VIDEO EXCLUSIVE: Constantine Maroulis Reveals The Inspiration Behind His New Film ‘Dark State’

Constantine Maroulis revealed what it was like starring in the fun and creepy new film, Dark State, in his new uInterview.

The movie is set in Hammonton, New Jersey and features “a girl on the verge of breaking out as a movie star, a mysterious car crash, some investigative journalism gone array, you know perhaps a murder cult that you can sprinkle in there a bit,” Maroulis told uInterview Founder Erik Meers. “Certainly plays into the really fun, dark sort of trend that’s happening with scripted movies and television right now, but also touches upon some really current topics, you know, that are happening politically and certainly with, I don’t know, some crazy misogynistic maniacal behavior out there.”

“I play Adorno,” the actor said. “He is just your run-of-the-mill murder cult leader, sort of a dark and creepy guy for sure.”

Maroulis revealed that growing up in New Jersey helped him prepare for the role. “There’s a lot of weird stuff that happens in New Jersey for sure,” he said. “There used to be a magazine Weird New Jersey we used to run out and get to just read about the interesting, crazy things that happened here from you know down in The Pine Barrens where really this is set, and really all over the state, so definitely provides an interesting backdrop for this story.”

In terms of his character, he said, “I knew some creepy people growing up, but maybe not like this guy.”

“There’s some beautiful people in this movie; I think there’s a scene where I might be stroking them,” Maroulis said, “in a very professional manner I might add, stroking a beautiful, young lass in one of the scenes, and that was kind of fun, while there were some sort of on-lookers, my sort of cohort in this kind of cultish group was enjoying watching this all happen.”

“It’s fun to create that kind of sexy scene, but while there’s 20 crew people like off camera watching you,” he explained. “It’s fun to create in a safe way for the girl, for me, for everybody.”

Themes in the movie hold political relevance today, including “women’s voices being heard, stories that need investigating, us being comfortable with just listening,” according to Maroulis.

The movie was released on March 19. Check out the trailer below.