Interview With Simone Kessell, Star Of ‘Hard Home’

I love revenge movies, especially ones with a strong female protagonist that I can root for and live vicariously through. Oh, come on. You know and I know that we all have a secret revenge fantasy that we would freely live out if only it were legal. Or is that just me?

Anyway, Hard Home, written by Mark Shea Price (his first feature!) and directed by James Bamford (Arrow TV series), is a hard-hitting revenge thriller starring Simone Kessell (Yellowjackets) about a grieving mother who takes the punishment of her daughter’s killer into her own hands. And it’s pretty badass.

A mother who is deeply saddened lures her daughter’s killer into her smart home in order to take revenge, and gets involved in a distorted game where life and death are at stake.

To celebrate the release of the film, I chatted with star Simone via Zoom about training for her role, tapping into her emotions, horror movies, and more!

PopHorror: I had a lot of fun with Hard Home and I’m super excited to speak with you today.

Simone Kessell: Thank you for having me! Nice to meet you.

PopHorror: You too! What intrigued you about the script and made you want to be a part of the script?

Simone Kessell: I got to play Mary, who is a woman who goes to no ends to avenge, to take out the ultimate revenge on the man who killed her daughter so there’s a little fantasy in that of taking the law into your hands rather than just playing the grieving, broken mother. She takes it and runs with it, and you have something that I guess is just pure entertainment.

PopHorror: I love revenge movies because it allows us to live out, like you said, a fantasy of things that we wouldn’t normally do, I would hope.

Simone Kessell: Yes! I do not support what Mary does, however I do know a few friends and people who have been rooting for her and say, “Get him Mary!” I think there’s a little bit of humor in that as well.

PopHorror: Yes, absolutely. The role of Mary is very physical and active. How did you prepare for shooting?

Simone Kessell: Oh, I fell apart. I’m far too old to think I’m some action hero. I worked my ass off. I trained twice a day. I love it though. Then the endorphins would kick in. She had to be convincing. I can’t stand watching films with unfortunate… Women, if they’re only cast for the role, who can’t run or it’s just not their jam. It’s my jam and I love it, so I was really hard on myself. I was very strict on myself to get into really good shape but also so I could last the filming schedule because Mary’s pretty much in every scene. I really wanted to not hurt myself. I wanted to be believable and I wanted to be really fit. I think I ticked all those boxes.

PopHorror: I think you did too because I’m not going to lie, watching it I was like, damn. Look at her arms! I was impressed.

Simone Kessell: Oh, yeah. No, I have guns. I do have guns, that is very true. I have no bum, but I have arms. You have to believe that she can lift this man. You have to believe that she’s done jiu jitsu, or she can actually defend herself. That she can run like that. There were days when I was so fatigued. The woman who was my double – my stunt double – she was wonderful. There was lots of rock climbing. She had to climb down a wall and then climb back up, and I was like, “You know what? You do that. It’s not on the face? You can do that one.” And she just went up like a spider and down. There are other things where she gets flipped in the air. I’d do it a few times so we could get it and for the wider shots and stuff, I’d be like, “Off you go.” I have to say hand on heart, I did most of that stuff and I was broken by the end. I was so sore.

PopHorror: That is impressive and pretty badass. This film deals heavily with grief. What did you tap into to draw out such emotion?

Simone Kessell: I have some little personal wells, holes in my heart that I think perhaps I could go to therapy instead of using it for my craft, but I think I’m able to tap into some things in my life and I would go there mentally, and physically, and emotionally when I need to. Maybe it’s not a healthy process, I don’t know, but I definitely know how to tap it. For this role in particular, I went there. And sometimes it feels good and sometimes it feels awful. Sometimes I need to just walk off set. There’s one day where I was like, I can’t be around anybody, I’m feeling sick in my heart. I sort of draw on personal experiences and go there.

PopHorror: I think that using it for your craft is a form of therapy because it’s letting you be physical and letting you scream it out and beat up a man and do all of that stuff. And who’s to say what’s healthy and what’s not? It’s whatever works for you and getting that out and making you feel better.

