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Production for Asunder started a year from the day that New Millennium Studios acquired the script. The 22-day shoot was "hard and fast," according to the director of photography, Johnny Simmons, who worked on Once Upon a Time…When We Were Colored with Reid. Yet, there was a unity and comfort on the set between the cast and crew that seemed to be somewhat of a rarity.

On working with Reid, Simmons professed to having "a good creative relationship. He lets me paint a picture. We are usually on the same page, thinking about the same exact thing, so we can easily paint the desired picture together."

Simmons also touches on his theory for the lighting of the film, "I like to use light to tell the story and portray the characters’ personalities. Sometimes the shadow is more important than the light because of what you can’t see. It allows room for spontaneity and leaves a lot to the imagination of the viewer. I got a lot of my inspiration from other films, like Seven; that use dark images and shadows, hard blacks and strong contrasts."

Journey into Madness

Blair Underwood explains his character, Chance Williams, as a "portrait of a man going insane."

"He is a person who is already disposed to this kind of personality disorder, but the post-traumatic stress of the death of his wife and unborn child trigger obsessive behavior, like stalking."

In his research of his disorder, Underwood found that there are three stages one goes through: courtship, intimidation, and finally, violence. He explains that "you are able to see this arc with Chance and his feelings for Lauren. He starts out as a normal guy and transforms into a completely demented state of mind. When I played a serial killer in Just Cause, you never saw the incremental changes of a good guy turning into a bad guy. In Asunder, I am allowed to explore this journey."

As the tormented Lauren Hubbs, Debbie Morgan did a lot of her own stunts, which she felt was vital because of the many tight shots that were involved. She also did a lot of mental preparation for her character.

"Lauren goes through a lot of perils and her tragic flaw is her sexual addiction. Like any addiction, you lose control an end up in trouble. It is this addiction that propels the character through the piece and it was a very scary place for me to delve into. So, I created a back-story for Lauren to bring more honesty to the role. I think, especially for a female, it can be intimidating when you have to expose any raw sexuality. You start feeling very inhibited, so the back-story helps to find the character’s motivation. Once that was in my mind, I was able to be more relaxed with a lot of the places that I had to take her."

She also partly attributes her daring bungee jump at a nearby amusement park, on a day off with the cast, to Lauren Hubbs. " I never would have done that before, but there is a lot of myself in this character that I haven’t been able to portray before. There are so many fun and childlike qualities in Lauren."

Morgan had some fun on the set with Underwood and Beach, too. "Tim was joking on the set the other day, saying that we’d have to pay him to do this film if we didn’t stop laughing."

She adds that she has never laughed so much on a set before, nor worked on a set that had "no egos."

Reid notices the nuances in the differing styles of the film's stars. "Blair is really into his character. He becomes Chance once he puts on the wardrobe and you have to relate to him as Chance. Michael is a chameleon. He walks in laughing and joking, but the second I say ‘action’ he’s right there. And Debbi, to her credit, does not want to be rushed into a scene. She likes time to prepare and she takes some moments to compose herself, in character."

A Record Production

The three actors were extremely supportive of Asunder and Reid’s vision for the film, partly because they so strongly believe in what he is doing with his studio in Virginia. It is the only full-service studio in the state and the only minority-run, not to mention independent studio in the country.

Beach says that "what Tim is doing at New Millennium Studios should have been done a long time ago, as far as African-American involvement is concerned in the movie business. The studio should be supported, not only financially, but artistically as well. So, Blair, Debbi, and I are honored to be a part of the first feature film coming out of the studio."

Reid adds that he has never worked with three actors so equal in stature and talent, yet without ego problems, and completely focused on their work. "The chemistry between Michael, Blair and Debbi has been a joy to watch and I think it will transfer to the big screen and be just as enjoyable to the audience."

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