Jane Levy in Evil Dead
Jane Levy is being tipped as an actress to watch out for this year and she takes on the biggest movie role of her career this week as she leads the cast in Evil Dead.
We caught up with the actress to chat about the film, the tough physical nature of the movie and what lies ahead.
- Evil Dead hits the big screen this week so what can horror fans expect from the film this time around?
I am so bad at these marketing snippets (laughs). It is an outrageous, relentless, gore fest basically.
- You take on the role of Mia in the movie so what was it about this character and the script that initially drew you to the part?
It is a pretty dynamic role as I get to play all sorts of things in this movie. I get to play three very distinct characters; I start off with a girl who is struggling with a very bad addiction problem and then I turn into the devil and I get to be a villain.
And then to round it all off I get to be an action hero. And to be able to do all of that in one film is very rare.
- It is a violent and very brutal movie so how tough was it to shoot - I imagine it was quite hard on you physically? And how prepared were you for that intensity as you started work on the movie?
I don’t know what I could have done to prepare. I was told that it was going to be very hard but I don’t think anything can quite prepare you for it. You really don’t understand until it is actually happening and it was a really physical job.
It was probably the toughest job that I have ever done and will ever do. It was emotionally draining as well and I really was a tired girl for four months.
- Modern day horror movies seem to be all those torture films but this is a real throwback to horror of the good old days so how much was that a draw for you?
I actually didn’t know that there wasn’t going to be any CGI in this movie until after I got the job but it was an exciting idea to me. It just felt like old film school 101.
There was one scene where I throw up, they didn’t use this shot in the movie, but I had a Dixie cup next to my face and I would just flick my wrist and hide the Dixie cup - that stuff was really fun.
Because we did these entire practical effects, most of the time they were just magic tricks with the camera, it makes the movie feel more authentic and I think that you can tell as a viewer that things are actually happening.
It also makes acting better and easier as you can respond to things that are happening in real time and not imagining that a tennis ball is somebody else.
- The original movie is obviously very well known so much did you use that film as you were preparing for the role? Or did you choose to avoid it for exactly that reason?
It did take some stuff from it. It was easier to not feel that I had to imitate anything or live up to anyone because my character doesn’t exist in the original film.
I loved that we got to have our trap door moment and Shelly singing in the original was something that I found so creepy and so I did take some ideas from her.
- Fede Alvarez is in the director's chair and he is making his feature length debut so how did you find working with him? And what kind of director was he?
He is a good one. It was his first film as you say but it really didn’t feel that way. He is a great collaborator and listener.
While he wrote the script but he was not precious with his words and gave us so much freedom to improv or come up with stuff that we though our characters might do or might say. I think he has made a really good movie.
- Shiloh Fernandez and Jessica Lucas are just two of the other actors on the cast list so what was the feeling like on set as you were going through this particularly tough shoot?
We didn’t get to work with each that often because, for example, if I was in make up for six hours then they would have to shooting the actor I was doing the scene with with my body double.
So it was a lot of passing each other with blood in the hallways. But I liked the whole make up process because it made it easier to get into character as I would look in the mirror and I was a demon.
- The movie has already topped the U.S. box office so how have you found the response to the film so far?
Mostly positive - by positive I mean people are texting or calling me saying ‘that was f***ed up Jane’ (laughs). But people do seem to be scared by the movie and the goal really was to scare people.
- There is already talk of a possible sequel so is there any truth in that? And how keen would you be to go back?
I think that there is truth in it but I don’t know any of the details. But I have signed up for three movies so we will have to wait and see.
- Evil Dead is only the third film project after kicking of your career in TV so how have you found the transition into movies?
I like it a lot. I like that there is a beginning and an end because with TV it sometimes feel that it is never ending. It is fun to be able to tell your story when you know what it is going happen. But it is also exciting to work in television where you are surprised week by week.
I do like the whole idea of going to a location to shoot a movie and there is a start date and a finish date and a lot of special things happen within those weeks.
- Finally what is next for you?
Right now I am just auditioning so I don’t really know what my next project will be. I’m begging people in Los Angeles to give me jobs (laughs).
Evil Dead is out now.
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