Sarah Michelle Gellar

In the Sony Pictures film The Grudge (2004), adapted from the Japanese horror film Ju-On, Karen (played by Sarah Michelle Gellar), an exchange student studying social work in Japan, innocently ends up face-to-face with a supernatural horror more frightening than she could ever have imagined. After a chain of terror has been set in motion, resulting from a terrifying evil that was born years before, people begin to die, as Karen learns the secret of the vengeful curse that has taken root.

That same curse is revisited in The Grudge 2, appropriately debuting in theaters on Friday the 13th, when Karen’s sister Aubrey (Amber Tamblyn) is exposed. The supernatural force, which fills a person with rage before spreading to its next victim, brings together a group of previously unrelated people who attempt to unlock its secret to save their lives.

Co-stars Amber Tamblyn and Arielle Kebbel (John Tucker Must Die) talked to MediaBlvd Magazine about how it is to make such a scary film, as well as the challenges of working in Tokyo, Japan.

MediaBlvd> What was it like to be part of a horror film?

Amber Tamblyn> Well, I had a small part in The Ring and I really enjoyed that experience. I had never really been able to carry a horror film before. My dad did The Haunting and said that was one of the most exciting experiences he’s ever had, so when I read the script, I was really excited about it and wanted to do a horror film.

Arielle Kebbel> I scream a lot. The interesting thing is we’re making a Japanese story, but for an American audience, and what we were supposed to bring to the table is how we are to tell his story and how will it appeal to our viewers.

MB> Arielle, what is your role in this film?

Arielle> I play Allison Flemming. She’s not very attractive and she’s not very confident. She’s kind of the wallflower of the group. She is in Tokyo, studying at the international high school. She’s kind of the one who you see in the back of all the pictures. She wants to be part of everything, but never really is. So, one day, the cool girls in school take her to “the Grudge house.” She thinks it’s an initiation to finally become part of their group, when in fact it’s part of their plot to humiliate her one more time and watch her get scared in this house. And, of course, no one plans on this “Grudge curse” coming alive. Everyone gets what they deserve.

MB> That’s one of the plots of the original Japanese film, correct?

Arielle> Yes, it actually is. When we were over there, we sat and watched the Ju-On series. It’s interesting because there are moments in our movie that are more intense and more scary. And, I think there are moments in the original Ju-On that are scarier. I think that The Grudge 1 and 2 is a better representation of the first Ju-On film. It’s almost as if they split the first Ju-On in two. Amber> A lot of people have been asking how this film is going to mirror the sequel to Ju-On, and it really barely does. Maybe one plot does, but everything else is completely changed.

MB> What were the challenges of shooting in Japan? Amber> What wasn’t a challenge?

Arielle> I think the main things are the time and the language barrier. Everything takes twice as long. But, when you go over there, that is one of the greatest gifts because nothing is like it is here. For me, it was interesting because we do what we do here, which is make movies, and you’re kind of used to the routine. You get up, you work out, you change, you go to hair and make-up, you eat your food, you rehearse, whatever. Over there, their tradition is completely different. For me, that was kind of a difficult change because I wanted to embrace as much as possible, but it required a change on my part to learn and accept those things. I think that’s one of the gifts I came back with, too.

Amber> I was really fabulously surprised to find that you’re supposed to take your shoes off before you go into a house, so you don’t track dirt in, but they would smoke in the houses and on the sets. That’s the irony with the Japanese culture, which I appreciate very much. I really had a great time experiencing a completely different lifestyle and a completely different way of doing things. It was pretty incredible. I think both Arielle and I picked up a good bit of Japanese, as far as trying to figure out where the cameramen wanted us to move to hit our marks.

MB> Amber, what’s the relationship with you and Sarah Michelle Gellar?

Amber> I play Sarah’s younger sister, who is sort of the underdog in the family in the sense that Sarah’s character is really loved by her mother. Her character is really close to our mom, and I’m not that close to our mom. So, when Karen went through what happened by the end of the first Grudge, my mother sends me off to see what happened to her. It’s kind of about re-evaluating and re-figuring out my relationship with her and where that stands, and where that leaves us

MB> Was it a challenge to work with a director (Takashi Shimizu, who also did the original Grudge films) that prefers to do as many effects as possible in camera?

