[Interview] ‘In a Violent Nature’s Ry Barrett and Andrea Pavlovic Talk Horror and Halloween
The brutal new slasher movie In a Violent Nature hits theaters today, and we have the feature film’s stars Andrea Pavlovic and Ry Barrett, who plays masked killer Johnny, talking about their horror genre influences, favorite memories from set, and of course Halloween in an exclusive video interview.
In the film, When a locket is removed from a collapsed fire tower in the woods that entombs the rotting corpse of Johnny, a vengeful spirit spurred on by a horrific 60-year old crime, his body is resurrected and becomes hellbent on retrieving it. The undead golem hones in on the group of vacationing teens responsible for the theft and proceeds to methodically slaughter them one by one in his mission to get it back – along with anyone in his way.
Written and directed by Chris Nash, the film takes the fresh approach of staying with the killer for almost the entire movie rather than following those he is stalking (and killing), making for a unique viewing experience that gives new blood Johnny far more screen time than any other slasher got in their first outings.
Speaking about working behind Johnny’s old school firefighter mask for so much of that extra screen time, Barrett told HDN, “Honestly, it was just so much fun, as such a horror fan, just getting to create this kind of character and to be out there doing it. And yeah, Johnny gets some decent screen time for a slasher. Lots of times they’re either hiding behind a tree or peeking out from behind a bush or in the shadows, and Johnny, I mean he does that too, but he gets a lot of up front and close connection with the audience. But he’s still a bit of a mystery. You don’t really get to know him that well. You see some of his motivations, but you still don’t and can’t fully understand him.
“So it was just great to be able to be a part of creating that, and just get to play something that people are liking. It’s just – I’m overwhelmed with how much attention and love people are giving so far.”
Pavlovic spoke to us about playing Kris, a character that is central to the film but is in fact off screen for most of it. “It was definitely a new and very unique way of working with the camera, not having it being such a close presence, but rather having it be this weird thing in the woods, like Johnny,” she said.
“I will say it was surprising how much it helped me as an actor. I feel like I got those really intimate moments with myself and with the other actors to create our world separate from Johnny. So that helped already with us being very separated from him, but also, I had those quiet moments to really develop it for myself as an artist, and I didn’t have to worry about how it came across on camera. So that was really cool.”
In our video conversation earlier this week, we also discussed the most challenging moments for each actor on set and the genre influences that inspired their performances, as well as their thoughts on Halloween, if they are ready to see Johnny and Kris costumes this year, and more.
You can watch our full exclusive interview with Ry Barrett and Andrea Pavlovic, as well as the official trailer for the film, below.
In a Violent Nature is in theaters now.
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