Olivia Holt & Froy Gutierrez Talk Unique New Zombie Movie This Is Not a Test | Interview
ComingSoon Editor-in-Chief Tyler Treese spoke with This Is Not a Test stars Olivia Holt and Froy Gutierrez about their new zombie movie. The duo discussed their characters, working with a cast of their peers, and more. Directed by Adam MacDonald, the film is out exclusively in theaters on Friday, February 20.
“Sloane and a small group of her classmates take cover in their high school to escape their suddenly apocalyptic hometown. As danger relentlessly pounds on the doors, Sloane begins to see the world through the eyes of people who actually want to live and takes matters into her own hands,” says the official synopsis.
Tyler Treese: Olivia, when we first meet Sloane in This is Not a Test, she’s thinking about ending her life, and then she’s thrown into this wild fight for survival after a zombie outbreak occurs. How was it showcasing at first this fragility that she has, but ultimately this resiliency that defines the character later on, because she really gets a will for life?
Olivia Holt: Yeah, yeah. You’re absolutely right. I think one of the things that I gravitated towards the most when reading Sloane was her resilience. As a woman, I think that specific quality isn’t shined on enough. Women go through lots of different trials and tribulations of life, and I think resilience is one of the things that we hold as a great quality. Even though Sloane is young and doesn’t have any sort of excitement for the rest of her future, I think there is, deep down, a big resilience that she has. I think you see glimpses and doses of that throughout the film, which really helps drive the story.
Froy, I imagine one of the most exciting aspects of doing a film like this is that you get to work with a bunch of your talented peers since it’s a group of students. How was it getting that on-set experience where you’re really with your peers, and you’re all helping each other elevate their artistic craft and working together?
Froy Gutierrez: Yeah, absolutely. I mean, every single day I came to set, and I would be completely blown away by everything that Olivia, Corteon, Carson, and Chloe brought to these characters. It really just made me like, be like, “Okay, I gotta up my game.” So, whenever you get to really spar with other actors who are so like dropped in and present and listening and inventive and creative… I was at a point actually where I was kind of losing some of my faith in the craft around the time that we shot this movie, and having these guys as my cast members really reignited that passion in me. So I’m incredibly grateful for them.
Olivia, while you’re going up against multiple zombies in This is Not a Test, and they are very intense sequences. But I thought the flashbacks with your character’s abusive father were just as intense, if not more. What interested you the most about getting to de depict these struggles against two very different types of monsters that are both terrifying?
Olivia Holt: That’s a great question. You know, I think everyone battles their own monsters in their life, whether that’s an abusive family member or partner, or their mental health. I think everyone has a version of what their monster looks like, and I think the way this is showcased on screen doesn’t feel glamorized, which I really appreciate. I think we need to see a lot more of that in film and television, that these monsters actually exist in our life and to be represented as a real struggle and thing that is scary.
I thought that them choosing to do those flashbacks was really smart actually because you really get to see the depth of where Sloane, where she’s living in her head. Even the conversations that I think these characters have together, the conversations that Froy and I’s characters have together, which, by the way, Froy is a fantastic scene partner. I just have to say that, and an extraordinary human being. So working with Froy again was an honor, and we really found the humanity in those scenes and in that dialogue with each other. I think that that I think that that is so important to this particular movie and genre.
Froy, I wanted to ask you about working with Adam MacDonald, the director. He seemed not afraid to let scenes sit, and this is a bit more methodically paced than a lot of zombie films. What kind of stood out about his approach?
Froy Gutierrez: Yeah, yeah, I think there’s a real sense of kind of motion to his work where it feels like it’s kind of nonstop and it’s always moving. The majority of the film I think was [shot] handheld, I think. Like a great portion of it. There was movement behind and in front of the camera. Not only that, but he also has a background as an actor. So he was like bringing that kind of perspective to set every day and was really like open to ideas and collaboration. He just had this like really, really crazy passion that was like super infectious. When that kind of sets the tone for the day, it’s really, really inspiring, and it gives you energy to kind of feed off of.
Thanks to Olivia Holt and Froy Gutierrez for taking the time to talk about This Is Not a Test.
Source: Comingsoon.net