singing. Do you also have a passion for music?
Kristine DeBell – Yeah. It’s crazy. It’s eclectic too. I enjoy a wide range of music, from Punk Rock to classical.
Cryptic Rock – Very good. Do you have any favorite artists?
Kristine DeBell – That’s a tough call because I’ve listened to so much. I remember Lee Ving from Fear. John Williams would be one of my go-tos for Classical, something he’s conducting. For a while, I was watching European films, and some of the music was amazing. I’m just Shazam-ing it right and left because I’m like, “I have to have this. I don’t know who the artist is, but the song is terrific.”
Cryptic Rock – Yeah. That is also what is great about film; you can discover music that you may not have listened to otherwise. Particularly in the ’80s, film soundtracks —both the composition and the actual soundtracks —offered a vast opportunity to learn about different bands that appeared on the soundtrack.
Kristine DeBell – Exactly. Like me watching European espionage films and Shazaming the music, I could do the same with movies made here. It’s like, “Wow, I’ve never heard that piece. It’s great.”
Cryptic Rock – It is great when the two forms of media just come together like that. What are some of your particular favorite films in any genre?
Kristine DeBell – It’s just so hard because there are so many films that I love. My brain is filled with films, and it’s accessing one of my favorites. The French Connection (1971) is one of them. What’s one of my favorite Comedies? Oh, Meatballs. No, I’m just teasing.
Cryptic Rock – (Laughs) There is nothing wrong with liking your films you have starred in.
Kristine DeBell – Somebody said, “Oh, my God. Do you mind watching Meatballs?” Friends will come over and they’re like, “Oh my God, I’ve never seen Meatballs. Do you mind seeing it over and over again?” I say no, because it’s funny every time you see it.
Cryptic Rock – Absolutely. Speaking of The French Connection, it had a very gritty feeling that many ’70s films did.
Kristine DeBell – Yep. I also love coming-of-age films, particularly those featuring The Brat Pack. They made so many terrific films. Walking down the railway, picturing some of the scenes. There are numerous genres to go to. Right now, Stranger Things is so good.
Cryptic Rock – Yes, Stranger Things is exceptionally well done. The story is good, and the characters are good.
Kristine DeBell – Yeah. That’s all it takes!
No comment