Due to the special premier of the new film 'Dead Night,' I was able to sit down with star Brea Grant for an exclusive interview:
Me: Had you not taken this career path, what did you see yourself being when you grew up?
Brea Grant: I actually have an MA in American Studies so I assume I would be teaching history to freshmen in college somewhere random if I had continued on that path. I’ve also always thought I would be a great librarian.
Me: As your early roles were on TV shows rather than feature films, what did you learn on those sets that helped prepare you for your later movie roles? Do you prefer working on TV shows or films?
BG: TV for the most part is much more technical than film. I learned to hit my marks, know my lines and be a professional. TV sets don’t really put up with too much bullshit. There is too much to do for drama to reign. So I think because of that I very much treat filmmaking in a very straight-forward manner. Acting is my passion but it’s also my job. I show up ready to go, not complaining, and knowing my lines. You’d be surprised at how many actors don’t take indie films seriously.
Me: What about the genre attracts you to those roles? Do you gravitate towards playing a specific character or just want to be involved with whatever role you can?
BG: I love genre movies so when I read a script that’s not genre, it’s hard for me to get excited. Even just a tiny genre element can get me motivated to do a film. It’s what I most consume as a viewer so it’s just what I’m drawn to. And for genre, I can be just drawn to the concept. I don’t have to like any of the actors or the director. It can be a completely unknown movie and I’ll start watching it. At this point in my career, I’m pretty picky about what I will and won’t take and a lot of times it’s based on the character. I have to be excited to play her. And deep down, I’m really a character actress. I don’t usually like to play myself. I like to dig into the character side of acting.
Me: While waiting for the next scene to film, do you still find yourself hanging out with the other actors on sets or with the crew?
BG: That is such a specific question. It depends on the set. The bigger the set, the more separated the actors are from everyone else. On indie films, you’re all kind of together hanging out and I get to know everyone, which I really dig. Some of my oldest friends in LA were crew on indies I worked on early on. On bigger sets, I find that I spend a lot of time reading a book between takes because there’s not that many people to chat with.
Me: As for your new movie, ‘Dead Night,’ what can you tell us about your character in particular?
BG: Casey is a deeply caring, very strong woman who wants what’s best for her husband and family and will stop at nothing to get it. When the movie opens, she is struggling to keep her family together and happy because her husband of many years has cancer. And then when things start to go off the rails, she has to struggle to stay alive.
Me: What about the role of Casey attracted you to the film?
BG: For me, it was a big change to play a mother and an “adult.” I’m Casey’s age but a lot of people think of me as younger and less mature. I think maybe it’s the blonde? Tackling big life questions was really interesting to me. When I met with the director Brad Baruh, I really fought to be able to play this role. I felt like I had it in me to start playing deeper characters who have lived actual lives. A lot of time when I’m offered a role, I say to myself, “What is this woman’s job? What is her past? Is there any information about her except that she’s someone’s girlfriend?” And often the answer is disappointing. That is absolutely not the case for Casey or any of the women in this film. All of the characters are fully realized and fascinating.
Me: Due to the back-and-forth nature of the film, was shooting a bit of a challenge?
BG: Not for us. The script wasn’t originally written than way so for us it was pretty straight forward. But I love that that is the way that it ended up. I think risk-taking in film is important when we are in a time where there is so much media. Why make something that is just like every other film when making an indie? Take risks. Do rad shit.
Me: Having worked with Barbara Crampton before, did that make the scenes between you two easy to get through?
BG: Definitely. And hanging out on and off set was great. She’s like a mom/sister. She brings good food to set and always has vitamins but will also listen to me talk about how much I miss my boyfriend. We already had a rapport for doing Beyond the Gates and so I think we both felt comfortable throwing out ideas, talking to each other about everything and just hanging out. As actors, we aren’t all immediately friends when we meet. But knowing Barbara now for years, I was excited to get to work with her again. I mean, she’s a goddamn queen and the nicest person you’ll ever meet.
Me: With the darker characteristics found in the character, does that stretch you as an actor or somewhat of a comfort to play that kind of person?
BG: Yeah. It’s never easy to work all night on a set crying and freaking out or, in this case, murdering your family. I know that when I have a film like this, I’m going to feel drained and probably have a stomach ache by the end of the day. After one very long night, I remember I sat in a bathtub eating ice cream for like an hour after we wrapped as the sun came up. But, it’s what I signed up for so I try to embrace it.
Me: Do you recall having any odd or funny on-set stories about yourself or any of the other cast/crew members?
BG: Shooting this was a bitch. And without all the amazing crew and the amazing director, we would have actually died. Like maybe actually died. It was about 17 degrees and on one of our shoot days, it snows like 2 feet. Some of the cast had to sleep on the floor of the Air Bnb I was staying in because we couldn’t get our cars out. On my first night, Don Coscarelli was on set and I was driving a car and he was smushed into the very back watching the monitor with the director which is just how it is on an indie set. But as a big fan of Don’s, I was like “I’m living the dream.”
Me: Finally, which character that you’ve played in the past would you love to hear has been continued for another entry? Thank you again for your time and good luck in the future!
BG: I love a lot of the characters I’ve played and if the creators wanted to take them for another spin, I’d be open to it. But most of the reason I got into this business is that I can’t stay still and do the same thing for very long. So the enjoyment of always doing something new is really important to me.
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