Simone Kessell: Yeah, and I get it out and I go there. Some days I would feel cathartic. I’d feel like I’d just done a lot of therapy. I definitely tap into raw emotion, and I think as I get older too, I feel that the truth in our life experience as an actor, you have to… Like people who have more than just acting in their lives bring more to a role. In my 20s I didn’t quite understand that like I understand it now and so I keep things along the way. I cherry pick things and then bring them out when I need to. My toolbox, so to speak.

PopHorror: Was there anything that you were adamant about bringing to your character?

Simone Kessell: No, I think I was just adamant that I was truthful in the physical stuff. Why take on a role like that if you’re just going to sit in the green room and let your double do it? Like really go for it, and I would go for it. There were a couple of times where I got hurt badly. It’s quite shocking. Like if you fall over suddenly, it’s shocking. You go into a bit of shock. A couple of times I got hurt quite badly on it, and I was like, what the fuck am I doing? Why am I going to this extent? Why am I going there? I think it was to prove to myself ultimately that I could do it. One time they flipped me and I landed… The stunt guy playing the other role, he closed his fist instead of flattening his hand and my spine landed on his closed fist.

PopHorror: Ow!

Simone Kessell: Yeah, and that was like next level pain. I was in a ball on the floor going, “Um, I think we need my double for the next bit.” And then I sort of hobbled off and had a little quiet cry. But for the most part, it was just getting it right. And the director, I don’t know if I ever impressed him because he’s a tough cookie but he was impressed that I would be like, “I want to do it! I’ll do it! My turn!” Things like that. It was a fun shoot. It was four weeks in Bulgaria. I’d never been to Bulgaria. I could then tuttle off to Italy in between. It was a real adventure.

PopHorror: That house was incredible and the aerial shots…

Simone Kessell: Everyone talks about the house! They’re like, “So the other lead role is the house!” That’s so funny because the exterior was just one day we shot this crazy ass house and then the interior was all set built.

PopHorror: Oh, wow!

Simone Kessell: Yeah, it was all studio and it’s so realistic. It was in these crazy old studios in Bulgaria, in Sofia where we filmed. It was so impressive. It was a great set, actually. Really amazing.

PopHorror: I have just one last question for you today. What is your favorite scary movie?

Simone Kessell: Okay, my answer is I don’t watch scary movies.

PopHorror: Oh, that breaks my heart, Simone!

Simone Kessell: I know! I know it does. I can’t watch scary movies, not because I’m scared, don’t get me wrong. I’m not scared. I find my skin is too thin to carry it sometimes and I think that right now there’s enough craziness in the world that I don’t need to sit at home and watch it. But I absolutely understand the genre, and I have absolute respect for people who watch it and create it, hence myself doing this film. I think that’s why I wanted to do the film as well, because I wanted to have that as part of my menagerie of roles. I don’t have a scary film. What’s your favorite scary film?

PopHorror: The Texas Chain Saw Massacre. It’s funny you say that about horror because I would say that Yellowjackets is horror too.

Simone Kessell: Who says I watch it?

PopHorror: That’s funny that you would make them but not watch them.

Simone Kessell: It is funny, you’re right. It’s a really good point and you’re absolutely right. The thing with Yellowjackets though, to me it’s more dramedy, especially Lottie. Lottie lives in this world, her own world she lives in crazy land, so she’s not out there chomping on fingers. I also think Yellowjackets is such a mixed bag as well. You do have absolute those horror moments but then you also have the crazy, everyone’s kind of psychosis. That’s a good question. Now I have to think about that more. I also don’t believe maybe too, because I’m always on a film set. You’re like, eh, that’s just an actor with a little thing pumping blood out their eyeball. 

PopHorror: Ruins it a little bit, I’ve heard that before. 

Simone Kessell: So, you like Yellowjackets, do you?

PopHorror: I do! Eagerly awaiting the new season.

Simone Kessell: We’re filming it currently. Right now, I’m in New York but I’ve been between Montreal and Vancouver working on two different shows so I’m going back and forth to do Yellowjackets. It’s a ride, you’ll enjoy it. It’s great.

Thank you so much to Simone for taking the time to speak with us. Hard Home is now available on Digital!