Charlotte Vega Interview: Wrong Turn

After six entries based on the same formula of “young people in the woods get killed and eaten by Appalachian mutant cannibals,” the Wrong Turn franchise has decided to change things up for its latest entry, a full-tilt reboot that replaces the monstrous non-humans with a tribe of isolationist survivalists called The Foundation. They’re neither mutants nor cannibals, but gore-hounds can rest assured knowing they show no mercy when it comes to hunting their prey.

The new Wrong Turn is a departure for the series in many ways, but still retains grisly gore and brutal kills for blood-thirsty viewers to enjoy. In addition, the new film adds a degree of pathos and genuine human drama never-before-seen in the franchise, touching upon the tribalism of 21st century America that has so many of her citizens butting heads over their differences, rather than their shared values. Charlotte Vega stars as Jen, a girl who gets lost in the woods with her friends and inevitably encounters The Foundation, leading to harrowing conflict and some brutal kills.

SCREENRANT VIDEO OF THE DAY

While promoting the release of Wrong Turn, Charlotte Vega spoke to Screen Rant about her work on the film and her career as an actor. She talks about exploring the Cincinnati, Ohio area with her castmates, catching up on the original movie after being cast in the reboot, and what it was like to shoot some of her more intense, harrowing scenes. She also reflects on her opportunity to absorb Hollywood stories and wisdom from her co-star, Full Metal Jacket actor Matthew Modine.

Wrong Turn is out now in theaters, Digital, and VOD.

Where are you hanging your hat these days, if I may ask?

I’m in Barcelona, Spain. I’m in my hometown. It’s nice, by the sea. It’s quite lovely here. I can’t complain.

Was going to Ohio to shoot Wrong Turn your first trip to the States?

It wasn’t, but it was my first time in that part of the country.

Was it everything you hoped for?

(Laughs) It was so beautiful. Everyone was so lovely, and everyone in the cast and crew. We had a good time, but we were kind of in the middle of nowhere. We went into Cincinnati a couple of times, but we basically just had each other, which I guess helped with the chemistry in the film. So that was a good thing!

Sure. I talked to Adain Bradley earlier. He was talking about how there was a very cozy vibe.

Yes, definitely.

He also told me that you shot the first part of the movie chronologically. Your first scenes in the movie were the first things you shot. Did you have a significant rehearsal time, or did you kind of hit the ground running as soon as you landed in Ohio?

I think we had, if I remember correctly, we had a week or so, about a week of getting to know each other and some read-throughs with Mike, and hanging out. We got to know each other so there would be good chemistry and doing all our makeup and wardrobe tests and all that. We were all living in the same place. It wasn’t like anybody was home. We were all in the same boat, and we hung out all the time and had dinners together and would hang out in each other’s rooms. That was the best rehearsal for the first part of the film. That’s what you’re seeing, a group of friends doing what they do, hanging out at bars and going hiking. I think that’s the best we could have done, really.

Take me back to before then. Did you audition for the movie? Does your agent call you up and go, “Hey, you’ve gotta read this script!” What’s the process of getting involved like for you?

In this case, I think I got the script, and they said, “Have a read. And if you’d like, you can have a call with Mike, the director.” I had a call with him. This was two summers ago. We had a really lovely Skype chat. It was before Zoom times. We had a really lovely chat about the script, and about his vision, and I just saw so much passion in him. I think we had good chemistry, and we connected, and then I got the offer! I was super-super thrilled. I got such good vibes from Mike, and I really liked his vision for the film.

Had you seen any of the other movies? Did you have an opinion on the lack of traditional mutant cannibals?

(Laughs) Yes, there’s no Three-Finger! (Laughs) No, I have to admit, I hadn’t watched any of them until I got the script, and then I watched the original. I had to see what it was all about! So I called some friends over because I was a bit of a scaredy cat, so I said, “Guys, come and watch this with me, please, because it might be really terrifying. And it was! It was terrific, wonderful, and mad. I loved it. But this one is a bit of a different take, and a bit of a reimagining.

It’s the kind of reboot, reimagining, whatever nomenclature you want to use, that works so well in a seventh entry.

Yeah.

You think you know what the formula is by now, and it completely flips it on its head and is, like, “You don’t know, man!”

Yeah, “You’ve taken a wrong turn, too!”

Exactly! Okay, so Matthew Modine plays your dad.

He does. Lucky me!

I got to talk to him earlier this week, and he was a darling. Tell me, did you get to hang and do any kind of bonding with him, or was he a big diva, like, “I’ll be in my trailer!”

Ha! No, he definitely wasn’t that. I think nobody could keep him in his trailer, which was something of a nightmare for the PAs, but lovely for everyone else. He wanted to get stuck in and get his hands dirty and be there with everyone, which is really lovely.

When you’re working with a veteran, a star, do you try to take the time to pick his brain and get advice or stuff like that, or do you play it cool?

