'Alien: Romulus' director Fede Álvarez and stars Cailee Spaeny, Isabela Merced, David Jonsson, Spike Fearn and Archie Renaux sit down with THR at San Diego Comic-Con to dish all about their new movie. Fede Álvarez compares this new film to Ridley Scott's 'Alien,' the cast talk about their bond off set and more.
00:00Hey, this is Fede Alvarez, I'm the director of Alien Romulus, and this is a cast, and this is a Hollywood Reporter.
00:08Who here is scared of horror movies?
00:13Yep.
00:14Then why in the world would you want to be in one?
00:19Because you look how the sausage was made.
00:23She wants to see how the sausage was made.
00:30So Fede, you're scared of horror movies, but you make them anyway.
00:35I'm not scared of my horror movies, I'm scared of other people's horror movies.
00:40But my horror movies are made out of all the things I'm terrified of.
00:44Just like if you're a comedian or write jokes, you're going to write jokes that are not funny for you, but are funny for others.
00:48You've got to base some things that you find entertaining, the same with horror.
00:52It's all made of my biggest nightmares.
00:54And then when you decide to tackle an Alien movie, what were sort of the essentials that had to be there in your version of an Alien movie?
01:06What needs to be there?
01:08I mean, clearly Xenomorph, right?
01:10It's almost like the story of Alien is, for the first movie, the story is the life cycle of the Alien.
01:18It's what keeps it together.
01:19It's what keeps you watching.
01:21So we knew from the beginning that we're going to have the Xenomorph in its more pure form.
01:28Without trying to improve it, without changing it, it is like the original, but slightly different or modernized.
01:34No, there's certain things about the movie that we want to have back and we want to play straight.
01:39And that's the Xenomorph in his life cycle.
01:41And there's a lot more things, but that's one of those that we knew for a fact you have to have.
01:46Otherwise, it's not an Alien movie, I think.
01:48Okay, for the actors, how sort of intense was this shoot when you're fighting or dealing with facehuggers and prosthetics and maybe creatures?
02:01Yeah, it was pretty intense.
02:04I mean, we did some training beforehand as well.
02:06Yeah, it was quite full on.
02:10We're crawling through really tight spaces.
02:12We had to prepare for some zero gravity scenes in which we were on harnesses, so we had to have good core strength for that.
02:19So we did a lot of rehearsing with our stunt team on that sort of stuff.
02:23And then also, yeah, just constantly kind of being in that heightened state of emotion and terror from all these Xenomorphs is pretty intense.
02:36How did you guys...
02:37Oh, no, go ahead.
02:38Oh, I was just going to say that I think, yeah, as soon as it starts to get a bit like, oh, in the movie, that's when everyone was like, you know,
02:45we'd jump around on set a lot to try and get the tension there right.
02:49I don't know if that was, like, the right thing to say, but, yeah.
02:53I just wanted to have a go with the microphone, mate.
02:57Well, my other question was, how did you guys unwind after such an intense day, you know, when you're putting it all out there and, you know, potentially dying?
03:05Yeah, which gives me a trouble.
03:09I'm actually going to tell a story.
03:10So I'm in my 40s.
03:12They're in their 20s.
03:13And so we went out to dinner one night.
03:16And then, and after dinner, some of them says, like, we should go to your place.
03:20And I'm like, sure.
03:20I'm 46.
03:21I read that means go to your house, listen to jazz, and drink red wine.
03:26But with these kids, it means go to your house, blast music, and party, and they got me evicted out of my apartment.
03:34I wasn't that.
03:34I wasn't that.
03:35True story.
03:36You were there.
03:37You were all there.
03:37You need to clickbait.
03:39That's the other story.
03:39Were you there?
03:41That's exactly how it went down.
03:42I tried to chase a man through the streets, but I stopped you from chasing a man.
03:47So that's the problem with making movies, young cast.
03:49They get you evicted out of your nice apartment.
03:51You were so many good actors.
03:54You were so many good actors.
03:55You were so many good actors.
03:56There was a lot of actors.
03:57Yeah, no, they actually really.
03:58It was cast bonding.
04:00And also, he's a karaoke fiend, okay?
04:02You couldn't get the mic out of his hands just like right now.
04:05You started like Elton John.
04:07Don't get him on the line.
