Victoria Justice and Devon Ross are a pair of college friends who get wrapped up in a dangerous situation inDepravity. Justice first rose to stardom with her tenure on Nickelodeon, first starring in the teen comedyZoey 101for seasons 2-4 before going on to lead her own show,Victorious, and has since starred in everything from Fox’sRocky Horror Picture Showremake tothe Netflix supernatural comedyAfterlife of the Party. Ross, on the other hand, is an on-the-rise actor, with her breakout role having recently come in the Alicia Vikander-ledIrma Vepminiseries.
Justice and Ross star inDepravityas Grace and Aria, two roommates living in a classic old apartment building, though living very different lives, as the former is an outgoing young woman in law school, while the latter is a reserved art lover still processing a traumatic event from her past. When the two and a new neighbor come to suspect their mysterious neighbor, Mr. Evers, is the perpetrator behind a series of missing women in the area, they try to learn more about him and investigate his apartment, only to stumble into a much larger truth about him.
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Alongside Justice and Ross, the cast forDepravityincludesWhere the Crawdads Singstar Taylor John Smith,Chicago Fire’s Dermot Mulroneyas Mr. Evers,Latency’s Sasha Luss andBilly the Kid’s Alex Roe. Hailing from Paul Tamasy, the Oscar-nominated screenwriter behindThe Fighter,The Outpostand Guy Ritchie’sThe Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare, in his directorial debut, the film is an unpredictable and twisty thriller with some hefty stakes for its characters.
Ahead of the film’s release,Screen Rantinterviewed Victoria Justice and Devon Ross to discussDepravity, the elements of their characters they related to, building their friendship in a quick amount of time, the fun challenge of putting together the fight sequences in the film, and the emotional rollercoaster Justice went through for filming her first intimate scene on the first day of production.
Justice & Ross Were Hooked OnDepravity’s Script
“…I never really knew where it was going to go next.”
Screen Rant:Depravitywas quite the fun thriller from start to finish. Victoria, I’ll start with you, and then Devon, what was it about this film that really attracted both your attention to be a part of it?
Victoria Justice: So many things. I mean, Paul Tamasy, who wrote the script and is our director, I’m a big fan of his. I met him, I vibed with him so well, but I love his work. He wrote The Fighter, he wrote The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare, which came out recently. But he’s just really such a talented writer, and I love the script. I personally love a dark thriller, and I feel like this one was sexy, there were tons of twists and turns. I never really knew where it was going to go next. I was constantly surprised and intrigued, and I found the character of Grace to be really fun and sexy. She’s like a thrill seeker, and there was just a lot of ingredients where I was like, “Okay, this has all the right things to be, something really interesting.”
Devon Ross: Yeah, same, when I read the script, I was on the edge of my seat because of all the twists and turns. That, obviously, is really something you look for when you’re reading a thriller script. You want to feel that way, and you want to be, at some point, like, “What is going on?” You want that, because if you know everything that’s going on, then it’s like, “Where are the surprises?” But, also, the character Aria is such a dream role to be able to play, and such a complex character.
You don’t know where it’s gonna go, you don’t know what’s gonna happen with her, you don’t know what’s going to happen to anyone. So, yeah, but Victoria said it, it had all the right ingredients for a really good thriller. And, yeah, it was easy. And Paul was so great when I met him for the first time, too, and just so easy to talk to. I just knew it was going to be a special project to be a part of.
Victoria Justice: Also, it was filming in Thailand, which I also thought was so cool, I was like, “I want to go to Thailand.”
Since you mentioned the set, as far as your characters' apartment together, it feels so lived in. Did either of you have any input on what went into that set?
Devon Ross: I think we had some baby photos in there. I think we had some friend’s photos. Yeah, there were a bunch of photos from our lives that we had to, other than that, we didn’t. But it did feel like home. The two weeks we were there, it was like stepping into your house. I mean, we’re on a sound stage, but it was just like, “It feels so nice to just walk into your apartment.”
Victoria Justice: Yeah, and these girls had a very spacious living space. [Laughs]
Justice & Ross “Just Jumped Into” Their Characters' Friendship
“…it was so easy having chemistry…”
Now, I did also want to talk about your characters' friendship at the heart of this film, because it is very much a central point to the story. What was it like for you both finding that dynamic and that rapport with each other going into filming?
Devon Ross: I mean, we’ve said before, we kind of just jumped into it. We had a day of rehearsals, and we had a welcome dinner, but we kind of just jumped into it. And I feel like me and Victoria got to know each other in the makeup chair, pretty much, playing music and stuff.
