With It Follows hitting most markets this weekend, it is sure to gain even more momentum and buzz. David Robert Mitchell‘s break-out horror feature revolves around a mysterious entity that follows people. No one can see it save for the person cursed with this stalking demon and it is confined to play by the rules of our world. It never runs and the only way to get rid of it is to have sex with someone. Many will draw parallels to it being an STD-like horror flick but while that cultural theme is certainly present it never overwhelms the untraditional flow of the film. A horror thriller with plenty of heart, it’s one of the rare films that should be seen by people that usually avoid the genre.
The target of much of the hype around the film will likely revolve around star Maika Monroe, who has a slew of films coming up that should raise her awareness to wider audiences. She has been on my list of people to talk with so I was excited to get on the phone with her a few days ago. Together we talked about how it was to make a film with a group of cast members instead of just acting against one or two people, her abilities to pick up on interesting flavors in screenplays, the shoot itself and how even though they had over 30 days it was still a hurried production, collaborating on her character’s look, love for Wes Anderson, whether she’d love to make a follow-up film, and much more. Check out the full conversation below.
The Film Stage: You’ve been talking about this movie for awhile now. Are you getting a lot of the same questions? Are you having to repeat yourself a lot?
Maika Monroe: Ah, yeah. But that’s usually what happens, you know? I mean, we’ve been doing press for this movie now almost a year, because we started at the Cannes Film Festival in May 2014. So we’ve been doing this for a while. You gotta get used to it, you know?
[Laughs] Yeah, you go through the grinder, I’m sure. I’ve been reading a couple of interviews specifically about It Follows with you, and one thing I didn’t really see anyone touch on was the collaborative aspect of the film.
Yeah. I mean with David [Robert Mitchell] I think about a week-and-a-half before it started filming. I think one of the biggest parts with David was creating the look of the character. You know, the wardrobe and the hair, the makeup, all that, he was very specific on what he wanted. And that was really fun, going to fittings, trying stuff on, getting the haircut. All of that was really cool. Just working with David and then getting into filming, all that, was definitely times where some of these lines they just don’t come out naturally, and he’s like, “Yeah, let’s try something else.” So, yeah we definitely worked a lot together. David is incredible to work with, just for an actor, how his style of working is very calm and in such a crazy film it was nice to have a leader like that.
I believe you’ve mentioned you basically had like four or five weeks to film the film itself.
Yeah.
That’s actually a decent amount of time for an indie film. Was it still rushed and hurried because you were doing mostly night shoots? Or was it a little bit more relaxed pace?
Yeah, we were still rushed and there were days where we’re trying to make the day. But what was something nice about it was that we got two-day weekends. We kind of had time to relax and I think that was really important for a film like this, having time to just let go. It’s just so intense during the week. It was still very fast-paced. We had a lot to get done and it still felt like an indie movie. [Laughs]
With this film in particular you had an ensemble around you constantly. What was it like to have that support? Was it easy for David to wrangle everybody and keep everybody on cue? Or was it, was it a little crazy like herding cats?
[Laughs] Herding cats, that’s funny. No, I think, you know, we all got along really well which was nice. And I think that there were real relationships there. I mean, we bonded pretty quickly. For me, being on set I had to have my headphones in a lot and be in my own world just because, you know, it is a group of kids and they are having fun and they’re young — I mean, not that I’m not young. I’m young. I made myself sound way more mature than I am. For me, I had to keep a distance. But it was a really good group of kids and I think we’re kinda on the same page and knowing what we wanted to make here.
It was interesting you were keeping yourself distanced from them because you’re the target of this entity, of this creature, and they basically have no idea whether you’re making it up or whether you’ve gone crazy.
Yeah.
So it is kind of an interesting aspect of you having to seclude yourself. It’s almost out of necessity.
Yeah, exactly.
The screenplay for when you first got this, you were on set of The Guest, and you thought it sounded really weird. I guess it read really weird.
Yeah, bizarre.
I was curious about whether you’ve been able to pick up oddities in other screenplays since then? I know you’ve had a slew of films that you kind of made within the last year and a half.
Yeah. I’ve definitely gotten better at it. [Laughs] You read a lot of scripts, a lot of bad ones in there and a few good ones. Ones that stand out and are unique and those are the ones that you want to fight for. So yeah, definitely.
