13-year-old Woodstock girl onscreen in U.S. thriller

Juliet Brennan walked the red carpet in her hometown at the New Brunswick premiere of director M. Night Shyamalan's newest movie,Trap, which was released this month.

The 13-year-old from Woodstock has a role as a singer in the crowd at a stadium concert, which is also attended by a serial killer and his daughter.

Juliet, who is going into Grade 9, was on set for 12 hours last Nov. 6, alongside co-stars Ariel Donoghue and Josh Hartnett. 

Trap was filmed at the First Ontario Centre in Hamilton, Ont.

The thriller follows the serial killer, also known as "the Butcher" and played by Hartnett, as he tries to evade a police blockade. Donoghue plays his daughter.

"It is interesting when you are there," said Katie Brennan, Juliet's mother, "because you learn so much about how a movie is actually made." People swarmed every corner of the arena, she said.

"It was just completely full." 

Brennan said seeing her daughter's face "on the big screen was something else," and this first feature film was a "learning experience" for both of them. 

In order to audition for the role, Juliet's agent had her sing a Billie Eilish song as if singing it at a concert, and the tape was sent to the production team, Brennan said.

The pair had to get through two levels of security and "ample" paperwork just to get down to the filming site, with the crew even covering their cellphones to make sure nothing got released prematurely.

When Juliet was on set, she was assigned an assistant director, who helped her keep track of filming times and break times and to keep things flowing smoothly.

When asked what her favourite moment of the filming process was, Juliet said, "the first steps that I took into the stadium." She added that she sees acting in her future, whether in film, or on Broadway.

Working on set "with bigger cameras and more people" was a new experience for her, but she said she was excited to see the other actors. 

Juliet has been acting on TV since December 2022, Brennan said.

She also has a history of musical theatre, acting in two musicals in Saint Andrews as a younger child and two musicals at Townsview School before spending three years at Standing Ovations Drama Camp in Woodstock.

She now trains virtually with Milne Acting Studio in Toronto and takes virtual singing lessons with Becky Leigh, a pop/folk singer-songwriter also based in Toronto.

Director Shyamalan's previous work includes films such as Signs, released in 2002, The Sixth Sense, released in 1999, and Old, from 2021.

While Juliet didn't know Shyamalan personally, she had watched some of his movies, she said.

But because of her age, her mom didn't want her watching Shyamalan's more intense films, which employ twist endings and lean more toward the supernatural thriller genre.

The Trap role has led to many more opportunities for the young actor, Brennan said.