To celebrate the Blu-Ray release of the hilarious Sci-Fi Horror Comedy, Snatchers, we here at STARBURST had the pleasure of sitting down with lead star Mary Nepi to talk about the film.
STARBURST: First of all, congratulations on the film. It’s super funny, quirky and gory – a bit like Mean Girls meets Alien.
MARY NEPI: Thank you so much! It’s funny you should say that we ourselves have used that very same comparison!
What was it about the concept or script that attracted you to the project?
It started as a short film in 2015 and it was a very interesting script – I got it from my manager and they said: “Hey, I’ve got this fun cooky project, do you want to take a look?” and I remember reading the audition they sent over and I had never read anything like this before! The scene involved aliens and Mean Girls humour – I was at home with my parents at the time so I filmed the audition with my dad reading across from me and if you’ve seen the film, some of the scenes were a bit awkward but it was a unique experience. It’s so fun.
A lot of similar “high school” movies fail to capture that innocent essence of growing up but that is definitely one of the main strong features of Snatchers with your character Sara’s relationship with Hayley. How much did your real-life relationship with Gabrielle help you in the film?
We definitely evolved a sister-like relationship very quickly. We had a lot of fun together and it helped our chemistry which developed after we got called back too. I remember even when we read together that this was easy as we had that instant connection. We spent a lot of time together throughout the shoot, it was very very fun – I felt like I had known her forever, which helped the character arc. Some of the most fun scenes were when it was just the two of us getting to be honest and real with each other.
The film utilizes both practical effects and CGI – how was it working with animatronics and having to react to them? Same question when it comes to CGI.
It was so fun! That was one of the most unique things about it – the creature effects by Chris Hanson did a sensational job on our alien friend. Everyone wanted to take pictures with him when we first saw him [laughs]. I loved the way you could manipulate his face for expression. The (other) alien was also practical which was terrifying and helped my performance when reacting to it. Such a great experience and I learned a lot as well. In terms of CGI, I’d like to say that that’s one of the first things you learn at acting boot camp – to react to something that isn’t there. So I was prepared for that but it was still a fun time.
Snatchers is very bloody and gory in places especially that first scene in the clinic – what was your favourite scene to shoot?
Well, that scene was initially the short film – so that was really extremely fun to shoot over four days. None of us really knew what we were doing so we all learned together. I loved the big action bloody scenes especially the one in the police station that was so chaotic with loads of people on set, flying over you – it was like a battle zone! I felt like an action hero [laughs]. Fake arms and blood were flying everywhere! It was insane. The whole ending sequence was another fun shoot with a lot of people which heightened the energy along with the stakes!
The way the film ended brought a conclusion to this particular story but, if there was a sequel, would you be up for reprising your action hero role?
Absolutely! 100% yes – you will have to ask Stephen and Benji (the Directors) if they have plans but for now, I would love to return for sure.
SNATCHERS is out now on DVD, Blu-Ray and On Demand.
