What is it about the world of Slasher, and now Hell Motel, that excites you?
You know, I think what’s most intriguing to me is our creators Aaron Martin and Ian Carpenter’s incredible writing. They come to me with such textured, delicious, insane characters every season. It’s been some of the most joyful creative work I’ve gotten to do in 30 years of acting. Every year on Slasher and then this year for Hell Motel, we break bread at Milestones, we have Bellinis and we talk about what season they’ve cooked up and what character they’ve thought of for me.
It’s quite a pleasure to be able to play parts that I’m not sure I would’ve even been considered for if I’d been [auditioning] with a pool of other actors. When writers you really admire are writing for you specifically, and have your voice in mind, it’s very special.
On that note, what exactly did they cook up for you this time?
Paige is a former scream queen who is past her prime, and sort of desperate. She’s taken a job at this weekend at the Cold River Motel, where she’s reprising her role as Caitlyn, [a real victim] who was murdered there, from a series of movies — and there’s a lot of shame there for her. It’s very interesting to meet somebody who is at the end of their rope; it leaves a lot of issues around morality. I also think you’re looking at a woman who, in this industry, was disposed of. So, I was very judicious about how much she smiled and how she expressed herself in the first couple of episodes. She’s really a bit of an “Eeyore” [from Winnie-the-Pooh]. She doesn’t have that sparkle that she may have in her heyday.
And without giving too much away about her arc throughout the season, I think we see her go from underdog to having to defend herself and others . . . because things go sideways really quickly on this weekend. She’s also thrust into scenarios that she played out on-camera in her movies, so there’s a real surreal element of it for her.
Is the balance between horror and comedy a tough one to strike?
I think it’s the thing I find most fun about doing the show. What Aaron and Ian do so well is, you’re rooting everything in this very real place. The kills really matter and the stakes are very high; we’ve talked about it being pitched almost like an opera. But what I love about the slasher genre in general, and what I’ve learned so much about, is the camp and the comedy that comes with it. It doesn’t take itself too seriously, but the performances are rooted in a very grounded place. That’s the magic — the special sauce of the genre of slashers from many years ago — that we’re paying homage to.
Would you say this and Slasher are distinctly Canadian pieces of horror?
In terms of the writing, what comes to me is the amount of care that they consider behind every kill. You’re faced with characters who on the surface are despicable, but [the creators are] always really intentional about showing us why they are the way they are — and maybe there’s a certain amount of compassion that’s baked into that lens of our Canadian writers. I feel like that’s inherently Canadian, to have horror be so full of care — even when the kills are really big and really bloody.
The season finale of Hell Motel airs Tuesday, July 29 on Hollywood Suite 2010s
MEMORABLE ROLES:
A longtime staple of Canadian TV, Paula Brancati played misfit valedictorian Jane Vaughn on Degrassi: The Next Generation, party-hardy realtor Jenny on Being Erica and even popped up in the music video for her fellow Degrassi alum Drake’s “I’m Upset.” Since 2016, Brancati has found her wheelhouse anchoring the wickedly silly Slasher anthology, portraying a wide range of characters who all seem to end up stalked by one masked psychopath or another.
CURRENT GIG:
Sticking with her Slasher creators, Hell Motel casts Brancati as Paige, a washed-up scream queen tapped to appear at the grand reopening of a little lodge that, years ago, was the site of a satanic mass murder. Alas, that gory history soon repeats itself.