Unfortunately we can’t always rely on technology. But for Peter Gray, it seemed like there were more sinister forces at play when he attempted to chat to Imaginary director Jeff Wadlow about his latest scarer.
After a duo of failed attempts to chat all things Imaginary – the Truth Or Dare filmmaker’s original horror film that taps into the innocence of imaginary friends, and begs the question: Are they really figments of childhood imagination or is something more terrifying lying just beneath? – the powers that be made sure that third time was indeed the charm for the two to discuss the film’s unlikely named villain, how he came to cast completely against his intended type, and what he has learned to apply to this film from his previous genre experiences.
Let’s put it down to supernatural interference for the interruptions we had prior to this interview…
(Laughs) Yeah, Chauncey was out to get you.
Well, I managed to ask you about working with Jason Blum and what your favourite horror movies are, and you mentioned Poltergeist. You also said how that film and Pan’s Labyrinth acted as inspiration for Imaginary, and I was wondering with the film leaning into a child’s imagination and all that could entail, was there ever any other character designs toyed with before you landed on Chauncey the bear?
I actually just did a screenwriting podcast with both Greg Erb and Jason Oremland, who co-wrote the script with me, and we were marvelling at the fact that, even after 4 years of working on this script, (what you see) it’s pretty much the movie that we wrote. There are no characters in this final version that weren’t present in the first draft. Chauncey was always a bear. And he was always named Chauncey. Maybe we changed the therapist’s name? But, pretty much, the movie that we made is the movie that we wanted to make.
Did Chauncey as a name originate from anywhere? Or was it just a nice name to offset the fact that he’s terrifying?
I always think of filmmaking as a collaborative art, and my partners came up with that one. (Laughs) To be completely honest, I’ve never asked them where it came from. I heard it, I liked it, and knew that was the name. They reminded me of this that at first I didn’t like it. I thought it was the best we had, but, over time, I grew to love it.
Casting is always key with these films, and DeWanda Wise is such a great pick. How did she come into the conversation for the role of Jessica?
She had a general meeting at Blumhouse, I believe. We were trying to cast the lead in this movie, and (Jason Blum) called me up and said “We have DeWanda Wise.” At first, and I’ve told DeWanda this, I was, like, “Maybe…I don’t know.” I was a fan of her work, but I never imagined an actress like DeWanda in the role of Jessica, because DeWanda brings so much strength and capability. Jessica is more of a free spirit, and she’s trying to understand her trauma. She’s a more touchy-feely character. But I met with her, because I am a huge fan, and she had a different take on the character. She had already done all this background work on Jessica. She had a real point of view of what she wanted to bring to the role. And she wanted to do something different. It really just resonated with me, and, ultimately, as a director I always cast the actor, not the character. And what I mean by that is, I’m not looking for the character. I’m looking for the actor. I’m looking for an actor that’s going to elevate the character. No matter how well you write a character, it’s still a literal 2 dimensional representation of a person, and people are so much more complex and nuanced. So, I’m looking for an actor who’s going to be that character, and DeWanda was just so compelling in person, and her thoughts on Jessica were so exciting that I knew she was the one.
Was there ever anyone you had envisioned in the role before DeWanda changed the idea of the character for you?
No, it’s more just I have a feeling or a notion. I’ll often find myself casting someone who is the opposite of that. It’s quite interesting. If you look through my body of work, some of the best performances have come from actors who walked into the audition doing something totally different than what’s on the page. The unexpected excites me.
And continuing with the casting, I find one thing Blumhouse always exceeds at is the casting of younger actors, and you have someone like Pyper Braun here. Is it more difficult to cast those child roles?
Absolutely. Absolutely. When you’re casting adults, they’ve often studied acting and they have a body of work. When you’re casting a young person, so often they have very little experience. Sometimes none (laughs). You’re really kind of just rolling the dice on every single person. They could be so great in the audition but then show up on set and totally fold. So, it’s really a very scary proposition.
