Author: Shaudi Bianca Vahdat
Warning: this interview contains SPOILERS for Glass Casa.
Actor Travis Laughlin plays Alex, the (seemingly) loving, protective fiancé of a bride whose bachelorette party goes very wrong in the dark comedy whodunit Glass Casa. In honor of the film’s recent release to streaming services, we caught up with Travis about why landing the role was so exciting, how he approached his most difficult scene, and Alex’s untold backstory.
How he got involved in the film
How did you land the role of Alex?
It was a self tape. I had just moved back to the East Coast—I’m in New Hampshire. I was in LA for a long time, but I moved back in 2022 in May. So I was excited to finally get something that I would be able to go back to the West Coast [for], because I wasn’t super happy about leaving altogether, because it felt like I wouldn’t have access to roles.
But when I got this, it was a big relief. Because I learned you can get roles from basically anywhere in the country.
Do you remember what scene you did for your self tape?
Yeah, I did one scene where you still think I’m the good fiancé. That’s the scene where I just checked the house and I’m about to leave. And she’s, like, on drugs. And so that’s the one where I’m, like, the sweet boyfriend.
And then the second one is where I wake up and I’m trying to convince them that I’m a good guy. So that one was a little more desperate and afraid. Where they drug me, and I wake up, and I’m chained, I’m handcuffed.
Finding his performance
Your character isn’t what he initially seems to be, and he turns out to be pretty layered in his motivations. Was there anything you unexpectedly found you had in common with him?
Well, yeah, just in not-so-extreme ways. Everybody kind of has a front they put on, and you want to be seen as decent and patient and selfless. So that’s how the character appears at first.
But you know, everybody has other things going on. And everybody can be driven to a limit, which is what, in the character and the way the movie works, I am… The progression is just somebody being driven to their breaking point and being like, enough of this.
So that’s always funny, because I’m, in general, most like the good guy in my life, but you’re driven to certain circumstances and you get tired and frustrated, and so it was fun to use that with this plot. I think I knew that about myself, but I’ve always been looking for, like, a darker character to play. It doesn’t really come up too often for me, probably because maybe how I look or how I seem.
I think they liked that about me, that I seemed like a good cop, at first. So I’m glad that they saw I had the potential to go the other way.
I’ve talked to actors who’ve said things like, “When I tried on the character’s shoes for the first time, the whole role just clicked for me.” Did you have any moments like that in portraying Alex?
Well, I thought the first costume was cool. I mean, it’s pretty simple. It’s just a shirt and khakis. But it just looks like such a proper, by the book person. And that really helped—the costume really helped in that case. ‘Cause you know, it’s very tucked in, and portraying this person who just keeps everything in line. That helped with that element of it.
I don’t know about the darker side of him. I’m not sure when something clicked or not. Holding the gun, probably. Yeah. But the costumes do help a lot. Literally, in someone’s shoes.
Do you remember what thoughts you had when you were reading the script for the first time?
How much fun it would be to play, to be able to hide yourself, and to figure out how you can lie, but you’re not wanting the audience to know you’re lying.
I do remember going through that process of like, I’m lying to her? Or am I lying to the audience, or how do I want it to seem? Usually I try not to think of the audience, but I was like, in this case, it’s a certain genre, you do want to be playing the audience in a certain way.
How should I give a hint of it, I think, is what I was trying to figure out. Like, should they suspect me at all? And how to trickle that in as the movie went on, like how much to let on…
In acting, they’ll be like, where were you before? Where are you going after? It’s like, can I imagine this scene playing right into what they imagine I’m doing after? Which is [that] I’m being tricky and trying to sneak around and killing, hiding bodies and stuff. Can I imagine it going there afterwards?
It was good, it’s like a great exercise in [that] you’re playing one thing and you have to have other stuff going on inside your head. It’s subtext, I guess.
Building believability with Alex’s unseen backstory
Do you remember either one of the most difficult or one of the most rewarding scenes that you shot?
