Peter Pan's Neverland Nightmare Stars Martin Portlock and Kit Green
Jagged Edge Productions

The next installment in The Twisted Childhood Universe (TCU) is a horrifying take on Peter Pan. Scott Chambers, who produced and starred in Winnie-the-Pooh: Blood and Honey 2, directs Peter Pan’s Neverland Nightmare. It was produced by Rhys Frake-Waterfield, who created TCU and directed the Winnie-the-Pooh: Blood and Honey films.

The film follows Wendy Darling (Megan Placito) as she attempts to rescue her brother Michael (Peter DeSouza-Feighoney) from the clutches of the evil Peter Pan (Martin Portlock), who intends to send him to Neverland. Along the way, she meets a twisted Tinker Bell (Kit Green) hooked on what she thinks is fairy dust.

Ahead of the film’s three-day theatrical run from January 13th to January 15th, we spoke with stars Martin Portlock and Kit Green about their characters.

HGL: Martin, I wanted to ask about your performance. While some might expect something silly and light, it’s the opposite. Your character is terrifying. What went into preparing for the role of Peter Pan?

Martin Portlock: Firstly, Melissa, it’s wonderful to be here. Thank you very much for having us on. So yeah, Peter Pan, when I read the script, it was very apparent that this character was not what anybody would assume this character to be. In respect to anything that’s been made before regarding Peter Pan. And because his character does these heinous deeds with children in terms of kidnapping and murder, I think he’s probably as dark as anything gets in terms of a character. So, how does one really prepare for that?

I mean, I am a father of three. It definitely took its toll, but there are certain things that you can do to try and get into that mindset.
And in all honesty, I did use my children in that method because, as a parent, there are certain fears that you’re always worried about in the back of your head. We don’t see it every day. We’re very blessed in this world and where we live, and we don’t get those kinds of horrors as much. But if one of my kids were to go missing, how would I feel about that? And then I started doing research into myself more than anything, and then the mindset of what kind of person does that? How would they think?

RELATED: 27 Most Anticipated Horror Movies of 2025

So yeah, the preparation took probably about two and a half to three months just working through the psychological barriers and breaking through, knowing what you would care about, knowing what you wouldn’t care about. And then I kind of brought that together. And there’s obviously a delusion that Peter Pan’s got as well without spoilers. So, I had to incorporate that, too.

HGL: Kit, as with Peter Pan, this is a totally different Tinker Bell. She’s not a whimsical fairy but instead a tragic character. How did you prepare for what seemed like emotionally challenging scenes? 

Kit Green: Honestly, it was mainly talking to Scott because Scott had very strong ideas about what he wanted to do with Tinker Bell. We had quite a few conversations when he was writing the script. He wanted to make sure that he got things right in terms of cultural sensitivity in that way. But also, I did a lot of empowering him and going, “Yeah, you just go for it. And then we’ll make sense of it while we’re doing it.” Martin and I also talked a lot when we were doing it about what was going on with the two of them.

I think, mainly for me, it was about trying to make her believable in her innocence. And then, obviously, the journey that she goes on is having that taken away from her. I didn’t want her to be a victim. I wanted her to have moments where she was really strong and right at the very end, she has a moment where she’s strong. We would work on that right when we were filming it. I wanted her to have her moments where you like go, oh God, all these awful things have happened to you, but you’re actually, you’re doing okay.

Peter Pan's Neverland Nightmare Stars Kit Green and Martin Portlock
Jagged Edge Productions

HGL: She definitely got her moment. You’re also making another film in the same universe, so I’m glad you enjoyed it and horror enough to keep venturing into it.

Kit Green: I don’t really love horror, but I’m intrigued by it as an artist. I’m really intrigued, like, what do people get out of it? A bit like Martin saying, how does it take us to the world that we don’t want to think about? So yeah, I’ve really enjoyed going into this world.

Martin Portlock: I’m actually not the biggest horror fan, but it’s the attraction to those characters and the way they’ve been written and that psychological value. That’s what drew me as an actor into that.

Kit Green: Yeah. I’ve been told by friends who are like, oh, I don’t like horror. I won’t be able to watch it. I’m like, it’s a psychological thriller, actually. It’s not a twist to say that. It’s a psychological exploration of lots of the dark sides of life.

HGL: Martin, can you discuss the makeup and effects that prepared you to play your character?

Martin Portlock: The prosthetic studio, the company that did the makeup, was top-notch. Shaune and Paula Harrison are absolutely amazing artists. So you’re looking at about an hour and a half in the makeup chair first thing in the morning just for this bit, and then another half an hour later to try and take it off as quickly as you can before you go back to your hotel. And you wake up in the morning and do it all over again.

RELATED: ‘Heart Eyes’: Everything to Know About the Valentine’s Day Slasher

It was comfortable. It was really weird because it’s such a nice, thin silicon and temperature-sensitive. So, if I had cold hands and touched my face, I could feel it. It was really weird. What was the most difficult thing about it was walking around looking so disgusting all of the time. You start talking to somebody, forget you had it on, and they’d be like, “Yeah…” I’m like, okay, I’ll give you a break now. I’ll walk off.

HGL: I’m glad it wasn’t too intensive, and it looked great. You also did a lot of physical scenes. Are there any that stand out as particularly brutal?

Martin Portlock: So there was a scene right at the end in the kitchen. I’m trying not to do any spoilers. There’s a scene at the end in the kitchen with Wendy, and poor Kit is lying on the floor, absolutely drenched in blood. And we’re talking a hard floor here, so it was not warm. And there was a glass bottle; they got sugar glass, studio glass. But Wendy picks up this thing, throws it at me, it smashes. Great, that’s fine. She picks up a pint glass, she throws it at me, it bounces off my head, and I’m like, “Ow!” It really, really hurt. But it was all good because obviously, we just had to go again. (laughs)

But yeah, when you see the kitchen scene, that was probably the most challenging.

LEAVE A REPLY

Please enter your comment!
Please enter your name here

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.