{"id":49747,"date":"2024-04-17T16:43:40","date_gmt":"2024-04-17T14:43:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.radiotimes.com\/?p=2026509"},"modified":"2024-04-17T19:26:15","modified_gmt":"2024-04-17T17:26:15","slug":"dan-stevens-on-abigail-we-exhausted-ireland-of-its-supply-of-movie-blood","status":"publish","type":"rss_feed","link":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/rss_feed\/dan-stevens-on-abigail-we-exhausted-ireland-of-its-supply-of-movie-blood\/","title":{"rendered":"Dan Stevens on Abigail: \u201cWe exhausted Ireland of its supply of movie blood!\u201d"},"content":{"rendered":"

The actor talks exclusively to RadioTimes.com about his role in the new vampire flick. <\/p>

By Patrick Cremona\n \t\t<\/p>

Published: Wednesday, 17 April 2024 at 14:43 PM<\/p>

\n\n

\u201cI think it\u2019s fair to say it\u2019s the bloodiest film I\u2019ve been in,\u201d Dan Stevens tells RadioTimes.com<\/a> of his new horror flick Abigail, \u201cand I\u2019ve been in some quite bloody ones!\u201d<\/p>\n

The film, which is the latest effort from Ready or Not and Scream directing pair Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett (known collectively as Radio Silence) sees Stevens star as a former cop who, along with a rag-tag band of criminals, kidnaps a 12-year-old girl in the hopes of extracting a significant ransom from her wealthy father.<\/p>\n

Only, while holed up in an abandoned mansion, it quickly transpires that the gang are in over their heads.<\/p>\n

Rather than being the vulnerable pre-teen they had expected, it becomes clear that Abigail \u2013 who is played with tremendous relish by young Matilda: The Musical<\/a> star Alisha Weir \u2013 is in fact an insatiably hungry vampire. Naturally, it doesn\u2019t take long for the blood to flow.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe exhausted Ireland of its supply of movie blood!\u201d Stevens explains. \u201cWe had to get special shipments in from outside \u2013 there were literally thousands and thousands of gallons used.<\/p>\n

\u201cEvery time a vampire is defeated, they explode, and that involves these incredible kind of cannons that get absolutely stacked with this stuff and just explode all over the set,\u201d he adds.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a huge event when one of these things goes off, and as the movie goes on, it sort of got more and more regular. It\u2019d be, \u2018Oh so and so is blowing up today, we\u2019re gonna stand around and watch this.\u2019 It was great fun!\u201d<\/p>\n

The former Downton Abbey<\/a> star is chatting exclusively to RadioTimes.com<\/a> over Zoom, wearing a Nosferatu hoodie that betrays a long-lasting interest in the genre.<\/p>\n

And although he says his favourite vampire films tend to be on the subtler side to Abigail \u2013 he mentions A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night and Let The Right One In \u2013 he is especially interested in new ways of approaching such a well-worn subject matter.<\/p>\n

\"Alisha\n<\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture>\n<\/div>
Alisha Weir as Abigail in Abigail.<\/span><\/figcaption> Universal<\/i><\/span><\/div>\n

\u201cWhat excites me is how are people are going to approach it this time,\u201d he says. \u201cBecause that\u2019s the challenge: it\u2019s like, yeah, we\u2019ve all seen a vampire movie, but you know, what are the teeth gonna look like? What can these vampires do? How do you kill these ones? And what\u2019s the effect if you get turned?<\/p>\n

\u201cSo each time you get to kind of rewrite the rules. And also, you\u2019re in dialogue with other films of that genre, which I like, as well.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s sort of one of the fun things about horror in general, really, is that there are filmmakers almost talking to each other through their work, like, \u2018Oh, you did this with your vampire? Well we\u2019re doing this with ours.’\u201d<\/p>\n

When he was first handed the script, Stevens hadn\u2019t actually been aware that it was a vampire film at all \u2013 instead told simply that it was a heist film involving a kidnapping.<\/p>\n

But upon reading it, he was instantly intrigued by the prospect, even if there was initially a little confusion as to why he was being considered for his role.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was originally written for quite a different casting,\u201d he says. \u201cI think they had, like, a sort of 60-year-old Italian American in mind. So I was reading this going, \u2018What are they doing?\u2019 And then they said, \u2018Well, you know, we\u2019re thinking of changing it, we think you could do something with this.’\u201d<\/p>\n

The version of the character we see in the film is codenamed Frank, and fancies himself as the ringleader of the disparate group of kidnappers \u2013 who had been strangers prior to agreeing to the job.<\/p>\n

As the film progresses, we gradually learn more about his background as a \u201ccorrupt cop\u201d who made \u201ca series of very, very bad choices\u201d and is, in Stevens\u2019s own words \u201ca real piece of s**t\u201d.<\/p>

This lack of moral compass is made startlingly evident relatively early on in the runtime, when Frank points a gun directly to Abigail\u2019s head, before her true vampiric identity has even been disclosed. So, what was it like acting in such a violent scene with a young actress like Weir?<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was fun, only because she\u2019s just brilliant,\u201d he responds. \u201cShe\u2019s completely unfazed [and] she can do it all \u2013 she\u2019s an incredible actress, a gymnast, a dancer, she did almost all her own stunts. And just with a smile the whole way through, she was just absolutely delighted to be in and amongst it all and was so up for it.\u201d<\/p>\n

