Mena Suvari Talks the Challenges and Rewards of Traveling South of Hell
Staci Layne Wilson
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In the new WE series “South of Hell” (aka a haunted South Carolina), Mena Suvari plays a mercenary demon-hunter and exorcist-for-hire named Maria. Her brother, David (Zachary Booth), is along for the ride, not altogether willingly. That’s mainly because Maria has a supernatural force living inside her who’s a not-so-silent partner in the freaky family business.
Talent behind the camera includes executive producers Jason Blum (Paranormal Activity, Insidious) and filmmaker Eli Roth (Hostel, Knock Knock), and episodes will be directed by Ti West (The House of the Devil, The Sacrament), Rachel Talalay (Tank Girl, “Doctor Who”), and Jennifer Lynch (Boxing Helena, “The Walking Dead”), among others.
In advance of the show’s upcoming “Black Friday Binge” rollout of all seven episodes at once, we had a chance to chat with star Suvari.
Since executive producers are usually more about the money than the day-to-day, we asked whether they will be involved throughout the season creatively (and of course noted that Roth directed the pilot). Suvari said, “They were very involved and I assume that they’re very involved in everything that they do and for sure, they had a huge presence on the set. And it was like the perfect cocktail. I mean, all the people that we had involved were fantastic and I’ve been a huge fan of the horror genre my whole life and so it was a just huge treat to be able to work with Eli, Jason, and James Manos, Jr., our showrunner. I was obsessed with ‘Dexter’; watched it front to back.
“We also had amazing directors other than Eli. We had Rachel Talalay, who did a Nightmare on Elm Street; we had Jennifer Lynch, Jeremiah Chechik, Ti West — great people in the horror genre — so that was something that was super fun for me as well. I like working in this genre in this way because I’ve always loved all the natural elements, but to be working with these directors with such an extensive body of work, it was really cool.”
Here’s what else the actress had to say about “South of Hell.”
Dread Central: Can you talk about what it’s like filming two different versions of yourself – mortal and demon – at once?
Mena Suvari: It’s pretty challenging and it was a new thing for me to be doing, a new sort of undertaking because I had to wrap my head around trying to understand how we were going to shoot these scenes and what it was going to look like.
It pretty much involved me working with the actress who would stand in and play opposite me and direct her as to how we are going to perform the other character.
So if I’m starting by shooting the Maria footage of the scene, then I would have to kind of coach her and tell her, ‘Look I think this is how I’m going to perform Abigail after this’ and try and ask her to kind of give me that same performance so that I could work off of her.
It was a lot of fun, but it is definitely something that I didn’t have experienced with. I’ve worked with green screens and things like that in the past, and was trying to understand how we were going to do splits, only shoot certain angles of my stand-in, have Abigail come into the shot, how it’s going to be edited–and so it’s like a new thing for me to learn.
DC: Judging from the first episode, it seems like it’s going to be a very physical role. What’s that like for you?
MS: It was really exciting for me. I mean, I loved the whole concept of this project when it first came to me and when we were shooting the first episode, which Eli Roth actually directed. Getting into these fight sequences, working with the stunt women, doing my own stunts, and the effects and everything involved, it was a lot to do. And I remember James Manos, our showrunner, kind of said to me, ‘You know what you’re getting yourself into, kid? Huh?” I’m like, ‘Oh god, yes!’ Not only having to understand the whole concept of each these characters and Maria’s background and Abigail, but then having to doing a lot of the physical activity too is pretty well-rounded.
DC: We know that when you’re filming, it’s very different than what you see in the final product. Since you don’t get to see all the post effects of CGI, when you actually got to see the final product, was there anything that surprised you?
MS: Wow! I mean, I think because I love this genre so much, I had a pretty good sense of what they were going to do. But I was really impressed with what they did, putting together the fight sequences and seeing the effects – there was a lot that went into the hair and the make-up and the prosthetics involved.
Rick Pour was my make-up artist, and he’s fantastic and so I had a pretty good sense of what it was going to look like when we were filming, but I think I love the fight sequences, I mean especially in the first episode at the hospital.
I think that was really cool to see, and Paulina, the actress I played opposite, is really such a fighter. She gave so much in that scene and we really released a lot of anger doing it.
DC: Did you get a lot of hostility released there?