Whenever there’s little kids or unexplained actions in a house I always think “How long would I wait around before just absolutely tailing it?” I’ve seen enough horror movies to know this doesn’t end well. Would there be a limit for the two of you regarding how much you’d investigate, how much you’d believe if you saw the types of things Jessica is seeing?
Film logic is so funny, right? You think about what you would do if a situation in a horror movie happened, but in the real world that just doesn’t exist, right? Like, if you hear a noise in your house, you’re not going to sell your house (laughs). In a horror movie you hear a sound in the attic and you think “Get out of there!” It’s a strange balancing act. Ultimately, you just want to keep the audience invested in the character’s story. I think as long as people like the character, and the stakes are real, the audience will kind of go with it. They want to be entertained. They want to see conflict. They understand that’s where the movie’s going.
Was there anything you brought from your experience making Truth Or Dare or Fantasy Island, or even way back with Cry Wolf, to Imaginary? Anything that you knew to avoid or a tip that helped you this time when attacking the genre?
Yeah, that’s a great question. I would say I have two answers for that. One, the power of stillness. I always thought the greatest sin was boring an audience. And one way I knew to avoid that was that I made sure the movie moved. The editing was quick and the camera was doing dynamic, interesting things, and the actors were delivering their lines with an intensity…but with Imaginary, I really wanted to slow it down. I wanted to be patient and take my time. That was an interesting thing to really try.
The other thing I learned over the course of those films, and sometimes I forget it, you just have to have a lead that anchors the film. Even if you have an ensemble piece, like Truth Or Dare, Lucy (Hale) is still the lead. Lucy anchors that film. With Fantasy Island, I forgot about that. It’s more of a true ensemble. There was no single person anchoring that film. Arguably, Maggie Q was, but she wasn’t in enough of that movie to say she was, as the saying goes, “The first amongst equals.” That was a mistake, on that movie. And even though we have a large, I would say decently sized cast on (Imaginary), it’s very much DeWanda’s film. We are seeing it through her eyes.
You came on board Kick-Ass 2, a sequel, and I heard there was a Truth Or Dare 2 planned, so do you think there’s further stories to tell with Imaginary? Or is there a sequel to an established title you would like to continue the story of?
If you plan a sequel as you’re making a movie, that’s a sure-fire way to determine you’ll never make a sequel (laughs). You have to take every good idea you have and put it in your movie. I always kind of roll my eyes when I hear people say they have a planned trilogy. It’s like, “Okay, relax. You’re not George Lucas.” I mean, even Lucas has said in interviews that he thought of compressing the entirety of Star Wars into one film. I always just think you need to take every good idea you have and put it in the movie you’re making. Now, if the audience wants a sequel, or it lends itself to a sequel, then of course. I’m a creative person, and I can imagine where Imaginary could go as a sequel. But, I assure you, any idea that came up as we were developing the movie is in the movie itself. We did not hold back.
I know the marketing for this film teased the trailer and instructed people to close their eyes and let the sound create the images for them. And then there was the suggestion that the film itself would utilise that ploy…
Look, I love how a movie is presented to an audience, because, to me, that’s part of the storytelling. But I’ve made movies before where the marketing materials didn’t accurately reflect the tone of the film, and it can be a disaster. It doesn’t matter how good the film is, and how much energy you put into it, if the audience is promised something different than what they get in the theatres, they’re going to be disappointed. It’s paramount the marketing reflect the film you made, and to make a promise you can fulfil. I think the marketing on Imaginary has been brilliant. It’s making a promise that we can deliver on. I don’t have any control over the marketing. That’s a whole different animal and skillset. But what’s been great about working with Lionsgate is that their Chairman comes out of marketing. They’ve been the best partner Jason and I could ask for. The marketing has been perfect for this film.
Imaginary is screening in Australian theatres from March 7th, 2024.
