Jordan Alexa Davis Tells The Movie Couple She Had No Idea What She Was Auditioning For in The End of Oak Street

Jordan Alexa Davis told us that she auditioned for The End of Oak Street without knowing anything about the story or her character, only learning what she had signed up for after she booked the role. "I had audition not knowing like what the story was, the character that much to the script," she said. "So once I had I got the script after I like booked the role, I was just kind of like woah, like what did I get myself into in the best way possible because it was just such an incredible story."

She explained that the project came to her as an untitled film, with only the names Ann and David attached, which told her it was going to be something big. "I knew it was going to be epic but obviously," she said, laughing. The character breakdown she received for Janette was similarly thin: "She's just a reserved girl, Catholic school girl who like just moved into town and like there wasn't much information there. So I really had to like create and work with that."

Jordan Alexa Davis Says Finding Out About the Dinosaurs and 80s Setting Was Thrilling But Also a Technical Challenge

Once she understood the scope of the story, that her character and the whole neighborhood get transported to another era and end up facing dinosaurs, Davis said her reaction was pure excitement. "I feel like I grew up watching like action movies like that, and especially for it to be set in the 80s, like that was something that I was always super drawn to and thought was super cool."

That excitement created an odd on set problem: she had to keep reminding herself her character was supposed to be terrified. "I found myself like at times on set in like situations where I was needing to be scared, I had to kind of like remind myself, like, okay, you're not enjoying yourself. Even though, for me personally, it was like so fun, but I was having to be like, okay, like you're scared, you're scared."

Jordan Alexa Davis Describes the Cast Playing Word Games Between Takes to Break the Tension

Working alongside Anne Hathaway, Maisie, and Christian, Davis said the group leaned on each other while shooting heavy material. "They're all so talented, and it was so great getting to learn from all of them," she said, adding that because the subject matter was so intense, the cast tried to keep things lighthearted whenever the cameras stopped rolling.

Asked what that looked like in practice, she said the group would pass the time between camera setups solving puzzles together. "We would do like the New York Times Wordle or crossword when we were just like waiting for camera setups and stuff. That was nice, kind of like collaborating on that and trying to figure out puzzles."

Jordan Alexa Davis Admits She Had to Reread the Script When She Learned What Happens to Ewan McGregor's Character

Davis said the fate of Ewan McGregor's character caught her off guard the first time she read it. "When I read the script, I was like, wait, what? I had to reread it," she said. Even so, she called that turn one of her favorite parts of the film, describing it as carrying one of the story's biggest lessons about family and the people you love.

Discussing how Janette specifically reacts to that moment, Davis said she and the filmmakers played with different emotional registers before settling on an approach rooted in the character's unseen backstory. "What was interesting about Jeanette was like she had already been through so much trauma before she was brought in, off screen, that nobody saw, but she was dealing with that internally, so I had to kind of build that world within myself while playing her." She added that this made Janette react with more numbness than the other characters, alongside shock and what she called "immense trauma."

Jordan Alexa Davis Calls The End of Oak Street Her First Movie Doing Stunts

The physical demands of the role were new territory for Davis, who said this was her first film that required stunt work. She described the challenge less as the stunts themselves and more as managing the emotional toll of repeatedly working herself into a heightened, frightened state and then having to come back down from it once filming wrapped for the day.

"Sometimes your body doesn't know it's all pretend cuz you're really taking yourself there," she said. "So I guess just learning how to separate the two is like a challenge but fun." To decompress after those days, she said she would listen to upbeat music on the ride home and watch cartoon movies and other lighthearted content.

Jordan Alexa Davis Explains How the Dinosaur Scenes Were Actually Filmed

Behind the scenes, Davis said the approach to filming the dinosaur sequences varied significantly from scene to scene. In some shots, she said, the actors were not reacting to anything physical at all. In others, the crew used a stick with a cardboard cutout of a dinosaur head standing in for the creature.

For the more technical stunt sequences, such as scenes where characters physically wrestle with a dinosaur, Davis said the production instead used a person wearing a blue suit. "Every scene was kind of different technicality wise of how that worked out, but yeah, it was interesting," she said. "It was a lot of using your imagination for sure."

Jordan Alexa Davis Reveals the Film Shot Multiple Different Endings Before Landing on the Two Janettes Twist

Addressing the film's climax, in which two versions of her character appear, Davis said she had to reread that section of the script several times to make sure she understood it correctly. "I like had to reread that part too like a bunch of times. I was like, is am I getting this right?" She said the production actually shot a couple of different possible endings, leaving her curious about which one would ultimately make the final cut.

She said she did not know for certain which ending would be used, but she had hoped it would be the one that was chosen. "I genuinely had no idea. I knew which one I hoped that it would be, which was the one that it was. I just think that ending is like so sick." She agreed it would be interesting if a future home release included all of the different filmed endings for audiences to watch.

Jordan Alexa Davis Has Nothing to Tease Yet on What Comes Next

Asked what is coming up next in her career after appearing alongside Anne Hathaway in this film, as well as prior roles including The Grudge and Defending Jacob with Chris Evans, Davis kept things brief. "Not yet, but yeah, we'll have to find out," she said.

Asked to make a final pitch for the movie, Davis described it as a story that hits every emotional note at once. "It's just such a fun ride. There's just so many gasps, so many laughs and tears and screams. It's not just like a scary thrilling movie. It's also funny and deep at times, so yeah. It's a ride of everything."

What do you think really happened between the two Janettes, and which of the film's unused endings would you most want to see?