Jon Keeyes Talks ‘Speed Demon’ Filmmaking And Katie Cassidy Collaboration

Are you in the mood for an exorcism on a runaway train? The new movie Speed Demon, headlined by Katie Cassidy, is now out in theaters, Digital and On Demand. Filmmaker Jon Keeyes talks to Deepest Dream about his ambitious new project and working with Cassidy.

Speed Demon centers on Sister Lu (Katie Cassidy), a woman of the cloth who’s traveling by train from Montreal to New York City. William H. Macy is Father Novak, Lu’s mentor who tries to give her some stern but sage advice. Their lives takes a drastic turn when a demon takes over the train and threatens its passengers.

Collaborating with Katie Cassidy was a fruitful and personal one for Keeyes. “Katie wants to understand subtext and she wants to understand backstory, particularly with a character like Sister Lu that’s dealing with all of these different addictions and loss of faith. She was trying to figure out the way into her character, because that character goes 180 degrees through the course of this movie.”

“I keyed in on the scene when she’s talking with Father Novak about her addictions,” added Keeyes. “It’s a moment of clarity for an addict to recognize who they are and what they are, and their inability to actually stop. And she says, ‘There’s times when I feel like I’m possessed. I’m a recovering drug addict and I’ve been in recovery for a very long time.’ . . . I spent a tremendous amount of time talking about my own story, and then about Sister Lu’s story, and we spent that time together and she figured out how to approach that scene.”

Check out our review of Speed Demon in CinemAddicts:

Full interview with Jon Keeyes is up on Find Your Film and on YouTube: