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'Undertone' filmmaker Ian Tuason and stars Nina Kiri and Adam DeMarco stop by the THR Studio at Park City to talk about their paranormal film and share their own paranormal experiences. Plus, Tuason shares the sign from his mom, which made him want to book Kiri as the lead of the film.

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Transcript
00:00Yeah, I was in Sicily and I had this nightmare of this man in my room.
00:05He approached the foot of my bed and I woke up screaming and he was a bald man.
00:10And that's important for the story because, yeah, John Grice...
00:15This was another actor from our show.
00:17This was when you guys were filming.
00:19The hotel used to be a club.
00:20And then I heard him...
00:21I didn't tell anyone.
00:22And then I heard him like a week later being like, oh, I had a nice...
00:25It was a nightmare where there was this like...
00:26There was this like...
00:27Old man in my room.
00:28We would push the foot of my bed and like grab my leg.
00:30And I was like, the same thing happened to me.
00:32So that's actually like confirmed a ghost.
00:35Will you tell me when you started getting the idea of...
00:40For this movie.
00:41And I did read in your director's notes that you mentioned...
00:45Kind of going down a rabbit hole about like different...
00:48Like the Hotel Cecil.
00:50Disappearance and stuff like that.
00:51And that was something that was recognizable to me instantly in your searches.
00:55But...
00:56Yeah.
00:57It was...
00:58I went down the creepypasta rabbit hole.
00:59And...
01:00Can you explain to people who don't know about creepypasta?
01:04Yeah.
01:05It's just...
01:05Online forums.
01:06Someone posts a story that you don't know if it's true or not.
01:10Yeah.
01:11And then people...
01:12Then it turns into a thread.
01:14And then it becomes like...
01:15It's like an online urban legend.
01:16And then...
01:17Some...
01:18It's like an online urban legend.
01:19And then...
01:20Some...
01:20Sometimes it's based on...
01:21An actual event.
01:22And then people are...
01:23Uh...
01:24Absolutely.
01:25So...
01:25debating whether or not there was a paranormal aspect to it.
01:30Like Eliza Lam in the Siso Hotel, where she...
01:35I ended up in the water tank, and we don't...
01:38People were saying, like...
01:40People were saying, like, oh, I used to work there, and that water tank was locked, right?
01:44And then stuff...
01:45And I don't know.
01:46And then I...
01:47So I get scared when I read these things.
01:50And so I figured in a movie, it would...
01:55You could probably play with that, and it would be a scary movie.
01:58And then how did you come up with the concept?
02:00For the way you were going to tell the story.
02:02Yeah, it started off as a radio play.
02:04So it was a...
02:05It was going to be a found footage audio experience.
02:10And then I asked myself...
02:15What would...
02:16What Evie would do in between recording.
02:19And then...
02:20I came up with that...
02:21Well...
02:22It's a long story, but...
02:23It's...
02:24I came up...
02:25I came up with a story parallel to the recordings going...
02:30Hopping back and forth and...
02:32And then...
02:33Undertom.
02:34And then how did you find...
02:35How did...
02:35Did you cast Nina?
02:36What was the...
02:37Well, we offered Nina because it was a...
02:40Our...
02:40Our producer...
02:41Oh, offer only!
02:42Only offers from now on.
02:45Cody worked with Nina and recommended her.
02:49And then when we...
02:50When we met...
02:51We knew.
02:52Because we saw a sign.
02:53Or I saw a big sign.
02:55Yeah.
02:56There was a...
02:57There was a...
02:58I wrote the movie...
02:59About my experience...
03:00Caregiving...
03:01My mom.
03:02And I brought her...
03:03Uh...
03:04Uh...
03:05Uh...
03:06When I brought her to the hospital...
03:07She was wearing...
03:08She was wearing one piece of jewelry...
03:09Which is like a...
03:10Uh...
03:10A plain pinky ring...
03:11And...
03:12Uh...
03:13And...
03:14Uh...
03:15It was the last piece of jewelry she ever wore.
03:15Now all I see with Nina is like...
03:17Just one piece of jewelry is a pinky ring.
