Her MySpace page boasts her official merchandise, current tour, and an impressive array of photo sets. Juliya spoke to us recently about her appearance as a sexy Devil Girl in Wild Eye Releasing’s GOTH KILL, the new film by JJ Connelly, and her acting ambitions.

Jonathan Stryker: You were born in the Ukraine. How long did you live in there?
Juliya Chernetsky: I emigrated to the U.S. when I was seven years-old. Ukrainian was my first language, but then I picked up English when I got here.

JS: What were your interests when you were a child?
JC: Wow. That sounds deep! I started dancing when I was six. I got heavily into music when I was twelve. Rock and roll pretty much took over my interests when I was young. I’m very much into heavy metal music now.

JS: You became a heavy metal fan at twelve after hearing Guns N’ Roses. How did you discover them?
JC: A guy I was dating at the time introduced me to them and I had never heard anything like them before. It was amazing, and it had such a cathartic effect on me.

JS: What was the first song of theirs that you heard?
JC: “November Rain” on their Use Your Illusion I album. After I heard that, I heard “Don’t Cry” next which I thought was a great love song because I was young and in love and all that funky stuff, and that definitely spoke to me. And then I listened to Appetite for Destruction and that was a whole fucking different vibe, you know what I mean? That was good stuff. Good stuff.

JS: What is it about heavy metal that you are attracted to?
JC: Heavy metal is just a very extreme form of expression to me. It’s always been very appealing to me because it’s really balls-out. It has a lot of shock value and it demands attention whether you like it or not. It’s powerful, loud, and intrusive. And also because it’s very dark, deep, and you can say anything that you want. And it’s ok to express yourself honestly in that way, to be really honest about the pain you experience in your life.

JS: Italian film director Dario Argento has used heavy metal music quite effectively in some of his films, such as Iron Maiden’s “Flash of the Blade” and Motorhead’s “Locomotive” in PHENOMENA and Norden Light’s “No Escape” and Steele Grave’s “Knights of the Night” and “Steele Grave” in OPERA. He also produced DEMONS which featured music by Motley Crue, Saxon, and Accept. Apart from and Iron Maiden and Motley Crue, are you familiar with any of these bands?
JC: No, I’m not.

JS: I can’t find anything about them on the Internet, so I would assume that they have disbanded.
JC: I really liked Iron Maiden’s live shows, they were definitely rockin’.

JS: How about Twisted Sister? I really liked “Stay Hungry”.
JC: For me, that was more like a glam party band, something to listen to when you’re out and drinking with friends and hanging out.

JS: Are you partial to horror films?
JC: Oh, yeah. I like them very much. I think that it kind of goes hand in hand with things that are extreme, and the force that’s there with heavy metal bands. Mixing blood and gore, I find, is very shocking and entertaining. The shock value is very powerful.

JS: What was the first horror film that you recall seeing?
JC: THE OMEN. I was really, really young when I saw that. That’s a very unique and particular kind of horror movie that is, to this day, very scary. There was a lot of suspense and all of the dread that you feel in that movie was mostly conveyed through the soundtrack. There aren’t many scenes of blood or gore, but it was very intense because of the music.

JS: What are some of the horror films that made the biggest impact on you?
JC: THE SHINING. The older films are great because music is such a big part of them. There weren’t so many graphics the way that they are now.

JS: Done by computers –
JC: Exactly. I love the dark imagery and everything that makes up the overall artistic value of it. Music brings upon the feeling of being scared. I love Tim Burton and Steven Spielberg – Spielberg on an entertaining level. But with Burton, his images that give me that gothic, macabre and very poetic dark vibe, I really dig that. He does a really great job at making these things look really beautiful. SLEEPY HOLLOW was terrific. I also love ARMY OF DARKNESS and DRAG ME TO HELL and that kind of cheesy horror, you know what I mean? And sometimes I’ll take a SAW film over a good plot line. A NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET was great. The whole concept of being young and having someone invade your dreams was awesome. THE TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE was a really big one for me, too. It was such a realistic idea where you can find yourself in a place where these truly crazy people are out to do horrible things to you and they’re really OK with it. That’s such a horrible aspect of American society and an equally realistic one. The culture seems to be obsessed with maniacs, psychopaths and serial killers so, that’s very scary, and I really enjoyed that one. Psychologically, it’s a very real idea.

JS: What was “Tastemakers”? I can’t find anything about that on the Web.
JC: “Tastemakers” was a show I did I was on a long time ago. It entailed pulling people off the street and asking them about the music scene that they’re into, and then people online were voting them on or off. I did that for a while and people responded really well to it, they were all talking about heavy metal. Then, Much Music offered me my own show, and that’s where “Uranium” came out of.

JS: How long did you host “Uranium”?
JC: Just over five years.

JS: Do you have any tattoos besides the Betty Page on your lower back?
JC: Yeah, I have five. I have a quarter sleeve on my right forearm; a poppy flower; a pot leaf; a catwoman; and some Zodiac symbols.

JS: How did you come to be involved in GOTHKILL?
JC: JJ (Connelly), who is a good friend of mine, worked with me at Fuse before. He told me that he was making this movie that he needed a girl to be dressed up as a devil. He asked me if I wanted to do it, and I told him, “Most definitely. I’ll be a devil bitch!” (laughs)

JS: What was the material that they used to cover you up in and make you look red?
JC: It was a water-based paint. On my face and most of my body they used an airbrush gun. They finished off my finger tips with a sponge brush. I spent all the time that I was on the set completely painted in red. And then I went out drinking dressed like that.

JS: Really? (laughs)
JC: Fuck, yeah! You think I’m going to pass up an opportunity like that?! I had the horns on and everything!

JS: That’s like when Arnold Schwarzenegger was shooting THE TERMINATOR and went into a fast food restaurant with the makeup of half of his face missing. People didn’t know what to think! Do you have acting aspirations?
JC: Yes, it’s something that I want to continue pursuing. I would like to make horror films in the future.

JS: What projects do you have in the works?
JC: I currently host a show on Fuse TV called “Countdown Rock”. It’s a hard rock and mainstream metal countdown. I interview bands and do a vote on what bands I want to see. I also run the Slave to the Metal Tour where I go to a different city every weekend and we book local acts get the word out about local bands. I’ll do anything I can to help a band that I like get noticed. It’s all about rocking out and having a great time.