Interview – Alex Essoe Talks DEATH OF ME, Working With Darren Lynn Bousman, and Wendy Torrance
Michelle Swope
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Actress Alex Essoe is one of the most recognizable faces in independent horror. She’s starred in horror films like Starry Eyes and Midnighters, horror/comedy Homewrecker, and even tackled the iconic role of Wendy Torrance in Doctor Sleep last year.
Essoe plays a very different kind of role in director Darren Lynn Bousman’s (Saw franchise, Spiral) upcoming film Death of Me, and stars alongside Maggie Q. and Luke Hemsworth. The film explores a world of black magic that surrounds Christine (Maggie Q.) and Neil Oliver (Luke Hemsworth), who are vacationing in Thailand. When the couple realizes their lives might be in danger, a mysterious woman named Samantha (Alex Essoe) offers to help them.
Dread Central was thrilled to have the opportunity to chat with Alex Essoe about Death of Me, working with Darren Lynn Bousman, her admiration for Shelly Duvall, and a lot more. Read on to find out what we talked about!
Saban Films will release Death of Me in theaters, on demand, and digital on October 2nd.
Dread Central: There are a lot of cool surprises in Death of Me, especially for your character. What appealed to you the most about the story and the role of Samantha?
Alex Essoe: I love surreal, cultish-themed movies, like The Serpent and the Rainbow or The Wicker Man. There is something that is really cool about that and the film has great imagery, which really appealed to me. Samantha, I liked because I wanted a chance to play the bad guy. She’s very unassuming. There’s a real kind of casualness to her that is really indicative of a sociopath.
DC: I liked it because I haven’t seen you play a role like that.
AE: Yeah, and what’s scary about her is her sort of laissez-faire attitude comes from her fervent, fundamentalist attitude towards this group that she’s now affiliated with. She really, truly believes it, so there’s no need for her to be that unhinged or nefarious [laughs].
DC: Director Darren Lynn Bousman has worked on the Saw franchise, as well as several other great horror movies. What was it like working with him on this film?
AE: Oh, it was awesome! I love Darren. He’s hilarious and a really smart dude. He’s a really cool guy to talk to. But, as a filmmaker, he really does have this childlike quality in his approach to directing, in the sense that he really maintains his own sense of awe. That kind of wonderment is what really kind of pushes him to make movies so well. I’m not going to lie; I haven’t seen a lot of the Saw movies. I’m not really the biggest fan of torture porn [laughs]. I’m like, “Oh My God! There are people with families and loved ones and their poor parents!” That’s all I can think of [laughs]. But, it’s so easy to invest yourself in a project that the person directing is excited about. There was a really strong sense of camaraderie on set, which was really nice.
DC: Death of Me has such a talented cast. What was it like working with Maggie Q. and Luke Hemsworth?
AE: Oh, so awesome! Maggie Q. is just a force of nature. She has a very commanding presence; she is one of the most confident people I’ve ever met; she’s really got her life on lockdown. I’ve always been kind of a mess, so it was nice to see [laughs], “Oh, that’s what that looks like when you have your shit together!” And she’s like that to work with as well. She’s super professional. She knows everything that’s going on and she’s very focused. So, it was good. It inspires me; it makes me want to up my game, so that was nice.
There’s something very undersated about Luke Hemsworth’s approach to acting that I really respect. He’s my favorite type of actor; someone who can be joking with the crew one minute and then they’re just in the scene the next minute. They just know how to drop in and he’s definitely one of those guys. He’s also super down to earth. He grew up in Australia with his two brothers and they all grew up working on fishing boats and wrestling alligators, or whatever they do down there [laughs].
DC: He seems like he would be really cool!
AE: He is really cool! He’s a really good dude and he’s so funny. And he’s just not up his own ass, even though he has every reason to be, which I just respect the shit out of.
DC: You’ve been in some of my favorite horror movies over the past several years, including Starry Eyes, The Midnighters, and of course, the iconic role of Wendy Torrance in Doctor Sleep. I was just watching the special features on the Doctor Sleep Blu-ray, and I was so excited to see you on there!
AE: Aww! Oh, I’m on there? That’s awesome! [screams] That’s great! I’ve got to watch that!
DC: My question is, what is your favorite thing about working in the horror genre?
AE: I really love the capacity for very interesting, offbeat characters. I feel like I’ve been really lucky in the sense that I haven’t played a lot of archetypes in the movies I’ve done. They’ve all been kind of these sort of gray area people, who are flawed and have an equal capacity for sin or redemption. I don’t mean for them to sound so religious, but the duality exists in man and I really like playing characters where I can be honest about that. That’s what makes genre movies so fun and challenging.
DC: You’ve done a lot of independent films and then you did Doctor Sleep. Do you have a preference now for independent film or more mainstream films?
AE: Doctor Sleep is the first mainstream thing I’ve ever done. So, I don’t know if I’ve done enough mainstream, big budget things to really say? But I will say, as a viewer and audience member, I tend to prefer independent films. One, because the goal is usually, or should be I think, exploration or a sense of doing something new, but also because of the budget constraints of independent filmmaking, you are forced to lean entirely on writing, acting, and camera work. So, when you can do something really interesting, like Mike Leigh’s Naked, there is nothing expensive about that movie at all. That movie lives and dies with the script and its actors and it’s brilliant and I’ll watch that over a Marvel movie any day. I’m not saying I don’t like Marvel movies [laughs]!
Even though Doctor Sleep is a mainstream movie, the concept is not mainstream. Even though The Shining is one of the most famous horror movies of all time, it’s not something I would describe as mainstream. It was very close to my heart and specifically, Shelly Duvall’s performance in that movie, is very dear to me. I have a short list of my favorite female performances and her performance is in my Top Five. Her performance does so much to justify Jack Nicholson and hold the more unbelievable parts of the story together.
DC: It’s awesome to hear you say that because your performance is a really wonderful tribute to Shelly Duvall.
AE: Oh, thank you so much! That’s what I wanted to do. She’s really precious to me.
DC: This has been great! I really appreciate you taking time to talk with me today!
AE: I’m down to do this again anytime you want. Thank you so much! This was so much fun.
Categorized:Interviews News
