Tyler Posey stars in the film Alone, coming to Digital and On Demand from Lionsgate October 16th and Blu-ray and DVD October 20th. The thriller follows Aidan (Posey), who awakens to find a global pandemic has hit and almost everyone around him has turned into zombies. His apartment overrun and not able to connect with his family, Aidan starts to give up hope until he sees that his neighbor across the courtyard, Eva (Summer Spiro), is alive and still human. They eventually communicate and become “socially distant friends.” Aidan attempts a rescue, but can he get to her in time?

The film also features Donald Sutherland as his strange neighbor in this timely film.

Posey recently talked to SciFi Vision in an exclusive Zoom interview about working on the movie, doing stunts, his love of tattoos, and more.

Be sure to check out the film. You can read the full transcript below the video.





Zoom Call
Alone
Tyler Posey

September 24, 2020

TYLER POSEY:  Jamie, I have a question for you. How are you in space without a helmet?

SCIFI VISION:  That I don't know. [laughs] I don’t know, I started using that a while ago and I just kind of kept using it, I guesss.

TYLER POSEY:   I love it. It reminds me of Gravity.

Thank you.

All right, so, first, this was done filming way before any of the pandemic hit?

Yeah.

I thought so. I just wanted to ask that first.

So, how did you get involved in the movie?

They reached out to the producers, and the director reached out to me. I read the script, and I fell in love with the script. And the character, I really, really, really loved it, partly because I hadn't had an action movie that was based around my character, and I really wanted to be, you know, like exhausted and worked mentally and physically. I really wanted to have that experience.

I was in Australia, when I got the offer for it, and they wanted to shoot in the Philippines…I was scheduling a bunch of different things that were based around Los Angeles, and I was like, “If you guys can get it to shoot in Los Angeles, then that's perfect, and I would love to have that happen.” Obviously, that's always an awesome thing to have. As much as I wanted to go to the Philippines, I just couldn't do it with my schedule. And they were like, “Okay, we'll do it.” I was like, “Really? It was that easy?”

So, we got to do it in Los Angeles, and I just dug in. I wanted to repay the favor of them bringing it to Los Angeles in my work, in my work ethic, and all the physicals, like stunts that I had to do. I just really wanted to be onboard and go all in on this movie.

It was really good movie. I really enjoyed it.

Thank you.

Freaked me out at parts, but I really enjoyed it. [laughs]

It’s pretty creepy.

Yeah it was.

So, I was going to ask you what you were attracted to, but you already said that. So, was there any special preparation or anything you did beforehand? I don't know, maybe even watching zombie movies? [laughs] Anything?

Well, I’ve been a fan of zombie movies since the beginning. I even have a zombie tattoo on my calf. It's a zombie arm that's cut off. There’s bone and blood and weird arm guts hanging from it. So, I'm a huge fan of zombies, and so that was already exciting for me. But [for] my preparation, my character has to grow this huge beard. That was all real, and I've never grown a beard that big before, so that was really my only preparation.

Then, you know, I didn't want to hurt myself for these stunts. So, I was kind of working out, stretching a little bit, but my character, he's supposed to be emaciated, because he hasn't had much food in forty days. So, I couldn't be like really buff. That's my excuse to not work out [laughs], but yeah, I had to grow this massive, massive, massive beard. And before I even got the word that I was doing the movie, I just started growing the beard and putting it out in the universe. I'm like, “Okay, I'm growing this beard. I'm going to do this movie,” and it worked out. So, that was really my only preparation.

Then, you know, the character’s very, in depth and deep. There're a lot of layers to him that I related to. So, I dug deep in myself and kind of pulled some stuff out to play him. So, there was definitely some preparation.

Now, you mentioned the stunts and kind of the the action part of it. Can you talk a bit about that and any training you had? I mean, I know you've done that kind of thing before, but...

Yeah. What was really cool is that our director is a big stunt guy. He's been in the stunt world forever, Johnny Martin. He's the greatest dude in the world. We really collaborated with a lot of the stunts and tried to make them look really good, but also a little sloppy, because my character is not trained in anything.

