Posted in: Exclusive, Horror, Interview, Movies | Tagged: Paget Brewster, Touch Me

Touch Me Star Paget Brewster on Embracing "Weird" Horror Sci-Fi Story

Paget Brewster (Criminal Minds: Evolution) spoke to us about the psychosexual horror comedy Touch Me, embracing Heimann's vision & more.

Paget Brewster is always looking for new challenges as an actor, whether it's comedy, drama, animation, or podcasts. One indie filmmaker that has caught her eye is Addison Heimann, the visionary behind the psychological drama Hypochondriac. His follow-up is the psychosexual sci-fi horror comedy Touch Me, which is an homage to sensual homage to Japanese exploitation films that follows two millennials, Joey (Oliva Taylor Dudley) and Craig (Jordan Gavaris), who visit Brain (Lou Taylor Pucci) at his desert mansion, unaware that he possesses mysterious and charismatic abilities that will change their lives. The Criminal Minds star spoke to Bleeding Cool about reuniting with Heimman, how she was initially reluctant to join before the script won her over, the cast, and the future.

Touch Me Star Paget Brewster on Indie Film's Unique Twisted Sci-Fi Approach

BC: How did it feel reuniting with Addison [Heimann] for Touch Me?
Brewster: Oh, man, it's great. I was so flattered that he asked. He texted me and asked me if I would play a part in his next movie, and I had such a great time with him shooting Hypochondriac a couple of years before that, I was really flattered. I said, "Yeah, sure. Anything you write, I'll do it. Not naked, but I love your words and writing. Let's do it!" He sent the script, and it was wild. I was thinking, "Oh God! What have I…Oh, let's see what happens. What did I just say yes to?" A couple of pages in, I wasn't worried anymore. I thought it was brilliant, weird, funny, and quite interesting. When it got to the part that he had said, he'd sent me the name in a coffee shop, and I'm like, "Oh, okay, great. I can do that. I love that. I love yelling." This angry woman in a coffee shop, so then the script just gets weirder and weirder, and I loved it.

Did the film's premise of this cult leader feel it had some Criminal Minds vibes with the way that it was going direction-wise?
Oh, I hadn't even thought of that because in reading it and then seeing it, it was so much its own world, visual style, lighting, and the way they did the sexuality, gore, and dancing. It was so specific to Addison's style of storytelling that it couldn't be further away from Criminal Minds, but I was impressed when I saw the movie, how good it was, because I didn't know how you made a movie like that on an indie budget.

I was like, "What are you going to do? How are you going to do this?" It turned out even better than I thought when reading it. I mean, I think all of us are essentially directors. If you read a script, you're directing it in your mind, right? [laughs] Because it's what your mind envisions, and then I thought, "I wouldn't have the faintest idea how to make this movie without a hundred million dollars," and then of course, Addison does it, and he is a director. This is why I will never try to direct. I am not a director, and I like being part of a team, because the way he was able to tell that story is an incredible feat.

I know your scenes were a bit isolated, but did you have a chance to speak with the rest of the cast?
I did. It was a happy, friendly cast and crew environment. We were shooting in that coffee shop all day. They may have had a couple of scenes elsewhere towards the end of the day when that scene was finished, but everyone came by to introduce themselves and say, "Hi," from the crew, and I also got to meet all the actors. It was lovely. I felt really included, and everyone wants that.

Do you have anything else lined up with Addison coming up?
I don't know if he's writing something, but hopefully [laughs] he'll have a part for me. I want to be in the Addison stable. I love the people that he casts and works with over and over again. I'd be willing to bet he's almost done with another script, even though the amount of work that goes into making, editing, selling this movie, going to festivals, and winning awards, and now it's coming out digitally soon, it's coming out in certain theaters on the 27th of March. That's a lot of work for a director, but he is going to be one of these guys who's so prolific and imaginative that he can't stop the stories coming out of him. I bet he has finished a script, and he is almost finished right now, so he will be moving into doing.

Yellow Veil Pictures' Touch Me, which also stars Marlene Forte, is now playing in New York, in limited release on March 27th, and on-demand and digital on April 7th.

Enjoyed this? Please share on social media!

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