Victoria Justice: Yeah, honestly, it was so easy having that chemistry with you. It all kind of just unfolded very naturally, and I think that’s a credit to Paul. I think Paul has been sitting on the script for such a long time, and knew exactly what he wanted for each role, and I think that he saw it, he knew it was going to work. The man had a vision. What can I say? [Chuckles]
Devon Ross: He saw two chill girls. He was like, “These girls are chill. They’re gonna get along.” [Laughs]
Ross Related A Lot To Her Character (Even If She’s Not “Fully Introverted”)
“She just wants to sit in her room and look at paintings…”
So, Devon, I’d like to turn to you next. We see your character has a dark past that she is still living through, and at the same time, she’s also not quite on board for the thrill seeking that everybody else is going for, but is still along for this ride. Why do you think it is that she sticks with this journey for as long as she does in the film?
Devon Ross: It could be a lot of things, but without spoiling, she’s like an introverted, creative girl. I don’t think she wants to stir up anything evil, you know, that could make her life disrupted. As you said, she has a dark past, and I think she kind of got a grip on that, and probably doesn’t want to welcome any more darkness into her life.
What is it like playing that introverted side of her while also knowing what that past is and what she’s going through?
Devon Ross: I wouldn’t say that I’m fully introverted, but I definitely have a side to me that’s kind of more introverted, and creative, and I could kind of relate to that. She just wants to sit in her room and look at paintings, like, I just want to sit in my room and play guitar, like I feel her. [Chuckles] So, that was pretty easy to connect to, for sure.
Justice Found It “Really Fun” To Play Grace’s Thrill-Seeking Side
“She finds the danger really exciting…”
Victoria, I’ll turn back to you. You mentioned your character being the fun thrill seeker. I’d love to hear what it was like finding the heart of her and bringing her to life on screen.
Victoria Justice: It was really fun. I think Grace is a smart girl. She’s a law student, but I think she is also the more outgoing of the two. And I think, as you see in the film, she definitely has this kind of thrill-seeking, bad girl side to her. She finds the danger really exciting, and it turns her on a little bit, which was really fun. It was really fun to bring that to life.
Justice Was Thrown “Into The Deep End” When Filming Her First-Ever Intimate Scene
“…all things considered, I feel good about it…”
So I wanted to touch on that, as well, because I remember you mentioned it in another interview not too long ago, that this was your first time filming a sex scene for a film, which is, obviously, something that requires a lot of vulnerability from an actor. What was it like for you to build that trust with Paul and everybody else on set while shooting that?
Victoria Justice: Well, fun fact, we filmed all of my romantic scenes and my love scene on the first day of filming, which I was like, “Oh, great, thanks, guys. Just gonna throw me into the deep end here.” I was so nervous about it at first, genuinely was really freaked out, and Paul just made me feel really safe, really comfortable. He was like, “I’ll show you the cut after, if you’re not comfortable with anything, you can change it.” He really was so accommodating, and really wanted me to feel safe and protected, which made me feel really good.
And even though I didn’t know Taylor very well — who is the actor in the scene with me — he’s a great actor, and he’s also just a lovely human. It was a great icebreaker for us, and he was also very respectful and really making sure, like, checking in, “Are you okay? How are you feeling? Is everything good?” Because it’s a very uncomfortable thing to just be thrown into doing. But I think, all things considered, I feel good about it, and my mind was definitely put at ease. So, it went well.
Ross Was Thrilled To Get Her “Tom Cruise Moment” In The Film
“I’d never done stuff like that before.”
I see I’m coming up on time, so Devon, I did want to turn back to you. Again, without spoilers, you also have a lot of physical scenes in this film with some of the characters. What was it like filming those, especially since this is a lower-budget film, where there’s not necessarily as much time to rehearse things like fights and such?
Devon Ross: For sure, it was super fun. I’d never done stuff like that before. It was really cool to see how everything kind of works. It’s like a dance, they choreograph it in a certain way so you don’t get hurt. Obviously, it’s still — I can’t even say what happens, but it’s obviously still physically taxing to a certain extent, but no injuries, and it was all done safely. But, it’s kind of a dream to get to do that kind of stuff and to watch it and be like, “Wow, that was actually me, I actually did that.”
Victoria Justice: Yeah, you’re such a bada– in this movie!
Devon Ross: Yeah, my Tom Cruise moment. [Chuckles] But, no, it’s super cool to be able to do that stuff. I’d love to do that all the time, if I could.
AboutDepravity
When three residents suspect their reclusive neighbor is a serial killer, they break into his apartment only to uncover a hidden fortune in stolen art. But their discovery turns into a nightmare as they’re ensnared in a sadistic game of survival, where every corner hides a new horror. Outsmart the killer or become his next victim. Starring Victoria Justice, Devon Ross, Taylor John Smith, and Dermot Mulroney. From the writer of The Fighter and The Finest Hours.
Depravity
Cast
Three residents, suspecting their neighbor of being a serial killer, break into his apartment and discover stolen art. Their investigation turns into a nightmare as they are ensnared in a deadly survival game, where they must outsmart the killer or risk becoming his next victims.
