PopHorror Let's Get Scared
Fantasia International Film Festival 2021 has had some really great films this year. I was lucky enough to catch Edoardo Vitaletti’s The Last Thing Mary Saw (read our review here) and fell in love with it. I adore stories of forbidden love. To celebrate the film playing the fest, I chatted with stars Stefanie Scott and Isabelle Fuhrman, and we discussed why they wanted to be in the film, preparing for the period piece, and what’s up next.
PopHorror: I watched The Last Thing Mary Saw yesterday, and I loved it. I actually found it very heartbreaking. It was amazing, so thank you so much for taking the time to speak with me about it. What intrigued you about the film and made you want to be a part of it?
Stefanie Scott: Personally, I hadn’t read anything like this. It takes place in 1843, and the storyline is between these two girls, Eleanor and Mary… It was very poetic. There were a lot of really big questions threaded throughout and hidden by Edoardo [Vitaletti], who’s the writer and director. It’s such an amazing vision for the movie, and he got me really excited about doing it, honestly.
Isabelle Fuhrman: I hadn’t read a script that was like this ever. And I saw that Stefanie was going to do it, and I was like, “Well, that sounds amazing!” Then I met with Edoardo and loved what he wanted to create and really aligned with his vision. When figuring out what you want to do, you want to feel like everyone’s kind of on the same page. I was like, “Okay, this is going to be really cool.” Then I got to work with my best friend.
PopHorror: Oh, that’s awesome! I went into it completely blind. I knew nothing about it. I really appreciated the LGBTQ storyline and the inclusion in it. I had no idea what to expect, so I was pleasantly surprised. With this being a period piece, how did you prepare for your role?
Stefanie Scott: Edoardo had actually sent us a lot of texts and books and stuff that he found in some library. It was written from the time period of, I guess, the late 1700s, early 1800s. It was just about daily life and walking outside and baking bread, about how quiet and yet rigid life was. It really helped a lot, quite honestly. Not only that, but the wardrobe, the house, and the way we had to speak. Everything kind of came together.
Isabelle Fuhrman: I also felt like the environment, when we got on set, was so conducive to creating that sort of space of feeling trapped.
Stefanie Scott: Yeah.
Isabelle Fuhrman: We were filming on this property in Long Island, and we’re all dressed… Our clothes were all tight and in multiple pieces, and it was cold, and it really felt like we were kind of in this bubble, which I think really helped—in our storyline especially, but also—as a whole. When you watch the movie, it feels like it’s in an isolated space, and I feel like a lot of people used to live life that way back in 1843. It was so much more spread out.
Stefanie Scott: It was just the whole family living in the house.
Isabelle Fuhrman: Which is all together and you’re surrounded by people who are all talking the same way, all thinking the same way. It kind of creates this environment where you can’t say anything. And that’s where Mary and Eleanor find themselves, in a space within the silence that the family already has with themselves, and they’re not really communicating, The two of them have this beautiful, deep love and communication, but they can’t communicate it on the outside. That was a really interesting place to be as an actor to kind of play with. And Stefanie…
Stefanie Scott: Is really easy and talented and wonderful! We lived together while we were filming.
PopHorror: This is not your first venture into horror for either of you. What is it that draws you to the genre?
Stefanie Scott: I just like to make it a fun movie, and I think that a lot of horror films are really fun to make. There’s so many really amazing upcoming writers and directors that get their breakout through this genre, Edoardo being one of them. He was fantastic. Even though, technically, the genre is kind of horror, it’s so much deeper than that. You really see that in the movie. It’s very poetic. It really just depends on the movie itself, but this one was… I love the big questions he was asking.
Isabelle Fuhrman: It was really impressive to read a script like that from a first time writer/director, but also be he’s-
Stefanie Scott: Like coming out of college!
Isabelle Fuhrman: Yeah, yeah! To read that but also have such a clear vision… and then for him to handle the storylines so delicately the way that he did. It was really special to work with him. He had such a clear idea. We didn’t even know that he was just coming out of college. We were like ¾ of the way through filming, and we’re like, “Wait a second. You’re our age? What?” It was so shocking to us. It was really such a great environment to be a part of, and also, the story was just so special. I haven’t seen a horror film or genre piece quite like this where the horror really comes from the family. You feel like you’re in a pressure cooker. Like Stefanie was saying earlier, when some things are grounded in reality, it really hits you in a different way. And then also you get to play with fake blood and all that sort of stuff.
PopHorror: The horror really comes from the way these girls were treated versus your normal scariness. The real horror in this was really just… Wow. I can’t believe that’s how they treated people with these feelings back in the day! That’s what makes it so scary. So, what is next for you? Isabelle, we know that you’re going to have Orphan 2 coming out, but what else is next for you both?
Isabelle Fuhrman: In December, I have a movie called The Novice coming out. That is like a Black Swan/Whiplash-type of psychological movie about a young woman who joins her college rowing team and really fights her way to get to the top. It’s about grit and ambition and drive and the pressure that we put on ourselves to be the best when that’s what we decide we want to be. And so I’m really excited about that film. Yeah, and then Orphan 2. I don’t know when that’s coming out, but soon. I know that we’ve been talking about it very, very soon. And The Last Thing Mary Saw comes out in 2022. Shudder just picked us up, so we’re really excited to be on that platform and for everyone to see the movie.
PopHorror: That’s exciting!
Stefanie Scott: I have a show called Girl In The Woods, and that’ll be coming out on Peacock in October, or around that. I don’t know the exact date yet, but I do know it’s by the end of this year. Yeah, I’m so stoked about that. It’s really hard for me to describe, because it’s kind of crazy and I don’t want to give anything away, but it’s about this girl who grows up in a cult in the woods, and she escapes and crazy shit happens. I have a bionic arm, and we get to kick ass. It’s great!
Isabelle Fuhrman: I’m excited to watch her kick butt because Stefanie, to me as a person, is such a badass, but I always see her in movies play these super emotional, delicate but also strong underneath characters. But to watch her be a badass? I really can’t wait!
PopHorror: I’ll have to keep an eye out for that one! And I just have one last question for you both. What is your favorite scary movie?
Isabelle Fuhrman: Well, I haven’t watched that many scary movies because I work on them, but Susperia and A Clockwork Orange were ones that I mentioned earlier. Those are like classic movies that… Actually, you know what? I guess this doesn’t really qualify as horror, but All About Eve and Whatever Happened to Baby Jane? are two of my favorite movies. I think, psychologically, they really messed with me.
PopHorror: Great choices!
Stefanie Scott: Okay, so this isn’t really horror. Well it is kind of scary, but have you seen Dark on Netflix? It’s that German show?
PopHorror: I haven’t seen it, but I’ve heard about it.
Stefanie Scott: It’s great, and I think that would be my favorite because it is actually really scary and creepy and stuff.
Thank you so much, Stefanie and Isabelle, for taking the time to speak with us. Be sure to check out The Last Thing Mary Saw, currently on its festival run, and coming to Shudder 2022.
