An iconic horror duo makes its debut inAbigailwith Alisha Weirs vampire ballerina andMelissa Barreras would-be kidnapper Joey.
Sabina Graves, io9: Melissa, did you come on board during the development of the film?
Because I love seeing you back with Radio Silence [Scream revival helmers].
Image: Universal Pictures
I was like, this team is amazing.
Ill watch anything yall do together.
Melissa Barrera: I know, Im just so happy that I get to keep making movies with them.
Its such a treat.
I came on… not during the development at all.
I didnt find out about them making this movie until almost exactly a year ago.
And I read the script and I was like, This is something that I could do.
This could be really fun.
A fresh take on a vampire film, I think, is rare to find.
So I was like, I hope that they see me as one of the characters.
I think I could do it.
And luckily they did.
What was your reaction to that?
At the start she always was a ballerina, but it wasnt a huge part of her character.
No matter what she doing, she was always leaping, she was pirouetting, she was spinning.
Everything she did, she looked like she was a dancer at all times.
io9: Abigail and Joey go through an evolution with their relationship.
How did you build that together?
Was it hard to pretend to hate each other when Abigails true nature is revealed?
Barrera: It was!
I just wanted to ensure that she was okay all the time.
So I think that that that kind of merged into the film and it was so natural.
The development of the relationship felt really natural for both of us.
We really love each other.
I dont think Joey ever hated Abigail, even when she turned.
I think she just felt deeply betrayed and fooled.
It was more like anger of, like, Why did you play me?
I was trying to take care of you and you really manipulated me.
Weir: Abigail and Joey share such a connection.
When you see Abigail, you figure out that Abigail has been doing this a very long time.
Some things are truthful that you dont realize [until] you see the whole film.
But she never does want to hurt her because shes a child.
io9: I love how the film really just explores, like, Who are the real monsters?
In many ways, every character has an element of having done something monstrous.
So its monsters versus monster.
But how do we determine who the real monsters are?
These are not good people.
And I think that thats very true about human nature.
No matter what masks we put on, theres softness and vulnerability inside all of us.
And no matter what mistakes we made, the regrets that we have, theres always goodness inside.
And we live in this gray area where were not all good and not all bad.
Human beings can be very bad sometimes, like you see in the world.
And youre like, Whoa, how do we get to this point?
io9: Alisha, just to close it out, youre my favorite vampire right now.
What was it like to dive into the research to build out your character?
Were you a fan of other vampires previously?
Or was this your gateway into the vampire lore?
Weir: It was so exciting.
I didnt know a lot about vampires before getting to play Abigail.
Abigail is also very unique in that shes been living centuries.
She brings you through so many different emotions, and you see so many different sides to her.
And sometimes you love her and you hate her.
Abigail is in theaters now.
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