Get to know the cast of “Babysitter’s Guide To Monster Hunting“!
Just in time for the spookiest day of the year, this monstrous movie is now available to stream on Netflix! The action-packed, slightly scary, yet totally epic flick follows a secret society of babysitters — Kelly (played by Tamara Smart), Liz (played by Oona Laurence), Berna (played by Troy Leigh-Anne Johnson), Cassie (played by Lynn Masako Cheng), and Curtis (played by Ty Consiglio) — in their one shot to save the world from its nightmarish fate!
As if things couldn’t get any more spooktacular, we caught up with this ghoulish cast to chat about everything from their first impressions of their characters, to the biggest lessons learned and friendships made while on set!
How would you each describe your character in just three words?
Tamara: Weird, she’s very weird but in the best way…smart, growth…you see her grow in this movie!
Oona: Strong, opinionated, and rebellious.
Troy: Chill, intelligent, and confident.
Lynn: Analytical, cynical, and kind of cold. She’s not very nice to Kelly!
Ty: Curtis has to be chill, suave, and have great taste in clothing!
Did you read the book before being cast in the on-screen adaptation?
Oona: I hadn’t read the book, but I read it once I knew I was going to be in it, and I loved it! I thought it was the perfect mix of scary and funny. And I definitely saw the characters in myself and I think that’s one of the coolest things about this movie, is that everyone can find someone that they can relate to in it because all of our characters are so well-defined and different and all have their own unique talents!
What was your experience like auditioning for this movie?
Lynn: Originally, my character Cassie was a goth character…and I’m very bright and girly…so I was like ‘I need to find black clothing for this audition!’ but I literally did not have any! So I got this really ugly striped black shirt and I put on a choker that I got in the 6th grade and I wore it. It was not really stylish but I did get the role!
Ty: I actually originally auditioned for a different role! Then after that audition, I went back home and they gave me a call and they were like ‘hey we wanna bring you back in, but we want you to audition for Curtis!’ I thought that was awesome! I read the book around three years ago, and it was an amazing book and I was super hooked into it. So [getting to play Curtis] was awesome!
Did you have to undergo any special training to prepare for this action-packed movie? And from that was there any embarrassing or funny moments that came from any failed stunts or trick?
Tamara: They make us look flawless in the movie, but I can assure you that it looked like nothing really went to plan most of the time! Oona [and I]…we got to go to parkour gyms and do stunt training and it was really fun because we got to do most of our stunt sequences together…there were things that went wrong…[at one point,] I fell in a cage!
Oona: It was so fun! I got to drag Tamara in one of our fight scenes on the ground by the foot! It was just quite fun!
What was it like seeing the transformative looks come to life? Did this project Have you learned anything particular about what goes on in this side of movie-making?
Ty: When I first met everyone at the table read…I met Oona and when we went on set, I thought she was a completely different person. I literally [thought she was] just some random girl with pink hair on set…And then, we all got introduced again, and she was like ‘Hi I’m Oona!’ and I’m like, ‘Huh? What happened to your hair?’ It just surprised me because it was so amazing and so different!
Tamara: We all experienced some sort of a transformation. Ty got highlights! Oona got a wig! Troy got these hair braids in with a funky hairstyle! And I got braids! [It’s a really cool] part of acting…just becoming a whole different person! My costume helped me become Kelly too. Every single thing I had was either hand-sewn or hand-made!
What was the biggest lesson you learned from your fellow castmates while filming the movie?
Troy: The [first person] that comes to mind is Tom [Felton]. Watching him completely transform into another character and just commit to every single last choice he made in such a confident way was really inspirational!
Lynn: I learned so much from everyone on set! This was my first major movie, and just learning from Rachel, our director, and watching how the other actors work…[now] I have this little arsenal of film knowledge that I’m just gonna take with me for the rest of my career.
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