INTERVIEW: If you pick up ‘The Call,’ then Lin Shaye may be on the other end
Photo: Tobin Bell and Lin Shaye star in The Call, a new movie from filmmaker Timothy Woodward Jr. Photo courtesy of Cinedigm / Provided by KWPR with permission.
The new horror movie The Call, starring horror legends Lin Shaye and Tobin Bell, was recently released in theaters and drive-ins around the country, and the movie seems perfectly suited for the changing of the seasons and the welcoming of Halloween. In the movie, directed by Timothy Woodward Jr. and also staring Chester Rushing, Shaye and Bell play a mysterious couple who decide to teach a lesson or two to a group of teenagers in the local town. This 1987-set story involves themes of bullying, nightmares and how the past always seems to haunt those in the present day.
For Shaye, best remembered for her iconic roles in the Insidious movies, acting in The Call was a welcome experience and yet another bullet point on her extensive résumé. “I feel like it’s all smoke and mirrors some of the time,” Shaye said in a recent phone interview. “I look at my own IMDb, and even I go, what was that movie? I’m very grateful for my longevity, and I’m still making fun movies. That’s a real treat for me.”
Shaye became connected to The Call through her manager and her previous work with Woodward. The director and actor had worked together on a film called The Final Wish. “He really is a very unique guy, a very talented director, a real doer,” she said. “Literally within six weeks [he] had the financing to make this movie, which is unheard of. Most things take maybe six years before you can get three people to tell you they want to put the money in. He just went for it, and suddenly we were going to be in production.”
After Shaye read the script by Patrick Stibbs, she became interested in the narrative and its potential to offer commentary on the “humanity of metaphysics and how that affects people.” The characters in The Call enter into dark places, and these experiences are prompted by years of negativity and preconceived notions.
“I felt this had elements of … bullying, about how meanness can damage somebody to a point of really bad stuff happening to them,” Shaye said. “It’s humiliation and degradation, of what those elements do to a person, and in this case, that’s what happens to Edith. She’s being bullied to a point where she’s a very fragile woman with goodwill and a lot of love in her heart, and bad things happen because of the way she’s treated. And she can’t recover from that, and I think that was what fascinated me and made me want to tell the story.”
Shaye, an actor known for her many horror roles, is able to mentally separate her personal life from her professional roles, but still devoting herself to a script about dark elements takes its toll.
“When you’re dealing with dark things, there is a part of your body that absorbs what you’re feeling,” she said. “In other words, you’re pretending, but your body doesn’t know you’re pretending. … I mean that very first monologue that I have when I’m with the kids, some weird stuff happened to me. I physically put myself in a place purposely. It was very late at night. I wanted to be barefoot and on this cold pavement and building physical elements around myself the way my body felt. I kind of started to get a headache, and the vulnerability of being in that space with these hateful people sort of elicits things as an actress you both are in control and out of control at the same time.”
She added: “So you really do embody some of that pain, and I think it’s important to be able to take a little time after that. I was able to regroup and have some hot tea because your body believes you. Your mind, you’re pretending, you’re playing a character. But your body doesn’t know that. It’s a very odd experience. It’s sort of like a split personality in a way. I mean, I couldn’t stop shaking at the end of the scene, and I wasn’t just cold. I was shaking. It’s a little bit scary some of the time. You have to have things that you latch on to that bring you back.”
The Call is being released amidst a global pandemic when many movie theaters are closed or operating with reduced capacity. However, socially-distanced drive-ins are doing booming business, and many new venues have opened up around the country. Shaye cannot wait for audience members to check out this new horror movie from the comfort and safety of their car — on a dark night, with the shadows creeping in from all around.
“This movie should be mandatory at a drive-in,” Shaye said. “First of all, drive-ins are great. I grew up with drive-ins in my life, and that was the best date ever, was to go sit with your honey in the car with popcorn all by yourself in public with all these other people. It’s a perfect venue for this film, which has a little bit of a throwback feel to it.”
By John Soltes / Publisher / John@HollywoodSoapbox.com
The Call, starring Lin Shaye and Tobin Bell, is now playing in movie theaters and drive-ins. Click here for more information.
