By ADAM DAVIDSON
Before Bella Thorne landed her breakout role as CeCe Jones on Disney Channel’s Shake It Up, the American actress had already started to attract attention through roles in horror movies such as The Seer and Forget Me Not. Thorne fell in love with the horror genre at a young age. (She says The Grudge “scarred her for life.”) Her passion for horror has remained strong, evident in her roles in The Babysitter and Amityville: The Awakening.
Thorne steps outside her wheelhouse with Mitzi Perione’s SAINT CLARE, currently in select theaters and on digital. This ambitious genre-bending movie takes the audience inside the troubled mind of Clare Bleecker, a murderous Catholic schoolgirl who discovers a web of corruption and trafficking in her town. Clare Bleecker presents a unique challenge for Thorne; Despite her murderous tendencies, the protagonist suffers from dissociative identity disorder and attempts to deliver justice in her own way.
What drew you to this movie?
Man, so many things. It was definitely a step outside of my wheelhouse in a way. I’ve also never gotten to play a character like this and to [explore] what could be really happening in her brain. That was really a “finding” experience. It sounds weird, but I found a lot of myself in parts of Clare and understanding her.
What parts of Clare’s character, in particular, resonated with you?
I think a need for triumph. It is the eternal need that goes beyond speaking. It’s in your blood, and it’s in your veins and your bones. It’s screaming out for retribution. Of course, Clare finds retribution in all of these horrible ways, but the need for it was something that I really understood.
You said something really interesting earlier about what could be happening in Clare’s brain.” Was this an idea that the director and you played with as the lines between fantasy and reality blurred throughout the movie?
Yeah, it was so fun playing with that. I think that we got to push boundaries and excel in the editing room process. It was a labor of love and importance at the same time – really wanting to make sure that every choice was very layered, and we were able to go around her psyche in really fun ways by using editing tools.
I’ve read that you’re a big horror fan. Were there any movies that you looked at for inspiration or influence when taking on the role of Clare?
Yeah, I think going back to some of the classics [such as] The Shining. Even when you’re not taking things specifically from movies, but the overall essence of the movie and what it represents. [For example], living in chaos the entire time. That’s Clare’s brain. And there’s this extreme level of control over that chaos. So, finding characters that had that ability and whatnot, such as in The Babadook and Mama.
That’s interesting. I never thought of that comparison of SAINT CLARE with The Shining or The Badadook, but that idea of what isolation and trauma can do to a person rings true with these movies.
There are definitely some interesting movies out there, a few that I watched before this, but as an actor, I try to hush down all of those voices and try to let the material speak for itself. Your first honest reaction is the truest you’ll ever have.
