Karla Souza on Doing Her Own Stunts in Netflix’s Day Shift
The action-packed vampire battle scenes in Netflix’s “Day Shift” are simply the spotlight of the just-released sci-fi comedy. And whereas the Jamie Foxx-led movie — which additionally stars Dave Franco, Snoop Dogg, and Meagan Good — tapped skilled contortionists and different performers to seize its intense, supernatural magic, one of many film’s different leads was adamant about doing her personal stunts.
Karla Souza, who performs vampire boss/San Fernando Valley actual property agent Audrey in the movie, tells POPSUGAR she insisted to director J.J. Perry that she act out her stunt sequences with none additional help. “I spoke to J.J. before agreeing to do the project, and he loved that I used to be an athlete. I could do all the action stuff . . . I was like, ‘I want to do every single stunt. I don’t want any doubles,'” Souza shares. “He was like, ‘Sure, sure,’ and then I made it happen, but I realized production gets really scared with that.”
“If I could only do that for a lot more of my other characters, just break off [my] heels.”
Souza had a blast taking part in an antagonist in the motion flick. She says the script and her sturdy vampire character actually inspired her to get on board the movie. She additionally notes that working with Perry on his directorial debut was a way more versatile filming expertise, contemplating his background as a stunt coordinator on motion pictures like “John Wick,” “Iron Man,” and “Django Unchained.”
“He took what we asked and would just always elevate it,” Souza says. “He would inject us with so much energy [and] made sure everyone was having fun. He’s such a coach in that way . . . like a little kid just playing with action . . . there’s all these styles involved that just make the film very special.”
Souza says one of many perks of her position was attending to cater her battle scenes with Perry to each her consolation and physicality. “One of the days that I was doing that big fight scene at the end with Jamie, we’re going head to head and I was in these huge Louboutins, like really high heels, and the floor of the set was squishy,” Souza remembers. “So, I [told Perry], ‘Hey, it’s pretty hard to do [this scene] with these heels on,’ and he said, ‘Why don’t we have this character, right before she gets into fight mode, kind of break off her heels?’ I was like, ‘J.J. I love you,’ like, yes! If I could only do that for a lot more of my other characters, just break off [my] heels.”
“Day Shift” is now streaming on Netflix.
