PopHorror Let's Get Scared
I recently had the opportunity to chat with Laura Buckles and Griffin Cork, the stars of Patrick Phillips’ new psychological thriller, Broken, from Opine Entertainment. Laura not only starred in the film but also wrote and produced it as well. Learn about their careers, how they got involved with Broken, details about their characters, and much more!
PopHorror – Hey guys! How is 2021 treating you so far?
Laura Buckles – So far 2021 has been going very well. I’ve been lucky to be able to stay working as an actor, writer and producer. As well as having Broken coming out, I finished shooting as a series regular on Isolation Inn, which was a great pandemic inspired web series that takes place exclusively on Zoom. Not only did that make it possible to shoot while staying at home but I got to do it with people that I just have so much fun with and who inspire me. In June, I was able to get back onto a physical set while shooting the feature 8 Found Dead which saw me re-donning a police uniform for my character. My improv company, “Slow Children at Play” was able to pivot to online performances during Safer at Home and we are finally getting back into the swing of in person shows as we close out our season. Plus having recently moved into a house I’ve been enjoying a backyard and more space and we’ve just started dipping our toe into the traveling waters again.
Griffin Cork – Hi Pop Horror! Wow – I cannot tell you how cool it is to be chatting with you. Honestly, my year has not been too bad. These last two years, crazy as they have been, also encouraged me to build some really tight, close-knit relationships with my family and the few friends I’ve “bubble’d” with. It’s also given me time to catch up on the long list of “To-Dos” I have that had no real deadline, but needed to get done. Ya know? Thanks for asking!
PopHorror – Sounds like you’ve both had a decent yet busy year despite the pandemic putting a damper on things! What inspired you to get into acting?
Laura Buckles – I don’t remember a time when I didn’t want to be an actor. I came by it naturally as both my father and mother were actors at some point in their lives. I remember as a kid when most kids were playing things like house or policemen, I was playing “TV show set where I was the actor playing house” or “an actor who plays a police person on tv”.
Griffin Cork – Well, I have MY version of the story, which is my mom. She’s also an actress (that has been slowly moving towards directing), which is how she met my dad before he went into financial planning. So, I saw her in plays a lot as a kid, and to this day, my mother is the person I turn to when I need to be reminded to just enjoy life and work with what you’ve given. And of course, mixed with the growing-up-goggles of your parents being superheroes, I saw that performing is what made both my parents happy. It was my first example of true, honest joy. How could I not get sucked in?
However, my father will tell you a different story. I was on my first union set when I was in Grade 5, and my dad chaperoned me on set. When I got there, we discovered that Craft Services was storing some drawers of treats in my trailer. So, I opened the door, and there is what looks like unlimited candy waiting for me on set. To my dad, that’s what inspired me to get into acting. You be the judge of who’s more on the money.
PopHorror – That’s awesome! Do you enjoy thrillers/horrors and if so what is your favorite horror film?
Laura Buckles – Horror films aren’t really my thing, so I like the more comedic horror films – I watch Shawn of the Dead fairly regularly, the whole trilogy actually. Plus movies like Zombieland and Warm Bodies. Maybe I should change my answer to Warm Bodies…
I think part of the reason I’m no good with straight horror is that I’m trained as a FX makeup artist so half the time I’m pulled out of the movie thinking “I wonder how they created that?” or “Nice use of latex and cornflakes.”, and the other half I’m hiding under a pillow so I’m not even looking at the screen.
Griffin Cork – Oh god, do I ever. I think one of the most impressive things that thrillers/horrors have going for them is the ability to make their audience viscerally react. Comedies will make you laugh, tragedies will make you cry, but a good horror or thriller film will get you in the gut.
I recently rewatched The Babadook, and wow, I forgot how much I loved that film. I think it pretty precisely tackled the metaphor of the horror genre (though I am far from a horror/thriller expert).
PopHorror – Laura, I love those movies. Griffin, that’s a good one too! Do you enjoy Halloween and if so any exciting plans?
Laura Buckles – I love Halloween, an excuse to play dress up and eat chocolate?! Who wouldn’t love that? (Yeah, I know there are people who don’t, they’re wrong). I don’t have any huge plans this year, but our neighborhood tends to really do up the decorations so I’m sure we’ll be taking an extended walk to enjoy the sights.
Griffin Cork – Only slightly behind Christmas, Halloween is easily one of my favourite holidays. I think it creates a great space for more reserved folks to just FULLY show off. I have a make-up artist friend who approached me with the idea of just “trying something out” on Halloween to make me look spooky. No specific monster in mind, just going to mess around with some spirit gum. I’ll send you pics, Pop Horror.
PopHorror – Same here! Can you tell us about your new film Broken?
Laura Buckles – Sure, Broken is at its heart, for me, a story about loyalty and that slippery slope you can find yourself on when you’re only presented with bad choices. Even when you make the “best” bad choice you have you’re not likely going to create a better outcome. Brian is drug runner who is confident and comfortable in what he does. He may not be making the best choices but he’s not necessarily a horribly bad person. My character, Sheriff Anna Kimble meets him at a turning point in his life. As his choices narrow and his life unravels, I’m sort of dogging him, following the unraveling threads. My character is really drawn to and driven by the truth. She’s a lot of things that people don’t commonly associate with small-town cops, especially in film – she’s driven, observant, and loves to solve puzzles. She sees this whole situation as a puzzle to solve and she’s dedicated to figuring it out.
Griffin Cork – I sure can! So, Broken is a thriller that follows a young drug dealer, on a delivery that becomes that catalyst for life-shattering trouble. I got a lot of “one last job” vibes from the beginning when I first read the script. In a panic, he turns to his mentor, Bear, and together they come up with the perfect (or maybe imperfect) scheme of betrayal and murder.
