James McAvoy, Mackenzie Davis, James Watkins (Director) step into our video studio at San Diego Comic Con 2024.
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00:00I feel like the audience had been thrown around a lot between entertainment, comedy, discomfort
00:06and just fear as well. And then by the time it all kind of blows out, I think they were
00:11left quite shaken, which is great. That's what you want, isn't it?
00:15Sorry, I felt quite aggressive there. I apologize.
00:17Yeah, I know.
00:25They are going to kill us.
00:27What?
00:29He went dead.
00:30The original film is, needless to say, messed up. Very scary. A true psychological
00:38horror masterclass. What made you want to take on this film and put your own fresh spin on it?
00:47Loved what it was about. Loved the setup with these two families that meet on holiday and
00:51thought it was just an amazing opportunity to make a real rollercoaster ride.
00:54Oh, yes!
00:58Yes. This is our second interview and we're already like, whey!
01:03Yeah, I didn't see the original until after we finished our one. So really, it was just
01:08responding to James's response and try to treat it as something fresh. So I can't answer that question.
01:15Wait, so neither of you, had you watched the film before any of this or you went in fresh?
01:20I'd heard tell of it, but I hadn't seen the full thing because it has quite an insane ending.
01:24We managed to change the ending, put our own spin on it and still retain that gripping,
01:31heart-stopping thrill ride.
01:34Yeah, absolutely.
01:34I love that you'd heard the tale of it. I was like,
01:37have you heard about the new horror film? It's coming.
01:40It ends with a stoning.
01:43There'll be a stoning.
01:45So for audiences who might not be familiar with the original, who are coming in
01:49blind to this one, how scary is it?
01:53Oh, judging on audiences, I mean, it's just a ride. You know, there's a tension,
01:59you can see them, a lot of audience participation, people going, no, don't do it.
02:04Yeah, yeah, yeah.
02:04I mean, you were there last night, weren't you?
02:06Yeah, listen, there's weirdly a lot of laughter, but there's a lot of like,
02:10like cranking of tension and what he does so brilliantly is this like really long, long
02:17drawn like hour and 10 of like comedy and scary stuff.
02:21But really, it's about tension, tension, tension, tension, tension.
02:24So like for the last 20 minutes, when it all kicks off,
02:27the audience, it feels like the audience are really like this.
02:29And also really with us, ready for it all to just like explode.
02:34And it was, I was quite, I mean, I feel like they were quite squackled by the end of it.
02:39Like squackled?
02:40Yeah, like, like I feel like the audience had been thrown around a lot between
02:45entertainment, comedy, like discomfort and just fear as well.
02:51And then by the time it all kind of blows out, I think they were left quite shaken,
02:56which is great.
02:56That's what you want, isn't it?
02:58Sorry, I felt quite aggressive there.
02:59I apologize.
03:00Yeah, no.
03:02So one of the interesting things about this film is that, of course, yes, it is scary,
03:06but it's also a very interesting character study in these two conflicting relationships,
03:11which are so drastically different.
03:14We have, you know, Scoot is a little different of the type of man that James, your character,
03:21is.
03:21How did you approach that conflict between their two kind of parenting styles,
03:27for lack of a better word?
03:30I mean, it's written in the script.
03:32So I think it's just trying to really understand.
03:34I mean, there's an obviously more attractive, dynamic, exciting relationship to be in.
03:40And it is that of the psychopaths who seem to have so much fun and so much sex and so
03:45much like dynamism.
03:47And then there are like the good guys who seem to hate each other and are just in this
03:54constant negotiation of like, OK, well, you made me feel this way and I would like to
03:58move forward this way.
04:00And I don't have an end to this sentence.
04:04Yeah, what she said.
04:08Absolutely.
04:09Like, you've got the good guys with a relationship that seems like empty inside and just gray.
04:14And then you've got the bad guys who just have got like everybody wants to love that
04:18like they love.
04:18And that was so exciting to to play that that dynamic, that juxtaposition as well.
04:25So something interesting, obviously, in the production of the film, I understand you were
04:28just five days away from finishing when the strike happened.
04:33So how did it feel returning to the project after several months and sort of having that
04:38time away from it?
04:39It felt great.
04:40I have to say we so we stopped the day before one of the like very critical scenes in the
04:45movie that's like, you know, you're building up to this really big, dramatic sort of insane
04:50scene.
