Nell Tiger Free praises horror films for focusing on women

Nell Tiger Free finds it “very satisfying” that women are no longer just seen as “bait” in horror movies.

The 24-year-old actress can next be seen in Arkasha Stevenson’s ‘The First Omen’ as an American who arrives in Rome to become a nun, only to discover dark conspiracies within the church, and she’s thrilled to be part of the genre’s new wave of films that put female characters at the “epicentre” of the story.

She told Empire magazine: “There was a time when women were used in horror films as bait, that feels so dated now.

“Now it feels like women tend to be at the epicentre of these tales and they’re not just experiencing peril and fear but also combating it and overcoming it and solving the case 99 per cent of the time, which is very satisfying to see.”

The movie is set in the 1970s, before the events of ‘The Omen’, and the former ‘Game of Thrones’ actress watched both the original film and its sequel as part of her preparation.

She said: “I was really focused on the mythology of it when we started shooting and then as the shoot progressed.

“I think what’s cool about this movie is that it could be a stand-alone film, but it does slot nicely into the lore of ‘The Omen’.”

Nell’s next project will be ‘Fall Into Darkness’, a cave-set survivalist movie about a group of backpackers, but she’s open to other genres, including rom-coms.

She quipped: “I’ll give it my best shot to not be terrifying.”