Heather Graham as Pandora in the horror/thriller, ‘Place of Bones’, a The Avenue release. Photo courtesy of The Avenue.
Opening in theaters on August 23rd is the new western ‘Place of Bones’ from director Audrey Cummings (‘She Never Died’), which stars Heather Graham (‘Boogie Nights’ and ‘The Hangover’) and Tom Hopper (‘The Umbrella Academy’ and ‘Space Cadet’).
Moviefone recently had the pleasure of speaking with actress Heather Graham about her work on ‘Place of Bones’, her first reaction to the screenplay, her strong character, working with Tom Hopper, collaborating with director Audrey Cummings, making a Western and more.
Heather Graham as Pandora in the horror/thriller, ‘Place of Bones’, a The Avenue release. Photo courtesy of The Avenue.
Moviefone: To begin with, what was your first reaction to the screenplay and why did you personally wanted to be a part of this project?
Heather Graham: Well, when I read the script, I thought it was surprising. I didn’t know where it was going. We had a screening last night, and actually, a few of my friends said, “I really had no idea where this movie was going. I had no idea what was going to happen”. I just think it was a great character. As an actress, you want to find a juicy role, and it was fun to play this tough badass woman who’s super smart and gets to shoot bad guys with a gun. I think that you feel drawn into the story. You care about the characters. As an actress, you want an interesting role. For me, it’s doing something different where I feel like I get to play this tough badass character who can outsmart these bad guys. That was very fun.
MF: Without giving anything away, were you surprised by the direction that the script goes in?
HG: Yes, the ending is a super surprising ending that I was totally shocked by, but I like that, when I feel like I’ve never seen this before. It’s a different way of telling this kind of story.
Heather Graham as Pandora in the horror/thriller, ‘Place of Bones’, a The Avenue release. Photo courtesy of The Avenue.
MF: Pandora is a strong, independent, and resilient character. Can you talk about your approach to playing her?
HG: I think my character’s had a hard life, so I basically have decided I’m going to keep my daughter safe. I’m going to keep her away from the rest of society because I don’t want anything to happen to her that happened to me. This fierce independence, I love that about my character. I’m flawed but I’m also a good mom in some ways. I think I have a lot of anger and bitterness and maybe I’m protecting her too much, but at the same time, I can understand why she would do that.
MF: Pandora has spent a long-time away from civilization, can you talk about how she feels when these strange men approach her home?
HG: I think a lot of bad things have happened to my character and my husband died, and I think I’m just incredibly resourceful. I think I read a lot of books. I think I know how to do a lot of things, so I know how to survive in the most difficult circumstances.
(L to R) Heather Graham as Pandora and Corin Nemec as Calhoun in the horror/thriller, ‘Place of Bones’, a The Avenue release. Photo courtesy of The Avenue.
MF: Can you talk about the unlikely alliance that Pandora makes with Calhoun?
HG: I think it’s an interesting relationship that we have. It’s not your typical movie relationship, but he’s likable and unlikable. He’s a good guy and a bad guy, and I think that I see who he is, and I don’t let him fool me, like he probably is a smooth talker. Even though he’s kind of a bad guy, he’s complicated and he shows up at the end being more of a good guy. I like that I don’t ever really trust him. Everybody’s really complicated in this movie, and nobody’s perfectly good except for maybe the daughter, but she’s pretty screwed up, too.
MF: Brielle Robillard plays your daughter, can you talk about working with her?
HG: Yeah, she’s awesome. She’s new, she’s young. She is so good. I just watched the movie on the big screen last night for the first time, and she did such a great job and she’s so real. The whole story for me is about how much I love my daughter and want to protect her and help her to have a better life than I had.
(L to R) Heather Graham as Pandora and Brielle Robillard as Hester in the horror/thriller, ‘Place of Bones’, a The Avenue release. Photo courtesy of The Avenue.
MF: Can you talk about preparing for the action sequences?
HG: The gun shooting is fun. I had to do a stunt where I’m shooting at this guy and then I fall over, and they had a stunt woman there for me, but I ended up doing it myself. Then everybody clapped, and the stunt people were like, “Great.” So, I felt like I got cred with the stunt department. That was cool.
MF: I know you only have a few scenes with him but what was it like working with Tom Hopper?
HG: We have a big scene at the end where he’s so scary. He’s so cool. He’s so nice. He’s super cute. Him and his wife, they eat healthy. He was showing me this food that he cooks that looks amazing. He’s kind of the opposite of this character, but in the movie, he’s terrifying and horrible. The thing is, you take this guy whose so movie star handsome, and you want to like him because he’s just so handsome, but then his character is so horrible.
Tom Hopper as Bear John in the horror/thriller, ‘Place of Bones’, a The Avenue release. Photo courtesy of The Avenue.
MF: What’s Audrey Cummings like to work with as a director on set?
HG: It’s awesome. I love working with a female director, and she’s cool. She loves genre movies, and it’s just fun. I think we both related to the Pandora character, so we had a great time together.
MF: In general, what are you looking for from a director when you’re working on set?
HG: I think you want to work with someone who’s supportive, who believes in you, but also helps you bring out your best work. I think Audrey really helped ground me and make me more natural and real in the movie, which I really appreciated.
(Right) Director Audrey Cummings behind the scenes of the horror/thriller, ‘Place of Bones’, a The Avenue release. Photo courtesy of The Avenue.
MF: What’s it like making a western and are you a fan of the genre?
HG: It’s a mixture of being very beautiful, and it was freezing. It was so cold, I was dying. It was very uncomfortable. I like Westerns, but I sometimes feel like there’s not enough female energy or female characters in them, so I felt like this was exciting because it told a little bit more of a female story.
MF: Finally, and again, without giving anything away, the film mixes the Western genre with other genres, can you talk about that?
HG: Yeah, it’s got aspects of being a thriller, it’s got aspects of being horror, and then I feel like there’s a lot of humor in it, which I was surprised last night at the screening. A lot of people were laughing in a lot of places, so it’s kind of disturbing, but also it makes you laugh. It’s not so much horror that you can’t sleep at night because of your nightmares.
“A mother’s love can be killer.”
On a remote ranch, a mother (Heather Graham) and her daughter fight for survival when a wounded outlaw seeking refuge brings a notorious bank robber and his ruthless… Read the Plot
What is the plot of ‘Place of Bones’?
On a remote ranch, a mother (Heather Graham) and her daughter fight for survival when a wounded outlaw (Corin Nemec) seeking refuge brings a notorious bank robber (Tom Hopper) and his ruthless gang, all desperate to reclaim a stolen fortune, right to their doorstep in this action-packed horror Western.
Who is in the cast of ‘Place of Bones’?
(L to R) Corin Nemec as Calhoun and Heather Graham as Pandora in the horror/thriller, ‘Place of Bones’, a The Avenue release. Photo courtesy of The Avenue.
List of Heather Graham Movies:
Buy Heather Graham Movies on Amazon