Mandy Griffiths
Hollywood’s hottest indie studio, A24, which in a few short years has amassed an incredible catalogue and 24 Academy Awards, has turned its sights on the horror genre with, “It Comes at Night”, “The Witch”, and now “Hereditary”. The supernatural horror film follows the Graham family as they discover the cryptic and increasingly terrifying secrets of their ancestry. They find themselves trying to outrun the sinister fate they seem to have inherited.
As the film becomes available on DVD and Blu-ray, star Toni Collette talks about working with first-time screenwriter-director Ari Aster, how she stayed same filming it, and how it’s not just your standard horror fare.
Tell us about your character.
Toni: I play a woman who is experiencing an awakening of sorts. At the beginning of the film you find her in a position of loss – her mother has just died – and you quickly realise it wasn’t the kind of idealised lovely relationship a mother-daughter shares, and this woman missed out on a lot of nurturing and a lot of what a kid really is owed when they’re growing up. The film is about her coming to understand what her family means. Where they come from. What their intentions are. What her own existence really entails. and it’s really very, very confronting and shocking.
Was there something unique you did to prepare for the role of Annie?
Toni: The one thing that I would say is somewhat unique, only in that I don’t think I’ve ever really worked in this way before. As a younger actor I used to love the grit and the more intense the better and I’m not into that at all anymore, and I think it had such strength and spoke to me in such an intense way that it was more a case of really trying to avoid what I had to do until they called ‘action’ [laughs]. Really that was the only way I survived it. Since then I’ve kind of wondered ‘geez I wonder what the experience would have been like for me if I really gave myself over to it’. But I don’t think it would have worked because it was just too much. I think this was the only way to survive it and be able to give a reality to each moment when it was required instead of existing in something really rather exhausting to do 24/7 for a long period of time.
Where did you look for inspiration for the role of Annie?
Toni: Really I didn’t have to look further than the script. It was so brilliantly written by Ari Aster. He’s a wonderful writer. Because I think he just gets what it is to be human and he gets dynamics between human beings and how complex it is to literally exist. So he created something so honest and so raw I really didn’t have to look beyond that, and if I did, I would always look up to his face and he would have the answer should I have a question.
What do you want audiences to take away from the film?
Toni: I hope that they understand that it isn’t just another horror film full of gratuitous scares. There is such a profound beautiful story within this. And it is very sad and very moving. And it does become deeply shocking and upsetting. So it is a roller coaster but it’s an exciting new voice in cinema making a film in a very original way, and that in itself is worth seeing the movie, but the content of the movie is also really really special. And it seems to excite people more than it intimidates them.
What was the most rewarding scene to film?
Toni: Working with Ari is honestly such an incredible pleasure because he’s very clear about what he wants at any given moment. He’s lived with the story for so long in his head and knows every single shot, cutting point, nuance, everything he wants from every actor, however, he does leave room for interpretation and collaboration. There was one particular scene where it was a very long shot towards the end of the movie where my character is quite maniacal and trying to convince her husband to sacrifice her in order to save her son. Quite literally. And there’s a moment where I convince him to come down stairs and explain what’s going on and ask for his help. It was a long scene and the words that were written were not quite enough, and I was always very, very loyal to Ari and what he wrote, did a take that way and it didn’t feel right because there wasn’t enough on the page and the scene was so emotionally big. Kind of a begging scene really. A pleading scene and a declaration of true, true love. I literally took a moment and I thought ‘I just have to f#&*ing give it. I have to tell myself to get over whatever fear was in the way and just get it done. And so we did it again and it just felt so alive. And I didn’t stick to the exact dialogue, it was the only scene I ever improvised in, but it was so spacious and needed, needed that freedom to convey the reality of the moment. And the most gratifying, exciting moment of the film, I think, was when I knew they were planning other coverage, and sometimes when you get something and you know that it’s right, and when you do get it right in that way that feels very real – there’s no way you can repeat it. It becomes like you’re replicating or mimicking or trying to get it again, you can never actually get it again, and Ari said to me, ‘that’s it, we don’t need anymore shots’, and I was like ‘thank you!’ [laughs].
Now available DVD and Blu-Ray and at The Viewing Lounge.
