Actor Lonnie Chavis has been working steadily since he was just nine years old. He is most famous for his recurring role as the younger version of Sterling K. Brown’s character of Randall in the smash-hit drama series This is Us. Outside of the show he has recently starred in David Oyelowo’s The Water Man and the latest horror film to be snapped up by genre giant Shudder, The Boy Behind the Door. The film places Chavis into the central role of Bobby, one of two young friends who find themselves abducted. Bobby manages to quickly free himself, but rather than flee, he resolves to rescue his trapped best friend and a deadly game of cat and mouse between Bobby and his captor ensues.
The Boy Behind the Door is Chavis’ first venture into the horror / thriller world, but his performance here points to a healthy career in the genre should he choose it. Into Bobby he instils a fierce determination, a quiet strength, and a perfect embodiment of The Goonies mantra of “never say die”. In addition to being an incredibly emotional performance, the role also offers a lot of physical work, making it a challenging part across the board. It’s a lot of work for someone so junior in years and yet Chavis makes it look effortless.
Outside of acting he also runs his own initiative to help stamp out bullying, called Fix Your Heart; this venture also includes a clothing line that Lonnie helped to create. All this and he has only just entered his teenage years, putting most of us to shame. Despite his busy workload we were able to find some time to speak to Lonnie about how he found his first experience of working on a horror set, tackling stunt work, and how Fix Your Heart was created.
The Boy Behind the Door arrives on Shudder from Thursday 29th July 2021.
