00:00Which of the two of you would be more likely to lean into the occult if you found yourself in
00:04a difficult situation?
00:05Well, I mean, I- I-
00:06He's the one who went down the rabbit hole and he was-
00:08Oh, Bruce, that's a good guy.
00:09And these books would come up on the doorstep with these weird spell books.
00:12I love reading a good spell book.
00:19He's gonna bring him back!
00:22He's gonna bring him back!
00:27Are you in there?
00:30Thanks for taking the time to talk to Man and Many about your new film, Bring Her Back.
00:34Thanks for coming to see us.
00:36It's a pleasure.
00:37You cast the incredible Sally Hawkins as Laura in the movie.
00:39What was it like working with her and how did you make the mother from Paddington so unnerving?
00:46It's really a testament to her as a performer.
00:48Because she's such a strong actor and her skill set is- I feel like it's at like a hundred.
00:52She's completely maxed out.
00:53Like, the process of her was so incredible.
00:56Like, I adore it so much.
00:58And she's so collaborative and she's so talented and she gave so much to the other actors.
01:02Where it's like, even if she's knocking on a door off-screen,
01:06she would come and knock on the door off-screen.
01:08Yeah, she'd have to do it.
01:09She's like, I want to do it.
01:10We're obsessed with film.
01:12Everything film.
01:13It's all we think about.
01:13So, to have a performer that does the exact same thing, like, she's obsessed.
01:18She gets obsessed with the character.
01:20And so, going down the rabbit hole with her was the most amazing experience.
01:23Even having someone that you can be like, oh, can you just, like, without the crew,
01:27the cinematographer is just going to bring a camera, can you come to set at 5am
01:30and we can shoot you in the real morning light without the crew around?
01:33It's just us.
01:34And she's down for that.
01:35She wants that call.
01:36She's so into it.
01:37She lived and breathed it, which we adore.
01:39Incredible.
01:39And she absolutely nailed the Australian accent as well, which is a really tricky one to
01:43land.
01:43Oh, yeah.
01:44And then, actually, Billy, who's from the UK as well, his accent is-
01:48Flawless.
01:49Insane.
01:49Yeah.
01:50Oliver lost his family just like you guys.
01:53What's he look like, Andy?
01:56He's a beautiful boy.
01:58Just needed someone to give him special care.
02:03You look, you anoy.
02:04Her character keeps returning to this kind of gritty VHS tape
02:08that's depicting, like, an occult ritual.
02:10What was the inspiration behind that and how deep did you go into the lore behind it?
02:14That's always, like, one of the funnest part is, like, building out your mythology
02:16Bible and building out this lore.
02:18And, like, I always loved that a film is here and that there's a world like this that
02:21you're only getting glimpses at and hints at.
02:23And it's about, like, going down the occult rabbit hole and reading spellbooks and talk
02:26to people that practice in the occult.
02:28Anything that sort of scares you or unnerves you, not that you're copying it, but you're
02:31inspired by that and that can go into your own world that you're making.
02:34And the idea was that there's Laura's healthy way of grieving, which is these, like, tapes
02:38that she has of her daughter, these home videos.
02:40And then this is the inversion of that.
02:41And it's like, this is a way of signifying this is an unhealthy way to grieve.
02:47It's an angel.
02:50It's a beautiful angel.
02:51It does beautiful things.
02:57There's some pretty unsettling stuff in the movie, with one particular scene involving
03:01a knife that will put off people like, I'm terrified of the dentist, and so that scene
03:05really, really did a number on me.
03:07Um, what was it like shooting that scene?
03:09The stuff that's probably the hardest to watch is always the most fun to film.
03:13It was so much fun shooting that scene.
03:14Everyone on set had a great time.
03:16Joey and I play as Oliver.
03:17Everyone, like, was having so much fun.
03:19So it's a very different experience creating something like that and then watching it back.
03:23Yeah, because you're funny.
03:23You're like, oh my God, look at that.
03:25Whoa!
03:25Like, it's like that sort of thing.
03:26But it is interesting.
03:27So there was a test screening we did, and it was people's most loved scene and most hated.
03:32Right.
03:33So it was either you love her or you hate her.
03:34I think it could be a bit of both.
03:36Like, I responded so strongly to it in a way that was horrifying, but I loved it.
03:41It was incredible.
03:41Just want to focus on Sora Wong.
03:43So she is amazing, but she also shares her character's visual impairment, which lends a real authenticity
03:48to her performance and also a lot of the tension in the movie.
03:51How important was that authenticity for you guys?
