Interview With ‘ABIGAIL’ (2023) Stars Ava Cantrell and Tren Reed-Brown

Abigail Cole (Ava Cantrell, Lights Out 2016) and Lucas Wright (Tren Reed-Brown, Unsung 2016) are quite the dynamic duo in the 2023 horror flick Abigail, directed by Melissa Vitello and written by Gunnar Garrett.

While Lucas helps Abigail feel a sense of belonging and friendship after she relocates to Alabama, Abigail assists her new buddy in building his confidence and standing up to his bullies. However, there’s something a little off about the mysterious Abigail, and things turn bloodier than Lucas could’ve ever anticipated.

In a recent interview with PopHorror, Cantrell, and Reed-Brown discussed the unique bond between their characters, what separates Abigail from the pack of other thrillers, what it was like bringing the movie’s violent scenes to life, and much more.

PopHorror: Abigail came out about a month ago. How has everything been for you guys since people started watching it? I’m sure you’ve gotten some feedback on it.

Ava Cantrell: The feedback has been really cool. I know a lot of people have been saying that they really like Abigail and Lucas’ rapport. So that’s been really fun. Yeah, I’ve been loving it. What about you, Tren?

Tren Reed-Brown: I’ve been showing it to all my family and a lot of them, they’re like, “OK, I heard it came out, we’re gonna watch it,” and every single time, everybody’s loving it. Great reviews, people love it. And yeah, it was an exciting process. Everything was exciting.

Ava Cantrell: It’s a really fun movie. I think that it is scary, but it’s also just really fun to watch. So it’s nice to hear that, and when we were in the theater and it was the premiere, it got way more laughs than I thought just because, obviously some of it’s funny to me because it’s personal, but I was like, “Oh, my God, people are having fun.”

PopHorror: It’s definitely a thriller, but it’s a little campy and also kind of adorable, especially your friendship as it progresses…though it gets a little psychotic at the end.

Tren Reed-Brown: Oh my gosh, yeah, it’s true.

Ava Cantrell: Yeah, it gets a little crazy.

Tren Reed-Brown: Abigail’s scary.

PopHorror: I’d love to hear how both of you came to be involved in this project, and also what made you want to be involved in the film.

Ava Cantrell: For me, it was really exciting when we actually got to film it. I got attached to the project before the pandemic and then it picked back up after because everything was kind of on pause. It was a lot of waiting and hoping for it to happen. And when it did, it was just really exciting because it was just a very long wait in between getting attached to the project, getting booked for it, and then actually filming it.

Tren Reed-Brown: I actually got the audition through my acting coach. I got woken up my by auntie, who was my agent and manager at the time. It was like five in the morning. She was like, “Wake up!” I’m like, “What happened?!” She’s like, “You have an audition, get it now!” And I had to do a bathroom crying scene. That was the first thing that I had to do. So I put a little sink water on my eyes and I pretended to cry.

Ava Cantrell: It’s such a dramatic scene. I wasn’t there for that day when you filmed it, but I heard that your audition was amazing. But OH, that scene in the movie is so intense. It’s definitely one of those real emotional parts of the film. And what drew me to Abigail is that she’s kind of inhuman. And then Lucas is the human part of the film. He just kind of centers it a little bit, I think. And then Abigail is just taking it to really crazy places.

PopHorror: Lucas never saw her coming!

Tren Reed-Brown: No, no, he was worried about, you know, the western ’70s stuff, Alabama stuff. Not serial killer stuff. That was the last thing on his mind.

PopHorror: Ava, I know you’ve had some credits before, like The Haunted Hathaways and Lights Out. But Tren, was this your first big acting gig?

Tren Reed-Brown: Yes, very much so. I did a commercial and a reality show, but that was my first anything with lines. So that’s why I’m very grateful to have Ava in the cast because they helped me so much.

Ava Cantrell: A true natural at it.

Tren Reed-Brown: That’s because I had other naturals. See, when you’re around naturals, it’s like you can feel comfortable in it.

