It’s the Thanksgiving holiday and you, along with your wife and daughter, are driving home after spending the day with family. You decide to stop at a rest stop to pick up some provisions for the rest of the drive home, but while there, your daughter falls and, upon further inspection, looks to have fractured her arm. You rush her to the nearest hospital, where your daughter, accompanied by your wife, are brought downstairs for an MRI. You take a seat and close your eyes, only to awaken hours later to find that the hospital has no record or knowledge of your family ever being checked in.

That’s exactly what transpires in Brad Anderson‘s (Session 9) latest film FRACTURED. During Fantastic Fest, I had the opportunity to check out the World Premiere of the film which stars actors Sam Worthington as Ray Monroe, Lily Rabe as Joanne Monroe, and Lucy Capri as their daughter, Peri Monroe. Prior the release of the film on Netflix, I had the opportunity to chat with actress Lily Rabe where we discussed everything from what attracted her to the role to the family unit that formed between her, Sam, and Lucy.

It’s such a pleasure to speak with you today! To start things, can you talk a little bit about what attracted you to the role of Joanne Monroe? 

Lily Rabe: [The script] was such a page-turner and so devastating and gripping. I also loved Joanne and where we come in on this relationship. I feel like it’s one of those moments in a relationship where you sort of get to the end of something and either it’s going to be over or you’re going to have to turn left or right and find new room and a new incarnation of that relationship. We don’t know which way it’s going to go but I can certainly relate to that. I was [also] really excited to work with Brad [Anderson] and I was really excited to work with Sam [Worthington].

Speaking of Brad Anderson and Sam Worthington, was it like to work so closely with them on this project? 

Lily Rabe: It was great, we really felt very quickly like a unit. Both Brad and Sam are really brave and they are really curious – all the things you want, where I think the best work can happen, because no one’s coming from a place of fear. Brad is a real leader, he’s also very kind, which I think is so wonderful on a set. He’s a dad, Sam’s a dad, but Brad is very exacting to. It’s like you have a lot of freedom but he’s also an amazing editor and he knows what he’s doing. There’s a real steady hand at the wheel.

As a mother, how terrifying was it for you to play a character that deals with a severely injured child? 

Lily Rabe: It’s hell (laughs). The thing is, you get into the mindset. I think I was talking recently about this where so many of the things that we say are unimaginable, I think the real horror of them is that we spend so much time as parents imagining them. This is my job, to be a storyteller, but it’s agonizing to spend time in that place even though it’s fiction.

What I loved about the film was that it felt like there was a genuine connection between you, Sam, and Lucy. Did you get to spend a lot of time together prior to filming? 

Lily Rabe: We had a little bit of time. We were shooting in Winnipeg and had a little bit of time before we started, but a lot of the stuff that takes place at the beginning of the movie we shot towards the end, so we had already spent a lot of time together. Though, what I couldn’t predict, was I did have a very fast and easy friendship and connection with Sam and with Lucy. It was luxurious, the scheduling, that we were able to story of have time [together] before we got there.

You’ve done a lot of work within the horror/thriller genre. Is there something about that genre that you find yourself drawn to? 

Lily Rabe: I love the genre and I appreciate the genre, but it really is about the role and the filmmaking or the director – whoever’s ship you want to get on because they are going in the direction that you’re interested in going and you feel confident that they are going to take you somewhere great and interesting. Even if it doesn’t work, the experience is something you want to have. It’s always been sort of better than I could even have imagined in terms of the experience. I started in the theatre and I’m probably drawn to things that feel boundless. The genre has a lot of great stories in there and has a lot of great characters. I would love to do a comedy or action film, though – there’s no genre that I’m like, “Anything but that!” (laughs).

FRACTURED is now streaming exclusively on Netflix.

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Shannon McGrew

Founder/Co-Owner at Nightmarish Conjurings

Shannon is the Founder of Nightmarish Conjurings and a lover of all things horror and haunt related. When she's not obsessively collecting all things "Trick 'R Treat" related, or trying to convince everyone that "Hereditary" is one of the greatest horror films ever made, you can find her designing interiors for commercial restaurants. An avid haunt fan, Shannon spends the entire year visiting haunts and immersive experiences throughout the Southern California area and hopes to one day design her own haunted attraction.

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