Formerly known as Replicas, IFC’s In Their Skin is currently on VOD and On Demand with a limited theatrical run November 9. Directed by Jeremy Regimbal, the film stars Selma Blair, Joshua Close (who also wrote the script), James D’Arcy and Rachel Miner.

Last week I hopped on the phone with Blair and we discussed what attracted her to this project, which is much darker than many of the roles she is known for. We also discussed how she dealt with filming some of the project’s more intense material while being pregnant along with her desire to revisit the Hellboy universe.

In the film, “Following a tragic incident, the Hughes’ escape their busy upscale suburban life in order to spend some quality family time at their isolated country home. An evening with friendly neighbors is suddenly interrupted when one man’s obsession with perfection escalates into a violent struggle, forcing all to go beyond anything they ever thought they were capable of, in order to survive.”

Head inside to check it out!

This is a role that we don’t really see you in very often. It’s a darker and more intense. Your character begins the film having suffered a tremendous loss.

Yeah. I read the script and I thought it was a very quiet horror/thriller. A very emotional family drama. And I was actually pregnant while we were shooting, so the scene in the beginning – the flashback where we’re told that our little girl is dead – was a very easy and horrible place for me to access. Since I had a baby inside me at the time, thinking of losing that child was horrifying. So that was scary. I also loved being in that big house in the country and portraying this family’s dark experience.

The movie really does take it’s time setting up the family before the home invasion. How closely did you work with [writer/actor] Joshua Close to establish that relationship?

You know, I didn’t meet Josh until I flew in to shoot the movie. But we rehearsed for a week and a half, just to feel some sense of closeness and loss and get to know each other a little bit. I thought that was really important, it’s not a totally gory film that’s an instant hit with that type of moviegoer. It’s more of a slow burn, and you don’t really get these kinds of movies these days. Movies you can just sit and watch this beautiful cinematography and experience the feelings that the characters have. So that was a luxury.

And the other family, there’s something very off about them. They remind me of those ingratiating people in your life that go too far out of their way to be your friend. And there’s this stretch of the movie where you have to be polite to them that I found interesting.

It was spooky. We’ve all had dinners where we just wish we could get up and leave and go home, and those people usually aren’t killers! You’re like, “this is really awkward and uncomfortable.” And to know that these people are dangerous and in your house and you have a little boy to protect… it’s just really awkward and real and uncomfortable.

So yeah it was spooky shooting it. We really took our time and let the pacing make things uncomfortable. I really love James D’Arcy so much but ugh, he was just so creepy!

When you read the script was there anything that stuck out to the point where you didn’t know if you could do it or not?

Yeah. There’s the scene where James D’Arcy’s character is making me have sex with him. And I just thought, “God, I’m too old. This is just too scary, I have a baby inside me. This is just so awful.” But it was still a really chilling scene and I thought it was important to convey the quiet, horrible ways in which people can invade your life and your spirit. That was a hard scene for me.

And this is Jeremy’s [director Jeremy Regimbal] first feature, right?

I totally trusted Jeremy. I thought he made the film look great. It’s really haunting and beautiful and cinematic, which we don’t get to see much anymore. It’s very painterly, sad and grey. He has a beautiful eye and I think he’s going to have a really bright future.

Anything else coming up for you?

Well I had this baby come up!

Real life!

Yeah! And now I’m doing the Charlie Sheen show “Anger Management.” That’s what I’ll be doing for as long as it’s picked up and after that it’s back to films.

It’s my dream to work with Guillermo del Toro again. I just want to be near him. I love him. I miss him. It’s my dream that one day when I’m done with the TV Show they say, “ok Hellboy 3 is actually going to go!’” That would be the biggest heaven. I mean it’s all set up. Hellboy 3 is the biggest payoff and the biggest horror. I want to see what these twins are up to, if one’s the devil and one’s an angel. I want to see what Hellboy and Liz are up to! I know the film is the apocalypse and the apocalypse isn’t cheap to shoot so we have to find some funding and get going with it!