A show about the ’80s Satanic Panic was bound to have some spooky things happen on set — and that’s exactly what happened with Peacock’s Hysteria!
Chiara Aurelia, who plays Jordy, exclusively told Us Weekly about some of the unexpected creepy encounters that occurred while filming the upcoming horror series.
“Actually, our set was a little haunted,” Aurelia, 22, recalled. “The night before we started filming, I had a black cat that arrived at my door. I’m not super superstitious but it was definitely an interesting [experience], like, ‘OK, we’re starting to film tomorrow and there’s a black cat at my door.’”
Aurelia wasn’t the only one who received a visit, adding, “Over the course of the season, every single one of our series regulars had a black cat arrive at their house. We all lived in different areas. So there’s a black cat at Emjay [Anthony]‘s door, Anna [Camp]‘s house and then mine. I can’t remember if Julie [Bowen] had one. I think maybe she did.”
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While some would fear the spooky coincidence, Aurelia leaned into the “little witchy energy” that came with filming Hysteria!
“One of our picture cars — the night before we started filming — also got hit by a train. All of the picture cars we were supposed to use to film on the first day got stuck on a train track on a truck. No one was injured or harmed at all, but they couldn’t get the cars off and it got hit by a train,” the actress recalled. “So there were a couple spooky things that happened like that.”
The cast continued to notice a pattern of strange events.
“We were like, ‘OK, this is interesting.’ You hear stories about that from horror movies where the weirdness is brought to life,” Aurelia continued. “But nothing too bad and nothing definitely was. But the black cat was weird. It was a little strange and there were a couple other things.”
Set in the 1980s, Hysteria! revolves around the Satanic Panic of the era as a high-school heavy metal band of outcasts realize they can capitalize on the town’s sudden interest in the occult by building a reputation as a Satanic metal band. The plan doesn’t go as expected when a bizarre series of murders, kidnappings and reported supernatural activity triggers a witch hunt that leads directly back to them.
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The Peacock series, which starts streaming on Friday, October 18, carefully blends unexplained moments with a coming-of-age story about high school kids trying to find their place in the world. Aurelia plays one of those teenagers that gets in way over her head after agreeing to play into a false narrative that she’s interested in the devil.
“Jordy is special. There’s an exterior that’s really different from the interior. I think that she uses her style and the way she presents herself as a form of self-expression,” Aurelia noted. “But I think that it was kind of an exciting task — over the course of the season — to be able to allow people a little bit more into her mind.”
There is also the fact that Jordy is based on creator Matthew Scott Kane‘s experience growing up in a small town in Michigan. (Hysteria! is set in the fictional town of Happy Hallow, Michigan.)
“Matthew has said to me that Jordy was the most based off of him in high school. So he was the bass player in the metal band in his high school and he has a very sarcastic and dry sense of humor,” Aurelia shared with Us. “He told me — which was such a huge honor — that the first time that he’d envisioned Jordy’s deadpan face and then saw me looking across at him while we were on set, he said it was a moment that really meant something and sank in for him. So it was such an honor.”
She continued: “Honestly, when I first read the character, I was like, ‘Oh, I’m very bubbly and this is so different from me. I don’t know if it sits with me, I don’t know if I can do it.’ And I love her by the end. She’s my favorite.”
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Fans can expect a “huge arc” coming Jordy’s way throughout the season.
“There’s a lot of different layers to her, just like a human being. We’re complex and multifaceted. Maybe I don’t always succeed at it, but my intention is always to try and bring a person to life,” she explained. “So our incredible showrunner Matthew wrote me plenty of layers and things to play with. There’s a lot of fun scenes and I got to have a lot of fun filming the show.”
Aurelia is no stranger to horror, as she also starred in Netflix’s hit Fear Street trilogy. She told Us that “there is so much to love” when it comes to the genre.
“I’ve done a lot in the horror space, but I think each character I’ve done is so drastically different. So it’s such an honor that they keep welcoming me back and letting me do more horror,” she said. “There’s so many different things I want to do and I’m so grateful to act. It’s what I love and what I feel so passionately about. So I think there’s a lot of different characters and minds and stories and people I’d love to work with that hopefully over the course of my career I can do it all. But for now, I’m enjoying the horror space.”
Hysteria! premieres Friday, October 18, on Peacock, and the pilot will simulcast on USA Network and Syfy. New episodes will continue to air on USA Friday nights.
With reporting by Christina Garibaldi
