Audiences are raving about the new horror from Paramount Pictures “Smile.” CinemaBlend sat down with the cast behind the film including Sosie Bacon, Kyle Gallner, Jessie T. Usher, and Writer/Director Parker Finn. We discuss their brilliant marketing campaign, how the film tackles mental health, reactions to the brutal ending and much more!
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00:00 It was more like the emotional stuff that was scary, but when I left the movie after watching it,
00:05 I definitely did feel a little bit like tweaked by people smiling.
00:09 It does give a very eerie feeling watching it and leaving and yeah.
00:26 I'm curious, throughout the film you're obviously around so many of the creepy smiles.
00:31 I was wondering if it's as scary on set as it is for us viewers when you were filming them.
00:36 No, it's not.
00:38 No, you've got, you know, I mean, you know, you've got like a million people around and like,
00:46 there were funny things throughout.
00:51 I don't think that it was much, yeah, like I think that it was also,
00:53 what was most fun to me is like to see what every actor did with the smile and how they were all different, you know.
01:01 Robin Weigert, like she is like a theater actor and she like did so much prep,
01:07 like she was, like it was amazing and then like, you know,
01:11 everybody approached it differently and they all turned out amazing.
01:15 It told me that today's the day that I'm gonna...
01:19 Do you see it right now here?
01:22 Okay.
01:24 [Screams]
01:26 There are so many amazing scares in this movie.
01:30 I was wondering if there was one particular that was really challenging for you to shoot.
01:34 You know, all of the scares in the film were definitely, you know, bespoke and logistical challenges for every single one of them.
01:41 I wanted to make sure that we weren't just scaring people the same way over and over again,
01:45 that there was a sort of an escalation to the scares and an unexpected nature to them.
01:51 Certainly, you know, the birthday party scene was a major logistical challenge with the extras and so many children around
01:59 and also what Sosie had to do in the middle of all of that.
02:05 And I really, really love the way that came together.
02:08 And, you know, we just premiered the movie the other night and to hear an audience react to that scene was really, really fun.
02:15 Why is it that everybody else who's seen it is dead and you're alive?
02:18 I've seen it too.
02:20 You?
02:22 Get her away from me!
02:24 I feel like there was a great conversation to be had about mental health and trauma and how it plays a part in people's lives.
02:30 I was wondering if you could speak to that element of the movie and your inspirations for the concept.
02:35 I was really interested in kind of investigating the sort of the stuff that we're all carrying around inside of our heads, you know,
02:41 whether it's our fears, anxieties, traumas, and what we do to try to mask that from the world.
02:49 And then at the same time, I wanted to explore and really place the audience in the shoes of a character
02:57 who feels like their mind is turning against them and what that might be like to experience
03:02 and sort of present that in a way that audiences may not have thought of before.
03:08 And I really wanted to do something so internal and psychological, but also bring in these external,
03:14 extraordinary elements and kind of weave them together until they're indistinguishable.
03:18 Something that I heard that kind of stuck with me forever is that no one is born bad.
03:25 And that kind of ties into all of these things that happen to us throughout our lives,
03:29 whether it's traumatic or whether it's something, you know, medically that then affects us and it changes who we are.
03:36 And in the way that we see the world. And I felt like just even incorporating that aspect into this movie
03:42 and then tying it to like a horror genre says a lot. You know what I mean? It is, it can be horrific.
03:49 And a lot of times we're not really sure if it's a supernatural thing or if it's a mental illness
03:55 or if, you know, if it's a traumatic experience that this person keeps reliving.
03:58 But it all sort of seems to have the same reaction.
04:02 And or at least it can, you know, it can have the same reaction. And that's pretty freaking scary.
04:07 I am not going to keep running.
04:09 I have to face it.
04:12 How does that make you feel?
04:14 I have come across recently the cool marketing campaign at games and other televised events.
04:24 And I was wondering how much of a hand you had in that and if you came up with a concept at all.
04:29 Paramount's marketing team has been nothing short of spectacular on this film.
04:34 And I got to give all the credit to them. I mean, they,
04:36 I think they got very inspired by the film and came up with these really clever ideas.
04:42 And I've loved watching it all go out and sort of infect the world.
04:46 For you, Kyle, do you mind talking spoilers?
04:49 I'll tell you the whole plot of the movie.
04:53 I mean, look, I love a brutal ending. I love like a mean ending.
04:59 I love like something not wrapped up in a nice little bow.
05:03 And I'm hoping it's a one-two punch, you know, being like, "Oh, shit!"
05:09 And then you're like, "Oh, no!"
05:10 You know, like, I hope it really like makes everybody walk away and kind of be like, "Oh."
05:18 You know, really, I hope it's a gut punch for everybody.
05:22 You know, I don't love it when like an ending is tied up with any bow.
05:26 I like messy endings that, you know, can be, you know, like deliver an emotional catharsis,
05:33 but also be ambiguous that, you know, and then potentially sort of,
05:39 you know, pull the rug out from underneath you.
05:42 You know, I think the intention with the film was to tell a self-contained story.
05:51 I think there could still be a lot of fun stuff to do with "Smile,"
05:53 but if there was any story that was going to continue,
05:55 I'd want to make sure that it's not a retread of what we already watched,
05:58 that it's something new and that it would have more surprises in store for the audience.
06:03 I'm just really scared that something bad is going to happen.
06:06 [knocking]
06:07 Who's there?
06:08 [gunshot]
06:09 [tires screeching]
06:11 (dramatic music)