You’ve been able to make these very small indie films to something like The 5th Wave that’s coming up soon with Chloe Grace Moretz, and you’ve been able to bounce back-and-forth it seems.
Yeah.
You did mention that you would like to work with Wes Anderson.
Hell yeah. [Laughs]
So, I was looking at the cast and crew for 5th Wave and I couldn’t help but notice Tony Revolori is in the film as well.
He was! [Laughs]
So did you have a conversation? Had you seen The Grand Budapest Hotel before that?
Oh, yeah. I knew I was going to be a part of it before he was cast. And I found out that he was cast, I had a little heart attack. I was like, “Oh, my God. I’m going to be so star struck when I meet him.” Really, that was the person that I was really, really excited to meet because I think he is so incredibly perfect for that role. And I wanted to be him for Halloween, you know.
You wanted to dress as him?
Don’t tell him that I said that.
[Both laugh]
I love, love that movie and I think he’s so great in it. It was so cool working with him. And, yeah, I definitely asked and he was telling stories on set and what it was like. It sounded so cool and it just seems like Wes Anderson is a magical guy. It would be a dream.
Definitely. I’m sure his screenplays would read very interesting on paper, as well.
Yeah, I agree.
Specifically for this film, it’s gotten a ton of buzz. I actually saw it in September of last year and I saw it during Fantastic Fest. I’ve been doing this for about five years and I’ve never repeated a film during a film festival and this was the one time that I repeated a film.
Oh, wow!
Both of them were at midnight screenings and so there was a packed house. They even split one up into two screens to fill.
Wow!
This is just one of those films that I think it could even spin off into a series, it could spin off into something like The Nightmare on Elm Street or something like that; I know that you’re a particular fan of that.
Oh, yeah.
What would you think of potentially coming back for it? Do you think that you would want to have your character specifically involved or would you want to maybe have that torch passed on to a different actress so this time you could actually watch the film without having to watch yourself in it?
Oh, I would like that. Gosh, that’d be nice. I mean, I don’t know, I would love to work with David again and that’s a good question. Maybe, gosh, I don’t know. Oh, I would love to do something again with this film and with David. And so… I don’t know.
[Laughs] That’s alright, you don’t have to have an answer for that. So, I’ve got to ask about the kiteboarding stuff. That would be something that you would have to be driven and you would have to have focus, have to have a lot of dedication to get to a professional level, right?
Yeah.
How much did that kind of dedication translate over to acting? Obviously with acting a large part of it is going to be auditioning and you’ve mentioned having to have a thick skin, understanding that people are going to say no. I’m just curious about that resiliency. Did it translate any from kiteboarding at all? Or is this just a different beast all together?
No, I think it is definitely similar. There’s a lot that’s different, of course, but in competitions for kiteboarding if you don’t win, you want to work harder, you want to get better. And I think that translates over to acting. You gotta keep working for, you gotta keep pushing through. I think something that’s different though is with kiteboarding you can train and you train seven hours a day, working with your personal trainer, you will get better. With acting I don’t think that’s the case. I think that you are in a sense, I don’t want to say born with the talent, but you’re born with something. And I don’t think you can go to as many acting classes that you want. I’m sure it can help give you ideas, but it’s not the same as kiteboarding. I think you have more control in kiteboarding. I know if I keep training then I can become the best in the world. With acting it’s so out of my hands in a sense. So that’s what i think is the hardest that translates between the two.
Since you’ve been doing this, one thing that I’ve heard a lot actors mention is this disconnect between what you film and what you ultimately see on screen due to editing. Have you seen that yourself?
Oh yeah, definitely. I mean, both with The Guest and It Follows, they became a whole new beast when I saw it put together. I mean, you have an idea when you’re making a film what the outcome will be, but with these two films particularly I feel like the soundtrack and the editing and the cinematography have such huge parts in what made them so unique. So when you’re filming you don’t get that. You don’t know what the soundtrack is gonna be, or how those things kind of come together. It’s weird watching it for the first time because it’s very different from when I pictured it, either one of them.
So how much of your upcoming slate for 2015 have you seen?
I’ve seen some bits of a film I shot in Iceland called Bokeh, but I’m waiting to get a rough cut and I’ll probably be seeing it within the next couple of weeks, which I’m really excited about. And then The 5th Wave I haven’t seen anything. We finished filming in January of this year so it’ll be a little bit until I’m able to see something. I’m really excited about that.
It Follows is now in theaters.