Like a desolate, secluded…well, like a cabin in the woods, Joss Whedon’s upcoming horror-throwback project has been kept top secret. It’s both infuriating and exciting evoking that sensation you get after eating a plate of cheese dogs, drinking PBR, and riding the Zipper—yick! But it’s time to take a Tums and uncover the mystery behind Whedon’s film, so we went knocking on Brian White’s door. Recently cast as Truman in Cabin in the Woods, White’s been busy promoting his latest film, 12 Rounds, also starring John Cena, and currently in theaters. When we caught up with him, White, a former New England Patriot and star of Moonlight, gave us all the dirt he could on Cabin, including his possible stunt work in the film, and his least favorite horror trope, which he hopes to disprove! Plus White talks about the never-filmed season 2 of Moonlight, the show’s cancellation, and his time spent with Uwe Boll on the five-time Razzie Award-nominated, In the Name of the King: A Dungeon Siege Tale. Read on below.

For the unacquainted, tell us a bit about 12 Rounds, your film now in theaters…
12 Rounds is a Die Hard/Lethal Weapon action film, a throwback ‘90s style action film. There’s not a lot of CGI, very real practical stunts. Car chases, explosions, fights—the director is Renny Harlin the director of Die Hard 2 and Cliffhanger. It’s a story about regular New Orleans beat cops who, out on the beat one night, take down the most nefarious wicked international arms dealer that there is: Miles Jackson, played by Aiden Gillen from The Wire. In the process of making the arrest, Aiden’s love interest is killed. Cut to a year later, Aiden has broken out of jail and he really wants to know whether these cops who took him down were actually great cops or if they just got lucky. So to find out, he kidnaps John Cena’s love interest played by Ashley Scott and forces John and I to go through a series of 12 challenges, or rounds, to get her back. It’s one of those adrenaline rides. Grab you popcorn, grab your drink, go to the bathroom before the lights go off, strap on your seatbelt, and enjoy the ride; because it’s going to be an adrenaline ride.

You and John are both athletes, so you basically got to do what you do best…
It was fantastic. The next two projects I have coming out are 12 Rounds and Fighting, which are very heavy on the action side. In 12 Rounds the huge plus for me was getting to learn how to do the stunt driving and precision driving. We got to go down to New Orleans and work with the best stunt drivers in the world to learn how to control a car, how to spin out safely, take corners at 100 miles per hour, and not kill the cameraman in the back seat, and do the stuff myself.

There’s a lot of stunt work going on, and it’s all the actors. It’s me and John. About the only thing he didn’t do was sit inside a helicopter when they blew it up. We don’t have a lot of action movies like that, Steve McQueen-style. That’s what they’ve created here.

I think it makes the movie more enjoyable when you know it’s the actor literally giving their blood, sweat and tears up there to amuse you. It makes your ten dollars worth that much more. If you like the gore and reality and to see people go through it, in 12 Rounds you will see the cast go through it.

You’ve also just been cast in Joss Whedon’s Cabin in the Woods…
Yeah, Joss and Drew [Goddard], I’m excited about that one!

Could you tell us anything about your role of Truman?
[Laughs.] No. We were all sworn to secrecy. I can say that the character’s name—my character’s name—is Truman. I can’t say much more, we had to sign a non-confidentiality, non-disclosure agreement because Joss and Drew want to keep a tight cover on all this because of the script. They are trying to withhold as many surprises as they can. In the horror genre, the less you know the better the film experience is for you. I know people want to know as much as they can, but it’ll make the movie a lot more enjoyable for them, especially if the true fans don’t know what’s going on. Half the fun is the story and how it unfolds. If you know the story in advance, you kind of start making judgments about what you think. It’s an excellent script, excellent story, excellent cast led by Richard Jenkins and Bradley Whitford. Joss is one of the best writers in the world, Drew is one of the best writer/directors in the world, and it’s got an amazing cast. So it’s going to be a great horror-thriller.

Were you familiar with some of Joss’s other works?
I have met Joss in the process of auditioning for other things that he’s produced. He decided to give me this opportunity. I’m definitely familiar with him and I feel really blessed to work with somebody who makes such quality horror and thriller films, and to work with such a talented ensemble cast, right down to the kids in this film, is great.

I feel really blessed, because as far as horror-thrillers go, this is going to be on of the best ever made, so it’s really exciting to start a project knowing that you’re in such talented and capable hands.