04:08We did a really good duet, you and I.
04:09He's a good musician.
04:10He plays a lot of instruments, so he fit right in.
04:14Go on.
04:16More about me.
04:18So how did the cast bond?
04:20What kind of exercises did you guys do?
04:24Shotgunning.
04:25No, I'm kidding.
04:27I mean, yeah, we were karaoke-ing it like every week.
04:30I mean, I tell the truth.
04:31I mean, I haven't done a few movies with a group of young people.
04:35It's usually there's always tensions,
04:37and what you see on the screen is not what's happening behind the screen.
04:42Even there's always some sort of conflict.
04:44It's complicated.
04:45Making movies is tough,
04:45and it's a lot of people living together for a long time.
04:48This is the first time I really had a cast that what you see on screen,
04:50their dynamics and their friendship really mirror what was happening outside all the time.
04:54And I was blown away by it,
04:56and I was so happy to see all of them become friends.
04:59They still do today.
04:59They're still close.
05:00They're still, you know, a lot of times, as you guys know,
05:02you see each other, you make the movie,
05:04you never see each other ever again.
05:05And these guys became friends and stay friends,
05:07and for me it was a testament to the work
05:09and how much they all care equally.
05:12It's a good casting,
05:13a good sort of gauge on what actors to put in the film.
05:17I think you did a good read on the people that you had.
05:20Yeah, but I think that really translated to the film,
05:23that the relationships you see are actually genuine.
05:26I think we also now share this experience
05:30that we'll have for the rest of our lives
05:32in being part of this alien legacy.
05:36This is something that we'll always have
05:37and we've got to share together,
05:38and it was so, so special.
05:41I think that's why we all, you know.
05:43Yeah, Budapest too.
05:44Budapest allowed us to thrive
05:45and have a really fun time off set and on set.
05:48The crew there was incredible,
05:49so I also have to thank that place
05:52for providing us with such awesome experiences.
05:55Shout out you guys.
05:57It seems like an awesome, like a camp almost, you know?
05:59Yeah.
06:01Fede, when you first showed your movie
06:03when it was, whenever there was a cut,
06:06to Ridley, what did he say?
06:09I mean, I showed it to him before anybody.
06:11I finished the first cut,
06:13and I showed it to Ridley, sent to Ridley,
06:16and I went to see him,
06:17I wanted to see him right after he finished watching.
06:19And he sat down at the table,
06:21I was waiting in the room for quite a bit,
06:23and then he shows up,
06:24and it was super intimidating, right?
06:26Not only is Ridley Scott
06:27that it will be intimidating to show any movie,
06:29but particularly showing him an alien movie,
06:31you know, like,
06:31this is what I think an alien movie is,
06:34and showing it.
06:35So it was terrifying,
06:37but thank God he walked in,
06:38he was like raising his hands,
06:39like, what can I say?
06:40It's fucking great.
06:41And you have a big movie here.
06:43That's why he said,
06:44you have a big movie.
06:45He really went on about that.
06:46And for us making it,
06:48it felt very intimate,
06:49and we all made it in a very independent way.
06:53You know, for a studio movie,
06:54like, we made it a complete independent spirit.
06:57And having, like, seen it that way,
06:59it was great.
07:00Was there anything that the studio said you couldn't do?
07:03What was the bridge too far?
07:05No, not really.
07:06I mean,
07:07Don't get a victory.
07:10No, well, there was,
07:11look,
07:12there was no limitations
07:14when it comes to what you can and cannot do
07:16when it comes to the violence
07:17or anything like that.
07:19There was,
07:20there was just a different creative path
07:23of where we can go,
07:25and there was, I think,
07:26a good,
07:26good amount of back and forth
07:28between the studio and myself,
07:30I think,
07:31hopefully,
07:31and us.
07:32But that,
07:32I always loved that,
07:34and I think that needs to be there.
07:35It's kind of gone Hollywood lately
07:37because I think maybe streaming,
07:38other places,
07:39there's no much pressure
07:40from the studio to the filmmaker.
07:42But I think all the best movies ever made
07:44were made between The Clash
07:46and the two pushes of a studio
07:48and a director
07:49that want to make a movie,
07:50and that's the best ones come out of there.
07:51So I think there was enough.
07:52There was enough,
07:54the studio had a really strong point of view.
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