Behind the Screams: The Cast of HELL OF A SUMMER on Tropes, Terror & Teamwork

(L-R) Krista Nazaire, Finn Wolfhard, Abby Quinn, and Fred Hechinger in HELL OF A SUMMER | Image courtesy of NEON

By Shannon McGrew

In Finn Wolfhard and Billy Bryk’s directorial debut, HELL OF A SUMMER, we follow 24-year-old camp counselor Jason Hochberg (Fred Hechinger), who arrives at Camp Pineway thinking his biggest problem is that he feels out of touch with his teenage co-workers. What he doesn’t know is that a masked killer is lurking on the campgrounds, brutally picking counselors off one by one. 

For the release of HELL OF A SUMMER, Creepy Kingdom’s Shannon McGrew spoke with actors Pardis Saremi (“Death and Other Details”), D’Pharaoh Woon-A-Tai (“Reservation Dogs”), and Abby Quinn (Knock at the Cabin), who plays camp counselors Demi, Mike, and Claire, respectively. During their chat, they discussed everything from creating authentic on-screen friendships to the bloody fun of filming a camp slasher.

Thank you all for speaking with me today. What about these characters interested you in the roles of Demi, Mike, and Claire? Did you see yourself in them at all? 

Pardis Saremi: Yeah, because Demi has a great sense of style [Laughs]. 

D’Pharaoh Woon-A-Tai: I was very familiar with Mike because his character has often been seen in horror films. He is very, very much a trope regarding characters I was so used to seeing. I was very excited to portray that character and do it like other greats have done before me. 

Abby Quinn: Similar to D’Pharaoh’s answer, the trope of this loner girl, an outsider, excited me to play her. There were some similarities, but I think, for the most part, I’m pretty different from Claire. Sometimes, I like playing really confrontational characters because I am not really that, and it gives me an excuse to just feel really grounded and in your face a little bit more. That excited me and interested me in Claire. 

Finn Wolfhard and Billy Bryk in Hell of a Summer Courtesy of NEON

Did you have a chance to bond before filming began? How did you build the chemistry we see on screen? 

Abby Quinn: The three of us drove to camp together. That was like day three of us knowing each other. 

D’Pharaoh Woon-A-Tai: We would go canoeing with each other. I’m a big hiker, so whoever wanted to hike with me, we would go to a few hiking spots. Anytime we were not shooting, the chemistry was being built with people back at the hotel or on set. Many of us would go to set just to be there and see how [the movie] was being made. The chemistry is often established by how good a director is at making these groups of people come together, and Finn and Billy are at the top of that level. They brought us together like a family in the first week. 

Pardis Saremi: No one wanted to be at the house alone. I feel like even if you weren’t filming, you would just go to the set. 

Abby Quinn: They really prioritized the right things. They could have been stressing about the fact that they’re directing a movie, but the night before we started, they brought friendship bracelets and just sat for hours making camp bracelets. I think they just knew what was going to bond everyone, and I think that was their main priority. They created a set where everyone wanted to be together and hang out. 

How was the experience of collaborating with Finn and Billy both behind the camera and on screen?

Pardis Saremi: They’re brilliant and so funny. They have such a great dynamic and are really good at letting you in on the friendship. That’s how it felt. It felt like a big group of friends were getting together to make a movie. They were really good at sharing in that. 

D’Pharaoh Woon-A-Tai: Especially for how young they were. Just so much energy and excitement on set. They were so hungry to film. They loved filmmaking just as much as acting, and you could see the passion in both their eyes. It was very inspiring. 

Abby Quinn: You could tell the minute someone did something right because they didn’t have a poker face about it. They were just so excited when something clicked, and it was so gratifying to have that reaction. Because they love making movies so much, and they’ve been on both sides, they also know how good it feels, I think, as an actor to know this is working or it's not working. They would always communicate with us. 

Lastly, with this being a camp slasher, what is your favorite slasher movie? 

D’Pharaoh Woon-A-Tai: House of 1000 Corpses by Rob Zombie. 

Pardis Saremi: I have to go with the classic, Halloween. 

Abby Quinn: Sweeney Todd, which technically is a slasher! 

HELL OF A SUMMER is now in theaters.