We love a good old-fashioned monster movie and one of the most recent ones is showing at FrightFest, The Monster Beneath Us so we decided to have a chat with its leading actress, Becca Hirani.
NYX: Was there someone you saw or a movie you viewed which inspired you to become an actress?
BH: I’ve always wanted to act but it started with a love for being on the stage and performing in the theatre at first. As I got older, and as I experienced going to the cinema to see more live action movies, I would watch on and be mesmerised with the characters and the performances, thinking "WOW I want to do that so badly!” I wouldn’t say it was a specific performance or movie that made me feel inspired per say, as I would be inspired in some small way by every good movie I saw. And that’s the same, even today.
NYX: Have you always been a fan of horror movies?
BH: Yes. I was always the teenage girl at the sleepovers who would try to make her friends stay up all night and watch horror movies. There’s so much the genre offers for it’s audience that you just can’t replicate with any other movie genre - the thrills, the shocks, the psychological guessing games, the entertainment. It’s my go to genre to kick back and watch - I’ll always be a fan.
NYX: How did you become attached to The Monster Beneath Us?
BH: I was involved in the production side of “The Monster Beneath Us” as one of the producers. I thought of the concept a while before we started scripting after visiting my sisters new house and seeing that they had a cool basement below - well, my creative juices just started flowing! It developed into an idea to do a creature feature that centres around a monster in a basement who feeds off the emotions of the family above it to infiltrate it’s way into the home. I approached Sophie, the writer / director, with this idea, whom I already had a great working relationship with, and we developed it back and forth until it got to a treatment stage. Then she started writing and the rest is history!
NYX: What did you think of the script when you first read it?
BH: The script was great from it’s first draft and I knew we were onto something we both felt passionate about. Interestingly enough, the first couple of drafts were set in the modern day until I suggested we change it to a historic time period. I could just visualise it being set back then and thought this would heighten a lot of the narrative themes and tension to another level. It would also give us the opportunity to try something creatively interesting with a gothic setting. If you take away electricity for example and just have candle light, the whole atmosphere becomes way more intense and disturbing. Sophie was onboard with this and we moved ahead to what the script eventually came to be.
NYX: How did you prepare to play the role of Lady Grace Abbington?
BH: In recent years I’ve been inspired by the Chubbuck technique, which is a great method when preparing for a role and learning how to understand your characters objectives and obstacles over the course of the story, which I found very useful. I also had to work on the background biography of Grace which was super fun - where does she come from, what’s her social background history, how did she become Lady Abbington and what has happened between her and James? Another fun element was working on the physicality of Grace - she constantly tries to sit up straight, keep her head high, shoulders back to fit into the decorum of the time but this is just another heavy weight on her trying to fit into this world where she doesn’t feel comfortable. And of course the accent! I’m actually native Yorkshire where the story is set but I am one of the only actors to speak in an RP neutral accent throughout so that was interesting. Grace has a lot of layers which was an absolute gift to work with.
NYX: Most of your scenes are with Marshall Hawkes and your relationship is very believable, did you have much time to rehearse together?
BH: Thank you for saying so, I’m so glad it reads well! I met Marshall previously on another film project and knew he’d be great for this role. He’s a super talented young actor and very professional. He came to work everyday knowing his lines and having a really good grip on the emotional intensity of the scenes. We had some rehearsal time whilst in the hair and make up chairs together and in-between filming when we could, but a lot of it came down to a natural chemistry and comfort we had with one another during the scenes. Sophie (Director) and Lucy (First Assistant Director) were also wonderful at keeping everyone comfortable on set and they’re great with young actors too so that helped a lot. His parents had clearly worked really well with him before the shoot to ensure he was prepped for the role so huge thanks to them too - he’s certainly a star in the making!
NYX: The location seems amazing, was it all shot there?
BH: Oh it’s a stunning Manor House in North Yorkshire! We were very luck to have filmed there. It’s all filmed in one location, barring the lake and woods which were a short drive away. Interestingly, there is no basement, so the basement scenes had to be broken into three different areas (the doorway / entrance - which is filmed in the kitchen, the staircase - which is actually a staircase in the house that leads to the top floor of the house, and the basement itself - which is actually a barn that was set decorated to look like a basement). I think we managed to blend it together well in the end.
NYX: Which scene was the hardest to get right?
BH: The scenes with the Monster / Boggart were probably the most tricky! As we were working with CGI we had nothing to act off and play to, just an empty space. It’s hard to know in that moment if it’s going to work or look right, and if the performance will be suitable for what’s happening later, but that’s all part of the fun!
NYX: Will you be nervous when the movie has its world premiere at FrightFest 2024?
BH: Of course! I’ll be so nervous, honestly, it’s a huge deal for us as a team and for the production company. We are very grateful to the Frightfest panel for accepting us as part of the line up, it’s truly an honour and we hope it’ll be well received. It’s always scary opening up the door to have an external audience watching something that’s only ever been screened within our post production bubble up to this point. Very excited, but also very nervous!
NYX: Do you believe in the paranormal?
BH: I am definitely open minded to it. I feel like I’ve witnessed some spooky moments in the past myself that I can’t explain so for sure I think its a possibility!
NYX: So, what are you working on at the moment?
BH: have a family movie coming out later this year called “Tale of the Forest Unicorn” where I play the role of Anika Burton - which has been a bit of a change of pace! So that’s exciting. The next horror film is in it’s very early stages of scripting but it also has psychological, crime elements to the story, so I’m super excited for that. It’s currently being written and I’ll be playing the role of the wife. I’ve also just co directed a female led action movie which is almost finished in post production so it’ll be great to get that out into the world later this year.
NYX: Becca Hirani, thank you very much.
BH: Thank you! I appreciate your time, it’s been great chatting.
