With Halloween on the horizon, there’s a good chance you’ll have scanned the horror section of Netflix or NOW TV (other streaming devices are available…). Maybe you’ve lined up Scream, The Texas Chainsaw Massacre or even Human Centipede 3. Or maybe you’ve picked something starring a super-creepy kid, like William Friedkin’s award-winning The Exorcist, starring a 14-year-old Linda Blair.
Linda plays Regan: a young girl possessed by a demonic presence. And it’s not just the horrifying nature of the film that would have you wondering if she should have taken on such a role so young – Linda also had to simulate masturbating with a crucifix, and scream, “Your mother sucks cocks in Hell.”
Do you kiss your own mother with that mouth, Regan?!
Linda has said in numerous interviews that she had no idea what she was doing at the time. But it begs the question: can starring in a horror movie as a child actor have an emotional effect during filming or even once the cameras stop rolling?
We spoke to Silent Hill’s Jodelle Ferland, Mama’s Megan Charpentier, and the infamous Grady twins, from The Shining, also known as Louise and Lisa Burns, to find out what it is really like to star in a horror film as child.
Lisa and Louise Burns, who were 12 years old when they starred in Stanley Kubricks’ The Shining, told us they weren’t allowed on set without a parent or guardian.
“We had to be escorted all the time”, they said. “But our parents were never worried or thought that we should stop shooting the film. They were and are very supportive of us.”
Megan’s mum, Sonja, who was always present during filming too, tells us that at the beginning, there were parts of the script that she was concerned about.
“When I originally read the [Mama] script, there were some disturbing things that I didn’t want to expose my kid to”, she says.
“First of all, there was a scene with Mama holding the baby [at the end], that just didn’t sit well with me. And there was another scene, which didn’t make it into the final cut. But [writers] Andy and Barbara [Muschietti] were really good about filming those particular scenes around Megan’s schedule so she didn’t see.”
Jodelle, who was 11 at the time of filming Silent Hill, says her mum never worried about her participation in the movie.
“My mum and I both knew exactly what we were getting into. I grew up on movie sets and she knew that it wouldn’t really affect me –I knew that it was all make-believe.
“If I had ever shown that I was uncomfortable in any way, then she definitely would have stopped it. But I was always having a great time.”
For a 10-year-old Megan, getting into character as Victoria – who, with her sister, had been found living in the woods on her own for a number of years – meant getting on her hands and knees and forgetting her airs and graces.
“I actually had a coach at the time who helped me out a lot with practicing being animalistic. I would just run around, and scream at the top of my lungs, get all riled up and growl at people.
“The first time we tried something, it was a little bit weird, but after that it was just fun, and I got into the rhythm a bit.”
For Louise and Lisa Grady, it all came a bit too easily...
“We’re naturally spooky!”, they told us. “But we did practice our timing – saying things in unison – and we worked on saying our lines in a hollow, other-worldly kind of way a number of times.”
For Jodelle, getting into character meant channelling not one, not two, but three little girls.
“At that age, I wasn’t really much of a method actor, so I just snapped in and out of it. I remember people commenting on how weird that was to watch. As soon as they’d shout ‘Cut’, I’d just start giggling.
“I went back and forth from giggly Jodelle to this demon child and was having so much fun. Everyone else was terrified!
“I actually remember when we were filming on location, and I was walking to the set and forgot that I was in the real world. I passed by a couple of people, and just thought, 'Maybe I should hide…' They looked petrified.”
Their co-stars were scared of them, but they weren't scared of their co-stars
Silent Hill, Mama and The Shining all feature their fair share of demonic, disturbed, or just downright nightmarish creatures. So surely being in the presence of them on a day-to-day basis must have taken its toll?
“We saw people in scary makeup but it always felt more like we were at an elaborate fancy dress party”, Louise and Lisa tell us. “It just wasn’t that freaky.”
But sometimes the creatures did take some getting used to…
Jodelle adds: “I was never creeped out by other people in the film to the point of actual fear, but they didn’t always use CGI on Silent Hill, so there were a lot of real creatures, which were honestly pretty terrifying.
“It’s like when you go to a haunted house on Halloween, and, of course, you know nothing is real, but that doesn’t mean it doesn’t scare you a bit.
“I remember there were some creatures where people were contorting in weird ways and they had the suits and prosthetics, and it definitely creeped me out… And the thing that comes out of the toilet cubicle – that still makes me feel weird!”
For Megan, it took a bit of time to get used to the fact that Mama was just a guy in a dress.
“Javier Botet is the actor behind Mama. I met him once before he was in character; and he was super-nice, but the first time I saw him in his makeup I didn’t recognise him at all, so I got a little bit freaked out.
“We had a conversation with him later on, and I still had to avert my gaze because he was so scary-looking, but it wore off eventually.”
According to the Burns twins, their makeup artist Tom Smith did everything in his power to make sure their murder scene left as little trace of distress on their young minds as possible.
“They were very concerned that we would be frightened of the fake blood in the scene where we’ve been murdered. So Tom showed us how he made his ‘blood’ and it really looked just like the real thing. He even let us each keep a bottle, which we still have!
And for some, being drenched in fake blood was fun!
Jodelle tells us: “I probably should have been more disturbed by things like that, but for me, I just didn’t connect that to being actual blood. To me, there’s movie blood and there’s real blood.I’m more disturbed by things like that now, but when I was a kid I was having such a fun time.”
Most parents wouldn’t dream of letting their 10, 11 or 12 year old watch a horror film. But surely all that goes out the window when your child is actually the star?
Megan remembers watching Mama for the first time, telling us: “Because I’d read the script already, I knew the basic outline of the movie, so that made it a little bit less scary when I watched it for the first time. But there were definitely some jump-scares that weren’t in the script that I wasn’t expecting!”
Jodelle saw Silent Hill at the premiere, and remembers her mum taking measures to make sure she wasn’t subjected to Pyramid Head’s most devious behaviour.
“I very clearly remember my mum covering my eyes a few times! There’s a bit where somebody’s skin gets ripped off, and she just casually put her hand over my eyes.”
Fair.
Despite being smothered in blood, having a mum who’s actually a vengeful un-dead bitch (no offence, Mama...), and witnessing a half-man-half-pyramid literally removing a human’s skin, Jodelle, Megan and Lisa and Louise have nothing but wonderful memories of their time on a horror movie set. And they certainly show no signs of being traumatised for life. But what are the possible repercussions of a child simply watching a horror film?
Dr Mark Winwood, Director of Psychological Services for AXA PPP healthcare says: “Studies have shown that letting children watch scary movies at a young age can cause negative effects. This is, in part, because of a difficulty in distinguishing fantasy from reality. It’s been linked to emotional problems, with a 2006 study showing kids who watch violent content are more likely to develop anxiety, sleep disorders and aggressive behaviours.”
So perhaps, as these children knew that what they were watching was definitely fiction (they acted in it, after all), that meant they remained unaffected by the whole thing.
Still, rather them than us…
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