The action-packed vampire fight scenes in Netflix’s “Day Shift” are easily the highlight of the just-released sci-fi comedy. And while the Jamie Foxx-led film — which also stars Dave Franco, Snoop Dogg, and Meagan Good — tapped professional contortionists and other performers to capture its intense, supernatural magic, one of the movie’s other leads was adamant about doing her own stunts.
Karla Souza, who plays vampire boss/San Fernando Valley real estate agent Audrey in the film, tells POPSUGAR she insisted to director J.J. Perry that she act out her stunt sequences without any extra assistance. “I spoke to J.J. before agreeing to do the project, and he loved that I used to be an athlete. I could do all the action stuff . . . I was like, ‘I want to do every single stunt. I don’t want any doubles,'” Souza shares. “He was like, ‘Sure, sure,’ and then I made it happen, but I realized production gets really scared with that.”
“If I could only do that for a lot more of my other characters, just break off [my] heels.”
Souza had a blast playing an antagonist in the action flick. She says the script and her strong vampire character really encouraged her to get on board the film. She also notes that working with Perry on his directorial debut was a much more flexible filming experience, considering his background as a stunt coordinator on movies like “John Wick,” “Iron Man,” and “Django Unchained.”
“He took what we asked and would just always elevate it,” Souza says. “He would inject us with so much energy [and] made sure everyone was having fun. He’s such a coach in that way . . . like a little kid just playing with action . . . there’s all these styles involved that just make the film very special.”
Souza says one of the perks of her role was getting to cater her fight scenes with Perry to both her comfort and physicality. “One of the days that I was doing that big fight scene at the end with Jamie, we’re going head to head and I was in these huge Louboutins, like really high heels, and the floor of the set was squishy,” Souza recalls. “So, I [told Perry], ‘Hey, it’s pretty hard to do [this scene] with these heels on,’ and he said, ‘Why don’t we have this character, right before she gets into fight mode, kind of break off her heels?’ I was like, ‘J.J. I love you,’ like, yes! If I could only do that for a lot more of my other characters, just break off [my] heels.”
“Day Shift” is now streaming on Netflix.