Ava Cantrell: But I felt grateful to have you as a scene partner. I think that we just really settled into our roles really well and had a good back-and-forth.

PopHorror: Ava, when I spoke with your dad last month (read our interview with Bryan Cantrell here) about executive producing on the film, he said that you “play crazy” very well, and I love that. What is it like getting into character with these kind of unhinged individuals?

Ava Cantrell: I think it’s a lot more fun for me than playing somebody who’s similar to me. I wanna play somebody who’s a challenge. That could be anybody, but it does usually end up being crazy people. I remember I was on set and one of the crew, he was like, “Yeah, I don’t even know if I could really see you playing sweet, innocent convincingly.” I was like, “Hopefully that doesn’t have to do with me.” That’s just what I am really drawn to as an actor. So maybe that’s why Abigail was hard because Abigail doesn’t really have empathy.

She definitely lacks a lot of things that normal people have. And that made it hard to understand her intention because her intention is kind of always a manipulation tactic. And obviously I’m not going around my life thinking about how I can manipulate every single person I talk to. Abigail is, so that made playing her not intuitive and a challenge. It was really fun. I definitely like playing crazy and I wanna keep playing crazy. Crazy is fun.

PopHorror: I can imagine! So both of your characters have complicated relationships with their respective mothers. Can you talk about what it was like bringing those relationships to life?

Tren Reed-Brown: The first time I met her [Karimah Westbrook, All American 2018] was the bathroom scene, so the first time we met she was going off on me and I was like, “Oh my gosh, it’s scary.” But after, she was like, “OK, good job,” and it was very normal. But Lucas and his mother, they are two hurt people. His dad left him and she satisfies by gratifying, she goes to other men. So the relationship between them is very much a kind of love-hate, but more hate than love. It’s just a lot of pain between them.

Ava Cantrell: They both have similar but different relationships with their parents, especially their moms. Abigail, she has a hate relationship with her mother and her mother has a love-hate relationship with her. Abigail doesn’t really see her as her mom. But obviously a mother with that kind of child is really struggling with how to handle it and feels really lost. I think that the parent and child relationship scenes were some of the most emotional and were high points for me filming. I really liked filming with Hermione [Lynch, Succession 2021]. She was really, really talented. There’s a high intensity to those and the emotions are very high and it’s very complicated.

PopHorror: Those were pretty emotional scenes to film, but now I’d love to talk about the more violent scenes. I love the one where Abigail beats up Lucas’ bullies. What was it like bringing those moments to life?

Ava Cantrell: Those are so fun, and Tren and I had a lot of fun doing the stunt training. You did some cool stuff, I did some cool stuff. It was fun to learn how to do it. It was all choreographed, and yeah, that scene was really fun. There was just such an intensity to it and I hadn’t done a lot of stunt training like that before. So I think the rehearsals of that and then putting it into action and doing it, having a physical challenge, it was really fun, and Abigail was in her element, for sure.

Tren Reed-Brown: I got beat up most of the time, but I will say, it was fun watching Abigail beat people up because then I got my revenge. I had this really violent scene where I was punching bread, right? I think that was my favorite action stunt that I did, was when I punched left hook, the right hook and yap yapped the bread. I think that was my favorite violent one, in my opinion.

Ava Cantrell: Loved that, that was such a good moment.

Tren Reed-Brown: Yeah, I tore that bread up!

PopHorror: Tren, how cool was it for you to see your character come out of his shell? He’s really a different person by the end of this.

Tren Reed-Brown: I’m against murder and violence, but I was really proud of Lucas. Life is about standing up. Well, Abigail made him stand a little bit too up, but he’s standing up to the people that are bullies. The movie makes a good point to stand up to the bullies. Now, you know, don’t kill them, but stand your ground where you are. And I think the change in Lucas, not only was he mean to Abigail, but he became softer. He started messing with her. And he also stood up to his mom, little things like that, just seeing him get confidence.

Ava Cantrell: He got a lot! It went really far, didn’t it?

Tren Reed-Brown: Yeah, Lucas didn’t stop having confidence after a while.

