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Philip Carlisle On His New Film House of Quarantine, Playing a Villain

July 26, 2021 | Posted by Bryan Kristopowitz

The 411 Interview: Philip Carlisle

Philip Carlisle is an actor who, according to imdb, has appeared in both short and feature length movies since 2019. Carlisle has appeared in the short film My Girlfriend’s Cat and the feature length Wish Man. Carlisle’s latest movie is the thriller House of Quarantine, which is now available on all major Video on Demand platforms as well as DVD and Blu-ray. In this interview, Carlisle talks with this writer about making House of Quarantine, how he approached his character Vince, working with the director and crew and more.

Bryan Kristopowitz: How did you get involved with House of Quarantine?

Philip Carlisle: I have my local agent, but I saw the casting call for this project on one of the many FB acting groups I follow.

BK: How did you approach your character Vince? Is it right to call him a villain or is he just misunderstood?

PC: The first insight into his character was his role as an AD (Assistant Director) on a film set. ADs need to be direct, efficient, and see the project from a high vantage point. So I built him as a person who is decisive and comfortable making choices even if it may step on a few toes. Vince being a villain or not is a difficult question to answer, specifically, because his villainous actions were a last minute add to the script. I got those changes the day we shot those final scenes. I didn’t build a rationale for those choices into the character from the start. I had to change on the fly to find a reason for him to act the way he did toward Aleshia and Macy. In the end, it would be fair to say he became a villain.

BK: What was it like working with director Mitesh Patel?

PC: My experience with Mitesh was actually minimal on set. He was not the type to give lots of notes directly to the actors. I worked more directly with the AD and DP while filming. The one exception to that was the final re-write of Vince’s character. Mitesh and I did spend a good deal of time hashing out what he wanted Vince to become in the final scene. I would describe that conversation as an “intense discussion between creatives” but I do think it worked out well.

BK: What was it like working with the cast of House of Quarantine?

PC: How the cast gets along always makes or breaks a film experience for me. It’s also one of the biggest reasons I love doing film because most of the time it is great. HoC was great. Being Vince, I also got to have scenes with every character in the film which really helped me add depth to his character as I had to make choices about how I felt about all the other characters.

BK: What was it like filming in the house?

PC: Fantastic. Not having to move sets was great.

BK: What was the hardest part of making House of Quarantine for you as an actor? What was the easiest?

PC: The hardest part was accepting the changes to Vince’s character at the end. In the moment, I felt stepped on as an actor. I spent a lot of time learning the original version and building in all the backstory and goals and motivations that I then had to throw away. It was also hard because I had so little time to work on the scene with Macy and Aleshia, I was worried it wouldn’t turn out well.
The easiest part was working with Rusty the AD and Bernie the DP. They knew their stuff and were great communicators.

BK: Is it right to call House of Quarantine a horror movie or is it more of a thriller?

PC: I would call it more of a thriller because the conflict is all interpersonal and character based. In a horror film, the conflict is an external force/tormentor. The virus could have been this, but it was only the inciting incident for a thriller story.

BK: Any moviemaking heroes?

PC: I wouldn’t use the word “hero” but as far as what style films I like; Zack Snyder would be the director I’d want to make the movies for the novel series I’ve written. Specifically, the style of Sucker Punch.

BK: Any upcoming projects you can tell us about?

PC: I do have a completed 6-part fantasy adventure novel series, and the screenplay for book 1, in front of a director from LA. I also have a 6-figure investor in the project. We are gunning for a fresh way to launch a film series by using the books as the primary marketing tool while the film is in pre-production. Remember the name Surviving Eros.

BK: What do you hope audiences get out of House of Quarantine?

PC: When I first read the summary of HoC, I admittedly gave a little eye-roll. Great, yet another COVID-19 movie. How original. But after going through the whole script, I saw it wasn’t going to be cliché. It was a good character driven movie that only used COVID as a mechanism to start the conflict. I hope audiences see the film for that part. We all think we know how we’d respond in high stress scenarios, but it’s good to be reminded that we really don’t know until it happens to us.

BK: Just how long were you handcuffed to Drew Leatham, who plays Parker?

PC: That scene was filmed on two different days so the combined time was probably 3-4hrs.

BK: Just how cold was that pool during the big “pool fight” sequence?

PC: It was actually great. We filmed in July in Phoenix, AZ with temps, in your car, after shooting, of 125. The camera overheated several times during our shoots outside. Even at night it was 100F. So, getting in the pool was nice.