Posted in: Exclusive, Interview, Movies | Tagged: Alberto Belli, Emmy Raver-Lampman, gatlopp, interview, Jim Mahoney, Jon Bass, Sarunas J. Jackson, xyz films

Gatlopp Star Emmy Raver-Lampman on Film's Creativity & Cast Bonding

Emmy Raver-Lampman has accomplished so much as a natural talent in Hollywood. In the six years, she's been in the industry; she's gained notoriety with memorable roles in Untitled Horror Hovie (2021), the CW's Jane the Virgin, Batman Unburied podcast series, AppleTV+'s Central Park, and Netflix's The Umbrella Academy. In Gatlopp, Raver-Lampman plays Sam, one of four friends playing a drinking board game after a decade apart. It's quickly revealed that this game comes with supernatural stakes. Mischief leads to mayhem, and the group realizes that if they can't come together to win the game by sunrise, they will be forced to play for eternity – in hell. She spoke to Bleeding Cool about the film's themes, and the film used improvisation.

Bleeding Cool: What drew you to 'Gatlopp'?
Emmy Raver-Lampman: I'm a big board game person, and 'Jumanji' was one of my favorite movies growing up [laughs]. I also was really attracted to the relationship between these four friends. I think the dynamics that are happening there when we first meet them and all the guilt, grief, trauma, failures, and the secrets that they're kind of all keeping from one another was really exciting to potentially have the opportunity to play around with and get to explore.

BC: Were all the backstories laid out for each character, or was there improvisation involved to sort out the chemistry?
Raver-Lampman: I think there was probably like 35 to 45 percent of this stuff is improvised. We were encouraged by Jim [Mahoney] to bring these characters to life in our own way. Some of the ad-libbing came from the chemistry that we had from improvising and going with what was happening on the day, adding new lines. We constantly rewrote things, added things, and worked out kinks with Jim. He was very excited and very collaborative in that sense.

BC: How would you describe the set that [director] Alberto [Belli] ran?
Raver-Lampman: I've honestly never laughed so hard on the set [laughs]. I think it was a really strong bonding experience, especially because we shot this at the end of the summer in 2020. We were one of the first productions back post quarantine and lockdown. COVID was still running rampant and very much a reality. We were all just happy and excited to be back to work, so it was a really good environment. We laughed a ton. [My co-stars] Jim [Mahoney], Sarunas [J. Jackson], Jon [Bass], and I are also really close, and we have a text chain going. It was a bonding experience for the whole cast and crew. It was a much-needed moment, but also, it was really quick. We shot the whole movie in 12 days? It was very fast and furious.

BC: What was your biggest challenge playing Sam in the film?
Raver-Lampman: In the beginning, we meet her, and she's really closed off, and she's got this big wall up. She's not completely likable, and she doesn't really understand her dynamic with these three male friends of hers. You don't really know what she's got going on. Then as the movie goes, the layers of the onion start to peel away, and you kind of realize that she's just been carrying around this immense amount of guilt and is afraid to share that with her friend, which is why she put up such a big wall and why she stepped away from them. Because the people that know you the best are your mirrors and are the ones that show you who you really are and hold you accountable. I think she just couldn't handle that. The pressure was too much for her. So she chose to step away from their friendship, and I think it was really exciting to watch her walk back from that and get to play it.

XYZ Films' Gatlopp, which also stars Shelley Hennig, John Ales, and Amy Davidson, comes to on-demand and digital on June 23rd.

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