Ava Cantrell: People are really rooting for Abigail and Lucas, and not the bullies. It was almost funny to me because I was like, “Wait, they’re kind of the bad guys.” But you get so sucked into Abigail and Lucas’ world where you’re rooting for them, even when they start doing horrible things because you really feel for Lucas and somehow you feel for Abigail too, and you’re rooting for them.

Tren Reed-Brown: That’s what makes you a great actress because I was rooting for Abigail. I was actually like, “Yeah, Abigail, you got this, come on!”

PopHorror: They are likable, and it’s not like they’re going after random strangers. It sounds horrible, but everyone who gets it kind of deserves it a little bit.

Ava Cantrell: Yeah, agreed.

PopHorror: This movie takes place in the ’70s. What was it like traveling back, wearing the clothes and just being in that era?

Ava Cantrell: The first time that we met in person was when we were shopping with the wardrobe. We were in LA and going to all the cool vintage stores, trying on authentic ’70s clothes, which is what our characters were mostly in. All of it was authentic, the majority of it was all from the ’70s. And I love how it was color-coded too. Abigail wears a lot of red and Lucas wears a lot of blue and purples, and then he does kind of start wearing some red as Abigail corrupts him. But yeah, it was really fun wearing those clothes.

Tren Reed-Brown: Lucas is a little bit less financially stable. He’s poor. We were at the shop and I just remember they were like, “OK, so you’re gonna have to try on smaller clothes.” And I’m already a skinny mini, and these are ’70s small clothes, so if they’re a small, they’re small. I just remember hearing *makes ripping noise* and I’m like, “Oh no, this isn’t good.” But going back in time, it was very cool to see all the cars. Everybody wears specific ’70s clothes and I tried a ’70s country accent.

Ava Cantrell: I love a good stylized movie, like when you do a period piece and you go back to just any era and you commit to it. I definitely appreciate the wardrobe, definitely appreciate all the props, all the set design. It’s very immersive as an actor and it’s immersive as a viewer. So I really like that aspect of Abigail.

PopHorror: Ava, what is it like having your dad on set as an executive producer?

Ava Cantrell: It was really fun. He did a great job as a producer. He’s very good at the business side of it, and he was doing that and I was doing the acting side of it. When I was a kid, he would always support me and help me on set, and help me with my lines and guide me, and he did that for so long that by the time I was filming Abigail, we were doing our work pretty separately.

It was definitely a different experience being an adult actor too, but also getting to have my core support system, my dad there just as the emotional support. We were both so busy doing our own jobs, but just having him there was really cool and also, I kind of got to understand the business side of it a little bit more, the producing side of it, and that made that a really cool experience.

Tren Reed-Brown: A little Easter egg for all the viewers, he’s in the movie, so find him. He’s in it with some ’70s facial hair.

Ava Cantrell: And another behind-the-scenes Easter egg, my dad did a lot of the beard shaping because we were in the wilderness and there wasn’t a mirror.

PopHorror: The movie ends kind of open-ended, leaving room for more storyline. Could you see yourselves revisiting these characters? And if so, what would you look for in a sequel?

Ava Cantrell: I mean, I say yes, absolutely. What about you?

Tren Reed-Brown: I would love it. I would like to see what happens after. I would also like to know the story between what happened before.

Ava Cantrell: I’d really like to explore what happens after with Abigail and Lucas because Abigail really kind of corrupted him and brought him to the dark side. And I want to see, do they both lean into that? Do they both just go full crazy? Or is it gonna be an Abigail versus Lucas type of thing? … Maybe just because I’m very in tune with Abigail and how she does have that very carelessness in her where she doesn’t care about people, I have a hard time relating to other viewers that are like, “Woohoo, Abigail!,” just because I’m like, “She’s so awful.” I get it, but I also do feel that way.

Lucas is the human aspect of it, so Lucas versus Abigail with him realizing like, “Oh, she’s a murderer, maybe I don’t want to do this,” I think that could be super interesting. They’re kind of having a power struggle the whole movie, so to continue with that would be cool.

