ALLEGRA SWEENEY TALKS CARDIAC HILL

Interviewed by Culture Coast Talks editor Daniel John. Interview transcripts might have been edited for length and clarity.

Something is not right with Ava. After receiving a heart transplant she is not feeling like her old self, starting to take on the darkest qualities of her donor. How did you see "what’s up with Ava"?

As soon as I saw the breakdown for Ava in the casting call, I felt drawn to the story and her character. I found her incredibly relatable. Not because of her new, uh, impulses, but her feelings of anxiety. It helped that the audition piece was this beautifully written monologue from the script that John, our writer and director, explained her thoughts and feelings so clearly in. This anxiety that Ava experiences, that something isn’t right, feels so terrifying to her and I think it’s a feeling many can relate to on some level, she’s a scared teenager who is frightened of her own thoughts, what having those thoughts means about who she is, and what she might do because of them. And then ultimately, we see her journey of coming to terms with this new part of herself, and how she decides to manage it.

I know Meisner students tend to like to react organically to what happens in a scene. But Ava, obviously, has so much going on and in a way you are reacting to her own inner life?

I'm a bit of an internalizer myself, and I actually find characters like Ava who are processing a lot internally feel natural and familiar to me. And her character, as well as the story, was written so thoughtfully and John’s vision was clear so reacting to the circumstances of the story felt natural as well. It helps to have a caring director who is as invested in the story as he was, who writes very intentionally. We went through the script together and talked thoroughly about each scene, and that collaboration was really helpful in building and embodying Ava’s character.

As you disappear into a character’s truest form outside of the confines of your own self, be it exploring a dark role such as this or just "different", does a role ever stick with you. I can imagine that it sometimes can be emotionally draining inhabiting a role as dark as this all day long, bringing the level of authenticity and the realness to your work that you do?

Thanks for saying that. And, yeah, I do find characters will linger sometimes. Or at least the feelings I felt while playing them do. As far as the darker roles go, sometimes I’ll find myself feeling weird and emotionally heavy or something after filming and I’ll think, “Wow why am I feeling this way?” and it’s like, “Oh. That character is really sticking around!” I’m not always great at making that distinction right away, but I do my best to remind myself of that and separate myself when I need to, then I’ll think, “Well, hopefully this means it translated on screen okay!” And if that doesn’t work, I find I usually just need to go home, have a good cry, and release whatever residual feelings are hanging around! (laughs)

You are no stranger to danger, starring in horror or horror-adjacent projects?

You know, I honestly just keep getting cast in them! I think maybe it’s my eyes. Or that I have an innocent looking face. I can be a bit intense as well, so maybe that’s a dynamic to play around with in these films, casting-wise. I do not know. Horror is a fun genre though, it’s comprehensive. There’s tons of sub genres in there. Slashers are fun, because you get to be kind of campy and scream and everything. I find myself drawn to psychological horror the most out of the horror types, though, because those projects can be quite grounded in reality. I think it’s neat to explore the types of characters and themes in those stories.

I believe that heightened genre space allows an actor to grow?

I like what you say, and I agree, many of these characters have very heightened feelings and experiences, and they provide exciting opportunities to grow and learn.

Being creative was very much part of your family dynamic. Pretty much growing up in your family’s ballet studio. Was ballet your very first rendezvous with a life in the arts?

It was! Yeah, the ballet studio was like a second home. I was little, almost three years old when I started. My mom was the teacher, and she was debating at the time starting a class for youngins like myself, so I could start dancing. She finally did, and there were two of us. The other girl was actually named Allegra too. Two two-year olds named Allegra, kinda fun. Ballet was one of my first loves for sure.

How did you start acting after that?

I actually think it started in ballet, but I didn’t process it as acting in the sense that I do now. I always loved performing in story ballets, like in 'Cinderella' or 'Sleeping Beauty', because there was a story to tell with the character. I would look forward to the emotional scenes, like in 'Cinderella' when the clock is ticking and she has to leave the ball, or when Aurora gets her finger pricked in 'Sleeping Beauty'. It was so exciting to me. It wasn’t until a year or so after I graduated college I took on an camera acting class and it clicked for me and realized, "Oh people do this for a living? I have to do this".

After its world premiere at the Arizona International Film Festival, the film will continue its festival run this year before eventually landing on YouTube for those who can’t catch it on the big screen. In the meantime, what else will we be able to see you in after 'Cardiac Hill'?

Thanks for asking! Another short film I acted in called 'From the Depths', also making its rounds at festivals right now, will be out October 2024. It may have some online-screenings before then, we’ll see. I recently filmed a slasher interim project called '213 Bones' that is set to release around that time as well.