UB Spotlight: Brandy Talks ‘The Front Room’ + New Trailer

A24‘s “The Front Room” starring Brandy, hits theaters September 6th. Today a new trailer was revealed.

The psychological horror film is directed by Max and Sam Eggers, their debut motion picture.

The film follows a young, newly pregnant couple forced to take in an ailing stepmother who has long been estranged from the family.

Starring Brandy, Kathryn Hunter, Andrew Burnap, and Neal Huff.

“When we were looking for Belinda, we were looking truly for our Cinderella. And when someone mentioned Brandy, it was a stroke of genius because she just is Cinderella to a certain generation,” Max stated, referring to her starring role in Robert Iscove’s 1997 made-for-TV live-action adaptation of Cinderella. “To have Cinderella against the wickedest stepmother that ever was, was something that was hard to pass up. She understood the character and had personal parallels, and what she wanted to bring to the character was amazing. And so it was clear when we met her that she was it.”

This marks the iconic Grammy Award-winning singer and actor Brandy Norwood’s return to the horror genre nearly thirty years after making it out of 1998’s “I Still Know What You Did Last Summer” alive. But while that film was your average run of the mill slasher sequel, The Front Room’s horror is much more psychological—and outrageously comedic. Think more Mia Farrow in “Rosemary’s Baby” than Jamie Lee Curtis in “Halloween.”

Brandy‘s performance as Belinda, she’d still never done anything quite like this before. “When I first read the script, I was scared,” says Brandy. “I was frightened, but that level of fear makes me want to go and see what’s on the other side of it. I felt like Belinda was such a strong character. She has such a beautiful arc, but at the same time, I knew that it was going to be challenging and it was going to push me. It was going to stretch me as an actor, and that was one of the things that attracted me to the role.”

The role was both physically and emotionally daunting to her in a way that she had never experienced working in film before. But despite her trepidations going in, she says she found nothing but support from her filmmakers. Noting the differences between the twins, “Max is the one that really does most of the communicating. Sam is more laid back, but if Sam really feels something, he’s going to let you know. They’re so kind and so about their actors’ every take, even if it wasn’t the best take. They find something nice to say to uplift you so you can do it again better, but of course, they’re also great at what they do, so they have to give constructive criticism and they have to get what they want. But it’s still from a place of humility and we’re all in this together. They’re very collaborative and I love that. And it made me feel like, oh my God, I can speak my mind. Of course, with respect and not trying to take over their job or anything, but they just made me feel comfortable enough to say what I felt.”

While Belinda turns out to be a strong character in the end, it was her vulnerability that drew Brandy to the role. “She’s a really sweet woman and wants to be a great mother and a good wife,” she stated. “But at the same time, she’s being basically effed with and haunted and possessed and all of these crazy things that she does not really deserve. I find myself feeling bad for her in so many different instances, but she has her moments where she wins and she stands up for herself, and she has a sense of who she is, but she’s definitely haunted and bothered and just no one will leave her alone. And she does feel very alone.”

As a character, Norman is as relatable as he is frustrating—he’s unable to fully be there for his wife as she tries to balance being shut out of work, her current pregnancy and previous stillbirth, and suddenly having to care for the racist stepmother who traumatized him as a child. Yet, his absence is borne out of his stubborn insistence on having a job that would allow him to solely take care of Belinda and the child they are expecting together.

As Brandy describes it, “Belinda’s relationship with Norman starts off to be very beautiful. He’s very attentive to her. It seems as though he knows her love language. He’s with her through it all. But then when his stepmother moves in, he starts to focus more on his job. He has this great opportunity at his job, and then he basically leaves me with his stepmother and everything that she did to him, which wasn’t nice or kind at all when he was a child, she starts to do to me. And then it feels like he starts to ignore me and take her side. And then when I have the baby, it gets even worse. I’m taking care of the baby and taking care of his stepmom and without his help at all.”

While the Solange of Susan Hill’s original short story is certainly terrible, the matriarch that Max and Sam Eggers have crafted for their adaptation truly is wicked. “I believe that Solange is evil, but she doesn’t believe that she’s evil,” Brandy stated. “And it’s scary that she’s evil but she doesn’t know she’s evil, and it makes her relationship with Norman even creepier. I think she’s always wanted to be his real mom, but she’s not.”

Brandy further explains, “In the beginning, you can just tell Belinda is very just curious and wants to have a great relationship with her. She just lost her husband, so, as a woman and as a mother, Belinda is trying to be there for her in the best way possible. But then she learns that Solange is not really on her side. She really doesn’t approve of her being with Norman, and she turns out to be a racist. I have to deal with that in so many different ways within myself, within the script as a character, just as a Black woman. It’s pretty deep, but I love how the brothers have written it so we can touch on it and tackle it without being so preachy.”

But despite all of the psychological duress (not to mention all of the soiled sheets) that Solange subjects Belinda to throughout the film, Brandy has nothing but praise for her co-star. “Kathryn Hunter is like Michael Jordan,” she says. “She makes everyone around her better. It’s her gift: the way she moves, the way she talks, the way she takes on the role. And it’s just unbelievable. I’ve never worked with someone that gifted and that tapped in, and I’ve worked with some really great people. And then she’s the complete opposite of Solange. She’s like the sweetest lady ever. I just want to hang out with her.”

And for fans of Brandy expecting her return to horror to be something along the lines of “I Still Know What You Did Last Summer,” it’s something very different. “People that know me and that have been following me have never seen me in anything like this at all. So I think people are going to be shocked,” she stated. “I Still Know What You Did Last Summer doesn’t even count compared to The Front Room. Nothing compares to The Front Room. My life has changed. This movie is crazy. I’m a different person, okay? Pray for me.”

Check Out The New Trailer!

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