Tren Reed-Brown: She’s stone cold, she don’t care. I don’t know if she’s a psychopath or sociopath, but whatever she is, once Lucas is not on her good side, I’m sure she’s gonna be like, “I don’t need you anymore.” But the question of, can he beat up Abigail? I don’t know. Tren can’t, I don’t know about Lucas, but Abigail’s scary. She’s got the moves and she hits you with a head butt and then you down.

PopHorror: Is there anything upcoming for you guys?

Ava Cantrell: With the strike, everything was on pause for a long time. I do have something that’s a zombie apocalypse movie that is around the corner. But it just felt like my concentration has been on Abigail, also the industry was kind of on pause. So it’s just now picking back up and getting some new auditions and stuff. My focus was very much on, how do we get through this strike?

Tren Reed-Brown: The writers’ strike definitely, it halted a lot of things. I’m glad that it happened, some things are for the best, so I’m not tripping. But it is what it is and now everything’s getting a good roll on. So it’s just back on the grind, it’s back on getting things done. I do have something… But Abigail is the opium Magnus right now. It’s the Mona Lisa of my life. So I’m 100 percent on Abigail. That’s my everything right now. That’s all I talk about right now. They’re like, “What did you eat today?” I’m like, “Did you see Abigail?”

PopHorror: Now I have to ask since we’re PopHorror.com and given the movie that you guys are in, are you fans of horror?

Tren Reed-Brown: Lights Out is my favorite scary movie of all time. That was the scariest thing I’ve ever seen in my life. I’m a horror buff, I watch every horror movie. Well, I stopped because now they stopped getting real gory, now they just hit you with jump scares and then you think you’re safe and they hit you with another one.

Ava Cantrell: Lights Out is super psychological. I think anybody could be a fan of horror, it just depends on, what kind do you like? Psychological, or kind of the realistic, paranormal. We were talking about campy horrors, which I would say Abigail fits in that category. I like a good campy horror, especially now. Thriller horrors, I really like thriller horrors. I feel like thriller, we can put that under the umbrella. I’m a little bit of a scaredy cat, so I’m a big fan of American Psycho or Gone Girl or Nightcrawler, those. Does that fit in the horror category? I don’t know, I just think that those have really good performances.

Tren Reed-Brown: Abigail for instance, even that, I think I might be a scaredy cat too because there was one scene, I ain’t saying, that actually got me good, I’m not gonna lie. I got GOT. But you mentioned American Psycho, that was a good one. I like those as well, especially the classics like Hannibal. I’ve even watched the new Evil Dead, I think that was nice as well. I can’t get into The Conjuring, no, I can’t. Some things are too real. I have nightmares and then I don’t wanna be scared of the dark. Lights Out made me scared of the dark, so thank you for that.

Ava Cantrell: You’re welcome. Yeah, those are those realistic horrors that you’re like, “Oh, too real.”

PopHorror: And apparently The Conjuring, there was creepy stuff happening on set to the actors.

Tren Reed-Brown: Same with The Exorcist. Everybody got got. It gets scary, scary.

PopHorror: Our time is almost up. Did you have any final words? Maybe for anyone who hasn’t seen Abigail yet, why should they watch it?

Ava Cantrell: It’s a really fun movie. It’s got something for everybody. I think it’s a great horror movie for younger people too that it’s maybe their first horror. Of course, good for all horror fans. It’s really fun. It’s a wild ride.

Tren Reed-Brown: It definitely brings something new to the table and I think it’s a refreshing thing. A lot of things, you see the same, the same, the same. So this is new. And I think if you wanna watch something new, if you want to be refreshed, if you want to have something to enjoy, if you wanna laugh because there’s funny things, it has everything that you need and everything that’s gonna fill you up and satisfy your movie buff needs.

Thanks for speaking with us, Ava and Tren! Abigail is available to rent or buy on digital platforms.

This interview has been edited for length and clarity. View the full interview on PopHorror’s YouTube channel!

Cover photo by Jeff Kettering.