03:19And I took that...
03:20Instead of the sign...
03:21I was like...
03:22Oh...
03:23Well now I have other ones for the day...
03:24But...
03:25Normal...
03:25Normally this is the only thing I wear.
03:27So that I...
03:28Five years ago today is when I took her...
03:30To...
03:31Took my mom to the hospital.
03:32And one year ago today is when...
03:35I met Nina.
03:36Yeah.
03:37What was your...
03:38Did you say yes right away?
03:40Yeah.
03:40Or did you have...
03:41And are you easily scared?
03:43Like...
03:44No.
03:45I'm not that easily...
03:45Scared.
03:46Depends.
03:47It depends.
03:48Like...
03:49This type of movie does scare me.
03:50Um...
03:50It's more psychological.
03:51But I...
03:52Read it...
03:53Alone on a Friday night.
03:54Exactly...
03:55A year ago.
03:56Mm-hmm.
03:57Or would it be...
03:58A year ago yesterday?
03:59No.
04:00Today is...
04:00When you read it...
04:01And then the next day is when I...
04:02Tomorrow is when we did the Zoom.
04:04But when...
04:05When I brought my mom to the hospital it was...
04:06It was like...
04:07Two days.
04:08Because I was...
04:09I brought her...
04:10In...
04:10On the 24th?
04:11On the 24th.
04:12And then I stayed with her the whole night.
04:14And then the next...
04:15Next day.
04:16So it was like...
04:17Uh...
04:18So now when we do the premiere it's the same thing.
04:20Now it's like...
04:21I'm going into the 25th.
04:23Which is when I met you.
04:24The 25th.
04:25Wow.
04:26Which is also Steven Shiner's birthday.
04:29I was...
04:30I was really...
04:31Creeped out by the script.
04:33Um...
04:34And...
04:35There's something...
04:35Talking about...
04:36Uh...
04:37A claustrophobia of not leaving...
04:38The character...
04:39Or...
04:40The environment.
04:41That was very unsettling to me.
04:44Um...
04:46It like puts you in a situation where...
04:48Like looking around and thinking...
04:50Maybe...
04:51Something's gonna happen to you.
04:52Or...
04:53Staying with someone...
04:54The whole time.
04:55And staying in one place the whole time.
04:56Just really...
04:57Uh...
04:58Makes me feel...
04:59Like tension.
05:00Is rising in my body.
05:01And I...
05:02Really...
05:03I loved it.
05:04It's so...
05:05It was so...
05:05Good.
05:06Even...
05:07Even reading it like...
05:08The first time.
05:09Mm-hmm.
05:10So were you...
05:10Are you...
05:11Are you not scared of that kind of stuff anymore?
05:13This...
05:14I like being scared...
05:15I'm scared of it sometimes.
05:16But sometimes I don't.
05:17Depends.
05:18Adam, what's your level?
05:20Of comfort with like...
05:22Scary stuff.
05:23Paranormal.
05:24Et cetera.
05:25Like in movie form?
05:25Or in real life form?
05:26Because real life form...
05:27I'm like...
05:28No.
05:29I'm not gonna like...
05:30Enter an abandoned building.
05:30Or whatever.
05:31I'm just like...
05:32Always err on the side of caution there.
05:33But like...
05:34I'd love to...
05:35To explore a fictionalized version...
05:37You know...
05:38From the safety of...
05:39A movie theater or my couch.
05:40Yeah.
05:40Are you often like...
05:41In a situation where you might...
05:42Enter an abandoned building?
05:43Often.
05:44Yeah.
05:45It's been happening a lot.
05:45A lot more lately.
05:46For some reason.
05:47As you get older.
05:48Yeah.
05:49Half.
05:50Exactly.
05:51So...
05:52And you...
05:53Because you're not...
05:54How did you film this?
05:55Like were you...
05:55Doing...
05:56Voice over?
05:57Were you like...
05:58Yeah.
05:59We had two days on...
06:00Set.
06:01I say set.
06:02But it was Ian's house.
06:03Um...
06:04By the way.