He goes on: \u201cFrank is just an awful character, a really, really nasty man, and so it was not a very nice scene, but the memory of doing that was that it was very fun, because Alisha is so sweet and so funny. And we were all constantly floored by how brilliant she was.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Dan\n<\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture>\n<\/div>
Dan Stevens as Frank in Abigail.<\/span><\/figcaption> Universal<\/i><\/span><\/div>\n

Never was that brilliance more apparent than in the film\u2019s frenzied climactic scene. We won\u2019t spoil the exact nature of what happens here, but rest assured it includes lots more of that aforementioned blood and some complex fight choreography courtesy of 87Eleven \u2013 the company founded by John Wick directors Chad Stahelski and David Leitch.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey really wanted to sort of amp up the level of that fight at the end,\u201d Stevens says. \u201cIt\u2019s a very, very fun final sequence, and all I can remember is just Alisha killing it each time. It was like, \u2018Could you just do a backflip and kick him in the head?\u2019 And she\u2019s like, \u2018Sure.\u2019 And she\u2019d just do it 30 times in a row!\u201d<\/p>\n

Alongside Stevens and Weir, the film boasts an impressive ensemble cast that also features the likes of Melissa Barrera, Kathryn Newton, Giancarlo Esposito and a brief but memorable role for another former Downton cast member, Matthew Goode.<\/p>\n

Stevens says he \u201cloved\u201d working with what he describes as an \u201cunusual gang\u201d, and there is one co-star in particular that he is understandably keen to single out.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was a real treat to get to work with Angus Cloud,\u201d he says of the former Euphoria<\/a> star, who tragically died from an accidental drug overdose last summer.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe was a very, very sweet, lovely boy. And I\u2019ve never met anyone like him. He really was like all of our little brother on set, and we were all completely heartbroken when we lost him, in the middle of production, essentially, in the middle of the strike.<\/p>\n

\u201cSo, you know, that also kind of brings people very, very close together, when something like that happens.\u201d<\/p>\n

The film is dedicated to Cloud\u2019s memory, something Stevens says is \u201conly right\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s terrific in it,\u201d he adds. \u201cAnd it\u2019s very\u2026 it\u2019s an oddly special film for that reason.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Angus\n<\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture>\n<\/div>
Angus Cloud.<\/span><\/figcaption> Mike Marsland\/Getty Images for Ralph Lauren Fragrances<\/i><\/span><\/div>\n

Abigail arrives in UK cinemas not long after another big film in which Stevens had a major role: the latest entry in Legendary\u2019s MonsterVerse saga, Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire<\/a>.<\/p>\n

That film reunited the actor with director Adam Wingard, with whom he had previously worked a decade ago on the thriller The Guest. And he said it was a great experience to be back in familiar company on such a different type of film.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was a lot of the same gang \u2013 we\u2019ve got Simon Barrett, who co-wrote The Guest with Adam, [he] was one of the writers, and Tom Hammock, our art director from The Guest, was also designing it,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

\u201cSo it was a lot of the same team and a lot of the same kind of spirit, really \u2013 of indie filmmaking just on a much, much bigger scale.\u201d<\/p>\n

He adds that although it was their first time working together in 10 years, he regularly hangs out with Wingard, and the pair are often spitball ideas for further collaborations.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re always talking about things that we want to do \u2013 very, very big ideas, and some very small, weird ones,\u201d he says. \u201cAnd, you know, as with all of these things, it\u2019s just plates spinning.\u201d<\/p>\n

Stevens will next be seen on the big screen in a film that very much fits into that small, weird category: the psychological horror Cuckoo. Written and directed by German filmmaker Tilman Singer and also starring Euphoria\u2019s Hunter Schafer, the movie received some strong notices when it played at February\u2019s Berlin Film Festival \u2013 and Stevens is very enthusiastic about its upcoming release.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was very, very excited to get to work with [Singer], he\u2019s done an incredible job,\u201d he says. \u201cAnd also with Hunter Schafer in the lead, who is a very, very intriguing actress.<\/p>\n

\u201cI hadn\u2019t seen her in much beyond Euphoria \u2013 she hasn\u2019t done much beyond Euphoria, really, I think this was her first film. And yeah, it was a great experience and a very, very strange film.\u201d<\/p>\n

He adds: \u201cUnlike Abigail, where it\u2019s like, okay, you know what you\u2019re getting here, Cuckoo is a little bit more strange, a little bit more mysterious. Like, what is happening here?\u201d<\/p>\n

Stevens plays the role of a \u201cstrange German weirdo\u201d who serves as the film\u2019s antagonist, something he found very rewarding.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd audiences seem to be really responding to it,\u201d he says. \u201cIt\u2019s got a great look to it, fantastic soundtrack. And it\u2019s a great one to see in a crowd. I witnessed it last month at SXSW, where the audience sort of slowly just cottoned on as to what\u2019s happening, and then you\u2019re, like, off to the races, and in for another great ride, really.\u201d<\/p>\n

Next up, Stevens will be returning to the small screen for the Netflix miniseries Zero Day, in which he forms one part of a hugely exciting ensemble led by none other than Robert DeNiro.<\/p>\n

At this stage, he can\u2019t reveal too much about the series \u2013 which is currently filming, and which he expects to land on the streamer at some point next year \u2013 but he describes it as \u201ca very cool kind of cyber political thriller\u201d which sees De Niro \u201cfiring on all cylinders\u201d.<\/p>\n

For now, though, the main focus is Abigail. \u201cIt\u2019s a bloody good time,\u201d he says. \u201cAnd that\u2019s what we want when we go to the movies these days: bloody good fun!\u201d<\/p>\n