ComingSoon spoke to They/Them stars Cooper Koch, Darwin del Fabro, Monique Kim, and Anna Lore about Peacock’s upcoming slasher set at a conversion camp. The film is now available on the streamer.
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“Kevin Bacon plays Owen Whistler in this slasher horror film set at an LGBTQIA+ conversion camp,” says the synopsis. “Several queer and trans campers join Whistler for a week of programming intended to ‘help them find a new sense of freedom.’ As the camp’s methods become increasingly more psychologically unsettling, the campers must work together to protect themselves. When a mysterious killer starts claiming victims, things get even more dangerous.”
Tyler Treese: Cooper, there’s a great scene in the film where you’re all singing “Effing Perfect” by p!nk, and it seemed like you had the biggest blast singing that. Is that even acting at that point, or are you just having fun doing some karaoke?
Cooper Koch: No, it was so fun. That’s really also the turning point for Stu, that’s when Stu figures it out.
Darwin, there’s a montage of all the camp participants doing camp activities: tug of war and playing games like that. What were the highlights of those activities for you?
Darwin del Fabro: I think having everyone together, just having fun and breathing. It’s Georgia, like nature, and [to] be around that … I’m from New York, so I don’t have that every day. So it’s just having fun a little, and putting myself in that summer camp that I never had in Brazil.
Monique, you and Anna share some fantastic scenes throughout. How did you guys work on your chemistry and develop it?
Monique Kim: We actually can’t stand each other. There’s a lot of acting involved.
Anna Lore: I think that there was nothing to work on, chemistry-wise. We just get each other as actors. We understand each other as artists. We’re both very respectful, and we were both so excited to play these characters and to tell the story of Kim and Veronica. I don’t want to speak for both of us, but it was easy. It was one of the easiest jobs ever.
Monique Kim: Yeah, as soon as I met Anna, I trusted her right away. As an actor, that’s just liberating. So I just had to react off of what she was giving me, and honestly, she did all the heavy lifting. I just had to do facial expressions. so, and that equals chemistry, to answer your question.
Anna Lore: I wanted to add, when we’re singing “Effing Perfect,” that was the last day that all six of us campers were on set together. That was last day that all of us were there the same day, so it was really kind of emotional and special too in that way.
Cooper Koch: It was also the first thing that we rehearsed, [it] was the first thing we did. Our first rehearsal was doing “Effing Perfect.”
It had to be a pinch yourself moment that you were in a horror film with Kevin Bacon. I’m sure that coolness factor hasn’t worn off. What was your big takeaway of working with such a legend?
Anna Lore: It’s a masterclass in acting, watching him. I was so obsessed with watching him right before a take to watch him go from Kevin into Owen Whistler. To watch him transform from this nice, chill guy — He’s so warm. He’s really generous with his time and his energy for us — And then to see him take on this character that couldn’t be more different from him as a person was … I couldn’t take my eyes off it.
Cooper, you talked about Stu starting to embrace himself for who he is as the film progresses. What about your character’s journey did you really connect with the most?
Cooper Koch: I think just that. When I was growing up, when I was in high school and my first year of college, I really didn’t wanna be who I was either. So I think that’s how I most connected to him. I’ve been through that journey myself. So it was beautiful to get to do it again through someone else. It’s very cathartic, but also really healing and beautiful. I had a great group of queers around me.
Darwin, I love the twist we get in this film with your character. What excited you about Gabriel and getting to show different sides of him?
Darwin del Fabro: Ah, that’s a good question. I think the excitement is just … Gabriel starts the journey of this movie. It’s so fragile and delicate and people judge him by his looks. We discovered through the journey of the movie that he’s very powerful, and it’s good to know that you can be powerful celebrating who you are.