General News

WAMG At The OCULUS Press Day

By Melissa Howland | April 18, 2014

OCULUS, the new horror film co-written and directed by Mike Flanagan, introduces audiences to a new kind of terror: the eerily inscrutable Lasser Glass. This beautiful antique mirror is no ordinary villain. Its seemingly harmless reflections hold a malevolent supernatural force that infects the mind of the viewer, leading to paranoia, distorted visions, and eventually, possession. Recently, WAMG attended a small press conference for the film where Karen Gillan, Katee Sackhoff, James Lafferty and Rory Cochrane spoke with members of the press about the film, what type of horror they like, and what scares them. Check it out below.

Ten years ago, tragedy struck the Russell family, leaving the lives of teenage siblings Tim and Kaylie forever changed when Tim was convicted of the brutal murder of their parents. Now in his 20s, Tim is newly released from protective custody and only wants to move on with his life; but Kaylie, still haunted by that fateful night, is convinced her parents’ deaths were caused by something else altogether: a malevolent supernatural force¬¬ unleashed through the Lasser Glass, an antique mirror in their childhood home. Determined to prove Tim’s innocence, Kaylie tracks down the mirror, only to learn similar deaths have befallen previous owners over the past century. With the mysterious entity now back in their hands, Tim and Kaylie soon find their hold on reality shattered by terrifying hallucinations, and realize, too late, that their childhood nightmare is beginning again…

This is such an intriguing premise – an intriguing film with the intersecting temporal lines. When each first got the script, what was it that struck you, not just about the script as a whole, but the individual characters?

KAREN GILLAN : One of the things that I loved about the script, so much, was the time that was devoted to the characters, so we really get to see them develop before things happen to them. We’re actually invested, and care. They really earn the scares, which really excited me. I just loved the character that I played. I thought that she was really interesting.

KATEE SACKHOFF : Very similarly, in the sense that I really loved the fact that, for Marie, we got to see this vulnerability that she had, for years, with her before the mirror actually took her. I wanted to really make the audience love this family, and understand this family, then ultimately feel heartbroken for these children, and what they’ve had to go through. Mike [Flanagan] just did a phenomenal job on pulling you on this slow ride, that was engaging you the entire time… then, the last 30 minutes seem to just punch you in the face repeatedly. [Laughs]

JAMES LAFFERTY : I have to agree with Katee. I think it was the family aspect that drew me in. The fact that there are children involved in the script really started tugging at my heartstrings, and then to see the performances that they give on-screen was just mind-blowing to me, so that really shined through for me.

RORY COCHRANE : I just appreciated the family dynamic that could have happened, sort of, without these supernatural forces that were surrounding them. If you took them away you would still have this family.

My question is for Rory. We’re used to seeing you in roles where you are very likable. In this film you start out that way, with a like ability factor… I was just wondering how you found the right tone for your character as he evolves through the storyline?

RORY COCHRANE : I have to give credit to Mike’s development of the character. I think he gave everyone, sort of, this part to play with. For me, as an actor, I just want to get in and try to be super creepy, and play the realism of how I felt in the scenes. In between whatever scene we were doing, “what is the reality in this scene?” Forget the mirrors, forget the ghosts. That’s the only way I wrapped my head around it. We obviously have a slow decline without trying to play that up too much.

Mike has said that the mirror reflects the characters fears and insecurities. I was wondering if each of you could comment on how you perceived your characters fears and insecurities, and what you took as fuel.

KATEE SACKHOFF : I‘ll go, since mine was incredibly obvious. This is a woman who… the childen were 13 years old, and I was 32. To me, I would have had to have had these children at 18 or 19 years old. I wanted to play that as the reality, because my sister had a child at 18, and she is a phenomenal woman. She finished college. She worked her ass off. So, I didn’t want to age myself up, or play it in some negative light. If that was the reality of the situation, she probably gave up much of her own life for these children, and there is a lot of insecurity that comes from that. What is your importance to the world beyond being a mother? You’ve given up… you know. You can relate to body issues. Women can. I stand in the mirror and go “Oh, geez!” or “Oh my gosh! This is happening!” and I haven’t had children yet, so I can’t imagine what that’s gonna be like. So, I’ll probably do it some more. I think that her insecurities are incredibly obvious from the very beginning. I understood that, because I have seen it in so many women. It’s painful to not like yourself physically. I understood the insanity of that. [laughs]

Those children were incredibly. They looked like the young version of you, Karen, and Brenton. The casting was incredibly… Did you guys get to see the work of the younger actors playing you, or did they see your work on set? Did you synchronize between each other?

