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Orion Smith: Star of the supernatural horror film “The Conjuring: Last Rites”
- Markos Papadatos
- Oct 15
- 3 min read
Actor Orion Smith spoke with #Powerjournalist Markos Papadatos about starring in the supernatural horror movie “The Conjuring: Last Rites,” where he plays Young Ed (Patrick Wilson played the older version of the character).
The movie will be in theaters on September 5th. Vera Farmiga and Patrick Wilson reunite for one last case as renowned, real-life paranormal investigators Ed and Lorraine Warren in a new spine-chilling addition to the global box office-breaking franchise.
On being a part of “The Conjuring,” Smith said, “It was super cool! The whole process from the very beginning was crazy! Going through the audition process and the callback process was intense.”
“Then, we went to England and it was a new experience, especially meeting Michael Chaves and Patrick Wilson; it was all incredible things,” he added.
On playing Young Ed, he remarked, “I liked how trusting and loving he is, which seems kind of weird for a horror movie. I spoke with Patrick Wilson about the character and all those things. It was such an interesting concept because Lorraine is a clairvoyant, but Ed is not.”
“So, there is a lot of trust in Ed with Lorraine. He trusts her and follows her wherever she leads, and I think that is beautiful and a huge aspect of who the character is,” he noted.
On working with Patrick Wilson and Madison Lawlor, he said, “Patrick is simply incredible.”
Smith continued, “working with Madison was great; she and I met right before the callback. We were the only two people that were called back. In the waiting room, we were already going through the beats of the scenes, we spoke about the characters, and building our relationships. It was pretty much an immediate click.”
“Even in the crazy scenes we were there for each other, which was really nice,” he added.
On the lessons learned from “The Conjuring” screenplay, he reflected, “I learned that through the worst of it, you can still be a good person. Also, no matter how intense and dark things get, as long as you hold on to the ones that you love, it will be okay.”
Regarding his future plans, he shared, “I want to continue pursuing acting. I’ve got a great management team and PR team, and we are all working together. I am looking forward to what the future holds.”
“I am also doing material arts now. I can do my own stunts and spinning kicks now, so hopefully, I can do some action movies,” he added.
On being an actor in the digital age, he said, “It feels different. I think the feeling of people going to watch this on their phone is always a question in the back of my mind, because when you do something with so much effort that you put into a single shot on camera, it takes hours and hours of effort and lots of money and everything.”
“So, it’s sad to think that so many details will be missed if it’ll be on a three-inch screen,” he observed.
“It feels bad that the theaters aren’t more appreciated. So, I hope people are able to appreciate this movie or any big movies on the big screen with other people and just enjoy the festivity of the whole thing,” he added.
Smith had kind words on actress Sofia Masson. “I had the good fortune to work with Sofia Masson on the movie ‘On the Run’ and she is amazing,” he said. “It was so great to work together. I think she is just incredible, and she is going places.”
On the title of the current chapter of his life, Smith revealed, “Progress.”
“I think right now really feels like a big, expansive moment in my career and in myself. I think I’ve grown so much since filming this, and I think I’ve found so much progress,” he explained.
If Smith were to have any superpower, it would be to “pause time.” “I would like to pause time and then read an entire book… so by the time I un-pause time, I would know the entire book. That would be sweet,” he said with a sweet laugh.
Regarding his definition of the word success, Smith stated, “Success means being satisfied with who you are and where you are.”
For fans and viewers, Smith expressed about the film “The Conjuring: Last Rites,” “I want the fans to feel excitement!”
“I want them to be excited and to feel not only the thrill of so many different movies coming to this big thing and all the Easter eggs of the old movies coming forward, but also excitement for the characters, and for where they are, and seeing more into their lives and deeper into who they are,” he explained.