Midnight In The Switchgrass, Lionsgate‘s new thriller, is here! With big names including Bruce Willis and Megan Fox, this thriller comes to give us chills… in the best sense of the word. We sat down with its star Caitlin Carmichael to talk about her experience on the movie, her character Tracey and her upcoming projects. Ready?
Here we go!
Before our exclusive interview with Caitlin Carmichael, a little background never hurts, right? Here’s the trailer and synopsis for Midnight In The Switchgrass.
Bruce Willis (DIE HARD franchise) and Megan Fox (TRANSFORMERS: REVENGE OF THE FALLEN) lead a powerful cast including Emile Hirsch (ONCE UPON A TIME…IN HOLLYWOOD), Lukas Haas (INCEPTION), and Colson Baker (BIRD BOX) in this gritty and intense crime-thriller. While in Florida on another case, FBI agents Helter (Willis) and Lombardo (Fox) cross paths with state cop Crawford (Hirsch), who’s investigating a string of female murders that appear to be related. Lombardo and Crawford team up for an undercover sting, but it goes horribly wrong, plunging Lombardo into grave danger and pitting Crawford against a serial killer in a twisted game of cat and mouse.
And now, our exclusive interview with Caitlin Carmichael!
Playing Tracey couldn’t have been easy. Also, Caitlin gets into her shoes so much, it’s so natural that we wanted to know if she identified with Tracy at some point in the story.
“Absolutely. When I first read my character breakdown, I could tell the subject matter and intensity of the narrative would be challenging, and that hooked my interest right away. In the film, Tracey finds her tenacity with the help of Lombardo that eventually allows her to persevere through her escape. Similar to Tracey, I find some of my greatest moments of strength to arise under pressure.”
Yeah! Say it, queen!
As we’ve discussed, bringing Tracey to life was not an easy challenge and there is always something that is particularly important to an artist about a character, an aspect of the character that is challenging in its own right. What was the biggest challenge for Caitlin Carmichael?
“It was so important to me to present the most authentic version of Tracey’s story on screen and to not glamourize my scenes in any way. Our movie is based on true events of the FBI’s 2009 Highway Serial Killings Initiative. Knowing Tracey serves as a symbol for the countless missing girls and women whose stories we’ve never heard made me really want to deliver the most truthful performance possible. Our movie has the opportunity to give a voice to abducted and murdered women who were silenced, and I definitely recognize my responsibility in the position of playing an emblematic character of this narrative.”
I mean, we love her so much for this. It’s just… every word she said. Every. Single. Word. Adding something would be to spoil this brilliant, thoughtful, raw and real answer. Caitlin Carmichael, Tracey, gives voice to those silenced women, those women whose wings were cut off by vile people, those women who were prevented from speaking.
Caitlin is aware of that and this answer shows it, she understands the responsibility it will entail, how important it is to have the opportunity to give them a voice, she takes charge and does justice to them.
With a character as complex and vital as Tracey, we were curious what Caitlin Carmichael had learned from her character. “Tracey’s story speaks volumes to me regarding the theme of female solidarity in our movie. Seeing how Lombardo and Tracey come together to not only save themselves but save each other really proves that sisterhood and unity amongst women can be incredible tools to overcome adversity.”
Sisterhood between woman? Hell, yeah! We love this! We believe that it is a great lesson because we hope that, in our daily lives, women would unite more because together we are unstoppable.
Midnight In The Switchgrass has many moments that leave you speechless, but what was the most shocking moment of the movie for Caitlin Carmichael?
“One of my favorite moments to shoot was when Tracey is hiding behind the couch as Peter lurks around his neighbor’s home. When the camera slowly pans to reveal Tracey, my body gets a rush of chills EVERY. SINGLE. TIME. We screened the film for an audience in Tampa, FL, and this seemed to illicit a few very visceral gasps from the audience which made me very happy.”
Very good choice! One of our favorite shocking moments too.
Wanting to delve into this, the next question was clear: what was her favorite scene to shoot?
“I loved filming Tracey’s opening scene at the motel. This was the very first scene I shot. Randall had such a complex, meticulous vision for this scene. He described it to me as “Tracey’s descent into hell” symbolized by her trudge down the motel stairs. He had the score arranged for this moment from day 1, and I was actually able to hear the music while the camera was rolling. It’s not every scene you film where the ambience of the filming environment is filled with such detail, so it made this moment very special.”
Wow! That moment, amazing choice because it’s one of those scenes that makes your hair stand on end in a good way.
You know that we always want to follow the artists we love so, of course, we want to know what Caitlin Carmichael’s next projects are.
“I just registered for my junior year of classes at UCLA and declared my Film, TV, and Digital Media minor to go along with my American Literature and Culture major. I’m really excited to see how a deeper study in film theory will compliment my major’s themes of creative writing, psychology, gender studies, and philosophy to make me a more well-rounded artist in front of and behind the camera. Focusing on my education right now is solely for the purpose of growing as an actress and future writer, producer, and director.”
Love this! Education is key to dedicating yourself to what you love the most and we really like that Caitlin Carmichael is so clear about it and doesn’t get carried away by the industry, but is determined to pursue her studies as her priority. And we are sure that she will do very well because she was born for this.
She deserves all the successes. She’s genuinely brave, feisty and aware of the importance of every role she plays, especially when she is given the opportunity to give a voice to those who were silenced.
Caitlin is also very aware of the feminist struggle and how necessary it is that we see more female unite in our movies and shows. Hopefully, we can talk to her again later because she is going to go very far in her career.
Do you like the interview? Feel free to share with us in the comments below!
MIDNIGHT IN THE SWITCHGRASS is available in Theaters, On Demand and Digital.
