Ben Smallbone is bringing a new and modern approach to the post-apocalyptic genre, and Dawn Olivieri is at the heart of it in Homestead. Smallbone is a filmmaker known for his work in the faith-based genre, having helmed numerous music videos for the group For King & Country, while also co-writing, directing and editing the thriller Priceless and the documentary Johnny Cash: The Redemption of an American Icon. Olivieri first found success as a recurring player in Heroes and the Don Cheadle-led House of Lies before becoming part of Taylor Sheridan's Yellowstone universe, playing Claire Dutton in 1883 and Sarah Atwood in season 5 of the mainline show.
Smallbone is in the director's chair for Homestead, adapting the novel Black Autumn, in which the United States is rocked by a variety of nuclear attacks, with chaos ensuing as people scramble to acquire supplies and find safety by any means necessary. Olivieri stars in the movie as Jenna Ross, the wife of Neal McDonough's Ian and co-owner of the vast property in which the rest of the main characters gather in order to come up with a plan of survival. However, as their neighbors also begin turning to the Rosses for help, they will find themselves facing both moral and emotional hurdles.
Related
December is closing 2024 with Robert Eggers' latest project, a new movie from Sony's Spider-Man Universe, a Disney prequel, and a lot more.
Alongside Olivieri and fellow Yellowstone alum McDonough, the ensemble Homestead cast includes Longmire's Bailey Chase, Walker's Kearran Giovanni, Jack Ryan's Susan Misner, Tyler Lofton, Kevin Lawson, Currie Graham, Olivia Sanabia, Jesse Hutch and Ariel Llinas. Helmed on a script from Black Autumn's co-author Jason Ross, as well as Phillip Abraham and Leah Bateman, the movie has been met with a positive response from audiences, landing a 73% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes and having grossed just shy of $13 million thus far.
Ahead of the movie's release, ScreenRant interviewed Ben Smallbone and Dawn Olivieri to discuss Homestead, how some of the post-apocalyptic movies of the past inspired Smallbone to do something he felt was better, why Olivieri was thrilled to be joining another multimedia franchise by signing on for the film, and how going from Yellowstone to the movie was like a "glitch in the matrix" for her.
Homestead Is Not Your Typical Post-Apocalyptic Thriller
"...I didn't want to do that kind of film."
ScreenRant: It's good to see you both as well, and to chat about Homestead, it is quite a gripping film from start to finish. Ben, I'd like to start with you. What was it about the book that really spoke to you to want to help adapt it for the screen?
Ben Smallbone: Well, I have been fascinated with the post-apocalypse world since I was a teenager in the '90s. It was like every other month a film came out that was talking about the end times, the apocalypse. There was a film series called Left Behind. I honestly didn't enjoy the films, they weren't really well-made. But as a teenager, I said, "Hey, if I ever get into film and I have an opportunity to tell these kinds of stories, I want to do it differently. I want to do it really, really well."
So, fast-forward 20-odd years — I'm aging myself here — I had an incredible opportunity, ran into the showrunners, Ben Kasica and Jason Ross, and they said, "Hey, we're developing this book series into a theatrical film and a series, and we'd love for you to be involved." Initially, I was a little hesitant. There's a lot of faith-based post-apocalyptic films where people disappear, and they're raptured into heaven, and I didn't want to do that kind of film. This is not that kind of '90s apocalyptic film, and I was excited to be involved.
Dawn Olivieri: It's almost a tagline. "This Ain't Your '90s Post-Apocalypse." [Laughs]
Ben Smallbone: Yeah, let's go with that.
Olivieri Was Sold On Homestead For 1 Key Reason
"You caught some big fish with it."
I like that, you should start using that! So, Dawn, I'll turn to you next because this is something interesting in that you're not just signing on for a film with this. You're signing on for a multimedia franchise. When you were approached with this, what was the first thing going through your head?
Dawn Olivieri: Well, the first thing I got to see was the very first teaser that you guys had made to approach brands, and to just garner a little bit of awareness around the project that you're doing. I got to see that, and I thought, "Gosh, man." It was just that opening sequence of the glass of water and the bomb goes off at that moment. I saw that, and I was like, "Man, who doesn't like a film like that?" Everybody across the board, I don't care who you talk to, they go, "What's Homestead about?"
You go, "It's a post-apocalyptic film about —" "Oh, I want to see that!" That says something. Everybody loves to play the game of, "Who would I be when the grid goes down? How prepared am I, actually? How could I use the resources? How could I use my cleverness? How far would I get? Oh, I'm going to be that guy. Oh no, that's going to be me." So, I think that it's a fun game that everybody plays, and this is another version of that, that we get to take a step farther and make it even better. Because this ain't your mama's post-apocalyptic film. We'll just try different things like this. That's a good one, that's a pretty good one. [Chuckles]
So, speaking of that big explosion at the start, Ben, I'll turn back to you, because that is quite the harrowing way to start the film and to get us rolling. What was it like putting that together since that is something that requires some extensive visual effects, a lot of really moody lighting?
Ben Smallbone: Yeah, so as she mentioned, we had a proof of concept that we actually made eight months before the movie to help us raise funds. We did a crowdsourcing, a crowdfunding raise through Angel Studios, and so we had to make a proof of concept with very limited dollars. So, I ended up doing the visual effects. I ended up way beyond just directing the proof of concept, and then we did such a good job of it, it ended up being in the movie. So, we were pretty stoked about that, and then also got people like Dawn involved on the project.
