Deborah Ann Woll and Jeffrey Donovan on The Cycle, Practical Gore, and Coastal Horror: Podcast

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A decomposing body is one hell of a welcome basket. For Jeffrey Donovan, it was part of his first day shooting The Cycle, the Shudder horror film that starts with a grisly mystery and gradually lets something nastier off the leash — though no spoilers here. Donovan and co-star Deborah Ann Woll spoke with Kyle Meredith about keeping the surprises intact, giving their gruesome scene partners some physical substance, and shooting in an Oregon town where the fog understood the assignment. Listen above or wherever you get your podcasts.

Woll had two questions before signing on: Could she help shape her character, and would the effects be practical? The second was a dealbreaker. “I wouldn’t have done it if they weren’t going to be practical effects,” she says. Digital touch-ups are welcome, but she wants something in front of the camera that actually catches the light. That appetite for the tangible extended to playing Meg, whose forensic expertise required studying medical examiners and learning when to stop looking and let her fingers do the investigating.

Donovan, meanwhile, found the script offered something rarer than steady employment. “It’s always exciting to read something that you haven’t seen before,” he says, and the morgue set’s meticulous detail raised the stakes for everyone standing around its unfortunate occupant. “The only one who could possibly ruin it is yourself.” Astoria, OR supplied its own production value, with fog rolling off the Columbia River and a maritime history that Woll felt seeped into the film. She even stayed in what she describes as “an old haunted Victorian house.” Her preferred horror operates just beyond what science can explain, close enough to reality that the audience can’t quite shut the door on it; the accommodations certainly helped.

Listen to Deborah Ann Woll and Jeffrey Donovan talk about The Cycle, and more in the new episode above or by watching the video below. Keep up on all the latest episodes by following Kyle Meredith With… on your favorite podcast platform; plus, check out all the series on the Consequence Podcast Network.