PopHorror Let's Get Scared
Director Steven Soderbergh (Traffic; Erin Brockovich) is dipping his toes in the horror genre with Presence, a POV ghost story written by David Koepp and starring Lucy Liu (Kill Bill Vol 1 and Vol 2), Chris Sullivan (This is Us), and newcomers Callina Liang, West Mulholland, and Eddy Maday. What sets Presence apart of your usual run-of-the-mill ghost story is that it’s told in the first person so we, as the audience, are watching the film from the point of view of the entity as they watch the events of the film unfold. I am beyond impressed with the cinematography by Steven Soderbergh himself.
Oh, boy. This film is INTENSE, like yelling at the screen intense because there’s so much happening that is just cringe. But that ending? I’m not going to give any spoilers but, fuck. FUCK! This film is unconventional is every way and I am 100% here for it.
A family becomes convinced they are not alone after moving into their new home in the suburbs.
To celebrate the release of the film into theaters, I chatted with Lucy and Chris about how they became attached to the film, horror movies, and more!
PopHorror: I loved Presence so much. Lucy, that last scene? You broke my heart and really tugged at my heartstrings.
Lucy Liu: Aww, thank you.
PopHorror: The film is such a fun and interesting take on a ghost story. What intrigued you about the script and made you want to be a part of the project?
Lucy Liu: Chris has actually worked with Steven before, but I have not. But he is somebody that I admire and have admired for a long, long time. When I got the call that he wanted to have a meeting with me, I was astounded, and I was excited and terrified at the same time. I don’t think I could ever say no to Steven. I just don’t think I could. I was willing to try anything because I just trust him so much as an artist, just watching his work. I think I felt safe knowing that, but also I did not know what he was going to ask me to do or what he was interested in me working on.
Chris Sullivan: Yeah, yeah. He can be elusive. Steven is… He sent me the script and I read the script, and I was blown away. I was like, if he pulls this off it’s going to be incredible. Then we had a meeting and he told me how he was going to do it and he showed me the camera and he showed me the rig. He had built it. He’s just talking about it, we’re talking, and he goes, “So we’re going to do it and I’ve got Lucy Liu and hopefully you,” and he kept talking, and I was like, “Steven, I’m sorry. Did you just offer me a role in this movie?” And he’s like, “Oh, yes. Yes.” I was like, “My answer is yes! My answer is yes.” And it will always be if he asks.
PopHorror: I love that! Just one last question for you both. What is your favorite scary movie?
Chris Sullivan: Oh, man.
Lucy Liu: I think that for me, I thought Get Out and Us… They’re both by Jordan Peele and there’s something so menacing about the way that he presents suspense.
Chris Sullivan: Yeah! Jordan Peele is definitely the heir to the modern horror/thriller throne.
Lucy Liu: It’s this dislocation of vision, right? Because, you know, from the window there’s a wide shot of the lawn and then you see somebody running by… There’s something not obvious that makes it scarier than like somebody in a mask.
Chris Sullivan: Yes, sure, sure. In the past years, Hereditary obviously is going to be at the top of a lot of lists.
PopHorror: Yes!
Lucy Liu: My heart almost stopped in the theaters seeing that. The Babadook was a big one for me. Going back a few years, the style of acting that is required for certain types of horror movies – not our style in this movie – but The Exorcism of Emily Rose, starring Jennifer Carpenter? Jennifer Carpenter deserved an Academy Award for the performance she gave in the film. I came out of the movie theater and called people; I was so blown away by that movie.
PopHorror: Anyone who can effectively play someone possessed that way, deserves an award for it, for sure.
Lucy Liu: Yeah, yeah!
Chris Sullivan: She was doing things in that movie that I had not seen.
PopHorror: Also, Jordan Peele is a horror fan making horror movies for horror fans, and that’s why he’s so effective. Because he loves them too.
Chris Sullivan: That’s right.
Lucy Liu: They’re so intelligent and the velocity of his work is so different in terms of how he paces it that you just can’t figure out the direction it’s going in, for the pace. It’s unsettling, so therefore it continues to build even more tension because you just don’t know what you’re supposed to do. Are you supposed to brace yourself? Are you supposed to cover your eyes? You don’t want to miss it but then you’re like, I feel so dislocated from my body right now.
Chris Sullivan: He and Steven Soderbergh are similar when it comes to this genre in that they are both extremely inventive and neither one of them patronizes their audience. They treat their audience with the utmost respect, and it makes for a thrilling experience.
PopHorror: And we appreciate that.
Thank you so much to Lucy and Chris for taking the time to chat with us. Presence is currently haunting theaters.
