Shortly after catapulting to fame in the hit 2008 dance flick Step Up 2: The Streets, dancer and actress Briana Evigan landed a string of hit horror films and series, quickly garnering her the title of Scream Queen as well. In an exclusive interview with Express.co.uk, Briana not only shared the haunting college experience that has made her believe in the supernatural in the first place, but also revealed why she hopes to leave her horror reputation behind.
The Hollywood star has a lengthy list of hit horror and thriller films under her belt, from Paranormal Island to Burning Bright, Fear Itself and Sorority Row.
While horror film sets are notorious for spooky happenings, Briana revealed that she’s never experienced anything supernatural “on a set”, but rather in real life while staying on her college campus.
She shared: “It’s a build-up of many stories, I had fans turning on, buttons being pushed, TVs going on, but the finale of a lot of weird stuff happening in a week was: I called my brother at two in the morning because there was this loud ice cream truck that would always play.
“I was like, ‘I’ve got to call somebody, everybody’s got to hear this, I’m not making it up’.”
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Once she got her brother on the phone, he admitted he could also hear the ice cream truck, and Briana decided to head downstairs to give him the full experience.
Recalling the moment still gives the actress shivers, as she remembers it being “like a horror film itself”.
She continued: “As I’m walking to the kitchen, there’s this glass sliding door and at night time with the lights on you can see reflections behind you.
“I was walking up to open the door and where the fridge is just behind me I see this big black (shape), it felt like a big tall man, a shadow that went right past me. I could feel the wind go past me. I knew it was something because there was nothing on the wall where (the reflection) could’ve come from.
“I dropped the phone, I yelled, my brother was like: ‘Are you okay? Check the house, call 911’ and I was like: ‘No wait, you don’t get it, this is what I’m talking about! There’s something going on in this house’.”
A little while later Briana moved out of the house, for unrelated reasons, but found out that the campus had been built on an ex-marine base meaning “people had died in the area” and incidents like this “had been going on for years” at the house she was staying in.
Despite the harrowing experience, the actress added that it gave her some comfort: “I like to know that it exists like okay, it is real. Once you’ve experienced something you can say that you believe in it.”
Briana was thrust into the spotlight with her very first film role leading Step Up 2 alongside Channing Tatum at just 21 years old.
In a similar splendid fashion, the actress launched her horror acting career alongside Star Wars legend Carrie Fisher in Sorority Row.
The actress gleefully looks back on her memories from that set, labelling the late actress “a boss”.
She shared: “(Carrie) just walks in with a shotgun and messed things up, it was amazing. She was such a character. Just such a big strong presence in a room and just so kind to all of us ladies.
“I’ve never been in a sorority and I had the ultimate sorority mom.”
The star-studded cast also featured Bruce Willis’ daughter Rumer, Grown Ups star Jamie Chung, Audrina Patridge, Lea Pipes, Carolina D’Amore and Margo Harshman.
While the film was released in 2009, the Sorority Row girls have kept close contact with each other, as Briana revealed: “I invited them all to my wedding, we’re all still dear friends. Some awesome chicks in my life because of (Sorority Row).”
While her ventures into horror have gained the actress an array of new friends and experiences, she’s not a fan of her Scream Queen title, explaining that the only real reason she appeared in the genre in the first place was because of her friend, director Darren Lynn.
Briana added: “He was so much fun but aside from that, I’m not drawn to horror films.
“They put your face on a bunch of things that say ‘Scream Queen’ and next thing you know you’re doing movies like that and if anything I would like to get away from that typecast and get on different projects.”
Briana’s latest flick, Ask Me To Dance, is available to watch on Prime Video.
