We are Indie Horror had the opportunity to chat, via Skype, with actor Moses J. Moseley who will appear in the sequel to the anthology feature Volumes of Blood (check out the full review). The sequel, titled Volumes of Blood: Horror Stories, is currently in production. In the interview, Moseley talked about working on season three of the hit AMC show The Walking Dead and Volumes of Blood: Horror Stories and briefly went into the zombie film Kudzu Zombies, expected to release October 2016. He shares some insights on aiming high in the film industry and what his ultimate goal is as an actor, as well as thoughts on the resilient passion of the indie horror community. Check out the full interview below and a teaser for Volumes of Blood: Horror Stories at the end of the interview.
WAIH: Tell us a little bit about yourself. How did you get into acting?
Moses Moseley: I’ve been doing it for about four and a half years now. It’s something that just came my way. It was something I always wanted to do when I was younger, but I never really thought I had the potential to do it. I was overweight most of my life and it wasn’t until I lost the weight that I felt confident enough to do it. I actually got my first opportunity walking out of class one day at Georgia State. A girl, she pulled me to the side and she was, “Hey do you want to be in a movie?” At first I was like, “what kind of a movie, what are you talking about?” I was thinking I was going to be in somebody’s basement or something. It ended up being the movie Joyful Noise with Queen Latifah and Dolly Parton. After I did that movie they started sending me more and more castings and I just built myself up from there.
WAIH: You are in perhaps one of the biggest television shows out there, The Walking Dead, what’s that like? Tell us a little bit about that experience?
MM: It was amazing. It was actually the fourth thing I ever did in my career. Just getting a chance to get on the show, I was blown away. At the time I didn’t know what the show was or anything about it. After I did my part and filmed with them, I actually went back and watched the previous seasons and I was instantly hooked. I think it’s still the best show on television. From the cast to the crew everybody is so professional. It was awesome and down to earth and they would really make you happy to be there.
WAIH: Definitely one of the best shows out there. It’s really cool that it’s ahorror showhorror-dramaand it’s not your typical drama. Who did you play on The Walking Dead?
MM: I played one of Michonne’s pet zombies; I played pet zombie Mike.
WAIH:What season was that?
MM: I was in season three.
WAIH: You’re mostly in make-up [on the show] I take it?
MM: I was the majority of the time. It was about a two-and-a-half hour process. Literally, you’re just sitting there trying not to move too much. Every time you move they have to constantly adjust and you have to take your mind somewhere else and let them paint on you. It’s like the more they add to you the more they’re taking away. The finished product I thought was just phenomenal.
WAIH: What other projects have you worked on since then?
MM: I’ve been on The Vampire Diaries a couple of times, The Originals, I did the The Hunger Games: Catching Fire, Trouble with the Curve, 42. I just wrapped on two feature films one called Kudzu Zombies that shot in Mississippi a couple of weeks ago and another one called Volumes of Blood: Horror Stories that I shot about a week and a half ago in Kentucky, and those will be coming out soon. I’ve been constantly auditioning ever since then.
WAIH: I saw the first Volumes of Blood, I thought it was a great anthology feature, what was it like working on the follow up?
MM: It was so much fun P.J. [Starks, director] and his crew they’re all amazing people and they’re really easy to talk to and get along with. It was like a big family. I have to say, that was the best death scene I ever shot. It was so awesome and so intense. Going through it and shooting it, in my head I thought, this is going to look so awesome. They do such a great job with everything and I think the whole product is going to be amazing. Just shooting it was a phenomenal experience on its own.
WAIH: Compared to some of the other stuff you’ve been on, it seems you’ve been on big shows and movies, would you say that your experience on Volumes of Blood, with a smaller crew and set, was it more amicable?
MM: It was. It was a smaller set, but honestly it’s the people that made it what it was. As far as the set, it was a lot smaller, a bit easier to maintain everything, but the job they did on it was so amazing and phenomenal. The special effects they did on the movie, phenomenal; it looks so real and so vivid. Everything in general it turned out amazing… it was small… but they made it big. I think in the end it’s about the people, not necessarily about the size of the set, but just the people you’re dealing with and how professional they are. They were so professional and knew exactly what they wanted and they had everything planned out and they just executed it to perfection.
WAIH: That’s a film that I’m definitely looking forward to and based on the first film, for something so small they make it look so good and polished. To me it looks like a big studio picture and talking to P.J. knowing where it was shot, it just comes to show [it takes] true talent and an eye for filmmaking. I wanted to ask, what are your influences as an actor? Who do you look up to?
