Gracie Gillam Interview: Superhost | Screen Rant
Building an audience with an at-home streaming show is no easy task, and it becomes absolutely deadly in the horror movie Superhost. Directed by Brandon Christensen, Superhost debuted in fall 2021 on the horror-themed streaming platform Shudder. Now also available on home media, Superhost sees Gracie Gillam give an unsettling performance as the daffy nutcase Rebecca.
With the subscriber count on their channel "Superhost" in decline, travel vloggers Teddy (Osric Chau) and Claire (Sara Canning), decide some new energy is needed for their show. They think they've found the solution when their latest host Rebecca seems perfect to give their show a shot in the arm. However, it gradually becomes clear that they've signed up for a lot more than they bargained for in bringing Rebecca onto Superhost.
We speak to Gracie Gillam about the making of Superhost, working with her co-stars and director Brandon Christensen on a very small production during the pandemic, and bringing the serial killer insanity of Rebecca to life.
Screen Rant: How did you become involved with Superhost?
Gracie Gillam: Sierra McCormick, who is a friend of mine and a fabulous actor, signed on to play Rebecca, but then had a conflict with a different film. She recommended me, and through that, I ended up reading the script and really, really loving it and the character Rebecca. I'd wanted to work with Brandon [Christensen] after watching his first two films. We talked about it, he wanted me to play the character. I was super honored that he would trust me to be this scary thing in one of his movies, because there have been a lot of scary things in his movies.
What really drew you to the character Rebecca in Superhost?
Gracie Gillam: I mean, the character seems like such a textbook psychopath, and then the movie is about these inhuman performances that exist on the internet. To be the foil of that with an inhuman performance, I was really interested in that part of it. I really relate to Rebecca's confusion sometimes at what people are doing socially. I usually can understand why they're doing it pretty quickly without the creepy lag. I was interested in finding the really creepy uncanny valley of being normal but creepy, and not being unsettling enough that people would get the hell out of there right away.
How did the pandemic impact the making of the film?
Gracie Gillam: It was definitely a quiet set. A lot of sets are really loud and full of people and feel like a party, and then you have to decompress afterward. This was a really quiet, intimate-feeling work environment. Sometimes, we would get dinner in the hotel together, but it wasn't an energetic explosion and party like a lot of shoots can be. I would say living in a hotel where people were having weddings and not wearing masks, it was nice to walk through that before going to play a person who goes on a killing spree. It was sort of inspirational in that way.
So, how did playing Rebecca feel different from other roles you've play in the past?
Gracie Gillam: Well, it was really fun. Rebecca's a really energetic and fun character. If anything, it was actually kind of similar to working on the Disney Channel, because it was the same kind of performative, feminine social performance that's kind of weird.
What were some scenes or moments that really stood out for you during the making of Superhost?
Gracie Gillam: At the end of the week, we would get sent footage by Brandon, and it was always so amazing to me how fabulous the footage looked. Watching the final product was gorgeous, and you would never know so few people were on set lighting it. It really felt like just a handful of people standing around a house for most of the day, and you see the footage and it looks like a lot of people were making it.
What was the experience like of working with your co-stars Osric Chau and Sara Canning?
Gracie Gillam: So, the film worked for a week before I got there. That footage is really intimate and quiet and kind of serious, and it was fun to hear other people react when I showed up with 'Oh, I guess this movie is also going to be funny!' Sometimes during our lunch break, we would climb up the mountain and see such a beautiful view. It was a really wonderful cast and I enjoyed hanging out with them on and off set. Some of my favorite memories were watching the rest of the cast like Sara just go from zero to one hundred on breaking your heart. It'd be 'Oh, I need you to see sobbing real quick? Here. Ta-da!' And obviously, working with Barbara [Compton] was also such a treat.
So, in taking on a very scary character like Rebecca, what was the aspect of her that really jumped out to you the most?
Gracie Gillam: I mean, I read the script and I was able to guess at her backstory pretty readily. It didn't seem like Rebecca had been killing for long. I think she was somebody who was pulled from school and my backstory is that she was raised by her father and eventually, he angered her enough and she killed him and she's been on the road for about six months now. But there was the question of 'What does a person who doesn't really have a sense of empathy do when their impression of human behavior comes from being online?' That kind of came alive to me with Alissa Christensen's wardrobe, too. This is somebody whose idea of what people act like comes from being on social media. This is the hipster serial killer.
Is that something you hope people take away from Superhost in how Rebecca's personality is formulated online?
Gracie Gillam: Well, I think she's behaving that way anyway just because she has psychopathy. But I do think this movie has a lot to say about the psychopathy of the internet and what does it mean to interpret if someone's typing something with an exclamation point. It's sort of impossible to discern people's tone through text and it kind of makes everyone not have a sense of empathy.
Superhost is now on home media and is also streaming on Shudder.