Grace Caroline Currey Talks “Wild Ride” and “Trauma Bonding” On ‘A Breed Apart’

Grace Caroline Currey stars in “A Breed Apart,” as Violet, a social media influencer who travels to an island to meet other influencers. She and her brother Collins (Zak Steiner) enter a competition to capture the island’s man-eating dogs. Unfortunately the tables are turned, and the humans may actually be what’s for dinner! Currey talked to Deepest Dream about why, though she had a fun time, “A Breed Apart” was a “trauma bonding” experience!

Fans of “Fall” will be treated to the reunion of Grace Caroline Currey and Virginia Gardner. “A Breed Apart” also stars Page Kennedy, Riele Downs, and Hayden Panettiere. All of us at CinemAddicts loved the movie. Listen to our Podcast review and then dive into the Grace Caroline Currey interview!

Question: I’m here with Grace Caroline Curry, star of “A Breed Apart.” This movie’s awesome.

You got your Oscar Bait movies and nd then you got movies like “A Breed Apart” that just doesn’t care. It’s like we’re here to have fun. There’s gonna be attack dogs, there’s gonna be blood, there’s gonna be comedy, there’s gonna be everything.

Congratulations first of all. What got you onto this project? 

Grace Caroline Currey: The script was such a blast and such a hoot. I read it in one sitting and was entertained from reading the script. I was excited about the potential to play a character that’s serious and fun as Violet. And she’s got tattoos ends up with a bow and arrow.

It just felt fun on the page. And then when Griff and Nathan (co-directors Griff and Nathan Furst) had the idea of bringing Virginia Gardner in and us getting to have a bit of a reunion. It felt, “Oh, okay, we’re gonna go have some fun. This isn’t really work. This is just Ginny and I going on another adventure, but now in Guatemala.

And somehow she and I just keep trauma bonding because Guatemala was definitely a wild time.

Question: So usually with movies like this, it’s fun to watch. Then usually there’s “Oh, that scene though. Oh we don’t want to talk about that scene.” What are some of the behind the stuff that was a challenge for the cast and crew?

Grace Caroline Currey: A lot of us were having a hard time with the food and. A little bit of like a “Raiders of the Lost Ark” experience.  The cast (had) food poisoning – kind of good times. So a lot of us were dealing with some challenges with food while being Guatemala, so it was very bonding to start.

Everyone knew probably way too much about everyone’s bodies and how they were doing along with that. But so that’s just one layer, right? That’s going on behind the scenes. Also, a lot of the stuff on the boat was pretty chaotic.

And it was towards the end of the shoot. People were sick. I was sick. It just felt like madness on the boat and at one point Ginny and I looked at each other and we went, “Is this as crazy as ‘Fall?’ And we both looked at each other and went, ‘No.’ It was a wild ride.

Especially when you’re trying to cover so many different people and so many different action bits. You’re running around, you’re running outta time, you’re running outta daylight. It was a wild ride, but it was really fun.

Question: I’ve seen you in “Fall,” this movie, and “Shazam” and they’ve all been bangers, so I’m guessing you don’t say yes to everything.

Grace Caroline Currey: Oh, but not everything says yes to me.

Question: They should.

Grace Caroline Currey: Often, I’m going for things and they just don’t go my way. Or, I’ll attach to something and the funding isn’t there. It falls through. Or someone gets snatched up by a different project.

It’s such an interesting industry these days, right? Where things can come and go so easily. I don’t believe I have a part or a movie that I’m making until I’ve gotten on set and I’ve filmed a scene. And even then, not until I’ve seen the movie and I’m still in the movie, because you can always get cut out of the movie.

To answer your original question for this movie – I just was excited to have some fun and play a character who’s not crying the whole time. Which I don’t mind, and I do enjoy that. I’ve gotten to play characters that show that kind of emotion.

