SPOILER ALERT:This interview contains plot details for the filmLonglegs
Oz Perkinsdidnt mean to scare you.
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DEADLINE: First off, this movie is terrifying.
How do you sleep at night knowing that youve dropped a movie that scares the hell out of everybody?
Maika Monroe in ‘Longlegs’Neon
It was an accident.
I only set out to make people feel good.
And I think people dont feel bad.
I think people dig the feeling that theyre having, so thats great.
But my intention was just to make something I thought was cool.
Why choose this particular time period?
Youve got to find ways to stack your deck a little bit, right?
This is super difficult…Oh, actually, I do know 12 across.
I know that Jack Kerouac wroteOn the Road.
My access point forLonglegswasSilence of the Lambs.
I was like, Well, there hasnt been one of those in a bit.
Thats about as perfect as it gets.
Lets just start with that.
Ill lay that in.
Shes in the FBI.
Oh, shes got a boss.
Oh, theres kind of a wall of evidence.
Oh, theyre hunting somebody.
I wonder who that is.
So, it just starts to unfold that way.
The 90s was a formative time for me.
So those elements just made it a good time to be in.
It looks good, too.
Can you talk about making horror movies that derive from terror and tragedy from the female perspective?
PERKINS:I think Im always compelled just by expressing some truth of my experience.
I dont know if my experience is better, worse, more privileged, or more damaged.
So, Im always setting out to do something that is about me.
I choose female protagonists because it creates an additional layer of curiosity, right?
It creates an additional layer of romanticism because Im making stuff up.
DEADLINE: What scares you these days?
What do you consume, or whats inspiring you right now in the horror space?
PERKINS:I really dont watch it.
Its not something I seek out.
But for the most part, I dont really look at that stuff.
True crime is abhorrent to me and almost worse than that is people pretending to do true crime.
Im sure its really brilliantly done, but I have zero interest in that kind of grossness.
I used to watch a lot of sports, but I dont really have much time for that anymore.
I attempt to watch older movies that Ive never seen.
Id never seen William FriedkinsSorcerer.
You know, you watch things, youre like, Oh, this fucking thing exists?
I have a go at just catch up on things that are great.
Mama Bear will do the thing that she has to do to protect the baby bear.
Its just spiritual biology or whatever you want to call it, its instinctual.
Its like, I had a choice.
Does that make her bad?
Does it make her also like an ideal mother?
God, people have plenty of those, right?
Oh, my mother, who made me, is also the person who destroys me the most.
Thats a common occurrence.
Its always like this.
Theres space in that.
But in this film, we get a little bit of him without really knowing everything.
Can you talk about the decision-making that went into pulling back the curtain?
You cant even see him.
Hes like the summative power, the unseen hand.
Working for the devil.
Like life, right?
And for me, thats always about Darth Vader, right?
As a central, mythological, mythical character.
PERKINS:Well, it starts on the page.
I dont write scripts and be like, Oh, its kind of going to be like this.
Well figure it out later.
Nic, just make it all up.
You dont have to say any of my shit.
you’re free to do whatever you want, and he says, No, no, no.
And Nic is just as pro as it gets.
Hes an extremely smart guy.
Like not all actors are intelligent.
Hes extremely intelligent and so quick.
He doesnt miss anything.
And so, its like using a really sharp knife to cut something.
What was the decision behind making this bang out of character and working with her on this performance?
PERKINS:Well, characters are just expressions of what weve been through, right?
And then you just sort of work it out constantly.
DEADLINE: What was the challenge of creating a film like this?
That scene was not in my original imagination for the movie.
I just didnt have that scene.
I was like, I dont want it.
And theyre like, No, you need it.
DEADLINE: Whats your secret to a good scare while youre writing or directing something?
What checks and balances do you have?
Are we doing this?
Do we have enough coverage of this?
Are we getting the beat?
Its a bit of a mess.
But it starts with the image or writing…
The written word, everything starts with, and for me, its just about the uncanny, right?
Like, whats a little bit fucked up about this?
What if its really inanimate, but its used for magic somehow, like an effigy or something?
What if it just looks and stares at you?
Im the only arbiter of what is good, right?
I have to know that its good.
I want to see that.
Otherwise, what am I doing?
