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iHorror: Hi Jesse Mac! Thank you for sitting down with us at iHorror and talking about your role as The Doctor in New Fears Eve! How did you get into acting?
Jesse Mac: So actually, the movie was my first audition for anything. I had never acted before. I didn’t even know how to audition. I was going for the part of the FBI agent, so I showed up in a suit with a black tie because I figured that’s what the agent would wear. I even brought a cup of coffee, so I kind of had a prop with me during the audition. They immediately made fun of me for that lol.
So I read for the FBI agent, and then P.J. (writer, director) kept handing me different parts to try. I read for Moses, then I read for Brian. He kept saying ‘try it this way, try it that way.’
iHorror: So how did you land getting the role of The Doctor?
J.M.: When I was reading for Brian he said try it like Jason Bateman from Ozarks. PJ really liked what I did, but he already had Lily Claire-Harvey in mind for the lead role of Leslie, and the visual age gap between us was a little too much.
Now that’s not what he told me when he called me on the phone. He said, ‘Don’t get me wrong. You’re a good actor. We just auditioned better actors.’ I said that’s fair. It’s my first audition I’ve ever been on. Then he said; ‘But you’re 6’2”, do you wanna kill everybody?’
In which case I said ‘absolutely!’
iHorror: Are you a fan of the genre?
I do like horror movies. However, I’ll be honest with you, I had no idea how massive the fanbase is! Now P.J. and Eric, those two are the true horror fans.
iHorror: How did you get familiar with the fanbase after filming?
JM: I started going with P.J. and Eric to conventions. I learned why the only way you can make an independent crowd funded movie is by appealing to the amazing multitude of horror movie fans.
iHorror: I can only imagine how hard it was to keep a straight face while filming the dildo kill scene… not that it mattered to you since you were behind a mask!
JM: I called it the killdo lol.
Jason Crowe (lLance) and I were throwing it back-and-forth like a father and son playing catch in the backyard, and Eric (director and producer) came in yelling at us because they only had two dildos to use. I guess there was a possibility we could’ve broken one lol.
Whenever you’re doing a movie and you have props or costumes, the one that looks the best and that you will be using for the close-up shots is called the “hero”. Like if you have a really shiny knife that looks great on camera, it’s the “hero knife”. But the one you jab into someone’s back is just the other one.
So Eric came into the room yelling “You guys are gonna mess up the hero dildo!!”
Jason and I got into a lot of trouble on set because of our shenanigans!
iHorror: Was the on screen costume the first idea P.J. and Eric had for you to wear?
JM: Well, P.J. always talked about how important the plague doctor combined with Jack the Ripper was for him in developing the character during the pandemic. And here’s a fun fact: the coat that I’m wearing in the movie was actually worn by Eric in a previous movie. They just added the shoulder pieces.
iHorror: It must have been really cool working with Felissa Rose (Sleepaway Camp). She looks very rough and tumble, like she can take a hit.
JM: Yeah! I had to pick her up and drag her into the bathroom while kicking open stall doors. They had to cut a lot of it because my hat kept falling off, but we had to do take after take. She was definitely down!
iHorror: Were you aware she is horror movie royalty when you worked with her?
JM: I knew that she was revered, and everybody on set was so excited to see her. She was so kind to all of the fans. Felissa is a real inspiration of how someone who is famous and popular should act. She is very gracious to her fans. I can’t say enough good things about my interactions with her.
iHorror: What did you bring to The Doctor that wasn’t on the page?
JM: Definitely my stance and demeanor. I made a lot of conscious choices of how to stand, walk, and move. At the end of the day it could be anyone under the mask, but I wanted to make sure that I left my mark.
iHorror: Definitely! Your choices have cemented the character of The Doctor in movie history! Now if anyone else portrays him, not that I think you’d ever be replaced, they will have big shoes to fill!
iHorror: Thank you so much for taking the time to talk with us at iHorror! And congratulations to all of your success in New Fears Eve!
New Fears Eve is now available to watch on Screambox, Amazon Prime, Roku, Fandango, and YouTube.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=videoseries
