Categorie: Films

A horrifying undertaking? Not so much. Claire Holt and her costars rose to the challenge when they were tasked with filming themselves for their new comedy, Untitled Horror Movie. The Nick Simon-directed movie came together amid the pandemic while the cast worked from their homes to comply with social distancing.

For Holt, 33, the process had its advantages. “At the time, I was pregnant. It was a perfect opportunity because I was in control of all of the framing and I could easily shoot my stomach out, which was a nice thing,” the actress exclusively told Us Weekly. “But most importantly, I really loved the script, and I loved that Nick and [writer] Luke [Baines] had created this world that was accessible in a pandemic, but we didn’t reference it at all because I think everyone’s got pandemic fatigue. It’s been a really long, hard year for everyone. So we wanted to shoot something that worked in the confines of the world we were living in, but also light and fun and entertaining, which was the ultimate goal.”

Untitled Horror Movie tells the story of six costars who learn that their TV show is about to be canceled. Before facing unemployment, they decide to shoot their own scary movie, only to find out they’ve summoned a dark spirit.

The film also stars Baines, 34, Kal Penn, Darren Barnet, Timothy Granaderos, Katherine McNamara, Emmy Raver-Lampman, Kevin Daniels, Lesly Kahn, Sohm Kapila and Aisha Tyler.

“There were so many elements that came together. I was so excited to work with the rest of the cast and I was also just really interested in challenging myself technically in terms of figuring out the lighting and the camera and the sound and all of the things that go into filmmaking that usually I don’t have any sort of input in or any expertise in,” the Vampire Diaries alum continued. “Everyone was really flexible and the director of photography, Kevin Dugan, is amazing. He could talk us through all of the insane, crazy aspects of setting up the shot and how to light it and what would work best visually for the film. So we figured it out.”

Although the cast didn’t have a crew watching them, Holt came close to an audience — thanks to her son, James, who was 12 months at the time. (She and husband Andrew Joblon also welcomed daughter Elle last year.)

“It was kind of tricky to figure out where I was going to be able to film in the house that was going to be quiet and that he wasn’t going to barge into every five seconds. And also, we shot a lot at nighttime. I wasn’t able to just scream at the top of my lungs or yell at three in the morning. So I was a little limited in terms of where I could shoot in my house,” she explained to Us. “I ended up shooting in one of our guest bedrooms, most of it, and then a little bit outside in the living area, but it worked.”

Playing Kelly was a “fun experience” for Holt, especially because she and her castmates could relate to their characters.

“It’s amazing because we got to talk about all of the things that you don’t normally discuss. What it’s like to be an unemployed actor and what it’s like on a TV show. And we get to really enhance these characters that a lot of us met in our lives,” she said. “And I got to play this really kind of snarky, sarcastic and fun character Kelly, which it’s not something I get to do often. I don’t really do comedy so much.”
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