A savvy scammer meets a surgeon with a sick sense of morality in the new horror movie Twisted. Lauren LaVera stars as a scam artist who tangles with a neurosurgeon played by Djimon Hounsou.
LaVera, best known for her role in the ultra-bloody Terrifier franchise, is no stranger to the horror genre.
“I don’t know what it is about me that directors want to just throw all the blood on me,” LaVera told ABC Audio.
LaVera’s first major role in the industry came on the set of the M. Night Shyamalan thriller Split, where she played a body double for Anya Taylor-Joy.
“I was terrified, because I love M. Night Shyamalan,” LaVera said.
She said The Sixth Sense director would often bring her behind the camera to observe the directing process.
“Seeing that kind of passion for this art form really influenced me,” LaVera said. “I saw that you can be this kind person and this incredible artist at the same time.”
In Twisted, LaVera tackles a morally complex character in Paloma, a grifter who attempts to sell rented properties to unsuspecting buyers — until she crosses Hounsou’s Dr. Robert Kezian, who’s on a mission to bring his dead wife back from the grave.
LaVera said Paloma isn’t so different from her Terrifier character, Sienna.
“If we’re using these two women on opposite ends of the moral spectrum — they just had different upbringings. And it’s kind of like that nature versus nurture.”
Another similarity between Terrifier and Twisted is an emphasis on practical horror effects.
“It’s like assisted acting,” said LaVera. “When you have practicals, you can literally see what’s happening in the scene, and that will help influence your reaction to that.”
But it is still gross, she said: “I do not like being covered in blood. Especially when it’s sticky.”
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