03:53It was, like, the main thing that we asked for and that we were wanting.
03:56And our casting director, Nikki Barrett, was so amazing at, like, sourcing all these girls that wanted to act.
04:02And they were, like, coming and were keen.
04:03And Sora came in and she'd never acted before.
04:06But we did an improv scene with her.
04:08And we said, this is the scene.
04:10This is your character.
04:10This is what you're feeling.
04:11And she just knocked it out of the park.
04:13Wow.
04:13And so we knew just from that, you know, you're either with acting, you have it or you don't.
04:18And she had it.
04:18And so it was about kind of structuring the shoot as well for her and for Sally.
04:22Kind of from beginning to end.
04:24From the easiest stuff to the hardest stuff.
04:26Not throwing her into the deep end and building up to those moments.
04:28There was this amazing transformation from Sora from the beginning of the shoot to the end.
04:31I was, by the end, oh my god.
04:33She's like a veteran.
04:34Yeah, a veteran.
04:35She's so good.
04:35We did ADR and she was nailing them.
04:37Like, one shot, one take, one take, one take.
04:39Yeah, yeah, yeah.
04:40We're so proud of her.
04:42Oh, welcome to your new home.
04:46This is my daughter's room.
04:50I want to show you something else.
04:52This way.
04:55He's stuffed.
04:56I know I'm a weirdo.
04:57There's a real familiarity to the Australian suburban setting of both this film and your
05:02first movie, Talk To Me.
05:03I find quite unnerving because it feels so close to home.
05:06Yeah.
05:06How important was that to you?
05:07Did you get any pressure to maybe move it to a more classic Hollywood setting?
05:11Well, it's so interesting because we got offers to make a Hollywood movie.
05:14But A24 and even Sony, who helped me as well, they never said, this has to be done there.
05:20This has to be this.
05:21That has to be this.
05:21And very filmmaker friendly.
05:23And allowing us to do what we wanted and allowing us to lead that creative process.
05:26So there was never any pressure from them, which I think is so special.
05:29Yeah.
05:29I mean, there was lots of paths we could go down, but it's about making something that's
05:34authentic.
05:34That's us.
05:35And that's Australian.
05:36You know.
05:39Maybe it's the one that can keep in special care.
05:45As the film shows, desperate times call for desperate measures.
05:49Which of the two of you would be more likely to lean into the occult if you found yourself
05:54in a difficult situation?
05:55Well, I mean, I...
05:56He's the one who went down the rabbit hole when he was...
05:58And he's like, these books would come up on the doorstep with these weird spell books.
06:02I love reading a good spell book.
06:04Definitely.
06:04Was there anything that you discovered in that realm that you found particularly interesting?
06:08Just how seriously some of the people would take it.
06:10Whereas like, I spoke to someone that said that they could transform into a cat.
06:13And I'm like, I found that pretty interesting just the psychology behind that.
06:16Because she really sounded like she believed it.
06:17So I found the psychology behind those people that practice it quite interesting as well.
06:21Well, that's what's interesting about things, even if they're not necessarily real,
06:26that it almost is because the belief's real.
06:28It may not be there, but it is there in a way.
06:30Yeah, and you can place any negative emotions onto something that you can...
06:34Like, if you go talk to a psychic and they say they can cleanse you of this bad energy,
06:38you've got this thing, that's the reason you've been having all these negative thoughts and stuff.
06:41Like, this thing is on your sword, let me get rid of that.
06:43Believing in that, them lifting it off,
06:45I think does help certain people because their belief is there for it.
06:50Listen.
06:54Sparkle with the angel.
06:58It's a beautiful angel.
07:00And so we know that there's a sequel to Talk To Me In The Works.
07:03Is there anything you learnt during the making of this movie that will impact that sequel?
07:08Yeah, we're not going to have rain in it.
07:12Yeah, it's so, like, you learn everything.
07:14Like, there's so many things that you learn from every production.
07:16Like, you learn by doing.
07:17And it's not even, like, exact lessons.
07:19They're just, like, living in you subconsciously.
07:21And then, like, for the next project, you will remember things,
07:23going, oh, no, we can't try that again.
07:24Or, we can't do that again.
07:25We need more time in the audio suite.
07:26There's so many different lessons that you take away.
07:28And it all just builds to you becoming a stronger, more established filmmaker.
07:31Amazing. Well, gentlemen, thank you so much for taking the time to talk to Amanda Manny.
07:33Yeah, thank you.
07:34Really appreciate it.
07:35Cheers.
