Australian actress Nicky Whelan (“Neighbours”) discussed her new thriller “The Flood.”
Portraying Sheriff Newman
In this new action film, she plays Sheriff Jo Newman, and she stars alongside Casper Van Dien and Louis Mandylor. “The Flood” will be available in theaters, On Demand and Digital on July 14, 2023, via Saban Films.
“My character was fun. She is under a lot of pressure in this movie, she has everything going against her,” she said. “I knew I was in for it: I had the guys that were introducing, I had the prisoners, I had the water rising, and the alligators, all coming at me. I had to keep everybody alive,” she said.
“I also had to defend and protect people that are trying to kill me… there is a lot going on for my poor character,” she expressed.
‘The Flood’ — A challenging adventure to shoot
The synopsis is: A horde of giant hungry alligators is unleashed on a group of in-transit prisoners and their guards after a massive hurricane floods Louisiana.
“This movie was such an adventure but a very challenging project to do,” she admitted. “We got to fly to Bangkok, Thailand, and we got to film it in this factory, which was filling with water, and we were chased by alligators. We had a lot of these elements against us. It was pretty brutal to shoot but we got through it in a very short period of time.”
Working with director Brandon Slagle
The movie was directed by Brandon Slagle and written by Chad Law and Josh Ridgway. “Brandon, our director, does action like nobody’s business, he is a badass. Considering the challenges we had, we were able to put this complicated moxie together in a small amount of time (two weeks),” she said.
“I really became family with the entire cast, all of the men that played with me in this movie are true gentlemen. Brandon stayed very calm and chill, and regardless of the budget, he made it look cool. I learned a lot from Brandon through this process,” she added.
Working with sharks, and now with alligators
Ironically enough, in her previous film “Maneater,” Whelan had to deal with sharks, but in this one, the subject matter involved alligators. “Who knows what’s next? Listen, I’m taking them all on,” Whelan said with a sweet laugh.
“It’s a scary and gory action movie with an ’80s and ’90s vibe to it,” she said about “The Flood.”
“I think people will get a chunk of anxiety from it, and an adrenaline rush. It is interesting to see where ‘The Flood’ goes in the end, and who survives, and who does not survive,” she added.
‘Neighbours’ drama series
She is known for playing the character Pepper Steiger in the popular Australian drama series “Neighbours,” and while the show was to end, it was picked up by a new network in Australia (Network 10) and Amazon Prime worldwide. “I heard that they were bringing ‘Neighbours’ back on,” she said.
“I think you can’t have such a successful show go on for so long and then shut it down. You need to keep it going, and I think they are bringing a lot of the original characters back again because there is a sense of connection with those people. I am happy that they are bringing ‘Neighbours’ back,” she elaborated.
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