Written by: David Hughes
1) Not much can be gleaned about the real Molly Souza from the brief bio above, so would you like to tell us a bit more about yourself? How many cats do you have? Baking sounds fun! Would you be happy to supply this interviewer with a batch of cookies?! (Jokes, but not really).
I’ve always been bad at bios. When I was about ten or so I wrote a bio that was going to appear in a program for a show I was in that included a blurb about being the youngest winner of the Gugenheim award– which was absolutely a lie. I don’t even think it’s an award at all, let alone one that was awarded to me at the ripe old age of ten. I was the youngest person in the cast with the smallest role so I didn’t think anyone would read it. I ended up having to participate in not one but several conversations about this fake award. The interesting thing was no one really asked me what it was for, they just acted like they knew that it was and were very impressed at my prestige. That’s show business for you, right? I have two cats: one small, black cat around 7 years old called Fila Cat, and a rotund tabby cat– who just celebrated her Quinceanera– called Precious. They are the light of my life and the banes of my existence.
I am currently in a cookie conundrum because I was given a bunch of fresh eggs, and now I must decide which types of cookies to bake. I usually go for a shortbread with maybe a jam or a custard on top. I have something swimming around my head about a Key Lime Cookie. We’ll see. I could try to get some across the pond IF you’ll send me some HobNobs! We haven’t evolved to that level of cookie consumption in these parts. International relations at their finest.
2) Co-writing your own movie sounds awesome! How did that opportunity come about? Was it something you had always hoped to do?
Working with Josh Graves is something that came to fruition around 2021 with the film The House That Eats Flesh. He flew me out to North Carolina just to act, but, as I usually do, I found a place on the production side as well. I ended up doing some behind-the-scenes photography on that set, and my relationship with Josh really bloomed from there. We operate under a lot of the same tenets, Josh and I. We both are die-hard horror fans who are dedicated to the genre and the surrounding community. Collaboration happened naturally from that friendship, although my original involvement with Late Checkout began when I was cast as an actor. After that, Josh brought me on as Assistant Director, and then we were writing together. I’ve been a writer for as long as I can remember. I write stories and poems, a one-liner or two in other films I’ve done. I really appreciated the opportunity to stretch into the screenplay realm and I plan to continue exploring the medium. I am more apt to write in other mediums if I’m being honest. I just had a poem published this month in a print book anthology out in San Francisco.
3) Being a librarian must be great. What is your favourite genre to read, apart from horror, obviously? Do you like the classic? Is being a librarian your full-time job? Is it something you have always done?
Being a librarian is one of the greatest honors in the world, in my opinion. I’m a candidate for a master’s degree in library science right now, and the more I learn about all of the different things librarians do the more I am amazed by the profession. I’m not a full-time librarian right now, mostly because I am still pursuing so many creative ventures. You know, some film studios employ librarians. They are on deck to fact-check for films and cultivate authenticity with costuming and set design. You could call up a film studio librarian and say, “hey what type of rapier would a pirate from *insert year here* use?” and the librarian will find the answer for you. That’s really what most of what being a librarian is about. Being helpful, finding the answers. Sometimes I tell people I am professionally nosy. The classics are the classics for a reason, sure. I have always been a Hemingway fan, and I’ve never turned down a re-read of a Bronte book. Plath is one of my favorite poets, and I could sit here and argue with anyone about Zelda and F. Scott Fitzgerald for hours. (I would fist fight F Scott Fitzgerald right now, let’s just leave it at that for now) That all being said, I’ve definitely tried to expand my reading
list more actively now that I’m done with my first degree. The classics are great, but most of them are written by people who occupy very similar intersections of identity. Lately, I’ve been reading horror stories from different cultures. It’s super interesting to compare all of the different cryptids and ghost stories.
4) Acting of directing – which is better? Is it hard doing both at the same time?