MM: Some of my most influential actors that I grew up looking up to: Denzel Washington, Robert Downey Jr., Leonardo Dicaprio; the titans in the industry and just watching them and observing them and studying the different roles they played and seeing how well they portrayed those things, just inspired me to pursue it. Like I said, the weight lost was what really put it in my head to do it. But seeing the work they’ve done made me want to do that, how they can easily become different people and make it so believable. Now I constantly watch different productions. I’m a big fan of Marvel and DC and watching those movies just really inspires me to keep pushing forward. I’ve only been acting for, like I said, four and a half years, but I’m just hoping to get on that level and I want to be part of those dynasties; that’s really my next goal.
WAIH: Once you’re in one of those franchises you have it made.
MM: (laughs). Exactly right.
WAIH: Is there a genre that you specifically enjoy working in. You seem to have done drama and horror and all these different genres. Do you feel that there is a genre that really stretches your acting abilities?
MM: I say it’s a tie between horror and action/adventure. With horror there are so many genres and calibers of horror that you can delve into different dimensions as far as character development goes. Action/Adventure is basically the same thing and it pushes the actor to go those different distances so the audience can actually see the character development that comes with it. It’s so much fun and so physical to work on some of those genres, some of those productions. Just being able to go that distance with it, I think that is half the joy in the experience.
WAIH: Going back to Volumes of Blood [Horror Stories], how were you able to nab a role in that?
MM: I actually met P.J. and his wife Katrina at a couple conventions. The last convention I saw them at, ScareFest, in Kentucky last year, P.J. just came at me asking me if I wanted to be a part of it. At this time me and P.J. were friends, I busted his balls a little bit, “I don’t know man, can you afford me?” I was playing with him and he just laughed, and of course, definitely I’d be a part of it. Later on he sent me the script and after I read it, I had to be a part of this. The overall synopsis, there’s nothing out there like that. It’s intricate but at the same time it’s followable to the point where you can get into. Just reading it, I was submerged and it was like the video was playing in my head while I was reading the script. I was completely sold on it. I think it’s going to be amazing.
WAIH: Had you already watched the first Volumes of Blood by this point?
MM: At this point I didn’t. He actually sent me the links after I agreed to be a part of the movie and after that I saw the first one, and was like “wow, and you shot this here with this?” He does such a great job. I didn’t believe it. It wasn’t done with a big production, but just the work he does is so good and so detailed. He really takes pride in his work and you can tell by the movies he creates.
WAIH: That was shot in Kentucky as well?
MM: The one we just did was shot in Owensboro, Kentucky. The first one was as well, I believe.
WAIH: You said you went to Georgia State, did you go to school for acting?
MM: I was actually in school for criminal justice and I took one theater class for the heck of it, but it wasn’t until I was offered that first part that I even considered this an avenue I could go down. I never really took it seriously until the opportunity and until I lost the weight. It was something always in the back of my head, but never something that I actively wanted to pursue. It found me more or less.
WAIH: Prior to that theater class you took at Georgia State did you have any other kind of acting experience?
MM: I didn’t. That was pretty much it as far as the theater class goes. I didn’t even take any acting classes at all into recently.
WAIH: The way all that happened just sounds great.
MM: It’s been a blessing. Definitely.
WAIH: Is there anything else you want to talk about before we go? Any thoughts on independent horror?
MM: I love it honestly. I just shot Volumes of Blood and the week before that I shot another, it was a decent SAG low-budget movie, Kudzu Zombies. That was amazing. I shot with them for about three weeks and I was out there [in Mississippi]. I think that’s going to be amazing it’s supposed to be coming out at the end of October this year; I had a pretty big part in that and working with everybody there was awesome. It was an amazing opportunity and I think it’s going to come out great. But Indie horror in itself, I love it. When you get to a certain level sometimes a lot of people lose the joy and the love for the craft and it comes off in their work, it feels like a job to some.
But with indie horror you feel the love for what they do and they put a lot of hard work and effort into it. That kind of shows itself in a lot of indie productions, and that’s one of the things I love. I work with pretty much anybody that can accommodate me as long as they love what they do and as long as the caliber of their work is quality work. You can always tell by the first couple of minutes you talk to somebody. There are people that sound exhausted, they’re not even that happy about telling you versus the people who love what they do and they’re really energetic. You can really tell the difference immediately. That’s what really sticks out in indie horror, a lot of people they love what they do. It shows in their work and their energy.
