2011 August: Actress with link to Swindon helps put terror into blockbuster slasher movie

By Roger Ogle - 15 December 2018

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Former West Swindon resident Rhian Rees helped to scare the living daylights out of cinema-goers in the 2018 sequel to the 1978 cult horror film Halloween. It was released in the USA on 19 October, a week before the 40th anniversary of the original.

Rhian and Jefferson Hall (Game of Thrones) play two British investigative journalists who arrive in Haddonfield, Illinois to dig into the case of the Halloween Killer. Watch for the scary scene when she is caught by the killer hiding in the toilets.

Rhian was interviewed for Swindon Link magazine in August 2011 when she was aged 25, on the eve of her first film role Confession of a Child of the Century.

She spent her early years in Sparcells and attended Brook Field Primary School, Shaw. She later moved with her parents and siblings to live outside Purton where she attended Bradon Forest School. After taking A levels at Cirencester College, Rhian went onto a degree in film studies with an emphasis on script writing at Roehampton University. This was followed by a young writers course at London’s Royal Court Theatre and drama school in New York.

In the Link article she said: “It’s amazing how things can suddenly take you in a different direction,” said Rhian. “I had returned to Europe after several months in America and was working in a Shakespeare bookshop in Paris when my agent asked me to attend an audition for Confession of a Child of the Century which had Peter Doherty of The Libertines in the lead role. I had been such a fan of The Libertines and to work with him was incredible.” The film also starred Charlotte Gainsbourg and supermodel Lily Cole.

Rhian said she and her sisters would perform shows for their parents at home but admitted that she didn’t enjoy drama at school, although there was enough spark within her to join Swindon Young Actors. “I remember being a shy observer of what was going on around me. It would have been good to know there were different avenues into theatre and drama; it wasn’t until I went to Cirencester College that I started to see where my interest in writing could take me.”

In 2011 she commented: “It’s been a twisting turning career so far but I cannot think of doing anything different. Looking back, anybody who wants to pursue a career in theatre has to have a deep commitment. Don’t expect everything to go smoothly and it will be really hard work.”

Seven years later Rhian’s determination to pursue her craft and make an impact has come good.

Watch Rhian at the premiere of Halloween 2018 in Los Angeles
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WUqoMB1IuNc

Read the original Link magazine story

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