Flickering Myth’s Luke Owen gets on the phone with The Purge: Election Year star J.J. Soria…
NOTE: This interview took place before the Presidential Election results were announced.
The Purge is a franchise that has tried to hold up a black mirror to its audience, but not shove it in its face. It was never intended to be a ‘what if’ view or a warning of things to come, but there are those who believe the actions of The Purge could be something that really happen in the world we currently live in. A society where, for one night only, all crimes are legal including murder. The first film, made for just $3 million, grossed nearly $90 million worldwide, and its sequel – The Purge: Anarchy – surpassed that with $111 million worldwide, upping the ante of the action. The third in the series, The Purge: Election Year, reflected the real-world politics of 2016 (possibly unintentionally) and once again built on its profitability with $118 million worldwide on a meager budget of just $10 million. Impressively, the film tripled its budget from its domestic opening weekend alone.
One of its stars, J.J. Soria, was a newcomer to the franchise and starred alongside the returning Frank Grillo. Soria has had a prolific TV career and has already totted up 53 credits to his name since 2004. His appearances in shows like Dexter, CSI: Miami and Army Wives has made him a recognisable face, and The Purge: Election Year was arguably his biggest and most prolific film to date. But was he a fan of the series? “I was a huge fan,” he tells me over the phone while in the make-up chair during the filming of Rosewood. “I saw the trailer for the first one and I became a fan of it, and then saw it in theatres along with the second one.”
The Purge: Election Year boasted the biggest budget of the franchise to date, and Soria believes this helped the movie push the boundaries. “I was so excited to be a part of it,” he says. “From a money aspect it was a bigger movie and that allowed us to play with more toys. More explosions, more bangs. It makes it a more fun experience to have bigger and better toys.” But “bigger and better toys” do not always equal a good movie, as a director can have an unlimited budget but still produce something that’s small-fry. However Soria argues that writer/director James DeMonaco (who wrote and directed the previous Purge movies) took full advantage. “He has a great imagination. He just went with it,” Soria says. “I’m sure that if we could have had a real helicopter out there, we would have had a real helicopter out there. I would have loved to have seen that. I think he took full advantage it.” Soria also admits that he was a fan of DeMonaco’s before he’d met him, and that the director had worked on several projects he liked and he wasn’t aware of his involvement. “When I realised he was involved in those, I was so excited to work with him,” he says. “When I got on set and met him, it was just meant to be. We vibbed on a creative level and collaborated well. He’s a great collaborator.”
It’s hard to talk about The Purge: Election Year without looking at its apparent mirroring of real-world politics. When DeMonaco first started writing the movie, Donald Trump’s presidency dreams where little more than a joke in news feeds, but as the film hit cinemas it was quickly becoming a reality. In the movie, Senator Charlie Roan becomes the target of The New Founding Father’s Presidential candidate Edwidge Owens and Caleb Warrens during their race for the White House, fearing that Roan might shut down The Purge once and for all. Many have used this set-up to claim The Purge: Election Year was Pro-Hilary (represented by Roan) and Anti-Trump (in this case Owens and Warrens). While it was easy to draw those comparisons, Soria believes it was more of a coincidence that never played on their minds during the making of the film. “When we were making it, the campaign was kind of already underway but it wasn’t where it is now,” he says. “In my mind it was just a gimmick [for the movie]. But now it’s like, ‘holy crap!’, it seems so on-point. But that’s one of the reasons I bought [into the franchise] from the first trailer. It was because I bought into it and bought into the idea. It just makes sense. It’s now like, ‘holy shit we’re in the thick of it now’.” When asked if he thinks the film is Pro-Hilary, Soria pauses for some time before laughing and replying, “I would say the film is a film and it stands alone. That’s more of a question for James [DeMonaco].”
DeMonaco has announced plans for a fourth film in The Purge franchise, but it’s looking to be a prequel rather than following on from the events of The Purge: Election Year. Not only that, but there’s also discussions of a possible TV show based on the concept – something Soria has extensive expertise in. “Listen I’m not shy – I would definitely tell them to keep me in mind,” he says laughing. “But the fans have to speak up, and I understand the character was popular. I enjoyed working with James, and I think the feeling was mutual. If there is an opportunity there I will take it.”
Our conversation came to a popular topic for Flickering Myth: comic book movies and the output from Marvel and DC. Thankfully, Soria is a huge fan himself. “I would love to be a part of Daredevil, that’s an amazing series,” he says. “I just started watching Luke Cage and I’m into that. Oh, and Guardians of the Galaxy is amazing! I would love to be a mutant in one of those films.”
The Purge: Election Year is available now on Blu-Ray and DVD. We would like to thank J.J. Soria for taking the time out to speak with us.
Luke Owen is the Deputy Editor of Flickering Myth and the co-host of The Flickering Myth Podcast. You can follow him on Twitter @ThisisLukeOwen and read his weekly feature The Week in Star Wars.
