Moses Moseley on playing Steven in Volumes of Blood: Horror Stories

Volumes of Blood (Blood Bath) Day 3

Moses Moseley played Steven in Blood Bath a segment of Volumes of Blood: Horror Stories directed by Jon Maynard. Moses is best known for playing the role of Michonne’s iconic pet zombie on the hit show The Walking Dead and being on the cover of Entertainment Weekly for The Walking Dead. He has also been featured on other television shows and movies such as Necessary Roughness, Resurrection, The Internship, Single Ladies, “42”, Trouble with the Curve, and Second Generation Wayne’s.

indieactivity: How did you get connected to the project? Did you have to audition? If you did, would still have got the part?
Moses: I met the writer and producer P.J. Stark at a convention I was guest appearing at a couple years ago. I happened to see him again the next year at another convention. While there he asked me if I would be interested in working on one of his movies and I said sure. He then sent me the script and after reading it I was completely sold and eager to be part of it. I didn’t have to audition for the part, but If I had I hope I would have still been chosen.

Volumes of Blood if now available on Amazon Prime

indieactivity: As lead on the project, how did this ‘choice’ work for you?
Moses: As one of the leads for the segment I worked on I felt as though my choice to play the sarcastic unsympathetic friend made for a more interesting story. After I read the script I immediately saw myself as the friend that cares but still has to give tough love.

indieactivity: What part of the story challenged you when you read it? What drove you to get on the project?
Moses: The most challenging part in the script for me was selling my death scene. It was the first time I had ever died by getting eaten in a bath tub, so I had to make sense out of it in my head by visualizing myself being in a garbage disposal. I feel as though I sold the appearance of dying a slow agonizing death. The fact the script was so different and well-crafted is what drove me to get on the project. P.J. the writer is awesome and made me want to be part of it too.

Volumes of Blood (Blood Bath) Day 3

indieactivity: You’re not new to indie films. What do you enjoy about the work that keeps you working?
Moses: What I like most about working with Indie movies is the freedom of being able to make the role your own. In most major productions you have to stick so close to the script and the vision of the writer, but with a lot of indie films you’re free to make the character your own.

indieactivity: Give an example of a direction you received from the director during the production?
Moses: An example of direction I received from Jon Maynard, the director of the segment, was to be a little more personal with the actor playing my friend. I originally played it as though I wasn’t long time friends with the character, but once he instructed me to play it as if we knew each other for a while everything looked more realistic and flowed smoother.

Kentucky Filmmaker Describes His Journey to the Big Screen

indieactivity: How did you create your character from ground up?
Moses: I created my character by reading the script repeatedly and forming an understanding as to how my character fit in the mix of everything transpiring. Once I came to that conclusion everything else just fell into place.

indieactivity: As main cast on the film, describe the feeling of responsibility that you shouldered. Where you scared? Or did it fire you up? What scenes where difficult to shoot?
Moses: Through my experiences with working on other films and tv shows fear is no longer an issue for me. With every project I work on I always give it all I have and as long as I know I did my best I have no regrets. The scene I had the most difficultly shooting was my ending scene mainly because of all the blood and effects that went into it. The producers P.J. and Eric and special effects supervisor Cassandra Baker set up a lift for me to slowly go down on as the tub slowly engulfed me so I not only had to sell my death, but I had to focus on it falling and that was challenging.

Volumes of Blood (Blood Bath) Day 3

indieactivity: Explain one creative choice you made on set during production?
Moses: One of the creative choices I made was deciding to act as if I was in a human garbage disposal during my tub scene. I felt as it truly expressed the slow and agonizing pain I was trying to portray.

indieactivity: What did you take away from the film production?
Moses: The most important thing I took from the film is that teamwork while making a film makes the difference. I was truly impressed at how efficiently the production ran and how well everyone worked together to get the job done.

indieactivity: What do you like most about the director, and his collaboration with his team?
Moses: What I liked most about the director of my segment is that he listened and knew exactly what needed adjustments. He communicated with us very well and helped bring out our best performances.

indieactivity: What is next for you?
Moses: I’m currently touring and doing autograph signings and appearing at sneak peek screenings of the new movie I was in that is premiering in March called Attack of the Southern Fried Zombies. I’m also always doing auditions for other productions.

indieactivity: What advice do you give actors regarding what you learnt on the project?
Moses: The best advice I can give actors is to always listen. An actor that can take direction is always highly favored and easiest to work with.