“Night Teeth,” now streaming on Netflix, is a brand-new action-packed vampire film starring Debby Ryan, Lucy Fry, Jorge Lendeborg Jr. and Raul Castillo. The film follows a driver named Jay (Lendeborg Jr.) as he finds himself in the middle of a territorial vampire war. Driving through the streets of LA with two vampires as his passengers (Ryan and Fry), Jay fights to prove his purpose as a means to not be eaten alive. 

The Daily Texan attended a roundtable with the film’s stars where they talked about their acting inspirations, attraction to the project and more. 

The Daily Texan: Did you find inspiration from other interpretations of vampires in the media to prepare for your role?

Debby Ryan: We have talked about how we love “Lost Boys.” … I watched a lot of video footage of big cats and how they interacted with the head of the pack, a baby, an innocent member of a different type of species that they were protective of, and how they distributed food. 

Lucy Fry: It’s interesting that Debby was talking about watching cat videos. When we were cast, I was in Australia and there’s a lot of fruit bats around where my family lived … I sat down for a while and watched these bats hanging from a tree. The way they moved, and their little arms. It ended up being perfect that my character got this jacket that nodded to a bat wing. That was a little bit of inspiration. 

The Daily Texan: What was it about “Night Teeth” that made you interested in the project?

Jorge Lendeborg Jr.: That whole driver thing is kind of this archetype that has made its way into Hollywood over the years. Although this is a more teen-based flick, it still skews edgier, older than “Kissing Booth” or “To All the Boys.”

Raúl Costello: I always find that to be a good sign when you start reading a script and you don’t want to put it down. You want to find out what happens next. I knew we had a great tool to work with, the brother storyline I really connected to as a reader. Aside from just the Jay arch and looking at it through his lens, I was just taken by the storyline of this guy watching his little brother become a man in essence … Within the genre, the bigger-than-life elements, (the film is) also deeply rooted in family. 

Emily McCarthy, FSU News: Debby, how was this experience different from other roles you’ve done?

DR: We sat with the scriptwriter in the hotel lobby with Adam, Jorge, Alfie, Raul; most of my dialogue, if not every single word, was rewritten … It was so collaborative. Because of that, it allowed us to bring our A-game … I, as you can tell, am a really broad person. It’s not like, “Oh she was on Disney channel so she just acts like a Disney kid.” As a person I am broad. There is so much restraint with (the character) Blaire, her energy is her currency. Every morsel of her energy is intentional. All of my career I’ve gotten people saying, “You’re so easy to work with.” Ultimately, I realized it was always at the expense of my performance. This actually was the breakthrough project for me where I felt like I was allowed to just do my job.