Karen Allen got her first acting role in National Lampon’s Animal House, an iconic 1978 comedy directed by John Landis. We got an opportunity to ask Allen how she got to be a part of Animal House that became a box-office hit.

After National Lampon’s Animal House Allen went on to act in many feature films. One of her most memorable character was as Marion Ravenswood in Steven Spielberg’s Raiders of the Lost Ark and later on in Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull.

Besides acting in films and theatre Allen has a keen interest in textile design. She studied at New York’s Institute of Fashion Design before branching off into her acting career.

We caught up with Allen at the 2019 SFFILM in San Francisco where her new film Colewell by director Tom Quinn had its world premier.  

This is a highlight of a longer interview with Allen. Stay tuned for that interview.