Yeah, I remember the scene was difficult where I’m herding them all into this room at gunpoint. And at that point, they know I’m bad, and I was bringing them in there.
It was difficult because you don’t necessarily want to just play “evil”, so I had to kind of try to justify it so that I’m driven to this, although my backstory doesn’t really come up necessarily why I got involved in all this stuff. Just making it so that it’s consistent, like, I’m gonna do whatever it takes to get what I need out of these people and I might end up killing them.
But that it’s believable. And basically that’s always my concern, is that it’s believable. That, you know, I’m here for very good reasons to myself. And it’s just a high intensity scene, it’s kind of the climax. And that leads to the chase around the house and everything.
Do you remember anything about the backstory you created for yourself? This is your opportunity to let us all know what Alex’s justifications were for his actions.
I love it, because I just don’t really access that part of myself in day to day life.
Eventually I think I was looking into sociopathic type behavior. Yeah, you could just say he’s crazy, but that’s not really very interesting. It’s more like, he’s just been so put upon, and people have taken something so much from me, in this case. Just thinking of times where people have left me out, people have undermined what I’m trying to do, or I’ve been passed up for opportunities or something. You know, there’s plenty of those things.
But also that he’s so manipulative about it, is what’s interesting. He’s not stewing and then waiting, and then when it really comes to a breaking point, it’s coming out. It’s more like I know exactly what I’m doing to people. Which is what appears a little bit more sociopath.
And then it’s kind of fun, as an actor. Because you’re just treating people like your pawns. You’re just treating people like your pieces that you’re moving around. And you can pretend like you care for them. Like with my fiancé [played by Harley Bronwyn]. Or, you know, when they don’t do what you want them to do, you totally treat them like dirt, or like they’re in the way.
So I think I was looking up sociopath stuff. But, you know, it’s hard to understand that because sociopaths, I think by definition, don’t feel things. They don’t feel these sympathies. They can’t put themselves in other people’s shoes, is the way I’ve heard it described. So, then you’re acting, you’re playing pretend. You know, pretend I love you, pretend I need you.
But as a person that does feel for people, I had to find ways to justify those different phases…[like] I’m gonna kill these people because they were about to kill me, or something.
One thing that I imagine must have been so cool about this shoot is that you all were on location in this amazing house. What was that like to shoot there?
It was great, the house is beautiful, as you’ll see. It’s great, because you want to feel like you belong there, and that you’re familiar with it, so it doesn’t feel like a set…By the end, I know this place and I’m going to move around like I own it, which really helps because it makes the set kind of disappear.
It’s more like it’s just your environment, and it makes it easier, you know, just for showing up. You don’t have to worry if you forgot something [when coming to set]. In this case, I was sleeping in one of the rooms that they used as the set.
Did they film anything in the room you were sleeping in?
They shot something in there—it was one of the scenes where I think somebody gets killed and they used it for something. Yeah, they used everything. I think they probably used almost all the house. So that was cool. It’s a great house.
Why you can’t miss Glass Casa
Why should people see this movie?
It’s fun. It has chemistry—the way people play off each other. And it’s just well put together.
I mean, just watching the way the intro is put together, it really kind of draws you in. And then just the house we were talking about, the house is awesome. The ensemble pieces are just fun and these guys play off each other great.
The mystery is fun. It’s like, you’re trying to figure out what’s going on, but it’s also kind of a tongue-in-cheek, or it’s playing off the idea of a mystery. So it’s like, you don’t know where they’re going to twist it on you and do the opposite of what you think. Yeah, it’s good. There’s good laughs in it. So I would recommend it.
Thank you Travis for the inside scoop on your Glass Casa experience! You can see more of Travis in the romantic comedy Love’s Playlist, the TV miniseries Runaway Princess Bride, or in the upcoming feature Do Us Part.
Please note: this interview has been edited for length and clarity.