Belmont Cameli steps into the unknown as Abe in his first studio film — Until Dawn
Editorial Director
Bryan Kong
Creative Director
Melvin Chan
Photographer
Jin Jin
Styling
Shaojun Chen
Creative Direction
Jin Jin and Shaojun Chen
Every actor has moments in their career that turn into a realization that this is what they are meant to do. For Belmont Cameli, it happened after arriving in a foreign country with nothing but a script in hand. To him, somewhere between exploring the vibrant city of Budapest with new found friends and watching himself die over and over again on the monitor, his dreams of being an actor became reality.
Trusting his gut feeling that he was on the right path, Cameli has always been his biggest advocate. But that didn’t mean he was alone. With the support of his mother and friends cheering him on, Cameli’s career started on the small screen as Jamie Spano in the TV Series Saved by the Bell to acting alongside Robert De Niro in The Alto Nights. Aspiring to follow in the footsteps of some of his biggest inspirations like Robin Williams and Steve Carell, Cameli continues to grow towards grasping the perfect formula between comedy and drama, just like those who paved the way.
In a city rich with history, Cameli and the cast of Until Dawn brought a popular 2015 video game to the big screen in a test of endurance. There was no better way than filming endless hours in the dark alleys of Budapest in the middle of the night that created a genuine bond between the cast both on screen and off. That, and the familial connection he had to the city of Budapest was proof that this is where Cameli was meant to be. The right place, the right time, and the right moment to begin his story.
KATRINA HUNG — You’ve always been pretty well versed in the arts and acting. Was there a particular moment in your career that solidified that you made the right choice to become an actor?
BELMONT CAMELI — It kind of took a while for me to really feel like a professional actor. I started acting in 2018 after I left college. I had gotten to do a lot of great jobs but I really felt like I was in the right place when I got to Budapest to film Until Dawn. I’ll never forget when I arrived at the airport in Budapest and a production member picked me up with a script and handed it to me; I felt like I had really arrived for the first time. I kind of said to myself, “wow, I feel like a professional actor now.” There had been moments before, for sure, including the time that I worked with Robert De Niro, where I felt kind of twofold, where on one hand, I felt like, wow, I’m really accomplishing something here, this is a really special moment to be sharing scenes with one of my idols. But on the other side of that, I think it was for sure a little bit of imposter syndrome, I certainly must have made it here by mistake if I’m acting with Robert De Niro so early on in my career. There have been a sprinkle of moments throughout my career, but the defining one for me was when I got to Budapest. It was my first time filming in Europe and I traveled all that way to go make a movie on location. That was a really defining moment for me.
KATRINA — So going off of that, who was your biggest inspiration or maybe your biggest supporter throughout your career?
BELMONT — My biggest inspiration is probably Robin Williams, who for sure is on my Mount Rushmore of actors and one of my idols. Growing up, I loved his work across the board with all formats that he got his hands on. Obviously, as a comedian, he’s exceptional, and as a dramatic actor, he’s tremendous. I’ve always hoped to have even an iota of the character that Robin Williams has, and to be able to bring some of the nuances of performance that he’s shared with audiences to my work. Funny enough, kind of in the same vein, is Steve Carell, who does comedy really effortlessly and has had some brilliant dramatic roles as well. Something I aspire to is to live in both arenas of comedy and drama. He’s another aspirational career that I look to.
As far as support, largely my journey has been one of solitude. I didn’t have a template when I started acting. Nobody in my family had a creative career. I kind of had to forge my own path. So a lot of it, frankly, has been supporting myself and just really believing in myself and keeping my head down and knowing that good work will come as long as I’m doing the right things and that I’m focused and striving towards my goals, which I always am. And of course, my mother is my greatest supporter. She’s my biggest fan. I had to get her blessing to leave college and to pursue the arts, which is something I hadn’t done before, but I had a lot of faith in myself and she is now over the moon about everything coming out. Getting to share my work with her is like the ultimate blessing. I’m really close to my family, they’re a really great support system and I have a great community out here in Los Angeles of friends and people that I love. I have a really interesting conglomeration of friend groups. Most people are not in the industry, so I get little bits and pieces from everywhere.
