Connect with us

News

Blu Hunt on Becoming Dani Moonstar in ‘The New Mutants’

Published

on

Blu Hunt does not know how she really feels about The New Mutants finally opening after years of anticipation, but if she’s honest, “overwhelmed” probably sums it up best.

“I’m just like pacing around my apartment, walking in and out of my bedroom, lying down, getting up,” the actress told iHorror in a recent interview. “Like, I don’t know what to do with myself. And I can’t go do anything because I’m living in LA and I’m quarantined. I can’t go do things. I think I’m just really anxious. I’m anxious for it to come out. I’ve never had a movie I was in come out like this before.”

That feeling has been a part of her life since she was first cast in the role of Dani Moonstar, a young mutant with incredible reality-altering powers locked away in an asylum with other teenagers like herself. It was the role of a lifetime for a young actor who had never really been in a film.

The fact that it was a Marvel film had her pinching herself right up until the moment they were filming.

“I’m a realist to a fault,” Hunt explained. “The way that it happened. I didn’t let myself believe that it was happening for a long time. I mean even when I was there I was like this cannot be real. Wake me up. Just having this huge role in the movie, too. It wasn’t just like a background role. It was like, she comes in and she’s becoming a leader. It was a really intense role to take on but I mean it’s an incredible opportunity that I’m still grateful for it.”

It wasn’t just the fact that it was a Marvel movie, however, that challenged her. Co-writer and director Josh Boone had created a character with a lot of layers that Hunt had to navigate while playing the role many of which brought their own forms of pressure.

What she had not anticipated was the immediate social media reaction to her casting.

Blu Hunt had no idea, really, the way that social media would react to her casting as Danielle Moonstar.

“The pressure of Dani being like the first leading, female, indigenous superhero in a film like this was really intense for me, especially because I am mixed race,” she pointed out. “I remember waiting to go make the movie, sitting in my bedroom, on my phone, looking at Twitter with everyone arguing about my heritage and my race and whether I’m dark enough skinned to play the role and really feeling the pressure come down on me, then. I really had to have that conversation with myself. Am I the right person to play this role? I am the right person to play this role. Some people don’t think I am, but I know I am.”

In the midst of that doubt, she reached out to other indigenous actors and members of her community for reassurance and was pleased when they seemed to just be happy for her for taking on this role. They also reminded her that she was representing something really important for other indigenous young people and to take that responsibility seriously.

It wasn’t only pressure from the online indigenous community, however. When it was revealed that Hunt’s character would be involved in a romantic relationship with Rahne Wolfsbane played by Maisie Williams, another corner of social media seemed to rise up as well.

Some were upset that the characters were a part of the LGBTQ community, labeling it political. Others were upset that the wrong characters were being put into a same-sex relationship. And others were upset in general with seemingly no reason at all.

Hunt was again overwhelmed and she credits Williams–who had plenty of experience dealing with social media rage during her time on Game of Thrones–with helping her through that.

“After talking to Maisie, she was like, you just can’t care,” she said. “I think that was one of my favorite parts of Dani’s character is that she got to be gay. I loved that. I loved that this was my first romantic role in a movie. Getting to have that with another woman was just really was an honor. It was really cool to represent both the Indigenous community and the LGBTQ community.”

Hunt eventually left social media behind, and has been able to focus more on what this role meant to her and the kind of character that Dani Moonstar ultimately became.

“When I read the comic books, like the way she moves through the world to me was really strong and tough,” she said. “She’s like a complicated leader. She’s incredibly intelligent and strong but she’s also kind of introverted. She likes to be alone. In the comic books she kind of sits in the woods and thinks about things. She’s really deep. Playing her this young, as a 16 year old, I just really wanted to play her more, not sad, but a little more shy but finding out that she’s strong. She doesn’t know she’s a strong person yet. She’s just tough. She doesn’t take anybody’s shit but she’s really insecure and a teenager.”

The New Mutants is out this week in theaters across the country with openings in drive-ins, as well, on August 28, 2020. Take a look at Blu Hunt in the introduction video for her character that released earlier today below.

Listen to the 'Eye On Horror Podcast'

Listen to the 'Eye On Horror Podcast'

Click to comment

You must be logged in to post a comment Login

Leave a Reply

Movies

Another Creepy Spider Movie Hits Shudder This Month

Published

on

Good spider films are a theme this year. First, we had Sting and then there was Infested. The former is still in theaters and the latter is coming to Shudder starting April 26.

Infested has been getting some good reviews. People are saying that it’s not only a great creature feature but also a social commentary on racism in France.

