Joe Lo Truglio’s wife Beth Dover had “no reservations” in teaming up with him for his grim and gory directorial debut, Outpost.
The new movie is available on digital platforms from Monday, September 11, and stars Beth as a woman who tries to overcome a traumatic attack by volunteering as a fire lookout.
Her solitary new role seems to promise all the peace and quiet she needs to process the abuse but she soon discovers something much darker in the mountains of northern Idaho.
Joe says he was a fan of horror before starring in the likes of Brooklyn Nine-Nine and Superbad, and his wife Beth was a natural fit for the starring role.
“She is quite a courageous actor,” he said. “And knew that this is a role that she often isn’t considered for, although capable of.
“It was a challenge for her. I always knew that she could do it. She’s already shown her talent in drama and comedy.
“I knew that she’d be able to handle some of the tonal shifts and performance challenges of this role.”
Featuring gruesome scenes of dead animals, violence and intense hallucinations, this small-scale production nevertheless took a huge effort to film in just 18 days at 6,300.
In our interview, the actor-turned-director revealed he and Beth had an effective solution to ensure Outpost’s tension remained on set and didn’t follow them home.
“All the madness… there’s madness in any marriage, but the additional madness stayed away,” he explained. “We were protected from that.
“One of the things that helped us survive the production was that we stayed in separate hotel rooms.
“We shot in northern Idaho, about 30 miles south of the Canadian border, so we were really up there in a beautiful area of the country.
“And we had these beautiful lodges we were staying in; they were surrounded by such incredible vistas.
“I said, ‘I think the best thing to do is that we have our separate spaces to find solace and escape to after a 12-hour day on top of the mountains’. And it worked.”
Joe’s methods as a director certainly delivered, as Beth shines with a raw and believable performance throughout almost every scene of Outpost.
Fans of the actor’s comedy work may be disappointed to see that none of his Brooklyn Nine-Nine co-stars turn up for cameos – although Joe hasn’t ruled that out for a future project.
“I can’t wait to work with all of them again!” he shared. “I think someday we will.
“But this was a different movie. When you cast a horror movie, your cast are going to bring things with them. Wonderful things.
“I wanted to have more dramatic character actors. Let me just add, Andre Braugher, Stephanie Beatriz… there’s plenty of dramatic talent in that cast.
“So, I don’t mean to dismiss any of that. But I just wanted to have new and different actors in Outpost.”
The film also stars Dylan Baker and Becky Ann Baker – another husband and wife team – as well as Ato Essandoh, Dallas Roberts and Ta’rea Campbell.
Outpost is available on digital download in the UK from September 11.