Posted in: Horror, Interview, Movies | Tagged: Caitlin McHugh Stamos, The Invisible Raptor, Well Go USA Entertainment

The Invisible Raptor Star Caitlin McHugh Stamos on Acting Return

Caitlin McHugh Stamos spoke to Bleeding Cool about coming out of acting retirement for Well Go USA's horror comedy The Invisible Raptor.

If Caitlin McHugh Stamos can tell you anything about life in Hollywood, sometimes the grind can lead you to make tough decisions and shift priorities in your life. Since her debut in 2007's I Am Legend, the actress became a regular on episodic television with appearances on Fox's Castle, NBC's Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, FX's Rescue Me before landing her biggest stint on The CW's Vampire Diaries as Sloan. After 2017, with her last on-screen roles in CBS's NCIS: Los Angeles and indie films Random Tropical Paradise and Ingenue-ish, McHugh Stamos decided to refocus her life on a family and other ventures. When her friend Mike Capes, who wrote and stars in the Well Go USA Entertainment action comedy The Invisible Raptor, came calling, it was an opportunity to jump into the saddle again.

Co-written by Johnny Wickham and directed by Mike Hermosa, the film follows a top-secret experiment gone wrong, where a hyper-intelligent invisible raptor escapes the lab and begins wreaking havoc in the surrounding neighborhood. When the creature's identity is uncovered, it soon becomes clear that a disgraced paleontologist—alongside his ex-girlfriend, an unhinged amusement park security guard, and a local celebrity chicken farmer—is the town's only hope for surviving the raptor's ravenous rampage. McHugh Stamos spoke to Bleeding Cool about the Jurassic franchise parody, Capes and Wickham's script, co-stars like Sandy Martin, grinding through the night shots, and her current ventures.

The Invisible Raptor Star Caitlin McHugh Stamos on Having Fun on Set Again and Acting Retirement

Bleeding Cool: What intrigued you about 'The Invisible Raptor?'

The comedy. I had stopped acting about six years before I ran into my friends, Johnny and Mike [Capes], at a mutual friend's birthday party. They said, "We've been writing this movie with you in mind. Can you read the script?" I did, even though I was like, "I'm probably going to say 'No' to this," but I loved it. It was so funny. I wanted to be a part of it, and I said "Yes!" against all reasons, and I'm glad I did because I had a blast working with these guys. They were wonderfully collaborative, and I laughed more than I ever had to film it. It's so wonderful to be in the audience now in theaters where people are enjoying it, too.

How do you describe the set Mike Hermosa ran, and what would you like about Mike and Johnny's script?

"Collaborative" is the word I would use repeatedly. I loved it as it was when I first read it, but I also loved it because there was room to let us play a little bit. We would sometimes work a scene and find some new stuff and layers or change things around a bit. They were always up for new ideas. It was like throwing spaghetti on a wall, and they welcomed that creativity and input from anywhere was comforting. It always comes back to comedy and collaboration with them.

Perhaps it leads to my next question, but what does a film like this do you wouldn't normally be able to?

I'm not at "movie star" status. I've been retired for many years but was doing recurring things and other small indie movies. Working with friends and getting a leading lady role like this without it being handed to me was a rare occurrence. I'm glad I got to take them up on this offer because it does not happen every day.

Can you talk about some of your co-stars, such as Sean [Astin], Sandy [Martin], Mike, David [Schakelford], and Vanessa [Chester], and what it was like to spend time on set with them?

Gladly. Unfortunately, I did not get to work with Sean Astin, but I love seeing him in the movie and him starting the movie. It was such a fantastic beginning to the story. I have probably worked the most with Sally Martin, and she's hilarious. Every single one of her lines had me rolling! I loved spending time with her, and I couldn't believe it when she said "Yes" to this movie was so great. She does the most ridiculous things and says the most ridiculous things that I couldn't even believe were written. She also says it with so much confidence, and she's unquestionably my favorite. Sandy's brilliant in this.

You catch her on [It's Always] Sunny [in Philadelphia]?

Yes, super brilliant and in 'Big Love.' Did you see her in 'Big Love?'

Yeah

She's a living legend.

What was the most difficult scene for you to film?

Honestly, all my scenes were so much fun to do. The hard part for me was filming at night. It's more natural to be awakened in the daytime, and most of our filming was at night when we did the chunk of it together. When it was like an entire month or so of filming, we're used to that schedule. Inevitably, there are pick-ups several months down the line, where it's one night here, one night there. Those were rough.

I remember there was one night when we filmed all night, and I kept falling asleep. I was in the truck, and there was this truck sequence, and we were driving a lot. And I kept falling asleep. Whatever [Hermosa] was like, "Cut!" then I'm out, then we're like, "All right, run!" I go from "completely knocked out" to "terrified for my life" within seconds all night, every night. That was rough. There's probably a lot of blackmail footage of me sleeping in the truck [laughs], drilling.

What's next for you?

What's next…I came out of retirement to do this movie, and I'm back in retirement unless there is an 'Invisible Raptor 2' or anything else from Mike and Johnny. I'm not going to go back to that daily grind of auditioning and going crazy. I've got a six-year-old I love spending time with, and I recently started a nonprofit that goes with my podcast [called 'How Can I Help?']. My jewelry line [My Saint My Hero] is all around trying to help society, bring awareness to issues, humanize issues that seem big, and help the most vulnerable. That's where my heart and passion lie, and I am excited to be doing more in that field unless 'The Invisible Raptor' calls again.

The Invisible Raptor is available in theaters and digital.

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