‘Don’t Log Off’ Star Ariel Winter On Returning To Horror As An Adult
Ariel Winter grew up on our TV screens playing Alex in the popular Modern Family series, which ran for over a decade. Now, Winter is branching out and looking back to her early acting roots with her latest film, Don’t Log Off, written and directed by Brandon Baer and Garrett Baer. Here, she not only stars in the film, but she also takes on the role of producer, playing a crucial role in helping this screenlife horror film come to life. But getting here wasn’t so easy…
We sat down with Winter to discuss returning to horror, filming remotely, and what it meant for her to take on a producing role for her latest project.
Dread Central: Congratulations on Don’t Log Off. How are you feeling being in a horror movie like this?
Ariel Winter: It felt great. I am really excited about its release. We filmed this in 2020, which was a really crazy experience.
But that’s the thing about making movies. From start to finish, it can take any amount of time, and usually it’s at least two years. For Don’t Log Off, the process of filming was already so interesting because we were following all the protocols. Of course, we wanted to make sure everybody was safe while filming. And it’s such a unique and intricate concept that it lent itself obviously to us being all safe while filming, which was great. But it was an interesting process to make happen.
I’m just so excited that it’s coming out and for people to see it. That dream that was thought up with our little team, finally, everybody is to see it. We’re really excited, and I love horror movies.
DC: I talked to the directors yesterday and heard that you were all filming yourselves. You were your own cinematographers, you were slating yourselves. That’s got to be a little bit overwhelming, but also exciting as an actor, especially since you’ve been acting for a while. It’s got to be interesting to have such a stripped-down experience as an actor.
AW: It was, like I said, definitely a unique experience. It wasn’t one I had ever experienced before, but it was really cool. We weren’t our own directors because the boys were there every step of the way. They were directing us, and they had the idea for Don’t Log Off, and we were [bringing] their vision to life. We had everybody there that we needed to. But yeah, we were manning the cameras and we had our little slates and we did feel pretty important. We were like, “Alright, we’re cast, we’re crew, we’re feeling cool, we’re feeling good about this.”
And I was a producer on the film, and that was a really amazing experience. I really loved doing that. It was all around a really incredible experience, and we had some really great people on it. I loved working with the boys. They were just amazing directors and so lovely to work with. And I also got to work with my boyfriend, which was awesome.
DC: Oh, cool!
AW: Yeah, Luke Benwood, he’s my boyfriend. We ended up being love interest in Don’t Log Off. I don’t know if that’s a small spoiler, but I don’t think it is. So it was definitely interesting process to film it, but we had a really great time.
DC: You obviously had chemistry with Luke, but did you know any of the other cast? How did you approach developing that rapport with the rest of the cast to sell the fact that you were a friend group?
AW: We actually all mostly knew each other. So it was great. Wwe didn’t have to go in blind, thinking, “Oh my gosh, who are these people? I’m just meeting you over Zoom, and now we have to act like we’re this super close-knit friend group.”
There were a couple of people I didn’t know as well as some of the others, but we were still able to Zoom with each other and have a great bond. We also did a lot of adhered with the COVID guidelines and did all the testing. So there were some days that some of us had to film in person, so as long we were negative and we quarantined, we were able to see each other a little bit, but we all knew each other, most of us. So it was pretty cool.
DC: I was talking to the boys yesterday and they were saying it was really helpful that y’all had an existing rapport. I think that’s so helpful, especially for the way y’all crosstalk. It feels so authentic, like a bunch of friends just drinking and yelling at each other over Zoom, which I was very familiar with from that time.
AW: Absolutely. It was so indicative of the times because that’s all you were doing. I mean, when that hit, Luke and I were quarantining together and the amount of Zoom birthdays and I think we went to someone’s Zoom [wedding] reception.
DC: Oh, we went to a Zoom wedding. It was wild.
AW: We went to Zoom New Year’s Eve, Zoom game nights, Zoom everything. So when we got on Zoom and we did the movie, it was weird to film like that, but it almost felt natural to be on Zoom like that. I think people are really going to resonate with Don’t Log Off in that way. Obviously it’s not in the murder way. Hopefully nobody’s getting murdered like that. [Laughs]
DC: It’s a time capsule of a time that was not that long ago. And it’s so weird that that was a year or maybe less of our lives, but it was so impactful.
