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Grant Gustin: From "Glee" To "A Mother's Nightmare"

But which role is Grant Gustin playing? After his memorable smarminess as Sebastian Smythe on Glee last season, you’d think he’d be the titular nightmare but, instead, Gustin shows a different side of himself as naïve Chris, who becomes the target of whack-job Vanessa (90210’s Jessica Lowndes) in the film.

It's been over six months since our interview and photo spread with Gustin, so we figured it was time to catch up with the 22-year-old actor to talk about his new role, the other new project he’s excited about and, of course, his take on whether we'll see Sebastian make a return to Glee this season.

AfterElton: How did the role in A Mother's Nightmare come about for you?

Grant Gustin: It was a normal submission, and I think I got it that night and I was in Canada a week later shooting it. It just fell into place.

AE: You did this after your work on Glee, right?

GG: This was after I’d done my four episodes of Glee.

AE: The character is obviously very different from Sebastian. Was finding something different part of your intention?

GG: I was definitely looking for a new role to play and something closer to me and straying away from what Sebastian was or is. I was lucky that it happened to be a role that was so different, but it was a happy accident. I’d definitely been looking for something along these lines.

AE: There’s a line early in the movie when someone says ‘teen love is a killer”, and in this movie it’s really the case, right?

GG: Yes, it’s quite a literal statement!

AE: And this is based on true events?

GG: Our writer, Shelley Gillen, this is based on her life and she’s the mother. It’s loosely based on an incident with her and her youngest son. She enhanced the story somewhat, but it is based on a true story and some of the stuff was spot-on, I couldn’t believe it would happen. True and quite heart breaking.

AE: You said Chris is a lot like you. How so?

GG: Chris is someone who is in touch with his emotions, close to his Mom, and he’s trying to give his new girlfriend the benefit of the doubt and trying to see the good in people, but in this case it leads him to getting hurt very seriously. I’ve always worn my heart on my sleeve and given people the benefit of the doubt, but it’s gotten me in trouble at times in my life.

AE: Your co-star, Jessica Lowndes, who I know from 90210, is really scary in this!

GG: She is! She was so much fun to work with. She’s a great actress and a lot of fun to play off of. She did a great job because her character, Vanessa, could’ve gone in a way that wasn’t realistic, but she was more human. You see why she’s messed up and doing the things she was doing. I think there was a danger of not having that aspect, but Jessica brought that to the character.

AE: Tell me about the scene in the movie where you’ve been drugged. You do a great job in the scene when it could have come off as campy or not realistic. How hard was that to shoot?

GG: Thank you, first of all. That was the most fun I had filming the entire month! I was really scared of doing that scene. It’s clearly one of the more dramatic scenes in the film, and we wanted to get it right, and I wasn’t sure how we were going to get it done. It was done on the last day of filming, and I was worried about it for the whole month. I put so much pressure on myself to do it right, but we were so comfortable with the crew and each other at that point. It was filmed with a handheld so we had freedom to where we moved throughout the scene, we were ad-libbing…it ended up being the easiest scene to shoot in the film. We ended up having fun with it. I think it turned out all right.

Jessica Lowndes and Grant Gustin

All photos courtesy Lifetime

AE: This movie is an extreme example, but do you think we all have to go through a bad relationship in order to get and appreciate a good one?

GG: I don’t know that you have to, but in life those darker moments make the happier, lighter moments more enjoyable. I don’t know that it’s necessary, but it seems to be the case with most people. It’s definitely been the case for me in my real life. [laughs]

AE: If Chris and Sebastian were in the same class in high school, would they get along?

GG: Chris, like I said, he tries to give everyone the benefit of the doubt, so he might give him a chance, but I can’t imagine Sebastian would be too kind to Chris. I doubt they would be friends.

AE: I gotta say, I loved your hair in the movie. That swooped up hair style.

GG: That’s how I wore my hair in high school, so I figured Chris could wear his hair like that, too. The hair stylists were great, so I give them credit for that.

AE: You’re playing another high school student here, but you’re older than that. Is it a challenge to put yourself back in that time to play the role?

GG: Yeah, it’s interesting playing 16 when you’re 22. It’s not that far away from you, but you change so much from those periods in your life. I hate watching myself play 16. 16-year olds are so in their head, and everything you do is so contrived and misconstrued by yourself. They’re some of the most delusional people in the world. For me, I think it’s harder to play younger than to play someone a few years older from where I am.

AE: What else do you have going on?

GG: A couple of weeks after I finished the Lifetime film, I filmed an indie called Affluenza with director Kevin Asch. We had a great cast like Gregg Sulkin from Pretty Little Liars and Wizards of Waverly Place. I’m really excited about it. I just saw a director’s cut a week ago and it’s looking amazing. They have high hopes for that festival-wise, so fingers are crossed something will happen with that.

AE: What’s your role in that movie?

GG: It’s loosely based on The Great Gatsby and events from the director’s life. My character is based somewhat on the Tom Buchanon character, another somewhat slightly douche character, but it’s an interesting concept. It’s all these kids in this rich society, and they’re acting like adults and the adults are still acting like children. Money weighs too heavy among all of them in their lives, and you see how it affects them negatively.

AE: And what about Glee?

GG: I don’t know anything specifically yet but, as always, I would love, love, love to be back. The new season looks great.

AE: I think there’s room for Sebastian to come back. I’ll see if I can talk to Ryan [Murphy] about that. [laughs]

GG: Yes! Put in the good word for me!

A Mother’s Nightmare premieres this Saturday at 8pm ET/PT on Lifetime.

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