Interview with Justin Long - May 25th, 2009

Promoting: Drag Me To Hell
Venue: The Soho Hotel
Interview type (one-on-two, with Alison Lohman - see below)

Note: This interview was conducted on behalf of FilmStar Magazine (now sadly deceased), where a version of it first appeared.


Filmstar: Justin, this is your first horror film since the Jeepers Creepers movies. How did it feel to come back to horror after so many comedy roles?

Justin Long (JL): I love the genre, so I'm glad to be a part of another horror movie but it didn't feel like doing a horror movie, certainly not like my experience on Jeepers Creepers. My part is much more of a passive role – it was more like doing a romantic movie for me, so it didn't feel like doing a horror movie. But then I did one after this, where I was much more of an active participant in the horror. I'd forgotten how exhausting it is, just how physically demanding it is. And also seeing [co-star Alison Lohman] go through that, it reminded me a lot of that experience, to maintain that level of fear throughout a couple of months and long takes and several takes, it just gets to be really physically exhausting.

But I do love the genre and I had wanted to do more horror movies after Jeepers Creepers. It wasn't for lack of trying, I was always throwing my name in the hat and I auditioned for all the Halloween 12 and Freddy versus Jason versus Alien versus Predator. But then it got to the point where I was starting to be able to be more selective of roles and the truth is that those parts in those movies are a lot more stock and not as interesting as other roles so I just stopped trying out.

Filmstar: What was it like working with Sam Raimi?

JL: He's incredibly giving as a director. He's very patient and incredibly kind and he's funny, he's very funny. He's by far my favourite director I've ever worked with, more for how he treats people and how he conducts himself than for his body of work, which everyone knows is great. So you'd think there would be some element of him that would be tyrannical or officious but he's anything but, he's just so collaborative and warm and a really kind guy, a really great guy.

Filmstar: How does he approach the more effects-heavy scenes?

JL: Off-camera, I think it was really important, because a lot of [acting] is like impulsive and natural and you can't deconstruct it and get heady about it and so Sam would give Alison a lot to respond to. I mean maybe not as much as you'd like ideally, because there's a lot of stuff you just can't do because of the green screen and post stuff, so Sam would be there getting really passionate off-camera, doing the sounds for, like, the Lamia [the film's evil spirit] chasing you up the stairs, anything that you had to be reacting to, he'd be like [puts on monster voice], “And I'm WALKING UP THE STAIRS and I'm BANGING ON THE DOOR” and he got very into it, really passionate, like he was a part of the movie. Much more directly than most directors are.

Filmstar: What are your thoughts on horror generally? Were you a fan?

JL: I realise I'm not as big a fan as other people. I think it might belie how I really feel to say I'm a big fan, like it might be disrespectful to actual big fans. But I really enjoy horror movies. I don't know how big of a fan I am anymore, but I do love them.

Filmstar: Have you seen Night of the Demon?

JL: No, but I know that was a heavy influence for this movie and I'm really curious to see it. And now I'm glad that I redefined how big of a horror fan I am, before you asked that question.

Filmstar: Did you feel left out of the gory special effects scenes?

JL: Oh, absolutely, yes. I mean, at the time there was an element of relief, because Alison was working so hard and I got to go home early and I got my sleep. I even got to shoot another film – I had so much time off that I shot another movie in the middle of this movie. But of course, you just want to play. You feel like a kid and Sam was acting like a kid with the purity and the love of it and I just wanted to get in there and get my hands dirty. And certainly watching, of course, you want to do the fun horror movie stuff. But it was so nice just to be a part of it and to be involved.

Filmstar: What's your next project?

JL: I'm doing a movie this summer called Going The Distance, it's a romantic comedy about two people who are trying to figure out a long-distance relationship. It's a pretty simple, straightforward story, but hopefully done in a kind of raw, much more real kind of like Apatow-ian way. I hate using that, but it applies.

