Fright Night Set Visit Series Part 5: Imogen Poots Talks Fright Night 3D
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This writer has been a huge fan of Imogen Poots ever since I saw her as Robert Carlyle’s daughter in Juan Carlos Fresnadillo’s 28 Weeks Later. Since that breakout performance, Poots has established herself rather quickly as an emerging talent on the rise.
She recently starred in Centurion for director Neil Marshall, is starring alongside Colin Farrell and Anton Yelchin for DreamWorks’ upcoming Fright Night 3D and is now starring in another vampire-related project Hello Darkness which is currently in production.
Last year, while on a set visit for Fright Night 3D, we had the opportunity to chat with the up-and-coming actress briefly who spoke about updating her character in the film, her feelings on working with the talented cast of Fright Night and what she finds so appealing about working on genre films.
Poots, who was already familiar with Amanda Bearse’s performance as Amy Peterson in Tom Holland’s original Fright Night discussed how her Amy differs from the demure Amy fans first saw back in 1985.
“I suppose the updates to my Amy is a very modern take on the character,” explained Poots. “The premise is pretty much the same regarding the vampire and the main plot but in terms of Charlie and Amy’s relationship, I think the heart of their connection is still in place. Charlie and Amy are still going through the same adventure but I think I’ve Amy different in the sense that I’ve made the character my own and I’m not trying to improve what the character was in the original. I think that’s what is important when you’re embarking on a remake, to find something new and original to bring to the table. So to sum up the characterization, I think my Amy is quite strong. I’m not saying that the other one is weaker in any way, but she’s definitely got a strength to her which means that she’s able to be on par with Charlie in dealing with Jerry and the vampire situation.”
Poots went on to discuss the one noticeable change to Charlie and Amy’s relationship in the remake- rather than Charlie chasing Amy around looking to score, the shoe this time is on the other foot as it’s Amy wanting Charlie to give it up but he always finds a way to put off doing the horizontal hokey-pokey. “There’s a running gag in this film where Amy’s constantly trying to get Charlie to deliver ‘the goods’ because she’s ready for it but Charlie isn’t able to because he’s always pre-occupied with the vampire living next door to him. So that’s kind of a funny twist in our film because both Charlie and Amy spend a lot of time on the run from vampires, which doesn’t leave them much time to mess around.”
“But getting to work with Anton has been a great experience. He’s absolutely amazing and brilliant and I think he’s a very inspiring person and actor. He’s so intelligent and very funny, and Colin Farrell as well- it’s a real pleasure to be able to work with both of them. Colin is playing Jerry in very kind of sensitive and gentle way, which is unnerving and very unsuspecting. Anton is very much full of energy and full of life so it’s interesting to see how all three of our characters get intertwined by the end of the film,” added Poots.
Now that she’s got a few genre films under her belt, Poots talked about what interests her when considering roles within the horror realm. “I suppose I find the female characters in horror films intriguing but I do think that a lot of the time roles for women in the genre are written lacking some intelligence. I knew that (director) Craig Gillespie was very genius from Lars and the Real Girl and I really respect actors like Toni Collette, Anton, Colin and David Tennant too so I really wanted to be part of this so much.”
Even though Fright Night 3D is set to be a darker and edgier affair than its predecessor, Poots talked about the importance of keeping a comedic aspect to the film and in particular, taking jabs at a certain other vampire franchise out there.
“The comedy aspect of Fright Night has been really thrilling and there’s been a lot of room for improvisation because Craig is really liberal with the script,” said Poots. “That’s important because Anton and Toni are very free with their language and it’s important to find the naturalism through that. People are funny enough on their own so you don’t’ need to create humor. I think it’s a matter of finding that vibe while shooting.”
“And we do potentially poke fun at the idea of romantic vampires in this film but we’re not trying to necessarily knock Twilight itself, because those books are very special. I think we’re more interested in exploring how a woman would put a vampire on pedestal because he represents something that is completely sexual and completely forbidden. A vampire is a real kind of wonderful allegory for the idea of sexual taboos I suppose and I think women can relate to that in many ways,” added Poots.
Right before she was called back to set to continue working on the classic nightclub scene in Fright Night Poots shared with us her thoughts on shooting the film in 3D, a first for the young actress. “It’s been amazing to make a movie this way. I haven’t noticed too much of a difference apart from that the camera is much bigger and that you get to wear cool glasses in between takes. It’s so interesting from an intellectual technological point of view of filmmaking. It’s really interesting and quite daunting how fast the transformation has taken place. Javier (Aguirresarobe), the DP, is a genius and things just look so crisp and beautiful. I’m really excited about being part of this new 3D movement and see what fans think when the movie comes out.”
Fright Night 3D hits theaters on August 19th. Look for more on the flick soon!
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