Victoria Justice is swept up in murder and mayhem in her new film, Depravity.
“It has all the ingredients for a good thriller,” the actress told Yahoo Entertainment. “There’s murder, there’s greed, there’s sex, there’s money.” Not to mention “blood [and] gore.”
She plays law student Grace, who lives in a formidable old apartment building, the Lancaster, with a creepy next-door neighbor (Dermot Mulroney) who she, her roommate (Devon Ross) and the hot 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 and turns … I didn’t see coming,” Justice said of the film, which is like a darker, bloodier Only Murders in the Building.
It capitalizes on the fact that “as humans, we have such a natural curiosity of the people living around us,” she said. “We all feel a little nosy — like, what’s your story? What’s going on behind closed doors? What is your life really like? This takes that to an extreme level.”
The film is a departure from Justice’s Nickelodeon days. She traveled to Bangkok for the film shoot. On her first day, she shot her first-ever sex scene.
“When I signed on to do the [film], I was a little scared about that scene,” Justice admitted. “I expressed that to Paul and he was very reassuring and made me feel very safe. He was like, ‘We’re not going to do anything that’s not going to feel comfortable. I will show it to you in the edit afterward. If you are not comfortable with something, let me know.’ So it was very collaborative, and he made me feel very safe and protected.”
The fact that it all played out on her first day on set was “the ultimate icebreaker” for her and co-star Smith.
“I was like, ‘Really guys, you’re not gonna let us ease into this, warm up a little bit, maybe get to know my fellow actor a little more?’” she said. “It was like, no, just [dive] right in. Right into the deep end.”
Justice said Smith “was great too,” checking in to make sure she was OK as they filmed.
“We were joking around and trying to make the best out of an innately very uncomfortable and awkward situation,” she said. “It ended up going very smoothly. I felt very good about it. My mind was definitely put at ease. I’m happy with the way everything turned out.”
With that worry out of the way, Justice could explore her character, who’s fearless — to the point of recklessness — when it comes to tracking down the truth about her possibly murderous neighbor. For the record, Justice is not as daring in real life.
“I like to play it safe more than my character,” she said. “When I was younger, I was like, ‘Yeah, I’m like a bad girl. I’m totally a thrill seeker. I’d go skydiving.’ Now I’m in my early 30s and there’s no chance. Why would I want to jump out of a plane? I’m very happy here on earth, knowing that I’m safe. I like being on land. I would never want to sneak into a potential serial killer’s apartment” like Grace does in the film. “That sounds like a nightmare.”
Justice tackling serial killers and sex scenes is a reminder that it’s been a minute since her days as a child actor in wildly popular Nickelodeon shows like Victorious and Zoey 101. Her time on the network still makes headlines, though, and both shows are currently streaming on Netflix to new audiences.
With her peer Demi Lovato recently saying she’d never let her future kids be child actors, where does Justice stand, having made her TV debut at age 10?
“You know — potentially,” she said. “I feel like I would never push that on my child by any means, but I feel like if my kid really wanted to do it and was super passionate about it and this was a strong desire that was coming from them, who am I to hold them back in life? I would want to support them and help them thrive in any way possible.”
She continued, “I would always also emphasize it’s important to have a balanced life. I wouldn’t want my kid to be homeschooled straightaway and not go to public school and have a normal life. I would put a major emphasis on education because I think that’s really important as well, [and] I would want to be around and involved. I could potentially be open to it if they really loved it and needed to do it.”
What’s next for Justice’s own résumé? In addition to releasing more music as an independent artist, after this year’s singles “Down” and “Raw,” she has a guest-starring role in the Suits: L.A. pilot starring Stephen Amell. The spin-off has already been picked up as a series after the original show’s resurgence on Netflix.
“It was such a fun set to walk onto,” said Justice, who plays Dylan Pryor, an ambitious movie star. “First of all, the sets themselves were so impressive — like the office. I was like: Wow, this is incredible. They’re really doing it up here. And the whole cast was incredibly welcoming and super friendly. They have great chemistry together. I think people are going to be really pleased with the show … and, for me, it was just fun to be asked to jump in and be a little part of it.”
Depravity is available for rent or purchase on Oct. 15.
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