KAREN GILLAN : So, basically these guys filmed theirs, sort of, in the past section of the film first. That was the first three weeks of the shoot. Brenton and I went down to set all the time and just watched what everybody was doing. Absolute credit to Annalise, who played the younger version of my character, because she absolutely established the character. I went down and watched what she did, and then just took it from there. I tried to extend on it.

So, you cut your fabulous ponytail…

KAREN GILLAN : I know! It’s gone! [Laughs}

Since the Lasser glass reflects, or exacerbates its victims darkest fears and insecurities. If you were to look in the mirror, what would your greatest fears be?

KAREN GILLAN : That’s a QUESTION!

KATEE SACKHOFF : It’s martini time! [laughs]

KAREN GILLAN : I don’t know. That’s a really tough question! I don’t know… I don’t know…

KATEE SACKHOFF : Take it away Karen! [laughs]

KAREN GILLAN : I would say, probably not being able to do what I want to do, and basically not being fulfilled and happy. I don’t know how that would manifest itself in a mirror, but yeah. Just that feeling of not being satisfied with my life. That would be the worst thing that could happen to me.

RORY COCHRANE : I would see every audition that I’ve ever gone on. [Laughs]

KATEE SACKHOFF : We were joking about that earlier. Like a ‘Funny or Die’ sketch. Every worst audition that you’ve ever had. I’ve got a few of those. I had someone answer the phone half way through once…

KAREN GILLAN : Really?

KATEE SACKHOFF : I was like “Do I stop? Or just keep going? I don’t know what to do right now!” [laughs]. I just went “Aliright, I’ll see you later then.” and left. I just stopped.

KAREN GILLAN : That is really rude!

There are so many sub genres of horror films. I was wondering, for each of you, what is the thing that gets you to like horror movies? The gore type? The supernatural thriller? The psychological one… what does it for you?

KAREN GILLAN : I love horror films so I just wanted to chime in. I’m a big horror film fan, so this was really exciting for me. I’d say I love the cheesy slasher ones for the gore aspect, but really, the ones that are truly scary are the slow burners that really start to build up. I love THE RING. I just thought that they did that really well. That wasn’t so gory. It was just a really creepy video.

KATEE SACKHOFF : There are enough things in my life that scare the shit out of me already! [laughs] I tend to be mostly scared of movies that are about something that could actually happen. As actors, we spend a lot of time on the road, and in different places. I tend to wake up in the middle of the night and run into walls a lot, and forget where I am. So, for me… that is my biggest fear. Things that can actually happen. Like, someone tried to open my hotel room one night, and the chain was going, and I was like “Oh my god! What’s happening!” and it’s just those weird things, because you are constantly not home. So, I’m never in a comfortable place. So, those type of horror movies scare the shit out of me.

KAREN GILLAN : Hotels are really scary.

KATEE SACKHOFF : Yeah!

KAREN GILLAN : One time I was in a hotel, and I was convinced that it was haunted so I decided to make a film of it… and there’s nothing on it[laughs]. I called the reception and I was like “This room is haunted! I need to move!” and they didn’t ask any questions! They were like “Yeah. We’re gonna move you.” [Laughs]

RORY COCHRANE : I just want to add to that. When we were in Alabama, she [Karen] had a stalker that… am I allowed to say this…

KAREN GILLAN : Oh… I don’t know… [Laughs]

RORY COCHRANE : Anyway… The guy made his way across the United States sending postcards and things… It got to be pretty scary. So, the guy actually shows up at the hotel with flowers, and everyone around the set, the crew were like “Karen, you have to be really, really careful!” and she was like “Oh, that’s so sweet! He brought me flowers!” [laughs] She wasn’t scared of that at all… and that was a real thing!