When Final Destination hit theaters in the year 2000, it changed the horror film genre as we knew it. Absent was a Mike Myers, Freddie Kruger or Jason-type bad guy hunting down partying teenagers.
When Final Destination hit theaters in the year 2000, it changed the horror film genre as we knew it.
Absent was a Mike Myers, Freddie Kruger or Jason-type bad guy hunting down partying teenagers.
Instead audiences were thrilled with spectacular and unexpected murders of the film’s heroes by a mysterious supernatural force, the nature of which remains unknown to this day.
While some of the movies in the series have received mixed reviews, the producers of the latest installment, Final Destination 5, promise a return to the original spirit of the franchise.
Final Destination 5 premieres this Friday and after kickin’ it with stars Jacqueline MacInnes Wood, Miles Fisher and Ellen Wroe, we’re looking forward to another great story, interesting characters and, of course, mad surprises.
Check out our interview with the stars of Final Destination 5 below!
GG: Where was the opening premonition scene shot?
Jacqueline MacInnes Wood: We did exterior shots of a bridge in Vancouver and they actually built a bridge too. On the way to Whistler, there was an amazing cliff and they built everything there. It looked exactly like a bridge and they had a green screen, so that’s where they did a lot of the stunts.
Towards the end of shooting around December, they made a bridge replica indoors with a green screen. It was on hydraulics so we were flying on there and the cars were coming at you pretty quick.
Miles Fisher: Yeah, there were three bridge sets around the whole shoot. Additionally, we shoot these out of sequence so one day it’s an emotional scene inside a house, then the next day you have to hang from wires suspended eight feet above a bridge, so it was wild.
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Ellen, how did you prepare for your role as a gymnast in the movie? Did you find that difficult?
Ellen Wroe: I did and that was what I thought was particularly exciting. I was a gymnast for 15 years, so when I found out I got the role, I immediately called a bunch of gymnastics places in L.A. and started training. I had about eight weeks to prepare.
The situations in these Final Destination movies are so unbelievable and crazy sometimes, is it ever funny shooting them?
Miles: This is the fifth movie in a well established franchise and you have all these fans and you want them to be happy with the next installment. If you ask any fan waiting outside the theater, ‘What are you excited about?’ They always say, ‘I can’t wait for the deaths’ and, ‘This one better be good! It should be more eye popping and explosive than before.’
In the film for us acting, it’s all serious performances. But yeah, the audience is kind of in on the joke.
Jacqueline: I’m a big horror fan, but I don’t enjoy a lot of gore and watching somebody cut their leg off for five hours. I like the older movies where it draws you into the suspense, that sort of shock and awe. It’s like that show 1,000 Ways to Die, people can actually die that freakish way.
Miles: Also it’s great that there’s no psycho murderer, there’s no guy with a mask, no person in real life. It’s the spirit of death that comes after you, so it’s not as threatening. I can’t go see those torturous films, but this one I don’t think you’re gonna have nightmares because you think, ‘This is all supernatural.’
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Does acting in a movie like this prompt discussions of what you believe in? That maybe there is a list somewhere with everyone’s date and time?
Miles: I think everyday we live in a world where access to information is always increasing. We’re so used to having sources like Wikipedia and looking something up and saying, ‘Oh there it is.’
So to have a movie where there is no answer when a bridge collapses and hundreds of your friends die … how do explain it? There are no answers. We’re so used to having the answers, so I think the supernatural questions that arise from that are interesting and engaging.
What was it like shooting all those scenes suspended from wires? We’re sure at first it sounds cool, but when you actually get up there, you have a whole other perspective.
Jacqueline: For me I’m very hands on, so I was really excited about it. But like you said, when you actually get up there you’re like, OK this isn’t just a one time thing, we’re gonna be up here for the next ten hours! It’s grueling, it’s very challenging for all of us.
Ellen: You’re not even really acting, at that point you really are screaming!
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This is the fifth movie in this franchise; what do you think keeps fans coming back?
Miles: Initially I think the sense of fun, that it feels like a roller-coaster ride. It’s like an amusement park and every seven minutes you’re going on another ride. It also keeps on pushing the technology, so it’s more explosive every single time.
What would you be doing if you weren’t acting, would you be a gymnast Ellen?
Ellen: I probably wouldn’t be a gymnast because I quit for acting. But maybe a civil engineer, I’ve always loved math and numbers and geometry.
Miles: Probably something with the internet, I’m fascinated with the internet and with everything that’s going on. Something in that space with visual media.
Jacqueline: Probably something in fashion. I DJ and produce music, so also an electronic DJ.
