Ashley Weir stuns in "Abigail": From musical prodigy to horror icon
At just under 15 years old, Ashley Weir has already secured a few notable roles in her acting career. Her latest project, the horror movie Abigail, recently premiered in USA cinemas, where she portrays the lead character. Off-screen, Ashley looks quite different from her on-screen persona in Abigail. This transformation surprised her fans and her family, who were stunned to see her in such a different light on screen.
Ashley Weir was born in September 2009 in Dublin, Ireland. So far, she has appeared in several productions: the horror movie "Don't Leave Home" by Michael Tully, the TV series "Darklands," and the leading role in the family movie "Matilda: The Musical" by Matthew Warchus for which she received an IFTA award (Irish Film and Television Award), and the crime comedy "Wicked Little Letters" by Thea Sharrock.
Another horror genre title, "Abigail" by Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett, has premiered in April 2024. Weir's terrifying performance has caused quite a surprise among her close circles. Check out the gallery to see how she looked in full makeup and what she says about making the movie.
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"I was getting messages"
Although Weir has been on the big screen before, her latest portrayal has stirred many emotions among her friends and family. – They were quite shocked, especially when they saw all the blood. I received messages saying: "I don't know if I'll be able to see you the same after seeing the trailer!" – the starlet said in an interview with "People" magazine.
And indeed, the trailer is quite terrifying. In the movie, Ashley plays a teenager who is kidnapped for ransom. It turns out that she, not the criminal, is the biggest threat. The situation reverses when the group realizes that inside the body of an innocent child lies a vampire, hundreds of years old, thirsty for human blood.
Artificial blood is hard to wash off
As she admits, Weir had a lot of fun making the film. "There were so many cool parts. I think one of them would have to be the blood cannon, for me. Me and [costar] Melissa [Barrera] had a big blood cannon at the very end of the film, and you could only do it in one take. We were both really nervous because we didn't want to mess up since it would've taken a long time to clean it all up," she explained in an interview with "People" especially since artificial blood is not easy to wash off.
– At the end of the day we'd have to use bottles and bottles of shaving cream and as the movie goes on ... by the end we were so covered in blood, all you could see was our teeth and our eyes. We had to get straight into the shower to wash it all off," she revealed. Before each take, Weir wore special covers that mimicked vampire fangs, which occupied most of the mouth cavity. Being Irish, she also had to get used to the American accent. Over time, however, her new, unusual appearance became commonplace for her.
"It wasn't scary at all"
The young actress finally discovered that making horror movies is scary for their creators. "I always wanted to know if the people that are scaring the audience are really scared when they're filming it, and it was the complete opposite. It was so much fun every single day. It was not scary at all" she said in the same conversation.
Alongside Weir, the cast includes the aforementioned Melissa Barrera (new "Scream" series), Dan Stevens ("Beauty and the Beast," "Legion"), William Catlett ("New Constellation"), Kathryn Newton ("Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania", "Big Little Lies"), Kevin Durand ("Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes"), Angus Cloud (in what is the final role of the "Euphoria" star), Giancarlo Esposito ("Breaking Bad") and Matthew Goode ("Downton Abbey," "The Imitation Game"). The screenplay and direction are handled by creators associated with the new version of the "Scream" series: writer Guy Busick and directors Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett.
The horror movie "Abigail" is now available in cinemas.
