Exclusive Q&A with House of Good and Evil’s Rachel Marie Lewis

House of Good and Evil is a movie we've been keeping an eye on since its first appearance in our Indie Spotlight and it's headed to DVD on April 1st. For the latest installment of our Q&A series, Derek Anderson had a chance to catch up with the movie's star, Rachel Marie Lewis, to learn about her experience on set:

You’ve played characters in dramas, comedies, and romances, but to my knowledge, your role as Maggie Conley in House of Good and Evil was your first time acting in a horror movie. What was it like to play a character in that genre for the first time?

Rachel Marie Lewis: It was great and certainly stretched me, that’s for sure. Every day was emotionally and physically tedious, so preparation was absolutely crucial.

Your character, Maggie, displays a wide emotional range as she copes with the loss of her unborn child and struggles to share a future with her abusive husband. From dwelling in depression to sudden bouts of laughter, you did a fantastic job portraying Maggie’s eclectic emotions. How did you approach playing such a complex character?

Rachel Marie Lewis: Well first of all thank you! That’s very nice of you to say. And I really owe so much to my technique, which is very much imagination based.  I really tried to dig into Maggie’s background and explore and study the effect isolation can have on people- also grieving, as Maggie is basically grieving/coping in her own way through most of the movie, we learn.

House of Good and Evil is David Mun’s directorial debut, but he’s been working extensively behind the camera since 2000. What was it like working with Mun on his first film?

Rachel Marie Lewis: I love Dave! So much. We kind of lucked out as we were so often on the same page with our thoughts about the character and story. That said, he is honest- and if something wasn’t working, he’d say so and I can’t say enough how much I really appreciated that… it made me really trust him, and if he liked something, I knew he wasn’t just bullsh*tting (scuse the french). Sets can get chaotic, especially with such long hours, and Dave handled his set with a sense of humor and graceful calm. I hope he gets to direct many more films, I really do.

Drenched in anger, suspicion, and love, your chemistry with Christian Oliver, who plays your onscreen abusive husband Chris, is very convincing. Can you explain what it was like to collaborate with Christian in depicting the strenuous relationship Maggie and Chris share?

Rachel Marie Lewis: It was great! Christian is a very positive and outgoing person- I feel like he made friends with the whole town his first day there. Seriously. I was on set a bit more than he was, and when we’d wrap, Christian was introducing me to the pharmacist, this store owner, that store owner, etc…. everyone loved him. He was so open as an actor which made my job easier, but between takes we really had a brother sister relationship. He made fun of me a lot and made me laugh, which was nice  in between such emotionally heavy takes.

With its towering white clapboard walls, expansive front porch, and paint-peeling interior doorframes, “Conley Manor,” as Chris calls it, becomes another character in the film, and an ominous one at that (the exterior long shots reminded me of the Lutz home from The Amityville Horror). How did “Conley Manor” impact the film’s atmosphere during shooting?

Rachel Marie Lewis: Oh it was such a character, and that’s a great thing to bring up.  For starters, it really was isolated- I mean surrounded by woods and in the middle of no where, so that alone helped. And there was a lot of history in that home…. you could feel it, and HEAR it. The floorboards creaked, the doors squeaked- I would never want to be there alone at night. Also, the nature surrounding it was pretty incredible. Except the spiders. Those were awful. And the shed was full of them…big wolf spiders….ugh okay don’t want to think about that.

“I have a vision that I’d like to play with”; “I’m just gonna switch our doorknobs. I hope you don’t mind”; “You know what happens when you mix”: screenwriter Blu de Golyer’s dialogue is at turns unsettling and humorous. Did you go strictly by de Golyer’s script when voicing Maggie’s lines, or did you improvise a little, as well?

Rachel Marie Lewis: Well, the lines you mentioned stayed the same I believe, but there were some lines changed the day of, and a few things reworded, etc. I did not improvise with this as much as I have on other roles. There were times I reworded a bit, but I’d always run that by Blu and usually he’d approve. For the most part, the words were from the page.

In addition to doing home improvement activities like sanding, painting, and hacking foliage with a machete, Maggie also does a fair amount of bike riding and running. Was this your most physically demanding role to date?

Rachel Marie Lewis: Oh my goodness yes. I hurt my ankle at one point. That bike was really squeaky and rusty, and riding over that uphill rock road on it was so hard. Although you don’t see as much of the running and biking in the film,  doing take after take can be draining- that goes for the emotional scenes too.

You share some memorable scenes with actress Marietta Marich, who plays your elderly neighbor, Mrs. Anderson. Marietta is known amongst horror circles for her role as Luda Mae Hewitt, Leatherface’s adoptive mother, in The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (2003) and The Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Beginning (2006). What was your experience acting alongside Marietta, a veteran actress?

Rachel Marie Lewis: She is a doll- I adore her. It’s impossible not to love her- she is such a warm, wise, gorgeous soul. And she was so generous as an actor- completely in the moment and brought something new every take.

Maggie becomes more suspicious and wary of those around her as the film progresses. Was it challenging to maintain that heightened level of emotional unease on-set?

Rachel Marie Lewis: It could be, yes. You just have to really focus and train the mind to stay in it.

House of Good and Evil creates scares via its creepy atmosphere and psychological tension. Do you have any favorite psychological horror movies?

Rachel Marie Lewis: The Shining, for sure. Also Zodiac TERRIFIED ME. I mean, terrified me. I thought it was a great movie, but I don’t think I can get through it again. Especially as it’s based on a true story.

A large portion of the film was shot in the countryside of Floyd, Virginia. What was it like filming on an isolated set in a small town? How does it compare to previous sets you’ve worked on?

Rachel Marie Lewis: Again. it was great. I love traveling and being on location- it’s one of my favorite things about doing this, and I prefer it to being on a soundstage or studio set.

With House of Good and Evil wrapped up and set for an April DVD release, what’s next for you?

Rachel Marie Lewis: Beacon Point, as I mentioned, and then who knows! I have a couple irons in the fire but nothing concrete yet… we’ll see :)

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"After losing their unborn child, Chris and Maggie escape the pressures of the city to live in a secluded country home. But soon Maggie begins to experience strange events in this mind-bending countryside horror about dedication, grief, and insanity."