Brock O’Hurn on filming a horror in Hawaii: ‘I definitely think the place was actually haunted’

Brock O’Hurn looks like he doesn’t scare easily. Not even taking on a role filmed in a resort rumoured to be haunted rattled the muscled, 6ft 6in actor — especially when he found out the filming location was in Hawaii.

The 29-year-old American stars in horror film The Resort, which sees four friends head to Hawaii to see first-hand if reports of an abandoned resort being haunted are true. “You had me at Hawaii,” he says, smiling as he talks on Zoom about signing up to the film.

But the star, who has built up an Instagram following of more than two million due to his fitness posts, also had a hand in making it all happen off-screen. “Taylor Chien (the director) and Will Meldman (executive producer) are good friends of mine. I actually introduced them,” he says.

Then shortly before filming began, the pair told O’Hurn they still had a part to fill. He explains: “Probably a couple weeks out from filming, they’re like, ‘Look, we still need this character, Chris — we think you’d be a perfect fit, we’d love to work with you.’ And I was like, ‘Dude, I love you guys and you had me at Hawaii.’ So let’s go.”

Idyllic Hawaii provided the backdrop, as well as a suitably creepy, abandoned resort as the location for the scare fest. And it didn’t disappoint — with stories of real-life incidents at the filming resort abounding.

O’Hurn recalls how director Chien shared spooky rumours he’d heard from the locals with him — including one about a security guard who quit immediately after an encounter with a crying woman at the resort.

“He went over to see that the woman was all right and when he gets close, he said that he could see through her and then she stood up, turned around and flew right through him — and so the guy quit on the spot,” the actor says.

“There’s little things like that where I was like, okay, it’s one thing to hear that maybe this place is haunted, maybe some of these locals are messing with us. But at the same time, there was a point where they’re like, ‘Look, you should get a Shaman to bless these grounds because it’s Hawaiian burial grounds.’”

He continues: “So Taylor had shared a few (stories), I learned a few from the locals there, and had a few interesting experiences myself. I definitely think the place was actually haunted.”

Chien, who wrote and directed the film which also stars Bianca Haase, Michael Vlamis and Michelle Randolph, describes the movie as being about four friends looking for an adventure who end up getting exactly what they wished for.

The director says: “It’s a fun and scary thriller with great shocking twists. Many of our scenes are from real stories that have happened there. We had a lot of fun making this because it was truly scary while on set. At the end of the day, we were safe… for the most part.”

The genre of horror is one O’Hurn says he enjoys watching, too. “I’m a big guy, it’s very hard for me to get scared. So when I watch a horror film, and I’m genuinely terrified, that is a great film,” he explains.

“I remember watching The Conjuring for the first time and by the end of it I was like, ‘I’m not even going to put my feet down so somebody can reach onto the couch and grab me! I’m sleeping here on the couch tonight and when daylight comes out, we’re gonna make it a new day.’”

The empty resort they used for filming The Resort may be the end result for many businesses who weren’t able to survive the financial impact of Covid-19. Does O’Hurn think it’s something that will resonate with people watching the film?

“A lot of resorts might actually look like (that) in a couple years and even with cruise ships or even just local businesses,” he says. “I remember I was walking through somewhere recently that I’ve been through all the time…And it was like: ‘That place has shut down. Oh, this building was shut down. Oh, this store that’s been here for 20 years is gone now.’”

He also reflects on a trip he took through Hollywood during the last year. “I drove down Sunset Boulevard and I’ve been living here for years, (I) had never seen it empty in my life. At least, (normally there are) cars parked on the side at the very minimum.

“(There was) not one car, not one person. It was like, this feels like I’m driving through a horror movie right now. I’m waiting for a zombie apocalypse to come around this corner right now, what is going on? So I definitely feel like, especially during these times, and we all are still dealing with Covid… I think (the film) will resonate with people very well.”

Acting aside, another of O’Hurn’s passions is fitness. A scroll through his social media pages shows workouts that look tough enough to make even The Rock sweat. But as well as the physical side, the effect exercise has on his mental health is also key.

He says: “And that’s the reason I fell in love with it in the first place, was I suffered from clinical depression. So it helped almost rewire my thought process in the way I show up in the world and how I feel.

“That was one thing growing up — I found (with) working out that I could leave feeling better than how I came in. And it was something that I craved every day and that’s where I fell in love with fitness.”

It’s also, he says, about what you put into your body (food, water) and even “the content you ingest, the books that you read, the conversations you have”. “So it really all plays a part as a whole.

“But just physical fitness in itself — I’ve never found anything bad with it and that’s why I support it. And I want to push it and I always want to help people, if they need help or want the help. I’ll explain first-hand from my experience — it saved my life. So from a mental health perspective, it is one of the best things I think you can do.”

The Resort has been released on digital and on demand, and is available on Sky Store, Virgin, iTunes, Amazon, Microsoft Store, Google Play, and Chili.