KATRINA — They always say that your biggest advocate is yourself so that’s really nice to hear. That kind of leads to my next question. If I were to hold up my phone to you and ask you to send your younger self a brief 10-second video, what would you say to them?
BELMONT — Holy shit. It’s funny because it depends on which younger self I’m speaking to. I feel like I’ve been through so many different iterations of life and so many drastic life changes. If I spoke to myself as a kid I would tell them, hang in there, buddy, you’re doing all the right things, and you’re going to turn out just fine. Um.. maybe cool it down because I was such an angry little kid.
If I were speaking to myself when I was still in school, I would basically tell him… Your talents are going to be used elsewhere. Life is going to change dramatically but you have the makings of someone who can handle this type of lifestyle and workload. Just trust yourself. I think my biggest advantage over the course of my career has just been my instincts and really trusting my gut. When it comes to picking projects or building characters or working on set, I would just tell him to trust your instincts and you’ll go far.
KATRINA — Until Dawn was your first studio picture. What was it like going from the small screen suddenly to the big screen?
BELMONT — It was really special. Until Dawn is like this big blockbuster, right? It’s the type of movie that is really fun to go see in theaters, like the ones I grew up going to see. It’s a lot of spectacle. We shot the film practically. So everything you see on screen happened on-camera—which was a tremendous joy. To not only observe the work of our super talented artists in our various departments: hair, makeup, costumes, prosthetics, but also to be a canvas for them was a fascinating experience. It’s funny when you think of movie-making, you don’t often think of the sculptors at work when you have this sort of genre film and you’re shooting things practically. The amount of time, effort, and attention to detail it takes to create these deaths on screen, you can’t say enough about.
The scale of this project was rather large and the scale of its release is rather large. It’s the first global theatrical release I’ve been a part of, which I’m so grateful for, and it’s a really special moment for me. It’s so crazy to think when I was in Budapest filming, there’s a movie theater we would go to together, and thinking in six months, my movie will be playing here on the other side of the world. That’s just the trippiest thing ever. It felt like a real turning point for me. I was extremely close to the cast, so I was really blessed to share the screen with some of my best friends, which made it all the better. It felt like a natural progression. I was really excited to get to do this for the first time and hopefully get to do it more in the future.
KATRINA — How familiar were you with the video game prior to landing the role?
BELMONT — I knew about the game but I hadn’t played it. I didn’t grow up a gamer much beyond playing a couple of sports games, Madden, 2K, things of that nature. But I knew about the IP because I had a lot of buddies who played it back in the day, when it came out in 2015. I would have been like a junior in high school, and then in college I had some friends who played, so I knew about it. When I got the script, I knew that this was kind of a big deal because people really, really enjoy the video game.
I got to play it for the first time while we were shooting. Production was kind enough to give me a PS4 and I kept it in my apartment. The castmates would come through, and we would all play. We played one story all together, which, if I could do it again, I think we should have each had our own story because we would have gotten our own endings. Of course, shooting a horror film 16 hours a day, watching the sunrise every single day, we didn’t have enough time to finish the game. But it was exhilarating. It’s really fun, playing in a dark room, especially with your friends behind you shouting out their opinions, which is super unhelpful. But, the controller vibrating in your hand, being on the clock, having to make split-second decisions, getting that heart rate up—which it does—lent itself really well to some of the performance when we were working, because we essentially did 45 days of fight or flight. Every day we would wrap, we’d have to go home and all sit together and just decompress for like an hour before we could even get our minds and bodies to slow down enough to go to sleep. That is similar to the way that it feels playing the game.
KATRINA — That’s funny you say that. That was actually my next question. How did you decompress after filming such dark scenes?
BELMONT — Yeah, it’s a good question—it was a lot of wine. Camaraderie was also really important. We had great chemistry. Like I said, Ella, Michael, Ji-Young, and Odessa are some of my best friends, so that ride in the van back from the set to the hotel is an integral piece in decompressing. You get to talk shit about all your gripes you had that day and just kind of get it out and complain, which is the best. You don’t have to mean any of it, but it’s nice to just kind of like vent. And then getting home, hitting a shower, getting in your PJs, all getting together, sharing a glass of wine and some laughs and just hanging out without feeling like you’re about to be called to go shoot a scene right away was a really significant piece for us and honestly, bonded us tremendously. So yeah, we drank and we smoked cigarettes while the sun was rising and we just gritted our teeth and bared it.
