It can read like a head-scratching equation to people on the outside of the film industry, but it鈥檚 almost always true: the scarier a horror film is on the big screen, the more fun it was for cast and crew to shoot.
This equation holds up in the case of locally shot horror feature Residue, according to Taylor Hickson.
The Kelowna-born actress plays the estranged teenage daughter of Luke Harding (portrayed by James Clayton), a world-weary private investigator who takes a job from a crime lord and ends up accidentally unleashing the evil contained in a possessed book. Soon, Luke鈥檚 got the mob on his tail and a murderous dark power taking root in his apartment (located in the iconic 2400 Motel on Kingsway) at the very moment his headstrong daughter Angelina (Hickson) shows up for an extended visit.
On-screen, Residue is high-stakes genre cinema 鈥� a gritty hybrid of action-drama, supernatural horror, and future-noir 鈥� but life on the set was pretty much the polar opposite, says Hickson, who traces the fun-factor back to writer-director Rusty Nixon.
鈥淗e鈥檇 sprint to the monitors for playback after wrapping a scene, and his eyes would get so big, and he鈥檇 rub his hands together and he鈥檚 got this giant smile, and he鈥檇 say, 鈥榊es, we got it!鈥欌�� Hickson recalls in a recent phone interview. 鈥淚t was so cool to see how much passion he pours into the art he makes.鈥�
Residue 鈥� which shot around 麻豆传媒映画and also stars Elysia Rotaru, Orphan Black鈥檚 Matt Frewer, Dan Payne, Costas Mandylor, Michael Matic, and William B. Davis (otherwise known as The Cigarette-Smoking Man of X-Files fame) 鈥� had its 麻豆传媒映画theatrical premiere at The Rio Theatre earlier this month and hits VOD and iTunes this week.
Angelina was a meaty role for Hickson, 19, and even more impressive when you consider that Hickson only entered the film and television industry a couple of years ago. 鈥淎 lot of actors get started in early childhood, but I didn鈥檛 get serious about acting until quite a late age,鈥� she says. When Hickson was eight years old, her mom had tried to get her into the biz after she鈥檇 shown a proclivity for performing in a children鈥檚 dance class. They spent a few months driving back and forth 鈥� between 麻豆传媒映画and Kelowna for commercial auditions 鈥� four hours each way. 鈥淚 was eight so of course I was exhausted by the time I got to every audition and she鈥檇 have to bribe me with McDonald鈥檚 to do it,鈥� Hickson recalls. 鈥淭hat didn鈥檛 last long.鈥�
Despite her late start, Hickson鈥檚 more than made up for lost time: Her first on-camera role was a non-speaking part in 2015鈥檚 Blackway, which starred Sir Anthony Hopkins 鈥� and shortly thereafter, she booked her first speaking role: Meghan Orlovsky in Deadpool, a young woman who hires Ryan Reynolds鈥� Merc with a Mouth to intimidate her stalker ex-boyfriend (the film currently holds the record for highest-grossing R-rated film of all time).
鈥淚 didn鈥檛 know what Deadpool was when I booked it,鈥� says Hickson, who also co-starred on SyFy鈥檚 post-apocalyptic series Aftermath. She didn鈥檛 know who Sir Anthony Hopkins was when she booked Blackway either. She attributes these gaps in her pop culture knowledge to the fact that she 鈥済rew up a music nerd. I only watched music documentaries, so I鈥檇 never seen any classics. I鈥檓 still playing catch-up.鈥�
But Hickson found a true-blue passion for acting and a home in the biz when, at 16 years old, a family friend who recognized her raw talent facilitated a meeting with a 麻豆传媒映画agent. After reading a scene for this agent wherein a girl fought with her mom (鈥淚 thought, 鈥榃ell, this is easy, I do this every day!鈥欌��), the agent was eager to sign her on the spot. 鈥淗e said, 鈥業 want to sign you today,鈥� and I said, 鈥楬ow much does it cost?鈥� And he鈥檚 like, 鈥楾hat鈥檚 fraud; it doesn鈥檛 cost anything, we get paid when you get paid.鈥欌��
Every project brings new lessons for Hickson, both about her own abilities and how the industry works. On Residue, Hickson received a crash-course in 鈥渋nsane full-head prosthetics. I didn鈥檛 think I was claustrophobic until they had me in that chair suffocating in rubber. It was all brand new territory for me.鈥�
It hasn鈥檛 all been Mercs and happy sets and smooth-sailing, though: an on-set accident in 2016 left her with a nine-centimetre scar on her face, and because of that accident, Hickson says she lost a couple of high-profile jobs. 鈥淚鈥檝e had a lot of reasons to walk away, but I want to keep doing it, and I hope the me five years from now would tell that to the me speaking today,鈥� she says.
She鈥檚 currently filming an indie feature out east, and writing new music whenever the inspiration finds her. 鈥淚鈥檓 having the time of my life, and I want to stick with it.鈥�
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Residue hits VOD and iTunes on July 18. Follow and
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