Brock O’hurn: ‘It’s a fun and scary thriller with great shocking twists’
The actor and fitness trainer talks to Kerriann Roper about his new film, Resort
Brock O’hurn looks like he doesn’t scare easily. Not even taking on a role filmed in a resort rumoured to be haunted rattled the muscled, 6ft 6in actor – especially when he found out the filming location was in Hawaii.
The 29-year-old American stars in horror film The Resort, which sees four friends head to Hawaii to see first-hand if reports of an abandoned resort being haunted are true.
“You had me at Hawaii,” he says, smiling as he talks on Zoom about signing up to the film.
But the star, who has built up an Instagram following of more than two million due to his fitness posts, also had a hand in making it all happen off-screen.
“Taylor Chien (the director) and Will Meldman (executive producer) are good friends of mine. I actually introduced them,” he says.
Then shortly before filming began, the pair told O’hurn they still had a part to fill.
He explains: “Probably a couple weeks out from filming, they’re like, ‘Look, we still need this character, Chris – we think you’d be a perfect fit, we’d love to work with you.’
“And I was like, ‘Dude, I love you guys and you had me at Hawaii.’ So let’s go.”
Chien, who wrote and directed the film which also stars Bianca Haase, Michael Vlamis and Michelle Randolph, describes the movie as being about four friends looking for an adventure who end up getting exactly what they wished for.
The director says: “It’s a fun and scary thriller with great shocking twists. Many of our scenes are from real stories that have happened there.
“We had a lot of fun making this because it was truly scary while on set. At the end of the day, we were safe… for the most part.”
The genre of horror is one O’hurn says he enjoys watching, too.
“I’m a big guy, it’s very hard for me to get scared. So when I watch a horror film, and I’m genuinely terrified, that is a great film,” he explains.
“I remember watching The Conjuring for the first time and by the end of it I was like, ‘I’m not even going to put my feet down so somebody can reach onto the couch and grab me! I’m sleeping here on the couch and when daylight comes out, we’re gonna make it a new day.'”
Acting aside, another of O’hurn’s passions is fitness. A scroll through his social media pages shows workouts that look tough enough to make even The Rock sweat.
But as well as the physical side, the effect exercise has on his mental health is also key.
He says: “That’s the reason I fell in love with it in the first place. I suffered from clinical depression, so it helped almost rewire my thought process in the way I show up in the world and how I feel.
“That was one thing growing up – I found (with) working out that I could leave feeling better than how I came in. And it was something that I craved every day and that’s where I fell in love with fitness.”
● The Resort has been released on digital and on demand