Cassidy Gifford is no stranger to show business: She grew up watching her mother, Kathie Lee, on the stage and screen. Now 21 and primed for her own Hollywood moment, she chats with Backstage about playing a scream queen in “The Gallows.”
On getting spooked on set.
“I had never believed in ghost stories or anything. I got there thinking I was tough and not scared at all, but we actually filmed in [what is] supposedly one of the most haunted places in America: the Veterans Memorial in Fresno, Calif. It was one of the craziest experiences of my life, but I think that’s what made the movie what it was. When we were in it, we were in it.”
On getting her start in horror.
“I feel like it gives you the opportunity to express a range in so many different ways. For ‘The Gallows,’ I had the opportunity to play with comedy and to play with drama and to play with horror. I can’t even begin to tell you how much I learned.”
On her mother’s advice.
“My mom and I are very close…. Her main thing, when she came down to it—because she tried to steer me away from [acting], actually—was, like, ‘If you love it enough and you’re willing to work your ass off for it, then I will support you 100 percent.’ She always told me, ‘When you get that one line, be so great that they give you two more.’ ”
On her character, Cassidy.
“[Having the same name] was a complete choice on our directors’ behalf because they wanted the reactions to be as real and genuine as possible. At first I was kind of skeptical, because [with] my character I play a little bit more of the ditzy, token blonde cheerleader that you’d kind of think of as just a throwaway. But as we went on, I really appreciated the fact that that was the direction they decided to go with because it did feel so much more real.”
On nailing the callback.
“At first I was so nervous because already a callback is so anxiety-riddled, but the fact that I had to read with all the cast, who were already friends—two of them were dating already—I was like, ‘OK, the odds are against me.’ But I went in and I just instantly clicked with every single one of them. If anything, that one callback has changed my approach to auditioning. I learned that going into it you need to realize that the people that you’re reading for and reading with really want you to do well. That is the reason you’re in that room. You have to look at it as a privilege to be there. You get that one moment to play with that one character and make that first impression, and after that, it’s all in their hands; that one moment is the one time that the process is in yours.”
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