AW: It’s an interesting social experiment to see how people interact with each other in that way and how relationships are able to be maintained, and how you’re able to save the lives of your friends in a dire situation on Zoom. [Laughs]
DC: Have you seen the finished product?
AW: I have, yeah.
DC: So what was it seeing it all put together? Because I know with a film like Don’t Log Off, you obviously filmed and you have a lot of that dialogue, but there’s so much animation and other [digital] elements that are so important that are inserted during post-production. What was that like seeing how the editor and the directors really brought it all together to create the finished product?
AW: It was really awesome because when you start it, you go, “OK, I really like the idea, I love the people behind it.” But you also go, “OK, how the heck is this going to work? How are we going to make this compelling and interesting?” When they put it all together, it was kind of just like, “Wow, you guys really had such a vision and you had the talent to be able to pull it off.” It worked out fantastic,ally and I’m excited for people to see it. I had had a really good time watching it. It was unlike something, anything that I had seen before.
DC: Oh yeah. Well, and I mean, I know you produced a short, but this is your first producing role for a feature. So that’s got to be really gratifying as a producer to see it come together. Wat was it like producing Don’t Log Off? What did that role mean for you?
AW: I came onto the process just shortly before filming. It started because I got FOMO. [Laughs] I started dating Luke and Luke was talking about how they were all doing this movie and he was going to be a producer on it. I was a fly on the wall and I was like, “Alright, alright, alright. having major FOMO. This is sounding really awesome and I’d love to be a part of this.” That’s kind of what I’ve been wanting to do, and they were like, “Would you want to join us?” And I was like, “Of course. Yeah, I want to join you.” [Laughs]
So I joined on, and they really had a lot figured out before I jumped on. I just made myself available for anything that was needed. I was there to watch a lot of the edits of the film. I did some crafty, I did all sorts of things. When I want to work on a project and be a producer, I don’t want to just add my name to a project. I want to do all of the things. I want to learn about it and I want to be involved.
DC: That’s so cool. It’s got to be so awesome to really be involved behind the scenes and get your hands dirty with that kind of thing.
AW: Definitely. I’ve worked with some producers that are like, “I’m a producer, I watch edits and I send out this, but I’m not going to go out and buy crafty. I’m not going to go out and make a Target run if I need to.” And I’m like, “I’ll do that!”
When you’re making a movie, it’s a team effort. There are a lot of things I’m learning about [producing] and this was a great project to be able to do that on, because I think so many of us were learning how to do certain things. It’s just turned out so beatuifully.
DC: That’s so cool. That’s so exciting to get to do that. Even though you’ve been in the industry for a while, to get an experience like this and to really make something because you love it with your friends, that’s what moviemaking is all about, it feels like.
AW: Yeah. I mean that’s what it’s supposed to be about. That’s what everyone hopes it can be about and it’s so hard to get anything made in general. So to be able to get something made and to do it yourself and to really have it come to life in such a great way is definitely amazing.
And hats off to the brothers! I’m proud of them, and I’m proud of the team, and I’m excited for other people to see it and be able to shower them with the compliments they deserve. At the time they came up with Don’t Log Off, I’m sure there were some people who were like, “How would that work?” Because at the time, it was the beginning of COVID. What we’re going to do in post hadn’t come out yet, so no one had any concept of what that would look like.
DC: Before we wrap up, I would love to know what are some of your favorite horror films?
AW: Oh boy. I mean, I love The Conjuring movies. I love them, love them.
DC: There’s some really good jump scares in those movies, I will say.
AW: But also, we were just watching Sinister the other day. Sinister, I got to say, is one of the scarier movies I’ve ever seen. [Luke] had never seen it before and I was like, “We have to watch it.”
I’m very hard to scare. I watch all the dark scary stuff and I watch it for bedtime. I saw the Sinister face and I had to have a bathroom buddy legitimately for three days. I was like, “I’m seeing the face in the bathroom vent. I’m seeing it everywhere and it’s sketching me out!”
DC: I get a dirty feeling feeling watching that movie. What did Luke think, though?
AW: He loved it. But there are so many great [horror movies]. I mean, all the original Paranormal Activity movies are amazing.
DC: I love them so much.
AW: I’ve seen every single one of them. All of the foreign ones, too.
DC: Oh, you saw the Tokyo Night one, the one from Japan??
AW: Yeah! The original one is way better, 10 out of 10, but I’m a fan, so I’m watching them all!
Don’t Log Off is available now on VOD.
Categorized: Interviews
