It’s the kind of night in Echo Park where one drink becomes three, someone suggests another bar up Sunset Boulevard and suddenly the evening has developed a life of its own. In Sabrina Greco’s debut feature, Lockjaw, that familiar LA night takes a strange turn: Rayna (Blu Hunt) has just had her jaw wired shut following a drunk-driving accident, but decides she’s going out anyway. What follows is a funny, messy and increasingly strange night of bad decisions, bruised egos and one very unexpected magician. Rayna is determined to keep the night going, even as her idea of fun starts to unravel. 

Shot in just eleven days with an LA-based cast and crew, Lockjaw turns familiar corners of LA into the backdrop for one increasingly bizarre night. Thoughout, Hunt turns Rayna’s physical restriction into something surprisingly expressive, communicating as much with her body and eyes as she does with her muffled words. Hunt, who has appeared in The New Mutants and Sherlock & Daughter, has always been creating herself, from filming movies on camcorders as a kid to writing and directing her own projects alongside acting. “I’ve always been kind of juggling acting with my natural penchant for writing and directing,” she shares. We caught up with her to talk Lockjaw, wearing a prosthetic in preparation for the film and why, in her ideal LA night, there are “no weirdos.”

J.L. Sirisuk: The film is so funny and bizarre. How did Lockjaw come into your life?
BH: Sabrina [Greco] and I have been friends for a few years. I’d actually cast her in a couple of short films I’d made, and she helped me edit the second one. About a year or two after that, Sabrina posted an Instagram story: “Are there any actresses that are short with brown hair who wouldn’t mind having a debilitating mouthpiece on for a whole movie?” And I responded, “Me, duh. I’m short, brunette, and I would not mind.” Then we texted about it and she was like, “You should do it.”

JLS: Before we get into the film, how did you find your way to acting?
BH: I got into acting as a hobby or elective in high school. My mom signed me up to try to keep me out of trouble and thought I would be good at it. I didn’t really think I would be or that I would enjoy it, but I did. I had planned on going to art school for fine art and painting most of my life, but changed course at the end of high school and moved to LA so I could get out of the suburbs and use acting school as a good excuse to leave.  I’d been making up stories and filming movies with various camcorders since I was probably eight. Even after I moved to LA for acting, I ended up saving money from a bunch of crappy jobs to write and make my own little films and projects instead of directly pursuing acting. It was filming my own things that inevitably led me to booking my first major acting jobs, which happened sort of out of nowhere. So I’ve always been juggling acting with my natural penchant for writing and directing.

JLS: When you started reading the script, what did you like about Rayna?
BH: Honestly, I really liked everything about her. I really related to her – for better or worse. I thought it was a really honest portrayal of having a drinking problem in your twenties, because it’s a confusing place. A lot of depictions of alcoholism are so dark. If you’re drinking a lot or get into a couple of missteps, there’s not a lot you can relate to because you’re like, well, it’s not that dark for me. But it’s something that’s a problem. I really liked the way that was written. On the page, I was a little confused by a lot of her choices, but I was talking to Sabrina about it a lot. She was like, “I promise, just do it.” I always knew I was gonna do the movie, basically no matter what. I definitely was like, “This chick is crazy.” But then as I started to become her on set, I started relating to her decisions more and more and even became quite defensive of them.

“Sabrina [Greco] posted an Instagram story: “Are there any actresses that are short with brown hair who wouldn’t mind having a debilitating mouthpiece on for a whole movie?””

“The characters are all very LA. I feel like I know these people – if it’s not me, it’s someone else.”

JLS: In terms of Rayna’s jaw being wired shut, your voice is such a tool as an actor. Did having that physical restriction make you draw on other parts of yourself?
BH: No matter what I’m shooting, I will still on the day be like, “But what if I just didn’t say any of this and just looked at them?” I really think that the less you say can be better. So this was one of those acting challenges that I was so ready to take on. What’s interesting is that she does talk a lot, it’s just that you can’t understand her. You’re always learning this thing in acting about getting the other actor or the character to really hear you, and I never understood that. This naturally made me go, “Oh, now I really understand.” I really had to think about trying to get the other actors to understand me as much as I could. If they didn’t understand what I said, Sabrina would let them react as if they didn’t understand. Then I would have to say it again. In that way, it was actually very organic.

