‘The Boogeyman’ Cast’s Secret to Making a Scary Movie? Live Together as a Family for Two Weeks Before Filming
William Earl While many horror movies are saddled with two-dimensional characters, the biggest strength of “The Boogeyman” is centering the story around a family that genuinely seems to love each other, which ratchets up the tension. The film’s cast had a unique path to finding the chemistry before the cameras even rolled, taking two weeks to act as a family in real life to deepen their bonds. “Mindy Project” alum and “Air” scene-stealer Chris Messina stars as Will Harper, a widowed dad who, despite being a therapist, can’t communicate with his daughters about the pain they’re all feeling. Messina said he was able to get in the right zone with “Yellowjackets” star Sophie Thatcher, who played his teen daughter Sadie, and Vivien Lyra Blair, who played the younger Sawyer, because of their family outings.