Violet’s got this loyalty and this strength that’s so persistent was really expansive for me to play around with. Versus crying and sobbing for a lot of the movie, which is a great opportunity as well in other projects. But I hadn’t been able to do this, this was the first time to be the sort of strong, almost Michelle Rodriguez kind of vibe.

So that was really fun for me. I’d like to do more of that. It was fun to play a strong character.

Question: And your character is the one that kind of holds everything down because you got a bunch of basically a bunch of Nick Cages around you going nuts.

Plus, you got some angry dogs to deal with. Let’s figure this out.

Grace Caroline Currey: That’s a great reference. That’s so funny. In “Shazam,” I have some experience playing the character that’s holding down the fort and trying to manage all the madness going on.

So I guess that was familiar to me. But yeah, she’s a straight shooter. And she is trying to figure out what she’s gotten herself into, especially with these crazy, wild people. But, eventually realizes that they could have some value and she should be respectful towards them and appreciative of their madness that could help them get out alive.

The crazy ones are good in a survival situation.

Question: Wow. Not too crazy.

Grace Caroline Currey: That’s true. Crazy is a bit broad Yeah. We will say like Nicolas Cage!

Question: And as an actor, like what’s some parts that kind of get you going and challenge you and make you love it, what you do?

Oh, I hardly ever get to play this part, and this might be a little difficult, but I’m up for the challenge.

Grace Caroline Currey: Yeah. I feel every five years or so, I am re-upping on who am I as an actor, what can I bring to the table? Do I know what I’m doing to be transparent.

And oftentimes I’ll, I returned to a lot of Christian Bale’s work. That kind of helps me remind myself of when I fell in love with acting. I remember, I watched him an “Empire of the Sun” when I was seven, eight years old and a child actor. And I thought, ‘Oh my gosh, what if I could do something like that?’

It’d be that kid’s in a movie and this movie’s incredible and he’s doing an amazing job. I wanna do stuff like him. I have a role that I’ve done recently that I can’t really talk about, but it required me to have a nutritionist and a trainer and work on changing my body for the role.

And that’s something that definitely was really cool to experience and within that Christian Bale world. Where it’s like, “How can I use myself head to toe and enter whatever, tone or genre. And tell the story with my body.” That stuff excites me when there’s a physical demand whether it’s stunts, action or being disciplined to achieve a specific physique.

Yeah, I find it really cool and fascinating.

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Question: “A Breed Apart” will be in theaters and on demand and digital on May 16th. But I’ll leave you with this. Just get a movie recommendation from you, a movie that you’ve seen that’s maybe personal to you or a movie that’s that’s really good and no one talks about it.

Grace Caroline Currey: Oh, okay. This is a heavy movie.

Question: Do it.

Grace Caroline Currey: Bit of a horror film. And is Christian Bale? I think it’s the horror film and the sense of humanity and how humanity can [00:08:00] be. But “Hostiles,” I don’t know if you’ve seen “Hostiles.”

Grace Caroline Currey: With Rosemund Pike. Have you seen it?

Question: Yes.

Grace Caroline Currey: Is it it’s, he’s he’s a real tortured soul on it, and he has quite the arc. But yeah, he encounters Rosamund Pike’s children. They are dead – big spoiler. It happens pretty quick in the movie. You’ve seen it?

Question: Yeah. Yeah. That opening scene where she’s in the house . . . 

Grace Caroline Currey: Pretty heartbreaking. Very different tone. If you’re interested in watching “A Breed Apart,” maybe don’t watch “Hostiles.”

Question: It’d be a great double feature. I think.

Grace Caroline Currey: Maybe end with “A Breed Apart.” Start with “Hostiles.”

There you go. I’m putting the strangest combo together.

Question: All right. Grace, thanks for joining me and congratulations on “A Breed Apart.” This movie is fantastic and I hope everyone gets the chance to watch this, especially in the theater. 

Grace Caroline Currey: Thanks Eric! Appreciate it.Thank you so much.

***A Breed Apart is now in theaters and available on Digital and On Demand!

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