Mika Amonsen talks all things “Thanksgiving”, future projects and more.

Photo credit: @timleyes on Instagram

Written by: Gracie Lowes

Fans of holiday slashers are in luck because Eli Roth is back with his latest release ”Thanksgiving” which is in theaters now.

The film takes place after a Black Friday riot ends in tragedy when “a mysterious Thanksgiving-inspired killer terrorizes Plymouth, Massachusetts – the birthplace of the holiday. Picking off residents one by one, what begins as random revenge killings are soon revealed to be part of a larger, sinister holiday plan.”

I had the chance to sit down (virtually) with actor Mika Amonsen who plays “Lonnie” in the film, to talk about his time on set, what drew him to his character, and more.

You can read the full interview below.

Gracie Lowes: Congratulations on ‘Thanksgiving’! How has that been both building up to the release, having the public watch and react to the film, and announcing that there will be a second film?

Mika Amonsen: “I mean, the second film is a bit bittersweet, mainly because I'm dead. I would love to come back and, you know, work with everybody, but I just don't think they're going to unbreak my neck.”

Gracie: You never know.

Mika: “Yeah, the reaction's been great. I mean, we've had amazing critic reviews. We’ve had major reactions from fans, even just my friends and family. Everyone seems to really enjoy the film. It's it's been great.”

Gracie: I'm wondering, what was it that drew you to want to be a part of this project? Was it the script or the characters? Because I think this is a really unique storyline, building a slasher on a holiday that isn't Christmas or Halloween.

Mika: “Yeah, no, that's definitely one thing that attracted me to it. It was definitely the fact that there isn't a Thanksgiving holiday horror at all, or very many themed movies around Thanksgiving, so that was cool. But all that aside, I've always wanted to play a character from Boston. Always. So being able to work on a project where I get to embody some of the mannerisms of my heroes like Matt Damon, Casey Affleck, and Ben Affleck was amazing. And especially getting to do that, and it is directed by Eli Roth, who I've also enjoyed in that sort of sphere of things was just incredible. It's a dream come true for me for sure.”

Gracie: Definitely. And I have to ask, do you think you would survive this scenario if you switch lives with your character and what would your plan of attack be?

Mika: “I mean, my character Lonnie's situation is pretty ridiculous. I don't know what my plan would be, I know I would probably be aware of somebody walking up behind me, but Lonnie is kind of an idiot. I think he was a bit distracted in that scene. I don't know what my plan for survival would have been. But I don't think Lonnie saw it coming, you know, just instant death for him, unfortunately.”

Gracie: Fair enough. This does seem like a very close cast just from everything you’ve shared on social media but also talking to your fellow cast mates as well I’ve heard a lot of good things. I'm wondering, do you have a favorite moment or memory from this experience?

Mika: “There were so many memorable moments. I mean, a lot of mine were with Jeff Randell, one of the producer's writers and Eli's best friend. We had so many funny moments with him on set. I think maybe besides that here's one, when I was with Rick Hoffman he surprised Jenna Warren's mother with a phone call (She's a big fan), and her reaction was priceless. And he just really amped up his humor and he acted very pretentious and was ‘upset’ with her for not answering his FaceTime. Yeah, probably that one, or when Eli wrote a song about how cringey his Instagram is and that was really fun.”

Gracie: Fair enough. They all seem like a great time.

Mika: “They're a great time. Absolutely.”

Photo credit: @mikaamonsen on Instagram

Gracie: If you could describe this film in three words, what would they be?

Mika: “Fun. Suspenseful and gory.”

Gracie: There is a lot of gore in there.

Mika: “Oh, yeah. It's intense.”

Gracie: Speaking of Thanksgiving, it just passed but what is a tradition that you love or have in your household?

Mika: “For Thanksgiving in particular, my dad makes a roast, and we always try to guess if it's going to be overcooked or not because we never guess it right. Besides that, I think that that's really it. A lot of our traditions are more around Christmas, we have a lot of Danish traditions in my house.”

Gracie: It's okay. That one sounds like fun. How was it this year?

Mika: “This year? It was more on the medium side, maybe just over medium.”

Gracie: Okay. Good to know you were able to enjoy it. My last question for you, this release was super successful, but do you have any future projects that you could hint at or talk about?

Mika: “Yeah I'm working on ‘Whistle’ it's directed by Corin Hardy and the other producers are from ‘The Nun’. It’s got a great loaded cast from Dafne Keen to Nick Frost. So yeah, definitely go see ‘Whistle’ when it comes out. It's going to be a fantastic movie.”