Star of one of the most talked about horror movies in recent years Amber Doig-Thorne plays Alice in Winnie-the-Pooh: Blood and Honey.
We spoke to her about working on the film, her favourite horror flicks, paranormal experiences and more.
What was the first horror film you ever watched & how did it make you feel?
Scream was the first horror film I ever watched, and it opened my eyes to the genre.
I loved the slasher film concept with some added humour and really enjoyed watching characters who are actually aware of horror film cliches, alongside a very clever plot with lots of unexpected twists and turns!
I also really liked that Ghostface could be anyone, that it really didn’t matter who was under the mask. It could be someone of any ethnicity, sexuality or gender. I always thought that was so cool – I loved how inclusive the character was. It’s always been my dream to be cast in a Scream film and be terrorised by Ghostface!
After watching Scream – my love for horror films really blossomed, and from that point onwards horror became my favourite genre to watch.
Funnily enough – when I grew up, horror also became my favourite genre to act in! I’ve been lucky enough to act in 25 British Horror Films to date, and I am excited to bring to life more fun horror scripts in the future.
Have you ever had a supernatural experience?
Yes, I’ve had many!
Even though my background is in Science (I have a Bachelor’s Degree in Theoretical Physics), I am very spiritual and have had many supernatural experiences throughout my life.
A couple were quite scary – but most of them have been friendly spirits! I’m tempted to film a series of videos for my YouTube Channel where I could talk about my supernatural experiences, because I love watching videos like that online!
What was it like working on Winnie the Pooh: Blood & Honey?
Creating a horror spin off of such a popular childhood character is something I hadn’t seen done before, and nowadays it’s so rare for a film to be made around a genuinely unique idea – so as soon as I read the script, I knew I would love to be involved.
Although being terrorised by Pooh and Piglet is certainly something I didn’t think I’d ever experience! I grew up reading the Winnie the Pooh books, playing the game and owning the toys so being tormented and chased by Pooh was quite odd!
It was really strange seeing Pooh as a 6ft creature built like a house, instead of the small cuddly bear we see in A.A Milne’s books – it was genuinely scary seeing the actors in their Pooh and Piglet costumes for the first time!
I play ‘Alice’ in the film – she is the only character to successfully take on Pooh or Piglet, so that was quite crazy to grasp in itself, being the first human character in Winnie The Pooh history to take down one of the beloved characters. I’ve been sent so many videos of audiences in cinemas around the world reacting to the scene where I get my revenge on Piglet, the response has been amazing!
There was a great atmosphere on set – I had a feeling that we were making something special and thought there was potential for the film to really go somewhere, but I don’t think any of us anticipated just how much interest there would be in the film!
When the stills and trailers started going viral last year I was blown away by the response. It was mind blowing to see global outlets like The Hollywood Reporter, New York Times, Variety and Rolling Stone writing articles on our little independent film.
Did you keep any memento/s from working on the film?
We had to provide our own costumes for the film – so I still have my character’s costume in my wardrobe, which is a nice little memento!
I’m honoured to have been invited to a selection of Horror Film Conventions in the UK, USA and Canada over the next few months – and they’ve requested that I dress up in costume for fans to take photos with me, which I think will be a lot of fun.
I also have so many videos and behind the scenes photos from when we were filming, which I will always treasure.
What is your favourite horror film, spooky read or podcast?
My favourite horror movies are the Saw, Scream, Halloween, Final Destination, The Purge and The Conjuring franchises.
I love supernatural films (probably because I’m very spiritual myself!), slasher films and psychological thrillers.
Other horror films I have seen recently and really enjoyed were M3GAN, Smile, Prey For The Devil and Old. I also really like The Dead Meat Podcast and the Evolution of Horror Podcast.
Winnie-the-Pooh: Blood and Honey is available now.
