Wish Upon, one of the most anticipated upcoming horror movies of the summer, starring Sydney Park, Joey King, Ryan Phillippe, Shannon Purser, and Alice Lee, the PG-13 debuted this past weekend and definitely had fans thinking twice about ever making a wish.
BCK had the opportunity to sit down for an interview with Sydney Park. Known for her comedic beginnings, at the tender age of six, the young star quickly rose up the ladder of success making the leap from the famous Hollywood Improv stage to the small screen, appearing on Disney’s That’s So Raven. From there, Park has gone on to guest star in Entourage, have a recurring role on The Walking Dead, and beyond.
We hope that you had the opportunity to check out the first of our two-part interview. If not, click here before you go on. If you are all caught up, enjoy the second part of our interview with Park as this Philadelphia native tells us more about making wishes that could ultimately kill you!
Beware: major movie spoiler alerts ahead, so, just like wishing, continue at your own risk.
BCKOnline: What was your favorite part of making this movie?
Park: The laughs on set [were my favorite part]. We were just so goofy. Obviously, the material that we were working with was pretty dark. But it was just so fun working with a great crew and a great cast and they made it so light and easy.
BCKOnline: Did you have any relationships with any of the cast members [before filming this project]?
Park: I knew Joey King through a friend of ours but I never met her before. I mean, I obviously knew her just kind of growing up in the industry, we’ve been in it a long time, a little bit of trivia, we were on the same episode of Entrouge together. I think we had separate shooting days, but that’s pretty cool. We were really young. So, Joey was pretty much the only person I knew and everybody I knew of.
BCKOnline: We live in a world where everything comes back whether on t.v. or not…is there something that would come out where you would just have to be a part of, for example, something from your childhood?
Park: I really want to be in one of the Star Wars movies. I am such a Star Wars geek, I love it. I love it so much. I want to be fighting [in the movie]. I want to be super badass and have an interesting character maybe someone who is half alien and half human. Someone that is cool and interesting for sure. I could even just stand there and be a lamp. I just want to be in it.
BCKOnline: Are you attracted to horror movies because of your birthday being on Halloween?
Park: Halloween has always been interesting for me. When I was growing up, I was kind of afraid of horror films and trick or treating. Even though I would make my mom make custom costumes for me, I wouldn’t last very long trick or treating. But, I think as I have gotten older, I have learned to appreciate horror films and I have some of my favorites. It’s kind of cool, that now I finally get to be in a horror film. I’ve always wanted to be in one. I remember in middle school, I would have my girlfriends come over and we would make little horror movies on my computer and my mom would hear us screaming and I’d be like, ‘Ma, you just ruined our shot.’ We would put chocolate milk in the sink to make it look like blood. It’s really fun. I think it’s kind of cool that my birthday is Halloween and I get to do horror, it kind of goes hand-in-hand.
BCKOnline: Which [horror movies] are your favorites?
Park: I love The Shining, that’s definitely like my number one, Romary’s Baby, Pet Sematary, Insidious, Conjuring…I love’em all. Halloween, of course, the first one, it’s also good.
BCKOnline: You get to play a character that’s all over the place. What was the best part about playing a character that goes everywhere?
Park: I would definitely say how much fun I had with the lines. The lines that Meredith has are so funny. I remember John, the director, he’d be like ‘ok, so do anything you want.’ He’s like, ‘We have the alts, now, just do anything you want.’ And I was like, ‘yes,’ cause it was so so fun to just like rant and have that freedom, but I definitely love how truthful she is and how big of a mouth she has. She just says what everyone wants to say, which is the best part of her character. I think.
BCKOnline: Can you relate to [Meredith]?
Park: Oh Yeah. Meredith is definitely similar to me in a lot of ways. She’s a little bit more rough around the edges than I am, a little bit more of a tomboy, but for the most part, we’re very similar.
BCKOnline: How do you get yourself in that mind set of acting in a horror film?
Park: It’s because I watch a lot of horror films and I see the actors like go there, and I am always like, ‘wow, that is so challenging and intense to be able to go to that dark place.’ So, working on Wish Upon, for the majority of the shoot, for me, I was working on a normal teenage movie, like the content was kind of light, it was funny, I had some foreshadowing, but it wasn’t obviously the big scary scene like later in the movie. So, you know when I got to those scenes, it was just really cool to immerse myself in a situation like that. I mean obviously, you go to play it truthfully, it’s got to be realistic but not over the top. I’m more thankful to watch actors on screen and study them and see them go there in their mind because I know I’m twisted. I’m a Halloween baby, for crying out loud. I’m pretty twisted so, it’s easy and pretty fun for me to go there.
BCKOnline: Will you forever now take the stairs [after what happens in the elevator in the movie]?
Park: Yes, I never liked elevators anyway.
