00:00What made you sign on to this bloody, spectacle, gore adventure?
00:07I love the script. It's such an unusual, exciting, fun script.
00:11I love my part. I felt so much empathy for, you know, the Zazie Mahala characters,
00:16but also it was so fun to play a villain. I loved it.
00:21Yeah, I was really excited to work with Zazie as well.
00:24But I think what really sold, and the script is fabulous, obviously,
00:28but I think what sold it was Kirill. I met him in L.A., and he just had so much
00:34energy.
00:35He was so excited about his movie, about making a movie, about making movies.
00:41He's just really passionate about the art form, and he was like,
00:45I really want you in my movie, and I was like, I just loved the enthusiasm.
00:50And I was excited to work with somebody who still felt so, like, the light and the sparkle
00:57was still in his eye about making something.
01:01And it was, I think that energy makes the process even more exciting.
01:06He's a real cinephile. Like, he knows every movie. He knows every shot.
01:10He plans his shots in advance. He's really, really talented.
01:13Yeah.
01:14And was that sparkle still there while working hard on set?
01:18Yeah, totally. All of us were a little haggard by the end of it,
01:22because you're exhausted at the end of a shoot. But absolutely, absolutely.
01:26What would you say, because you were talking about his being in conversation with him,
01:33but then there's a difference between the conversation and him actually seeing
01:36in action as a director. How would you say he was on set?
01:41I think he was very well prepared. I mean, he had every shot planned out.
01:45Like, incredibly intricate, amazing shots. There's a shot where, like,
01:48a knife goes into my butt, and it's attached to the camera, and it's going around in a circle.
01:53And it was just, it was really creative, you know? I mean, he did kind of remind me a little
01:56bit
01:56of, like, a Quentin Tarantino, because of how much he thinks of every single shot,
02:01and he references every single movie, and he's just so excited about it.
02:04And the action is really in a mixture of, like, scary, but also funny.
02:08And stylish. It's very stylish.
02:10It is.
02:11Yeah.
02:12Yeah, and genre-bending, in a way. I can totally understand why you say Tarantino,
02:16because of the way he uses the camera, and he's so, it felt a little bit like I was watching
02:22some,
02:22like, old Japanese films, the way that the fighting was filmed and everything, you know?
02:27Oh, it was really, really cool. And when it comes to the fighting, how much of it, was it you,
02:35or was it, I don't know, some amazing stunt people?
02:40Well, I had a stunt double, who, she's amazing, but I really wanted to try to do as many of
02:45the
02:45stunts as I could. So there's one entire scene that is me, but she definitely did, like,
02:49the really hard stuff. But I tried to do as much as I could. I got really excited about it.
02:54I practiced a lot, like, really a lot.
02:56That's so fabulous. I didn't know that. We had an incredible stunt team. Like, I had a
03:06double, but Maria doesn't really do a lot of, like, stunty stuff. I was mostly running
03:10away, which I could do just fine on my own.
03:13You have one pretty big stunt at the end.
03:15Which one?
03:16Where you, like, plot, spoiler, won't say out loud.
03:21I don't know if that counts as a stunt.
03:22I mean, I did all my own stuff for the most part. There was somebody who, like, stood in
03:27every once in a while, but, like, when you speak to Zassi, talk to her about the stunts.
03:32She also did so much of her own.
03:34She came, like, a month early, or even more. I came, like, two weeks early. But I have a
03:38scene where I have to crawl and fight, and I did that, I practiced that scene probably
03:43150 times. By the end, my knees were, like, killing me.
03:46Oh my god, yeah.
03:47But it was worth it. It was fun.
03:49Yeah, I can totally imagine, you know? And the whole, the whole movie feels like fun.
03:54You know, that's, that's also, I mean, I saw it this morning all alone in a very dark
04:00theater, but I laughed out, but I laughed out loud. And I was like, how is this going
04:04to be, you know, surrounded with a whole bunch of people, which you will tonight
04:09experience, I guess, at South by Southwest. West, how much are you looking forward to, to
04:14have that communal experience?
04:16I'm really looking forward to it. I don't always stay and watch my own stuff at a premiere,
04:21because I'm like, I've seen it, I don't need to see it again. But this one, I'm really
04:25excited to see with the audience, because I think the audience is going to, like, as
04:29you said, I think we're all going to be, like, a part of the film laughing and responding
04:34and reacting to it. So I think it's going to, I think it's going to play amazing, and
04:38it's going to be, like, a whole event in and of itself, watching it with an audience.