Now that you have this familiarity with stunt work, if Cabin in the Woods calls for some stunt work, would you be interested?
One-hundred percent. Whatever they let me do on this film of course I’m going to do it. That’s pretty much my motto right now. Being a former professional athlete, I definitely want to use those skills. It’s an asset that I do have, that I can make—hopefully—my movies more enjoyable to the audience. I love the fact that you can tell it was Matt Damon in all the Bourne movies doing the fight scenes and car driving. It made it much more enjoyable. I love the fact that you know it’s Jason Statham in movies like Crank, where he’s doing the action. He’s an incredible martial artist. I’ve had the chance to work with him. It makes those movies that much more enjoyable. Here, whatever action there is for my character Truman, I’m definitely going to step up and ask Joss if I can do it and add that layer to the film. It’s always more enjoyable. The more I can do the merrier.

Speaking of Jason Statham, you two worked together on In the Name of the King: A Dungeon Siege Tale, which was nominated for five Razzies…[Laughs.] Yeah.

Everyone is pretty down on Uwe Boll. You’ve worked with him. What are your thoughts…
[Laughs.] Leave Uwe alone! He’s fantastic! I love that man. He has a big heart. [Laughs.]

So would you work with him again?
I’d be happy to work with Uwe again. We’d have to talk about it and figure it out. He gave me a really good opportunity to be part of a big production and work with him and Jason Statham and his fight coordinator Tony Ching. He’s the best in the world. You don’t get to work with those kinds of people every day and learn those kinds of skills. I’ve got to take my hat off and thank Uwe Boll for that opportunity. I would have never gotten that opportunity anywhere else. The one thing I do think people need to give him credit for is he is one of the most prolific producers being able to put these projects together. He’s been able to assemble these casts and budgets and all the things that are required to make a big Hollywood movie. By himself he’s quite prolific. To get to sit around and spend time with him, to know him is to love him. He’s big-hearted, very smart, a very capable director/producer. I have nothing but kind things to say about him. Hollywood is all about opportunities, and Uwe Boll certainly gave me one. Thank you, Uwe.

We’re pretty fascinated with what a great promoter he is. There’s always significant buzz around him, good or bad…
Well, I guess in the genre the standard is “all buzz is good buzz”. Sometimes people can be a little bit malicious and kill the film. I’m not necessarily a fan of killing the film before it’s out. I would hope that people would actually want to see something before they bash it. There are no new ideas. There are new twists and new spins which is what Joss and Drew are trying to do. They’re such prolific writers that they’re trying to create something new by coming at it from a new angle.

I don’t think every writer or director has that mission tough. Sometimes you want to make a good old popcorn film, or an action film. For me as a moviegoer, I wait to make judgment until after the closing credits. I enjoy Uwe’s sense of humor and he always has a point of view. I take my hat off to him. It’s a hard business.

After In the Name of the King and your role on Moonlight, and, coming up, with Cabin in the Woods, you’re no stranger to the genre film. Are you a fan?
Yeah when it’s done well, I’m always a fan. Anything that makes the hair on the back of your neck stand up. To see if something can scare you. Great horror movies and thrillers, I’m a huge fan, since the Hitchcock days, knowing how to really tell a good story. That’s what horror, thriller and suspense is all about. It’s all about how you unroll that ball of yarn.

What really excited me about working on a project like Moonlight is that it was so well written and so well produced by Joel Silver, with a great cast of Alex O’Loughlin and Sophia Myles. I got a chance to really do a real grounded, believable, emotional vampire story. I feel like it’s sort of the same opportunity with Cabin in the Woods because of the capable, talented cast and director.

Horror films like The Ring are what I really like, because it’s spooky on a different kind of level than the average thriller. I think Cabin in the Woods is going to do all of the above.

When Moonlight was cancelled, the fans sort of went nuts—a similar situation to Jericho, in which they brought it back a year later due to fan’s outrage. Has anyone approached you about bringing Moonlight back?
Well, right now it’s syndicated on another network [Sci-Fi]. Fans were so passionate for Moonlight and I really have to thank them for all that support and continued support and energy. TV is a funny business. Sometimes it doesn’t always make sense. Moonlight was before True Blood, before Twilight, and they are making more Twilight now, and more Vampire Diaries now, so it’s the big topic. It seems like they let one go. I was very shocked since the show won the People’s Choice award and Alex was one of the favorite stars. All of a sudden the show went away. It doesn’t always make sense. For fans of the genre, be as passionate about what you do like as you are about what you don’t like. It’s very clear when people don’t like something—like our previous conversation about my director friend—people don’t like somebody, they let the world know. If you do like something, be as passionate or it’s not going to stay around.

If they brought it back for another season, would you be interested in being involved?
I’d love to. I loved the cast. It was like working on a top-notch film project every week. If there was an opportunity to make more, I would be there with bells on.

Shows like Moonlight, and films like Cabin in the Woods, sort of take horror tropes and turn them on their heads. Do you have a favorite horror trope?
Oh, like the black-guy is always going to die first? [Laughs.] Being African-American myself, I think that’s my least favorite one. That’s the one I’m going to try to avoid in this one [Cabin in the Woods]. I’m trying not to be the first person to go. [Laughs.]