Last summer, audiences at festivals across the country got to embark on a beautiful, melancholic journey to death with Mali Elfman’s directorial debut Next Exit, which stars Katie Parker and Rahul Kohli as an unlikely duo that set out on a cross-country trip to bring an end to everything. Along the way, they are forced to confront their trauma, examine who they are as people, and explore what it means to live and die. As Collider’s review of the film hailed it, “[Next Exit] leaves its little flecks of light in your soul once the credits roll.”

Ahead of Next Exit’s home release, Collider had the opportunity to chat with Katie Parker in a 1-on-1 interview to discuss the stunning film, the beauty of volatile women like Rose, and what it is like to work with Mike Flanagan’s company of actors across multiple projects, and she even shares who she plays in The Fall of the House of Usher.

Image via No Traffic for Ghosts LLC 

COLLIDER: So I have this particular fondness for female characters who usually get branded as unlikeable, and I feel like Rose kind of falls into that category because her trauma has made her very prickly. And so I’m curious now, what is it like to occupy that character, and what drew you to this character in particular?

KATIE PARKER: I mean, now when I approach characters, I think after the MeToo movement, everybody started waking up to like, “Oh, right. Women aren’t just this one way,” which of course, everybody knew. There have been incredible female characters written prior to the MeToo movement, but it made me more aware of the types of women that I would audition for. They were either the girlfriend, the best friend, or just sort of in these windows. And what drew me to Rose was how complex she is, as we’re all really complex and nuanced human beings who have many different sides to us. I was a little intimidated to play her. I was worried the audience would be not on board with her. But I also really like the payoff you get with Rose at the end when you sort of understand where she’s coming from. But yeah, I mean, it’s great fun to learn somebody’s map and to get to explore different sides of a person. It was really lovely to get to play her and to tap into those sides of myself and expose them through Rose.

Definitely. I know, obviously, the pandemic has changed the film industry, but something that I’ve noticed from it is that we’ve had this new trend of films that are much more intimate and very focused on one or two characters and really narrowing in on this more small scale, very quiet, very intimate kind of experience. What is that like for you as an actor, particularly with Next Exit, where I feel like so much of it is focused on Rose and Teddy and that connection between them?

PARKER: Yeah. I mean, it’s great. It’s great fun. I think in a way there’s less pressure. You just sort of look into your costars’ eyes and do the scenes. I think it makes for more intimate work. I like it. I prefer it. I loved working on Next Exit because of the intimacy. We had 10 people on our crew. We were all sort of bonded together. We all lived together in this shitty hotel. Sorry, it was lovely, but a tiny motel in New Mexico. And I think you feel that in the film, and I prefer to work that way. Big sets are really cool, but they’re more intimidating for sure.

Image via No Traffic for Ghosts LLC 

Something I love about how this film works is that Rose and Teddy are on this, basically, a road trip to death, and we have this knowledge of what the end destination is. It feels like it makes everything a little bit brighter, a little bit darker, a little bit more extreme. You get to play with these really emotional, volatile experiences. I’m thinking particularly of the bar scene. What is it like to get to explore these much more highs and lows?

PARKER: Scary and freeing at the same time. I get tripped up because sometimes I’m wanting to be result-oriented, which is the antithesis to creativity. If you have a result in your mind, A, you’re never going to get there. And B, it’s not always the truth. You kind of have to go inside on the day and see what’s going on inside of you and do different takes to see what the truth is, if that makes sense?

But it’s freeing to get to explore those … Like anger, I had never really played a character that I could explore rage around. And Rose had so much rage. And I think, yeah, with female characters, you don’t really see a ton of volatile women, sometimes, but like it’s … But I think we’re starting to explore that more with women.

Definitely. Especially when you get women getting to write volatile women. And so it’s not from a man’s perspective.

PARKER: Totally, totally. I mean, absolutely. Yeah. A feminist version of volatility.

Of female rage, yes.

PARKER: I’m about to go do a movie in Oklahoma, and Angela Gulner, who’s a writer/director, wrote the film, and it’s about postpartum depression and dementia.

The idea of postpartum and all of that is something that needs to be talked about more in film. It needs to be shown. With Next Exit’s home release, I’m really hoping that more people see this. Because this was one of my favorite films of last year, and I saw a lot of films, and this even ended up on my top 10 of 2022, because I loved it so much. But what do you hope that audiences take away from it? Because I was a mess. I was crying and just in awe.

PARKER: I hope people feel seen. That their experience, their own personal human spiritual experience, on this planet is validated. And I hope people feel that they have at least one person in their life that they can share their truth with. Or just to know that sharing your most vulnerable self is the most powerful thing you can do for your healing. And that somebody else can hold it for you too. I think we’re always afraid to be like, “Oh, if I share this side of myself, someone’s not going to like me.” But I think most people are like, “Oh yeah, me too. I got you.”

Yeah, we all color outside of the lines of our existence.

PARKER: Totally.

Image via No Traffic for Ghosts LLC 

We have to live with that. I mean, obviously, I’m going to ask about the Flanaganverse. I feel like I have to. I’m so excited for House of Usher, mostly because I am a super obnoxious Edgar Allan Poe fan. So I’m very excited to see that. But I’m curious, how would you compare your role in House of Usher to Hill House, Bly Manor, or Midnight Club?

PARKER: Totally different. I mean, the wonderful thing about Mike is that he has given me so many different women to play and all complete caricatures, I feel like. I mean, I play Annabel Lee, that famous poem that, yeah, Edgar Allan Poe wrote about his long-lost love, Annabel Lee. I think that’s all I can say about it. Yeah, but I can say that that show, it’s going to be really awesome. I think people are going to be like, “Whoa, I was not expecting this from Mike Flanagan.”

I cannot wait. I’ve loved all the previous ones. And it’s so fun to see the who’s who, like popping up in Next Exit with like your co-star and seeing everybody in it. And I love that. I’m curious, for you as an actor, what is it like to have this place where you can keep returning to the same core group of people that Mike has brought together to bring his horror universe to life? What is that like for you?

PARKER: I mean, it’s the best, and I mean, it’s what being a part of a company is. And it used to be a very old-school way of studios used to work that way, theater companies work that way all the time. So I love it. It’s like my training was rooted in that, where you have a group of artists that you work with, and you do different shows together. So for me, it just feels really natural. And it’s exciting. It’s exciting to see people evolve and grow. Also, as an actor in Hollywood and in film, you get really pigeonholed because they want to sell you. They want to be like, “This actor does this thing.” And it’s like, “Well, I can do other stuff.” You know what I mean? And Mike gives his actors that opportunity, which is great.

Next Exit is now on DVD and On Demand from Magnolia Home Entertainment under the Magnet Label.