Dawn Olivieri: It worked. Good job, what a hook. You caught some big fish with it. [Laughs]
Ben Smallbone: It was really exciting. We shot that here in LA. Obviously, that was not shot in Utah, there's not any oceans or houses like that in Utah. So, we shot that here and then used that to raise funds, and then moved to Utah for the remaining of the film and then the series, as well.
Jumping From Yellowstone To Homestead Was Like "A Matrix Glitch" For Olivieri
"...I had to reach down and access the goodness in me."
Dawn, I'll turn back to you. I love how Jenna is really sort of in the middle of wanting to help all these people out that she knows amidst this horrific event, but also still trying to protect those on the other side of the fence. What is that like finding that balance in the performance of that compassion, but also that protectiveness of family?
Dawn Olivieri: I laugh, because there's no contriving that this is me in my real life. I rescue horses as my side gig, but I really feel like it parallels so much, because even in a post-apocalyptic world, you're facing all this darkness. I have this adage, and it was even before the show, but I was always going to make a t-shirt that said it. I would always say the apocalypse is now. It's happening right now.
There's not some big event that's happened that we're all now scrambling. You could even say that the grid has already gone down in a sense, and there's so much darkness, and you get to choose as an individual what you focus on. And if you make all the things that you focus on all the bad news and all the negativity and all the darkness and all the struggle, then that's the world you create. You are in an apocalypse right now, but if you take this tiny little flicker of light inside of you, and you feed that, and you let that grow, that becomes your reality.
So, I think that Jen, as a character, is that archetype of the mind that can focus on that tiny little flicker of hope, that little tiny bit of light, and use a belief in something that you can't see. You have to trust it, and then you can make it grow, and then it can spread like a wildfire. And that's what the purpose of her character is in this story.
And I'm really glad she's there, because it really does create some very emotional moments, especially towards the end that sets up the TV show in the future.
Dawn Olivieri: Oh man, it's going to be good, it gets even better, trust me.
So you talk about parallels, by the way, and I couldn't help but find parallels between this and Yellowstone, in a sense of family trying to protect this expansive landscape. For you in particular, Dawn, it almost feels like a flip of Sarah in that she's on the land, and now she's trying to keep people out. Did you have that in your head when you were filming this?
Dawn Olivieri: Well, for me, it's a bit of a Matrix glitch in my mind because I have to [makes zipping sound]. It was so back to back, those characters, filming those characters. So, I had to reach down and access the goodness in me. For one character, I'm feeding the clever darkness of how can I get what I need, no matter what. Jenna is not that way —[she is] in a way, but Jenna uses goodness to do the same thing. So, the villain and the hero, they're always forever interlocked. One supports the other, you can't create a hero without having a villain, because it's that pressure that creates that diamond. A villain feeds the hero.
Now, I'm on the other side of that diamond creation, but I still need to use the darkness to create the light. So, those two characters, for me, are really, really symbiotically linked. So, to get to play those two parallels, like you're saying, it's a fascinating opportunity as an actress, but I definitely have to tweak things sometimes when I'm working. "Wait, I got to look at it like this, I can't look at it that way." [Chuckles] There's more to unfold there, but I'm really, really grateful to be able to do that and to play this character in this show.
Such an interesting thing to come with the world of acting, jumping from two different sides of the spectrum.
Dawn Olivieri: Yeah, and who does that? Who goes and plays this massive villain, and then jumps and plays this big hero, this heroine? I mean, it's a cool juxtaposition, and if I can pull it off, we're going to be onto something.
Ben Smallbone: She does pull it off. She does a fantastic job of that.
About Homestead
A nuclear bomb is detonated in Los Angeles, and the nation devolves into unprecedented chaos. Ex-Green Beret Jeff Eriksson and his family escape to The Homestead, an eccentric prepper’s fortress nestled in the mountains. As violent threats and apocalyptic conditions creep toward their borders, the residents of The Homestead are left to wonder: how long can a group of people resist both the dangers of human nature and the bloodshed at their doorstep?
Stay tuned for our other Homestead interview with Bailey Chase & Jesse Hutch!
Homestead is now in theaters while the first three episodes of its sequel show are available to stream on Angel Studios' website and app.
Source: ScreenRant Plus
Your changes have been saved
Homestead, released on December 25, 2024, is a film about the tensions within a wealthy man's mountain compound during societal collapse. The story follows the clash between the compound's veteran operators' military directives and the rural values upheld by its resident families.
Release Date
December 20, 2024
Cast
Neal McDonough
, Dawn Olivieri
, Currie Graham
, Susan Misner
, Bailey Chase
, Jesse Hutch
, Kevin Lawson
, Olivia Sanabia
Character(s)
Ian Ross
, Jenna Ross
, Blake Masterson
, Evie McNulty
, Jeff Eriksson
, Evan Lee
, Tick
, Claire Ross
Director
Ben Smallbone
Writers
Phillip Abraham
, Leah Bateman
, Ben Kasica
, Jason Ross
, Joseph Snyder
/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/25825874/fortnite_festival_multiplayer.png)
English (US) ·