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Sarah French On Her New Film Space Wars: Quest for the Deepstar, Possible Sequel
Image Credit: Sarah French
The 411 Interview: Sarah French
Sarah French is an actress and producer who has been appearing in movies and on television since at least 2007. French has appeared in such movies as Art of the Dead, Booze, Broads and Blackjack, Pool Boy Nightmare, Automation, Death Count, Bloodthirst, and The Special, among others, and such TV shows asThe Last Tycoon, Deadly Sins, and In Ice Cold Blood. One of French’s latest movies is the terrific sci-fi adventure action flick Space Wars: Quest for the Deepstar, which is currently available on DVD and streaming for free on Tubi. In this interview, French talks with this writer about making Space Wars: Quest for the Deepstar, working with director Garo Setian and co-star Michael Pare, and more.
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Bryan Kristopowitz: How did you get involved with Space Wars: Quest for the Deepstar?
Sarah French:I worked with director Garo Setian previously on his very first feature, Automation, a few years back along with his wife Anahit Setian and we all became good friends after that shoot. We stayed in touch over the years. I’m big into health and fitness and like to share my workout videos from time to time on social media. One day I got a text from Garo about wanting to get together to talk about a possible future project. While I was in Las Vegas shooting Bloodthirst, I had a night off and Garo was in town, so we met for dinner to catch up and chat. He mentioned to me he saw one of my workout videos and was inspired by them and he was impressed with what he saw! I don’t do your usual workouts, I do a lot of high intensity workouts along with weightlifting, rope, tire flipping, etc. To make a long story short, he asked me if I’d like to be an action hero in a fun space adventure sci-fi film and asked if Joe Knetter would like to write it. I said hell yes and it’s all history after that!
BK: How did you approach your character Taylor Corman?
SF: Joe wrote a beautiful script and characters, a script I could really sink my teeth into. Joe knows how to write for me and crafted such a beautiful character, one with depth and emotion, I fell in love with her instantly and knew exactly how I wanted to play her. She’s a character I’ve always wanted to bring to life. Taylor is a mix between Ripley from Alien and Sarah Connor from Terminator. She’s a badass, puts up with no shit, she’s smart, savvy, beautiful, and she’s on a mission to get back what she lost and she won’t let anything stand in her way. How I approach all of my characters is, I like to give them a backstory, one that I only know about, which helps me to bring real emotion out of the character and become the character.
BK: What was it like working with the cast of Space Wars: Quest for the Deepstar? What was it like working with Michael Pare, who plays your father Kip Corman?
SF: The casting in this film was spot on! All the actors in this film brought their characters to another level and made them their own. It was so much fun to see while we were filming in person. Garo runs a super fun set and we all had such a blast!
Michael was amazing! This is my third time working with him but first time working one-on-one as leads together and so intimately. Our characters clicked instantly as we did as well. Which, again, a big props to the writing. It was so easy to live these characters and all the emotions throughout the film felt so real to me. In between filming, while there was some down time, I was still calling Michael “Dad” just because it felt right and I wanted to keep that connection between us feeling real. He is so helpful, insightful, and just such a pleasure to be around and work with.
I also want to mention working with Anahit Setian, who plays Jackie. Anahit is such a wonderful, loving, sweet, badass of a woman and it was such a pleasure working with her side-by-side in this film! She’s so good at what she does and she shines! We had such a wonderful time working together and I cannot wait to continue our journey.
BK: What was it like working with director Garo Setian?
SF: Garo is so wonderful. His passion for sci-fi/space/adventure films shines through and you can see it in the film. Garo and I clicked very well when we worked together on Automation, and we became good friends over the years. I love working with people who are hard workers, passionate, genuine, and just all around good people. Garo is all of that and more! He has a vision like no other and will stop at nothing until he is able to make his vision come to life, I love the passion he has, it’s so inspiring and wonderful! Garo is also a director who gives his actors a lot of room to create and make the characters their own. He’s not overbearing, he’s so great at collaborating with everyone and creates room for us to grow.
BK: What sort of weapons or fighting training did you have to do for Space Wars: Quest for the Deepstar?
SF: Garo took Tyler Gallant (he plays Wade) and I to the Las Vegas stunt academy to learn some tips and tricks from stunt coordinator Allen Woodman. We spent the day there and took what we learned and brought it back to LA with us to build up from there. It was so much fun! Tyler was already trained in stunts, so I was new to all of this. I’ve always done my own light fight stunts in my films over the years, but this was a whole new level. We practiced different holds, punches- giving and taking, how to sell it all, and falls as well. Let’s just say my body was feeling it after the training sessions! But it needed to be done. When you’re doing any kind of stunts and it’s with another actor, you need to be able to trust each other. It’s like a dance and one wrong move can really hurt someone so you must pay attention and as the saying goes, practice makes perfect!
Weapons wise, Olivier Gruner is a special weapons tech expert and has been doing action films for many years. He’s such a pro and guided us on how to hold our guns properly along with fight stunts as well. It was really wonderful to learn and work closely with Olivier and he plays one hell of a bad guy! Also, working with Rachel Brooke Smith, she was trained in stunts and weapons as well and she made our fight scene easy because she was so good to work with.
