Posted in: Exclusive, Interview, Movies | Tagged: Brenna Coates, Brit MacRae, Dana Abraham, Erika Swayze, exclusive, interview, kim coates, Laruen Howe, Neon Lights, Rene Escobar Jr, Rouzbeh Heydari, Stephen Tracey

Neon Lights Star Kim Coates on Taking Creative Interest in Thriller

Kim Coates has never seen or been a part of anything as cerebral as the indie psychological thriller Neon Lights from Momentum Pictures. The film follows a tech tycoon Clay (Dana Abraham), who retreats to an off-the-grid location in search of meaning and peace with disconnected siblings and their offspring, only to be caught in a bone-chilling killing spree within his new estate. The Sons of Anarchy star spoke with Bleeding Cool about how he stumbled upon the project from director Rouzbeh Heydari, who co-wrote with Abraham, how his character Denver Cain factors into Clay's life, and more.

Bleeding Cool: Can you give me a little background about how you got involved in 'Neon Lights'?
Kim Coates: The pandemic started in 2020, and no one knew what the world would look like. We still don't, in a way. It's just still crazy out there. There is no work going on or anything going on. My Canadian and American people started sending me some scripts that might go in the fall might go in the early winter. No one knew. Gayle Abrams, my Canadian agent, says, 'Kim, there's a very beautiful, strange, independent film called 'Neon Lights' with first-time writer Dana Abraham is going to star in it as well. I think it's really cool. You may not want to do it. I have no problem saying, No.'

I'm lucky enough in my career to be able to say 'No,' but she tells me, 'There's a great part for your daughter.' [Brenna Coates] played a psychiatrist in Dana's already mentioned that. So I read it with that in mind, and I was a little confused at first. I got to tell you, I needed to read the second and a third time is very Alfred Hitchcock-ian weird psychological thriller/horror/intense. It's slow, then fast. All the colors, 'Neon Lights' mean all the different colors that are inside our brain. Mental health is at the forefront. For me to come on board, is very important that I was a producer as well. I want to make sure that I can give notes on the edit and the music and help out with the casting if I can because I believe this little film could be something else.

BC: There's a lot to take in psychologically. When you kind of went over the script, what inspired you and your performance? Was there something external that helped you guide your way? How did you get into your role?
Coates: It's a great question. This kind of role is a part that I really can't say much about because he's a big mystery in the film itself. So I can't really give too much away, but I will say that playing Denver Kane, when I first read it, Dana and [director] Rouzbeh [Heydari] went back and changed some things that needed it to make it better. It was very important for me to make sure that Denver, who's a very dark individual, has parts of him that are very charismatic, very gentle, very soothing, very something. How could you get sucked in by a man like this if he was just on this side of the tracks? So it's very important to me to read a couple of books that I did to get into young childhood trauma and drama in the homes. That's what this mental health aspect deals with a lot.

Dana, who plays Clay Amani, is our lead. He's our valiant tech tycoon who completely loses his mind in this one little interview at the beginning of the film. He walks, storms off the set, losing all this money. He's losing his life. He doesn't know what's happening. You see me watching him, tapping him on the shoulder, and you don't know what the hell is going on. Then he goes to his shrink, Laila, played by my daughter, Brenna, and the whole movie then really begins. The journey is that I'm like a needle and thread. I feel like I'm intertwined through the whole film, and you don't really know what the hell's going on. At least you shouldn't, because everyone who saw the premiere last weekend, all 700 people, came out of there just buzzing, talking, buzzing. 'Wait, wait. What does this mean?' 'What did that mean?' 'Did you do it?' They were uncertain, and that's exactly what Dana hoped to accomplish in this film, and I think you did an incredible job. Rouzbeh, who directed it, did an incredible job. That's why E-1 (in Canada) [and Momentum Pictures in US] is distributing this film around the world so quickly because they believe this thing really needs to be seen, watched, and learned from, and I'm really proud to be part of it.

BC: You've done a lot throughout your career. Is there anything that you've seen or done that comes remotely close?
Coates: Great question. No! I can honestly say that. I can't really talk about it, but there's an element of this guy that I played that I've never played before, an element of surprise and shock that I've never played before. That dinner jacket with the bowtie that I wear was key in my internal work, which I turned external and all the parts I play. I always start from the inside out, always from the inside out. I felt right at home with this guy, and I talk about the railroad tracks. I'm a tough guy, a character actor. I get it: these cheekbones and eyes. It's important. The confidence has got to be everything in a character before I say "Yes." This had that once I inhabited this guy for the three days of filming that I did.

Neon Lights, which also stars Brit MacRae, Stephen Tracey, Rene Escobar Jr., Erika Swayze, and Lauren Howe, is on-demand and digital on July 12th.

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