JLS: You actually wore the prosthetic out before filming. What was that like?
BH: The first time I wore it out, I was really nervous. It was actually the first time I met Colin [Burgess]. Me, Sabrina and Colin went to this diner, House of Pies, and I walked in with it on. They were ordering food, and I couldn’t. Then they asked me what I wanted. I was like, “Nothing, nothing. I’m OK.” I was just like, “This is mortifying.” I felt bad because I was like, “Oh my god, this lady thinks that I really have a broken jaw.” After that, I started wearing it around the house with my boyfriend. I would try to kiss him and practice what kissing was like with it on, to see what Colin and me, our characters, would have been like. There’s no way to make out. You can’t, which I learned. Then I started wearing it out to parties. It made me trust the script a lot more because I was sceptical that people would be so rude. I felt like nobody wanted to talk to me or look at me. Eventually, I took it off and I was like, “You guys are rude.” [laughs] It was a really interesting experience.

JLS: Did that experience make its way into the film?
BH: Definitely. It gave me more confidence as an actor within the scenes. I was really able to channel that real feeling of humiliation. It made me understand why she wanted to lie about what happened, but also why she was so determined to go out with it on and have a great night. The more everyone is looking at you and kind of negging you, it’s: “This is not hard. I’m having a great time. You’re not going to get a rise out of me” – even though they are.

“I started wearing [the lockjaw prosthetic] around the house with my boyfriend. I would try to kiss him and practice what kissing was like with it on… There’s no way to make out.”

JLS: Rayna spends so much of the film saying she wants to have fun, but she also seems determined to make things worse. Do you think she really wanted to have a good time?
BH: I think she did. This is probably the part of the character I relate to the most – I’m very much the last person to leave the party. Once I get started, you can’t stop me. I do have these random nights where I’m like, “Tonight is gonna be the best night ever. We’re gonna have so much fun,” and then I’m spiralling, and it’s not really fun for anyone, or myself. I think her idea of fun is self-destructive, and it ultimately doesn’t feel good. By the end of the movie, that’s what she’s figuring out more than anything: that having fun doesn’t have to mean hurting yourself or everyone around you. The goal was to have fun, it’s just that her idea of that is messed up.

JLS: The film is very LA, and I recognised the streets in the first shot. What was it like making the film with this really local, intimate group of LA actors and crew?
BH: It was so fun and it’s a very LA movie. Even the way that we shot that whole opening sequence – one of my best friends, AJ, she’s a bartender at Tenants of the Trees. I texted her and was like, “Can we just come and bring a camera in and film really quick?” I know the owner of El Prado and I was like, “Let’s just go in. Let’s just do it.” I think it’s going to be nice in twenty years to watch this movie again and see a little time capsule of LA. The characters are all very LA. I feel like I know these people – if it’s not me, it’s someone else.

“The goal was to have fun, it’s just that her idea of that is messed up.”

JLS: You’re originally from Sacramento but you’ve been in LA since you were eighteen. Do you feel like an LA person now?
BH: I moved to LA when I was eighteen and now I’m 31. My fiancée is from Calabasas, and I feel like my closest friends are all from LA, or at least from California. We’re all drawn to each other. I feel like an honorary Angeleno now, except I don’t really drive. I only got a driver’s license a couple of years ago, so I’ve lived in LA for like eleven years without driving. I use public transportation, and I think that actually makes me even more of a real Angeleno.

JLS: You mentioned that you were writing while making the film. What are you interested in making when you’re the one behind the camera?
BH: Stories about women. I definitely lean towards darker stuff. Stories about myself, my life. I’ve written so many different kinds of things and I usually write with my fiancée – I directed my last film with him. It was strange because when I finally saw Lockjaw, when it was done, I was like, “Whoa. There’s a lot of weird similarities [with my writing].” What I’m most interested in exploring is genuinely getting into female characters in a way that is truly transgressive. I’m really inspired by Catherine Breillat, and I like to [explore] women and their relationships with men in a way that’s not how we’re always seeing it portrayed.

JLS: One last, very important question: what’s a good night out in LA for you?
BH: My perfect night is going out somewhere and everyone you want to see is there – and there’s no one you don’t want to see. I’m notorious for keeping the party going and inviting everyone back to my place. My fiancée has a CDJ and we will play music and DJ all night long for our group of friends. We’ll stay up to four or five, playing music all night. You start out big, you see everyone you want to see, you eat good food, you have some martinis, and then you drag everyone back to your place. But it’s only you and your best friends. That’s what I love about LA. You can’t forget about house party culture, that’s usually how it ends. But no weirdos, you know? No weirdos. Best friends only.

Lockjaw is now streaming on Apple TV, Prime Video, Fandango, and all major digital platforms.