Amber> Because he doesn’t like using CGI, everything is about realism. He loves doing stuff like that. He loves making things as scary as possible, and making it real, which I think is a major absence in horror films, as of lately. Everything is so overexposed and over-dilated that you feel like, “Oh, there isn’t much to leave to the imagination.” It’s more fun to know that it’s real, or that tricks are real and that it’s happening at that presence of the moment. Then you can feel like you were there and have a completely different attitude then you would on a computer afterwards.

Arielle> He doesn’t like a lot of the screaming and panic. He’s really big on big eyes and frozen terror, and seeing how your body reacts. There’s one moment where I’m freaking out the most, and it was my second day of shooting, where he would come speak to me. At first, it was, “Just don’t shake so much.” On the next take, it was, “Move your eyes a little lower and a little slower.” By the end, it was, “Don’t breathe.” He wanted the terror right there. He’s so specific that, even though you’re shaking and you think you’re right there in the moment, what he’s doing is focusing that terror into one specific place and he’s capturing that on film. That felt amazing to do, but once you get there, you have to work with the balance of not doing it too much and not making it too big.

MB> Amber, was there ever any talk about your father, Russ Tamblyn, doing a cameo in The Grudge 2?

Amber> No. We were trying to shoot for that because Shimizu is a huge fan of The Haunting, but also Taka, our producer, and Shimizu are huge War of the Gargantuas fans. But, no, he didn’t have a chance to make it into the film. He only had a chance to come out for a week or so.

MB> Why do you think Asia makes such successful horror films?

Amber> I think there’s a major definitive difference about having a film about ghosts that have played out real scenarios and real situations that we, as human beings, go through and go through. The Grudge is basically about domestic violence — the haunting of what a woman goes through, the horrible pain, and all these different things. So, when you have that, you’re basically taking a supernatural idea that is based on something real. Japanese horror, and Japanese film in general, has so much to do with the spiritual world, which is something we Americans don’t honor in film, especially in the genre of horror. When we were watching the Ju-On series, I was scared because I was watching a girl trying to escape a past. When you put that in the supernatural and so much can be played with and the unknown can come into play, you’re mixing the known with the unknown, and that’s what’s amazing about Japanese film, and Japanese horror films, of today.

MB> As a producer, what kind of role did Sam Raimi have on the film?

Amber> Sam had a hover cloud that would hover over the building that we worked in. He’s actually a master of after-production. Sam had a fairly big amount of involvement, but because he was shooting Spider-Man at the same time, he wasn’t able to be there. But, you would hear notes of what he wanted to do. He was really wonderful. For our wrap party, he put together awesome clips from the film.

Arielle> I liked how he was very involved with the marketing and the creative aspect. He’s very involved with what they’re trying to do on the Internet, with the marketing, what’s happening now, what’s happening midway, and what’s happening in October. And, I think that really says something, that he’s not just on board from the beginning of what we’re shooting, but he’s taking the marketing side just as importantly, or just as important as the filming and everything. And I think that’s a nice little “touché: to us.

MB> Amber, has anyone talked to you about doing the next Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants movie?

Amber> Yes. Actually, right now, I’m doing a film called Spring Breakdown with Amy Poehler and Parker Posey. Rachel Dratch wrote it. He’s trying to get America Ferrera (Ugly Betty) and Alexis Bledel (Gilmore Girls) to do just really quit walk-on, in the background, and wave. There’s been talk about it, but not to a very large degree, that I know of.

MB> What about what’s next for you, Arielle?

Arielle> I just got back from Utah. It’s a smaller role, but it’s a great story. Right now, it’s called Forever Strong — that’s the working title. It’s based on the true story of a high school rugby team and they’ve won 338 games, and have only lost 8 in their entire career. It’s about this coach and the inspiration to his team. Their motto is, “We don’t do anything to embarrass our team, our family, our ourselves.’ It’s kind of like a Friday Night Lights meets Miracle, but what I loved about it is that it’s an entirely true story. He comes to this new rugby team, and he’s forced to fit in. He doesn’t want to in the beginning, but towards the end, he sees there’s something very special about the way these people treat each other and respect each other. The way they play on the field passes onto the way they live their lives. And so, I play the girl who catches his interest at the new school and there’s kind of a little twist there. More than anything, I came aboard because it’s such an inspirational story and one that deserves to be told. Ryan Little is directing it, and I did a film with him last year called Outlaw Trail, so the entire crew is back. I had people greeting me who were PA’s, and it’s a very great kind of family picture, and that’s what I’m working on right this second.