I got the opportunity to interview Becky Wilson last week, the young star of the movie Becky, in which she plays the title role alongside Joel McHale and Kevin James. Wilson has also starred in the HBO series Sharp Objects and the Netflix series The Haunting of Hill House, as well as films like Ouija: Origin of Evil and Annabelle: Creation. Wilson is a great up and coming actress, and it was really fun to talk to her.
Check out the interview below, and see her in Becky in Drive-In theaters, On VOD and On Demand tomorrow, Friday, June 5th.
Lulu Wilson: Hello, hello!
Jessica Fisher: Hi Lulu! How are you?
LW: I’m good, how about you?
JF: I’m doing well, thanks. It’s so good to talk to you. I was able to watch Becky last week, and you gave an awesome performance. It was really fun to watch.
LW: Thank you, thank you! I’ve seen it so far twice, and when I got the link, I would watch specific scenes over and over again. It is very fun to watch! I would agree with that.
JF: So what were the best and worst parts of filming in the woods and playing such a physical role?
LW: Surprisingly, I’ve filmed in the woods a lot, and luckily we had like a perfect climate, which is usually the worst part. It’s usually either way too hot, and you’re wearing too many clothes, or it’s way too cold. There were days where the weather was not our best friend, and the mosquitos are not fun. But actually, I loved the action. I didn’t really care if I was being bitten up by mosquitos, I was just having so much fun jumping on top of people, and stabbing them. (Laughs) It was almost therapeutic, I mean, I’m an angry teenager, Becky’s an angry teenager, we were in this together, you know?
JF: Yeah! That’s so cool. So with such a violent and serious story, how did you guys keep it light on set?
LW: Nobody really stayed in their character when the cameras weren’t rolling. Joel [McHale] is such a funny person. We had so much fun in that car scene, ‘cause we were stuck in that car for quite some time. But everyone was so nice, and we had such a great time, like even when I was getting special effects makeup, or hair and makeup in general. I made friends with everyone. There wasn’t a single person I didn’t got along with, which is amazing.
JF: Yeah, that’s awesome. I figured Joel McHale, he’s pretty funny, and with him playing your dad, that you guys would need to build some sort of a bond. That makes sense. But I did wonder, because I always seen Kevin James as such a funny guy, so this was such a different role for him. So did he and Robert Maillet stay in character, or were they fun on set as well?
LW: Oh, everyone was just really fun! I mean, it’s really interesting to see people do method acting, but they were just really contributing to keeping the mood light on set. And they would always make sure that I was okay if we were doing something really action heavy, or action based. And my scenes with Kevin, aka Dominick, were really action heavy. The first scene that I actually shot with Kevin was me stabbing his eye out. Actually, that was my first day on set!, which is incredibly crazy, but good, because it throws you right in, you know? And after that, you feel like you are prepared to do anything. And on one of the first takes, I had the real key in my hand, and when we were doing it, obviously I had to stop before hitting his eye, but I accidentally actually hit his eye! And it was the worst feeling. Especially because he’s such a sweet guy. Maybe if I didn’t like him, it would have been a little better, but I do like him, so I was like, “Oh no!”.
JF: Man, that’s rough! So at the end of the movie, it was pretty open-ended for Becky. What do you think happened to her, and do you think she ever mentally recovered?
LW: You know, I don’t know. She did go through a lot, most of it by her own doing, which I find pretty badass, but I don’t know. I think there are so many possibilities of what could have happened to Becky. I talked about it a little bit, and kind of joked about it with [directors] Jon (Milott) and Cary (Murnion), but we never really though of a period ending to her story. I like movies though that are kind of open-ended. Like a choose your own adventure.
JF: For sure. So you’ve worked on plenty of horror projects, as well as drama, you were amazing in Sharp Objects! (LW: Thank you!) You’re welcome! You’ve done sci-fi and comedy, so what has been your favorite, and what do you have left on your bucket list?
LW: Oh my, I think action. It was so fun. I even wanted to go back to work on the weekend. I didn’t want it to be the weekend. That is a fact. I would wake up in the morning and be like, ‘Mom, I want to go back to work. This isn’t fair.’ So I would love to do action again. Comedy is always great too, I love to laugh, but yeah, action would be great.
JF: And what can you tell me about your upcoming series Valley Trash with Jason Lee?
LW: Yeah, well actually, we haven’t filmed the pilot yet because of COVID, which was really upsetting, because I really do love that project. I made a lot of bonds with the other people in the cast, and actually the actress who is playing my mom in Valley Trash, we’ve been FaceTiming every day, and writing together, and talking a lot about Valley Trash. I think it’s going to be great, and I really hope that people are going to be able to see it, and we are able to film soon so I can work with these amazing people.
JF: Yes. I’m hoping things settled down and everything can get back to normal. Thank you so much for talking to me. I really enjoyed your performance, and I can’t wait to see what’s next for you.
LW: Thank you!
Note: The ABC pilot series Valley Trash has not yet been picked up to series.