Warning: Spoilers for Alone at Night.Currently available to see in theaters and On Demand, the new horror film Alone At Night takes place during the COVID-19 pandemic. Following a bad breakup, Vicky stays at her friend's remote cabin where she continues to model for an adults-only streaming site. However, one customer's affection takes a dangerous turn, and with the alleged "crowbar killer" on the loose, everyone around her becomes a suspect.
Jon Foster plays the role of Max, a seemingly harmless neighbor who runs into Vicky during her stay. Foster has previously worked on projects such as 9-1-1: Lone Star, Like Father, and Poor Boy. The rest of the Alone at Night cast features Ashley Benson, Jake Weary, Pamela Anderson, Luis Guzmán, Winnie Harlow, G-Eazy, A$AP Nast, Paris Hilton, John Robinson, Cassius Corrigan, and Sky Ferreira.
Jon Foster chats exclusively with Screen Rant about his last-minute casting during the height of the pandemic and preparing for the role in a matter of days.
Jon Foster Talks Alone At Night
Screen Rant: There are so many different types of horror movies out there, so what stuck out to you about Alone at Night?
Jon Foster: For the obvious reasons, it was the middle of the pandemic and the movies is kind of focused on that era—even though I'm not even sure we've yet escaped the pandemic. But while it was happening, my buddy, Jimmy Giannopoulos, the writer, director, and producer, called me up and said, "Hey, we're shooting a really cool, classic-style slasher film in Big Bear, California." And I said, "Sign me up, man. Let's do it."
So you were quarantined during filming?
Jon Foster: Oh, yeah. It was in the middle of [the pandemic]. We were one of the very few productions that got to film during that time. It was pretty intense. I had to quarantine the day I arrived in L.A. I had to quarantine in the hotel room for three days, get tested every single day throughout the entire production, and we were highly advised to not go out and have fun in public. Not that there was even much open at that time. We were all just huddled in a cabin up in the mountains in Big Bear. I think that kind of added to how much fun it actually was because we got to focus on being with each other and enjoying each other's company and working together.
Did you cross paths with anyone from the reality side of the film since they're two separate storylines?
Jon Foster: No, I didn't get to be a part of that. They shot that before and after all the mountain range scenes that we did. So I just flew in for that and flew out. But I did hear that it was a lot of fun shooting with that whole crew.
I would love to know what it was like to get into the headspace of someone like Max. He's quite an interesting character.
Jon Foster: He's definitely an interesting character. There's no doubt about that. Fortunately, when I spoke to Jimmy on the phone about the project and about the character, he was like, "Hey, man, I just want him to be like you. I don't really want anyone to understand truly who this person is until the right moment." So that element of it was easy.
Then the other side of the spectrum, getting in the headspace of that guy...man, I feel like we all have some level of experience of all the different types of people on the internet and I think he's a very specific type of person to say the least. But it wasn't like it was unfamiliar territory, seeing as I've done other horror movies before, and I've played some pretty strange people. So I found it relatively easy enough to slip in and out of those two personalities. I hope that doesn't sound scary. [Laughs]
I was going to ask you about that because Max is also playing a character. What was it like to act as someone who was acting for the majority of the movie?
Jon Foster: That's a very good point. I think it actually just made it a lot more fun. As an actor, that's an extra layer of juiciness that you get to play around with. It is interesting being naturally someone as sadistic as Max is and then have to put on an air of normality to some extent. I think that just made it more fun. It was a nice little onion to peel throughout the filming process.
How much did you actually know about Max before you read the script? Did you already know what the reveal was going to be beforehand?
Jon Foster: I was primed. I was primed before. Funny enough, they had someone else to play that part, but he actually got COVID a couple of days before shooting. And as I said before, Jimmy called me up and said, "Hey, man, I need you out here. Can you get on a plane tomorrow at five in the morning?" And I was like, "Whoa, man. Well, I gotta read the script." And he said, "Well, this is the part, this is the character, I think you're really going to love it." He emailed it to me right then and there. I sat down immediately and read it, and I was like, "This is really fun, man. I really like this character and I like the story." I jumped on a plane at 5am the next day and flew out there.
So this was a last-minute role.