He hired the stunt guys that I knew from Teen Wolf, and they had been with me for years. That adds this comfortability, because I knew that they were going to protect me no matter what, when I'm just jumping sixty feet down, jumping from one balcony to another and there's just nothing underneath me, and I'm like in a harness. So, I was really comfortable on the set, thank God, because I knew the stunt guys, and that really makes a big difference. So, the stunts, as scary as they were, they were definitely awesome in every aspect, because I felt that I could trust my stunt guys, which is huge. I trusted that our director, Johnny, was going to capture the best moments, because he's a huge stunt guy himself. I just went all in, and I was like, “Okay, I'm even going to hurt myself.” I was bruised like crazy. I just I wanted to give it my all. Oh God, it was so much fun. I miss it.

It seems like it would be a fun one to do.

For, well, most of the movie, but definitely the beginning part, it's just you. How is that, just being on your own with all the monologues? Was that difficult to carry it all yourself that way? Or did you enjoy that more?

Oh, I loved it. Yeah, I really, really, really wanted to dig into that part of the movie. I related a lot to it. I had kind of isolated myself.

Growing up in the industry, you're not very private. So, I think that my body was just like, “You need some privacy.” So, I kind of reclused myself for a little while, and amidst some bouts of depression, and I really kind of used that as recalling for my character. I just put myself back into that place a little bit, and it was just so much fun.

I love working alone on a set, no pun intended, because I just love the crew, and I'm a producer also, and I've directed a bunch of stuff, and I love being a part of the crew, not just an actor. So, working alone with the crew, no pun intended, [laughs] I just really find that to be my place. We were able to do things really smoothly and keep the day going and just keep the morale up also, which is very important, especially in quote, close quarters, that we had on the set of Alone.

So, I loved that part. I loved filming alone, but then we got to have these awesome guest stars too that came in and alleviated some of the depressing times of me being alone, and it just made everything - it was just a perfect scenario. I loved it. I loved working with Donald [Sutherland] and Summer [Spiro]. It was so cool. It was so cool.

Now after all this pandemic has happened here in real life, has it made you think about your character or about the film differently?
 
Not so much differently, no. It's just bizarre how synchronized it is with the world. None of us expected [laughs] that this pandemic was going to happen when we were filming a pandemic movie.

Right, right.

It's so bizarre, because in a lot of zombie movies, they go out into the world, and they try to fight for survival. My character doesn't do that. He's very much quarantining himself, which is so bizarre how much it aligns with what's happening nowadays. I kind of see it as symbolism for the world, my character kind of going through this really crazy stuff, but he tries to learn to deal with it. I feel like the world is kind of doing that right now. As messed up as everything is, it feels like there's regrowth happening, which is really interesting, but I don't really feel - I mean, maybe I kind of feel his position a little deeper and a little more real, because there was no such thing as a pandemic back then when we were filming this. So, now I'm able to be like, “Oh my God, my poor character; he really had nothing and no one and had to be stuck in his own head.” A lot of people were kind of worried about being stuck alone in our quarantine time of COVID. A lot of people have had some growth, a lot of people had been broken down from it, and I can't even imagine - my character started going crazy, but then learned to kind of love himself and be okay with everything that's going on. So, it's pretty intense, the symbolism.

Right. Speaking of symbolism, and this is a little off track here, but I was originally going to ask you about the makeup department applying all those tattoos, and then I realized they weren't just applied; they're real. Do you have one that has a specific story behind it or anything like that? And also, just out of curiosity, why all American Traditional?

Oh, I love that you know the genre.

I watch Ink Master. [laughs]

Yes! That's my favorite show; I love Ink Master. American Traditional - so, I just love - the artwork just holds up forever. I love the classic-ness of the artwork. It's been around since tattooing first got really popular in America, and it still is really popular to this day. I just really fell in love with with the artwork. I don't know, what's really cool is that it looks kind of almost like a kid drew everything, but the way that it's tattooed, you'd need to be pretty pretty damn good at tattooing to make it look this good. So, I just fell in love with the artwork.

