Interview with Actor Sam Keeley, Star of ‘The Cured’

Sam Keeley is a wonderful actor that always delivers a stand out performance. I recently watched his new film The Cured (read my review- here) and it was great and unique look at the zombie genre. It is in theaters and available On Demand now.

Check out my interview with Sam, where he talks about how he got involved in the industry, projects he’s worked on, what it was like to work with Ellen Page and more.

Sam Keeley

PopHorror – Hi, thanks for talking with PopHorror. From what I understand, you haven’t been acting for a long time, but have already had quite the career. How did you get involved in the industry?

Sam Keeley – I started about seven or eight years ago and I basically was a singer-songwriter. I was in my final year of high school, and I failed all of my exams, I, in essence, failed school as well. I was in the middle of making a 10-song demo for an album I wanted to make. And my school guidance counselor got wind of the fact that I was going to drop out, and she got in touch with me and brought me in and she sat me down and went through different courses that I could possibly do, you know, to get into college, you know, to have something to fall back on. I didn’t want to do anything and eventually she said, you know with a drama degree you could possibly do a film, you could become a critic. So I went for it because I always loved film and loved various types of actors and stuff. So I had to audition to get in, and I got in and I was bitten by the [acting] bug and I was there for about eight months and I read everything I could and watched everything I could. And I went to an open audition in my hometown for a feature film and I booked the lead in the feature and dropped out of school, got signed with an agent and that was it. And kept going from there.

PopHorror – That’s awesome. What was it called?

Sam Keeley – It was called The Other Side of Sleep, an Irish feature film.”

PopHorror – One of the films you’re known for is in the Heart of the Sea. That film is amazing and has such a great cast and crew. What was that experience like for you?

Sam Keeley – It was amazing. It was very, very cool. It was a great experience, it was a six-month shoot and we had to go through very severe weight loss and because it’s, obviously a true story of Moby Dick and basically start out as on a whaling mission and get lost at sea. They basically starve and they result to cannibalism. So it was a great experience, I made some really good friends on that job and we all stayed close. But it was intense to you know, diet and work on a film of that size, but it was also amazing to work with Ron Howard and work with Warner Brothers and work with everybody involved and Chris Hemsworth and it was such an amazing cast, it was incredible experience I’ll never forget it, never forget it.

PopHorror – That’s great to hear. Your character is what is known as “Cured.” Can you tell the readers what this means and more information about your role?

Sam Keeley – So basically our movie is set in a world whereby the story that we know already that there has been an infectious virus that has taken over the planet and turns people into rage-like creatures that feed on other people. And our world is set basically trying to get a cure for that particular disease, infection. And it brings people back to who they were before they were sick. But the problem is, they only remember everything they’ve done while they were sick. And so they’re faced with other posturized stress, really severe nightmares and so it’s an interesting take on that genre because it gives a sense of humanity and brings humanity back to the craziness of eating somebody’s flesh. So I play a character called Senan who is drawn to the audiences’ eyes through this whole story and he was infected for four years and he gets cured and he goes through a rehab program and he eventually gets back into greater society. He slowly takes place in his first weeks out of the institution and into the world.

PopHorror – Could you relate to your character at all? And by this I mean, he is struggling with big changes after a horrendous event. Trying to adjust. Have you ever gone through something that made a huge impact in your life?

Sam Keeley – In terms of relating to him as a character, I had to stretch a little bit because he’s done such horrible things and I think it’s important that the audience feels for him, but I think it’s also important to voice that he’s done horrible things and so in terms of that, I’ve never had to go through anything as severe as that. I mean I had a pretty bad break up after I was in a relationship for nine years. And the break up from that was pretty severe. And I think that like that’s a huge change in your life, you know what I mean? And in a sense, you know, you’re with somebody for nine years and that’s the world of its own. And then when you have to break away from that and do something else, you’re essentially coming out of one part of your life and into the next. I learned a lot about myself in that whole process. That’s probably a really corny answer, but it’s the first thing that comes to mind, in terms of really something changing in you that you thought you knew about yourself but you actually had no clue.

PopHorror – No, it’s perfect! Without giving any big spoilers away, which scene was your favorite part to shoot?

Sam Keeley – I really enjoyed the scenes with Ellen [Page]. Particularly the scenes where I had to basically learn to be human again and to bond with her. She takes me in, obviously, and I just really enjoyed the dialogue between myself and herself because as a piece for an actor it was very therapeutic and really enjoyable. Ellen is so committed and so talented and brilliant at what she does, it was just a pleasure to do this with her. So yeah, I think the close quarters dialogue scene with Ellen I think were my favorite to shoot.”

PopHorror – There are several WTF moments throughout the film. Did you know they were happening before shooting or were they a surprise to you?

Sam Keeley – Anything that was seen in the film, we knew was going to happen. David was very ruthless in his writing in terms of not being afraid to go where the audience really doesn’t want you to go. Yeah, we knew what we were doing. We were setting people up to be hurt. But maybe not, but maybe people won’t be hurt, it’s just a matter of opinion. We were fully aware of everything we were doing.

PopHorror – You’ve already talked about this a little, but what was it like to work with Ellen Page?

Sam Keeley – It was a dream, yeah, she’s great. I mean I knew her from her work and I was amazed when I got the call to say that she had joined the cast because we all knew we were looking for who was going to play Abby. I couldn’t believe it that she was going to do it. It was great. She’s everything that you think she is. She’s incredibly subtle and her eyes tell the entire story. She just needs to sit there in silence and it’s so lovely, effortless. She’s really there for you as an actor. You know, the scenes were quite intimate and a very delicate subject matter and she was completely there 100 percent with you. I’d really love to work with her again.

PopHorror – I’ve always been a big fan of her as well. I’m not sure if you know, but February is Women in Horror Month. Do you have any female inspirations/actresses/directors etc. that you look up to in this industry?

Sam Keeley – Yeah, I mean, Jesus. How long have you got? I think like it starts from the ground, doesn’t it? You know, my mother is such a huge influence. She’s such a strong woman. From there, my girlfriend is an actress and you know, having her in my life, I really have gotten to see what this industry is like for women and how difficult it is and the scrutiny of it and trying to hurry off and make choices from a woman’s point of view in a world that for so long, was ruled by men. Kathryn Bigelow is one of my favorite directors. Susanne Bier is another amazing director that I love and I would love to work with someday. I think women like that who are really making changes in filmmaking. They’re not making popcorn for people; they’re not making just whatever’s hot, they’re doing stuff that’s important to them and I think it gives people a real chance to view the world with less bullshit.

PopHorror – Beyond The Cured, do you have any other projects you’d like to talk about?

Sam Keeley – Yeah, I just finished a film in British Columbia, in Canada called Peace. It’s directed by a man called Robert Port who is an Oscar-winner for best documentary short. It’s myself and Alexander Ludwig and Franco Nero who is a Hollywood movie star who’s incredible. It’s about four American soldiers in World War II and they get lost in the Italian mountains in 1944. It’s basically a study of what happens to the psyche of people in war and then basically a glimpse at a day in war. I loved it, I loved every second shooting it. The writing is amazing. Rob is an incredible director and I think we made a really good film. We walked away after like a four-week, five-week shoot really intense, all outdoors. You know, having felt like we made a really special film. So I’m excited about that. That comes out later this year.