06:05I didn't know we were supposed to take our shoes...
06:05off.
06:06No, no, no.
06:07We weren't supposed to.
06:08No.
06:09We weren't supposed to.
06:10I was in his childhood bedroom and we had a live...
06:12Um...
06:13I had a live monitor to see Nina.
06:15But she couldn't see me.
06:16Uh...
06:17Which was kind of fun.
06:18And...
06:19Not in a weird way.
06:20Uh...
06:21But...
06:22Uh...
06:23We just...
06:24We were able to kind of ad-lib and improvise that way.
06:25Which was really nice.
06:25And then I had a couple days in a...
06:27In a booth.
06:28Sound booth alone.
06:29Just to get picked.
06:30And just go through the whole thing from top to bottom a couple of times.
06:33And...
06:34Yeah.
06:35It was really cool.
06:35It was really cool to do it on location.
06:36I felt like it added a lot.
06:38And...
06:39Yeah.
06:40Were you...
06:41Because you mentioned like the tension rising and on you.
06:45Were you...
06:45Do you mean that when you were reading the script?
06:47Or that's what you were feeling when you were making the movie?
06:50No.
06:50I think I wouldn't be able to have the freedom of doing a scene if I was...
06:55Not well.
06:56Like...
06:57You know...
06:58Emotionally.
06:59So I didn't feel that way while we were making it.
07:00But I did feel that way when I read it.
07:02And then when I watched it for the first time.
07:04Uh...
07:05There were moments where I started to get a little...
07:07Like...
07:08It wasn't creeped out.
07:09It was just...
07:10Emotionally.
07:10Uh...
07:11Exhausted.
07:12But it was such a small space that...
07:14We could just...
07:15They were like, hey, we have to go do something.
07:16I'm like, okay.
07:17I'm going into my...
07:18Safety...
07:19Room.
07:20Which is the...
07:20Room where you had your first paranormal.
07:21Yeah.
07:22I had my first paranormal.
07:23And that was your safety room.
07:24What was your...
07:25What was the...
07:25Normal experience?
07:26The radio.
07:27I...
07:28It was the radio.
07:29The radio turned on by itself.
07:30Uh...
07:31What...
07:32I was like lying...
07:33I woke up in the middle of the night.
07:34Couldn't go back to sleep.
07:35Uh...
07:36And usually I'm...
07:37I'm thinking about...
07:38I'm thinking like...
07:39I was like...
07:40When I was a...
07:40Kid...
07:41I was always thinking...
07:42I hope I don't see a ghost.
07:44And then the...
07:45The radio just turned on full blast.
07:47Playing...
07:48Don't worry.
07:49Be happy.
07:50And then...
07:51That was...
07:52And then I ran into my parents' room.
07:53That was...
07:54That was...
07:55That was...
07:55That was the first thing that happened in my house.
07:58Then other things happened.
07:59Did you feel any...
08:00Anything when you were in there?
08:01Um...
08:02No.
08:03It was a different vibe when I was in...
08:05There...
08:06To be honest.
08:07And like...
08:08I think...
08:09You can either...
08:10Uh...
08:11Be...
08:10Be open to that...
08:11When it's a situation where you...
08:13Can be...
08:14Like...
08:15When you have the capacity.
08:16And then sometimes you just don't.
08:18And you're like...
08:19I just need to...
08:20Take care of myself.
08:21So that I can go...
08:22And do more.
08:23And then...
08:24You know...
08:25Like...
08:26I need to be able to go somewhere...
08:27Safe.
08:28Remember you told me about...
08:29I had my first...
08:30And I was like...
08:31I can't...
08:30Like...
08:31I was like...
08:32Don't count it.
08:33I remember...
08:34And you left.
08:35You got the...
08:36You were like...
08:37You were like...
08:38No, I'm not gonna talk about this.
08:35Right now.
08:36Because I was like...
08:37I can't.
08:38Like...
08:39I'm not...
08:40Physically able to take in...
08:40Um...
08:41That level...
08:42Of...
08:43Um...
08:44I just need to be like...
08:45Grounded right now.