KATRINA — Even just from your Instagram, you can tell how close you’ve grown to the cast. Did you have a standout moment when hanging out with everyone on set or maybe off set?
BELMONT — There are so many, like truly so, so many. I journaled constantly while we were there so I have it all documented. Early on, the five of us went out together. Budapest has a vibrant social scene and a lot of great nightlife and we went out dancing together after we had dinner with our director, David, and some of our producers. That’s when we really found out the most about each other early on. Specifically, that Ji Young is an incredible dancer. I mean, she grew up training as a dancer and she can get down. Michael has one move that he sticks to and just nails it every single time. I’m kind of just flailing everywhere, letting the music move me in a way that makes people a little uncomfortable because it’s not really dancing. And then Odessa is usually just jumping up and down and screaming. So we were all like, okay, we can identify the personalities we have in the room. And we had a ton of fun that night. I mean, maybe a little too much fun that night. It was really fun. This is before we started shooting.
Something else that stands out to me is that Ella Rubin and I were often in transpo together. Whether we were going to set or from set at the end of the day, the two of us got deeply endeared. She’s like my little sister, and we got to know each other really, really well. I have so much love for her. So when I think about Budapest, a lot of the time I think about the really deep and thoughtful and mindful conversations I had with Ella Rubin. She’s from New York. I’m from Chicago. She’s a couple years younger than me, she’s been acting her most of her life. I got into it much later. Like her, everybody has their own story and their own path towards ultimately somehow finding each other in Budapest to shoot Until Dawn, so I just have a great appreciation for her friendship and when I think of my time filming, I think of a lot of those conversations that we shared.
KATRINA —That’s really nice.
BELMONT — She’s the best.
“I didn’t have a template when I started acting. Nobody in my family had a creative career. I kind of had to forge my own path. So a lot of it, frankly, has been supporting myself and just really believing in myself and keeping my head down and knowing that good work will come as long as I’m doing the right things and that I’m focused and striving towards my goals, which I always am.”
KATRINA — So there are quite a bit of gruesome deaths in the film. But without giving away any spoilers, did you have a particular moment that you thought was the most fun to film or maybe the scariest to film?
BELMONT — It’s funny because some of the deaths were me with prosthetics, and some of the deaths were my dummy. So I actually got to watch a lot of my deaths on set as they were happening, like via either standing right off camera or watching a video on the monitors, which was a very uncanny valley and actually… deeply disturbing to watch a life-size replica of myself being desecrated on screen or in the room next to me. So it’s tough to say… I have a favorite but to avoid spoilers, I can’t say anything more than the bathroom scene. It’s one of the most jarring and horrific scenes I’ve ever been a part of or seen on screen. It’s almost hilarious how ridiculous it is. That scene and a lot of the other more gruesome ones, we shot at the very end of filming, because we had to destroy some sets for it that it would have taken forever to reset. So… yeah, I got to die on screen a lot. I feel like I’m a pro now. It was really fun.
KATRINA — Did you ever think that you would be in a film like this, or seeing yourself die so many times?
BELMONT — I never thought that I would be in this sort of time loop mechanism that we shot for Until Dawn. I always hoped that I’d be in a horror film. I’m a really big fan of the genre. The first horror film I ever saw was Sinister with Ethan Hawke. I saw it in theaters when I was like a teenager. I snuck out of the house and I went and saw it front row with my friends the weekend it came out. I’ve been chasing that feeling ever since. It’s one of the most disturbing movies I’ve ever seen. And ever since then, I’ve been a huge fan of horror. The genre itself is really interesting these days. There are a lot of different added components. There’s a lot of good horror / comedies. There’s a lot of good horror / psychological thrillers. There’s just a lot happening in the space. This one is kind of an homage to a little bit of everything. “Every night, something different is trying to kill us” is the slogan and we kind of got to play a little in a lot of different horror specific arenas. I’d always hoped I’d be in a horror film and I’m really glad this was my first one because I kind of got to do a little bit of everything.
