Have you ever been so scared in a home that you were convinced it was haunted? Horror films remind me of rollercoasters. Around every bend, terror awaits and there’s no guarantee that you’re getting out alive. The stakes are always so high in a horror film – the end of your soul, your home, your friends or the world. To make a great horror film, you have to reinvent the wheel from the bottom up. When I went to film school, I learned that horror is the most widely understood genre around the world that everyone recognizes. We all get scared of something… the dark, a black cat, an unexplained noise, taxes? What about toys… have you ever been scared of a toy? Now imagine that a box of toys has such a sinister history – that it’s capable of possessing children.
This is the premise for Toys of Terror. Georgia Waters (Siren, Legends) plays the nanny doing her best to protect a house full of children. This terrifying film can be purchased on DVD, VOD and the SYFY network. This Vancouver-based, British actor is running up the ladder of success with two leading roles – Siren and the Warner Brothers co-production with Syfy, Toys of Terror. Georgia is a graduate of The Oxford Playhouse and began her career after being cast in arthouse short films.
This film also stars Kyana Teresa (Star Trek: Discovery, Shadowhunters) as Hannah, she moves her family to the worn-down estate with the dreams of renovating. Her two youngest children prove to be quite the handful so their Nanny, Rose (played by Waters), discovers that a trunk full of old toys creates the perfect distraction. Little did she know these toys had their own agenda for young Zoe (Zoe Fish, The Grudge) and Franklin (Saul Elias).
Georgia is looking forward to a busy year ahead. With the exciting news of the launch of SIREN on Disney+ as well as making the move into writing her own projects. This amazingly charming and multi-talented actress was gracious enough to speak with us about this very spooky thriller. This is how it went…
HNM “You graduated from Oxford University in 2013, where you performed in numerous theatre productions at The Oxford Playhouse?”
GEORGIA “Yes, it’s where I did my training. I had a lot of theatre influences, and performed Shakespeare as well as an ancient Greek production, where I had to learn a new language. It’s where I earned all my stripes and picked up my influences.”
HNM “In the film, Toys of Terror, you work with a lot of children. Have you worked with children in the past?”
GEORGIA “I have in SIREN. The lead mermaid, Ryn has a baby named Hope. The actress that plays her is so talented and professional, it feels like you’re working with an adult. I’m always amazed at how professional the children can be in these situations because they’re long hard days and you have to be very patient.”
HNM “Is it true that the children are only allowed to work 8 hrs/day on set?”
GEORGIA “It is shorter for the children but then we’ll do scenes without the children. They were restricted to the hours they can work, but we’d continue on till the end of the day.”
HNM “Would you ever be shooting a scene without children, but you still had to engage, as if they were there?”
GEORGIA “Yes, sometimes they would do that because they would also have to do a certain amount of schooling. So, if the camera wasn’t on them, you would have someone else standing in and saying the line; I’d be reacting to it.”
HNM “Would you like to do more horror or are you attracted to another specific genre of film?”
GEORGIA “I think the link between Toys of Terror and my well laid out plan would be supernatural. I love anything to do with other worldly. That was the element that I enjoyed exploring in Toys of Terror. When there’s something that can’t be explained, then investigating what that is… and finding out it’s not something within our reality. I think that’s what I love about this industry in general, is that the stories don’t have to be grounded in reality, they can be any realm of your imagination. Those are the stories that really excite me. Playing those roles.”
HNM “How did you land the role of the nanny in this film?”
GEORGIA “I landed it in the beginning of 2020, I believe it was the first audition of the year. She was originally going to be British, so once I had gotten the role, I thought – this is perfect! However, when I got the role, the network wanted her to be American, so I did an American accent. I imagine that I look quite British, which was originally a great fit but it was very fun, making her American as well. As an actor, it’s great to play around with accents and develop that skill set.”
HNM “Would you say that there was a difference between a Canadian accent and an American one?”
GEORGIA “As I’ve been told, there is but because I’m from England it harder for me to tell. I can only tell when it’s an extreme version of a Canadian accent. I think often what gets filmed in Canada, is set in America, so often a Canadian actor will also have to learn an American accent. Toys of Terror was filmed in Winnipeg but it was set in Washington – all the characters played Americans.”
HNM “That house looked very creepy and dark. Did they have to dirty it up?”
GEORGIA “It was originally quite a beautiful house and the art team did an incredible job. They painted it to look like it was falling apart and they found these amazing props, that really added to it – when you’re an actor coming into this world, that looks horrific. You could go into another room though, that hasn’t been done up and it looks nice and homey.”
HNM “Your character is the Nanny, Rose. Can you tell me more about your character and the story?”