08:45And...
08:46Focus on...
08:47Rest when I'm in this space.
08:50So that I can...
08:51Keep going every day.
08:53Have either of you...
08:54Either since...
08:55Taking the movie...
08:56Or just in general...
08:57Had...
08:58Ghost sightings...
08:59Paranormal...
09:00Anything...
09:01Yeah.
09:02I was saying earlier...
09:03That I have seen a ghost...
09:04In fact...
09:05I have...
09:05A ghost...
09:06And I can...
09:07It's true...
09:08And I can tell...
09:09It actually happened because...
09:10I was staying in this hotel
09:12and
09:12yeah it was in
09:15Sicily and there was
09:16I had a nightmare of
09:17this like
09:17man in my room
09:19who like
09:19a trope
09:20approached the foot of my bed
09:21and I woke up screaming
09:23and he was a bald man
09:24and that's important
09:25for the story
09:25because
09:26yeah
09:26John
09:27John Gray
09:28is another actor
09:29from
09:29I
09:30this was when you guys
09:31were filming
09:31season two
09:32yeah
09:32we were in like
09:33the hotel used to be a convent
09:34and then I heard
09:34him
09:35I didn't tell anyone
09:35and then I heard
09:36him
09:37like a week later
09:38being like
09:38I had a nightmare
09:39where this is
09:39like
09:40there's this like
09:41old man in my room
09:42who approached the foot of my bed
09:43and like grabbed my legs
09:44and I was like
09:44the same thing
09:45happened to me
09:45so that's actually like
09:46confirmed a ghost
09:48this is gonna
09:48this is gonna
09:50you're gonna be interested
09:50in this
09:51Nina
09:52what did I ask you
09:52what
09:53you know
09:55what would you do
09:55for this role
09:56in the sci-fi horror
09:57remember I asked you
09:58would you
10:00yes
10:00what
10:00shave my head
10:01would you shave your head
10:02I wrote
10:03I wrote a scene
10:05I'm writing a sci-fi horror
10:08and I had
10:10Nina in mind
10:10through this scene
10:12where
10:13hmm
10:15your head is shaved
10:16and
10:17a ghost
10:19or
10:20something
10:21approaches
10:22the foot of your bed
10:23and
10:24you
10:24and
10:25the thing
10:25is
10:26just smiling
10:28and
10:29uh
10:30and
10:31you could hear laughter
10:32but it's not coming
10:32from that
10:33that thing
10:33you
10:35was
10:35was your guy smiling
10:36don't answer that question
10:38I
10:39no I think
10:39he
10:40was kind of like
10:40annoyed that I could like see him
10:42like he was kind of pissed off
10:43yeah
10:44did
10:45did you guys
10:45then did you guys tell more people
10:46after he said that
10:47yes
10:48like is that a thing where it's like
10:49you have to tell HBO
10:50like
10:50we are being haunted
10:51just an FYI
10:52just
10:53you know
10:53I do want to stay
10:54in the
10:55Four Seasons
10:55but there is a ghost here
10:57yeah
10:58yeah
11:00Four Seasons
11:00to sleep
11:01did you
11:01well
11:02did you say yes
11:02to being open to shaving your head
11:04I did
11:05I did
11:05yeah
11:05well
11:06I'll get you to
11:07you can touch my head
11:09later
11:09but he's
11:10good shape
11:11yeah
11:11shape
11:12wow
11:13and it really worked out well for him
11:14a stone
11:14oh right
11:15so
11:16Natalie Portman's shaved head
11:18is a
11:19band that I
11:19listened to
11:20oh
11:21that's a good legacy
11:22um
11:23okay we have
11:24a
11:24couple questions
11:25I'm asking everyone who comes in
11:27did
11:28did anyone here
11:29have
11:29a good
11:30job
11:31backup plan
11:32if Hollywood
11:34didn't work
11:34work out
11:34or like
11:35do you still
11:36what would you do
11:37my degree is in
11:39international relations
11:40so maybe like public policy
11:43but
