What do you do when a new girl shows up in town and potentially brings the monster apocalypse with her? Well if you wanted to find out you’ll have to check out the new streaming series The Girl In The Woods from The Peacock and Crypt TV!
Based on Crypt TV’s popular 2018 short film, The Door In The Woods, and its 2020 sequel (which shares a name with the new show), The Girl In The Woods follows a runaway named Carrie (Stefanie Scott) who escapes from her cult-like colony that supposedly guards the world against monsters that are hidden behind a secret door deep within the woods. Carrie is aided by her newfound friends, Nolan (Misha Osherovich) and Tasha (Sofia Bryant) as the trio tries their best to navigate the ups and downs of teen drama coupled with a healthy and horrifying serving of monster mayhem.
This week we were lucky enough to sit down with one of the series stars, Misha Osherovich, who plays Nolan on the show. After stealing almost every scene in last year’s Freaky (2020), Misha Osherovich is ready to tackle the small screen. Their character, Nolan, is dealing with plenty of problems of their own in The Girl In The Woods well before Carrie comes to town and brings a world of trouble with her.
You can check out our full exclusive interview with Misha Osherovich below!
Geek Anything: From your perspective, can you tell us a bit about your new show The Girl In The Woods?
Misha Osherovich: Sure! So The Girl In The Woods is about a small mining town where there is a door hidden deep in the woods, protected by a cult, which leads to a monster dimension! Because that is just the world we are in. It’s equal parts teen drama with real teen issues with some comedy thrown in there. You know my character is kind of an outsider teen named Nolan who is just trying to figure out things like identity and gender identity, but everything kind of gets thrown into chaos when Stephanie Scott’s character Carrie comes into the town.
GA: And this project isn’t your first foray into the horror genre, are you a big fan or do you just keep finding yourself there?
MO: I’m getting there! I was very much just thrown into the deep end with the first horror film I did, Freaky, and from there I learned how intensely queer and passionate the horror community is and how accepting the genre is! So I’ve loved learning about the genre as I work inside of it. Watching classic horror films, or like I watched Buffy all the way through before this project to get a sense for “monster TV.” It’s been an amazing learning experience.
GA: Oh wow! So since you are just getting into a lot of the genre, what have some of your favorites been so far?
MO: I really liked The Descent! That was a very good film! I think it kind of handles “dark tunnel labyrinth” horror really well and the monsters are actually scary the entire time! I hate when monsters get a little too on the cheesy side or too CGI’d, which is also something that is amazing about our show is that we had so many practical effects. I was actually acting with monsters and they were very scary and very real!
GA: Did you get to spend a lot of time on set with the actual creatures?
MO: Oh yes! Yes yes. By the end of the season, we are knee-deep in monsters in this town. We are either fighting them, fighting not to become them, all of the things. So yes, lots of time with the creatures.
GA: How terrifying would you say that they are? Because I know there are a few different varieties of them? Which one would you say is the scariest?
MO: Without giving too much away, the scariest one for me is one that comes in later in the season that really takes advantage of your personal deepest fear. I think Nolan is someone who, like I said earlier, is struggling with mental health and drug addiction, and gender identity, so to have a monster that can key into your deepest fears and really augment them and make them all that much more scary to you? That was something that was… if I had to pick the scariest monster it is that one.
GA: What was it about this particular script that caught your attention?
MO: Quite frankly? How queer it was! I mean it is inherently queer, it’s baked into the script! Besides all of the queer characters that story was written by an amazing queer writer Casey (Modderno). She put so much of her perspective as a young queer person into this story. She just injected it into the show and it just felt so real and raw! It’s one of those things where you read it and just go “oh thank god it’s not a really glossy TV show that is just smoothing everything over and everyone is just kind of like “perfect makeup and perfect hair and perfect everything” because no, these kids are real! These are real kids that are getting in too messy situations
GA: So rather than just patronizing the community, they’re actually giving characters depth and real personality.
MO: Mm-hmm!
GA: So how would you say your character fits into the story?
MO: Like I said, it is funny to watch a character like Nolan because Nolan just falls so on the outside. His family are activists trying to shut down the mine in the mining town, which means Nolan is REALLY on the outside and becomes a bit of a pariah. But as this “scooby gang” of me, this girl Tasha and this girl Carrie from the cult get together to become this trio of outsiders that finds something in each other like a chosen family.
GA: Okay last question, but it’s a big one! What is the number one reason that people should be watching The Girl In The Woods?
MO: The number one reason is that, sure it’s scary and sure it’s a wild ride, it will keep you guessing the entire time, but there is a whole lot of heart and if you’re looking to see some teens go through some real shit, and deal with their own demons as well as the monsters outside, then watch our show! Because it’s pretty darn cool.
All from episodes of The Girl In The Woods are now streaming exclusively on The Peacock. The series stars Stefanie Scott, Misha Osherovich, Sofia Bryant, Will Yun Lee, Reed Diamond, and Kylie Liya Page.
Will you be checking out the show? We think it sounds like an excellent gateway program for young horror fans to find their way into the genre, but what do you think? Let us know your thoughts in the comments section below and be sure to stick around Geek Anything for more updates on The Girl In The Woods!
