Stake LandAn Interview with Sean Nelson
By Wilson Morales
April 19, 2011
Coming out this week is Jim Mickle’s ‘Stake Land,’ the Post-Apocalyptic vampire movie starring Nick Damici, Conor Paolo, Kelly McGillis, Danielle Harris, Sean Nelson, and Michael Cervaris.
Martin (played by Paolo) was a normal teenage boy before the country collapsed in an empty pit of economic and political disaster. A vampire epidemic has swept across what is left of the nation’s abandoned towns and cities, and it’s up to Mister (played by Damici), a death dealing, rogue vampire hunter, to get Martin safely north to Canada, the continent’s New Eden.
For Nelson it’s a return to the big screen after appearing in Rick Famuyiwa’s 1999 romantic comedy, ‘The Wood,’ which also starred Taye Diggs and Omar Epps.
The Bronx, NY native will always be remember for his breakthrough role at the age of 13 in writer-director Boaz Yakin‘s ‘Fresh,’ which starred Samuel L. Jackson, Giancarlo Esposito, and N’Bushe Wright.
After doing a few episodic work on various TV programs such as ‘Law & Order,’ and a starring role on HBO’s acclaimed series, ‘The Corner,’ Nelson took some to go to Temple University, where he graduated with two bachelor degrees, Film and African-American studies.
In speaking with Blackfilm.com, Nelson spoke about being in a horror film, working with the cast, and getting back in the film world.
What was the attraction to doing ‘Stake Land?’
Sean Nelson: Well, I never did a film in this genre before. And it’s been one of the types of movies I’ve wanted to do for a long time. I was always interested in doing a movie that had to do with vampires or werewolves or some type of supernatural thing. And when I met with Jim up in that office I loved the script. It’s just a different take on the genre. I told him I really liked it. And we could definitely connect on it and he agreed. So here we are.
How would you describe your character?
SN: Willie is a soldier. He was a part of a unit that was deployed to evacuate the states to Canada, which is supposedly the safe zone. And he’s just trying to do his job and everything falls apart with everything that’s going on with these vampires. The epidemic. It just really shuts down the government and he loses his unit. He’s then alone. And he’s out there trying to survive. And it’s really just this guy who is kind of bitter at the situation and the government. He feels like they kind of let him down, let the people down. And he’s just trying to get by. He then runs into these people. Mister and Martin, and joins their gig and tries to get to the safe zone and start over again.
If this epidermic were to really happen, what would you do in this situation?
SN: What would I do in this situation? I don’t know. I mean I would hope that I would have the gumption and the galls to be able to survive and just try to, you know, get by. I feel like I wouldn’t go outside because it just seems like it’s just so dangerous. I would definitely not go outside at night. But I mean if there is somewhere safe to live a normal life I would definitely try to make it there. But during the days if that’s the time that you don’t’ have the vampires. But that’s not the only thing that you’re worried about, also. There are fanatics also on the loose that can travel any time. And they’re all about. So it’s tough all around the board. But I think anybody would strive to just live that normal life that they’re used to. I mean I don’t think in that world that’s created in ‘Stake Land’, it’s never going to get back to the way it used to be. But you can try to get as close as possible. And I think I would definitely try to be one of those people that would- in with a group of people that can protect themselves and maybe try to learn some things to protect myself and learn some things about the enemies that would help me outside. Just try to get to that safe zone in Canada.
How was working with the cast?
SN: Oh, it went great. I mean the cast and crew; it was cool to be able to work with Kelly. I watched her in ‘Top Gun’ when I was younger. Just like, ‘Wow. That’s her.’ With Conor, he’s a very cool. He actually went to my high school after I left there. We were just talking about the different things that we remembered about that school. Just the little things we had in common about that. I love Jim. We had some things in common, also. I worked at Temple University. His mother actually took him there for a while. So he knew a lot of the professors that I hated. And, of course, Nick. Nick wrote the script and he’s the mastermind behind it. It’s just a pleasure working with him because I didn’t realize that there were people that were so into what they were doing where he created a lot of the props, he wrote the story, he choreographed a lot of the action. He put some thought in it. Danielle Harris who is the vet in the movie I would say out of the group, so it also great working with her. She’s like a breath of fresh air.
It’s funny that you mentioned her name because the both of you started your careers with films in the 90s. So you’ve been around for a bit. How has life been treated you as an actor? Is it still a struggle to get roles?
SN: Actually it is a little tough. Because I think it was really for me the transition of going from a child actor to an adult. I also took off about four or five years to go to college. I actually did some work while I was in college. But in the last two years I was like, ‘You know what? If I keep doing this I’m going to be in school forever.’ So I just decided the last few years to take off from work and just knock out the school. But it’s like reinventing yourself, or just reinventing myself as the new Sean. I’m a little bit older now but I’m still here. A lot of people still appreciate the work. I’m not super duper but I feel like it’s not as comfortable as it was before. It might also be that when I was younger it was always the game. It was just, ‘Let’s do this.’ But now that I’m older and I have a lot more responsibilities it seems a little bit more serious. But I still love doing it. I’m glad to be part of the action.
Do you have any projects coming up?
SN: Not at the moment. I actually have some things that I’ve been producing. I did a short called ‘Juxed.’ We’re actually going to be doing the festival circuit with that. It’s actually a short and we’re working on a contract to have it shown on the internet on a certain website. I’m not going to get into specifics of that but we’ve been working on that. But it might be out on there. We’re working to get that done in full feature. But that’s what I’ve been working on this year. I’m also a new father. I have two twins.
Congratulations.
SN: They were born two months ago. Two little girls. That’s my job right now. That’s the main thing right now. Raising them. And right now that’s been a pleasure for me, just the experience of bringing people into the world. I didn’t expect to have two but that’s what happens sometimes.
When ‘Stake Land’ comes out, what’s a good reason to see it?
Nelson: Oh, man, I mean there’s a bunch of good reasons. I really think it’s for the whole action of it. The excitement of it. It’s a different take on vampires. It is not a ‘Twilight’ or ‘True Blood’ type of vampire. These are nasty monster vampires that really tear us apart. They don’t have the glamorous side of the vampires where like, oh, you’re glittering in the light and you can go outside in the day and put people in a trance. None of that stuff. They’re just zombie like monsters that will tear you apart. You’ve got a vampire slayer that it’s his job to take care of these vampires. It’s really in the film the only person that really knows how to handle them. He’s teaching young Martin how to do that. It’s just an interesting thing. I would say he’s like a ‘Dawn of the Dead’ and ‘The Karate Kid’ type thing. Not bad.
