Mike Lowery
With each and every year, talented young actress Hayley Griffith adds even more deliciously diverse and brilliantly exceptional roles to her CV – whether it’s Kristen Kelly on “Bull”, Sara Shaw on “The Mysteries of Laura”, or, recently, her Chloe in “The Loudest Voice”.
Here, in an exclusive chat with Moviehole, Griffith talks about her latest role – that of a pizza girl turned unwilling sacrifice in director Chelsea Stardust’s exceedingly fun horror film ‘’Satanic Panic’’.
What was it about Sam that appealed to you about playing her, Hayley?
So much – I loved how kind hearted she was, and how you can’t break her spirit which I think is really charming to see and made her more pure. You just want to hug her. But what really got me was the level of badass that she has. She is willing to fight and punch kids to stay alive, and I think that’s amazing because you don’t see that in characters that are plainly innocent. She’s dynamic and it was a twist I was really a big fan of.
And serious questions right off the bat- had you ever worked as a pizza delivery girl before?
HA-HA no I haven’t. I have been a waitress, which is also bad. One time I was a waitress while I was vegetarian at a BBQ restaurant, so it was pretty bad. Didn’t know anything.
And working in the service industry, ever encounter any customers as frightening as these folk!?
Probably not as frightening, but I’ve had some really bad customers that were pretty close to evil. None of them wanted to sacrifice me.. that I knew of. You never know!
Tell us about working with Chelsea on the film- was she collaborative? Encourage a little improvisation or welcome your ideas?
She was amazing to work with. She was extremely collaborative, which is always nice to have on a set, and she was so open. She has amazing ideas that she brought to the table, but she was so open to playing around with the script, adding things, improving moments, which made it even more fun. She was very encouraging of that. Which made the experience even better. She was super helpful.
Did you find it easy to wind down after the end of a day grueling days shoot – – particularly given some of those emotionally-grinding moments?
It was easy to wind down because I just passed out. My level of exhaustion was always a level ten when we got back at like 7 AM. I would lay down and be out.
The film has been compared to classic ‘80s horror films – – do you have any favorites from the era or see any similarities?
Oooo – I know a lot of people have been saying that Society has some great moments in comparison to this one. It’s so hard when the pressure is on you. I know The Evil Dead has similar elements. Nightmare On Elm Street, it has those dark, creepy moments that are both fun and scary and keep you on the edge of your seat.
RLJE Films will release SATANIC PANIC in Theaters, On Demand and Digital on September 6, 2019.