Well, you’ve gotta play it a little cool! (Laughs) You can’t be too obvious. But Matthew was always telling so many stories. So everyone… It was almost like storytime when he was there. He’d share anecdotes and stories from filming different things, and we’d all just be sitting there, kind of in awe, listening to him. I guess I got to pick his brain in that way, but it was very casual, I wasn’t obvious.

I’m trying to wonder what it would be like to play it cool. Like, if he mentions Full Metal Jacket, you’d be, like, “Oh, cool. Well, I liked Platoon better, but that’s good, too.” Just playing it cool.

And everyone else was asking, too, so I’d get to hear the answers without having to ask.

Okay, now let’s go back even further in the timeline. When did you first become an actor? Was it always your dream even as a little girl, or was it something you fell into, family business, tell me about your career trajectory.

I feel like it’s probably quite a boring one and other people probably have more exciting ones… It wasn’t like, all my life I wanted to be an actress. I did horse-riding since I was four, and that took up every single day of my life after school and the weekends. I didn’t really ever think about anything else. I was like, I guess I’ll just keep on horse-riding. But when I was 13 or 14, I said to my mom, “I’d really like to try a drama course.” And she was, like, “what?” I’d never mentioned anything like it before. I always really loved films. I loved messing around and playing in my room with my friends and pretending we were this, that, and the other. But I had never said anything like that to my mother, and she was like, “Really? You’re so shy! I can’t imagine you doing that…” But I did the summer course, and just loved it. I guess horse riding is a really solitary sport, and I loved doing improv with all these wonderful, different people of different ages. Everyone was just not shy at all. I admired them so much. They were all just wacky and fun. I got into it, but didn’t think much of it, I thought it was just a hobby, I never thought I could actually have a career in it. I thought, this is so cool and I love it, but that’s it. But then it started to get to the point where I was getting older and I had to think about what I wanted to do next. My friends were applying to university or college, and I realized the only thing I wanted to do was acting. It was the only thing that made me feel happy, like I could do it for the rest of my life. I guess, since it’s such a crazy industry, I never let myself believe that it could really happen, so it was step-by-step. I got an agent, and then I got my first film, and it started to feel a little bit more real. But you still never know when you’re going to work and if it’s going to be your last job… It keeps you real.

Do you still consider yourself an equestrian, do you still ride?

I haven’t done any horse riding since I was about 18. Now, it’s more just a love for horses. But I wouldn’t want to do any more riding. I have a different take on it now. I appreciate them as beautiful beings, as beautiful creatures. I think horse riding is over for me, sadly.

I imagine there’s a physical discipline that comes from that world, and this is a very physical movie. Are you a workout girl by default, or did you have to do any particular training before you started making the movie?

I love sports and I love to try and stay in shape. I do lots of Yoga. I’m not much of a runner, and I don’t do any kind of hit workouts or anything, but I definitely wanted to be in shape, just because of how physically demanding the film was going to be. I love hiking. I don’t do anything super intense, but I’m okay. And eating well, getting enough sleep, trying to do lots of Yoga to stay relaxed. It was pretty intense. My arms and knees were black from bruises. We all were like that. Because you just get so into it! You let yourself roll down or you throw yourself out there, and they’re like, “Dude, be careful!” But you just go for it!

Were you there when Adain exploded his knee?

Oh yeah. That scene was with me, yes.

I’m sure it wasn’t your fault, though!

That was all we needed! Poor Adain!

He’s feeling much better now! Okay, you’ve got some really intense scenes. Really scary stuff, some seriously intense stuff with Bill Sage, especially the “court” sequence. How do you keep up the intensity during those scenes, what do you tap into as an actor?

Those were really, really intense. We shot those scenes in the cave over a few nights. The challenge was staying in that “zone.” I guess. That’s such a horrible word to use, to “stay in that acting zone.” And being able to “tap back into it” quickly. (Laughs) But the space, the location, it really really helped. You can see it in the film, and that’s how it really felt in real life. It was very dark. It was dusty. And we had the torches, and it was very cramped. The atmosphere really helped. And the rest of the cast, everybody was just so on it all the time. It was easy to get back in, and everybody was very respectful, the whole crew. And Bill, Adain, Adrian, Dylan, and Daisy, everyone was so on it. So it felt like we were all really working together to keep it alive. That’s the best teamwork you can have. That was the biggest help.

It shows on screen. I thought the movie was really good, and I thought you were fantastic in it. Whatever you decide to do next, I hope I get to see it, and I hope I get to talk to you about it! Okay, last question, really quick, have you ever hiked the Appalachian Trail, and do you have plans to?

I haven’t. I’m not sure I want to bump into Three-Finger or The Foundation up there.

I think the West Virginia tourism bureau would like to have a word with you.

But I’m sure it’s beautiful and totally worth it!

Wrong Turn is out now in theaters, Digital, and VOD.

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