Lonnie Chavis stars as Bobby in the horror film The Boy Behind the Door.
Synopsis: A night of unimaginable terror awaits twelve-year-old Bobby and his best friend, Kevin (Ezra Dewey), when they are abducted on their way home from school. Managing to escape his confines, Bobby navigates the dark halls, praying his presence goes unnoticed as he avoids his captor at every turn. Even worse is the arrival of another stranger, whose mysterious arrangement with the kidnapper spells certain doom for Kevin. With no means of calling for help and miles of dark country in every direction, Bobby embarks on a rescue mission, determined to get himself and Kevin out alive…or die trying.
Check out my interview with Lonnie!
The last film that I saw you in was The Water Man and this film is very different. How would you describe this movie?
Lonnie: It’s about two best friends. Bobby and Kevin are just having fun, doing what best friends do, talking about going to California, going to the beach, all that noise and then it goes entirely wrong. They get kidnapped. The fight for their lives for each other.
When was this filmed?
Lonnie: This was filmed in 2019. Everything kind of got delayed because of COVID, but yeah, I do look different.
How old were you?
Lonnie: I was 11… That’s crazy! I’m 14 now, but we filmed this when I was 11.
Your character Bobby goes through quite a bit in this movie. How did you prepare to play Bobby?
Lonnie: I feel like it’s easier when you’re actually in a moment and you’re in that house with those clothes on, the blood, and you have to scream and fight. I feel like it’s easier when you’re there. But to prepare yourself you just have to really be in that mindset and get into the head of Bobby, you know, having to fight for your life.
What was it like working with Ezra?
Lonnie: That was awesome. We had such a fun time. I remember, like one time during lunch there was a stunt guy who bought us these laser tag guns and we were playing with them all through lunch. I don’t remember if we ate lunch that day, but it was really fun.
What was it like filming the scenes where you were injured?
Lonnie: It was kind of funny. I remember they put rocks in my shoe one time because I did not know how to limp. It was so funny. But when I actually started limping, it looked good on camera. But yeah, it was pretty funny. I didn’t know how to live for it.
What was your favorite part of filming the movie?
Lonnie: Maybe when we were on the beach, or when we were in the trunk. Either one of those. It’s hard to pick.
Were there any parts of filming that were particularly challenging?
Lonnie: Almost every scene, but the most challenging was either the trunk scene or me having to be on the floor when I got shot. Those were the moments where I actually had to show all of what Bobby is going through. I had to scream, cry, scream for a help, scream for Ezra’s help, those were pretty hard scenes.
One part of this movie that stuck out for me was when you were trying to get the “older” phone to work. Had you actually seen a phone like that before?
Lonnie: Nope. That was my first time and they taught me how to use it.
Alright, is there anything else that you’d like to add about the boy behind the door?
Lonnie: It’s on video on demand and DVD so everybody can go get it.
