AnnaLynne McCord Talks Portraying a Mass Shooter in New Film

Fair warning: AnnaLynne McCord’s new movie Condition of Return isn’t any simple watch — and he or she was initially reluctant to signal on for the venture.

“I had to figure out why I didn’t want to do it — and it’s because of the nature of the film,” the 90210 alum, 36, tells Us Weekly in an unique interview. “When I read this script, I was like, ‘Wow, I will not be doing this.’ [But then I thought] ‘Oh, if I don’t want to do it, I need to say yes.’ I’ve never said yes faster to a project.”

In the drama, McCord stars as Eve, a churchgoing girl who carries out a mass capturing after making a take care of the satan. Though the character of the movie is “really heavy,” McCord admits she was impressed to take part in the movie — which additionally stars Dean Cain and Natasha Henstridge — as a result of it serves a greater objective.

“Right now, it’s going on in our world — we’re dealing with mass shootings,” McCord explains. “Films are supposed to be fun and entertaining, [but] we have to do relevant films to talk about these issues because these things are happening.”

AnnaLynne McCord Talks Portraying a Mass Shooter in New Film — Courtesy of Pasidg Productions

As an actress, McCord needed to look previous forming her personal opinions about Eve. “To play a villain, you cannot judge your character,” the Nip/Tuck actress shares. “Playing villains my entire career, I’ve learned one thing: They don’t exist. People do good things and bad things, and sometimes those bad things are horrible.”

Dealing along with her personal psychological well being struggles made McCord need to humanize her character for the viewers. “That’s something that I care about deeply,” she tells Us. “I’ve dealt with suicidality. I’ve talked a lot about my mental health journey. I’m very open about it and I’ve got to bring light to it.”

Though portraying a girl committing a heinous crime wasn’t McCord’s best position up to now — “It was really dark to be inside of her,” she admits — McCord was in a position to depart the character behind when cameras went down.

“Something really incredible has happened with my work as a result of all of the treatment I’ve been through and the healing modalities I’ve tried,” she shares. “And it’s that Eve is very much her own person — leave [her] at the door and go home.”

McCord hopes followers will have a look at Eve — who places “blind faith into a belief system” — from a completely different perspective. “Even if you can’t like Eve or care about my character, you might understand her after this film,” she says. “You might understand how she got to that place.”

And she additionally hopes the movie evokes a bigger dialog about psychological well being. “We are talking about mental health in a much broader way than we ever have in any other era, but there’s so much more for us to really look into,” she tells Us. “It starts with questions and with building a relationship with yourself — Eve didn’t have that.”