And it just took me on this journey that I didn't expect. What do you hope audiences take away from the film? PULCINI: One of the things that I loved about the book is that I was so engaged in second-guessing all of the obvious stuff. And she just reached out to us - in true Justine fashion - and was like, "I want to play this role." We were really struggling with who would be right, and it just clicked. She is, I think, a standout in the movie. PULCINI: And Rhea reached out to us - she plays Justine in the movie. I mean, she's beautiful, and she's a remarkable person, but yet she's someone that you can see yourself in, and I felt that was very important for this role. SPRINGER BERMAN: It's funny, because to me, Amanda is so relatable. But that was the face that was in her mind. She said she really had to sit down when we told her that, because she didn't expect it. And it's funny, when we told the the novelist that we were casting Amanda, she said she imagined her when she wrote this character. People are really starting to see what she's capable of, but she can do anything you ask of her as an actor, and she has great instincts. I mean, she was so right for this role, because she has this delicate side and this strength simultaneously. PULCINI: And we were just thrilled to land Amanda. So he suddenly had a window and we were like, "Yes!" So that worked out really well. SPRINGER BERMAN: His show got pushed that he was working on. And then we got an email out of the blue saying he was available. So we went on this kind of long casting journey, like exploring other options. PULCINI: I mean, the real horror of the story is the marriage, you know?Ĭan you tell us a bit about casting Amanda and James, and Rhea Seehorn as the outspoken best friend, Justine? PULCINI: He was the first person we met with and we fell in love with him, but he wasn't available. So it has ghosts, and it has murder, but it also has a real emotional drama. We tried to honor the tone of the book, I would say. For us, this was a blending of those things, but I would not say horror. It was set in the art world in Venice and is about grief, but there's scares in it. SPRINGER BERMAN: Like the Nicolas Roeg movie Don't Look Now. For me, I love spooky movies more than I like jump-scare movies. So I think it's more of a supernatural thriller if you're going to give it a genre. And there's a gothic kind of quality to it, with the heroine kind of searching for her freedoms and with the supernatural element. PULCINI: I find it more of a literary ghost story, in the tradition of Turn of the Screw and things like that. Did that change for the film? SPRINGER BERMAN: It's not a horror. Įarly reports called the film a horror thriller, but I wouldn't characterize the book that way at all. So in spite of all the fear, we seemed to have overcome it. Although, you know, Bob and I are still married, and it's been 21 years, 22 - we've been married for a long time. So to me, there was something very truthful about that being sort of the underlying or underpinning of this story that both brought a lot of fear to the reader, and then the viewer. It can be incredibly wonderful, and it can be incredibly frightening and scary, both at the same time. And I think one of the most frightening things in the world is a marriage. One of my favorite movies is Rosemary's Baby, which is this fear of giving birth and having to bring life into the world. I think the most successful ones are based in something real. SHARI SPRINGER BERMAN: And on the marriage, it's funny that you would say that because I actually really like movies that are sort of supernatural or psychological thrillers that are based on some kind of real subconscious fear. So I had Shari read it, and she absolutely loved it. I also felt like there was something oddly timely about it. And there's always been a spooky element to the Hudson Valley with the Washington Irving stories that, you know, you really feel when you're up here with the clinging fog, and I just thought it brought together so many wonderful things. This landscape here and the seasons are very filled with drama, and there's kind of a spirituality to the backdrop of the Hudson River painters they saw a lot of spirituality in nature. We've spent a lot of time up here.I read about the book, and that it was sort of getting national attention and great reviews, and I decided to buy it. The desire to film this landscape up in the Hudson Valley was really what brought me to the book. ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY: As a married couple yourselves, why did you want to take on this story of a marriage gone wrong? ROBERT PULCINI: Well, it's interesting.
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