How far would you go to get to the top? Would you backstabbing your best friend be worth it? In the new horror film, Torn Hearts, best friends Leigh and Jordan are looking for their big break in the music industry. As they learn about the cutthroat nature of the business, the girls are slowly pitted against each other when they seek out the help of music iconHarper Dutch.
The country music spin on Torn Hearts puts a spotlight on the horrors women tend to face in the entertainment industry. Grant spoke about her love for stories about complicated protagonists, the process of casting the three female leads, and the problem of pitting women against each other in the entertainment industry.
This interview has been edited for clarity and length.
You love telling stories about complicated women. What makes you want to read these stories?
A lot of women have been in genre movies for a long time. Even though they are the hero, they are not that complicated. I don't want to say that the final girl is a virgin, but she is often. She hasn't done anything wrong. She is innocent. There is something more interesting about women who have done things and have flaws. We have been telling the stories about men with flaws for a long time. I think it's time for women to be treated the same as men in our stories. I think it's more interesting.
What stood out to you when you read the script?
Have you ever seen a movie about horror in the country music scene? It was something I had never seen before. There are not many movies about it. There are some dramas. There are some musicals. There isn't much set in the country music world. There has never been a horror movie in that world.
How did you find the three leads? Are you looking for actresses that could sing?
Absolutely. It was frightening at first because I wanted them to be able to sing. I want to be able to do this live. I don't want to have to call people names. I didn't know if it was possible. Los Angeles, New York, Atlanta, and all these other cities have multi-hyphenates who can sing. I also have tapes in Nashville. The amount of talent in these cities is an embarrassment.
They both sent in tapes of them singing. I was familiar with his work. She is in a film called The Half of It, which is great if you have never seen it before. Alexxis has a great voice. She is not a professional singer. She doesn't have any training, but she is an amazing voice. A guitarist and singer by the name of Abby, she also has an incredible voice. I loved the idea of them together.
Katey was on my list from the beginning. I was looking for someone who we've seen do a lot of things. We have seen her do comedy and drama. Wouldn't it be great to see her do a horror movie? She can sing. I felt like she could do this character and do her justice without going over the top with her, but I needed someone to draw us all in. I need someone who people immediately want to watch and see what this woman is going to do.
When Katey is on-screen, it's very hard to look away from her.
She is like that in real life as well. She walked on the set and everyone was kind of quiet. Everyone is acting strange because Katey walked in.
Music is a big part of the film. How did you choose the songs? Did you hire artists to write original songs?
It was amazing that Rachel wrote lyrics to the songs that she thought would be the lyrics for the songs. Normally, I feel like we would be starting from scratch, but we brought on a music producer named Alan and he read the lyrics and was like, "I think I can make this work." The ones that were being done should be similar to pop music. They are like pop-country. They are trying to break into the mainstream, unlike the ones that the Dutchess Sisters did. I wanted them to be a bit older than that. Unfortunately, one of the songs didn't make it to the movie. Those should feel a little bit like country.
We talked a lot about it after I sent him examples. I gave him notes after he wrote the songs and arranged them. It took us about a week to do it. The movie's turnaround time was fast. We did that, and then the two of them came to New Orleans. They were put in the studio for a day so we could record their songs. It was a quick process and it was fun. It felt like you should just go with your gut. The songs have to feel like the kind of songs that we are trying to emulate here.
The idea that outside forces are trying to pit these two girls against each other is one of the bigger themes in the movie. In the movie, Jordan is told how one person usually makes it in a group. Leigh's manager/boyfriend tells her she might be better off on her own. It was important to establish the idea of pitting women against each other from the beginning.
I wanted to make sure people walked away with something because I believe that when women fight each other, we all lose. It tends to pit women against each other, not just like being up for the same jobs, but also like one woman per set or one female lead in a movie.
I wanted to show that on-screen and how it is affecting them so that we don't have a lot of judgement towards them. They were put into the situation and they did what their characters would do in that situation. If they were put up against this, what would they do? They do what they have to do because they think this is the only way to succeed.
It is billed as a horror film, but it is almost like a tragedy as the characters get built up and then fall down. I was wondering if you watched it the same way.
I like that. I make movies that aren't in a specific genre. I like my movies to have a lot of genre elements. This one has some action in it. It has some horror elements. There are a lot of thriller elements. I think Misery is a horror movie, but it is a slow-burn horror movie. I like to have fun with my movies. It's hard for me to define the genre. At some point, people will be like, "Oh, it's a Brea Grant flick."
What is the biggest lesson the audience can learn from this film?
I want people to have fun. My goal is always with movies. I want people to have a good time and see something they have never seen before. I want people to sympathize with the characters. I sympathize with them. I felt like they did things that should not have been done. I want people to be with them.
The digital edition of Torn Hearts will be available on May 20.
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