Our interview with Olivia Simmons regarding her performance in the Lionsgate movie, “You Can’t Run Forever”.
Miranda, a young woman already suffering from acute anxiety due to a past tragedy, faces a new terror when a serial killer chooses her as his new target. In a harrowing hunt through the woods, Miranda finds strength she never knew she had as she tries to elude her murderous tracker. Academy Award® winner J.K. Simmons stars in a spine-chilling thriller about the strength of family and the astonishing power of the human spirit.
In Theaters, On Digital and On Demand May 17
Criticólogos:
This is a scary situation. You play the friend of the victim. And you’re trying to do as much as you can to help, even though this is a work of fiction, this is something that has happened in real life, as scary as it seems. I want to I want to ask. A person who has gone to this. What would you tell them? What piece of advice would you give them?
Olivia Simmons:
Oh, my gosh, that’s a good question. I guess a piece of advice would be to really lean on your family, and I think that’s something that’s emphasized in the movie as well, is that if you have people that you can count on, then count on them because you’re going to need them in situations like this.
Criticólogos:
What is it that Emily has that is that is you being you or you just following the character?
Olivia Simmons:
Absolutely. Yeah. I think the determination and the kind of stubbornness, I guess, is something that I definitely share with Emily. Yeah, a lot of it. Honestly, I think it was pretty easy for me to sort of slip into this character because the writing is so kind of the way that I speak sometimes. It just felt very natural. The dialogue was just written very well, for somebody in my age group. So they’re absolutely elements of the character and in particular, maybe the stubbornness.
Criticólogos:
I have to talk about working with Fernanda because she did an amazing job with Jennifer. were you able to pick up something from her? And did she make you speak Spanish?
Olivia Simmons:
Yes, absolutely. I was learning from her the whole time. I mean, she’s incredible. I think something that I picked up while watching her act and working with her was the stillness that she brings. You don’t have to be doing a lot. In fact, sometimes it’s more powerful to sort of just sit in the emotion and you can really see it in her eyes when she’s acting. It’s like. I mean, she’s just amazing and she’s the loveliest person too. So I love just getting to know her and getting closer to her through that whole process and watching her work it really did feel like a masterclass because she’s incredible.
Criticólogos:
I studied Spanish in high school. I should be much better at it than I am, but, um, no, she didn’t make me. She didn’t make me at.
J.K. Simmons did amazing, so I have to ask, you being directly related to somebody who’s working on the project. Does he let you go in your own way, or does he give you some pointers on how to do this? How was it that working with him?
Olivia Simmons:
He absolutely let me go my own way. Yeah, I think if anything, there was actually less pressure working with my family because, um, it, it just made the environment feel so safe. And I felt very supported the whole time. Um, and yeah, I mean, we all just treated each other like professionals, which was really great practice for me because, you know, I am still somewhat new to the industry. So, um, it, it we had so much respect for one another, and it really felt great to be treated like somebody who had been in the business for years and years.
So, yeah, they absolutely let me kind of figure out my own thing. And we all found a really good working dynamic on set together.
Criticólogos:
This is a tense movie, but I have to ask, much It’s like thriller and horror movies. They tend to be funny on set. Walk us through a day in the set, any fun moments?
Olivia Simmons:
I mean, yeah, it definitely was a really fun set. speaking of Fernanda, there was this one scene that is not really a spoiler. There’s this one scene where she and I are both crying, like, profusely the whole scene. And I just remember, um, in between takes, we would just sort of wipe our tears off and then kind of go back to joking with each other. And looking back on that, that was so funny because we really did go from such an emotional extreme to the other. Um, but, I mean, it just goes to show how, how wonderful all the people on set were and how great everybody’s personalities were, because you really need to sort of find some sort of levity when there is material that is this, um, intense and occasionally dark.
Criticólogos:
What do you want people to take away from the story?
Olivia Simmons:
love conquers all.
See the interview below:
Trailer:
