Exclusive

Hemsworth and Hutcherson's Red Dawn Remake: Filming "Sucked," Says Costar

Exclusive! Actor Jeffrey Dean Morgan talks about rough days while filming the action flick

By Marc Malkin Aug 29, 2012 9:20 PMTags
Red DawnFilm/District

It doesn't sound like Josh Hutcherson and Chris Hemsworth were given star treatment when they shot the remake of Red Dawn.

Costar Jeffrey Dean Morgan tells me that their first-time director, veteran stunt man Dan Bradley, was all about the cast feeling the action—no matter how brutal it may have been.

"There were a couple of rough days," the 46-year-old Magic City star told me last night at the premiere of his new movie, The Possession. "Dan wants you to do your own stunts."

A winter shoot made it even worse.

"I remember we were out in the middle of the woods outside of Detroit and it was like 30-below," Morgan said. "He wouldn't allow there to be cast chairs or heaters for us in between takes. It sucked.

"I was like, 'Are you kidding me? We're not really fighting a war. We're making a movie!'" he continued. "But no, it was like, 'No chairs, no heaters!' It was crazy."

As was making The Possession (in theaters on Friday).

The horror movie centers a family whose young daughter finds a box that contains an ancient evil spirit. It was inspired a Los Angeles Times article written by our very own Leslie Gornstein about the eBay auction of the Dybbuk Box, which many believe are possessed by a spirit from Jewish folklore.

"I wouldn't let the real box come to the set," Morgan said. "Why tempt it?"

Well, that didn't matter because unexplained events surrounded the making of the movie. There were the cold bursts of air that would suddenly sweep through the set and lights that usually never cause problems kept exploding. And then there's the warehouse that housed the film's props that burned to the ground just five days after they wrapped.

"They investigated it," Morgan said. "It wasn't arson. It wasn't an electrical fire. They said it started from within! It was just weird. I'm a complete skeptic, but I found myself going, 'Maybe I do believe in it.'"

Costar Kyra Sedgwick certainly does. "I really do believe in this stuff," she said. "There's no way we're alone here."