Jessica Rothe Talks Happy Death Day
Staci Layne Wilson
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Jessica Rothe is in every single scene of Happy Death Day – the whole entire movie is from her character Tree’s perspective, and so you really have to care about her and want to follow her on her horrific and sometimes hilarious journey. What’s more, it’s technically a body-count slasher, and yet… the body is always hers. You see, Tree is reliving the day of her murder over and over again.
The balance between horror and comedy is a delicate one, and luckily Rothe – along with director Christopher Landon – nailed it. We caught up with Rothe recently to ask her about this most unusual role.
Dread Central: How would you describe the movie?
Jessica Rothe: It’s Groundhog Day meets Scream. It’s about Tree, a college student who is a little bit narcissistic. A little bit! [laughs] Anyway, it’s a lot of fun! Our director Chris Landon is so smart and funny. I love when I read scripts that truly pop off the page, capture your emotions and allow you to invest in the lives of the characters. This was one of those scripts for me. The amazing balance of humor, horror, action and heart is something you just do not find often.
DC: Tell us more about Tree.
JR: Tree wakes up on her birthday – and she does not like her birthday. She carries a lot of baggage with it. And as she is going through her day, everything and everyone is annoying. It’s all basically a fly that she wants flicked out of her way. But at the end of this day, she is murdered by someone who is wearing a baby mask. Which is pretty clever, because the baby is the school mascot, and so these masks are everywhere. It could be anyone. Anyway, she wakes up suddenly, as if from a horrible dream, and realizes it’s the beginning of the same day. It’s her birthday again. And she’s confused – is this déjà vu, is she dreaming, like, ‘What’s going on?’ After she wakes up on the same day for the third or fourth time, she realizes she’s trapped in this horrifying loop where she has a doomsday that’s slowly approaching every single day. She tries everything she can think of, from running away to facing it head-on, to just trying to find out who her killer is, and she never can quite crack it. Anyway, she goes through her life, thinking that she just doesn’t care what other people think, only to realize that she does care a great amount what other people think. And she’s also got a sense of nothing matters, like in one scene she eats a bunch of French fries – and she’s always on a diet of course – but she knows that the next day she’ll wake up again and those calories didn’t matter. I can dye my hair pink, and it won’t have happened. I can walk through the quad naked, and nobody’s going to remember it the next day.
DC: That scene was so funny. What was it like to shoot?
JR: Yeah, that scene was crazy to shoot. Well, the first thing I noticed was in the script it said “tasteful” and since it’s PG13, I knew nothing would show. But still, shooting it… and it was cold! So cold. There were lots of great women on set who would wrap me in coats and huddle around me between takes.
DC: Aside from the unique plot, what else made you want to take this movie?
JR: I knew I had to do this film was when I read the ‘Tree dies six ways while looking for her killer and living her life like a badass set to upbeat pop music’ montage”! This montage is everything that is brilliant about the film. She dates the bad boy, she dyes her hair hot pink, pigs out, and everything. We watch Tree become an active participant in her life instead of a victim, but it is fun, at moments scary, and doesn’t take itself too seriously. Tree is a true modern-day scream queen, and her transformation from bitchy victim to badass heroine is one you do not get to see often. I knew that I had to play her, get in her skin, move around and take her out for a spin.
DC: Tell us about the men in Tree’s life…
JR: Well there’s Carter, who is played by Israel Broussard. One of the sweetest people I have ever met! He is the boy whose dorm room she wakes up in every morning. He doesn’t know it’s the same morning, every morning. Only Tree knows that. So as the story goes on, you’ll find out why she’s there – because he’s not normally the kind of boy Tree would spend the night with. He’s a bit of a nerd. A sweet nerd. Then there’s the guy she is sleeping with, one of her teachers. He’s played by Charles Aitken from that series “The Knick” and his name is Gregory. Gregory is married, so the affair is not a good choice on Tree’s part. Her decision to get involved with him is in line with her tendency to push boundaries…and truly seeing how far she can take things. I also think there is a part of her that is self-loathing and feels she deserves to be in pain. And then, someone who reminds her of a past pain is her father [played by Jason Bayle] who she is avoiding throughout most of the movie.
DC: Are you a fan of horror movies?
JR: Oh… hm. Yes and no. I love them but I get scared so easily. My first horror movie was Scream, and I saw it at a slumber party. I was the one kid who, hours later, was still staring at the ceiling while everyone else was asleep! But what I love about Happy Death Day is, yes, it’s scary. But it’s also funny and it’s touching. It’s just smart… and scary! [laughs]
Happy Death Day is directed by Christopher Landon, who co-wrote the film with Scott Lobdell. Jessica Rothe headlines the film, which comes out Friday, October 13th.
Synopsis:
A college student (Jessica Rothe, La La Land) relives the day of her murder with both its unexceptional details and terrifying end until she discovers her killer’s identity.
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