Interview: Julius Avery and Pilou Asbæk talk Overlord, mixing genres and working with JJ Abrams

It’s pretty obvious that war is nasty business, and can be pretty horrifying. So what happens when you make a World War II movie, that goes that extra step and adds in some Nazi zombies super soldiers in a bid to turn the war? Shit gets pretty crazy is what, and the new film Overlord does just that.

The movie by Australian director Julius Avery takes a small group of soldiers, throws them into German-occupied France, and turns up the fear factor by having them come face to face with the dark side of human experimentation during war time.

We sat down with Julius Avery, and one of the stars of the movie, Pilou Asbæk to talk about the appeal and draw for coming in to a film that was a mixture of war and horror genres. We also discuss how the characters feel genuine and real, and going dark side with the villainous Wafner, played by Asbaek.

In the second part our chat we discuss the film’s production roots with both J.J Abrams‘ Bad Robot and Paramount Pictures backing a feature with a fresh faced cast. Being supported by Abrams on the project and taking risks with original stories. And we quiz Asbæk on whether he prefers stunt-work or dealing with prosthetics, both certainly have their perks according to him.

Overlord releases in Australian cinemas from 6 December 2018 through Paramount Pictures Australia

Carina Nilma

Office lackey day-job. Journalist for The AU Review night-job. Emotionally invested fangirl.