Lauren LaVera is currently starring in Damien Leone’s Terrifier 3, but she actually got her start as Anya Taylor-Joy’s body double in Split. The M. Night Shyamalan thriller was LaVera’s first experience as a background artist after the director spotted her on set.
“One day, M. Night passed me and we connected eyes. My mom was with me on set that day and she was like, ‘Oh, that was weird. Did he recognize you?’ And I was like, ‘I’ve never met him before in my life,’” LaVera told THR. “And the day after, I got a call from the casting director asking me if I could be the double for Anya. So I wondered if he saw some resemblance between Anya and I in that moment the day before. We both had darker hair, and we were probably closer in physical appearance at that time.“
In addition to doubling for Taylor-Joy, LaVera doubled for the other two leads as well. “I doubled all three of them, so Anya and the two other leads, Haley Lu Richardson and Jessica Sula [Marcia],” she said. “People think I was the stunt double, but I was actually their body double for closeups of their bodies and stuff like that. That was my first background experience. I just wanted to see what it was like to be on a set and dip my toes into it.“
LaVera added that Shyamalan recognized she was interested in other aspects of the production and was very encouraging. “I worked very closely with M. Night on set, and he was so supportive,” she said. “He could tell that I was so interested in his job as the director and in everything. He would call me over to sit next to him and look at the monitor. It was unreal. We joked around, and he even recommended books for me.“
However, she did recall one embarrassing moment during one of her first days on set, when she was so excited to meet Shyamalan that she completely ignored James McAvoy. “I was so interested in meeting M. Night that I didn’t even see James McAvoy,” she explained. “My mom told me that I started walking in his direction, and while he was ready to shake my hand like that lovely man that he is, I walked right past him like an idiot. I went right behind him to M. Night, and I was like, ‘I’m such a huge fan!’ So James McAvoy was just left hanging there.“
Terrifier 3 is now playing in theaters, so be sure to check out a review from our own Tyler Nichols and let us know what you think of the film as well!