ComingSoon Senior Editor Brandon Schreur spoke to Sari Arambulo and Molly Brown about Bloody Axe Wound. Arambulo and Brown discussed how they got cast in the new Shudder and RLJE Films horror movie, bonding on set, and more.
“Abbie Bladecut is a teenager torn between the macabre traditions of her family’s bloody trade and the tender stirrings of her first crush. In the small town of Clover Falls, Abbie’s father, Roger Bladecut, has built an infamous legacy by capturing real-life killings on tape and selling them to eager customers, but as Abbie delves deeper into the grisly family business, she begins to wonder if it’s time to take the family tradition in a new direction,” the synopsis for the movie reads.
Bloody Axe Wound will be released in select theaters on December 27, 2024.
Brandon Schreur: I’m wondering if each of you could just tell me a little bit about how you got involved in this project. Bloody Axe Wound, when you got the script for the first time, what was going through your head and what made you want to sign on for this movie?
Molly Brown: I got sent the script. It was sent to me and my manager told me to read it and see if I liked it. I was like, ‘Yeah, I like it, what material do I need to put on tape for it?’ He was like, ‘No, you’re just going to meet with the director.’ I said, ‘Huh. Okay. That’s never happened to me before.’
But I met with Matt [John Lawrence], and he’s just so cool. I think we had a lot in common. I watched his first film, Uncle Peckerhead, as well and I laughed out loud during that film. I don’t often do that. I just thought this seems like a guy that I want to work with. Then I was offered the part and I took it.
Sari Arambulo: That’s amazing. My story is a little different. It’s kind of crazy; honestly, it’s like the craziest acting story of my career. The short version of it is I kind of had no idea about this project and then, one day, booked the lead. I literally woke up that morning knowing nothing about it and then ended up booking this movie. Which I think is so serendipitous, but also a sign that it was meant to be.
Long story short, my manager basically reached out to me saying that this casting director had reached out and they had this director who was doing this horror film. I ended up, very last minute, meeting Matt and the producers.
Brown: And this was something you were at, right? Like, weren’t you out doing things?
Arambulo: Yeah, I think I was picketing. I was like literally out in the world.
Brown: Right, and you were on the writers’ strike.
Arambulo: Yeah, it was the writers’ strike. I was going home. Didn’t have this on my radar at all. And my manager was like, ‘Hey, can you hop on a call with the director, the producers, and casting?’ I was like, ‘Um, sure. What is this?’ I got sent a link to Uncle Peckerhead, I got a lookbook, I got sides, and I got a script. I looked it over really quickly and, like, at first glance, I was like, ‘I’m so into this, this is amazing.’ I ended up meeting Matt and it was like, ‘You booked it,’ sort of. Literally the craziest turn-around. And I was literally filming like three days later. It was a really, really quick turn-around, but sometimes those are the best things.
Sure. And what a cool project to do it for, too, because you guys are both so good in it, your characters are so much fun. The interactions and all the twists and turns this movie takes, it’s so much fun to watch, so a very cool project to have that happen for. Speaking of the characters, I want to talk to each of you a little about yours. Sari, you play Abbie, who is, you know, a teenager, she’s doing some normal teenager stuff. But there’s this whole other aspect to her involving her dad and, obviously, secretly being a murderer. Was that a fun element for you to play, doing both sides of that?
Arambulo: Oh God, yeah, that’s a no-brainer. I’ve never gotten to play any sort of character like this at all. I’ve always wanted to lean more into this genre, so it kind of felt like the perfect opportunity to do that. And she’s such a badass. Like, she’s so cool. The fact that she’s grown up in this life, I just felt so honored to play a character who is part of this world. I also love the relationship she has with her dad. Then, she’s such a badass killer but she gets to question a lot of things in her own life and go on this journey of self-discovery. It was such a joy to play, for sure.
Sure, definitely. Molly, I feel like Sam had two different sides to her, too. On the one hand, she’s also a teenager, a little bit more angsty, but she knows where she belongs at this school. But there’s also a lot of grief going on underneath all there. At one point, you have this line where you go, ‘I’m so sick of going to funerals.’ You can tell there’s a lot of pain and tragedy going on and she’s just not completely showing it. What was it like playing that?
Brown: I had fun filming every scene that we did in this movie, but I think that scene, in particular, where that comes out is kind of what grounds the movie a little bit. Through Sam, you see the actual effects of what all this killing has done to the town. I think it’s really interesting that Abbie doesn’t think twice about it until she meets someone who has seen the effects of everything. I had a lot of fun.
I think Sam is also — Sam was a really fun character to play because she’s so cool. She’s, like, always being really cool, which is not how I am, mostly.
Arambulo: You are cool, Molly!
Brown: Well, I’m not cool in the way that Sam is cool, that’s for sure. But what I think is really funny about Sam is that she fights back. She doesn’t want to live in this town, but she also makes some really weird decisions toward the end. She’s like, ‘Why don’t we go to this camp?’ I think it’s just like the epitome of living life to the fullest. She’s surrounded by all this death so she’s not about to let a good time pass her by.
No, totally. Bouncing off that, another thing I loved was the connection your characters build with each other. I love that scene on the bleachers when you kiss for the first time. There is so much happening in this movie but, right in that moment, it’s like this is the only thing that matters. It all feels so real and so believable. I’m wondering what it was like working together and finding that chemistry. How did you guys make that relationship feel so believable when there’s so much other stuff happening inside this movie?
Arambulo: I always say that I’ve never become quicker friends with anyone on set than with Molly Brown. It was just an instant, ‘Oh, we’re friends, we’re buddies, we’re in this.’
Brown: I got Sari’s number through Matt. I was like, ‘Hey, hope this isn’t absolutely insane to text you out of the blue. Sorry, hi, huge fan.’ We got there a couple of days before everyone. We hung out and had a lunch with just the two of us and Matt. We were actually there for the table read, together, while everyone else was on Zoom. Our personalities just meshed really well. I think when you meet someone in life that it’s going to be like that, you just have those automatic friendships. I feel very fortunate that, especially in a movie like this and especially when someone is playing your love interest, actually getting along with that person is a very nice thing to experience.
Arambulo: It’s such a gift, for sure. And it’s like, you know, it really did feel like it was summer camp. We were kind of living in a hotel. It felt like dorms, like we were in college. We’d get to go to each other’s rooms, we were helping each other with self-tapes. It was such a great time to be together and, naturally, I just think that chemistry builds.
Thanks to Sari Arambulo and Molly Brown for discussing Bloody Axe Wound.
