About the Character
Lucy Bell lived in Tennessee, 1880. She was a mother of four - Betsy Bell (being the central character in the film), John Bell Jr., her eldest son, and two other younger sons. Her husband, John Bell, is the other main protagonist of the film. Lucy Bell is a typical American farmer’s wife from that period in the mountains of Tennessee. And yet, Lucy Bell, an ordinary woman faces extraordinary circumstances. This is something that I have always found interesting in a character.
In reality, being American and living in a farm was my biggest preparation for the film. Also, I worked a while with Courtney Solomon, the director, before we began shooting. He really does approach the film in a very cinematic way.
About the story
An American Haunting is a very interesting story. It is a well-documented script about a haunted family in 1880, Mountain Tennessee… There are many books written about the story, and there are in fact records kept in the state’s archives. Whether it is true or not, we don’t know. Popular belief is that these things truly did occur.
An American Haunting is a unique story, a different story. It is not a horror film, but a psychological thriller, and one for which I have high hopes. I think the audience will be scared to death and that people will lock their window and doors! An American Haunting is a bit like a carnival ride. There are so many special effects: every wall pulls out, the ceilings comes off… But the special effects have been done in the classical way, the old fashioned way, which will actually make the film more frightening! I hope people will enjoy it.
I also think that this film has something in common with other very good psychological horror films, by Hitchcock or Spielberg… Courtney Solomon is a real student of psychological thrillers and also a real fan of this genre. I used to call him my little techno-nerd! It is amazing how he loves to handle at least two cameras same time!
Filming in Romania
One of last days I was emailing home, saying ‘Well, now, all the signs mean something to me. One day I walked outside and looked around and everything made sense. I was in Romania for several months and it has been lovely.’ The members of the crew, whom I adored, were from Romania, Germany, France, Canada, United Kingdom, and USA, even New Zealand. A super-international crew! So many filmmakers at Mediapro Studios, once like in a little caravan, in a circle, for the night. And there is a funny thing: wherever you would be, film people are the same. There is an universal language, which is beautiful, as we can breakthrough any cultural barriers that might exist. Truth is that film people are film people.
On set
I remember one of the most emotional scenes, when the Entity was taking our daughter and dragging her up the staircase... Horrible. We were just blocking through, and I was doing the scene. Suddenly, Matthew Marsh lifted me up horizontally and held me there! Nobody on set was serious anymore! And so after that I was Supermom!
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