Yahoo News Brandy Sought Therapy After Going to 'Dark Places' for “The Front Room”: 'I'm a Little Bit Method' (Exclusive)
'The Front Room' hit theaters Friday, Sept. 6
courtesy of A24
Brandy in 'The Front Room'When Brandy decided to take on the role of Belinda in The Front Room, she knew she was stepping outside of her comfort zone.
The singer-songwriter and actress is starring in the A24 film — which hit theaters on Friday, Sept. 6 — alongside Kathryn Hunter and Andrew Burnap. In the horror movie, her character is in for a whirlwind when her father-in-law dies and she and her husband, who are soon to be parents, take in her mother-in-law, Solange (Hunter).
After she moves in, it's clear that Belinda and Solange don't see eye-to-eye — and things start to take a turn for the worse. When Brandy, 45, was filming, she really leaned in to the character and it took some work to separate herself from it once it was all over.
"I stayed in character. I'm a little bit method, so it stayed with me," Brandy, 45, tells PEOPLE exclusively. "But after, I was able to do a little bit of therapy to release the character and release the dark places that I had to go to with the character."
Related: Brandy Plays a Woman Living with a Racist Mother-in-Law in Chilling The Front Room Trailer
Brandy's last horror film was 1998's I Still Know What You Did Last Summer. What drew her to this role, she says, was the script and knowing it would be a challenge.
"It scared me, so I wanted to do something like Belinda to see if I could pull it off, to see if I can expand my range as an actress, my depth," Brandy says. "And I wanted to work with [filmmakers] Sam and Max Eggers, and Kathryn Hunter and the amazing cast that we have."
To prepare for the role, she hired a coach to explore Belinda's "complex" emotions. She also wanted to make sure she could "hang with someone like Kathryn Hunter."
courtesy of A24
Brandy in 'The Front Room'The PEOPLE Puzzler crossword is here! How quickly can you solve it? Play now!
"She's such a phenomenal actress. I wanted to be able to react to her and stay as present as possible," she says, adding that it was difficult at times to "keep it together" because she's "so funny."
As Brandy waits to see the reaction to the movie, she's candid about feeling "very nervous."
"That's a lot of pressure," she says of taking on the lead role in an A24 film. "I want them to love it. I want them to relate to the characters. I want them to see themselves in the story. Of course, I don't want anyone to have the kind of mother-in-law I had."
courtesy of A24
Brandy in 'The Front Room'She continues, "But just seeing my fight, my journey and seeing what I had to overcome and then be liberated in the end. Victory was in the end for me, I want people to love that and root for that."
The Front Room was written and directed by duo Max Eggers and Sam Eggers. Brandy also recently starred in the Disney+ movie Descendants: The Rise of Red, which was released in July. She also starred in the 2023 holiday film Best. Christmas. Ever!
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The Front Room is now in theaters.
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