PopHorror – How did you guys get involved with Broken?
Laura Buckles – This movie has been a long time in the making. Patrick first started thinking about this story something like 20 years ago, an idea sparked by people-watching at a night club I think. A couple of years later he started talking to me about the story, he’d even written a version of the story in script form. I was aware of the project, and we even shot a different version of it at one point. But I’d say 7 years ago or so, Patrick decided he wanted to give the story another chance and came to me and Keith to rewrite and flesh it out. That’s how I started in on this iteration.
As far as acting in it, I had no idea or expectation while I was writing it and even into early pre-production. Patrick came to me as the director a few months before filming and basically told me I was playing the Sheriff. In fact, we’d written older and male. In some ways, I think that my having written it without my playing her in mind was a real gift. It allowed me to really separate the writing part and the acting part in my mind and come at the character without prior expectation. I was able to just do the character work the way I’d approach any other part.
Griffin Cork – Kind of in a roundabout way! Patrick, our director, was originally planning to shoot a different film in Edmonton (actually, I think it was a horror) that I had submitted for. But then they had to move locations, but Patrick and Laura had kept my portfolio. So, a few months later I received an e-mail from him inquiring about the possibility of working together! He sent me the script, we met up for a coffee to chat and see if we liked each other, I agreed to shave my head, and the rest is history!
PopHorror – You both were amazing! Can you tell us more about your characters?
Laura Buckles – As I said before, she’s really driven by finding the truth in situations, a puzzle solver. At one point she had aspirations of being in the FBI and even went to Quantico before returning back to her small town when her Dad’s health began to fail. In some ways, she, just like Brian, had to make the best out of only bad choices, but for her things worked out. She’s relatively happy and she’s doing what she loves to do.
Griffin Cork – Ooooh boy. You know what’s funny? I think it would be really easy to look at Brian, especially end-of-movie Brian, and think you know exactly who is. His values, his ideals, the way he looks at the world – you’d think you had that all pinned. Reading the script, you can see how a lot of people would dismiss him as an “anti-hero” archetype. But my favourite thing about the film (and really, about Brian), is that you get to see what made Brian who he is and what got him to that place in life.
You are literally along for the ride. Obviously, he had a rough upbringing and hasn’t made all of the smartest choices, but I think it will be really hard for an audience to not empathize with the character. There were a lot of moments on set and reading the script for the cast and crew had some fascinating conversations that sparked with “…but like, how would YOU handle this?” – It’s not as black and white as you might assume it is for Brian.
PopHorror – Could you relate to them at all?
Laura Buckles – For sure. The way I approach characters is to really find and hone in on the similarities between us. To find and build on the places I relate to them and can understand where they’re coming from. After that, you start to knit those similarities together and start playing the if this then that game until you’ve created a world and character you believe in.
Griffin Cork – I won’t get too much into my “acting theory” here, but I think you need to find SOMETHING to relate to your character with if you’re going to have any hope of portraying them. It doesn’t even have to be huge! Their favourite color, the way they tie their shoes, their taste in brunch. Truly anything, because I think it’s those small things that open people up for me in real life. And in Brian’s case, I think we’ve all been in a situation where it was on us to make a decision and both outcomes were extremely bad. Probably not to the same degree as Brian, but if you look at it proportionally, I bet the feeling was the exact same. You don’t have an out, you’ve put yourself in this scenario, and now you need to figure out the best way to navigate it. I think anybody can relate to that.
PopHorror – Definitely so! Any favorite scenes?
Laura Buckles – I think one of my favorite scenes is the scene in Sheriff Kimble’s office, where she and her Deputy are discussing one of the other characters. It’s a quiet little scene where I think you can see her humanity and how much she cares. It’s a place where you can understand why she’s driven to solve crimes.
Griffin Cork – Well, I don’t want to give too much away, but there is a scene where one of the characters bursts into the room EXTREMELY injured and the other people in the room start processing 300 emotions at once. It’s pure chaos, and those are my favourite scenes in the world to film. The actors almost learn a dance with the DOP and the sound team. David Puff was our cinematographer, and every time I see that scene, I am flabbergasted by the work that he did. Sraj, Karina, and I were really into it, and Puff practically did ballet to work around us. I think hectic scenes like that reveal pretty explicitly whether or not your cast and crew had synergy, and ours certainly did.
PopHorror – That’s awesome! Any upcoming projects?
Laura Buckles – I’ve been really lucky to have been working fairly regularly since filming Broken. Isolation Inn, a web series I am series regular in is out and available on YouTube. 8 Found Dead, a really fun psychological horror film I shot this summer is in post-production and at Opine, moving into pre-production for a film called Finders Fee.
Griffin Cork – A few! Numera Films, which is one of the film companies I produce with here in Alberta, just wrapped up the second season of our flagship series Abracadaversin the summer. We were green-lit by the Canadian Media Fund, and we’re deep in post now. I also just wrapped on two feature films: Father of Nations (which is a post-apocalyptic genre film) and Dark Woods (another horror/thriller)! You can find out more about Abracadavers at https://www.abracadavers.tv/, and you can see some Father of Nations stuff on the production company’s website here: https://thousandyearfilms.com/fatherofnations. You can also check out everything I’m doing at https://www.griffincork.com/ or @GriffinCork on all platforms. Thanks for having me!
PopHorror – I appreciate you both taking the time to chat with me! I look forward to all your upcoming projects and wish you the best of luck! ***Broken is now available on VOD!
