CONSUMED: Actor Courtney Halverson Talks About Her New Horror Film!

Introduction

Trapped between a madman (Devon Sawa) seeking revenge and a skin-stealing monster, a married couple must find the strength to fight and make it out of the woods alive. Consumed, from Brainstorm Media is in theaters and On Demand on August 16, 2024.

Meet Courtney Halverson

Courtney Halverson, born in Southern California, is successfully building a diverse career playing a variety of roles in film, television, and commercials. A natural redhead with sparkling green eyes, Courtney began her acting career at an early age in local stage productions, music videos, and independent films.

A high school graduate at age 15, Courtney has continued to pursue an education in tandem with her acting career. In addition to acting Courtney enjoys photography, cooking, fashion, and writing. She is also interested in working behind the camera and has been working on a few scripts for film and television. Courtney is involved with several charitable causes including ‘New Leash On Life’, a non-profit animal rescue organization.

Courtney is an avid traveler and has journeyed to England, Argentina, Uruguay, and the Bahamas both for business and pleasure. On the home front, she has filmed projects in California, Oklahoma, New York, and Alaska. In the future, she lists Greece, France, and India as places she would like to experience.

Interview

Cinema Scholars’ own Glen Dower sat down with actor Courtney Halverson to discuss her new horror film Consumed. They discuss how it feels to portray a strong female character in a horror film that makes it to the end, the physicality that was required for taking on this role and working with longtime character actor Devon Sawa, among other topics.

Glen Dower:

Courtney Halverson, how are you, Ma’am?

Courtney Halverson:

Hi Glen, I’m good, how about you?

Glen Dower:

I’m grand, thank you very much. So, we’re talking Consumed, where you play Beth. Wow, she’s a tough cookie, huh?

Courtney Halverson:

Yes, I think that’s a pretty accurate way to describe her!

Glen Dower:

She is the Final Girl, so to speak. Almost by default, because you’re the only female member of the cast. But is that going to be a career goal ticked off for you? But not just a Final Girl, but a kick-ass female character, who takes on the Big Bad?

Courtney Halverson:

Yeah, I mean, that’s something that I’ve always wanted to do. A lot of the films that I’ve been in, very often, I don’t make it to the end! I am not the final girl. So this was one where I was like, okay, we’ve made it, you know, pretty far along. I’m still here. I’m the only woman. So by default, that does help. Reading the script for Consumed, it was something where I think I got three-quarters of the way through…this is looking like a strong, strong woman. So I was thrilled to be able to play the part.

Glen Dower:

Yes. We meet her from the offset and we know she’s been struggling. She’s having these horrible visions, we had that terrifying prologue. Was that important to you, that she’s given a backstory? She has those internal/external struggles. And she and her husband are not just some stupid teenagers out in the woods.

Courtney Halverson:

Yeah, I think that’s something that was super important for me. I think also from an audience perspective, we’re in the woods, the entire film, for the most part. So there’s not a ton of external sources that we can rely on to really tell us about these characters. With the exception of some of these dream sequences and flashbacks almost of what Beth has gone through. And I love that you mentioned that it’s not just two inexperienced teenagers in the woods. I mean, it’s a couple that is outdoorsy, that used to love to do this thing, used to love to go camping. They’re not ill-prepared in the circumstances, but they’re very ill-prepared for what’s waiting for them in this case.

Glen Dower:

Definitely. As the audience as well, we’re thinking, what is this thing? And the director and producer, The Butcher Brothers, of course, they layer up the scares in different ways, don’t they? They have a grocery list of scares: jump scares, shock scares, body horror, what I call ‘first aid horror’, and the little girl ghost horror. Obviously, you must be just reacting to nothing sometimes, so how did you portray Beth’s own horror?

Courtney Halverson:

A lot of the time it is really nothing. You know, you have an understanding that it’s going to be either CGI’d in or it’s going to be something where the audience isn’t seeing it. We’re only seeing, you know, from the perspective of Beth. She’s missing a lot of what’s going on here. She’s hearing a sound here.

Maybe she’s Devon seeing a glimpse of something there. So a lot of the time I am acting off of nothing or sometimes a tennis ball. I think because it was so intimate with me working with the camera department, particularly like our Steadicam operator, a lot of the time it’s he and I sort of dancing through the woods together, getting these shots where you’re spinning around trying to figure out, you know, where is this creature? What is this sound? What is happening? The Butcher Brothers, obviously, know horror brilliantly. They know all of those, like, amazing gags and jump scares. And you mentioned some of the first aid gore. There’s definitely a good amount of that in this one!

Glen Dower:

Indeed. And I’m a relative newbie to horror. You know, I was a ‘sensitive child’, but now I love it all. Are you a horror fan yourself?

Courtney Halverson:

I am. I’ve actually, for whatever reason, I’ve ended up working in horror quite a bit. I’ve been working as an actor since I was a kid. And there’s something about my face, and I haven’t quite figured it out yet, that says just, like, let’s cover her in blood or let’s drag her through the woods! I haven’t quite figured out what it is about my face that says that. But once I do, I think I’ll have my answer.