04:42Yeah, it's definitely a fun movie, movie, like, it's smart, but it's also like a popcorn
04:46movie where there's, like, so much action and scares and blows your mind with different
04:51plot twists and things like that.
04:54But you would also think, like, there's this whole rise in commentary on rich people, if
05:01you will. I mean, it's in my film, where they go, like, rich people, huh? You know?
05:05What do you think that comes from?
05:07I think it is, I think it's a social commentary, because there are rich people nowadays, people
05:12in power getting away with really abusive behavior. And I think the movie is a commentary
05:16on that, you know?
05:19Do you have anything to add, Mahala?
05:22Yeah, I mean, I think it's really easy to make fun of people whose lives are not as hard
05:27as, like, everyone else's. And as Heather said, there's a lot of people with a lot of
05:33power who are abusing it. So, yeah, like, justice for the little guy. I think we all want to
05:42root for the underdog, and this movie makes it really, like, fun and easy to do.
05:46Yeah. No, definitely. And this, yeah, like you said, this is so much fun, like, laughing
05:51out loud, even when you're alone.
05:53Yeah.
05:54And what do you really enjoy about acting?
05:58Oh, my God. I love, well, I love reading books, and I love reading scripts, and I love
06:04putting myself in another world and just pretending to be a different person. And I don't even know
06:10how to explain why I love it, but I do feel like...
06:12It's a big question.
06:13I absolutely love it. I don't know. Why do you love it?
06:16Oh, my God. I mean, how much time do we have? I feel like in all aspects of my life,
06:22I'm,
06:22like, really a pursuer of truth. Like, truth is really important to me. And I feel like...
06:29That comes across in your work. You always seem very real and truthful.
06:32Oh, thank you.
06:32Yeah, yeah, yeah.
06:33Yeah, and I think there's something about, like, loving humanity as well. Like, I find human
06:36beings really interesting. Like, twisted and weird, but also, like, inspiring and hopeful.
06:42And there's so much, like, love. Like, I love love, which is, like, a very human thing. And,
06:47yeah, I like exploring all corners and versions of what that looks like.
06:52Also, I think movies can change the world. You know, it's a form of activism, and a really
06:57good movie can make a point that you can't make with just words.
07:00Totally.
07:01Yeah. No, I wholeheartedly agree with that. I mean, it's always seen as entertainment. But I'm,
07:08like, there are so many movies out there that can actually open someone's eyes, you know? And
07:13I don't think they will kill you as part of that conversation completely. This will just,
07:18like, give you a very, very good night in the cinema. And what do you think is it about horror
07:26that is so, I wouldn't say attractive, but that's not the word. What is it about horror
07:32that we enjoy so much watching it?
07:35I mean, my friend has a business model, and it's basically horror is, I think, the most
07:39profitable genre, which is kind of mind-blowing, because a lot of people are afraid to get scared.
07:43But I don't know if it's, like, very visceral, life and death. And when you watch it, you think,
07:48well, at least that's not me. I don't know. What do you think?
07:51I don't know, because I'm not in the, I'm not, I don't like watching horror movies. I'm a big
07:58scaredy cat. Like, I'll get physically sick. So I watch most of these movies, like, between my
08:03fingers. So I don't know. But I will say, I do like crime documentaries, which I think is kind of
08:09a similar thing. There must be some morbid obsession that we have with our immortality or something.
08:15Right. I think life and death, as humans, we're, like, scared of dying. And it's like,
08:18but we want to touch that feeling of, like, we're alive, but we could die. It's, like,
08:22something, you know, about that, maybe.
08:24That's so crazy.
08:26You're at South by Southwest right now. What makes that such a special festival?
08:32The Austin audience is the best. Like, they just really engage with whatever it is.
08:39They give you the support that you need. They're enthusiastic beyond. I've only ever been to this
08:47festival one at a time, but it was, like, the most excited and thoughtful and encouraging
08:54audience I've been with. So I think they just care about movies, and they're excited for
08:58them to come here.
08:59It's a great city. And, you know, if you're in L.A. or New York, people are slightly jaded,
09:03but it does feel like here there's a love of movies. And also, it's a really fun music city,
09:08food city. It's just a great vibe.
09:10Great barbecue.
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