Veteran Actor Christian Slater Joins Playback Cast in Grand Rapids

Christian Slater – know for his roles in the 1980s hits The Legend of Billie Jean and Heathers – has just been signed to join the cast of Playback – a supernatural thriller written and directed by Michael A. Nickles and produced by John M. Bennett and Lawrence Robbins for Bennett-Robbins Productions LLC. Filming began in Grand Rapids on Tuesday, August 31 and runs through the end of September.

Slater, the son of well-known soap actor Michael Hawkins and Mary Jo Slater started in the industry at an early age – appearing in the soap opera The Edge of Night at the age of 7. He went on to star in many Broadway shows in the early 1980s and in 1985, rose to fame in Hollywood after landing the role of Binx
Davey in The Legend of Billie Jean. He’s also noted for a starring role in the cult hit Heathers (1989).

Recent credits for Slater include 17 episodes as Alex Donovan on The Forgotten (2009-2010) and 9 episodes on My Own Worst Enemy, (2008), as well as appearances in the award-winning drama The West Wing. In addition to “Playback,” Slater has four films in post production (Sacrifice, Soldiers of Fortune, Guns, Girls & Gambling and Shadows of the White Nights) and is wrapping up filming on the comedy Without Men, where he stars alongside Eva Longoria Parker.

His role in Playback will be that of Frank Lyons, a jaded and gritty cop who may not be who he appears. Playback follows a group of high school students who dig into their town’s infamous past and unwittingly unlock an Evil that corrupts and destroys them. Possessing its victims through video playback and using them for malevolent purposes, evil closes in on one specific soul – threatening to expose the town’s deepest, darkest secret.

The remaining cast for Playback includes (in alphabetical order):
• Ambyr Childers (Riley)
• Dorien Davies (Mrs. Milton)
• Toby Hemingway (Quinn)
• Jonathan Keltz (Nate)
• Jennifer Missoni (Dee Dee)
• Daryl "Chill" Mitchell (Wylie)
• Johnny Pacar (Julian) ** Born in Dearborn, Michigan (June 6, 1981)**
• Alessandra Torresani (Brianna)

In addition to the credited cast above, over 100 locals will serve as extras on the project, with over 15 locals hired for crew.