Natasha Calis Stars in The Possession

By: Lynn Barker

13-year-old actress Natasha Calis lives in Vancouver B.C. and has been on TV and in films since age seven but no film has asked as much of her as The Possession (PG-13), a scary movie based on the real story of a box with a demon locked inside that is bought by a girl at a yard sale! Watch what you pick up at one of those!

In Jewish legend a Dibbuk Box often locks away an evil demon that would otherwise possess a young person. A real guy bought one at a yard sale and had lots of weird and bad things happen to him after he opened it. He tried to sell it on E-bay but no takers! He’s still got it locked away. Even the screenwriters of The Possession didn’t want it anywhere near them and neither did the cast. They use a fake one in the film.

Natasha does an amazing job playing a normal teen who becomes scary and evil when a demon takes over.  She admits to being curious about fright films. She watched The Exorcist without her parents’ permission at age nine at a sleepover and had nightmares for days.  Working on this film, however, didn’t scare her at all. In fact, she says she had a blast….except for eating raw meat and getting some moth poo on her. Ewwww!

Kidzworld: Did the fact that this movie is based on a true story scare you and make you want to be in it more….or less?

• Natasha: I guess it made me want to do it more because it was pretty cool. It was pretty crazy and interesting to me.

Kidzworld: Kids and teens would want to know if it was ever scary being in a scary movie or is it so technical that you never get freaked out?

• Natasha: For me it was so much fun that it was not scary at all. If you walked onto the set you would never, in a million years, know that it was a horror movie. We were blessed with such an amazing cast and crew. It was so nice and friendly and a happy atmosphere for me. So the mood was lighter on set.

Kidzworld: At your audition for the role you had to pretend you were already possessed and, as your possessed character Emily, you told the director that there was “a little old Polish woman” inside you. That wasn’t in the script. Where did that come from? Kinda creepy.

• Natasha: Yeah! It just came to me. I had no idea what to expect in the session with the director. I had prepared my lines but he sat down with me and I really became my character and that’s what came out.
  The "Normal" Natasha

Kidzworld: And they decided to use that in the movie too! Overall, right before an intense scene, do you just listen to music on your i-pod or how do you prepare?

• Natasha: I get my heartbeat going by running (in place) and I close my eyes and really put myself in the character’s shoes in the moment and I think how I’d be feeling. For this movie, it required a lot emotionally, and the director (Ole Bornedal) would take me aside before each scene and give me a heads up on what I was about to do.

Kidzworld: When you do listen to music, who do you like?

• Natasha: I love Rihanna and Marinas Trench and I love Fun.

Kidzworld: This movie was very physical for you. You get thrown around. You throw fits.  Were you in a harness on wires?

• Natasha: Yeah, I was strapped into a harness and I repelled off the ceiling!  That was so fun!

 

Kidzworld: You do this weird Spider-Man move where you are close to the ground and stick one leg out. Was that your idea or your director’s? It was like if Spider-Man was possessed by an evil spirit. 

• Natasha: (laughs). He was like “So for this moment it requires you to get on the ground. Do you have any poses”?  So I started experimenting and ended up with that move.

Kidzworld: Your character Emily is a Vegan. Do you love animals like she did?

• Natasha: I’m not a Vegan but I love animals. I have a dog Benny, he’s a Snoodle, a Schnauzer and Poodle.

Kidzworld: You have a lot of very emotional scenes in the film so which one was the hardest for you?

• Natasha: Probably the hallway scene where I’m (falsely) accusing my dad in the film (played by Jeffrey Dean Morgan) of hitting me but it’s really the demon inside of me doing it. I like Jeffrey so that was challenging.
  Natasha at the premiere with "dad" Jeffrey Dean Morgan

Kidzworld: When you were little, were you afraid of any mythical characters.. boogeyman etc. ?

• Natasha: No, I never believed in monsters. I guess I was kind of wise beyond my years when I was little. I wasn’t one to sit down and watch (scary movies). I’d get a cardboard box and pretend it was something. I had a huge imagination but I didn’t believe in monsters.

Kidzworld: When it looks like Emily is eating raw meat, what was that really?

• Natasha: I’m really eating raw meat. No joke. It was disgusting but I got to spit it out. It was in my teeth. I went into it thinking they wouldn’t (use real raw meat).

Kidzworld: Did you hang out with Madison (Davenport) who plays your older sister? Did you stay in touch?

• Natasha: Yeah. We became really, really good friends. She was from L.A. and we shot in Vancouver so she was kind of in my hometown. We went to some of the suspension bridges and were kind of tour guides for her and her family.
  Natasha at PremiereCourtesy of Eric Charbonneau

Kidzworld: Did you keep anything from the movie, like the ring that Emily finds in the Dibbuk box or some of your wardrobe?

• Natasha: The props person let me keep the ring.  It’s a beautiful ring. I think it was an old coin. It’s a prop so it doesn’t creep me out.

Kidzworld: Who would you just die to costar with in a film?

• Natasha: That’s hard. Probably Meryl Streep or Robert DeNiro, some legends like that that I look up to because they are such phenomenal actors. 

Kidzworld: What’s next for you?

• Natasha: I’ve auditioned for a few things so we’re waiting to hear but meanwhile, I’m going back to regular school.

The Possession Trailer