Writer/director Spencer Susser first popped up on our radar with his “young romance amidst the zombie apocalypse” short film I Love Sarah Jane, which has garnered a huge amount of buzz since its release in 2008.
Susser recently celebrated the premiere of his latest flick, Hesher, during the South by Southwest Film Festival a few weeks back in Austin. The film stars Joseph Gordon-Levitt (who should most definitely be on the Oscar radar for his jarring performance as the titular character), Rainn Wilson, Oscar-winner Natalie Portman, Piper Laurie and newcomer Devin Brochu.
Even though Hesher is not exactly horror (it’s got a lot of intensely dark humor and a few really messed-up scenarios thrown in there though), Dread Central jumped at the opportunity to chat with Susser in Austin to talk about what a disturbed and twisted character like Hesher represents to him, how he assembled an all-star cast (Portman even acts as producer on the film) for the film, and how things are progressing on the feature film adaptation of I Love Sarah Jane, which was announced at the beginning of March.
Check out our video interview with Susser below!