11:44that's
11:44I don't know anything
11:45now
11:46that was years ago
11:47I didn't have
11:49it
11:49one so
11:49I had to make it
11:51so
11:52that's what I kept
11:54telling myself
11:55if this doesn't work
11:56I had no plan
11:58after that
11:59yeah
12:00I
12:00I
12:01dropped out of
12:02university
12:03um
12:04and then I
12:04I
12:04studied acting
12:04I
12:05I gave myself
12:05like I guess
12:0610 years
12:07to
12:07what happened
12:08on year 10
12:09you
12:092020
12:11pandemic
12:11so I'm like
12:12myself
12:12one or two more years
12:13extra
12:14because they
12:14love this
12:15yeah
12:15and then
12:16what were you
12:17did you have a major
12:18before
12:18I
12:19I
12:19I
12:19was doing like
12:19life sciences
12:20I didn't really enjoy
12:22the only thing I liked
12:22was like psychology
12:23and like
12:24I guess that kind of applies
12:25to acting a little bit
12:26maybe yeah
12:27maybe something
12:27in
12:28in
12:28it's like
12:29f***ing
12:29psychology or social work
12:30or something
12:30yeah
12:31okay
12:31um
12:32okay
12:33and another question
12:33I've been asking
12:34everyone
12:34although
12:35I asked it to
12:36Charlie XCX yesterday
12:37and she told me
12:38that this question is out
12:39which is
12:39what are your ins and outs
12:41for 2026
12:41her answer was
12:42ins and outs
12:43um
12:44but I'm gonna keep going
12:45with the question
12:45I'm gonna power through
12:46even though
12:47don't
12:48don't
12:49don't
12:49but what
12:51for you guys
12:51like what do you stick up
12:52like what
12:53what
12:54what are you done with
12:54this year
12:55what are you trying
12:56to get more of
12:57hmm
12:59what's
13:03what's
13:03I don't
13:04I don't like
13:04saying anything's out
13:05you gotta
13:06you know
13:06exclude anyone
13:07if they're
13:08if they're
13:08innocent
13:09but I think
13:10you know
13:10because of like
13:11you know
13:11I'm Canadian
13:12and I've always been
13:13into hockey
13:14but now with like
13:15he had rivalry
13:15I think hockey
13:16is like very in
13:17and I think
13:18you know
13:18you know
13:19wasn't
13:20inside out
13:20too
13:21wasn't
13:21I didn't see it
13:22but wasn't she
13:22like a hockey
13:23player
13:23do you have
13:24it
13:24do you have
13:24it
13:24do you have
13:24it
13:24do you have
13:24it
13:24a team
13:24hockey
13:24is
13:25my team
13:26trying to make
13:27the Leafs
13:27okay
13:27unfortunately
13:29yeah
13:29what about you
13:30um
13:34being
13:35somewhere
13:36uh
13:37in real life
13:39as opposed to
13:40online
13:40online's out
13:42yeah
13:42life is
13:43how
13:43don't want to do
13:44that
13:44just the internet
13:44yeah
13:45yeah
13:46that's a good way
13:47yeah
13:47if that happens
13:49it might
13:50more presence
13:51yeah
13:51I definitely
13:54I definitely
13:54think that indie
13:55film is in
13:55now
13:56it's
13:57then
13:57A24 is in
13:59you
13:59the 90s
14:00now you're
14:01fishing
14:01yeah
14:04yeah
14:04out
14:05I don't know
14:05I mean
14:05Hollywood film
14:06is still
14:06gonna be
14:07yeah
14:07I'm like
14:09like Adam
14:10nothing out
14:11yeah
14:12let's try and be nice
14:14but it's also okay
14:14to play this hard
14:15internet
14:15or phones
14:16or
14:16right
14:17yeah
14:19that's fair
14:20I like
14:20the hockey
14:21that one's a good one
14:22yeah
14:22the Toronto Maple Leafs
14:24my
14:24might be out
14:24I don't know
14:25are they
14:25you're talking about your reaction
14:27unfortunately
14:27since 1953
14:28yeah
14:29it's okay
14:29that's okay
14:29that's okay
14:34you
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