Interviews
[Sundance ’12] Interview: ‘Black Rock’ Director and Star Katie Aselton
Black Rock (review) sold to LD Entertainment immediately following its first midnight screening in the Sundance Film Festival’s Park City at Midnight Category.
Directed by Katie Aselton, the film stars Aselton, Lake Bell and Kate Bosworth as three friends on a camping trip who run afoul of three hunters who turn violent. It becomes a gritty fight to survive in the woods.
By Thursday of Sundance, Aselton was as exhausted as we were. She even offered to have a snuggle session instead of an interview, but I wasn’t smooth enough to take her up on it so I just went with a normal interview. Some spoilers follow in our talk, but they’re good spoilers about violence and nudity! Q: For a long time, man has been the most dangerous game. Is woman taking over as the most dangerous game?
KA: I think women secretly have always been the most dangerous, the most dangerous beasts. We’re fierce. Men have it all on the outside. We’ve got some fierceness on the inside. When push comes to shove, I think we can take someone down pretty quickly.
Q: Were you a fan of that story in all its incarnations?
KA: I loved The Most Dangerous Game. I remember I read it my freshman year in high school and was obsessed with it. It was I think our very first assignment in English the very first day of school freshman year. I love that story. It’s amazing. I love survival stories. I love when humans are sort of forced to go primal. It’s exciting.
Q: Kate Bosworth’s character jokes that she has cancer but then she’s just messing with her friends. Did you ever consider really giving her cancer so she’d have nothing to lose when it really went down?
KA: No, that just felt a little melodramatic for me. I liked the idea, because that’s what friends do. You f*** with each other. She knew how to get her friends on board and she knew, as ultimately happened in the movie, when push comes to shove, the petty stuff falls away which is what she was sort of initially doing. I didn’t want anybody to have nothing to lose. I wanted everyone to have everything to lose.
Q: In a movie like this these days, do you have to explain there’s no cell phone reception?
KA: I think you do. I really do. It’s really frustrating. Cell phones have killed our sense of isolation, but in the state of Maine it’s very possible that you have no cell reception. Although I will say ironically, when we were shooting on the mainland, we had horrible cell reception and we would take a 30 minute boat ride out to the island where we were shooting, and I had 3G. Isn’t that weird? I could watch movies on my phone.
Q: It’s an easy enough thing in one line, because everyone is thinking it now.
KA: And Lake handled it so effortlessly. It was such an easy throwaway.
Q: In old movies they still had to have someone cut the phone lines.
KA: Yeah, exactly. For us it was did the phone get water on it in the boat? What exactly happens? Where are the other cell phones? It’s a stupid thing to have to overcome but you do because then you’re like, “Why didn’t you just call someone?”
Q: Thank you for the body warmth scene with you and Lake Bell. Is a little nudity a must in horror movies?
KA: Yeah, that’s the thing we were sort of playing with. There are certain thriller genre rules that we followed but I made sure to do them on my terms. So yes, I show boobs but I do it in my way and a way that I feel comfortable with.
Q: And you don’t expect it in a movie with A-list cast because they all have contracts.
KA: No, Lake was totally down for it which was great. She’s like, “I’ll go as far you will. You’re with me. Let’s just do it together.”
Q: Did you have any mixed feelings about making soldiers with PTSD the villains?
KA: I did. I was actually really concerned that we did it right and for me it wasn’t that they all had PTSD. It was that I think that one guy really was damaged emotionally, but the loyalty, the fierce loyalty between those guys bonds them together and gels them so tightly that Alex, played by Anslem Richardson, goes along with it because, you know, you follow your seniors. That’s what you do. So for me, I was really inspired by Restrepo and the guys in Restrepo. There was one in particular who had the little wool beanie cap and he looked a lot like Jay Paulson. He was like this wirey thin boy who leaves a boy, a video game playing boy who’s shy and sweet and comes back from that experience a changed human being. He’s not a boy anymore and he’s not a man and he’s just sort of vacant in the face and he’s not okay. That really affected me a lot because it was important for me that these guys were not just random psychopaths, that there was a reason why they were doing what they were doing. And the fact that they were this so tightly knit tribe of boys, when something happens to one of them it really sets the other one off. That is how he knows how to handle things now.
Q: I would even imagine the motivation for the guy who attacks you first is some form of PTSD.