04:50And you're like, all right, it's up tomorrow.
04:52And then we stopped and it was five months later.
04:54But like, I had so much fun making this movie that it didn't feel I was just so excited
04:59to get back into it.
05:00Started that scene day one and it was so well.
05:02So I also like whatever it was, 10, 12 weeks.
05:05I had all that time in the edit.
05:06So even that scene that Mackenzie's talking about, I had time to we knew the characters
05:11I had.
05:11I did a little rewrite on the scene and then we all talked about it and we had a couple
05:15little rehearsal days.
05:16And then so it just we could feed in terms of because we came back, we had some third
05:21act stuff to shoot.
05:22So it was just we were able to just actually we did it all along the shoot.
05:25But at the end, it was just like we could just do little tweaks as we all got to know
05:28the characters more and just, oh, let's just dive into that.
05:31Let's you know, Paddy's kind of, you know, playing with his food narrative and how he
05:36is and how he enjoys the cat and mouse.
05:38Just I think we added a couple of moments there and it was just, oh, let's lean into
05:42that.
05:42It's just it's great.
05:43It's a real opportunity.
05:45I mean, I would always love to have that sort of opportunity.
05:48Yeah, because you know the movie and you come back and you go, yeah, of course, we can just
05:53tweak that dial a little bit.
05:55So you want there to be another strike?
05:57No, I shouldn't say that.
05:58Sorry.
06:02I'm WGA.
06:04And so did that also bring a new understanding of the characters having all of that time
06:09to think about the work?
06:12No, no, no.
06:15Just came in with the exact same performance.
06:18I didn't think about it that much.
06:19Yeah, no, sorry.
06:21Sometimes no is the right answer.
06:23That's perfectly fine.
06:25I love the honesty.
06:26So I also now, James, I have to ask you on the weekend of Deadpool and Wolverine.
06:31Yeah, yeah.
06:32Have you seen it yet?
06:33No, I have not.
06:34There are a lot of love letters to sort of the 20th century Fox era.
06:40You're in the credits.
06:41I know.
06:42I know.
06:42I knew I was going to be in the credits.
06:44Yeah, yeah.
06:44I demanded.
06:47Was there ever a world where you were going to be a part of it?
06:50No, no, no, no.
06:51Not this one.
06:52I don't think so.
06:53And if there was a world, they clearly threw that idea out the window before calling me.
06:58So no.
07:00Would you ever want to return to the role?
07:02I think I've always said if there's a good role,
07:05if there's a good opportunity to tell a good story,
07:07I'm always going to be interested in it,
07:09no matter whether it's something I've done before or something completely brand new.
07:13So if there's good material, I'm always ready to respond.
07:16I'm always ready.
07:18Ever ready.
07:19Actor ready.
07:21But it's got to be good.
07:22And they've got to want to do that.
07:24So it's all hypotheticals.
07:26So obviously, this weekend is all about celebrating TV and movie that get the fans excited.
07:32So I'm curious, what is on?
07:33By the way, where's the comic-con for the stuff that nobody likes,
07:36that nobody's excited about?
07:38That would be amazing.
07:39Shit can't.
07:41That's what I'm going to start.
07:44Speaking of shit.
07:46You will shit your pants when you watch this movie.
07:49It is so scary.
07:50So I'm curious, what is on your watch list?
07:55What are the movies and TV shows that you guys are excited about right now?
07:59I want to see Twisters.
08:01I really want to see Twisters.
08:02I just watched Love Lies Bleeding the other night,
08:04which I think is perhaps perfect,
08:07like just in every way satisfied me.
08:09So good.
08:10And I recently watched The Real Housewives of DC.
08:14There was only one season of it.
08:15And it is one of the most perfect seasons of television I've ever seen.
08:19And just as a character study, I really recommend everybody watch it.
08:22It's about the scammers who entered the Obama White House,
08:24or some characters on it.
08:26A wonderful program.
08:28Incredible.
08:29I could not agree more.
08:30Good.
08:30I'd love to talk with you after this interview.
08:33James, what are you watching?
08:34Well, I've definitely got to see Deadpool and Wolverine.
08:38Well, I want to thank all of you so much for taking the time to chat with us in the studio.
08:42I'm excited for everyone to see the film.