Interview with Alison Lohman - May 25th, 2009

Promoting: Drag Me To Hell
Venue: The Soho Hotel
Interview type: One-on-two (with Justin Long - see above)

Note: A version of this interview appeared in FilmStar Magazine (now deceased), as the interview was conducted for FilmStar, not for ViewLondon.


Filmstar: What was it like working with Sam Raimi?

Alison Lohman (AL): Great. Sam is a director I've always wanted to work with, so it was really great to work with him.

Filmstar: You've worked with Tim Burton, Ridley Scott and Atom Egoyan. How does Sam compare to other directors you've worked with?

AL: It's hard to generalise all the other directors in one category, but I just feel that Sam stands out because he's just so incredibly patient. He's such a gentleman. And he also gets really passionate about each detail of every scene, but not in an analytical way, in a sort of fun-loving, child-like, curious way, not in an intellectualised, in-your-head way. Because I don't think that you're productive when it's too intellectual, especially for an actor, you know, they have to be free with their body and that's mostly where the emotion's coming from.

Filmstar: How demanding were the various scenes you had to go through?

AL: Oh, incredibly demanding, yes. Oh my gosh. Much more so than I ever thought.

Filmstar: There's a scene in the film which I believe is known as the “gumming” scene (the old lady clamps her toothless jaw over Alison's face). How was it filming that?

AL: That one was interesting because, you know, it's only two sentences on the page and it takes a whole day to shoot. When you're reading it you just kind of read over it and you don't really think of it as anything, you're just more focussed on the dialogue in heavier scenes. But actually, it's those smaller scenes that are heavier in horror films, for me.

Filmstar: What was the balance between CGI and more traditional effects?

AL: On this film, it wasn't so much CGI – I had all the props that I needed to make it feel real. And, you know, Sam would play the monster. And the fly that goes in and out of my nose.

Filmstar: How did he play the fly?

AL: Well, he had like a fishing pole and a piece of tape attached to it and he would dangle it. And he got way too much enjoyment out of it, he would do take after take after take.

Filmstar: Were you a fan of horror films beforehand?

AL: I didn't especially like horror films but I have an appreciation for them now.

Filmstar: What's your approach to acting generally? Do you do lots of research?

AL: I do, I try and do as much as I can and then just try give up the rest and just kind of leave it to trusting your instincts. Wherever you can find inspiration, you know, even if it's just one scene in a movie.

Filmstar: Did you spend any time in a bank for Drag Me To Hell?

AL: I did, actually. I did. I met with a loan officer and talked with her a few times, tried to get as much information to try and make sure it was all valid and legit.

Filmstar: Did you watch any horror movies in preparation?

AL: I did. I watched as many horror movies as I could and I really enjoyed one called Let's Scare Jessica To Death (1971). There's one scene where you just die watching it, she's coming out of a lake and there's this monster and it's like even more real than real life. It's just hard to explain, the way her reaction was.

Filmstar: What attracts you to a script, usually?

AL: Everything. Not so much the story, but the director, actors who are involved and my character. And the story too, but it depends, I don't really try to find a particular story, if you know what I mean.

Filmstar: What was it that attracted you to Drag Me To Hell?

AL: Working with Sam Raimi and Justin Long and also just being really inspired by Sam.

Filmstar: What's your next project?

AL: I'm in a film called Gamer. It stars Gerard Butler and Amber Valletta, it's a really great cast. The story is humans playing humans on a global scale, through video games. It's actually kind of hard to explain the whole movie, but it's wild. I play this girl Trace, who's part of the resistance, who tries to get Gerard Butler back to his family. But after that, I don't have a next project – I'm on holiday, a big long break.

Filmstar: Are Gamer and Drag Me To Hell part of a conscious decision to move into more mainstream movies?

AL: No, not at all, not at all. I've never had any desire to do action films or horror films, so it's just interesting that they kind of came up at this time. I mean, I don't mind doing them – I loved working on them.