Interview: Lucy Hale Plays Truth or Dare

By: Lynn Barker

Pretty actress Lucy Hale, wearing a flattering, long-sleeved, square-necked purple dress, sat down with journalists in L.A. to  talk about her new scary movie Truth or Dare based upon the long-popular game. The now dark blonde actress plays a young woman vacationing with pals in Mexico when the game becomes a life or death challenge. Someone….or something, severely punishes those who lie or refuse to take the dare.

Lucy admits she’s a huge horror movie fan and was happy to take scary elements from her popular former TV series “Pretty Little Liars” and expand them for the big screen in her first starring feature film role. She has also moved on with her new CW television show “Life Sentence” in which she plays Stella Abbott, a young woman who, when her terminal cancer is cured, must learn to live with all the unwise choices she made when deciding to live like she was dying.

Check out what Lucy says about her film, new TV show, her family in Tennessee and much more!

Q: This is a very scary movie. I think it’s your first thriller, spooky, supernatural film, right?

• Lucy: It is. “Pretty Little Liars” definitely prepped me for (it) because there were so many undertones in that show that were similar to a horror film but yeah, this was not only my first thriller/horror movie to do but also my first as a lead in a film. It was such a fun shoot and such a bizarre concept and I like doing weird, bizarre things so I knew, upon reading it, that it was something I wanted to be a part of.

Q: It’s coming out Friday the 13^th too!

• Lucy: (laughs) Yeah. Perfect day.

Q: So, do you have any superstitions?

• Lucy: Not too many. But, when Mercury is in retrograde, you have to be very cautious about a lot of things. I’m into astrology a little bit but I don’t avoid black cats or anything. I’m not that superstitious, no.

Q: Were you familiar with the “Truth or Dare” game and had you ever played it?

• Lucy: Oh yeah. I think “Truth or Dare” is one of those games where you hear the name and it immediately would take you back to middle school when you would play with your friends. I think that’s what’s so cool about it. It’s just really nostalgic and everyone’s played probably at one point in their life. I was a very shy kid so I don’t think I was going out of my way to play that much. Obviously, we make this a very deadly game of “Truth or Dare”. But what’s cool is that you’ll probably walk into the movie reminiscing about when you played when you were younger.

Q: Your character in Truth or Dare is in fear throughout the film. It’s emotional and she’s going through these issues with her friends. How was it keeping up that energy level and what did the cast do to keep that going?

• Lucy: That was the challenge. The stakes are so high at all times so we were constantly reminding ourselves of the scenario and what was at stake. But because it was such a short shoot, and we had to move so quickly, there really was no down time from scene to scene. So, that actually helped us because we were rushing to make sure we got everything and I think that only raised the energy on set for everyone.

Q: Are you a fan of the horror genre?

• Lucy: I am. For as long as I remember I’ve been a fan of horror films even when I was really little and probably shouldn’t have been watching them. But I love (the producer) Blumhouse (Productions). I love the risks that they take. I love that they make movies that nobody else is making and really go for it. Obviously, they’re really lovely people and gave me a job so I’m very, very grateful. But yeah, their film Paranormal Activity the first one, is one of my favorite films of all time.

Q: Did you shoot all of this in Mexico?

• Lucy: We took a bonding trip to Mexico before we started. There is a title sequence of all the cellphone shots in the movie. That was actually us on that trip. But, I don’t think we knew at the time that all those clips were going to be used. I think it was a cool touch. It made us really look like friends. The film almost starts off looking like a documentary which I think is cool. It really sucks you in. But, the rest was shot in L.A. made to look like Mexico.

Q: Did you know any of your other co-stars or did you become friends as you were working together?

• Lucy: I knew Tyler (Posey) through friends and in passing and I knew Sam Lerner who plays Ronnie. I adore Sam so much. I’d known him for a while but I think everyone else was meeting for the first time too.  We just vibed really quickly and the chemistry was there from the beginning which obviously makes it easier to film with people that you enjoy being around.

Q: Was there something particularly tricky for you in this film? Which scene stands out in your mind after shooting it?

• Lucy: Well, I can’t relate to any of this (storyline). Nothing like this has ever happened to me so you have to make stories up in your head. It’s the constant reminder of ‘You’re gonna die if you don’t do this’ so it was that. But there were a lot of physically demanding scenes in the movie like the roof sequence we did. That took like four days and there were a lot of drone shots and timing of us running around the house. That was probably the trickiest scene we filmed.

Q:  You have a new show, “Life Sentence”. Is it different playing a new character after all your time on “Pretty Little Liars”?

• Lucy: It is. I knew, after “Pretty Little Liars”, that I wanted to do something really different because I’d lived in this world for eight years and I knew I wanted to change it up a little bit. But what really drew me to the show was this beautiful story of a girl who gets a second chance at life and has to figure out who she is and take care of her family. It becomes a coming of age story for literally everyone because when someone gets that sick, it obviously effects everyone then, when someone is cured, it changes everything all over again. I thought it was really funny and sweet. It’s different and scary to have this new show and give it out to the world not knowing what’s going to happen with it. But, it’s been really rewarding and I’m glad I decided to go down that path.

Q: You’re originally from Tennessee. Do you ever go back home?

• Lucy: All the time. I was there last weekend. I try to go every month. It’s just nice. I’m really, really close with my whole family there. It’s just nice to be like ‘Oh. This is how people live. This is so nice’ and I have two little nieces that I’m really close to.

Q: Are you finished shooting your “Life Sentence” series?

• Lucy: We’re done with season one and we’re waiting to hear about season two so it’s that fun waiting game not knowing what your life is going to be like for the next year. I think we’ll hear in May if it goes.

Q: And you have a Netflix movie?

• Lucy: Yeah. I have a Netflix movie called Dude that’s coming out April 20^th that I shot a couple of years ago and it’s a very specific movie so it took a while to find its home but Netflix really liked it and picked it up.

Q: You’ve been acting for most of your life and you started quite young…

• Lucy: Yeah, the “American Juniors” (2003 TV series) thing. I was like 13 but I’ve been working consistently since I was about 15 or 16.

Q: Did you have a roadmap of what you wanted to do and when you wanted to do it or just wing your career?

• Lucy: What’s that great quote ‘Life happens while you’re making plans’? No. I haven’t really had it mapped out at all. I like to take risks and it’s like a ladder. I’ve worked really hard and met more people and more doors have opened. That’s why I love my job. You never really know what you’re going to be doing the next day and that’s exciting for me. I’m just going to see where it goes from here.

Q: What do you want people to get out of this film?

• Lucy: This movie is such a good time, such an adventure to watch. There are moments that are really funny and moments that are really creepy. Just go, have a good time and get lost in it. I think it’s such a good movie to get sucked into. Hope you like it.

See Truth or Dare in theaters now!

Have Your Say

Are you superstitious? Have you played “Truth or Dare”? What if the game stakes were life or death? Dare ya to comment below!