PopHorror Let's Get Scared
Can you imagine living your life one day, all pregnant and happy, and the next thing you know, you’re waking up from a year-long coma? Your daughter is already almost a year old and life has continued to go on without you? I can’t imagine it, and I really don’t want to. But in Jamie Patterson’s new film, The Kindred, this is what life is like for Helen, the young woman at the center of the movie. To celebrate the release of the film on January 7, 2022, I chatted with star Blake Harrison and we discussed his role as Greg, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, and horror movies.
PopHorror: Thank you for taking the time to speak with us, Blake! I watched The Kindred this morning and loved it, so I’m really excited to speak with you.
Blake Harrison: Oh, brilliant! Thank you very much.
PopHorror: What intrigued you about the film and made you want to be a part of it?
Blake Harrison: I suppose—this is maybe the wrong forum to say it—but I don’t watch many horror films. Mainly because I’m very easily scared, and unlike probably yourself and a lot of your readers, I don’t like being scared. I like being quite chill and comfortable in my own little world. The thing that really intrigued me about it, particularly, was the relationship between Helen and Heidi, the mother and daughter and this crazy concept of being pregnant and having an accident that leads you into a coma. And then waking up a year later and your child is just there. You’ve got no real tangible connection to it. You’ve never met this child. They were in you, but you’ve never met this child before, and then to try to build a relationship with this child… I found that fascinating. I just thought that was such an interesting concept. A mother waking up and her child who she’s never met is now like a year old, and she’s then having to be a mom. I thought that was fascinating.
PopHorror: I find that fascinating as well. One part I liked about this movie was, “How long have I been in this?” “Oh, about a year. And surprise! Here’s our baby.”
Blake Harrison: Yeah, it’s crazy!
PopHorror: After reading the script, was there anything that you were adamant about bringing to your character?
Blake Harrison: I think it was sort of in the script, but one thing that I really wanted to try and get was that Greg needed to show that kind of human flaw in terms of… I think it would have been very easy to paint Greg as this sort of lovable hero character. And I think that there’s a lot of lovable elements to Greg—don’t get me wrong—but I think that for him, it was very important that he shows a sort of selfish side. Once Helen comes out of her coma, he’s not gets the love of his life back, he’s also got a bit of relief in terms of childcare and all of that. When you think of it from Greg’s point of view, he has had his partner go into a coma, and that partner has then given birth. He’s then with this child for the best part of a year and financially their world is crumbling down around them. Now that Helen is out of the coma, and she’s able to split the parental responsibilities with Greg, he now sees his opportunity. I think he’d probably say at face value that it’s financial. We need the money. I need to go to work, and we need the money. But I think deep down, a lot of parents can understand that, “I do need a little bit of a break.” He’s selfishly, I think, putting a lot of pressure on Helen, despite everything she’s been through. I think he’s actually selfishly putting pressure on her to take on a mom role incredibly quickly, as if it’s a click of the fingers, and you’re a mom. Not taking into account the psychological problems that she must be going through in order to connect with this child that she’s never met, albeit it is her child. I thought that was really important to try to get that across and make him a little bit more flawed and not just some sort of lovable character.
PopHorror: I really liked Greg. He not only had to deal with having his wife in a coma for so long and then taking care of their child by himself, he had to sell his family home. He had to deal with all the financial burden and the aftermath of Helen’s accident and being in a coma. He has his limits, too. I think I would do the same thing. “Oh, you’re back! Here you go!” I like that, and I really liked Greg. I didn’t think there was anything wrong with him being ready to move on. He had really reached his limits.
Blake Harrison: Yeah, I think that was very real. I think as much as I wanted to show that flaw, I don’t think it’s his overbearing feature or anything like that, and I don’t think it necessarily puts you off of him. I think what it does is it just showcases a more true to life relationship and character in terms of like everyone’s got their breaking points, and everyone is as great a parent as they can be. There are moments where it’s hard. It’s exhausting. It’s tough, and to have gone through what he went through… Unfortunately, I think it’s quite naturalistic for him to maybe expect too much of Helen.
PopHorror: You said that you are not really a horror fan, but do you feel that you have a more appreciation for them after making this film?
Blake Harrison: I always appreciate every genre if it’s done well. It’s not that I’m not a horror fan because I don’t think horror films are good. I’m not a horror fan because they’re too good for me. I will get scared. They do their job too well. I have no problem with horror as a genre, at all. I think it’s really commendable.
I’m actually distracted by something you’ve got over your right shoulder. That’s not Hush from Buffy or anything, is it? Those weird men?
PopHorror: It is!
Blake Harrison: Is it?! I’m so glad I caught that. That’s my limit! See, that’s it. Buffy is probably still one of my favorite TV shows ever, and that has elements of horror to it.
PopHorror: That’s awesome!
Blake Harrison: I love genres like… vampires, werewolves. I like my sci-fi. I like all that stuff. I just don’t like the surprise. The violin music is kicking in and you know it’s coming and then all of a sudden! Oh, it was just the cat. Oh no, wait, it was the murderer! Stuff like that, that kind of anxious feeling in the pit of my stomach that makes me jump. Where a lot of people love that, I hate it. I just hate that feeling. It has nothing to do with horror. I can watch the horror genre in terms of all the other bits, and I would probably be really interested in it and fascinated by it, particularly if it has a kind of mythological or otherworldly feel to it. I love that stuff. But as soon as it starts purposefully trying to scare me and surprise me, I can’t deal with it.
PopHorror: I’m so glad you love Buffy! I’m a huge fan, too.
Blake Harrison: Oh, yeah. Me too. It’s my favorite show.
PopHorror: Just one last question for you. What is your favorite scary movie? You said they do scare you, so what’s the one that you enjoy watching?
Blake Harrison: Oh, God. I don’t find it overly scary… You’ve put me on the spot. Me and my wife both, because we know we’ll have nightmares, we generally steer clear of that genre because we know we’re just rubbish and big wimps and will have nightmares. But I do love my genre films with vampires, werewolves… I do love all of that. I think Interview with the Vampire is probably… Again, I don’t find it scary, and true horror fans probably go, “That’s not scary!” But I don’t have a huge amount to draw from when it comes to actually scary films. But Interview with the Vampire is just a brilliant movie. A really, really great film. And then I think the closest I’ve gotten to anything even remotely scary that me and my wife watched was A Quiet Place. But that’s like our limit. If it gets scarier than that, we can’t cope.
Thank you so much, Blake, for taking the time to speak with us. Be sure to catch The Kindred, out now!