KATRINA — How did you kind of get into character prior to filming?
BELMONT — Interestingly, it was easy for this project to get into character because when you’re shooting a horror film practically, the monsters are real. They’re standing next to you in full costume, and they’re so scary. I would turn around sometimes and a Wendigo would be scrolling on TikTok next to me and I would jump. We’re filming on location too, so a lot of the places we’re filming are very uncomfortable to be in. The tunnels under Budapest are freezing cold and moldy and dusty and just unsettling and spooky. It’s so dark down there. You’ll hear a rat or something, so the whole time you’re on edge. It’s easy to play somebody who’s fearing for their life when you yourself are fearing for your life. We all kind of just used the exhaustion of shooting this movie to lend itself to character and to building scenes together. This is actually the least amount of acting I think I’ve had to do. David set it up for us that we were going to be uncomfortable and we were going to be scared. We were taken care of at the end of the day, but it was petrifying and it took a lot out of us. So by night 13, Belmont was exhausted and I felt like I was hanging on by a thread, so Abe was doing the same and it kind of just worked out nicely.
KATRINA — The most authentic reactions right?
BELMONT — (Laughs) Right, right.
KATRINA — You did touch on this already, but since filming took place in Budapest, were you able to explore the city during the months of filming?
BELMONT — Absolutely. It’s a gorgeous city with a rich history. A lot of it has been rebuilt over time and because of the wars, a lot of the architecture has been ruined. I’m grateful to have been there in 2024 when a lot of it had been rebuilt, so Budapest is a vibrant gorgeous city with wonderful people. The Hungarian language is beyond me! I tried my hardest, and I learned just enough to get by. It’s not a Germanic language. It’s not a romantic language. It’s not derived from anything as far as I’m concerned. So that was a confusing piece, but I really got to enjoy learning some of it, especially because most of our crew was Hungarian so they taught us quite a bit. The city is really, really beautiful. The Danube River right there. You got the Buda side and the Pest side. We stayed on the Pest side for most of it and we got to explore constantly. Right when we got there, production gave us some bikes. Budapest has a fantastic network of public transportation. Living in Los Angeles, it’s like being on another planet over there because you can get anywhere very easily. I remember Mikey and I would ride bikes around the city all the time. By the end of the three months I was there, I had it all mapped out like the back of my hand. I really look forward to going back sometime because now I have friends that work at restaurants or jazz clubs or whatever locals that I can go see when I’m there. We really made it our home. It was a very special experience to share, especially with these people. Actually, funny enough, my great-grandmother was born in Budapest so there was kind of like a return to home thing happening for me there too, returning to my roots, which was also really special. We don’t have any documents and I didn’t know where she lived exactly or anything, but it was nice to go and feel the energy of the city that she was born in.
KATRINA — It’s kind of like everything was meant to be. So, if I was to go visit Budapest and you could only recommend one place, where would you recommend?
BELMONT — There’s this island in the middle of the Danube between the Pest and the Buda side called Margaret Island. It’s essentially this huge park. Kind of like a Central Park situation and they have a few little shops and restaurants, and then most of it is just trails and these huge old trees and busts of previous prominent Hungarian figures. It’s quite large. Mikey and I would go riding there on our bikes all the time. It’s a beautiful park. Budapest has a ton of public outdoor space and the people use them and respect them, which is really sweet. There’s people everywhere enjoying their days, just sitting, just watching a fountain, just having a picnic with their friends. It’s very quiet and tranquil and gorgeous and the fresh air out there is top tier. That’s one place I loved.
And then our favorite place to eat was called Babka. They have a tremendous small plates menu and a delightful cocktail list. We went there at least once a week, probably more. We made friends with that whole wait staff, that was our little home away from home. We loved that restaurant.
KATRINA — Kind of shifting gears a little, did you have any unique or fun ways of remembering your lines?
BELMONT — I’m lucky that memorization comes easily to me so as long as I write the scene down, it’s committed to memory. For me, it’s that simple and it makes it really easy. So a lot of the time if I’ve just transcribed what’s printed on the page to my notebook, it’s in there and it’s not going anywhere. So that’s my trick.
