This weekend, October is getting its first new horror movie in Smile, which has already received praise from Stephen King and Sinister and The Black Phone’s writer C. Robert Cargill, alongside praise from critics. Yes, the movie succeeds at making a smile scary, and the flick’s star Sosie Bacon shared her own experience getting kind of freaked out about all the persistent grins.
When CinemaBlend spoke to Sosie Bacon, she talked about whether being around all those creepy smiles was as horrifying on set as it is in the confines of theaters. Here’s what she said:
No, you've got like a million people around and like, it was more like the emotional stuff that was scary. But, when I left the movie after watching it, I definitely did feel a little bit tweaked by people smiling. It does give a very eerie feeling. Watching it and leaving.
While Sosie Bacon wasn’t necessarily freaked out by all the smiling on set, when she watched Parker Finn’s movie, which we gave 4 out of 5 in our Smile review, that’s when she started looking at the smiles around her differently. Bacon also expanded on being amidst a lot of smiles on set with these words:
What was most fun to me is like to see what every actor did with the smile and how they were all different. You know, Robin Wegert, she is like a theater actor, and she did so much prep, it was amazing. Everybody approached it differently and they all turned out amazing. Except for mine, which they had to fix.
The smiles in Smile are definitely a very specific type of smile that’s supposed to freak us out and symbolize the movie’s villainous force Bacon’s character is trying to track down throughout the flick. As her character, Dr. Rose Cotter, becomes haunted by devious smiles throughout the film, we see many of the characters in the film don the particular brand of grin that’s simply chilling. Sosie Bacon really enjoyed seeing how each actor got into the smile, but when it came to doing it herself, she apparently wasn’t as skilled at it.
Even if Sosie Bacon couldn’t quite do the smile, she’s the heavyweight of the movie, carrying its dark premise about a psychiatrist who becomes haunted by something that once drove one of her patients to kill herself in front of her. Stephen King recently called the actress’ role in Smile “the real surprise” of the flick with “a hell of a performance.” Bacon has previously starred in the Scream series, 13 Reasons Why, Mare of Easttown and As We See It before this memorable horror appearance.
Also amongst the Smile cast is Kyle Gallner, Jessie T. Usher and Kal Penn. Ahead of the movie’s release, Paramount has created a viral marketing campaign where actors have shown up with that creepy smile at televised events like Good Morning America and sports games, via Twitter. Smile is a strong start to spooky season, but we still have a month before Halloween! Check out what other upcoming horror movies will creep you out next.
