Caity Lotz: "Everybody can be a great actor"

 
What’s your favourite scary movie? I’m not into slasher horror movies – I like more psychological ones like The Shining.

Which category does The Pact fall in to? It’s the kind of scary movie I like! It’s not one of those gory, going-around-killing-everybody films.

What’s the set-up? My character Annie’s mother passes away and she has to go and deal with everything. Some kind of presence emerges in her childhood home and she’s got to figure out what the hell is going on.

Do you believe in ghosts? You know, there’s always those times you hear something or see something and are not sure if it’s there or not. When I was growing up I loved to hear ghost stories, but I try to stay away from that stuff now. I hate being scared.

I can’t watch horror films at the cinema because I worry I’ll scream the loudest. I’m the same way. Whoever is sitting next to me, I’m, like, jumping out and grabbing them cos I get so scared. But watching the film in a theatre is such a fun experience. Everybody goes on the same ride.

Is it true your first acting job was on Mad Men? Yeah, a good welcome to the acting business. I had worked as a dancer so I was used to being onset with cameras, but I’d never done a student film or a short or anything. I dived right in there with some great material.

You’re in Lady Gaga’s Paparazzi video but I’m not sure I spotted you. Well, we have pretty crazy outfits on, so it’s hard to tell…

Dancing, acting… how does it feel to be so talented? Like hard work! Acting is different from other art forms. If you aren’t born with a capacity for singing or dancing it’s hard to be great. But everybody can be a great actor.

What’s the secret? It’s a matter of being fearless and really putting yourself through the experience. Whether good or bad, you go through those emotions and feel what it’s like. Acting is like getting to squeeze every last drop out of life.

Seems like the best way to encounter ghosts. I think so too. Acting isn’t pretending to be doing something. Nothing about it is fake. In the moment it’s really happening, and afterwards it’s like, okay, I’m not really going to die! 

Caity Lotz stars in The Pact, in cinemas now