FrightFest is filled with new talent and one of the most exciting around is Jackie Kelly, we had a quick chat before the premiere of the movie she's starring in, Matt Stuertz's Human.
NYX: Did you know from a young age that you wanted to act?
JK: Not really. As a child, I had several fleeting aspirations. I spent most of my childhood swimming competitively, so my most enduring “dream job” was Olympic 200 meter Breaststroker. Unfortunately, I stopped growing at 5’3” and that dream tapered off when I could no longer keep up with the taller, more athletic girls. So I started pursuing theater seriously in my high school years. At that time, I knew I wanted to write and direct one day, and acting was just how I was dipping my toes into that world. I then went to film school and majored in Screenwriting. But shortly before graduating, the lead role of a feature film I had co-written, In Memory Of, fell into my lap. Ever since then, I’ve been hitting the indie film pavement hard, primarily as an actor.
NYX: How did you become involved with Human?
JK: I met Matt Stuertz and David Pitt in 2021 on a film called Oscar Tango Hellwater. Instantly, we all connected over horror films and a mutually immature sense of humor. We all stayed in touch and worked on other projects together. In 2023, Matt reached out to me about a film he had just written called Human and approximately two months later, I was out in Los Angeles making this bizarre, crude body horror film with this rag tag gang of misfits.
NYX: What did you think of your character Dani, and did you have much time to rehearse?
JK: The way I portrayed Dani is honestly just kind of a heightened version of myself. She’s crass and emotional and doesn’t like being pushed around. She’s way more badass than me, though. I had very minimal time to rehearse for this one. The timeframe from when Matt finished the screenplay to Day 1 of the shoot was incredibly narrow. About a month before shooting Human, I was wrapping up another feature film, then immediately after that I went off on a 2-week honeymoon vacation with my husband. Only a couple days after my return from my honeymoon, I was on a plane to LA for Human. So I had almost no time to rehearse/learn my lines. In fact, I hadn’t even begun memorizing my final monologue until a few days before we shot it. It was a whirlwind of long shoot days and memorizing the script as we were going. My brain was absolutely fried by the time we wrapped this one.
NYX: You spend a lot of the movie by yourself; how did you prepare for this?
JK: I consider myself pretty introverted. I’m not a stranger to spending time by myself, so perhaps it was the role I was born to play! I do feel that this film really caters to my strengths as an actor. I’ve always been better at acting with my eyes than with my words, and the script called for a lot of facial expression rather than constant dialogue.
NYX: There’s a lot of effects in the film; do you have a favourite moment?
JK: I won’t spoil anything here, but I will forever have a soft spot in my heart for the bathroom scene. Physically, this is the most exhausting, uncomfortable sequence I have ever shot as an actor. But the result is so bombastic and absurd and disgusting, that the discomfort was well worth it. I’ve spent a lot of my life covered in fake blood, but I’ve never craved a shower as much as I did after we shot this scene. I was finding fake blood in random crevices of my body for about a week after.
NYX: Will you be nervous when the movie has its world premiere at FrightFest 2025?
JK: Yes and no. One on hand, I’m hyper-critical of my work and am always anxious about the mistakes I perceive in my performances. But I feel pretty damn good about Human. It has this zany, eccentric voice that I think audiences will really enjoy. I feel most at home doing dramatic work, so tonally Human was a bit out of my wheelhouse. But I’m really excited to have a party movie on my resume. We had so much fun making this movie, and I really think that it reads on screen.
NYX: Have you always been a fan of horror movies?
JK: Absolutely. One of my core childhood memories is having the living daylights scared out of me by the Hellraiser poster in our local video rental store. I was so horrified, yet intrigued by this grotesque image of Pinhead. A couple years later, my dad introduced me to Evil Dead 2, among many other classics, much to my mom’s dismay. Since then, I have been a ravenous consumer of horror and subversive cinema. And now that I work predominantly in genre film, my mom has come around and enjoys horror herself.
NYX: Do you believe in the paranormal?
JK: 100%. I have seen two apparitions in my lifetime. Fun fact: my husband and I spent a night at Lizzie Borden’s house/crime scene on our honeymoon. I am sad to report that I experienced zero paranormal experiences here.
NYX: You’re a very busy creative, do you have one job that you prefer?
JK: I definitely feel most comfortable acting. It’s something that’s always come relatively naturally to me and I feel confident when I step onto a set as a performer. That being said, I would say I feel most creatively gratified as a writer. Writing has always been more of a challenge for me, so when I can crack the code on something I’m working on, it feels incredibly satisfying.
NYX: So, what are you up to at the moment?
JK: Right now, I am in post-production on my feature directorial debut, Hag. I wrote, directed, and played the lead role in that one. It’s something I’ve been working on now for about two and a half years, and I can’t wait to unleash it into the wild next year. In addition to that, I am prepping for a few other acting roles and am deep in the throes of a new writing project. So it’s definitely been a busy couple of years. I tend to lose my mind a bit if I’m not constantly working on something.
NYX: Jackie Kelly, thank you very much.
JK: Thanks so much for chatting with me! We can’t wait for the world to experience Human.