Jon Foster: Very little preparation time for this one. But sometimes that works in your benefit.
And you started shooting right when you got there?
Jon Foster: Yeah, we started shooting three days after I arrived.
How do you prepare for that in three days?
Jon Foster: You can't. You really can't prepare. The best you can do is read the script as many times as you possibly can just to become familiar with the kind of peaks and valleys of everything. But other than that, you've just got to be loose and have fun. Fortunately, I've had decades of experience in this industry as an actor and I think the more you do anything in life, the easier it gets. There wasn't a whole lot of preparation time, so you've just kind of got to jump in and dance.
How was working with Ashley Benson since you share most of your scenes with her?
Jon Foster: Yeah. I love Ashley. She and I were friends before shooting this film. So it was a very easy, you know, "Oh, Ashley's playing the other part? Heck, yes. Sign me up, man. I get to go hang out with my buddy." So that was really fun because we already knew each other, and we'd spent time hanging out. That made it a lot more exciting to be a part of this. I think she did a fantastic job. She's such a talented actor and a great person all around. I was lucky to be able to do this one with her and a couple of other friends that I've had. When you're in the business for a long time, you tend to know a lot of people and get to socialize with those people, and then you occasionally get cast in movies with them. That just is the cherry on top.
What went into creating those action scenes at the end?
Jon Foster: That was a lot of fun. Jake Weary...I think that guy is just brilliant. I love that guy. He's truly a one of a kind gentleman, and it was so much fun shooting with him. Those scenes were tough. It's night shoots, so you're exhausted. You're shooting from sundown to sunup, it was freezing cold up there, and it was a very tight house. The cabin we were shooting in wasn't a fabricated set. It was an actual cabin we were shooting in. That always adds to some type of restrictions or limitations when you're shooting just because of the confined space and how many crew members and actors need to be in that room at any given point. They had some really great stunt coordinators, who I thought were fantastic.
No disrespect to them because I think they did an incredible job coordinating a fight scene, but the fight scene that they had kind of built for it was almost like John Wick or The Matrix. It was so good, and we're going, "Wait, are we trained MMA fighters? How does that work? Shouldn't it be a little bit more scrappy and messy because we don't really know what we're doing, and it's all emotion and very little technique?" The stunt coordinators were gracious enough to work with Jake and I for about an hour or two before the scene to dial in the realistic nature of how scrappy a fight like that would be. That was really cool, being able to work with them, because they were so open-minded to making changes, which we did last minute.
We made it a lot more like, "Well, Jake, if I hit you like this, what would you do?" "Well, I'd probably hit you like that." You're like, "Okay, so I'd probably double over this way, and then I'd knee you in the face." It was kind of fun. We were just kind of building it as we went, and then we rehearsed it a couple more times and then shot it about five or six times and boy, let me tell you, both of us were bruised and sweaty and exhausted after shooting that scene. It was tiring.
So that was all you guys? No stunt actors?
Jon Foster: Yes. That particular fight scene in the woods and in the cabin was all Jake and I. Of course there's a famous crowbar in this movie and there's a rubber crowbar and there's a real crowbar and depending on what swing was happening you wanted the weight of it to actually look like it was heavy. But every time we had to hit each other with it, you had to get the rubber one. So the whole time we were like, "Is that the rubber one? Better make sure. Can I touch it? Can I make sure it's the rubber one?" It was funny. It was good.
About Alone At Night
Vicky (Ashley Benson) is a young woman looking for an escape after going through a harrowing break-up. After retreating to a friend’s remote cabin in the woods to clear her head, she continues modeling sexy lingerie for her devoted followers on 18 & Over, an adults-only, live-streaming website. But when the power keeps going out, Vicky discovers something terrifying awaiting her in the dark — a masked killer wielding a crowbar who’s hellbent on bringing her night to a grisly end. Alone at Night is led by an ensemble cast including Benson (Pretty Little Liars), Pamela Anderson (Baywatch), Luis Guzmán (Traffic), model Winnie Harlow, musician G-Eazy, rapper A$AP Nast, Paris Hilton, and more.
Check out our other Alone at Night interview with Director Jimmy Giannopoulos.
Alone At Night is currently available in theaters and On Demand.