‘Barbarian’ star Justin Long on his unexpected horror career and how Conn. and N.Y. shaped him

Even horror veteran Justin Long couldn’t believe the terrifying twists in his new movie “Barbarian.”

The Connecticut-born actor suspects the film about a woman’s spine-chilling stay at a Detroit rental home could affect real-life vacationers in the same way “Jaws” freaked out beachgoers.

“It’s kind of like the way you go to the beach now and there’s always a slight awareness of there could be a shark around,” Long told the Daily News. “At least I have that. I won’t speak for other people, but I know that when I book my Airbnb from now on, I will check for a basement.”

Creeping into theaters Friday, “Barbarian” tells the story of a woman, played by Georgina Campbell, who’s surprised to learn the house she’s staying at was double-booked with a man portrayed by Bill Skarsgard.

Long’s character is the owner of the home, which hides unnerving secrets in its basement.

“You watch a horror movie and people are constantly yelling at the screen, ‘Don’t do that!’” Long, 44, said. “The characters make idiotic decisions — I’ve done them myself — where it’s like, ‘Why would you go back there? You know it’s going to lead to something dark and bad.’ [Writer-director] Zach [Creggers] was so smart in how he wrote the lead character. ... She’s a smart character. She follows the rules of logic.”

“Barbarian” is the latest in a long line of horror flicks for Long, whose breakthrough performance came in 2001′s “Jeeper Creepers.” He also starred in the Sam Raimi-directed “Drag Me to Hell” and Kevin Smith’s “Tusk.”

He says his path to horror movies was not a deliberate one.

“When I started out, a big teen movie boom was happening, so I auditioned for all that stuff, and it just so happened that I got this part in ‘Jeepers Creepers,’” Long said.

“I remember auditioning with kids who I had seen in other teen movies. ‘American Pie’ was big then. There just was a lot of opportunity for younger actors. ... I happened to love horror movies as an audience member, as a viewer, but I would just take whatever job was available.”

Long is also known for comedy films such as “Dodgeball” and “Accepted,” and for starring alongside Bruce Willis in “Live Free or Die Hard.”

The actor grew up 60 miles from New York City in Fairfield, Conn., and studied at the liberal arts school Vassar College in Poughkeepsie.

“My mom was an actress, so I was lucky enough to grow up going to a lot of theater,” Long said. “There’s great theater in that area. The Westport Country Playhouse and Theatre Artists Workshop. Fairfield Teen Theatre. ... There was a lot of great opportunity for kids who were interested in theater.

“At Vassar, it was so much theater,” he said. “The social hierarchy of Vassar was like the opposite of what my suburban experience was like, which was a typical one: The jocks and the rich kids, those guys were on top, and then theater kids were somewhere closer to the bottom. And then at Vassar, it was reversed. The theater kids were cool.”

“Barbarian” generated massive buzz after its premiere at San Diego Comic-Con in July. Long says the film features “the most unexpected turn.”

“I’m a big horror fan myself,” Long said, “and I’d never seen anything like that.”