Glen Dower:

I think you have a beautiful Celtic look because I’m Irish myself. And I think the red hair, the green eyes, the pale skin, you’re very distinct.

Courtney Halverson:

Oh well, you’ll be very disappointed to know that I was in a film with a leprechaun in it, unfortunately. So I think every Irish person is so mad at me when they hear that. But it was a fun one!

Glen Dower:

…Well, it was nice to meet you, Courtney…

Courtney Halverson:

Haha! Sorry! There’s something about it. There’s, like, four redheads in the entire U.S. in the acting world, and they just keep putting us in these things.

Glen Dower:

But back to Beth. Like we said, she’s a tough cookie. But to prepare, did you have to do a lot of physical training for that role? Because she gets thrown around a lot. You’re hiking, you’re falling. So you must have prepared yourself a lot for that?

Courtney Halverson:

Yeah, quite a bit. I mean, I will I relied especially on our stunt coordinator, DJ Rostenberg. So we were led by a female stunt coordinator. I’m doubled in plenty of the takes. But there are a lot of things that really do require it to be myself or to be Devon really being quite physical. You know, there’s an interesting note to Beth that she’s not at her physical peak. So she is someone who probably was very strong and is sort of working her way back to that as best she can. So there are times where, you know, I would really want to give it my all, and I had to pull back and remind myself that she’s not in her right state of being, you know, both mentally and physically in this case.

Glen Dower:

You mentioned Devon Sawa. Let’s talk about him…he looks like he’s been in the woods since Final Destination finished.

Courtney Halverson:

Yeah, he’s been out there for a while. He’s been in the woods for a minute!

Glen Dower:

What was it like seeing him again? Did you bring up Final Destination? Because that’s what, of course, audiences know him forever for.

Courtney Halverson:

I didn’t bring that up but I really was having a hard time not bringing it up. And I think it’s because of what age I am. I was trying not to bring up Now and Then and Casper, because as a kid, I had the biggest crush on him! I think every girl that’s my age can totally relate to. So I was doing my best to just keep that within and not let that show in the performance because I think that would have been very out of left field for Beth!

Glen Dower:

But he’s very convincing and is scary in that role because you think he’s going to be an ally. Do you think he has knowledge of this thing? And then we have so many layers that we won’t spoil, of course. But what was it like just working alongside him? Because obviously, again, you both are very physical together.

Courtney Halverson:

Early on, I think Devon and I realized we were on the same page with taking this as far as we could go. And honestly, in some cases, a little bit further than the script had written, especially in terms of physicality. It was something where we had a real trust with each other of, you know, how much further can we push this? ‘Are you comfortable? I’m comfortable. Let’s go!’ Let’s just chase this scene as far as it can go. In a lot of scenes, I feel like the two of us are almost like two caged animals. We’re sort of circling each other a little bit, trying to suss out the other person.

So working with Devon, they say, like, don’t meet your heroes…or your childhood crushes, I guess. And it was like something where he was just such a giving actor and so talented. You see what he can do. He really will take it as far as it can go. And it shows in the performance because he’s just brilliant.

Glen Dower:

He is indeed. I just wanted to bring up the point, that you were in the Girl Scouts when you were young.

Courtney Halverson:

I was! Yeah. Yeah. I was a Girl Scout.

Glen Dower:

So while you were making Consumed, did anything come back and you went, actually, we shouldn’t be doing this with this twig and this knot is wrong? Did you have any input?

Courtney Halverson:

Yeah! Oh, I’m actually really glad you brought this up! There was something with the, I won’t give it away, but there’s something with an injury and there’s, you know, some first aid moments. And I remember all of the first aid courses they make you go through as a Girl Scout. So I was remembering, you know, for a compound fracture…do this. And I’d seen fake versions of this when I was a kid where they let you practice on someone with ketchup on their leg. And this was almost a practical application of some of that knowledge!

Glen Dower:

That’s very cool. We have a few moments left. So Courtney the floor is yours. Why should our readers go and see Consumed?

Courtney Halverson:

I think the most amazing thing about Consumed, and hopefully it’s something that you’ll agree with, is that it’s not just one of those films where, you know, you’re shown a creature from page one and it’s just two people in the woods trying to solve that. I think there’s a really amazing dynamic happening between all of our characters in this. It’s a limited cast, obviously. But there’s a real sense of growing horror throughout the film that you really start to realize that you maybe had this wrong from the beginning. There are some amazing twists there. And it’s a real testament to two people in the woods trying to suss it out.

Glen Dower:

And trying to survive. That’s it. Courtney, thank you so much for your time. It’s been a pleasure. And best of luck with the release of the movie.

Courtney Halverson:

Aww. Thank you so much, Glen. I really appreciate it.

Consumed, from Brainstorm Media is in theaters and On Demand on August 16, 2024.

Watch the interview on the Cinema Scholars YouTube channel, and don’t forget to like and subscribe!

Read more Cinema Scholars interviews!

THE MIRACLE CLUB: An Interview With Director Thaddeus O’Sullivan

THE WRATH OF BECKY: An Interview With The Directors And Star Lulu Wilson

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