Posted in: Exclusive, Interview, Movies, Sony | Tagged: exclusive, Fivel Stewart, interview, sam raimi, Sandra Oh, sony, umma

Umma: Fivel Stewart on Bonding with Sandra Oh & Filming Through COVID

When Fivel Stewart heard about the supernatural horror film Umma (Korean for "Mother"), she knew she had to jump at the chance at the opportunity. The Atypical star plays Chris, the sheltered daughter of Amanda (Sandra Oh), who lives within a small American farm working together as beekeepers. Their lives change forever when Amanda is visited by a Korean man (Tom Yi), who happens to be Amanda's uncle, carrying her mother's (MeeWha Alana Lee) effects following her passing. While Chris strives for more, she starts to find out slowly discover the secrets Amanda has been keeping from her for this quiet life. I spoke to Stewart about how Umma became a dream project of sorts, working with Oh, filming through the earlier stages of the COVID pandemic, and her favorite Sam Raimi film.

"Playing a Korean-American was always something that I desired because my mom is Korean. Knowing that it was directed by Iris [Shim] was a really big desire of mine and to be a part of a Sam Raimi production," Stewart said. "Horror is my favorite genre, and [I liked] the script overall. The script was very…I couldn't stop reading the script, and I feel like with horror films, it's kind of hard to do because you kind of get mixed up and you like with action the scares, but I felt very driven, and I wanted to do this script so bad."

To say Stewart embraced her on-screen mother would be an understatement. "[Sandra] will forever have a place in my heart, even when we're not acting," she said. "Like she has really imprinted a special place in my soul and my life, and I will never forget filming 'Umma' with her. I was just kind of watching how she is on set and her really taking me in as a daughter and her really making that relationship real for us allowed me to understand how she does her job, how she creates how she…so I think nothing was too straightforward, but just the overall person that Sandra is, is very inspiring."

Stewart considers herself fortunate Shim was able to film considering the circumstances. "Oh my God, it was like a family," she said. "Mind you, we were filming during COVID, and we were one of the first films to succeed during COVID. We're so freaked out because there are so many productions being shut down, but we didn't, we still get through, and I think that made everyone on set closer because we all trusted each other. We were all just like, 'We are making this baby together like, and you gotta just stay strong.' Everyone had that mentality, and it was a beautiful set." As far as her favorite Raimi film, "' The Evil Dead' for sure!" Sony's Umma, which also stars Odeya Rush and Dermot Mulroney, is exclusively in theaters.

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