According to IMDb: Writer/director Sébastien Vanicek was looking for ideas around the discrimination faced by black and Arab-looking people in France, and that led him to spiders, which are rarely welcome in homes; whenever they’re spotted, they’re swatted. As everyone in the story (people and spiders) is treated like vermin by society, the title came to him naturally.

Shudder has become the gold standard for streaming horror content. Since 2016, the service has been offering fans an expansive library of genre movies. in 2017, they began to stream exclusive content.

Since then Shudder has become a powerhouse in the film festival circuit, buying distribution rights to movies, or just producing some of their own. Just like Netflix, they give a film a short theatrical run before adding it to their library exclusively for subscribers.

Late Night With the Devil is a great example. It was released theatrically on March 22 and will begin streaming on the platform starting April 19.

While not getting the same buzz as Late Night, Infested is a festival favorite and many have said if you suffer from arachnophobia, you might want to take heed before watching it.

Infested

According to the synopsis, our main character, Kalib is turning 30 and dealing with some family issues. “He’s fighting with his sister over an inheritance and has cut ties with his best friend. Fascinated by exotic animals, he finds a venomous spider in a shop and brings it back to his apartment. It only takes a moment for the spider to escape and reproduce, turning the whole building into a dreadful web trap. The only option for Kaleb and his friends is to find a way out and survive.”

The film will be available to watch on Shudder starting April 26.

Listen to the 'Eye On Horror Podcast'

Listen to the 'Eye On Horror Podcast'

Continue Reading

Movies

Part Concert, Part Horror Movie M. Night Shyamalan’s ‘Trap’ Trailer Released

Published

on

In true Shyamalan form, he sets his film Trap inside a social situation where we aren’t sure what is going on. Hopefully, there is a twist at the end. Furthermore, we hope it’s better than the one in his divisive 2021 movie Old.

The trailer seemingly gives away a lot, but, as in the past, you can’t rely on his trailers because they are often red herrings and you are being gaslit to think a certain way. For instance, his movie Knock at the Cabin was completely different than what the trailer implied and if you hadn’t read the book on which the film is based it was still like going in blind.

The plot for Trap is being dubbed an “experience” and we aren’t quite sure what that means. If we were to guess based on the trailer, it’s a concert movie wrapped around a horror mystery. There are original songs performed by Saleka, who plays Lady Raven, a kind of Taylor Swift/Lady Gaga hybrid. They have even set up a Lady Raven website to further the illusion.

Here is the fresh trailer:

According to the synopsis, a father takes his daughter to one of Lady Raven’s jam-packed concerts, “where they realize they’re at the center of a dark and sinister event.”

Written and directed by M. Night Shyamalan, Trap stars Josh Hartnett, Ariel Donoghue, Saleka Shyamalan, Hayley Mills and Allison Pill. The film is produced by Ashwin Rajan, Marc Bienstock and M. Night Shyamalan. The executive producer is Steven Schneider.

Listen to the 'Eye On Horror Podcast'

Listen to the 'Eye On Horror Podcast'

Continue Reading

News

Woman Brings Corpse Into Bank To Sign Loan Papers

Published

on

Warning: This is a disturbing story.

You have to be pretty desperate for money to do what this Brazilian woman did at the bank to get a loan. She wheeled in a fresh corpse to endorse the contract and she seemingly thought the bank employees wouldn’t notice. They did.

This weird and disturbing story comes via ScreenGeek an entertainment digital publication. They write that a woman identified as Erika de Souza Vieira Nunes pushed a man she identified as her uncle into the bank pleading with him to sign loan papers for $3,400. 

If you’re squeamish or easily triggered, be aware that the video captured of the situation is disturbing. 

Latin America’s largest commercial network, TV Globo, reported on the crime, and according to ScreenGeek this is what Nunes says in Portuguese during the attempted transaction. 

“Uncle, are you paying attention? You must sign [the loan contract]. If you don’t sign, there’s no way, as I cannot sign on your behalf!”

She then adds: “Sign so you can spare me further headaches; I can’t bear it any longer.” 

At first we thought this might be a hoax, but according to Brazilian police, the uncle, 68-year-old Paulo Roberto Braga had passed away earlier that day.

 “She attempted to feign his signature for the loan. He entered the bank already deceased,” Police Chief Fábio Luiz said in an interview with TV Globo. “Our priority is to continue investigating to identify other family members and gather more information regarding this loan.”

If convicted Nunes could be facing jail time on charges of fraud, embezzlement, and desecration of a corpse.

Listen to the 'Eye On Horror Podcast'

Listen to the 'Eye On Horror Podcast'

Continue Reading