13 Things I learned from Maria Bello at the Lights Out Press Day
On Sunday, July 17, 2016, I was lucky enough to sit down with some of the cast and crew of the upcoming horror film, Lights Out. Each interview lasted about 15 minutes and was an absolutely blast. Everyone was very friendly and I learned a lot from everyone who I got the chance to talk with. Instead of trying to combine every single interview into one really long article, I have decided to break down each of the interviews into a series of interesting tidbits that I found to be the most interesting. I will be releasing one daily leading up to the release of the film on Friday, July 22, 2016. The interviews will be released in the order in which they were conducted so the first will be actress Maria Bello, the second will be writer Eric Heisserer and producer Lawrence Grey, the third will be Teresa Palmer and Alexander DiPersia, and the last will be director David F. Sandberg and his wife Lotta Losten.
Interview: Maria Bello
13. Bello is not the type of actress who likes when a project moves along slowly. She is a big fan of working quickly, however, she pointed out that when working on bigger projects, she doesn’t mind them taking time as long as the cast and story is worth it.
12. When reading scripts, if the story or the character resonates with her, Bello will usually say yes to the film or television show.
11. The Journey is the Destination will premiere at the 2016 Toronto International Film Festival. Bello is an executive producer and also stars in the film.
10. Maria Bello wrote a book about her bi-polar depression. The book was released in 2015 and is called Whatever…Love Is Love: Questioning the Labels We Give Ourselves.
9. While she enjoyed being part of a horror film, Bello admitted that she isn’t a fan of the horror genre and more specifically dislikes the slasher horror genre. She is however a fan of thrillers.
8. She looked at her young co-star Gabriel Bateman as a adult. She thinks he was very mature, smart, and talented.
7. Bello pointed out that she is the type of person who sleeps with a knife near the side of her bed. She is someone who if she hears a noise in her house, she will go and investigate it. She isn’t afraid of things that go bump in the night.
6. Was inspired by David F. Sandberg‘s short film Lights Out and was so impressed that he had no ego whatsoever. She loved working with Sandberg on the film and felt like he displayed a lot of passion towards the filmmaking process.
5. Thinks of mental illness as a universal thing. She loves when people open up and talk about things such as bi-polar disorder.
4. Bello thinks the ending of the film is a real surprise because its a personal battle between her as mother and her friendship with the entity Diana.
3. She views the day her son was born as the best and worst day of her life. It was the best because she knew she would never love anyone the way she would love him. It is the worst because she can’t always be there to protect him and still struggles with that concept today.
2. Maria Bello is so excited about female driven films. She is producing a lot of films and is working on several projects including one with Viola Davis and another with the Sundance Institute. Bello mentioned that there is only 4% of women who are currently working in front and behind of the camera.
1.The main reason why Bello took this role was because when she pulled back the horror elements, there was this strong family drama that she really connected with.
