“Blood, Blood, and More Blood!” — POPEYE THE SLAYER MAN Q&A with Sarah Nicklin

Popeye the Slayer Man captured the attention of horror fans around the world after its trailer went viral late last year, and now the film is set to "sail into theaters and VOD" via Vantage Media on March 21st. We caught up with Sarah Nicklin, who told us all about her experience making Popeye the Slayer Man, her love of starring in horror movies, and what she has coming up next:

How did you get involved in Popeye the Slayer Man and why was this a project you wanted to be a part of?

Sarah Nicklin: This was a lucky case where it was offered to me. I’ve been friends with the producers and director for 15 years now in some cases and we always wanted to work together, but it just hadn’t worked out yet.

I was text-chatting with Cuyle and he mentioned that they were going to be doing another film in upstate New York. Coincidentally, I was also already going to be doing a different film in New England around the same time, so Cuyle floated the idea to Jeff and Robert about casting me in one of the available roles. Everyone was on board with casting me, they sent over the script, which I thought was really fun, it was a different character type than I usually get to play which was appealing, the schedules for both films worked out, and that was it.

This follows the recent, successful trend of putting a horror spin on popular public domain characters. Has it been exciting to see the buzz the film has generated since the trailer's release? 

Sarah Nicklin: Absolutely, it's nuts! It’s getting more attention than anyone expected I think, me for sure. I’ve been working in horror for a long time and I’ve had a couple of films that have gotten a good amount of press attention, but I think this is the first horror film that I’ve been part of that has broken through to the mainstream media.

One thing I’ve learned over the years is that it’s really hard to predict how well a movie is going to do before signing onto it. Great scripts can fall apart during the filming process and things that didn't seem like much on paper can be given a whole different life just in how it's directed. There are some projects and even auditions that I turned down and very much regretted later. For this one, I honestly wasn't even thinking about how it would be received or even if it would be any good - I just wanted to work with my friends.

But people seem to be really into it just from the trailer. I think this was a good combination of timing, having a good publicist, and a super catchy title - even CBS Good Morning said they think that the title is going to stick around for a while.

[Sarah Nicklin in Popeye the Slayer Man]

I understand this film is heavy on practical effects, including the movie's gore scenes. Can you talk about your experience on set?

Sarah Nicklin: Blood, blood, and more blood! I literally am still finding blood on the shoes that I wore in this one haha.

All of my scenes were shot at night in a working animal feed factory, which was a really cool, genuinely scary location. There’s a lot of authentic grit, grime, and dust just due to the location. I don’t want to give away any of the kills, but I will say that - yes the effects are practical, Popeye is a beast and kills characters in creative ways often with the strength of his bare hands and massive forearms, and there was also a blood and guts cannon involved during my shoot - it’s everything you want in a gory slasher movie.

You also star in the upcoming horror film, Garden of Eden, which seems to be a very different type of horror film than Popeye the Slayer Man. What can you tell us about your role in the film?

Sarah Nicklin: It’s both different and similar in that Garden of Eden is also very gory and also uses practical effects. But Garden of Eden is more of a beautifully twisted morality tale whereas Popeye is a straight slasher.

The tones of the films are very different - Popeye knows exactly what it is; very tongue and cheek, not taking itself too seriously, giving you exactly what you would want and expect in a fun good-time slasher. Garden of Eden is very serious, very dark, there's no levity in the film. It's like the writer and director are trying to see just how far they can push the audience's comfort levels to see if they'll keep watching. It's not torture porn, but there's some very graphic gore, uncomfortable nudity, and disturbing themes.

But I play very different characters in each. In Popeye I'm a drug addict caught up in the wrong place at the wrong time, and in Garden of Eden I'm a grieving mother who sets out to get revenge for the death of my daughter.

Garden of Eden was a very emotional role and I spent a lot of time exploring different aspects of grief, anger, blame, and guilt in order to create what is hopefully a complex multi-layered performance that will resonate with the audience. The feedback from the industry screening was very positive and I'm really proud of my work on that one. I hope that once it's released that it will resonate with audiences in the same way.

With over 100 acting, producing, and stunt credits, including many horror films, what do you enjoy most about working in the horror genre?

Sarah Nicklin: I really love the onset experience. I feel like horror films are the most fun films to make. I've worked on several non-horror projects too, which I also really enjoy, but they often don't have the sense of camaraderie that comes with a horror film.

Horror people just have a certain sense of humor and understanding and appreciation for the genre, which makes those sets really fun. It's sometimes hard when I'm on a non-horror set and am trying to relate to people and make a reference to a horror movie and no one has no idea what I'm talking about. There's just a common ground that you already know you're on with horror people.

There's also generally a sense of "ridiculousness", especially when filming the blood and gore - how much blood can you hit an actor in the face with or how gross can you make the prosthetic look. The "worse" it is, the better, and the more fun it is on set to make it. Comedy sets save all the jokes and good times for when the cameras are rolling, but with horror films it's the opposite - all the jokes and good times happen off camera, I think to counterbalance the terrible things that are happening on screen.

[Sarah Nicklin in Garden of Eden]

What are some of your favorite horror films and actors that inspired you to become an actor?

Sarah Nicklin: I actually wasn't inspired by horror films to start acting because I wasn't really allowed to watch them as a kid. The first horror films I saw were Halloween and The Exorcist, back to back at a friend's sleepover party because she had a cool older brother who was able to rent them for us. They absolutely terrified me at the time and exposed me to so many things I was completely unaware of - especially The Exorcist and watching her with the cross as a young girl.

But my affinity for horror didn't really start until later, after I had started acting, once I was out on my own and was able to watch whatever I wanted. I didn't set out to specifically work in horror, but it's a very loyal genre, and once you start working in it, everything just kinda snowballs. So many horror people know each other, know each other's work etc., so once you start to get recognized in the genre, other genre folks want to hire and work with you, and then it just takes off from there.

I started acting because I was absolutely obsessed with Jonathan Taylor Thomas as a pre-teen and was convinced that if I could just become a famous actor that we would meet and be married. So I started doing school plays as soon as I could, even though I was terribly shy and really didn't like it at first. But the more I did it, the more I liked it, and eventually my love for JTT was replaced with a love for the craft of acting.

Are there any other upcoming projects you'd like to share with our readers?

Sarah Nicklin: I'm also in another film that's set to come out in the first quarter of the year too called The Long Game. It's not a horror film, more of a neo-noir thriller, and it stars Kathleen Turner and Jackie Earl Haley. I only have a small role in this one, but it's a really good film directed by Jace Anderson and is her directorial debut, so I really hope that people go out and see it as it's supposedly getting a limited theatrical release.

I'm also part of an all-female ghost hunting show called Ghost Girls, which has allowed me to have some fun with my hobby of ghost hunting, and new episodes of that are coming to Tubi soon.

And If It Bleeds is a cool horror anthology where I got to play more of a comedic role as Doug Jones' absolutely obnoxious receptionist, which is currently in post and will hopefully be released later this year.

Thank you for taking the time to speak with us. Where can our readers find you online?

Sarah Nicklin: Thanks so much for the interview! Best place to find me is on Instagram @sarahnicklin

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To learn more about the film, check out the first five minutes and trailer below, and visit VMI Worldwide.