Sara Paxton's Sixth Sense

The actress talks haunted hotels and puking predictions.

Sara Paxton has been acting since she was eight years old, and has a career that has grown up alongside her, in a journey that has led from kids' cartoons to teen comedies, and more recently to horror. In Ti West's haunted-hotel horror The Innkeepers, she draws on all of it. Her combination of childlike innocence, mature humor and genuine reactions to scares has propelled the movie to great success on the festival circuit and video-on-demand; next week it opens in theaters, which is where the director would prefer you see it if that's an option. We talked to Sara and learned that she's not just a great actress; she also has a secret superpower! Read on to find out what it is...

GeekChicDaily: Let's start with the classic Eddie Murphy question: "Why don't white people just leave the house when there's a ghost in the house?"

Sara Paxton: Well, because then there would be no movie! She works there; she's stuck there, and because it all ties into how she's so bored with her real life and her job that when this ghost stuff starts happening it's exciting to her. She's almost got it figured out. She's so close, and is like, "Oh, if I could only just get down there, I'll find the answer," and then it happens to be bad.

GCD: Kelly McGillis' character says that there are three spirits in the hotel. We know of two - is she implying that you'll be the third one?

SP: I think that's what you're supposed to take from it, yeah. I mean there's two ways to take the movie - the skeptic version, where she just freaks herself out, and then there's "Did you hear what Kelly McGillis said?" So you leave with that decision in your head.

GCD: When your character first meets hers and you have that geekout fangirl moment, have you (a) ever been like that in the presence of another star; and (b) ever gotten that response from one of your fans?

SP: I have gotten that response before, which is funny, like a friend's daughter, a friend will say "My daughter saw Aquamarine and she really wants to meet you." But I've also had that moment once before. Not with a costar, but I was at a supermarket and I reached to grab something in the aisle, and my hand touched this other hand. I looked up, followed the arm, and it was Owen Wilson. And I literally went, "OWEN WILSON!", covered my mouth with my hand and I ran away because I got so scared.

GCD: So much of this movie has you by yourself. Is that more challenging to play, or is Ti calling out directions from behind the camera - how is that as an actor?

SP: Working with Ti was the easiest that it's ever been. Maybe it's because we got along so well; I think he's probably the most talented director I've ever worked with. He's so specific, and such a perfectionist, that he knows exactly what he wants to do. So we're not doing, like, 50 million takes and shooting it from every single angle because they're gonna figure it out later; he knows, and so he does it, and once it's done, we move on. It just makes my job so much easier.

GCD: You stayed in the actual inn while you shot - was it as strange as it appeared?

SP: Yes. It was a really weird place. From the moment I arrived, it felt a little odd. It was built in the 1800s and had this bad '70s renovation. There's just a weird vibe to it - the whole town thinks it's haunted, and the people who work there, 100% no-doubt-about-it believe it's haunted. Weird stuff would happen there. My doors would just violently fly open, out of nowhere, in the middle of the night when the windows were closed. My TV would go on and off, the phone would ring and nobody would be there. The only way to call those phones was through the front desk, but nobody was at the front desk. It was odd. Everyone had the same experience.

GCD: Do you have a preference for doing something lower-budget like this, versus a more effects-heavy project like Shark Night?

SP: I really like this because it's a lot more intimate. You really get close to the people. Not that I haven't before - with Shark Night I got very close to the cast - but this just really felt like camp. This is the closest character to me that I've ever played. It helps that I'm not wearing any makeup, I'm wearing the same outfit; it really helps you be raw, I guess. All I had was myself; I wasn't hiding behind costumes. It was like, take a shower, put on clothes, go downstairs. They might put powder on our faces if we were shiny, but that was it.

GCD: When you're working with a guy like Pat Healy, who was part of a comedy troupe, is that a challenge? Did he throw a lot of improv at you?

SP: We pretty much kept to the script. Maybe every once in a while, Pat would say, "I think the line would be funny if it were like this," and Ti would go, "right, okay," or maybe we'd try this instead of that, and Ti would be like, "No, that sucks." I think one of the reasons why our chemistry is so good in the movie is that it's real; we really got along, and that's a testament to Ti for bringing together people who he thought would like each other. Every single person that worked on this movie, I would hang out with in real life. Even George Riddle [the creepy old man]. He's a pimp.

GCD: What has the transition been like from family comedies to so many horror movies?

SP: I'm always interested to see where something's gonna take me, but that's part of my job and I like doing different things. When I did The Last House on the Left, I was really excited to do something to break me out of teen comedy, and I did. And now all I do are horror movies! Then I do this movie, and people are like, "Oh, you're funny!" and I'm like, "Yeah, I did comedies before this one!" People don't remember that. I always like to switch it up.

GCD: In the independent horror world, it often feels like every actress who has ever gotten fake blood on herself identifies as a scream queen, but you could easily lay claim to that title with your resume. Do you consider yourself a scream queen?

SP: I go where the wind takes me. I don't know. All these opportunities have presented themselves to me, and I do like to find something different or unique in each character, so even though I have been doing these horror movies, I see something different in each one. If people want to call me a scream queen, I'm okay with that! That's cool. It's flattering.

GCD: We know Ti's a real karaoke fiend. Has he roped you in?

SP: Oh, I've always been into karaoke. It's one of the ways we bonded. I grew up with karaoke. He's good, yeah.

GCD: What's your signature tune?

SP: "Like A Prayer" - Madonna. Or The Pretenders' "Brass in Pocket" - those are my go-tos, since I was a small child.

GCD: Had you been familiar with Ti's other films before?

SP: Initially, no, I wasn't. But when I did become familiar with his other work, I was so impressed. It's so corny, and I can only say it because he's not here, but he's really inspiring to me. I would love to work with him again. I keep trying to get in his new movie, the space movie. I could be a space hobo! I'll do craft services; I'll do anything. I dunno. We'll see.

GCD: What scares you in real life?

SP: Vomit and cockroaches are my two phobias, like, I can't even think about them. Me and Ti actually have that same vomit phobia - when we met and I told him about it, he went, "Me too!"

GCD: Is it a fear of seeing it, or doing it?

SP: Everything. The whole thing just terrifies me. I'm always thinking about it, and I'll see things...I even have a barf sixth sense: I know when, and I've jumped out of a moving car to get away from it. I was working on another movie, and at the time I was 18 and I was the only girl, so I couldn't go out with the boys drinking after work. We had a 6 a.m. call time, and of course they were all up till 2, as boys will do, and in the van on the way to set, I just got this feeling. The sixth sense started kicking in, and I'm looking at this kid, and I realize I've gotta get out of there, I'm sweating, I'm panicking, I'm like, "I gotta go!" They go, 'We're driving to set; the van's moving!" and I was like, "PEACE!" and I just opened the door, rolled and tucked, and then I booked it, started running. He barfed.

GCD: Final question: what was it like working on SpongeBob back in the day?

SP: It was awesome, really great. I'd go out to Nickelodeon studios; they had unlimited popcorn and candy, and they would give me figurines and art. So much fun. I sing the theme song! Where it goes, "Who lives in a pineapple under the sea?", that's me going, "SpongeBob Squarepants!"

The Innkeepers is available to watch On-Demand, and opens in selected theaters next week.

Forward to a Buddy Invite a Buddy