Set Visit Interview with Lovie Simone from THE CRAFT: LEGACY
Alyse Wax
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Blumhouse and director Zoe Lister-Jones’ The Craft sequel, The Craft: Legacy, with Cailee Spaeny, Gideon Adlon, Lovie Simone, Zoey Luna, Nicholas Galitzine, David Duchovny, and Michelle Monaghan will head straight to on-demand platforms tomorrow (October 28th). In the lead-up to the film’s release, we’ve been sharing a series of interviews from our set visit in 2019.
Today, we’re talking to Lovie Simone who plays one of the new teenage witches! Give the interview a read below the trailer and synopsis.
Synopsis:
In Blumhouse’s continuation of the cult hit The Craft, an eclectic foursome of aspiring teenage witches get more than they bargained for as they lean into their newfound powers.
So one of the things we’ve been asking the other girls so far is what is your experience with the original film, and your experience on this film now, and with witchcraft?
Lovie Simone: Ok, well, I really didn’t know about the film because it was before my time, but I watched the film before the audition so I could see what it was about, do some background. And then I watched it… then I watched it again… then I watched it again… then I kind of went to sleep with it on. So it was really cool. We bonded; I loved all the characters and loved it was female witches who were outcasts and not center of attention kind of feel. I’ve always been attracted to witchcraft because I always feel it’s different ways of healing and I feel the feminine side. I guess that doesn’t get talked about much. We don’t have a chance to kind of explore healing in those type of ways. I’ve been very into that all my life.
Can you introduce us to your character a little bit, tell us what she’s like and what magic means to her?
LS: Ok, well my character is Tabby and her element is fire. She’s the south, sad. She’s very chill, very video game; she’s very into her craft; she got it from her mom, which I don’t think is really in the script but people know it’s her mom. She’s kind of been into it all her life. She kind of got into it from her parents and that’s when she met Lourdis and Frankie, and they kind of just bonded because I feel like they all kind of grew up with witchcraft.
So did you ever have any experiences with witchcraft with other women when you were younger? Because I know personally there was a lot of games we played at camp that sort of strayed into witchcraft; tarot cards, that kind of thing. What is an early memory you have?
LS: My earliest memory is actually first or second grade and I was in the cafeteria with my friends and we all thought we had like some sort of superpower. And I was like, “Guys, watch this: I’m about to control the sound in the cafeteria!” I would go like this, and everybody would start yelling in the cafeteria, but it would be chants, and I’d be like shhh, and try and lower the sound in the cafeteria. So that was my earliest memory. I was pretty intense. Then I collected crystals, but I collected rocks first, named them, put faces on them and then we kind of evolved to Amethyst, yeah.
Everyone has been talking about the Amethyst, and it was said earlier you all brought crystals to your auditions. Can you talk a bit about that and the meaning of Amethyst and what that does?
LS: Ok, well, I’ve been collecting crystals for a little bit, so I kind of take crystals with me everywhere I go and I’m also into color therapy too because if crystals aren’t working the colors are in a situation for me. So I’ve always been into like, which crystal calls me. A lot of times people go with Amethyst because that’s like the all-purpose healing crystal. It stems from a Latin word which means “sober thoughts” and it kind of just helps you think clearly, flow freely kind of situation. That’s what Amethyst does, but that’s not my favorite. This is my favorite: Opilight Glass and it’s for the Third Eye Shakra. Intuition…she’s nice.
Do you think having all of that knowledge helped you out with your audition? You got to show you weren’t just doing this as a gig, you know this stuff.
LS: I mean, the whole reason I did the audition was it felt like everything I was for in a way. So I was like, “I can’t not be authentic with this”, and I would feel disrespected if somebody who wasn’t truly about this would be Tabby because I had to be her, first of all. But I don’t know, I feel like it was definitely easier for me to approach the role, kind of know the mindset to tap into for the character, to get kind of serious. My audition was a ritual scene so it was very serious. I had to tap into like some higher self so it was pretty cool. I am usually like, “Meh”, but that was funny, and knowing all of this stuff and doing all of this stuff I was able to get some experience to tap into that side.
We were observing a scene downstairs with the Ouija board and it looked like you were the one a little bit hesitant to put your fingers on the planchette, so I was curious if you could talk about, this is a movie about the scarier side in some respects about witchcraft, what’s it’s meant to have witch consultants on the set with you?
LS: Having Aerin Fogel around was very important. She lets us know everything we’re doing wrong and right because we do want to respect the craft at the end of the day, we want to play it out the way it’s supposed to. And also I feel like having her around kind of brings a sense of security, because you know someone is watching over you so it’s ok. Even if you have a bunch of experience, it’s nice to have an actual witch there, guiding you and teaching you along the way because you learn from everyone. So yeah, it was really nice working with her.
What was it like working with [director] Zoe [Lister-Jones] and your connection with the other women on set?
LS: I knew I was going to have a good relationship with Zoe when we got on Facetime, before I got the part, because we just clicked. I felt like I was talking to one of my other fellow actors, another female that was just about feminism and equality. So it was really just natural, I would say. Everything just feels natural. It doesn’t feel like too much of a transition, me going into this. The other girls, they’re great; we’re all Fire signs and we’re very true to our signs so it’s a show all the time. Having a Sagittarius, two Leo’s and an Aries in a room at the same time, it’s intense. It’s been pretty fun, especially because my rising is in Pisces so sometimes I just really want to chill, but these girls have been making me get out of my comfort zone like, “Ok, maybe I’ll go out, maybe I’ll sacrifice the eight hours and get seven hours of sleep instead.” So it’s been very cool, we’ve been very sisterly, it’s been fun.
In the original film it dealt a lot with being an outcast, racial issues, being bullied, and witchcraft was a way to become powerful in the face of that. What has it been like for you, to connect to that as a young person, and were you drawing on feelings you had of feeling outcast or bullied yourself, or friends of yours that went through that, if not personally?
LS: I would say I was an outcast as well, in high school. Not like the typical outcast; people knew of me. It wasn’t like they didn’t like me, I was just very selective with my energy and knew I wasn’t going to friends with anyone after high school so I didn’t even bother. I feel like knowing that, and going into Tabby, and having these characters, seeing the girls in the original film not really care if people really wanted to like them or not, they were just going to be into who they were. That was very powerful for me to see and powerful for me to walk in the lines of that because I’m doing what I normally do and it’s a way to kind of empower other women, too.
What were some of your favorite shops in Toronto you guys went to? We didn’t hear what shops you went to but we heard you went shopping around for crystals and things like that.
LS: Ok, my favorite shop is Herbie’s Herbs. That’s my favorite place because I make a lot of my own teas. I’m very into health, so that’s like my place. I don’t usually spend money on clothes or stuff like that. I spend it on health, experience, stuff like that. Herbie’s Herbs is my favorite; it might not be fun to other girls but it’s cool and next to a Jamaican restaurant so I’m ok, I’m good.
Check back tomorrow for our final interview from the set of The Craft: Legacy!
Categorized:Interviews News
