Abandoned Stars Emma Roberts and John Gallagher Jr Talks Motherhood, Creepy Dolls, and Funny On Set Moments
In this house, you’re never yourself. And never alone.
The horror film Abandoned follows a young couple who moves into a remote farmhouse with their infant son. The woman's struggles with postpartum psychosis begin to intensify as the house reveals secrets of its own. I spoke with Abandoned stars Emma Roberts and John Gallagher Jr about the film, motherhood, and creepy dolls.
Fans have been following Emma Roberts’ career for nearly 20 years, with Abandoned marking the first time she’s playing a mother. “It's so interesting how worlds collided like that where I was on set playing a mom for the first time and I had a seven-month-old baby waiting for me at home. I think it definitely affected me more subconsciously than even consciously, but my little sister, who's 21, she watched the movie with me for the first time and she loved it. She was, like, ‘I just don't think it would have been the same if you had done this years ago having not been a mom,’” Roberts told me. “I thought that was really sweet and I think she's right. There's something that you can't really put your finger on that obviously changes in you once you have a child. So to take on this role after was definitely a different experience than it would have been a few years ago.”
John Gallagher Jr shared that while the duo play husband and wife, they didn’t have time before hitting the set to build their chemistry. “The funny thing is […] we didn't have any time to really get to know each other or build it. The first time I met Emma was the first day on set. […] I think it was good because we didn't really have too much time to overthink it or second guess. We just kind of had to look in each other's eyes and get going and start playing these characters,” said Gallagher Jr. “But we had a great time making the film. It’s funny because when I first saw the trailer I was like, ‘Oh my god, that looks so— oh right, we made this intense riveting psychological horror thriller drama.’ But the experience of making it was really positive and easy going and fun and I have all these great memories of hanging out in between takes with Emma.”
Roberts continued, sharing a funny on set moment: “John and I on that swing was not fun. It was really difficult. They like put a board on rope and threw it over a tree and it was like no stable. We’re trying to have this cute, sad, looking-at-the-sunset moment [and] it’s like lopsided. I’m holding a doll that’s supposed to be the baby,” she said. “Anytime one of us was holding the doll and not the real baby we had to really [try to not] go into like a giggle attack because the doll was a little creepy. It was probably the scariest thing on set and also the doll was so heavy. The doll was heavier than my baby.”
Abandoned is available on Digital and On Demand and playing in select theatres.
