Horror star is not a fan
‘I have enough worries in my life’ without scary movies, Collette says
Toni Collette’s new film Hereditary might be a horror, but she is not a fan of the scary genre.
In Hereditary, she plays Annie, a mother dealing with supernatural goings-on in the wake of her own mother’s death. Gabriel Byrne, Alex Wolff and newcomer Milly Shapiro co-star as her family, who all encounter various gruesome scenarios.
But Collette told British newspaper Metro that, given a choice, she wouldn’t watch a horror movie.
“It’s not something I really seek out,” she said. “I don’t like watching them. My mind is already too fertile. I just don’t need those images. I have enough worries in life. If I’m trying to get to sleep at night, that’s when something will pop into my brain from some film and then there’s no hope.
“When I was a teenager, going to slumber parties, there was a phase of people watching films like Nightmare on Elm Street. I just wasn’t interested. I wanted to watch John Hughes films.”
Over her nearly 30-year career, Collette, 45, has starred in everything from indie favourite Little Miss Sunshine to box office smash The Sixth Sense, which earned her an Oscar nomination.
She’s still best known for her breakout role in the Australian comedy Muriel’s Wedding.
“Yeah. I was 20 when I did that and I’m 45 now, so it was 25 years ago,” she said. “Closer to the time when the film came out, I got so sick of people saying, ‘You’re terrible, Muriel!’ But people still say it to this day.
“I’ve realized there are so many films and so many stories told, but for one film to stick with people and remain so heartfelt, and for them to feel so fond of the character, is really incredible. So it’s a good thing.”