Fans of the Canadian horror anthology Slasher might want to check into Hell Motel this summer. In case you missed the news, “Hell Motel is a series from Slasher series creators Ian Carpenter and Aaron Martin.” Slasher fans will quickly notice a ton of familiar names in addition to the co-creators and director Adam MacDonald. The team is also bringing a good amount of the Slasher acting ensemble along for the bloody ride. This is why we were honored to be invited to a press roundtable with Jim Watson and Paula Brancati. Watson and Brancati are two of the Slasher alums you can expect to see in Hell Motel. They are also a fun duo on a Wednesday afternoon. 

According to Shudder’s synopsis: “Hell Motel sees a group of 10 true crime obsessives invited to the opening weekend of the newly renovated Cold River Motel, the site of a 30-year-old unsolved Satanic Mass Murder. History repeats itself when the guests get stranded and start getting knocked off one by one during a murder spree that grows exponentially more gruesome than the original with each kill.”

Andy (Watson) and Paige (Brancati) are two of the characters who have been invited to this murderous weekend. The first question we all wanted to know was what drew this pair into this series and made them want to explore these characters.

An Interview with Hell Motel’s Jim Watson and Paula Brancati

This roundtable discussion has been edited for brevity and clarity.

Paula Brancati explained: I so loved working with Ian (Carpenter) and Aaron (Martin) on the Slasher series, and they always write such incredible characters for me and for the entire team. I love being part of a world where the female characters are very voicey on the page. They’re not tropey in any way, as can sometimes be the case in the genre. So, for me, it was a very easy yes.

Brancati continued: Aaron Martin and I have worked together since Being Erica, and he and Ian always surprise me. They write stuff that’s incredibly dark and very funny. When I heard some of my old castmates, like Jim Watson here, were going to be a part of it…that also made the yes extra easy and special. So yeah, it was a lot of fun to come back with a lot of our old Slasher family to do Hell Hotel. A lot of that amazing crew that we’ve worked with so much. It felt like a bit of a summer camp.

When asked if they found anything difficult while filming, Jim Watson said: The interesting thing about the Andy character is that he’s approaching all of this as this sort of analytical skeptic. You know, he’s a PhD. He’s really going in there, and it’s that balance of anyone in that world. In that field. Any skeptic has to [have] a kernel of love or appreciation for the thing that they’re actually trying to disprove. So, there was this sort of element of battling the excitement of the moment with each of the scenes while also remaining grounded and being ready to point out the obvious to everyone. It was just this fun tightrope to walk, and I got to really work closely with our director, Adam (MacDonald). He and I were in constant conversation about, “Is this too much? Is this not enough?” That kind of thing.

Watson continued: It was great because it’s so rare that we actually get to really stretch those kinds of muscles. And you know, Ian and Aaron, they set this stuff up for us like Paula said. They give it to each and every character. There’s so much in there to work with. So, it was a lot of fun.

Brancati stated: Yeah, it’s very juicy material. As Jim was saying about Andy, and I think this is the case for all the characters, there’s a lot of textures. A lot of layers. We’re also shooting all of it out of order [because] they shoot all 8 episodes at once. So, that’s a unique situation. You’re shooting like a very long movie, so I’d say the most challenging part is the endurance. You know we’ve done that model for Slasher, as well.

Brancati explained: You have to be a bit masochistic to love this setup, I think, but I love it. There’s an adrenaline rush to it, in sort of building the puzzle. I think the challenge is shooting something from a later episode, perhaps at the beginning of the shoot, and then filling in that blank on day 50 of the shoot and making it work with decisions you made creatively at the beginning. I think that’s really fun and part of what’s very joyful about working with actors you love, like Jim and this amazing cast.

You know, Adam and Ian and Aaron, we’re all watching out for each other and vibing together. I think part of the challenge is part of what the joy of it is. It’s also a physical show. There’s a lot of stunts. There’s a lot of screaming and yelling, and you know, emotional stuff the characters go through. So, I think that’s like part of the challenge, but part of the joy. It’s a very cathartic shoot. 

Brancati laughed: I would highly recommend working through whatever you have going on on a horror set, my friends. Just scream it out…and go on vocal rest after.

When the laughter died down, the duo was asked about working with Emmy® Award-winner Eric McCormack, who plays a character people are going to love to hate this season.

Watson: For me, I mean, that was my first time working with him, and I mean, he’s probably heard this a million times. I grew up watching Will & Grace, and like, I loved him. He was this outlet, this voice, in a small town community of this other thing, and I just worship that individual.

