Posted in: Exclusive, Interview, Movies | Tagged: exclusive, Gracie Gillam, interview, Osric Chau, rlje films, Sara Canning, Superhost

Superhost Star Sara Canning on Horror Film, Celebrity & Social Media

With the advent of social media, there's been an abundance of celebrity culture that embraced the idea of the next level of interaction with their fans. There are also those savvy enough to take advantage of the platform to become celebrities themselves. As ingrained into our social platforms like Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and TikTok become, naturally, film and TV shows integrated them into projects as in the case of RLJE Films' horror film Superhost. Sara Canning, who plays Claire, a vlogger, and her partner Teddy (Osric Chau) try to keep themselves relevant as travel influencers trying to create new content with their superhost Rebecca (Gracie Gillam) but get way more than they bargained for. I spoke to Canning about what intrigued her to the indie horror project, if she has any travel horror stories, and the pressures of social media culture with her career.

"I really love working with these guys, and I worked with them before on the film 'Z,' and I know what kind of filmmakers they are," the Nancy Drew star said. "I know what kind of experience they like to create on set, and I just knew we would have a blast doing this. I knew [writer and director] Brandon [Christensen] had a pretty specific idea for the tone of the film. Bridging those two worlds: there's some comedy, and there's definitely the thriller-horror element. It's a good challenge as an actor. I just knew we would have a great time. I would do pretty much anything with these guys."

Canning's been a regular on TV, appearing on 9-1-1, Big Sky, Van Helsing, and A Series of Unfortunate Events. As far as any personal experiences the actress could draw from prior to filming Superhost, "I've definitely had some interesting experiences just in terms of like. 'Oh, wow! This is like the books I find. I'm so nosy when it comes to bookshelves; I've been in places that are more lived-in where they don't take all of their personal belongings out, and just perusing that way is sometimes interesting, which it's always fun. I have a couple of friends who've been in certain situations, but never like the host might be a sociopathic murderer, but more like…' This is a little uncomfortable.' But I've been pretty lucky."

When it came to researching the like of a vlogger, Canning and Chau found out it was unlike anything they encountered in their acting careers. "I always reckon I actually feel very similarly about how it doesn't come naturally to us," she said. "The whole [thing] doesn't come naturally for us to embody YouTubers. It's a very different skill from being an actor to engage a personality and be engaging as a personality. We actually watched some YouTube couples, like I can't remember who any of them are, but we were sort of sharing back and forth famous YouTube couples and the types of videos that they would make. How they would interact with each other, and I find it fascinating. It just feels quite foreign to me because I'm very private about my personal life. That was a challenge for both of us; shooting the scene where we first show off the house in the YouTube video was really fun, but we were both like, 'Are we getting this? Are we getting this at all?' We both found it really challenging."

While Canning doesn't embrace social media as much as her Superhost character does, the actress does see the value in the platforms. "I was told by two different jobs, first to get Twitter and then to get Instagram," she said. "I feel [like I'm in a] much better place with it all now. I think I used to feel a bit of a sense of, 'Oh, I need to keep up here,' Actually, I'm sort of the mind that most of my work now comes from including with 'Superhost.' It comes from having worked with people, developed amazing personal relationships with them and staying connected outside of social media. I believe that social media has benefits, and I love being able to promote and share about especially independent projects. I think that's really important, but in terms of my own self, I really feel that I don't need to be sharing that constantly. It's more important to be sharing about collaborations with other people. That's my view on it, and how it fits well with me in terms of how much attention how much focus, it takes for me. Also, I think I would be a bit anxious to be sharing too much of who I am. I am so grateful that people engage with the work that I do. I think I'm in a more balanced place with it all now than I ever was."

Canning would like to tackle more projects like Superhost that bridge and incorporate new media. The film, which also stars Barbara Crampton, is available on VOD, Digital HD, DVD, and Blu-ray on February 1.

Enjoyed this? Please share on social media!

Stay up-to-date and support the site by following Bleeding Cool on Google News today!