PopHorror Let's Get Scared
I love a horror movie set in near to total isolation like a giant house in the middle of nowhere. One location that is its own character in the film that sets the atmosphere and reminds you there’s no escape. Now, imagine being there with your family, but they don’t have your back. They think you’re weird, and man, are they super selfish. This is what we get with Neon Lights, the new film from Rouzbeh Heydari. To celebrate the release of the film, I met with star Kim Coates (See For Me 2021 – our review) via Zoom, and we chatted about what he wanted to bring to his character, Denver, working with his daughter, Brenna, what’s up next, and more!
PopHorror: I really liked Neon Lights, and I’m a huge fan of yours, so I’m really excited to speak with you today.
Kim Coates: Thanks!
PopHorror: What intrigued you about the film and made you want to be a part of it?
Kim Coates: Absolutely nothing! I’m just kidding. Look, Covid just started. It was 2020. No one knew what the world was going to be. We still don’t. It’s still a crazy place out there. And all of a sudden, it’s August, September of 2020, and in Canada where I was hanging out, I kept getting these scripts, because in Canada, we had our shit together way earlier than America did. So, we started doing things the right way before the vaccinations and stuff.
This film came on my desk, and my manager goes, “And there’s a part for Brenna!” – my beautiful daughter – “If Brenna wants to play Laila, the psychiatrist.”
So I read it while knowing that, and I had to read it three times, Tiffany. Three times. I didn’t get it. I didn’t know what the fuck was going on. I’m going, “Wait a minute. Hang on a sec. What’s happening here?” It’s such a psychological thriller/horror/tragic/mental health movie, and it had a lot of themes. And so when I said, “Yes,” after discussing it with Dana [Abraham, star and writer] and Rouzbeh Heydari, the director, it became crystal clear that I was meant to play this guy, and I’m really glad I said, “Yes.” I co-produced it as well, so to be involved with the editing, the discussions, talking points, and the music, to help out with that—the little bit that I was—was really important for me.
PopHorror: That’s so awesome. I’m glad that you brought up Brenna, because I saw that she was your daughter and also in it. What was it like filming with her?
Kim Coates: It was terrific. I mean, we didn’t really have real scenes together, even though we have a couple times where we’re on screen together, which is kind of cool. I had done a play with her, Jerusalem, that big epic Jez Butterworth play in 2018. I had done that with Brenna. I’ve pretty much seen everything she’s done her whole life. She was born an actor, and I just stumbled into it. For Brenna and I, for her career to start taking off the way it is now in film and television, and for her to do this movie with me, is such an integral part for her. She’s really the kind of angel of the piece, in a way. I’m the devil of the piece, in a way. The premiere last weekend was pretty amazing, darlin’. I mean, there were 700 people there, 350 people with two screenings completely sold out, and the people were just talking. “What does it mean?” “What’s going on?” “Who did what?” “What happened in that moment?” “Wait a minute. You did what?” “Are you… ?” So this movie, which is so weird, wacky, dark, and beautiful, is a real talking piece after the movie is over because it deals with mental health.
PopHorror: That’s so cool. I’m glad you guys got to do this together.
Kim Coates: Me too.
PopHorror: After reading the script, was there anything that you were adamant about bringing to your character?
Kim Coates: Yeah, yeah there was. The first script was much darker. Only one note. Much more fierce, and I said to Dana and Rouzbeh, “That’s not going to work. We need to have way more colors for Denver. He needs to be manipulative, suave, sexy, calm, and caring. Because if he’s not all those things, then the things that he becomes when you find out about him, and his past, and his way that he was with his foster kids… none of it will mean anything if he doesn’t have many more colors.” So we brought a lot of that in, and I think it really, really worked. And that dinner jacket was perfect with a bow tie. Our costume designer did such a great job with that and really made me feel like I was Denver. I’m just really proud of this movie.
PopHorror: You have an impressive list of credits. You have worked over all of the genres, and you have some horror sprinkled in there. You’ve been a guest at several horror conventions. We actually met at Horrorhound Weekend.
Kim Coates: Good for us!
PopHorror: You were one of the first people at my very first convention, actually.
Kim Coates: Yay!
PopHorror: What is it that draws you to the horror genre?
Kim Coates: You know what, darlin’? I don’t really look for horror. I might look for comedy, to tell you the truth, because I just love comedy so much. And people just think, “Oh, Kim Coates. He’s that bad guy. He plays such good bad guys. Look at his eyes. Oh, yeah. Tough.” Comedy I would do all day long. But horror? I don’t look for it. It kind of looks for me, and I have no problem saying no. I’ve said no my whole life and it’s really worked out for me. Whenever something like this comes to my desk that’s so beautifully thriller-ed out with some horror in it, and I love the music, and I love what it has to say about mental health… This one was different for me. So no, I don’t go looking for horror. I don’t go looking for anything. I wait for stuff to come to me, and when it comes to me and really shakes my roots and the apples start to fall from the tree, I’ll say yes all day long.
PopHorror: Would you consider yourself a horror fan?
Kim Coates: I’m a horror fan, but I’m not a big horror guy. I’m just so old now. I’m just so exhausted.
PopHorror: What is up next for you?
Kim Coates: I’ve got two big things coming out, Tiff. Well, I’ve got more than that. One is White House Plumbers. It’s an HBO miniseries that I shot about Richard Nixon. We shot it for five and half months last year in New York and Washington. 1972 called White House Plumbers. That was their code name for breaking in. I play Frank Sturgis, a real guy. Woody Harrelson, Justin Theroux, Lena Heady… huge cast. I’m not sure when it’s coming out.
Then I did this movie that I’m also really excited about called Southern Gothic. Tom Schulman wrote and directed it. Schulman won an Oscar for Dead Poets Society. He wrote that and won an Oscar for Best Writer. He wrote this thing during the pandemic, at the beginning of it, because it was a story he was dying to tell. Heavy racism, 1997 in the south. Me and Lili Simmons. I love her to death. She and I star in it, and that’s done now. We’re trying to get it out to all the festivals now. But look out for that. I’m really excited about it.
PopHorror: Absolutely! That’s exciting! I have just one last question for you today. What is your favorite scary movie?
Kim Coates: I don’t know if I have a favorite scary movie, but I have a very favorite scary moment. I can tell you a moment.
PopHorror: Okay!
Kim Coates: I was about four years old in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan. It’s 1962, and my dad had one little TV. And there was always this one night called The Horror Night with the Phantom of the Opera, and Dracula, and the Werewolf, and all that, Hunchback of Notre Dame. I was the oldest. I had two little brothers, and my dad would say, “Come on, let’s watch this.” And we’d sit down and about 20 seconds in he’d [spooky laugh]. And I’d go, “Dad, you’re scaring the shit out of me! What are you doing Dad? Calm down!” My old man, he had a lot of fun making fun of scaring the crap out of his eldest on those Sunday nights in Saskatoon. Horror might hold a special part in my heart. I just don’t know what part.
PopHorror: I love that so much! It’s always the parents that get you into it.
Kim Coates: It’s always the parents, Tiff!
Thank you so much, Kim, for taking the time to speak with us. You can watch Neon Lights now, on digital and On Demand now!