Watson continued: So, getting to work and meet with him. My expectations were pretty high, and he just came in and was the most humble, sweetest, nicest person. And yeah, funny, like duh, he’s funny, but like, actually just a funny person doing schticky things, too. Like stuff that you’re like, ‘Oh, my dad would do that!’ But then, like when he does it, it’s hilarious, you know. He was just wonderful. He was just a shining star in a very dark and murderous environment.

Brancati: Yes, I feel the same. I worked with Eric on the last season of Slasher that we did, and I was a bit nervous to meet him because I, too, was such a huge Will & Grace fan. I was worried that I would call him Will on set. That show meant so much to me and my mom growing up, and he is everything you’d want him to be and more. He is such a delight! He’s such a Toronto boy. We went to see our friend, up in Stratford last year.

Our buddy, Dan Chameroy, is one of the stars of Stratford. We were like going to Swiss Chalet together and talking about Toronto hotspots and being like, ‘Yeah, he’s one of us.’ [Eric] is one of us, and he loves being part of our motley crew on Slasher. I feel like we’re doing this like, gritty indie, and he’s so down for that, and so playful as an actor.

Watson asked: You went to Swiss Chalet with Eric Mccormick? 

Brancati exclaimed through laughter: Let that be the headline! 

Soon after, the conversation turned to the true crime genre. Both actors were asked if they are fans of the genre and if they drew from any real people in the true crime sphere for their characters.

Watson: My wife and I love to listen to those podcasts that tell you about every horrific murder under the sun. That sort of approach, that storytelling, too, of true crime dramas, you know, it’s really an interesting thing to retell a story that is very familiar to people in a new and enticing way, and in some respects, that is what the creators of Hell Motel and Slasher, [are] really playing into. A genre that is well established, and they’re paying homage.

Brancati: Yeah, I’ve gotten into those too, Jim. Those are oddly comforting, and they’re crazy.

Watson: Yeah, which is very scary, that we’re comfortable.

Brancati: I’ve read this somewhere, I think women love them, – and Jim tell me, if this feels right for your lady. But it’s like we like knowing we were right. We’re right to be as worried as we are. I just want to feel validated.

We acknowledged that the show is fun but is also hard on actors. When asked how they take care of themselves during filming, Watson and Brancati explained they have very different methods.

Watson: I mean, I stretched. There was a lot of physical preparation for most days. Honestly, blood isn’t my thing. It does kind of freak me out a bit. We had an amazing props person who allowed us to really ask questions, and that really allowed me to get close to the instruments and things like that that we’d be standing around.

Watson continued: It was really just reminding myself that this is all pretend. That was the best approach for a lot of these scenes because some of the sets were horrifying. Like if I suddenly passed out and, like my buddies, dragged me into this room, and I woke up. I don’t know what I would do… that would have been immediate cardiac arrest. So, just really reminding myself that everything’s okay and I’d hold onto Paula tightly once in a while, and she-

Brancati: I would have a dance break now and again.

They both begin laughing. 

Watson: Oh no!

Brancati: Jim and I do this little dance break that was.

Watson: It was beautiful. It was.

Brancati: Gotta laugh because you gotta laugh. (A moment as she figures out how much of her dance she can do on Zoom.) I can’t stand for it but I would go, “Jim! Jim, Gaga.” I kind of (Brancati does some amazing Zoom shoulder work), but my hips would go. It was like I was suddenly in Sweet Charity, but he’d do it.

Watson: It’s the Gaga. That was really, the just…it killed me every [time].

Brancati: Absolutely no sense.

Watson: Yeah. 3 AM. 3 PM. It didn’t matter when.

Brancati: In the middle of the most intense scene.

Watson: (Laughing.) Yes.

Brancati: Full-time. That’s mental health to me. That’s how I would take care of myself and Jim.

When the laughter died down, Brancati also shouted out the Craft table for having well-timed grilled cheese sandwiches and charcuterie. While she admits she could have stretched more while preparing for some scenes, she stressed the importance of vocal warmups.

Brancati: Especially as I’ve gotten older, and I’m a singer, just being aware of the vocal strain. So, truly, just physically stretching my voice, I would do a lot. I would warm up a lot in the morning. I’d cool down at the end of the night. As we got to the end of the shoot. I was using different techniques, just kind of taking care of that because the voice does tell a lot of the story for this show for sure. To say the least.

You can see Jim Watson and Paula Brancati if you check into Hell Motel. The new Shudder show premieres in the United States on Tuesday, June 17th.