Summary

Collider’s Perri Nemiroff sits down with Heart Eyes stars Devon Sawa, Jordana Brewster, and Gigi Zumbado.

In this interview, they discuss their favorite comfort horror movies, moments of joy on set, and how director Josh Ruben inspired them.

Brewster, who plays Mia in the Fast & Furious movies, also reveals what she hopes to see in the final chapter of the franchise.

In addition to bolstering our collection of holiday horrors, Heart Eyes brings back some of the genre’s best with Devon Sawa (Final Destination) and Jordana Brewster (The Faculty), leaving even their co-star, Gigi Zumbado (Run Sweetheart Run), star-struck. So what is it about these heart-pounding features that keep the cast coming back for more? Collider’s Perri Nemiroff had the chance to sit down with this trio to find out just what makes the guts and gore so joyful on set.
Directed by Josh Ruben (Werewolves Within), Heart Eyes introduces us to a vengeful new slasher who has a bad taste in their mouth for Valentine’s Day and couples in love. Though this brutal killer has unleashed their reign of terror for years, love conquers all, and Ally (Olivia Holt) and Jay (Mason Gooding) won’t let a masked murderer ruin their first date.
During their conversation, Sawa, Brewster, and Zumbado reveal which horror movies they turn on for a cozy night in and what made the set of Heart Eyes so special. They also discuss why Ruben was the perfect filmmaker to steer this genre-bending ship and Brewster shares what she hopes to see with the final Fast & Furious movie. The trio does dig into spoilers, but we’ve got them marked for you!
What’s Your Favorite (Comfort) Scary Movie?

Yes. Yes, it is a thing.

Image via Collider

PERRI NEMIROFF: I’m going to start with two big group questions inspired by something you posted on Instagram, Devon. It struck a chord with me, and I think it’s important. You wrote, “I like watching horror-comedy because it always allows me to temporarily escape the crazy world that I live in, and I like making it because, do what you love.” For the first half of that, can you tell me a horror movie you like to watch when you need an escape, a horror movie that maybe functions as a comfort movie for you?
GIGI ZUMBADO: Mine’s Jaws. It’s not the worst. It’s comforting to me. It does not scare me. I do find comfort in Jaws.
I don’t blame you.
DEVON SAWA: I like The Shining. I’m a huge Stephen King fan. I like watching it of recent because now that I’ve read the book and I have watched the movie, I like comparing the two. I just think both are brilliant in their own ways. So that’s mine.
JORDANA BREWSTER: I like The Others because the twist is so out of left field. Is that a weird one?
SAWA: No. No, it’s not.
ZUMBADO: Listening to your mind.
I’ll take all of that. I turn to Final Destination or The Faculty!
SAWA: There you go! [Laughs]

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Leaning into the idea of this being you all doing what you love, can you remember the single moment of making Heart Eyes that brought you the most joy as an artist?
BREWSTER: The dirtier the better for me. I’m with Gigi on that in terms of you can get bloody and messy and in the action. As an actor, there’s so much waiting and prepping and putting on makeup and memorizing the lines that to just get down and dirty is really fun. So, the action scenes for me.
SAWA: I think things turn out better when everybody gets along, and this cast and crew became a little family in the short amount of time that we were there, and that’s kind of my thing. I just really loved everybody that I was working with.
Filmmaking families make me happy. It’s important! And I think you see that kind of vibe in the finished product.
ZUMBADO: Honestly, my pride in this movie was day one being on a call sheet — not kidding — with these two and their names and this cast.
BREWSTER: That’s so sweet.
SAWA: That’s very nice of you.
ZUMBADO: Think about it. For me, it’s like, “Okay, you’re actually doing this now. You’re a player. You’re working with Jordana and Devon, specifically.” Olivia and Mason I’ve known so much about, too, but these two — I had their posters on my wall in my house in Florida. I’ve had pictures of you guys on my wall. That’s cool. So that was my pride, just getting to associate and work with these champs over here.
We Need More Horror From Josh Ruben

“He was like a kid in the candy shop.”

