INDIANAPOLIS — A romantic comedy-horror sounds like an oxymoron genre for a film, but not when it comes to "Your Monster."
Melissa Barrera ("In the Heights," "Scream") stars as Laura Franco, who is at the lowest point of her life, going through a breakup while struggling as an actress, when she discovers a monster in her closet, played by Tommy Dewey ("Casual," "The Mindy Project").
"It's about four and a half hours in the morning, about an hour to take it off in the evening," said Dewey on the process of physically getting into character. "It's a new mask every day. That mask dies every day because it's so fragile. I found it really freeing and great."
Did I mention it's also kind of a musical? Barrera's character is auditioning for a role in a Broadway musical, and her terrific singing is on full display in the final scene.
"I was very scared because the The Lazours, who did the original music for the musical in the movie, did a fantastic job of creating not just the song that I sing – there's like four other songs that we shot that ended up getting cut from the movie – they wrote this song for my voice," Barrera said. "When I heard the song, I was like, 'You guys, I cannot sing this. I won't be able to sing this.' They were like, 'Yes you can.' I had to really work so I could be able to sing that song at the end — not just be able to sing it, but act it."
Competing against Barrera's character for the lead role in the musical is Meghann Fahy ("The White Lotus," "The Perfect Couple").
"She couldn't be cooler and more lovely. She's become a great friend of both of ours," Dewey said. "She works so perfectly in this movie because she was so hot coming off of 'The White Lotus,' and then, she struts into that theater and everyone gasps, which is kind of how I felt meeting her because I was such a fan."
"Your Monster" is now in theaters nationwide.