GEORGIA “My character Rose has suffered a loss of her own, her baby. It’s something that she’s dealing with within this family dynamic. She’s come to a home in Washington with the family to be a live-in nanny. The mom is a house-flipper and wants to fix up the house… but what the mom hasn’t told the family, is that – it used to be an old children’s hospital. My character and the oldest daughter become aware of all the strange happenings in the house. The possessed toys are the reason why the children died and they start to possess the children again. As a nanny, she’s already lost one, while in charge and she’s desperate to not lose any more of these children. She’ll do everything she can to stop it.”
HNM “I’ve watched a TV series called Paranormal, Caught on Camera where there is camera footage of hauntings. It’s pretty chilling. Did you have to watch any shows on hauntings to get inside that headspace for the film?”
GEORGIA “Yes, the director sent us a couple of films that he recommended. They helped us to get the tone of what might be happening in your house, that can’t be explained. I would move out of a house if that happened to me (laughing).”
HNM “How long did it take to shoot this?”
GEORGIA “It took about 2 months, we were on a tight schedule, which is why the days were so long. It was a quick turnaround, especially in terms, of the amount of shots we got done.”
HNM “Are you the only actress that came out of Vancouver?”
GEORGIA “I was, yes. The other lead actors were from Toronto and LA and the rest were locals from Winnipeg. The director was from Australia, so it was an international project, really.”
HNM “You finished this film under the wire of the pandemic arriving. That’s pretty incredible.”
GEORGIA “Yes, this time last year we were still filming when some of the first few cases were coming in. I was starting to think; am I going to be able to fly back? As soon as I arrived back in Vancouver, everything started to go into lockdown. It was one of those experiences, where we had gotten lucky.”
HNM “I’ve heard that you have a martial arts background and are a very good swimmer. It helped you to land a role in Disney’s, Siren?”
GEORGIA “Siren is a TV show that’s also set in Washington. I think it’s a theme in my acting (laughing). It’s set in a fictional small fishing town called Bristol Cove. Mermaids come on land because one if them is looking for her sister. In the second season, I join because all of the soundwaves from the overfishing, causes all the mermaids to cringe and think that they’re going to die, so we’ve come onto the land to try to find help to deal with it. The relationship between the mermaids and the humans develop and we end up helping each other through various difficulties. My character is a healing mermaid that can also fight. We did underwater fight scenes, where I had a spear, it was fun. There’s a lot of skills learning… I’ve never done scuba before, so I had to learn how to use it. We would do free diving, where you dive down deep without oxygen, so you have to learn how to equalize. It was filmed inside a huge tank inside of a warehouse. There were also microphones underwater, so you could hear the director. I had to be very Zen throughout it all, and doing yoga was very good preparation too. It was important to get your head into a clear headspace – as soon as you start worrying or panicking, you can use up a lot of oxygen.”
HNM “You must be a very confident swimmer. Have you competed in swimming?”
GEORGIA “That was one of the requirements in taking on the role, you had to be a confident swimmer. When I was younger, I did a lot of swimming competitions, so it’s useful.”
HNM “I also read that you have a martial arts background, you’re the triple threat.”
GEORGIA “It’s funny, when I was doing it, I thought it wouldn’t be useful in a career. It’s actually come in very handy, doing stunts or in Siren – doing fight scenes. There’s also the mental benefits of martial arts, being Zen but also not giving up – seeing your body as a tool as well.”
HNM “What type of martial arts background do you have?”
GEORGIA “I’ve got a blackbelt in Taekwondo. I used to compete in tournaments but haven’t really kept it up in Vancouver. You get quite attached to the place where you train and it’s quite hard to do that somewhere else. As of last year, you can’t really do contact sports but it’s something I’d love to start taking up again. One of the things I love the most about Taekwondo, is that it’s not just the physical strength, but the mental strength as well.”
HNM “It’s not just about beating people up (laughing)?’
GEORGIA “No it’s not (laughing).”
HNM “The character that you play on Siren, sounds multifaceted and quite challenging?”
GEORGIA “There were a lot of things to learn. Underwater, the mermaids communicate through sign language, so we were learning that. On land, we had to replicate our character learning to speak and walk. The accent is very Scandinavian, so we’re learning that and also trying to develop the way my character would heal people and the movements. I’ve researched Reiki and other techniques of medicine that other cultures have used. I’ve read a lot of books on medicine women, which was really interesting – the history of healing people.”
HNM “One last question, where can we see Toys of Terror?”
GEORGIA “It’s just recently launched and you can get it on DVD, SYFY and VOD I believe.”
Georgia Waters is an exceptional actor and every film that she is in, is extremely lucky to have her. Incredibly humble and candid, with a delightful British accent, Georgia is bound for tremendous success and a huge fan base… where do I sign up?