A big contributor to that kind of vibe on set is the trickle-down effect, and I think Josh is one of the best of the best, and I’ll always take an opportunity to highlight him, especially because I think he’s going to go on to make many, many other movies. For each of you, can you tell me something about working with him as an actor’s director that you appreciated and you’re excited for even more actors to get to experience on his future films?
ZUMBADO: He lets you play. There’s a script, and the writers are incredible, and the script was phenomenal and so funny, but Josh absolutely lets you just take the lead, go off script, try something new, and he just cheers you on in the background. You hear him laughing and encouraging you, and that, to me, was really fun.
I’ll follow up on that briefly. Can you give me an example of a time when you got to play, maybe took a really big swing, and thought to yourself, “They are never going to use this,” but now it’s in the finished cut of the film?
ZUMBADO: Yeah. My scene with Olivia, I think, was our first scene together. We were drinking apple spritzes and talking. A lot of that, Josh was just like, “Go.” I was just trying to get her to break and laugh, and a lot of that made it in. A lot of those funnies.
SAWA: Josh makes you feel comfortable on set. I think that you can work with directors who are very serious, maybe they’re yellers, and it just becomes a tense environment, and it’s hard to work through, but Josh keeps it light, and it’s a comfortable, safe place to explore things that may or may not work. When you hear Josh singing the theme to Shrek at the end of a take, you know you’ve just nailed it, and you’re moving on. So, when you hear, “Somebody once told me…”
Is that his monitor dance?
SAWA: That was his monitor dance.

Image via Sony Pictures

BREWSTER: I feel like, to Devon’s point, a lot of the time, people torture themselves and forget that we’re so lucky to be in this business, and with Josh, whether it’s hour 14 or day 30, he just was always in the best mood, and he was like a kid in the candy shop, and that energy is very contagious. He could have a big head and be like Mr. Diva, but he’s so lovely.
ZUMBADO: One of the days, we did a cut — I don’t know if I should say this or not, but it was so fun — it was like 10:00 at night, and we started my scene, and it was the last thing we were doing that night. The prop guy comes up to me, and he’s like, “Hey, just so you know, this bottle of champagne is real, but what’s in your glass is fake. So if you find yourself pouring more, that’s real champagne, so we’ll reset.” And I was like, “Oh, give me the real stuff!” And Josh was like, “She can have whatever she wants,” to just nail the scene. And I was like, “I’ll have some if you have some, Josh.” And I’m pretty sure we cheered. I walked off, and I was like, “Oh my god.” I was like, “I should not…” I think there were scenes where I grabbed the bottle, and we had so much fun with this final scene at the drive-in at the very end. We were just cracking up. That was reality. We were just cracking up.
Without spoiling anything, I’ll say I enjoyed that touch on the movie quite a bit.
[Editor’s Note: The following contains spoilers for Heart Eyes]
Jordana Brewster Reveals What She Discovered on ‘Heart Eyes’

“I don’t want to play the good guy anymore.”

Image via Sony Pictures

Now, I’ll lift the spoiler warning for our viewers. We will guard this with our lives until the movie comes out. Jordana, you know I’m coming right to you.
SAWA: Wait! I haven’t seen it! [Laughs]
I don’t know if you were told this when you were first pitched the role or maybe discovered it on your first read of the script, but what was your initial reaction when you realized you were the killer?
BREWSTER: Well, what I loved about it was the kinky, weird aspect because I was like, “Oh, that’s something I haven’t seen.” What I’ve discovered is I don’t want to play the good guy anymore. I’m done with it. I just want to be evil and sadistic all the time. [Laughs]
You’re very good at it.
BREWSTER: Thank you! Thank you.
That final sequence is epic. I could sit here and break it down with you all day long. I don’t have that kind of time though, so I’m just going to ask you, what was the single most satisfying moment of that end sequence to film?
BREWSTER: Being pegged to the wall and having to, like, suffocate, but also licking Yoson [An]’s face.
ZUMBADO: Oh my gosh.
BREWSTER: I was like, “I can’t do that. I’m a lady.” But then, by the fifth take, I was like, “Just give it to me.” It was fun.
Jordana Brewster Has Some Ideas for the Fast & Furious Finale

“She’s going to leave her mommy shoes behind.”

Image via Universal Pictures

I’m going to wrap with one quick, unrelated question, because our viewership is obviously obsessed with the Fast & Furious franchise. You’ve got the last one coming up soon. Is there any creative itch with that character or within that world that you have yet to scratch that you hope that final movie gives you the opportunity to do?
BREWSTER: Yeah, big time. I would like to go back to the roots of the first one, kind of like what you were saying with Final Destination. I think it should be back in LA, I think it should be gritty, and I think Mia should go back to being part of a group that’s kicking some ass.
ZUMBADO: Yes!
BREWSTER: She’s going to leave her mommy shoes behind.
Sign me up for that. Huge, huge, huge congratulations on Heart Eyes. Devon, what you said on Instagram is true. I needed a horror-comedy like this in my life right now, so thank you for that.
Heart Eyes is in theaters now.

Heart Eyes

Release Date

February 7, 2025

Director

Josh Ruben

Writers

Michael Kennedy, Phillip Murphy, Christopher Landon

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