Kevin Zegers saves the day as Sam in “The Colony,” a survival-horror film that plants you right in the middle of an eternal winter landscape where feral cannibals are on the loose. ShockYa was excited to speak to Zegers about the film, his role and if he would be able to handle a long-term blizzard (if such an event were to occur). “The Colony” is in theaters now.
How did you get into the mindset of Sam, especially since he has to live in these harsh conditions?
Kevin Zegers: Well, I think part of it is as an actor, you find whatever part of yourself…to get in the headspace of the character you’re playing. So, you know, there was nothing tangible [I did]–I didn’t lock myself in my closet or anything. We had sort of done a lot of prep work figuring out where these people were at and so once we got started, once we went up to North Bay where we were filming–which is a pretty isolated spot–I think that really helped [us] dive into these characters.
Speaking of where you filmed, what was it like filming in North Bay?
Kevin Zegers: We mostly shot in North Bay and Toronto. It was really isolated, really cold up there, especially when we were filming. The first day we were filming, it was -42 degrees. It was really cold and gray and kind of the perfect place to shoot the film, to get into the vibe of what these people were going through.
What as it like working opposite Lawrence Fishburne and Bill Paxton?
Kevin Zegers: They’re two of my favorite actors and they’re also really great guys. I’d heard that about both of them, but they were both so cool and, to my surprise, had seen a couple of things I had done and were super supportive of me. All three of us have actually stayed quite close. Whenever I’m in Toronto, because Lawrence is shooting a TV show there, I try to catch up with him. Whenever Bill is in town, he takes me out for dinner. So, I’ve stayed pretty close with them, which is usually an indication of what good a time you’ve had because they’re two legends of the acting world and I felt lucky to be on set with them. Now I feel lucky to have them as friends.
The film also has a slight environmental bent, since the blizzard started from the earth heating up too much. How do you think the audience will react to the film, particularly that element?
Kevin Zegers: …[T]he film doesn’t beat you over the head with it, but it’s something in the background. I think part of something that I don’t like about films is that they beat you over the head with a theme or something that they want you to think about…[This film] offers a good explanation for what [this event] happened, and people can make up their minds as to what they think about it.
This is a silly question, but if you were faced with an eternal winter, do you think you would survive?
Kevin Zegers: You know, I grew up in Canada, so I think probably out of anybody, I’m probably more equipped to deal with it. I actually do kind of like the cold, so I’m probably as well-equipped as anybody to handle a situation like this.
