A few weeks ago we told you about Let Us In and the desire we had to be able to enjoy this movie. And … the time has come! But we also had the pleasure of sitting down to chat with its star Makenzie Moss about her experience in this movie and in the industry. Ready?
Here we go!
Do you know that first question to break the ice? We asked Makenzie to describe her character in three words. “Strong, a leader and fun.” Yeah, we couldn’t have said it better.
Our next question was a bit more personal. Makenzie Moss is a young actress and Let Us In is a special movie for her, but what exactly does this movie mean to her?
“It means a lot to me, this is very special to me, because I got to put my first producing credit in a movie, I got to help produce, which was very fun. I love doing that. And I also have some of my more of heavier stuff going on, a lot of scary and fighting stuff. Stuff that I haven’t done before”, she shared.
We love her answer! It’s always an incredible experience for an artist that movie that gave him/her the opportunity to do something that she/he loves and that she/he never did before. We like that Let Us In gave Makenzie Moss this opportunity because her work is awesome.
An artist always learns something when he/she plays a character but, in turn, they also want the fans to learn something from that character. So we were curious what Makenzie hoped fans would learn from Emily. What did she hope would be burned in the minds of fans regarding her.
“A great time watching it. And you know, the whole family can enjoy it with the parents and also the kids. And I think it’s something that some kids can relate to. And also, there’s some scary moments and some creepy moments and some fun moments. The whirlwind of emotions.”
Say it, queen!
Let Us In has a lot of fantastic scenes and we’re sure there were a lot of laugh moments on set and shooting the scenes, but what was the funniest scene to shoot for Makenzie?
“Oh, there’s a scene where I have to pour water on Mackenzie‘s [Ziegler] regular character, I gotta throw it on her to stand next to her, which was very fun, because we only had one take to do it. I was very nervous and I felt very bad after. That was definitely fun. And a little nervous because I had to nail it, which I did, and that was great. So that was very very fun.”
That is a good choice. But we wanted to make it a little more difficult for Makenzie Moss and the next question was the other way around, what was the most difficult and most emotional scene?
“Let’s see…Well, I would say that the first time that I see the Black Eyed Kids where they show up to my door, and then I have to be running all over the house and I have to run up the stairs on the bathtub, run that down and then run up. I get toppled. Like there’s so much stuff going on. It was very tiring. But it was…I mean, I had to start screaming, you know, there’s a lot of stuff going on. I would say that that was pretty difficult. And doing it over and over again was pretty tiring.”
Yay! Another great choice from Makenzie, she overcame our challenge with a high note and particularly this scene that she chose was also the most emotional and one of the best in Let Us In for me. It is among my favorites, without a doubt.
We were curious to know what other character Makenzie would have liked to be if it hadn’t been Emily. These types of questions always give artists the possibility to let their imagination run wild and explore their favorite moments and characters within the story.
“I loved working with baby who plays Jessie, and with my older sister side characters. She was the one that was there for me. I absolutely loved working with her. She was so fun to work with. She’s the sweetest girl. We’re friends and we had lunch together every day. She’s the sweetest.”
Awww, that’s so cute!
We wanted to explore Makenzie’s favorite moments and scenes a bit more so we made her choose a scene, a moment that she loved, that would stick in her mind.
“I would say one but I don’t want to give it away. I ended up kind of saving a day at the end. And there’s a part where I stand up to the aliens, which was very fun. There’s some stumps involved. And it’s creepy, but it’s also very cool. And that’s definitely one of my favorites.”
Very very good choice! It was not easy at all but it is a perfect choice. That moment is one of my favorite too.
We return to the somewhat more personal questions. Let Us In is a different movie with something special but we wanted to know what attracted Makenzie Moss to this story, why she said yes to this role, what she saw in the project that made her think “I have to be in.”
“Oh, well, I mean, it was very fun when my dad who’s the writer, director and producer came up in showed me the idea. And I was into it. And he had me in mind for the script. So obviously, I had to say yes, and also he kind of talk to me who he had in mind to be tasked as the other characters. And I was totally into it and very excited because it was something so different from what I’ve done in the past.”
Makenzie Moss had the opportunity to work in front of and behind the cameras so we went a bit difficult here and asked her what experience she liked the most.
“I love working behind the scenes, it was so fun, I got to help with the casting process and also the wardrobe, which was very fun. I also got to help with some of the writing to make sure that the kids were, you know, using the right terms and stuff. But I love seeing everything once when the movie was done and have the opportunity to change if I wanted anything different. So I really got to make it my protected baby.”
Great answer! It is not easy for an artist to choose between her two loves and in Makenzie’s words you can see the love she has for her work but also her honest opinion about it.
However, the world Makenzie chose is not an easy one. There are many people trying to get to where she is so we wanted to know what advice she would give to people who are struggling right now to get that life changing role or that job that makes a difference.
“I would definitely say that is a lot of hard work, you need a lot of dedication. You need perseverance, and also you need to believe in yourself because it’s easy in the acting industry being let down by a casting director, you know, you’re not getting a role but at the end of the day, you need to move on to the next thing and don’t get so hung up about it but also having a great support system like your family because my family is very supportive of me. And it really helps me get through the tough times.”
Very good advice! Just what she said. Word by word.
Talking to Makenzie Moss was a real pleasure. She is a young artist but who has enthusiasm and love for her work and it shows in every of her words, in the way she puts all of herself when she plays a role and the way she talks about her work, with a passion that it goes through the phone and the screen.
I love when the interviews are so fluid, especially when I speak with an artist so young who has things so clear, that she is aware of where she is, where she wants to go and what it takes to get there.
This conversation with Makenzie was really wonderful and inspiring. I hope to talk to her again about her next successes because I’m sure Let Us In is just the beginning for her.
Do you like the interview with Makenzie Moss? Feel free to share with us in the comments below!
LET US IN is available on VOD and Digital since July 2, 2021.
