“The Deaths of Ian Stone” tells the story of an ordinary man who is nearly killed by an oncoming train after being chased by a nightmarish creature. Although he survives the nearly fatal encounter, Ian finds out the creature is a Harvestor, and he is soon murdered every day only to wake up again in a slightly different life. Soon, he discovers that the cycle will continue until he can find out the meaning of his own life. Ian is played by “Under the Dome” and “Bates Motel” lead actor, Mike Vogel, a huge American television star who is equally matched on screen by the menacing presence of Anthony Warren as an antagonist.
Of course, working with A-listers in successful films has become the norm for this British native, as Anthony has now racked up a long list of credits in nationally and internationally successful films and TV shows like “Eastenders” on the BBC, “Shank” with Ali G and “Casualty” star Adam Deacon and the upcoming “Dangerous Game” with Jessica-Jane Stafford from the small screen juggernaut, “Dream Team.” In addition to working alongside Vogel, Anthony also shares the silver screen in “The Deaths of Ian Stone” with “Once Upon a Time” and “Defiance” actress Jaime Murray, Christina Cole (from USA’s “Suits,” and the Channing Tatum flick “Jupiter Ascending”) and “Game of Thrones’” Michael Feast.
About working on “The Deaths of Ian Stone,” his first horror film, Anthony says “[d]oing horror flicks are quite fun because you and the other actors tend to have a giggle with the props.”
While it may have been funny on set, it’s no doubt that the results on screen are terrifying. He adds “[w]e had to put on [prosthetic] limbs for makeup which took so long but the outcome was amazing…we had to move in a certain way and hold dead-pan eyes to get…a more frightening picture in the can.”
The project itself hails from Dario Piana, also responsible for Warner Bros. film “The Lost Boys: The Thirst,” starring “Stand By Me” and “The Goonies” actor Corey Feldman. After Dark Films, the studio behind the project, has further produced “Beyond a Reasonable Doubt” with Oscar-winner Michael Douglas and “Desperate Housewives” star Jesse Metcalfe. Besides this illustrious company that “The Deaths of Ian Stone” puts Anthony in, the project was an artistic and technical challenge that made use of Anthony’s exceptional talents as an actor. Anthony mentions that “every time Ian came back” to life after he murdered him on screen, he had to come back as a different monster in a different costume, a process that called for his versatility and many years of acting training and experience in other roles.
Versatility on screen, in addition to his work with leading directors and actors, has become a fixture of Anthony’s filmography. In “The House of Malik,” a feature film from director Jesse James Jackson Jr. (“Frank Chase in the Streets of Harlem,” starring Ice-T), Anthony plays both the young and old versions of Neil, one of the lead characters. Such a portrayal no doubt was challenging but came naturally to Anthony after his work in “The Deaths of Ian Stone.”
His excitement about his future projects in both Hollywood and the UK makes us equally thrilled (or should we say, scared?) to see what comes next for this accomplished performer.