It might seem a bit jarring to hear that an actor “took a sweetness” from a character called Little Death, but Teenage Sex and Death at Camp Miasma’s Jack Haven found an innocence to the slasher in Jane Schoenbrun’s latest feature.
“It’s someone who isn’t killing because of a wicked and cruel instinct, but sort of just because of inevitability and curiosity,” the 31-year-old tells The Hollywood Reporter. In Teenage Sex and Death at Camp Misasma, a young filmmaker, played by Hannah Einbinder, is preparing to reboot a slasher franchise, Camp Miasma, which found Haven’s Little Death terrorizing and killing teen campers. Add the ultimate final girl, played by Gillian Anderson, and it’s an unbeatable formula.
“I like a character that just doesn’t quite know how human things work, but is interested in playing with them,” Haven explains. “[There’s] an innocence and a total inability to control the people around them in a manipulative way. This character has a deep power that’s a deep centered power, but has no interest in the social dynamics.”
The actor gained recognition for their role in Netflix’s Atypical, along with roles in films like Bill and Ted Face the Music. They’ve also waded into the filmmaking waters in recent years. In Camp Miasma, Haven reunites with Schoenbrun after the pair worked together on the director’s acclaimed feature I Saw the TV Glow.
