A Conversation with Slasher’s Jefferson Brown

For those of you that have been watching Slasher, Trent McBride, isn’t out to charm the folks of Waterbury and make friends. In “As Water Is Corrupted When It Moves,” airing tonight on Super Channel, we’re going to learn a lot more about Trent.

Jefferson Brown, who plays Trent McBride, sat down with me during my visit to the set last year, and shared a bit about his character — that is, between cracking jokes and referencing amazing 80s made for TV movies with ensemble casts. (For the record, anyone who talks about classic teen film Dance ‘Til Dawn is automatically cool in my books!)

What can you tell me about your role on Slasher?

My character is Trent McBride. Trent is a bit of a lone wolf. He’s not really an upstanding member of society. He’s a survivalist. He’s an outdoorsman. He would appreciate it if he never had to deal with anybody in town again. I’m sure most of the town would feel mutual about that arrangement. He doesn’t suffer fools. He’s one of those people who doesn’t trust anyone as well. He’s on guard and has the mindset that the best defense is a good offense. He’s not going to worry about what you think of him because he doesn’t think highly of you. He’s not all that interested in small talk.

How is Trent connected to Sarah’s return to Waterbury, and did he know her family?

It’s like any small town where you have two sides to the tracks. Or if you’ve ever grown up in a town with maybe two high schools. You know who they are and you know whether or not you want to concern yourself with them. He rides the peripheral element of town just in the same way that’s where he lives. He lives outside of town. Everyone would know him when he drives down the street, but at the same time, I don’t think anybody would say they know him.

No one is inviting him over for beer and barbecue?

No, which is how he likes it. This drama that everyone else seems to concern themselves with is something that he finds either completely superfluous or just simply entertaining.

Do the events taking place in Waterbury scare him at all?

There is a projection of indifference. What’s happening does affect him, but I think, again, it’s that the best defense is good offense. It’s a don’t tread on me mentality with Trent. If you have been a victim of something bad, in Trent’s mind, you didn’t try hard enough to not be in that position. It’s your fault that you have bad things happen to you. He thinks that nothing bad happens to Trent because Trent won’t let something bad happen.

How are we introduced to Trent?

The beauty in what Aaron has created is a lot of time jumps. You meet characters, and then you’ll re-meet them for the first time. You see a progression and an arc that, at times, occurs in reverse. We do this jump back and forth to reach a point in the present, which explains itself a bit better once you see where it all comes from.

I show up quite early in the series. It’s also one of those situations where Trent is mentioned before he’s is met. Again, it’s a credit to Aaron for creating that world, where there is small town gossip and you have a knowledge of different characters, and it’s being shared without really talking to that character. Everybody knows it [through a] “broken telephone” kind of thing.

You are part of such a great ensemble cast, too.

Yes, and that I am a fan of either from having worked with them before, or from having watched them in previous performances. It’s really exciting. To create a small world [like this] kind of reminds me of TV movies back in the late ’80s/early ’90s where they take Christina Applegate and they create this whole little universe.

Do you mean Dance ‘Til Dawn?

Yeah, was that it? With Matthew Perry?

Yes!

That’s right. I’m not saying I’m Christina Applegate, but it does feel like that because you see all these faces like Erin Karpluk, and Enuka [Okuma], and Dean [McDermott], and Chris [Jacot], and Steve [Byers] — all of these people that have peppered the shows that we watch. To see them come together and then put on different jackets, and masks, and plays, that’s pretty cool. It’s an honor to be a part of it.

Photo Courtesy of Chiller

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *