Rising star Kelley Mack has already earned her stripes in the realms of horror and drama, including a memorable recurring role on The Walking Dead. Mack's latest project is a starring turn in the new conspiracy theory thriller Broadcast Signal Intrusion. Mack portrays the enigmatic Alice, who surfaces as the film's protagonist, James, finds himself drawn deeper and deeper into a sinister mystery. As James finds his grip on reality steadily eroding, Alice may know more about what James is investigating than she has let on to him.

In an exclusive interview with CBR, Mack discussed what Broadcast Signal Intrusion's cast and crew taught her on set. She also explained how she helped develop the backstory and look for Alice, and praised co-star Harry Shum, Jr. (Shadowhunters) as her scene partner.

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How did the role of Alice and this project first come to you?

Kelley Mack: It came to me like any other role: my agents at DDO Chicago sent me the breakdown and I did the self-tape for it. About a month later, which is longer than normal, they said that the director wanted to talk with me over Zoom, so we chatted for over an hour. And he said, "Just so you know, we already made an android that looks like you so you're kind of our choice." [laughs] So I figured if this doesn't happen, I don't know what's going on!

Was there any specific line in the character breakdown or script that helped inform your performance?

I loved the character breakdown. It was very in-depth. [Director] Jacob [Gentry] said he spent a lot of time developing Alice and usually you get a one-sentence character description, like a femme fatale who kicks ass, but he was super detailed. I was intrigued by the character and excited to dive into it.

I was actually also quite intimidated by it because she's described as such a street-smart, competent woman. I've always struggled with coming into my own confidence as a woman. I had to channel my tomboy side. I think that's how I really got into it, just being like, "Just be a dude, be a bro!"

One of my favorite scenes in the film is between Alice and James in a dive bar trading shots. How was it working on that scene and having Harry Shum, Jr. as a scene partner?

Harry was actually the one who suggested tossing the shots back and forth -- that wasn't originally written.

I thought that was a great idea because it gave it more of a lively feel, especially since the stuff that Alice was talking about was pretty dark, and also [James'] mindset, I think he needed a break from the rabbit hole that he was going down into. Harry was a great scene partner. I remember we were outside of the bar running the scene for the first time with the director and he gave me [that] one note. I was like, "Of course! I'm so glad you said that!" I think that helped our dynamic flow and kept the mood a little bit lighter, which I think the audience needs at that point. [laughs]

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Alice is a character who has a lot going on under the surface and plenty of secrets in her back pocket. How do you approach a character like that and layer all that nuance into your performance?

That's what I try to do with all of my characters, even if it's a character where the writer hasn't necessarily thought of a backstory. I always like to figure out how I can incorporate a wide range of emotions into every scene because I feel like that's natural for humans, especially me. I feel like I'm all over the place sometimes. [laughs] Just trying to find the right parts of every scene, especially if it was a lengthy scene, to put in parts of Alice's personality throughout.

For my preparation, I take a ton of notes. They're all over my script. After I do my backstory work, I try to figure out all these thoughts she might be having in each specific moment and after I work through it several times, I decide at the moment whatever comes just comes. The editing is super helpful to pick and choose what to put into the final product.

Jacob was saying Sarah Sharp had multiple roles on this project, in addition to costuming, including some creative input. How was it deciding the look for Alice and how that would inform the character?

She was the production and costume designer on this. I don't know how she did both of them but she was great. The outfits that we ended up choosing, I knew from the beginning that Jacob wanted to use this trucker hat and I thought that was super cool because I love hats. I feel like they always add to the mystery. Scott [Thiele], the cinematographer, had a lovely time lighting me with that, constantly on set saying he couldn't see my eyes, but I think it added. I don't know if it's just a prop or costume that made me feel like I could hide and be mysterious.

I also loved the keys that she had, there were so many of them. I wanted to come up with what all these keys are for. I think I came up, with most of the keys, what she would use them for. I thought that was fun for her to have all these little trinkets because they wanted her to jingle while she walked and followed James down the alleyways. The shoes were so cool, they were super thick and added three inches to my height, and made me feel like a total badass. I loved working with Sarah. She was amazing.

As someone who has worked on both sides of the camera, what did you enjoy and learn from working on this project?

I love producing and I studied cinematography in school, so whenever I'm on a set, I'm always observing everyone else. I love trying to find people that I really mesh and vibe with to consider chatting about future projects in the future. I thought Scott was such a great cinematographer and we've stayed in touch since and we want to shoot something together.

I learned a lot from Harry, really. It was such a quick shoot. He's very good at speaking up and offering suggestions on how we can change up a scene, even if it isn't written -- like the thing in the bar and just keeping your energy up. He had great stamina throughout the entire process, it was a four-week shoot and he was on-camera constantly. Just him keeping his wits about him and staying professional the entire time. It was cool to watch that and just a great reminder.

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While Broadcast Signal Intrusion is a conspiracy thriller, it also ventures into the realm of horror, a genre where you constantly have to bring it emotionally. How was it keeping the energy up for the shoot?

I think it depends a lot on the role, honestly. On this, I didn't have to do a lot of crazy screaming like I would on a lot of horror movies. My stamina on this one was totally fine and I think it just comes down to staying focused and not letting your mind wander and think about being tired. I was in an episode of 9-1-1 on Fox and I was just supposed to be freaking out and crying the whole time with Angela Bassett as my scene partner. I was nervous because they did so much coverage -- there's so much more coverage on TV -- and I was like, "I need to figure out when I need to save my emotions."

There's one big scene in this movie and that was one of my big takeaways because after we did six or seven takes of it. I knew I had to give it my all on the first and second take and then bring it back in the right way. You have to be focused and I have different, little ways of accessing my emotions. If I'm tired, I have to cycle through them if one of them doesn't work.

How was it working with Jacob Gentry on this project?

I feel like we were pretty much on the same page, actually. The only thing is he would remind me to access my dude side because I needed that reminder. But other than that, Jacob was really great to work with. I felt like I was really zoned into Alice during my audition because I put a lot of work into it and I felt really comfortable with what I had done and from the beginning, he was like, "I feel like you are Alice," which is a huge compliment. I feel like he knew what he was getting into and developing the character before we got to set.

Now that Broadcast Signal Intrusion is done, what are you most excited about getting to share this movie with the world and, more specifically, your performance in the film?

Personally, I love going to a movie and being able to talk about it for an hour afterward because it's a joy experiencing a movie with other people -- which has been weird during the pandemic not being able to do that. We just saw it in Chicago for the first time with an audience and it was great! There's energy watching a movie with someone and, being able to talk about it afterward, that's when all the conspiracy theories about a conspiracy theory movie come up. It's fun to talk about a movie and defend why you think this thing is the truth. I hope people are able to step away from life and enjoy this!

Directed by Jacob Gentry, Broadcast Signal Intrusion is in theaters now and available on digital HD.

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