I sat down with actress Savannah Kennick to talk about acting, life and her roles in the upcoming season of Arrested Development, Bloom, and the horror film Do Not Reply.
Do Not Reply, written and directed by Daniel Woltosz and Walter Woltosz, centers on Chelsea (Amanda Arcuri), a high school introvert, is abducted through a social media app and is forced to look like other girls Brad holds captive. Chelsea desperately attempts to persuade them to escape before they all become victims in his virtual reality filmed murders.
Horror Fuel: “Your character in Holidays comes to a pretty brutal end.”
Savannah Kennick: “In Holidays I played Heidy in the Valentine’s day segment. She’s the school mean girl, but she kind of “gets what she deserves.” But it’s taken to another level.”
Horror Fuel: “You currently have a role in the comedy series Arrested Development. I’ll confess, I love that show. What character will you be playing?”
Savannah Kennick: “It comes out March 15th. I play young Lindsey Bluth this season. It was really fun to shoot. Honestly, it’s an iconic character in the comedy world, so playing the younger version of it was such an honor.”
Horror Fuel: “Fantastic. I look forward to seeing you as young Lindsey. She’s always been a funny character to me. I think it’s a great series.”
Savannah Kennick: “I do too. It’s like a very quirky, with a very specific sense of humor.”
Horror Fuel: “I agree. You have a horror movie that’s coming up, Do Not Reply.
Savannah Kennick: “The movie Do Not Reply follows this girl, her name is Chelsea, and she meets a guy on a dating app. They meet up and it turns out that he’s not who he says he is. He abducts her and takes her to his house. He locks her in his house with a bunch of other girls who he is transforming into his perfect girl. In the film, I play Chelsea’s older sister, Kristina.”
Horror Fuel: “How would you classify it? Is it a slasher, a thriller?”
Savannah Kennick: “I wouldn’t exactly classify it as a slasher but there are definitely really graphic violent scenes. I remember seeing photos of the special effects makeup and being like, ‘Oh my god, that’s disgusting!’ It’s definitely a thriller. Even reading the script I was like, ‘Oh!’ I could feel my palms sweating.”
Horror Fuel: “It sounds great! Is there a release date yet?”
Savannah Kennick: “Not right now. We’re hoping that within a month we will.”
Horror Fuel: “Is it a practical effects film?”
Savannah Kennick: “In my part, I’m not in that realm of it at all. I know that there are a couple of CGI scenes. He films all the murders and makes them into a virtual reality video.”
Horror Fuel: “That sounds cool.”
Savannah Kennick: “It is cool. I look forward to seeing how it translates on screen from the page.”
Horror Fuel: “With social media being what it is today, do you think women should be afraid and be careful of who they meet online?”
Savannah Kennick: “Personally, to me? Yeah. I think you can create another personality online. Nine times out of ten, even girls I meet in Los Angeles, they don’t look the same, they aren’t as outgoing as you would think they would be. That’s not even dating-wise.
I could not imagine meeting someone, even at a restaurant without really knowing who they are. I think social media is really good, but also really bad. People don’t really know how to have conversations out in public anymore because they are just used to meeting each other then stalking them on Instagram.”
Horror Fuel: “You make a good point. Social media has changed a lot of the ways we communicate. That’s not always a good thing. Sometimes it can be very dangerous.
Speaking of dark and dangerous. You have a dark film, Bloom. Can you fill us in?”
Savannah Kennick: “In Bloom, I play Annabelle. She’s a young aspiring model in New York. Throughout the film you see her go through a really bad experience with a really aggressive photographer who pushes her to do something that she normally wouldn’t do. It is a pretty dark film, but it was great to shoot. We shot it the year before all of the Harvey Weinstein/#MeToo movement happened. I remember watching the first cut with the director and two days later that all broke. The timing of it all was so crazy. ”
Horror Fuel: “Where do you stand on the #MeToo movement?”
Savannah Kennick: “I’ve seen a lot of friends go through experiences with it and I definitely think that men have way too much power. I fully support survivors. Everybody who goes through that experience, I don’t think you ever bounce back from it. I fully stand with the women that have had to go through the trauma. I’m on their team with my sign like, “Yes, girl, you take him down! He needs to suffer the consequences of his actions!”
Horror Fuel: “I think as women we need to stick together and make sure that people have to pay for the evil that they do. Too many people in positions of power get away with it. It’s time that we make sure that ends.”
I’ve heard that you’re involved with a lot of cancer charities. How did you get involved with that?”
Savannah Kennick: “My mom is a survivor of Breast Cancer and Skin Cancer. She had Breast Cancer when I was nine, luckily made it through. This September she had a bout with Skin Cancer. But she’s all good now.”
Horror Fuel: “Wow. She’s a tough lady. I’m glad to hear that she’s doing better and she’s clear. Breast Cancer is a tough disease. Skin Cancer is too, people don’t realize how dangerous it really is.”
If you could pass a message to women out there who are going through that experience now, what would it be?”
Savannah Kennick: “It’s really hard to see through the storm, the moment, but when you come out on the other side there’s always a rainbow. That’s what my grandma always told me.”
Horror Fuel: “That’s so sweet.”
Tune in this March to see her in action on Arrested Development. As soon as the release date is announced for Do Not Reply we will let you know. Be sure to follow Savannah on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram to stay up to date on her projects and more.
