Interview: Sarah Wayne Callies on PAY THE GHOST

 THE WALKING DEAD actress talks PAY THE GHOST

Graceful actress Sarah Wayne Callies is, of course, best known as the graceful and doomed Lori Grimes on TV’s juggernaut horror hit THE WALKING DEAD. As Lori, Callies was mother to Carl and wife to protagonist Rick and while her character met her tragic, wrenching demise near the end of Season 4, Callies herself has never been more professionally vibrant.

While she is currently immersing herself in her latest episodic role shooting the upcoming USA TV show COLONY, Callies can currently be seen in the Uli Edel directed, Nicolas Cage starring supernatural horror mystery PAY THE GHOST, out now in the US in limited theatrical release and VOD.

The film sees Callie’s playing another mother, this time a broken woman who cannot forgive her equally devastated husband for losing their son at a Halloween street parade a year prior. Fortunately for both parents, said tot is very much alive. Unfortunately for all, he’s the prisoner of a very pissed of ghost…

Callies took some time on the set of COLONY to talk to SHOCK about her turn in the weird world of PAY THE GHOST.

SHOCK: I’ve been a fan Uli Edel since his breakthrough American film LAST EXIT TO BROOKLYN and it’s always a thrill to see him tackling darker material. Speaking as an actor, how was he as a director?

CALLIES: You know Uli is a huge part of why I wanted to do this film. He’s the only director I’ve worked with who has been nominated for both an Oscar and an Emmy. Maybe we should do a play together and he can be nominated for a Tony too (laughs). Anyway, he has a very strong vision, which is helpful for me because, ironically, the horror genre is not one I’m familiar with. I can’t watch them. I hate being scared. I approached this film the same way I approached making a drama, or doing Shakespeare etc. But Uli gave me an education in classic horror and the elements that make them really good, so he was there to guide me through some of this stuff. He’s also hilariously German. Unrelentingly German. What was so adorable is that our DP was a brilliant man named Sharone Meir (the LAST HOUSE ON THE LEFT remake), who is Israeli. So you had this awesome dynamic duo, one German, the other Israeli and there they are bouncing off each other and making art. And I thought, if these two can work this well together, then there is hope for the world yet.

SHOCK: The film was shot primarily in Toronto, doubling for New York City. Was this your first time shooting in that city?

CALLIES: Not at all. The first series I was on, TARZAN, was a Toronto based show. I live in Canada. In BC. But Toronto is great. Uli and Shalom went down to New York after we wrapped and shot some authentic locations and matched them to our Toronto footage.

SHOCK: They did a fine job, considering the CN Tower never once falls into frame…

CALLIES: (laughs) That is the trick about shooting in Toronto, I know. You have to be careful to stay away from the waterfront and stay away from the CN tower.

SHOCK: So you don’t like horror. How do you reconcile your legacy on THE WALKING DEAD?

CALLIES: You know, it’s funny. I think the whole concept of genre is collapsing. I can’t see scary movies. They scare me. I have a copy of PAY THE GHOST but I’m alone here shooting THE COLONY so I won’t watch it without my husband here with me. But yeah, I think people used to look down on horror and the term was used to signify that the film wasn’t as good as a proper drama. But that has fallen apart. People are making scary stories with profound emotional, political and spiritual undertones that are every bit as powerful as a non-scary film. With THE WALKING DEAD, it was story about human nature and morality. It just happened to have a bunch of zombies in it. Which is fine. Doesn’t bother me one way or another. I’m just grateful to be a working actor!

SHOCK: PAY THE GHOST falls under the “parental horror” sub-genre…

CALLIES: Yes and Nic and I talked about a lot about that. There is nothing more terrifying than losing your child. That’s the draw of the film.

SHOCK: This is Cage’s best work in a thriller in years…

CALLIES: Nic is a doll. I adored working with him. He’s a consummate professional. He even showed up to the table read. In my head there’s the two Nicolas Cage’s. There’s the one I grew up watching. MOONSTRUCK. LEAVING LAS VEGAS. That guy who exists as my experience as a viewer, watching him work. Then there’s this dude I got to a movie with who was as humble and dedicated as any day player on a TV show. He never throws his weight around. We collaborated. We worked hard to make characters that weren’t just generic guy and generic girl. It was a fantastic experience.

Follow Sarah on her official Instagram:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ID2hK3pskYc

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