LOS ANGELES – Six months at a resort may sound like fun, but it had its drawbacks, according to the cast of “Saint X.”
Playing a family at a Caribbean resort, Betsy Brandt, Michael Park, West Duchovny and Kenlee Anaya Townsend stayed at one resort, filmed at another.
“We were living the life that we are seeing,” Park says of the Dominican Republic vacation sites. “We were going to all of the places, all of the local jointsm (and that) was kind of interesting.”
But when they came back to the all-inclusive resort where they were staying, it was a much different picture.
“They played the ‘Macarena’ all day,” says Executive Producer Leila Gerstein.
“And there were foam parties in the pool,” says Duchovny.
“There were moments when the couples staying next door were partying it up and we had a really touching scene (to film) the next morning,” Park adds.
“Everybody is on their vacation and we’re working,” Brandt says. “I can imagine some nights what we looked like walking into the hotel bar and other people’s romantic dinners. They thought it was the craziest family reunion.”
For the four, however, those resort-filled days and nights helped bring them together as a TV family. In the limited series, Duchovny’s character is raped and murdered while on vacation. Twenty years later, her sister, played by Alycia Debnam-Carey, goes on a mission to find out what happened.
Mia Thomas (Betsy Brandt) and Bill Thomas (Michael Park) want to know what happened to their daughter in "Saint X."
While filming in the Dominican Republic, the heat was often unbearable, Debnam-Carey says. “You are, like, melting. It feels glamorous but, by no means, is it vacation. There was a weird kind of differentiation.”
To bond, the actors went into a “family workshop” on the first rehearsal day. “We didn’t really know each other all that well,” says Park. “But 45 minutes later, we left that room in tears. It was amazing what (director Dee Rees) was able to accomplish in that 45 minutes.”
When the actors shot scenes dealing with the loss of a daughter, they were able to process the feelings more deeply. “I have my own kids and my own imagining of loss,” Brandt says. “But I would just picture (Duchovny’s) face and pray to God we’d find her. That’s what makes it so scary and powerful. I hoped to God I was doing justice to the people who have gone through this.”
Alison (West Duchovny) and Mia Thomas (Betsy Brandt) discover trouble in the Caribbean in "Saint X."
Park also talked to his brother, who had lost a 20-year-old son. “I was channeling my brother,” he says. “We talked about this extensively. Whenever I was working with Betsy, I felt like I was in safe hands. In a way, it helped me out. This entire shoot, in a way, was therapy for me.”
To guide each other through the darker moments of “Saint X,” the actors spent off-camera time together.
“Otherwise, it would have been horribly depressing,” Brandt says. “We’re really a family. We ate dinner (together). We flew together. We did it all. I’m hoping the payoff is that the audience feels the loss because they were invited in.”
“Saint X” airs on Hulu.
The Goodfellas actor died in his sleep at the age of 67 while in the Dominican Republic, where he was shooting the movie Dangerous Waters. According to documents obtained by TMZ, authorities in the Dominican Republic found heart and respiratory system issues caused Liotta's death in May 2022. The Field of Dreams star died due to acute heart failure, respiratory insufficiency and pulmonary oedema. He also suffered from atherosclerosis or a thickening or hardening of the arteries caused by a build-up of plaque.
