Just in time for Halloween, Brit Shaw hits the big screen for franchise finale “Paranormal Activity: The Ghost Dimension,” where she plays Emily Fleege, a mother trying to save her family from the demonic Toby.
On joining “Paranormal Activity” as Emily.
“I wish I could tell you a lot more, but it’s so top-secret. [There’s] my character and my husband, Ryan, and we have a little girl. The hauntings happen in our house and we’re trying to figure out how to save our daughter. Emily is a strong mother figure and a fighter. I think that’s really something that I go toward: someone that has a strong point of view and that has a place in the world of the movie.”
On getting over her fear.
“I remember seeing the first ‘Paranormal Activity’ with my hands over my face. The whole time I’m thinking, Why am I here? I won’t be able to sleep tonight! I always said to myself that when I do a scary movie, I won’t be scared of scary movies anymore, and it’s kind of worked for me.”
On the filming process.
“Because it’s found footage, we film a lot of it ourselves. I learned a lot about the camera. I feel like I could get my Directors Guild card now because we were all such a part of it! It was so cool being an actor and also being behind the scenes in that way, and helping craft each scene with everyone. It was a huge collaboration.”
On the franchise’s lasting appeal.
“I think [audiences want more] because [the filmmakers] do such a good job of making it feel real. For a while, they kept so much under wraps that you didn’t know if they were actors or [not]. But at this point, because it’s such a big franchise, everyone knows that we’re actors and it’s like any other movie. It’s just that they have this clever way of making people feel like these people are real. It’s also a story that we’re telling [where] everything builds on each other. [Audiences] want to know this Toby person—this demon—that’s haunting Katie and Kristi. We’re all part of that story.”
On making her horror debut.
“I respect this genre so much. There’s a lot of people who do [horror] first, and I think that it’s definitely opened doors for me as an actor and for people I’ve seen in the past…. And they’re fun to make!”
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