MS: Yes, it was great. We had an awesome crew and just so much support around us and I think that’s also something that is really wonderful to be a part of. Just knowing that you’re in great hands. There’s kind of like this release that you have just knowing that you can kind of focus on what you’re doing and that it would all come together in the way that you’d imagined.
DC: Is the show actually shot in Charleston?
MS: Yes, and that was really exciting for me because I lived there when I was younger. I went to Ashley Hall in middle school, and while I was living in Charleston, I ended up joining a modeling agency called Millie Lewis, which took me to a modeling convention, where I then signed with Wilhelmina and then had a commercial on television, and that’s pretty much how I started acting again.
I did a commercial when I was younger in Rhode Island, but that’s what brought me into the business and I moved out to Los Angeles when I was about 15, so it was really cool to be able to go back and be working on a TV show… I started there and I still have friends that live there so it was just great.
It was nice to have that kind of homecoming and I think it was really special to me too because it just added a different element for me with playing Maria because like I – I kind of had that same experience that she did. Growing up there was something I could really bring into my character. It’s fantastic. I mean, it’s changed so much over the years. It was – I was living there in like the 90s, but yes, and it’s just a fantastic city. It was just so special, it was so cool. You can never know like where life is going to bring you. And coming back, after I had gotten my start there, and now I’m on my own show. It’s neat.
DC: You did touch on playing two versions of one person earlier, but can you talk about the challenges more specifically?
MS: Well, it was pretty challenging. I mean, especially when you’re working in television, it’s like such a fast schedule. You really have to have everything prepared. You don’t really have a lot of time. I was lucky that we had the directors that we did and Eli and Jennifer Lynch… they are just so fantastic and really give you as much time as possible to go through everything in preparation, and it’s not only that type of character but then there’s so much mythology in stories.
So it was a lot and it was pretty challenging but I love it. I don’t really like it any other way. I like it as difficult as it can be; it really pushes me and I can learn more about myself in the process. But it was great. I had to get used to that dynamic pretty much and then after like the first episode, I was good. We’re all finding our footing. Because it’s not just those characters but understanding the mythology where it’s going to go. But then you get settled and it just gets it gets easier, a little bit more comfortable. But yes, in the beginning, the first episode, I was like, ‘Oh my god, this is a lot.’
You’ll be able to check out the first episode — and all the others — beginning at 6 pm ET/PT on Friday, November 27. All episodes of “South of Hell” will premiere back-to-back as the suspense and drama unfold and escalate over seven intense hours. At the conclusion of the binge, the entire series will be available on VOD, download to own, and TVE platforms.
About “South of Hell”:
Charleston, South Carolina, is an elusive city with many faces and the perfect home for Maria Abascal (Mena Suvari), a stunning, 30-year-old demon hunter for hire. Alongside her brother, David (Zachary Booth), she is skilled and fearless in her pursuit of the demons that live in others. Like those that she hunts, Maria is divided within herself, struggling with her own demon, Abigail, who resides inside of her, feeding on the evil Maria exorcises from others. Maria and Abigail share a soul and a destiny, but as Maria desperately tries to overtake Abigail, she will discover how far Abigail will go to remain a part of her.
The cast also includes: Bill Irwin as Enos Abascal, Maria and David’s father and cult leader; Drew Moerlein as Dusty, Maria’s neighbor; Lamman Rucker as Rev. Elijah Bledsoe, a priest with a strong attraction to Maria; Paulina Singer as the Reverend’s daughter, Grace; Lydia Hearst as Southern belle Charlotte Roberts; Slate Holmgren as the local drug dealer, Sweetmouth; and Lauren Velez as Tetra, a spiritual informant.
“South of Hell” is produced by Sonar Entertainment and Blumhouse Television. The premiere episode was written by Matt Lambert. James Manos, Jr. (“Dexter,” “The Shield,” “The Sopranos”), is executive producer and showrunner. Jason Blum of Blumhouse Productions (Paranormal Activity, Insidious, Sinister) also serves as executive producer, along with Gerard Bocaccio, Stewart Till, Gene Stein, Erica Motley, and Eli Roth.
In addition to Roth, an array of respected directors shepherded individual episodes of “South of Hell,” including Ti West (House of the Devil, The Sacrament), Rachel Talalay (“Doctor Who,” Tank Girl), Jennifer Lynch (“The Walking Dead,” “Teen Wolf”), and Jeremiah Chechik (“Helix,” “Reign”).
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