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Broadcast Signal Intrusion, a new conspiracy-based thriller out October 22, takes audiences back to a time when technology wasn’t nearly as accessible as it is today. Yet it still manages to be as mysterious and deadly, as seen by the unsolved pirate broadcasts that aired in the late 1980s, a real-life mystery from which this film takes its inspiration.
The story follows video archivist James (Harry Shum Jr. Shadowhunters) as he discovers a disturbing clip from a signal hacking some years back. What starts out as a curious search for the truth soon becomes an obsessive mission that threatens to hurt him and those around him, especially as it seems that whoever he has been following down the rabbit hole is following him right back.
The actor and executive producer spoke to Screen Rant about what made Broadcast Signal Intrusion unique in its genre, and how he worked with director Jacob Gentry to lay bare the many facets of his character.
Screen Rant: What was it that really spoke to you and made you want to take part in the story?
Harry Shum Jr.: This story just has so many layers, and it just allowed me to explore. Beyond that, I’m taking part in a story that I feel like I don’t really get to see much often; there’s also a story being told in this way.
But really, it was drawing inspiration from real events that happened. These intrusions have happened in real life: in 1987, the most popular one was the Max Headroom incident. And when I went through that deep dive, how eerie and how unsettling it was to see these news anchors that it happened to and seeing their reactions. It’s like you’re watching YouTube and then all of a sudden, these images came on, and it wasn’t an ad – it was actually someone hacking into your computer.
This story takes it a little further, trying to solve this mystery while the real intrusions – even 30 years after – are still unsolved, and no one knows who did it or why they did it. So, we kind of go head-on and try to explore that along with this character.
As a producer on the film, what approach did you want to take and how did that change your view of the story as an actor?
Harry Shum Jr.: We had a great crew and great producers that really helped shepherd this project. But particularly, me taking on an executive producer role really had me work with Jacob Gentry, our director, and really help guide James’ character.
There’s a lot of unknown, and a lot of things that this character has to discover, and along the way there some things we have to shift within the script to allow for us to – not fill the gaps in but try to make something entertaining while also allowing audience participation as well. And that’s always hard, I think, in trying to make a film when people do want answers and do want some sort of closure when you’re talking about solving a mystery.
It really helped in shaping the character and defining him, but also leaving enough room to make it feel like it could be you in James’ shoes. And that was really important for us to try and capture.
From the moment that we meet James, we can feel that he’s really wrestling with something: he’s grieving, he’s been traumatized in some way, but we’re only given piecemeal information as to what happened and how it has affected him. But you have to carry that in every scene. What is it like to balance what he doesn’t say with what he’s always feeling?
Harry Shum Jr.: It was a new thing for me to really be part of a project where I held a lot of the cards. When I have conversations with Jacob, he would be like, “Well, what do you think?” And I was like, “Well, what do you think?” And then we go back and forth.
But the finality of being in the shoes of James was, for me as an actor, finding some sort of comfort in not knowing. But for James’ purposes, it’s eating him up inside – and also it could be that whatever he’s searching for is actually just filling a void. It’s something that he’s not taking care of, whether it be grieving for his wife and not having the answers there [or something else].
There’s a lot that we can relate to as a whole, because when we don’t have the answers we want, then we can’t help but search for the ones that just comfort us or make us feel like we were right all along. I think that was in a lot of ways unsettling as well, beyond the intrusion: not being able to have a period at the end of the sentence.
Speaking of the intrusions, what was your reaction to them? And how were they incorporated? Did you actually play them on set, or did they put them in afterward?
Harry Shum Jr.: They were there. I love that Jacob and the crew and Scott Thiele, our cinematographer, just wanted to capture it as practical and real as possible. So, we were dealing with VHS; we were dealing with a lot of tactile equipment from the 1980s and beyond. We kind of hit a spot where everything was analog. There’s nothing digital, outside of maybe DVDs that you had to transfer to. It’s the in-between of technology.
And for me, watching those intrusions… I didn’t really know about the uncanny valley, which is seeing something that is real, but you can tell it’s not. There’s an in-between where you’re like, “I don’t know how I should feel about this, and it’s making me nervous and anxious or actually like really mad.”
Because it’s the extremes when you watch a scary movie and the head gets cut off, you’re like, “Yes, that’s gruesome, and I know how to feel about that,” and the other side is when nothing’s threatening, you’re just moving along, but there’s this in-between feeling that I think this movie captures really brilliantly.
Pick up did a wonderful job of really letting the audience trust that they’re going to feel a certain way. And that’s theirs to kind of own at the end of the day.
I also love the intimate setting of the film. I think there are at most three people in a scene, but usually, it’s just you and the videos or two people together. What was it like for you to work with Kelly and Chris especially?
Harry Shum Jr.: Yes, Kelly Mack was just such a blessing to have on set. Coming into it, she had a lot of questions too, as far as within their backstory and how much she does know and how much that she even shares with James. We would spend hours and hours drawing up theories that would at least get us to a place where we were – not exactly connecting, but at least we floated it out there. We were able to try and connect the dots while they’re shooting and trying to figure certain scenes out.
Chris Sullivan came in and out, because I know he was in between shooting This Is Us. He came in and just brought this really, really interesting take on the character. And obviously, he’s a big pivotal part of the movie, so it was just really neat to have this story take the shape of the unknown and for all of us to have this unknown explored.
But, really, I think the stars of the movie are the day players, as we call them. When we talk about Steve Pringle and a lot of these Chicago theater actors that came in and played these characters that really help drive the story and actually were pivotal parts of the movie that really took shape to where James’ journey was.
I thought it was so cool, because we were in Chicago, and we had the feeling of Chicago with the architecture and the vibe, along with these incredible talents that brought something so unique to the movie. If we just got a whole bunch of LA actors – no slide to them, but I think you need the local atmosphere along with the actors and crew. It was really special to do that in Chicago.
What theme or element of James’s story resonates most with you even after filming is over?
Harry Shum Jr.: I think it [was] two different themes for me. One is that a lot of these movies talking about conspiracies really talk about the conspiracy theory as opposed to the conspiracy theorist. I got to kind of do a character study on someone who, [no matter] how innocent it could start off as – just trying to find some information, and that information leads to something else, and then it connects to the next thing. And next thing you know, you’re in a basement, trying to figure out how to get out of there.
And the other side of it is that I think a lot of times, whatever has happened in someone’s life – whether it be grief, or whether it be something that has been neglected or hasn’t been faced – as humans, we try and find somewhere to fill that void. And that could take various different [forms]. You could be shopping nonstop, and it’s like this addiction. But I think in this particular film, it goes down this thing that might seem coincidental, but then it becomes someone’s truth – and that is their truth, but that doesn’t mean it’s actual reality or the actual truth.
I love exploring all that, because I don’t think anyone is right, and I don’t think anyone is wrong.
What is next for you? I would like to see you as Charlie Wu again in a Crazy Rich Asians sequel, but I don’t know when that’s happening. What are your plans?
Harry Shum Jr.: It’s so funny. In Hollywood, a lot of the projects are just in limbo. I’m excited for that, and I hope that starts to really move along.
But I have a movie coming out on November 5, [Love Hard], with Jimmy O. Yang and, and Darren Barnet and Nina Dobrev. It’s a fun romantic comedy and Christmas movie. I grew up watching those, and I was just really excited to be part of one. I get to play a completely different character than this one, and it was a joy to work on.
Broadcast Signal Intrusion is out in theaters and on digital October 22,
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