Blumhouse's Fantasy Island arrives in UK Cinemas on March 6th, and we recently had the opportunity to talk to the cast of Sony and Blumhouse's new horror movie. In this big screen reimagining of the classic TV series, the enigmatic Mr. Roarke (this time played by
Ant-Man star Michael Peña) makes the secret dreams of his lucky guests come true at a luxurious but remote tropical resort.
However, when the fantasies turn into nightmares, the guests are forced to solve the island's mystery in order to escape with their lives. Among those on this island is the mysterious Melanie, a young woman looking to get revenge on the bully who once tormented her. The character is played by
Truth or Dare star Lucy Hale, an actress whose star is definitely on the rise.
Currently starring in The CW's
Katy Keene (you can find her comments on that
by clicking here), Hale talks to us about reuniting with director Jeff Wadlow, Fantasy Island's torture scenes, playing a strong female character in the horror genre, and filming this twisted tale in paradise.
We obviously want to extend a huge thank you to Lucy for taking the time to talk to us about Blumhouse's Fantasy Island, and keep checking back here all week for much more on the movie!
A lot of people will be able to relate to wanting revenge on a bully, but what was your approach to playing a character like that in Fantasy Island?
I think that with every character I play, I try to draw from personal experiences. Melanie seems to be very, very traumatised by what happened to her as a child, and she seems to really have her heart set on getting revenge and taking her power back. I definitely can relate to feeling like an outcast and that no one understands me in a way, but not to the extent that I'd need to get revenge like that [Laughs]. In her head, it only makes sense for her to do this, and it was hard for me to not judge the character because it goes against everything I would do in real life. I would never ever treat a person like that, so I had to really step into her mindset to understand why she needed to get back at this person so badly.
The torture scenes definitely start getting uncomfortable, but was there ever talk of taking them down an even darker route, and what were those scenes like for you to film even as an observer?
I mean, it was horrifying! Portia Doubleday, who plays Sloane in the movie who was my tormentor, is literally strapped to a chair, has a gag in her mouth, and is being dunked with water over and over again. A lot of it was very real and very difficult to watch and very triggering. If there were no guidelines in the movie world, I'm sure we would have pushed it even further and gone even further, but I think for a lot of people, it will be a little hard to watch. You can tell Melanie quite likes it.
You mentioned Portia, and it was clear you had a lot of chemistry in the film, so can you talk about what it was like working together when your characters are at odds?
She's great. She's such a great actor, and I'd been a fan of her work before I'd worked with her, but it was just really nice that we had the luxury of getting a lot of rehearsal time. I think that so often, you're thrown into a movie with people and you just have to create chemistry when there's not any there. With her, we just had really great banter, and she plays that type of role so well that it was just really natural to react the way that I did. We got a lot of rehearsal and hang time in, and we were all filming in Fiji for two months and spent a lot of time together.
In the horror genre, it feels like we've finally moved on from female characters who are just victims, so what was it like for you to play such an interesting and layered character here?
Without giving too much away, there's more to Melanie than meets the eye. It would have been very easy for Melanie to be just like, 'Oh, poor me. She deserves it...I deserve to torture this person,' but I think there's so much more to it and, like I said, in Melanie's head, she thinks this is the right thing to do. There was no other option. So, it was fun to play a person who at the beginning of the movie is one thing, but by the end, is very, very different. I often times don't get to do that, so it was a fun challenge.
Were you familiar with the TV show at all before joining the movie and, either way, did you look at that to prepare or just stick to the material you had?
I was a little familiar with it. I knew it was really popular in the 1970s and that there was Mr. Rourke and people who go to an island where their fantasies come true. From what I understand, because I've never actually seen the series, that was a lot lighter, and more like a comedy. This is quite a bit edgier and darker, so no, I didn't watch anything to prepare, but now that it's all said and done, I'm really curious to go and see what it was all about.
This feels like a franchise with a lot of potential moving forward whether it's another film or even a small screen spinoff, so without getting into spoilers, if the opportunity were to present itself, would you like to come back and continue to explore this world?
Definitely. I think the way the movie leaves off, there are so many different directions it could go in and the amount of fantasies people have in the world are endless. I could definitely see this becoming multiple movies, and of course I would do more of them!
You worked with Jeff Wadlow on Truth or Dare, but what was it like to reunite with him for Fantasy Island?
It was great. Jeff has been a really big supporter of mine, as well as Blumhouse, and I heard about the makings of Fantasy Island when we were filming Truth or Dare, and I was like, 'Oh, that sounds really, really cool' but never in a million years would I think that Jeff would call me up and be like, 'Do you want to be in this movie?' But, he did, and I was very flattered. The role was written in my voice and geared towards me so that was really cool, and he's just the best. He's one of the hardest working people that I know, and I don't know how he got everything done for the movie, but he did, and he's such a pro. The movie is beautiful to watch, and he's just great. So, big fan of his!
Finally, it must have been quite a unique experience for you to film a horror movie in this sort of setting, so can you tell us what was that like?
I think that's what makes it so interesting. The contrast of this sunny, beautiful, green, lush island, and on the flip side, all these dark, messed up things are happening to these people. A lot of what happens Is actually in broad daylight, and I think that's really interesting because you don't often see that. It really is one of the most beautiful places I've ever been to and I'm glad we could take advantage of the scenery, and I think that upon watching it, a lot of people will be visiting Fiji!