They say to me 'you've ruined my childhood'," says Natasha Tosini, who has become the poster girl for the most infamous film of 2023 - Winnie the Pooh: Blood and Honey - a horror centred around a twisted version of the loveable children's character as he goes on a killing spree with his best friend Piglet. Speaking to Nottinghamshire Live, the St Ann's actress discusses her unexpected rise to fame, being embraced by the horror community and being told she 'deserves to die' by some Winnie the Pooh fans.
There wasn't much expectation of Winnie the Pooh: Blood and Honey, having been filmed over 10 days on a budget of less than £100,000. But following its release it has become an international hit, grossing more than $4.2 million at the Box Office so far.
"I didn't even expect it to go anywhere, I thought it would just be a silly little project. I took the job because I wanted to make friends," said Natasha, a breakout star from the eyebrow-raising film. "I had no idea it would blow up. I'd say at this point it's infamous, it's definitely one of the most infamous films over the last few years, regardless of whether people like it or hate it."
A. A. Milne's Winnie the Pooh character came out of copyright in 2021, prompting British independent filmmaker Rhys Frake-Waterfield to capitalise. Shot in Ashdown Forest, East Sussex, the slasher film follows the murderous rampage of Pooh and Piglet, who have turned feral after being ditched by Christopher Robin when he went to college.
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Natasha, appearing in her first feature film, plays the role of Lara, one of an unsuspecting group of women who have rented a cabin in the Hundred Acre Wood. Despite the film's success being "overall positive" for the 24-year-old, who has seen an increase in followers, fans and opportunities, she says she has also had to deal with a lot of flack - particularly from some of the Pooh fandom who don't like the depiction of the character.
"A lot of people have messaged the director, the producer and even me and been extremely hateful," said Natasha. "They've been saying things like 'you deserve to rot in hell for being part of this project', 'you deserve to die' and other things that I can't repeat.
"I've had people say horrific things. They say to me 'you've ruined my childhood." In response to those people, all of whom use social media to hurl the abuse, she said: "That's absolute b*******, no matter what happens to you in this present day, I don't have a time machine to go back and change your childhood.
"If my mum was to die it would not ruin my childhood. I would be sad and it would ruin my current life. No matter what I do, you do or anyone else, your childhood is cemented. You as a child at seven years old didn't think 'I've got a really bad feeling that they'll make a horror movie on this in 15 years' time."
A self-confessed Winnie the Pooh obsessive when she was growing up, Natasha said the original and her film's adaptation are completely separate. "It's not a little cuddly bear, it's a human male-sized bear that's killing someone," she said.
"I think it's a great thing that's happened. The horror community absolutely love it, I do as well. I'm one of the biggest advocates of Disney's Winnie the Pooh and can talk about it all day long, but I can also talk about our Winnie the Pooh all day long, they're completely separate things."
Natasha will be taking part in a Q&A after a screening of the film at Broadway Cinema on Thursday, March 23, hosted by the Nottingham Horror Collective, and said horror fans are "probably the best group of fans I could ever have."
She said: "I wanted to go into the rom-com genre but the horror community has really taken me under their wing. I've never been someone who enjoys horror but since this has all happened I feel like I appreciate it a lot more. Instead of saying 'it's just horror and gore' I feel like there's so much more to it than that.
"Horror fans are probably the best group of fans I could ever have, I'm glad it's a horror and not a romance comedy, I'm glad I didn't get what I wanted."
Winnie the Pooh: Blood and Honey is screening at selected cinemas in the UK
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