The Cast of Touch Me’s Alien Obsession Began in Childhood

Some kids were obsessed with the Titanic, others Greek mythology. But for the cast of Touch Me, it seems like everyone had aliens on the brain for positive and negative reasons. “I’m obsessed with aliens; I have been my whole life. I used to want to work at the SETI institute and I used to be an alien hunter when I was little,” star Olivia Taylor Dudley confessed. “I have a horrible fear of aliens. I had sleep paralysis as a kid and I thought aliens were coming into my room and levitating me on the bed and sitting on my chest,” star Jordan Garavis added. Maybe the ETs foreshadowed Garavis and Dudley’s future as actors in Touch Me, and gave them a head start as kids to the light and dark sides of the creatures beyond Earth.

Written and directed by Addison Heimann, Touch Me follows two codependent best friends who become addicted to the heroin-like touch of an alien narcissist who has plans to take over the world. If it sounds like a lot for one movie, it is and it’s supposed to be that way, as Heimann wants everyone to feel a wide range of emotions throughout the film: “I want them to be turned on, I want them to be like ‘Ew.’”

We’re back at Sundance in the Vulture Spot, where we’re interviewing the casts and creators of the year’s buzziest films. Check out the rest of our coverage from the film fest here.