Mason Gooding and Olivia Holt have made it out alive from recent horror classics such as Scream VI and Totally Killer, but even they were scared witless by the killer’s getup in their new slasher movie Heart Eyes. Creative kills set against the backdrop of Valentine’s Day is the lifeblood of director Josh Ruben’s latest entry into the horror-comedy genre, which boasts a script penned by Freaky‘s Christopher Landon and Michael Kennedy as well as Phillip Murphy (Hitman’s Wife’s Bodyguard).

Heart Eyes stars Gooding as Jay Simmons, who is part-time romantic lead Holt’s Ally and full-time murder suspect to Detectives Hobbs and Shaw (hilariously named in and of themselves, but especially so because Fast and Furious‘ Jordana Brewster plays one of them). Romance, comedy, and horror intermingle in the cleverly written narrative that seems to want to carve out a space adjacent to Scream‘s in the genre space, and with plenty of franchise potential to boot.

ScreenRant interviewed Gooding and Holt about their genre-bending slasher Heart Eyes, and how its themed killer compares to the iconic villain from the Scream movies. The duo also discussed their favorite scenes to shoot together and explained why HEK’s costume is one for the ages.

Mason Gooding & Olivia Holt Pit Their Survival Skills Against Their Rom-Com Chemistry In Heart Eyes

“We made each other feel very safe, especially on long days that were covered in blood and sweat and tears.”

ScreenRant: Mason, you faced off with the Ghostface Killer in the Scream franchise, and now you’re up against the Heart Eyes killer, who I think is going to be a new slasher icon. How did the villains compare, and how do you approach the different dynamics of surviving these iconic killers?

Mason Gooding: It’s funny because HEK has such a brutality to [them] that seems as if it’s hard to track the motive or the understanding of why these things take place, which allows for a level of horror that I think is alternative to Scream’s meticulous, methodical, more domesticated style of horror. HEK’s arsenal is also pretty f–king medieval with a crossbow. Trauma flashbacks.

But with Ghostface, I think the allure of that character is that it could be anybody, specifically people in your neighborhood and the people that you grew up with. That’s what drives that terror. With HEK, regardless of who it is, the threat is so imminent and insurmountable that it feels like, if Heart Eyes were written under any other circumstances and followed one person? That person’s getting folded like a f–king lawn chair.

But my trick for surviving them apparently is just a lot of sit-ups because Chad’s been stabbed [so many] times in the stomach and walked away that it’s got to be something from a physical fitness standpoint. Maybe he’s just an immortal deity, I don’t know. It could be that.

ScreenRant: Olivia, your character Ally is mistakenly in a relationship with Jay, played by Mason. How does that misunderstanding shape the story, and what was your favorite scene to shoot together?

Olivia Holt: Yeah, it’s like the beginning of the story, really. The way that the two characters are mistaken for being a couple, it’s the start of where they go from there and how their love story unfolds.

My favorite scene to shoot with you… There are so many! I really love all of our stunt sequences together. I feel like we made each other feel very safe, especially on long days that were covered in blood and sweat and tears. I really don’t know. I don’t know if I have a fave.

Mason Gooding: I don’t mean to take over a question, but you’ve kind of hit the nail on the head. I love the idea from a narrative standpoint that the things that would drive these two characters apart in the context of having to be together, whether it’s on a date or a work event or what have you, allows the Heart Eyes Killer to read those interactions as being loving to one another — and that puts them in harm’s way.

There’s a particular sequence in a drive-in that is emblematic of that, and we would go through these difficult stunt sequences, but find comfort with each other. Again, from a narrative standpoint, it allowed the dynamic with the characters of trying to navigate their differences in the pursuit of overcoming violent odds [to have] a level of narrative cohesion that you hope for.

The Heart Eyes Killer Is Deeply Unsettling Thanks To The Costume

“Seeing it on the body was a whole new different experience.”

ScreenRant: Absolutely, and it hits. HEK has such a striking unsettling look. What was your first reaction when you saw the costume, and did that add to the tension on set?

Olivia Holt: Yeah, of course it did. It’s so great.

Mason Gooding: I love that mask. I’m a bit of a dork, and I love the world-building or the intricacies around a set design or a wardrobe decision. The latent patchwork and soldering job done on the mask in tandem with the lipstick done with human blood allows a character without words to have a level of menace that makes even seeing it on a makeup table a little threatening and frightening.

Olivia Holt: And that was the first time that we both saw the mask. It wasn’t on the body, but on a makeup table. We were like, “Oh, is that our killer?”

Mason Gooding: “Is that our adversary?” And it was still effective, so terrible.

Olivia Holt: But then seeing it on the body was a whole new different experience. And the first scene that we sH๏τ was the scene in the bedroom where Ally and Jay see the Heart Eyes Killer for the first time. I think that we were definitely scared.

Mason Gooding: I was lucky I had Liv because I’m a big scaredy cat. Yeah, I know, shocking! Because I’m so brave and strong all the time. [Laughs]

Olivia Holt: The actor who always put the mask on, his name is Alex McCall, is incredible. He would mess with you all the time. It’d be like, “I don’t like that. I don’t like that at all!”

Mason Gooding: Horror is my favorite genre, but it’s because I get such a visceral reaction from experiencing it, and I feel like this movie is indicative of that. I would do this genre and make these movies for the rest of my life.

More About Heart Eyes (2025)

For the past several years, the “Heart Eyes Killer” has wreaked havoc on Valentine’s Day by stalking and murdering romantic couples. This Valentine’s Day, no couple is safe…

Check out our other Heart Eyes interviews with:

• Jordana Brewster, Devon Sawa & Gigi Zumbado
• Josh Ruben, Phillip Murphy, Christopher Landon & Michael Kennedy

Source: Screen Rant Plus