If you could have any wish fulfilled, what would it be?
Would you get One Direction back together, and spend a week hanging out with them? Would you move into Kylie Jenner’s mansion, and raid her wardrobe? Or maybe, you’d get revenge on someone who’s wronged you in the past?
How far would you be willing to go to live out these fantasies, exactly?
These are the questions that are at the centre of the new, spine-tingling horror flick, Fantasy Island.
In this remake of the original, 1970s series, five strangers head to a remote, tropical island, where the enigmatic Mr.Rourke promises to make their dreams come true.
But as the secrets of the island unfold, their fantasies quickly turn into nightmares. This reboot was produced by Blumberg Studios — the guys behind the Get Out and Truth or Dare — so expect a couple of chuckles and ‘aww’ moments, as well as shocks and jumpscares.
In the flick, our PLL fave Lucy Hale plays Melanie, a girl haunted by the past who seeks revenge on a school bully. But as the plot unfolds, we start to wonder if Melanie really is just the victim, after all.
Here, we chat with Lucy about filming Fantasy Island in paradise, dealing with bullies and what her number one fantasy would be!
GF: First of all, we need to know. What was it like to film this in Fiji? The island looked absolutely epic!
Lucy: Yeah, I mean it’s outrageous. It’s so, so beautiful. Everything is exactly how it looks in the movie. The water was that blue, the trees were that green. You walk to the left and there are these gorgeous waterfalls and you look to the right and there are amazing caves. There was so much to do and on our days off we were jumping from waterfalls and scuba diving. It was part vacation and part work!
GF: Your character Melanie must have been a really interesting one to play, as she’s quite multidimensional. But what brings her to the island in the first place is getting revenge on a bully. Is this experience of being bullied something you could relate to on a personal level?
Lucy: To an extent, yes! I mean, Melanie has obviously gone through the ringer and is very traumatised to the point of needing to go to the extreme to get back at this person. But, I relate to Melanie in the sense of feeling misunderstood and really just like an outcast. But where a lot of my work was just trying to justify the things that Melanie was doing and saying, because I think she believed what she was doing was just and the right thing to do.
But a lot of my work was just trying to get into the mindset of somebody who thought differently to how I do.
GF: Do you think the scars of bullying can have a lasting effect on someone and cause them to do things they might not otherwise?
Lucy: Absolutely. I think the movie just goes to show that how you treat people can have a long-lasting effect. I think the majority of the world wouldn’t do what Melanie is doing, but some people get revenge in one way or another, and others just move on. But if anything, I think the deeper message of this movie is that the way you treat people is very, very important.
GF: What advice would you give to our readers who have been bullied, but want to deal with it in a more positive way?
Lucy: I think just being the bigger person is a natural revenge in itself and you get good karma points for not buying into it and not feeding into what people are doing to you. I think it’s important to know that those bullies are usually going through something inside, and it’s really not personal. So yeah, just being the bigger person and walking with your head held high!
GF: If you were to go to Fantasy Island, what fantasy would you want fulfilled?
Lucy: To live on an island where animals could talk! That would be amazing
GF: And would you ever go to Fantasy Island to get that wish granted?
Lucy: Knowing what I know about what can happen on the island, absolutely not! (Laughs)
Fantasy Island is in cinemas nationwide from this Thursday 14th February — just in time for Valentine’s Day!
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