In Paramount+’s The In Between, Tessa (Joey King), and Skylar (Kyle Allen) engage in a passionate high-school romance until a car accident kills Skylar and shatters their love story. Ghostbusters: Afterlife star Celeste O’Connor plays Shannon, Tessa’s best friend who aids her in her attempt to communicate with Skylar in a phase of the afterlife known as the “in between.” Following The In Between, O’Connor is set to appear in Zach Braff’s A Good Person starring Florence Pugh.
Screen Rant interviewed O’Connor about Shannon’s role in The In Between, how the actor would deal with a real-life supernatural encounter, and more.
Screen Rant: I love how you went from appearing in Ghostbusters: Afterlife recently to now another film about the afterlife. Would you say that you have a knack for the supernatural by now?
Celeste O’Connor: Yeah, absolutely [laughs].
The In Between centers on this love story and tragedy between Tessa and Skylar. Can you explain your character, Shannon’s, role in the plot?
Celeste O’Connor: Yeah, absolutely. I play Shannon and she is the best friend of Tessa. She basically helps Tessa navigate trying to contact Skylar from the afterlife, from the in between.
This film is such an interesting exploration of the afterlife. Has being a part of it changed your view on what happens to people when they die?
Celeste O’Connor: No, not necessarily. But I do think that the film allows us to be open about the different possibilites of what could happen after we die, where we might go, and how we might relate to people who are still here. So, I think that’s cool.
Have you ever had any real-life supernatural experiences, yourself?
Celeste O’Connor: Honestly, no, I haven’t. If I heard a ghost in my house, I would probably just be like, “I’m going to bed!” [laughs] I would simply mind my own business [laughs].
If you could communicate with any dead person, who would that be?
Celeste O’Connor: Any dead person? I don’t know. Oh my God. I would call up Whitney Houston and be like, “Yo, what is good?” I loved Whitney Houston when I was younger. I would listen to all of her songs, so I’m a fan. I would call her up.
You mentioned before that you play Shannon, who is Tessa’s best friend. What was it like working with Joey throughout this film?
Celeste O’Connor: It was so much fun working with Joey. She is such a delight. She is hilarious and she makes everybody on set feel open and welcomed. It was a really positive experience working with her. We would just joke around all the time, so it was a lot of fun.
Without giving too much away, how would you describe the film’s overall message?
Celeste O’Connor: The film’s overall message really has to do with the power of love. It follows Tessa, a girl who didn’t think of herself as deserving of love or of a love story. So, she finds that and it leads to so much self-discovery and so much discovery in general about the world around her. So, I think the central theme is how powerful love is.
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