Just as important as the game in STAY ALIVE are the gamers caught up in it, a mix of young adults from disparate backgrounds who nevertheless share one thing in common: they live for the adrenaline thrills and challenges that only videogames give them. In casting, the filmmakers hunted for a group of actors with strong, original personalities, cultural savvy and a definite sense of adventure . and came up with a collection of exciting young stars who are, for the most part, themselves gamers.
To play Hutch, who learned through adversity long ago to live vicariously through videogames, the filmmakers chose one of today's most promising new faces: Jon Foster, who rocketed to widespread acclaim when he starred as a teenage intern trying to assist the eccentric, grief-stricken children's writer played by Jeff Bridges in "The Door in the Floor." For the filmmakers, Jon seemed utterly real and current. "The key to casting Hutch was finding somebody extremely likeable, who you really want to root for," says director Bell. "Jon is that guy. He's got such a warm personality and a big heart but at the same time he's already an amazing pro as an actor. He seemed to embody Hutch effortlessly."
Jon's attention was riveted by the script's originality. "I thought the idea was really scary and exciting, the quality of the writing was awesome and Hutch was a great character," he recalls. "I.' never seen anything like it before, where game play is so involved in the story of a movie and I thought it would be amazing to see it come to life. There were so many layers to the story that were intriguing to me: the legend of Elizabeth Bathory, the whole gaming culture and in the middle of it all, the complex friendships between the gamers and their own struggles in moving on with their lives."
Then there's the fact that Jon is himself somewhat obsessed with games. "I didn't have to do too much research to play Hutch," he admits. "I think it was the same for pretty much everyone in the cast. We all had tons of games and on the weekend all we would do is sit around playing, so it worked in really well with the story we were telling!"
Still, playing Hutch was about more than just the gaming. There's also a secret side to the character that begins to emerge as the investigation into the strange murders surrounding the game heats up. "Hutch's secrets kind of leak out into his life and lifestyle," observes Foster. "On the surface, he's the All American guy, a very gentlemanly, very respectful, overachieving guy who clerks in a law office, but you learn there's a lot more to him than that. One of the things I most connected with in him is that he really cares about his friends. He has a lot of love and that's important to me."
Hutch's feelings come to the fore with Abigail, a bohemian photographer and newcomer to gamer culture who joins up with Hutch's friends in the wake of tragedy. To play her, the filmmakers knew they needed a young woman who would be unconventional in every sense, unconventionally beautiful and unconventionally full of spunk. That combo seemed to come together naturally in the performance of actress Samaire Armstrong, who has emerged as a rising talent with roles in the hugely popular television shows "The O.C." and "Entourage."
Movie Database
In Theaters
