Victoria Justice is drawn into murder and mayhem in her new film, Depravity.
“It has all the ingredients for a good thriller,” the actress told Yahoo Entertainment. “There is murder, there is greed, there is sex, there is money.” Not to mention ‘blood [and] blood.”
She plays law student Grace, who lives in a formidable old apartment complex, the Lancaster, with a creepy neighbor (Dermot Mulroney) who is her, her roommate (Devon Ross) and the handsome new guy across the hall (Taylor John Smith). . ) suspect is a serial killer.
Paul Tamasy (The Fighter) directed and wrote the script, creating “an interesting world” with “twists…that I didn’t see coming,” Justice said of the film, which looks like a darker, bloodier movie. Only murders in the building.
It plays on the fact that “as humans we have such a natural curiosity about the people around us,” she said. “We’re all a little curious, like, what’s your story? What happens behind closed doors? What does your life really look like? This takes that to an extreme level.”
The film is a departure from the Nickelodeon days of Justice. She traveled to Bangkok for the filming. On her first day she made her very first sex scene.
“When I signed up to be the [film]I was a little scared of that scene,” Justice admitted. “I said that to Paul and he was very reassuring and made me feel very safe. He said, “We’re not going to do anything that’s going to make us uncomfortable. I’ll show you later in the edit. If you’re not comfortable with anything, please let me know.’ So it was very collaborative and he made me feel very safe and protected.”
The fact that it all took place on her first day on set was “the ultimate icebreaker” for her and co-star Smith.
“I was like, ‘Really guys, you’re not going to let us take it easy on this, warm up a little, maybe get to know my fellow actor a little better?'” she said. “It was like, no, just [dive] right in. Straight into the deep end.”
Justice said Smith “was great too” and checked in to make sure everything was okay while they filmed.
“We were joking and trying to make the best of what was by nature a very awkward and awkward situation,” she said. “In the end it went very smoothly. I felt very good about it. My mind was certainly put at ease. I am happy with the way everything turned out.”
With those concerns out of the way, Justice could explore her character, who is fearless – to the point of recklessness – when it comes to uncovering the truth about her possibly murderous neighbor. To be clear, Justice isn’t that daring in real life.
“I’d rather play it safe than my character,” she said. ‘When I was younger, I thought, ‘Yes, I’m a bad girl. I’m definitely a thrill seeker. I would go skydiving.’ Now I’m in my early thirties and there’s no chance. Why would I want to jump out of a plane? I am very happy here on earth, knowing that I am safe. I like being in the country. I would never want to sneak into a potential serial killer’s apartment,” as Grace does in the film. “That sounds like a nightmare.”
Justice tackling serial killers and sex scenes reminds us that it’s been a minute since her days as a child actor on wildly popular Nickelodeon shows like Victorious And Zoe 101. However, her time on the network continues to make headlines and both shows are currently streaming on Netflix to new audiences.
With her colleague Demi Lovato recently saying she would never let her future children be child actors, where does Justice stand now after making her TV debut at the age of 10?
“You know – potential,” she said. “I feel like there’s no way I would push that on my child, but I feel like if my child really wanted to do it and was super passionate about it and this was a strong desire coming from them, who am me to do that? hold them back in life? I would like to support them and help them thrive in any way I can.”
She continued, “I would also always emphasize that it is important to live a balanced life. I wouldn’t want my child to immediately be homeschooled, go to public school, and live a normal life. I would put a big emphasis on education because I think that is also very important. [and] I would like to be there and be involved. I could possibly be open to it if they really loved it and had to do it.
What’s next for Justice’s own resume? In addition to releasing more music as an independent artist, following this year’s singles ‘Down’ and ‘Raw’ she has guest-starred on the Suitable for: LA pilot starring Stephen Amell. The spin-off has already been picked up as a series after the original show reappeared on Netflix.
“It was such a fun set to walk on,” says Justice, who plays Dylan Pryor, an aspiring movie star. “First of all, the sets themselves were so impressive, as was the office. I thought, wow, this is incredible. They really do it here. And the entire cast was incredibly welcoming and super friendly. They have great chemistry together. I think people are going to be really happy with the show… and for me it was just fun to be asked to jump in and be a small part of it.
Depravity is available for rental or purchase on October 15.
