Whether helping to contain a demonic presence alongside John Jarratt and Lincoln Lewis in Chris Sun’s The Possessed or serving up a memorable cameo in Kiah and Tristan Roache-Turner’s zombie action-thriller Wyrmwood: Apocalypse, Lauren Grimson has never shied away from showcasing her talents in horror.
She is set for more scares next month in Corey Pearson’s Cry Baby, which will begin a four-week shoot in Albury-Wodonga on June 30.
Set in Poland, the feature stars Grimson as Molly, one-half of an American newlywed couple that moves to the Central European country for work. Once there, she witnesses a traumatic event that causes her mind to unravel as she begins to hear things in the walls of an old building dating back to World War Two. Paul Hughes and Samantha Allsop also feature in the cast.
Pearson wrote the script alongside Simon I. Proud, and is also producing via his company Rhythmic Films, working alongside line producer Kat Lavender, and executive producers Hafedh Dakhlaoui, Mitchel Palmer and David Whealey.
Grimson came on board with the project after initially being approached by Rhythmic for a role in its upcoming sci-fi action film Alone, before a change in schedule led to Cry Baby entering production first.
With the majority of her roles thus far in the horror, the Sydney-based actress admitted it was difficult to come across something new, but the Cry Baby script offered something she had “never seen or read before”.
“It’s a very layered piece,” she said.
“There’s a lot of nuance and subtlety and it deals with bigger underlying themes, such as mental health.
“I feel very connected to the character as well. She’s very witty, smart, and funny, but she’s also very complex and very private. I think that kind of dynamism in a character is always very interesting to explore.”
Cry Baby marks the second time Grimson will step into the lead role of a feature film, after shooting Jennifer Van Gessel’s as-yet-unreleased Water Horse.
Also a horror, the story centres on Dianne Wilson (Grimson), a woman who lost her mother in mysterious circumstances at a young age and is still searching for closure. Her investigation leads her to believe the disappearance is of a paranormal nature.
She starred opposite Dean Kyrwood, while also sharing the screen with Jessica Tovey and Socratis Otto.
Production began in 2019 and spanned Sydney, Canberra, Newcastle, Hill End, Nowra and Kangaroo Valley, with the COVID delay meaning filming only wrapped in 2021.
Van Gessel has now completed the final grade for the film and is in discussions with distributors regarding a North American release later this year.
“[Lauren] is amazing in the film and I can’t wait for people to see what she’s done with this character,” the director said.
Prior to Water Horse, Grimson played Christina McKinnon in Matthew Holmes’ period drama The Legend of Ben Hall, and had a minor role in sci-fi thriller Osiris Child. Having appeared in her first commercial aged six, she briefly left the industry to pursue a media career in the early 2010s, only to be lured back to the screen via theatre.
On why she has since leaned more towards horror, Grimson said she enjoyed the different aspects at play, as well as being able to draw from real-life experience and the films she watched.
“I think the reason I care so much about this genre is that horror can be so many things.
“If you look back at the ’80s slasher films, it can be purely for entertainment and escapism, but I think horror also has a really important place in general catharsis for people because there are so many fearful things that happen to each of us just being out in the world – anything could happen at any time and we have no control over that.
‘I feel like watching horror and being an audience member for horror gives you an element of control over your own fears, whereby you are the one in control of stopping that movie or changing the channel. It’s one of the rare moments in our lives where we are in control of fear and of horror essentially.”
While the 34-year-old doesn’t have any immediate plans following Cry Baby, she was keen to continue her momentum “wherever the work is”.
“Right before the pandemic, I was on a bit of a trajectory with my work; I had done Water Horse and then I booked The Possessed and a cameo in Wyrmwood, so I really felt things were starting to gain a bit of traction,” she said.
“Then the pandemic happened and everything closed down but things are opening up again now and I feel like Cry Baby is the next logical step in my career.”