Man, oh, man. That is the question of the decade for me, certainly. Both are fabulous, of course. I really enjoy storytelling, and both acting and directing are fantastic ways to explore the depths of a narrative. I would describe myself as a very emotional and analytical person. I would even say that I spend a good amount of time analyzing my emotions about myself and the people around me. In that way, both acting and directing come very naturally to me. With acting, you are engaging in this wholly consuming empathy where you are the person you are portraying–memories, emotions, physicalities, and all. With directing it’s very similar but instead of experiencing those feelings yourself you have to imagine how the character’s emotions/circumstances affect the story, then you have to facilitate getting actors into those spaces and care for them while they are there. Both involve this sort of brutal, honest confrontation of what it means to be a person and they both are extremely rewarding but extremely challenging. The difficulty of directing and acting at the same time arises because one role necessitates you really living in possibly difficult emotions and reacting honestly to dialogue and situations and the other role involves you being responsible for how everyone else is feeling/doing AND knowing exactly what comes next in the dialogue and plot. It can be hard to hold on to honesty and authenticity when you are super familiar with a script like you need to be to direct, and it can be hard to do the work you need to do as an actor while managing everything a director needs to manage. It definitely depends on the role. I had a smaller part in Late Checkout and I had a FANTASTIC team working with me so I quite enjoyed it. Personally, I do like to direct more because it’s more about the big picture of storytelling. Also, you don’t have to sit in hair and makeup for hours to direct!
5) Is there an actor you would like to work with someday?
There are so many actors I want to work with I could break the internet with the size of that list. In mainstream film right now I really admire Jeremy Allen White, Steven Yeun, Samara Weaving, Stephanie Hsu, and Liv Hewson to name a few. A horror movie with all of them??!?! I would die happy.
In the indie scene, I would really love to work with my friend Kate Lynn Newberry again soon. We just finished The House Among The Trees with Eye 4 Eye Productions not too long ago and it was GREAT. I can’t wait for people to see that one. Wes Robinson from that film as well, I would love to work with him again soon. Tetra Lloyd is another artist who I would really love to work with again. Darcy the Mail Girl and or Joe Bobb would be a dream come true for sure!
6) Are you the type of horror victim to run out of the house or upstairs, trapping yourself in the bathroom?
I’m not the victim. I’m the killer.
7) What was your perfect date? Please don’t say NetFlix and chill.
I’m an intense person so I’m going to suggest a pretty intense date. It’s going to be an all-day the situation for certain. I’d like to meet up for a nice car ride and get some breakfast sandwiches for the journey. I think preferably we’d drive up the coast. I’m from California so I am picturing the California coast but any ol’ drive with two good people will do. I like to drive around and look at different houses, we would discuss architecture and terrible yard signs and listen to music. Then I’d want to stop at a greenhouse or a botanical garden of some sort to traipse around some beautiful foliage. I do love to eat, so it’ll be time for lunch. This time I’m thinking of oysters on the beach, or at least something on a nice patio. Ideally, this date is really going all out so maybe after lunch we’d head to an open mic night or bowling or an art show at a gallery. Some sort of activity because dates that only involve eating and or drinking are L A M E. The night has to end with watching a scary movie, something that will be a good excuse to cuddle if the date went well or something truly upsetting and horrifying if it did not.
8) Got a favourite colour? Food? Music?
Purple is speaking to me more than anything else lately, though I usually say green. My favorite food would have to be Massaman curry or original tart yogurt with gummy BEARS, not worms. Music wise I am almost too eclectic for my own good. My end-of-year wrap-up is pretty consistently Swan Lake, Beastie Boys, Lucinda Williams, and Joni Mitchell with a bunch of random hip-hop sprinkled in sporadically. I love country music, opera, musical theater, and many different types of chanting. There truly isn’t a lot that I don’t like.
9) Do you only write scripts, or have you ever tried to write short stories/novels/poems?
I actually only just got into writing scripts! My first screenplay was turned into a movie, how about that? Before I was anything else I was a poet, and poetry will always be the first writing medium I turn to.
10) Where do you see your career going? Do you plan on sticking with acting/directing? What’s the plan from here on out, Molly?
Well, David, I’m planning on taking over the entire world any day now so, just Global Domination mainly.
And, lastly, I love your hair – have you ever dyed it a different colour?
I have been a redhead since birth and I can’t imagine it any other way. If I had to do something else I think I’d like to be a blonde. Who knows, maybe I’ll land a role with a great wig one of these days.