“It’s so crazy to think when I was in Budapest filming, there’s a movie theater we would go to together, and thinking in six months, my movie will be playing here on the other side of the world. That’s just the trippiest thing ever. It felt like a real turning point for me.”
KATRINA — Wow, that’s pretty impressive. So if I asked you to recite a line from two years ago in something that you’ve been in, would you be able to? Or is it like, once you’re done, you’re like, I forget this now.
BELMONT — I feel like I could actually! It’s funny, when something comes out that I had auditioned for but didn’t get, and I’ll be watching it, I’ll remember the scene I did in my audition. Yeah, I’m pretty lucky. I don’t have a photographic memory, but I’m knocking on the door.
KATRINA — That’s very impressive. I wish I had that.
BELMONT — It’s certainly helpful!
KATRINA — Oh, I bet. So I was looking at your Instagram. What is the inspiration behind that Spotify playlist that you have linked in your bio?
BELMONT — Oh my gosh. Thank you for asking! So the Spotify playlist is my brother Patrick’s playlist. He is the conductor of my taste in music. I’m terrible with music. I will pick one song and run it into the ground. I’ll listen to it 95 times by the end of the day and then absolutely hate it and have no idea where to go from there. So the Spotify playlist linked on my Instagram is my brother’s “Friday Five” playlist, where every Friday he adds five new songs to it. I think it’s gotten so long now, I think he keeps it to like 300 songs so when he adds five, he’ll take the last five off. It’s a great way to discover new music. He has an impeccable taste and a great range so there’s a ton of really good variety in there. You can expect nothing but bangers on the “Friday Five.” I put it out there because I don’t want to take credit for it, but I want to drive traffic to it because it’s the best playlist out there.
KATRINA — Did you help contribute to it in any way or is that really just your brother?
BELMONT — No, no, I don’t contribute to it beyond being an avid listener. It is all his creation that I’m so grateful for that I need other people to hear it too.
“I always hoped that I’d be in a horror film. I’m a really big fan of the genre. The first horror film I ever saw was Sinister with Ethan Hawke. I saw it in theaters when I was like a teenager. I snuck out of the house and I went and saw it front row with my friends the weekend it came out. I’ve been chasing that feeling ever since.”
Groomer
Coleen Dominique / The Wall Group
Photo assistant
Trina Thuy
KATRINA — Do you have either one or two songs on there that you’re like, this is my thing. I love this song so much.
BELMONT — I’m trying to think about what he’s put up recently. Let me see. Hold on. Let me pull it up.
[pulls up the playlist on his phone]
Wow, he’s got some good shit on here. It’s a great balance between classics that you know and love and a lot of bands and groups that you just don’t know yet. Right up there now, he’s got Portugal. The Man, “What, Me Worry?” which is an awesome band that we have seen live multiple times, especially at Lollapalooza back in Chicago. “What, Me Worry?” is just a great song. It’s even got some funny lyrics.
And then… here, I’ll give you another one. “We Are The People”, Empire of the Sun. I mean, that’s just as good as it gets. Again, a group that I’ve seen live and are awesome. That song I’ve been listening to since I had the first generation iPod. It’s actually so funny. My dad used to make playlists and now, my brother’s doing it, and the same song is appearing at the top of that playlist.
KATRINA — Aw, comes back full circle. All right, so I just have one final question for you. Without spoiling anything upcoming in your life, what’s next for you in the upcoming months, either career-wise, personal life, or anything you want to share?
BELMONT — I have a job to do but I can’t exactly tell you what it is yet. It’ll be announced at some point here soon. I’m really looking forward to it. It’s going to take up a lot of my time and it’s going to be great. I’m very, very excited for what I’m going to do next. That’s all I can say. Beyond that, my priority when I’m not working is spending time with my friends and family. There may be a move in my future just because I’ve been in Los Angeles for a long time and I’m considering going to New York at some point. Maybe at the end of this year, but without giving away any specifics, I can just say that this is going to be a very fun year and enriching for me as an actor and as a brother, friend, son, all that good stuff. I have a lot to look forward to and I’m feeling very blessed. It’s been a great year so far and I’m really looking forward to what we have coming up.
Until Dawn is now showing in cinemas. Watch the trailer below:
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