‘Unfriended’ Renee Olstead, Jacob Wysocki, and Courtney Halverson Interview

Unfriended Renee Olstead, Jacob Wysocki, Courtney Halverson Interview
The cast, writer, and executive producer of ‘Unfriended’ at WonderCon (Photo © Richard Chavez)

Courtney Halverson says that after working on Universal Pictures’ Unfriended she’s now completely paranoid about what she puts online either via Twitter, Facebook, or other social media outlets. “I’m terrified of it now. I assume that nothing I post on the internet is safe anymore. It’s really caused me to think about everything.”

After shooting lengthy takes (including one that’s 85 minutes long) while in separate rooms in a house, all while having to react to scary situations and being filmed at their computer screens, the Unfriended stars had a reason to be leery of social media. And don’t even get Halverson’s Unfriended co-stars Renee Olstead and Jacob Wysocki started talking about Skype. Their opinions have drastically changed since shooting this horror film directed by Leo Gabriadze from a script by Nelson Greaves. “The call sound is so jarring to me. Call me on the phone. Don’t Skype me, please!” said Wysocki at the 2015 WonderCon in Anaheim, CA.

“One reason why I think this movie is so authentically scary is I think a lot of us have experienced that negativity [online], and I think the idea that that could manifest into a monster is a lot more believable now,” said Olstead, discussing the premise and how it will connect with audiences who are used to sharing their lives online.

Given that the movie was shot in such an unorthodox manner, the cast had to constantly be on their feet and ready to improv their actions and reactions. “In a lot of ways, we shot it live,” said Halverson. “Not, obviously, the entire film but a good majority of it. We’re sitting in these rooms by ourselves with these computers really doing it more like a play. These takes go on for like 20, 30 minutes of just exploring different things each take. No two takes were the same, really.”

And Olstead says that one of the most rewarding aspects of Unfriended was being able to create a lot of the chaos. “We were our own cinematographers. We had a camera that was strapped to a computer, so we got to create the shaking and movement, and kind of reflecting where the characters are with our choices. That was a lot of fun.”

Unfriended Movie Review
Blaire (SHELLEY HENNIG), Mitch (MOSES STORM), Jess (RENEE OLSTEAD), Adam (WILL PELTZ) and Ken (JACOB WYSOCKI) in Universal Pictures’ ‘Unfriended’ (Photo © 2015 Universal Studios)

Asked if worrying about acting, worrying about shooting their own scenes, and not really knowing what was going on with their co-stars in other rooms of the house got a little confusing, Olstead admitted that she used to trip over the cables all the time. “There’s several face-plants that didn’t make the cut.”

“We’re in charge of the start and the end of the scene because they gave us these cups to put over the lens. We’re using these red Solo cups and basically, they’re like, ‘Action,’ and you pull the cup off of the lens,” said Halverson.

Wysocki said that each of the actors actually had cardboard slates with masking tape over the end. “And you had to put the number on it yourself,” added Halverson.

Although they had a script and they knew specific points they needed to make throughout the film, director Gabriadze would switch up things to keep the cast on their feet. “For me, we ended up having this fight scene halfway through the film. It’s between myself and [Olstead’s character] Jess, and what they did with it is while they were filming it, we had our director in our ears just giving us little things that they wanted us to do,” said Halverson. “They would give me a little bit more to work with like, ‘Really call her out on this,’ or, ‘Pick a fight with her.’ It would completely change the scene because they could push the film in any direction that way.”

“They also showed us a lot of videos, too. I remember originally when we first had this fight that was brought to us we’re like, ‘Is this realistic?’ ‘Do kids do this?’ So they’re like, ‘Let’s show you some stuff.’ They had all this footage that they found online that people have posted from their Skype conversations and recorded it of these girls just going at it and threatening to fight each other, cut each other. Ridiculous stuff that I didn’t think was realistic but apparently, this is like a very, very real thing,” said Olstead.

And if there was ever a moment when a jump scare was needed, Wysocki said behind the scenes they weren’t afraid of resorting to rattling windows or slamming doors to set the actors on edge. “They slapped windows and s*it like that. They would go up to the side of the house and pound on the windows and try to get a jump out of you. Stuff like that, just little tricks.”

So, is Unfriended the next logical step forward in the found footage horror genre? Halverson believes it is. “With Blair Witch Project and things like that with a handheld camera, kids don’t really do that anymore. They’re online; they’re on their phones so I think this is the easiest way to plug into their real world and bring it to their screens.”