In the haunted house horror film, Don’t Be Afraid Of The Dark, Bailee Madison (who has an uncanny resemble to her co-star Katie Holmes) plays Sally, a neglected child, who’s sent to live with her estranged father (Guy Pearce) and his live-in girlfriend (Holmes).
I had the opportunity to sit down with Bailee Madison, who lives in Fort Lauderdale during the academic school year, while she was back home in South Florida with her family, and discuss her role in horror thriller.
Q: Tell us about your character.
Bailee Madison: I play Sally Hurst, who goes to live with her dad and his girlfriend, (played by Guy Pearce and Katie Holmes) after her mom abandons her. She’s sent to live in this huge mansion that her dad and his girlfriend are building and restoring. One day she goes into the forest, and hears these voices that they will be her friend. Then she finds this hidden basement, and unlocks its ash pit. It turns out her curiosity gets the best of her, and it’s all a nightmare.
Q. How did you come to choose a horror as your first feature film?
Bailee Madison: This was my very first horror film. So, the story and the character was very new to me. It was definitely a big challenge.
The script was really cool. This being my first leading role, it was all new to my mom and me. We read the script together, saw the original movie, then, we prayed on it.
We got a call, and met with the director (Troy Nixey). After numerous auditions after that, I found that I got the role, and I was jumping for joy.
I was very happy to be working with Troy. And, I was excited to go to Australia, and go to sleep on the lay down bed (in first class) on the airplane.
Q: How did you prepare for your character?
Bailee Madison: Nothing special, but, like I said, it was my first horror movie. I had to act against nothing that was there. I didn’t even have a green screen. I was just told that they (the creatures) were there, and to show my reaction as terrified and scared. So this was the personal challenge for me, so I just said my prayers.
During the bath scene, [where Sally is attacked by the “Little Things”], I actually took a bath the night before, and I ask my mom to turn off the lights. And, even though I knew it was her, my heart started beating so fast. So I said to myself, “Bailee, just imagine this for tomorrow, but with creatures coming after me.” I did things like that to put me in the mode.
Q: Did you imagine the creatures were like what you were afraid might be under your bed at night, when you were younger?
Bailee Madison: I still, even at eleven, jump on my bed, if I go upstairs and the lights are all off. I get scared that something is going to grab me by my ankles. But, no I never thought about that. It’s totally different when you have cameras and people all around you. You just need to be able to trick your mind.
Q: Have you seen the original TV movie this film is based on?
Bailee Madison: Yes, in the original TV movie, the creatures looked like peanuts to me, so it didn’t really help me at all. If anything, I laughed at them.
Q: How do you balance your spiritual life and your acting career?
Bailee Madison: I have a wonderful family. My mom, brothers and sister keep me grounded. All the exciting things I get to do, it’s still so exciting when I get up in the morning, and you do things like this. It’s always exciting and new, and never get’s old.
So I and my mom say our prayers to stay grounded. I know this all this can end any day. So I have to be prepared for anything to happen. I’m not afraid to protect who I am.
Q: How do you balance your normal life, growing up in Fort Lauderdale (Florida) and your acting career?
Bailee Madison: I so blessed. When I come here, I put on my school uniform, and I see all my friends in school and go to all my classes. I just do everything normal.
Q: Are you planning to make acting your career?
Bailee Madison: I would love to keep do this. I love what I’m doing. I would love to act or direct or write something and just keep on doing what I love.
What will be, will be. God’s in control.
Film Summary of Guillermo de Toro’s Don’t Be Afraid of the Dark
Blackwood Manor has new tenants. While architect Alex Hurst (Guy Pearce) and his new girlfriend Kim (Katie Holmes) restore their Gothic mansion's period interiors, Alex’s young daughter Sally (Bailee Madison)—neglected by her real mother and brushed aside by the careerist father—can investigate the macabre history and dark corners of the estate. Spurring Sally's investigation are the voices—rasping whispers who call out to her from the basement, who promise her understanding and friendship, who are so very hungry and would like to be set free.
When Sally gives in to her curiosity, she opens a gateway into a hellish underworld from which an army of beady-eyed, sharp-clawed monsters emerge, small in size but endless in number: the homunculi. Confronted with the horror that now threatens to taker her life and destroy her family, Sally desperately tries to warn the whole house, but there's just one problem: no one believes her.
Don’t Be Afraid of the Dark opens in movie theaters nationwide on August 26th.
- Running Time: 99 min
- Rating: R; for violence and terror
[Source: Film District]
