‘Evil Dead Rise’ Star Alyssa Sutherland Collapses Playing Deadite’s Creepy Mother Ellie, Wearing 70-Pound Prosthetics and a Box Office Hit

• Alyssa Sutherland stars in “Evil Dead Rise” as Ellie, a mother possessed by the Deadites.
• The Aussie star got bloody hands while making the film, despite not being a horror fan.
• Sutherland told Insider about the challenges of shooting his most monstrous scenes.

Irish director Lee Cronin does no harm in “Evil Dead Rise,” which brings Sam Raimi’s Deadites to life and moves them into a claustrophobic apartment in Los Angeles.

Single mother Ellie (Alyssa Sutherland) is the first unfortunate victim of the dead, as she’s turned into a screaming banshee trying to slaughter her own family.

Since hitting theaters last month, “Evil Dead Rise” has garnered critical acclaim and has grossed over $100 million at the box office against a modest budget of under $20 million.

Australian actress Alyssa Sutherland spoke to Insider to break down her character, what it was like filming the grotesque ending and the film’s box office success.

Congratulations on the success of the film. How does it feel to see the box office responses and numbers?

It’s so wild. Saying we were going to go to HBO Max and instead that’s the path he went… like, wait, What? I feel like a lot of people go to the movies more than once for that. This is so cool.

What was your reaction when you read the script for the first time?

I’m not a huge horror fan. I’m a very easy scare.

But I loved that it was a female monster. It was so cruel and psychologically horrific, and I haven’t seen many women on screen like that. I feel like the women I’ve seen on screen like that, it’s a more nuanced approach. And it was so overt and so violent, and psychotic.

I was so excited to do this because I don’t read female characters like that. I was like, “Give me the prostheses. I don’t care. I’ve been through worse!”

Pictures from Warner Bros.

Lee Cronin takes the action inside a building. Can you tell me a bit about what happened in the filming of the macabre hallway sequence?

It was one of my favorites.

It was really hard because Jayden [Daniels, who plays Gabriel] appears in front of the peephole, and then I have to come and rip his throat out. They only had two of these prosthetics, so I have two takes to get it right, and I also try to be in character. I have very sharp fingernails – they are not snaps, they are fully attached to my fingers. So if I get the wrong part of this prosthesis, I could really hurt him. That was probably the hardest part, just getting into the right position to pull off that prosthesis.

Pictures from Warner Bros.

The climax features a gross creature consisting of Ellie, Bridget, and Danny. How did you all bring this to life?

It was hard. I had a 70 pound prosthetic backpack that I carried, then Gabby [Echols, who plays Ellie’s daughter Bridget] and Morgana [Davies, who plays her son Danny] kind of come in and fit in next to me, and there would be like some sort of prosthetic arm slung over one of them.

Then there was also a different creature that was meant for two stunt people. They were contortionist stuntmen. So they had a prosthetic “me” head on it, which is really disturbing, and they had prosthetic masks of both kids.

Now that you’ve cut your teeth on “Evil Dead Rise,” are you considering other horror roles?

I think my gut will know when I see the right thing. I really like drama. I think I’m actually a really good dramatic actor and I’d love to sink my teeth into something really meaty and dark.

It’s almost like I already feel that pressure because people have been so lovely. The reviews have been so amazing that I’m like, how do you keep up with this? What do you follow this with? And, like, what if I’m not as good? What if people don’t like me in the next thing I do? It’s too easy to listen to voices like that. I have to get rid of this voice.

When you’re not playing a Wild Deadite, what’s your ideal day off? I heard you were an avid baker.

I really like baking cakes. I also like the decoration part. It’s a way to get the creative juices flowing.

Please tell me you made an “Evil Dead” cake…

I have one in the freezer. I haven’t finished it though. The past few weeks have been quite busy for me. So I kind of took off and quickly did little bits here and there.

“Evil Dead Rise” is in theaters now and available for digital download.

This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.