“Smile,”Despite its sunny name, it is currently frightening America.
Paramount’s horror film, The Original Paramount, debuted at #1 on the box office this weekend. And for good reason – it’s really scary! “Smile,”Parker Finn is the writer/director of this story about Rose (Sosie Bacon), a young doctor who discovers a curse after one her patients kills herself in front Rose.
“Smile”It was recently presented at Fantastic Fest in Austin, Texas, where it had its world premiere. Fantastic Fest is an international film festival that focuses on genre films. Bacon shared his first screening story, which is well-known for drawing large crowds.
“My gosh. I was a bit like, Is everybody okay? This is a lot,”Bacon stated. “I sort of felt uncomfortable for everybody because obviously it was uncomfortable to shoot, but watching with the crowd, I was like, Oh my God, this is intense. It was fun also to see how the laughter and the scares… I don’t know. Everyone seemed very physically and emotionally affected by it. I’m not going to lie. My mom was on the floor.” (Bacon’s mom, by the way, is Kyra Sedgwick. Kevin Bacon is her father, and his horror credits include “Flatliners,” “Tremors” “Stir of Echoes.”)
Bacon spoke with me about the appeal and experience of horror films, as well as how it felt to interact. “Smile’s”Big monster and whether her father had any thoughts.
What appeal does horror movies have for an actress?
Let’s see. Well, I definitely think I’ve drawn to the dark and disturbing. I always find that to be something that’s interesting to get into. This movie, in particular, the script. I was struck by how much I had to write about the character’s history. I play many dark characters and sometimes have to add some childhood trauma. He added it all to me. It was, sort of, cool. You get to not only remember it but also see it.
You’re so emotionally distraught throughout the film. It’s not easy to reach that place.
I don’t know. There’s no real trick or way that’s easy to describe. It’s sort of just living the memories beforehand so you really are remembering the character’s memories and not your own in a way. I don’t know how to… It is… It’s hard. It’s hard.
Are you familiar with classic horror movies?
I try not to watch movies to prepare for a part because then I worry that I’m going to try to repeat or copy. But I do watch a lot of documentaries and I’ve seen all the classic horror movies. Parker actually made me watch the movie “The Last Stand”. “Safe,”Julianne Moore. I loved how the hospital had those ’70s colors. They’re so bleak in a way. That probably wasn’t his comp at all because there’s so many different colors in this movie.
I was just astonished when he brought it up!
He did? You’re kidding. That’s because we have mind connection. And actually… No, I’m just kidding. No, but that was a movie that I watched I hadn’t seen before. Because I’ve seen all of them, and it was really cool to watch that one for other reasons, like “Kalifornia”And whatever else. But I mainly watched documentaries, interviews of people going through the same things as me to try and understand.
What did the monster look like before you knew?
Nope. No idea. It all just… But again, it all felt like a fever dream.
It was a tennisball?
It wasn’t a tennis ball. All you see is exactly what it was. We didn’t use any CGI except for tiny, tiny little things that they did later. It’s all practical.
Really?
Yep. Everything. I’m not even… Is that, I mean, is that a secret? It is all real. I swear. All practical special effects were used.
That’s amazing.
Isn’t that crazy? They created it all. Each and every thing. The same goes for his short. So that’s why it was so visceral. That’s probably why it feels so visceral to watch it because there was no tennis balls.
You mentioned the short film, I’m referring to first-time filmmaker. What was that experience like?
I mean, it definitely didn’t feel that way. He really didn’t fall into so many first-time filmmaker traps, which is rushing and skipping things. That didn’t happen. He is passionate and meticulous about all he does. That’s why it is the way that it is. It worked. He created everything. In the sense that it was all in line with the short’s design, it was also consistent. That’s why it was so amazing. This is just awesome.
Your dad’s done a bunch of horror movies. He said something about the movie afterward like: “It was no ‘Tremors.’”
Yeah, he did. He was like “Did they build those worms?” No. It was his favorite. He’s proud. He was truly proud. I could see it. He was like “Great.”I think they looked a lot like each other. “Whoa.”
“Smile”It is currently only playing in theaters.
