The Into the Storm star talks researching extreme weather, acting opposite a tornado and why she doesn’t watch The Walking Dead. Into the Storm is the latest film to tap into our anxieties about the weather and the changes we’re seeing in it every day. The film, directed by former visual effects supervisor Steven Quale (Avatar), chronicles what happens when the fictional town of Silverton -- which could be anywhere in the Midwest or the South -- is hammered by an onslaught of incredibly powerful tornadoes that threaten to wipe the town and everyone in it off the map.
Much of the story is told through the eyes and cameras of a team of professional storm chasers, chief among them meteorologist Allison Stone. Played by Sarah Wayne Callies, Allison is torn between her increasingly dangerous task of tracking the storms and her desire to get home to her daughter. Of course, Callies is no stranger to playing a role with conflicting loyalties: for most of three seasons she played Lori Grimes, the wife of sheriff’s deputy and survivors’ leader Rick Grimes (Andrew Lincoln), on the hit TV series The Walking Dead. Her character -- haunted by guilt over an affair she had with his partner when she thought Rick was dead -- was one of the more complicated and divisive on the show.
We spoke with Callies by phone about researching the role of a storm chaser, how her real daughter came to play her screen daughter and the reason why she doesn’t watch The Walking Dead.
Den of Geek: How did this role come to you initially?
Sarah Wayne Callies: Well, you know, they sent me the script and I auditioned for it. It was a pretty old fashioned journey. I did – I was shooting the third season of Walking Dead at the time and so Melissa McBride actually put me on tape in her trailer one day at lunch. And about three weeks later I walked onto the set.
That’s pretty straightforward. What was it about her that appealed to you?
She’s a working mom. I hadn’t done that before. I hadn’t played that kind of a part before and, you know, I think there’s a tension that I see in her that I see in myself and maybe every other working mom I know that comes from sort of oscillation between your commitment to your family and your pursuit of your career, and maybe always feeling that you’re letting one or the other down. Trying to find that balance, which is pretty elusive.
I understand that your daughter in the film was actually played by your real life daughter.
She was, that’s right. Although, you know, when we showed the movie originally my daughter never appeared in the film. She was a character that you get to know off screen through various phone calls. Then when they tested the movie they discovered that they wanted to see my daughter and they'd come to care about her and they wanted to see her face. And so when my daughter found out about it she said she wanted to do it so, you know, I put her through her paces. She auditioned and we have different last names, so nobody knew it was her, and she won the part fair and square so I let her do it. I don’t want her to be an actor but I figured if she had the experience of what it was like -- because it’s really not a glamorous job -- I figured if she had an experience of what it was like, she’d probably get it out of her system.
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Much of the story is told through the eyes and cameras of a team of professional storm chasers, chief among them meteorologist Allison Stone. Played by Sarah Wayne Callies, Allison is torn between her increasingly dangerous task of tracking the storms and her desire to get home to her daughter. Of course, Callies is no stranger to playing a role with conflicting loyalties: for most of three seasons she played Lori Grimes, the wife of sheriff’s deputy and survivors’ leader Rick Grimes (Andrew Lincoln), on the hit TV series The Walking Dead. Her character -- haunted by guilt over an affair she had with his partner when she thought Rick was dead -- was one of the more complicated and divisive on the show.
We spoke with Callies by phone about researching the role of a storm chaser, how her real daughter came to play her screen daughter and the reason why she doesn’t watch The Walking Dead.
Den of Geek: How did this role come to you initially?
Sarah Wayne Callies: Well, you know, they sent me the script and I auditioned for it. It was a pretty old fashioned journey. I did – I was shooting the third season of Walking Dead at the time and so Melissa McBride actually put me on tape in her trailer one day at lunch. And about three weeks later I walked onto the set.
That’s pretty straightforward. What was it about her that appealed to you?
She’s a working mom. I hadn’t done that before. I hadn’t played that kind of a part before and, you know, I think there’s a tension that I see in her that I see in myself and maybe every other working mom I know that comes from sort of oscillation between your commitment to your family and your pursuit of your career, and maybe always feeling that you’re letting one or the other down. Trying to find that balance, which is pretty elusive.
I understand that your daughter in the film was actually played by your real life daughter.
She was, that’s right. Although, you know, when we showed the movie originally my daughter never appeared in the film. She was a character that you get to know off screen through various phone calls. Then when they tested the movie they discovered that they wanted to see my daughter and they'd come to care about her and they wanted to see her face. And so when my daughter found out about it she said she wanted to do it so, you know, I put her through her paces. She auditioned and we have different last names, so nobody knew it was her, and she won the part fair and square so I let her do it. I don’t want her to be an actor but I figured if she had the experience of what it was like -- because it’s really not a glamorous job -- I figured if she had an experience of what it was like, she’d probably get it out of her system.
Full Story