M.Night Shyamalan says he chose Josh Hartnett to play a serial killer dad in his new movie, Trap as he's such a nice guy. He also revealed how proud he is of the star's main actress and singer, Saleka, who's his daughter. Report by Jonesl. Like us on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/itn and follow us on Twitter at http://twitter.com/itn
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00:00So let's talk about being at the O2 for this Trap screening. How special is this in London?
00:03I love it. I mean, we have family here. I mean, for me, London's always kind of second
00:08home, and it's just been so much a part of this journey of 30 years, and the first time
00:13I ever travelled to promote a movie was here, so it's always kind of dear to me.
00:19Yeah, and a concert venue as well. That was cleverly thought out, wasn't it?
00:22I know. It was beautiful.
00:23And let's talk about the chap to your left here. I mean, you got Josh Hartnett to play
00:27a serial killer. Talk to me about how that process happened.
00:31You know, it's one of those things. I have to trust that that person that I'm writing,
00:35however weird and different it is, exists, you know? I write a little kid that sees ghosts
00:39and can't tell his mom, and Hailey Joel Osment walks in. You have to trust that you're writing
00:46something so specific that literally only one person can play it in the world. I mean,
00:51I feel that way about it, and in this movie, when you see the movie, only Josh could have
00:55played this part, so you go through all this noise, you know, as you're looking for someone,
00:59but then, you know, if you're coming from the right place, it comes to you.
01:03He said it took you 19 years to ask him.
01:06Ha ha ha! That's not true. That's not true.
01:10What about the fact that he read around this? He read a lot of books.
01:14Yeah.
01:14Did you know what he was reading? Did you have an insight into that?
01:17I mean, we talked about, you know, I'd read a ton of books, so I was conveying to him,
01:20you know, the types and the things that I learned and what I based the character on.
01:23I mean, I've always loved this subject matter, so it's something that I've read a lot about,
01:26but then he started to really get involved. I think he reads a lot as well.
01:29Yeah, it must be so nice having someone that gets involved like that.
01:32Yeah, it is.
01:32Talking about getting involved, Salika is absolutely incredible.
01:35Oh, thank you.
01:36How are you feeling about this moment? She's on the centre stage. She's absolutely incredible.
01:40You must be so proud.
01:42I am. You know, it's strange. I don't get proud about achievements like that. I don't
01:45get proud about, you know, necessarily the finished thing or the response of it. That's
01:52not what I'm proud of them for. I'm proud of them for when no one's looking, what they
01:58do, the everyday thing, because all that other stuff is not in our control. You know, even
02:03the finished product to some extent is not in our control because there's so many factors,
02:07but every day what you do, those small things, that's how she'll be here 40 years from now
02:13doing this.
02:13And why are they both so perfect for the roles that they're taking on?
02:18Yeah, well, you know, I wrote one role for Salika. Essentially, it's like an enhanced
02:22version of Salika, like more extroverted, and Josh needed to be this kind of, you know,
02:27charming, handsome, really sweet dad, and it's just incompatible with the things that
02:33he's done. Just incompatible. You can't see the connection, and so that's part of it,
02:38finding someone that's so nice and so lovable.
02:41And why should people see this? What is your message about DRAP?
02:45You know, for me, we tried to make two experiences together, the idea of being in a concert and
02:50a really suspenseful thriller that you're breathless in, to put them both together in
02:54one experience, to see them in the movie theatre with as many people as possible.