BK: What was the hardest part of making Space Wars: Quest for the Deepstar for you as an actor? What was the easiest?
SF: I’d have to say the hardest part for me was juggling 2 feature films where I’m the female lead in both films shooting at the same time! Yes you heard that right! While I was shooting Space Wars I was also shooting Bermuda Island. The same crew was also shooting both films as well, so that was pretty crazy looking back. The biggest challenge is switching the mindset from one character to another. Luckily for me both characters I played were kind of similar, so it didn’t trip me up too much, but I still had to learn both scripts at the same time. I’m always up for the challenge and I love to push myself and am always grateful for the opportunities.
Easiest part about making the film was working with talent that was on their “A” game. When people come prepared, wanting to run lines, are in a good mood, and want to make the best film possible, it makes life on set so nice and we were all in the moment in each scene together. It’s like a breath of fresh air when everyone is in sync, I love it and it translates so well on screen.
BK: What is your favorite scene in Space Wars: Quest for the Deepstar?
SF: That’s a tough one. I don’t want to give away any spoilers, but if I had to pick a favorite, it would be the fight sequences at the end. I worked really hard with Tyler for the end finale, before we started filming and while we were filming, so that’s why that ending so special to me. We filmed our end finale for 6 hours straight in the hot Nevada desert. It was such a blast and I could’ve kept going, too! I left bruised and battered (I call them battle wounds), but we were safe and the footage turned out fantastic. I love doing my own fight stunts and this was everything I was hoping it would be! So proud of our team, everyone gave it their all and kicked a lot of ass!
BK: Do you consider Space Wars: Quest for the Deepstar science fiction or is it space opera?
SF: I would say both, but definitely more of a space opera.
BK: What’s the difference, if any, between making a science fiction movie like Space Wars: Quest for the Deepstar and making a horror movie like Art if the Dead?
SF: With science fiction there is more of a CGI element involved and you’re reacting to objects that are not there. For example, flying the space ship and reacting to that and objects in space also when I’m on the red planet and reacting to the monsters I encounter. With the horror films I’ve done, I still have to react to things not always there, but more than not it’s all practical. With Art of the Dead I’m in a scene with a psychopath killer that is possessed who I have to try to fight off.
BK: How did you get involved with the horror movie Bloodthirst?
SF: From working on Art of the Dead I became friends with the producers and they contacted me about working on their next film, Bloodthirst. I read the script, enjoyed the character, and it was all history after that.
BK: How did you get involved with the horror movie Death Count?
SF: The same producers who worked on Art of the Dead and Bloodthirst thought of me for the lead in Death Count and asked me to check out the script. I enjoyed the script and really liked the character and said yes!
BK: Any upcoming projects you can tell us about?
SF: I have a couple films (hopefully) coming out this year. First is a film my production company finished up mid last year and we want to do the film fest circuit with called, Garden of Eden. GOE is going to be controversial, brutal, artistic, and I guess you can mix in there a Christian horror film ha-ha! Let’s just say this… it’s fucked up but very beautiful. Soon after we shot GOE we started pre pro on our next film and just wrapped it end of last year and it’s now in post as we speak! That one is called, Brute 1976 and here is a quick synopsis: “In 1976, a group of people in the desert for a photo shoot stumble upon an abandoned town called Savage. But they are not alone. A family of masked psychopaths have claimed Savage as their own and are hell bent on living up to its name.” We are ecstatic for that one and can’t wait to share more. We’re planning on an industry screening soon along with a film fest circuit run with that one as well and hopefully find good homes for both films! Hopefully lots more to come in general as well! I’m always up to something so keep your eyes peeled for more!
BK: What do you hope audiences get out of Space Wars: Quest for the Deepstar?
SF: I just want people to be entertained. Life is hard and if they can forget about their troubles for 2 hours and be able to immerse themselves and join us on a fun, action packed, space adventure, then I know I did my job.
BK: Would you like to appear in a potential Space Wars 2?
SF: Taylor, Kip, and Jackie will return! You bet your ass!
BK: What is your favorite science fiction movie?
SF: That’s a tough one. It’s a toss-up between Alien and Event Horizon.
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A very special thanks to Sarah French for agreeing to participate in this interview and to david j. moore for setting it up.
Space Wars: Quest for the Deepstar is available to purchase on DVD here and is available to rent or purchase via Amazon here and is available to rent or purchase via YouTube here and is currently streaming for free on Tubi (check it out here) and Flix for Free (check it out here).
Check out my review of Space Wars: Quest for the Deepstar here!
Check out my review of Automation here!
Check out my review of Bloodthirst here!
Check out my review of Death Count here!
Check out Sarah French’s Instagram page here and Facebook page here!
The Space Wars: Quest for the Deepstar poster and spaceship image are courtesy of Uncork’d Entertainment. All other images are courtesy of Sarah French.