I don't really have too many tattoos that really are symbolic to me…Just the artwork itself is symbolic. Like I find artists that I really really love, and I will go to their tattoo shop and just basically say, “Tattoo whatever you want on me,” you know, that's like in their flash, in all their their artwork. So, I kind of stopped trying to find tattoos that meant something, because I knew I wanted to be covered in tattoos. I'm like, “That's a lot of meaning. That’s a lot of symbolism I have to kind of dig out of my butt,” [laughs] but I just I love being able to travel across the world and find these artists that really mean something to me, who are great and are respected in their line of profession.

Now whenever I get tattooed by a tattoo artist, they see my arm, and they're like, “Wow, who did that? Who did that?” They know all the artists, and they're like, “Wow, I’m kind of intimidated to tattoo this arm, because there's so much great work that I've idolized forever on your arm.” So, that's kind of a cool thing, that tattoo artists I admire are a little afraid to tattoo me, because there's so much other legendary work on there.

Yeah, you've got a lot. I have a couple, but not that many. [laughs]

It hurts.

Yeah.

So, this being sort of a horror movie, a thriller, what scares you, just in general?

Oh, man, I've never liked flying. [laughs]

[laughs]

Flying has always scared me. I know turbulence is safe. There's nothing happening, but it just feels awful. [laughs]

I don't like being alone. Or sorry, well, that's kind of true, but I don't like being without my puppies.

Where is he? There's one in here somewhere. [uncovers his dog]

Aww.

I don’t know if you can see him.

[laughs] Somewhere in there.

He’s right there, his little head, and then I got another one over here; she's asleep. So, I don't like being without my puppies.

And I'm afraid of the world imploding on itself. Not like a star, like actually the world like killing itself.

So, that's pretty much it. I'm not really afraid of monsters. I've just been around horror stuff my whole entire acting career, basically, so it's kind of made me less afraid of monsters.

Also, people. Sometimes people are kind of scary.

That's true. That's true.

All right, I think we have time for one more. Let me ask you, getting back to the movie again, can you talk a bit about the blood effects? I know you didn't have a whole lot on you, but that still has to not feel great. [laughs]

Yeah, it's always a little bizarre. I mean, I definitely got used to it on Teen Wolf. I was covered in blood and black guts or whatever every single day on Teen Wolf, and I missed it. I really missed it when the show got canceled. I just loved being covered in blood.

Towards the end of the movie, I've just got blood coming from my head, from my stomach. I'm all covered in other people's blood, and I loved it. The showers are always weird, because your hair is like stuck to you, and it hurts, like trying to pull it off, and you're all sticky and weird, but other than that, I love being covered in fake blood. You can't eat it, though. I mean, you can sometimes, but -

It doesn’t taste so great.

...it’s not as cool as you’d think it would be.

Okay, really quick, if it's okay if I ask one more?

Sure.

Can you talk about working with Donald Sutherland?

Oh my god. So, okay, I don't really get starstruck too often anymore, or like nervous working, but that dude is such a legend in every aspect, and I've grown up watching him. It was awesome. You know, it's been a long time since I've had that sort of feeling on set, where like, “Okay, I really have to give it my all.” Not that I wouldn't give it my all, but I wanted to impress him, and I think I did.

We definitely found a respect for one another working on set, and we started joking around with each other and doing little pranks and just messing with each other. Then, also when the cameras were rolling and we said “action,” we were so professional and just dug into the scene work. We really played off of each other. Like, I remember when the camera was on him, I would give him all of my emotion and sometimes cry, and I think he really just respected that. We walked away really respecting one another from that set. I loved working with him. He's such a good actor, and his choices are stuff that I would never think of, and it was just really inspiring for me, and I took a lot from that. We just bounced off of each other, and it was it was really cool. We both grew - I don't know if he grew from the movie, but I’d like to think that he did. I gave him some really crazy stuff, and he gave me some crazy stuff too, and we just had a lot of fun. We felt like the cameras weren't even there, and we were just having fun.