KA: Yeah, you know, I mean these guys were back for 18 days. The fact of the matter is, not to get super political or opinionated about the whole thing, but we bring our boys home and we dump ‘em. We don’t do anything for them so the fact that their backstory for these guys is their way of assimilating back into social culture was to get a weekend away just the three of us and be alone. It’s too much to be back in society right now, elt’s all go on a weekend. But yeah, it’s not surprising that their triggers are really quick.
Q: Was shooting on the island like a real camping trip?
KA: Well, we didn’t shoot the whole movie on an island. We used a lot of the mainland which that coast is so beautiful.
Q: But out in the woods.
KA: Out in the woods, yeah, Lake and Kate and I peed in the woods. That’s just what you do.
Q: And the night shoots?
KA: Those were tricky. It was physically and emotionally a very demanding film. The nights were cold and dark and wet and you’re in the woods. The scene where we’re crawling through the woods when we’re looking for our boat, Kate was in the lead and we’re in the woods. She had no idea where she was putting her hand down. It was dark and creepy and disgusting, so they were pretty brave.
Q: How cold was it?
KA: The night we shot the water scene, the water temperature was 45 degrees. The air temperature was 43. It was cold.
Q: When you’re shivering after that, was that more acting or was it real?
KA: Oh no, it was freezing. It was freezing cold. That month of June, I have no idea what happened. The whole spring last year in Maine was so cold. We went to go location scout in April and there was a blizzard. In April. It was like April 4 and we got a foot of snow. So all of our pictures of location scouting, everything was covered with snow. I was like, “I’m pretty sure I remember this being a beach but I don’t know if there’s rocks under it. I think it’s a beach.” So then we got there in May and it rained the entire time while we were in preproduction. June 1 our first day of shooting the sun came out, thank God, but it didn’t get any warmer. We were freezing. What we’d set aside for wardrobe didn’t work for us at all. We were frigidly cold. It was crazy. June was freezing and then July, as soon as we left, it was like 80 degrees every day.
Q: The guys still are physically muscle-wise stronger so you have to work really hard to win. Is that another frustrating cliché? It’s a good thing to empower women that they can beat up guys, but sometimes unrealistic when these skinny girls take out musclemen.
KA: Yeah, and I think what we showed is you really kind of couldn’t kick a guy’s ass. The first death was by chance. The second one was against an injured guy and the third one was two against one and barely, barely, barely we pulled that one out. For me it was really playing with the idea of who wants to live more. I think that was the girls in this case.
Q: Congratulations on the sale.
KA: Thank you. We’re taking over the world.
Q: What kind of release are they giving you?
KA: You know, I haven’t sat down with them and really hashed out all the details but I know they love the film and are really behind it and are excited for a lot of people to see it.
Q: Have you gotten to see anything else here?
KA: I just saw California Solo last night. I saw Safety Not Guaranteed. Now that things are starting to slow down is when I get to see some movies which is great. What’s really fun is that there are a lot of people that were here in 2010 when I was here with Freebie back with their next film. It’s like we’re in the same class.
Interviews
‘Humane’ – Caitlin Cronenberg, Emily Hampshire, and Jay Baruchel on Violent Horror Satire
Caitlin Cronenberg, the daughter of horror master David Cronenberg, is making her own mark in the genre filmmaking space with Humane, a horror/thriller satire starring Jay Baruchel (This Is The End) and Emily Hampshire (“Schitt’s Creek”) that forces an affluent family to make an unthinkable choice.
Humane will first be arriving in theaters courtesy of IFC Films on April 26, 2024. The film later comes home to Shudder on July 26.
Michael Sparaga wrote the script and produces the movie, which also stars Peter Gallagher (Grace and Frankie), Sebastian Chacon (Emergency), Alanna Bale (Sort Of, Cardinal) and Sirena Gulamgaus (“Chapelwaite“).
In Humane, “a recently retired newsman has invited his grown children to dinner to announce his intentions to enlist in the nation’s new euthanasia program. But when the father’s plan goes horribly awry, tensions flare, and chaos erupts among his children.”
Ahead of the film’s theatrical release this week, Bloody Disgusting spoke with director Caitlin Cronenberg along with stars Emily Hampshire and Jay Baruchel, who play siblings Rachel and Jared York.
Caitlin Cronenberg hails from a family of filmmakers known for their genre output, but that didn’t mean it was a foregone conclusion that Caitlin Cronenberg’s feature debut would also be horror. The filmmaker isn’t quite sure that Humane counts, either.
Cronenberg explains, “I don’t even know that it is classified as a horror movie, which is why I love it so much. It has got horror elements, it’s got thriller elements, and then it’s a family drama, ultimately. I think that the depth of the story is what was the most appealing to me, and the fact that there was an opportunity to throw some good gore in there certainly was appealing in my very soul. But I do think it’s just a matter of what speaks to you. There was no plan in place for what my first feature would be. It was, ‘I love this. Let’s make it.’ Not that simple, but you know what I mean?”
Humane plays like a stage play, trapping its characters inside a single location with a ticking clock as the tension heats from a simmer to a roaring boil. Because the dialogue-heavy film is so reliant on its casting, Cronenberg wasn’t just looking for key personality traits to play her affluent family but also looking for actors with whom she could collaborate.
Cronenberg says of her cast, “Em was my first text/call. She was very obviously someone who could handle all of the complexities of the Rachel character, and also somebody who I knew would just be a fucking blast to work with. Jay was exactly the same, just the next person that we talked to. I just knew that he would absolutely kill it. Jared having a range of the worst kind of person to an emotional person, and all the way back around. Really, once we had the two siblings as the anchor points, the rest of the film cast came into place. Because I think you’ve got two strong actors who know how to work together, they’re going to lead the charge. Then, everyone else gets to be brought into this sphere of great energy and great talent. The script was actually written for Enrico Colantoni, who played Bob, which was just a no-brainer bringing him in. Just a mind-blowing performance as Bob.”
While Emily Hampshire and Jay Baruchel didn’t hesitate to say yes to working with Cronenberg and each other, both actors have the daunting task of playing morally tricky characters within an entitled, rich family. Yet both find ways to instill rooting interest. How do the actors find the humanity in characters like Rachel or Jared York?
Hampshire reflects, “My first thought is, I love a character. It’s so fun to get to do all the things that you’re not allowed to do in society because no one will like you. But I think inherent in that is the humanity. Everybody has those thoughts of being that person, doing the wrong thing, and seeing somebody executed, I think is really likable. Like you love to hate them. I don’t know. Jay, you?”
Baruchel elaborates, “I think if you’re doing your job correctly and your responsibilities are what they should be, the gig is the same every time. Which is, try to be truthful and try to be truthful in a compelling way that serves the story and doesn’t step on other shit. Then, look for little bits of daylight where you can sometimes put in your own little bit of shading in the margins, too. So, this is all to say that it’s all on the page, as much of a cliché as that is. I think that the story unfolds the way that it should. So, I just have to trust that that, as a manual or roadmap, is the right direction to where we’re going; Caitlin will drive us there. Then the job for Emily and I, and whomever else in the moment, is to try to be as truthful to the moment we’re creating as we possibly can. In that respect, if I am being honest and truthful about it, I will inevitably pull something from me and put it in there.”
It likely helps, at least in Hampshire’s case, that these tricky characters are also struggling parents. Rachel York becomes a bit more relatable through her relationship and fierce love of her daughter Mia, played by Sirena Gulamgaus. Hampshire humorously recounts the role she played in Gulamgaus’s casting.
Hampshire tells Bloody Disgusting, “I had actually worked with Sirena on a show called Chapelwaite, and she played my stepdaughter. When Caitlin was looking for Mia, I was like, ‘This girl. Like you’ve got to see this.’ And she killed it. I was very proud of my daughter. That was really great, especially for me. I don’t usually get- I shouldn’t say that. I was going to say I don’t usually get cast as a mom. I get cast as a bad mom or mom of a ghost baby, and so I have a hard time believing in myself as a mother. So, to have the relationship I already have with Sirena, which is like, ‘She’s the mom,’ that made it a lot easier.”
Humane backs the York family into a corner and forces them to make a harrowing choice, which means that tensions eventually explode into violence. More than just biting sarcasm and sharp, witty dialogue, the film gives Hampshire and Baruchel a lot to do when it comes to physical violence, as well. But which is more fun to play?
Baruchel jokes, “I have a crippling addiction to pratfalls, so when we’re in the Tom and Jerry portion of the movie, I am just a pig in shit. I could get my ass kicked every day, and, yeah, I keep coming back for it. So for me personally, all of the physical shit.”
Hampshire agrees, “I love the physical shit when I don’t have to actually be good at it. I’ve had to do some things where I have a gun, and I’m supposed to look like I can use it, and I don’t believe myself in that. But this, I love that we’re not stunt people; we’re siblings fighting with weapons, and there’s a lot of funny in that. Like really trying to kill somebody is actually harder than you think.”
“I loved the surprise on their faces when they actually managed to hurt another person,“ Cronenberg adds.
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