‘Abigail’s Kathryn Newton Has Ideas for Blumhouse’s Next Horror Movie

The Big Picture

• Collider’s Perri Nemiroff sits down with
  Abigail
  stars Kathryn Newton and Dan Stevens.
• The actors discuss their collaboration with Radio Silence and share some theories about their characters.
• Newton also whips up an A+ pitch for the next big Blumhouse horror movie, and Stevens teases his character in the upcoming
  Among Us
  series.

As if a pirouetting, bloodthirsty vampire isn’t enough of a draw, the ensemble cast of Abigail takes Radio Silence‘s latest horror comedy to the next level. In particular, Kathryn Newton (Lisa Frankenstein) and Dan Stevens (Cuckoo) give two standout performances as techie Sammy and bad-cop-gone-worse, Frank. Whether for their infamous deeds or their memorable style, these two will be unforgettable long after the credits roll.

Newton and Stevens are two vital elements to Abigail‘s shady rat pack. The duo is part of an assembled team of criminals, all strangers brought together to kidnap a very wealthy man’s daughter, played by rising star Alisha Weir (Matilda the Musical). The gig seems simple enough: babysit the kid until daddy forks over the $50 million. As the night progresses, however, things start going south fast. Abigail also reunites directors Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett with Scream VI star Melissa Barrera, and features Kevin Durand (Tragedy Girls), William Catlett (Constellation), the late Angus Cloud (Euphoria), and Giancarlo Esposito (Breaking Bad).

In this interview with Collider’s Perri Nemiroff, the co-stars discuss how their collaboration with Bettinelli-Olpin and Gillett strengthened their characters on set. Newton also breaks down Sammy’s unforgettable style, including her patchwork tattoos, and Stevens shares what he’s learned from working with the masters of horror over the years. Check out the full conversation in the video above or the transcript below for more on Newton’s next big Blumhouse pitch, Stevens’ Among Us tease, and tons more!

PERRI NEMIROFF: Abigail is a ballerina vampire. If you were a vampire and you were defined by your favorite hobby, what kind of vampire would you be?

KATHRYN NEWTON: God, you know what I am.

I know what your answer is.

NEWTON: A golfing vampire.

DAN STEVENS: A golfing vampire! Has there been a golfing vampire movie?

There should be.

NEWTON: Dude, I would run the country club and there’d be, like, some bat cave situation, lots of cool cars and great outfits. I’d be a dapper, dapper vampire.

Sign me up. I’ll work at your vampire golf club.

NEWTON: I’d probably look like this, realistically, right? [Laughs] Just more pale, if you can imagine. What would I do about the sun? Night golf.

STEVENS: Night golf.

Fine by me. It will be a new thing. That will be the draw.

NEWTON: Dude, I’m so in.

STEVENS: I’m loving this.

NEWTON: I’ve got to call, like, Blumhouse. [Laughs] What would yours be? He camps a lot. He’s a camper over here.

STEVENS: He’s bird watcher? Night birds. Owls. He’s an owl specialist.

NEWTON: Dan, wait. You bird watch?

STEVENS: I don’t, but my vampire would.

NEWTON: No, you!

STEVENS: Oh, it has to be my personal pick? Pickleball. There’s not been a vampire pickleball movie — until now.

NEWTON: I think we’d team up until now.

The Secret to Great Horror? Filmmakers Who Are Sweethearts

Dan, you’ve worked with many of my absolute favorite horror filmmakers out there. Of course, Matt and Tyler, Simon [Barrett] and Adam [Wingard], Tilman [Singer]. Cuckoo is wild. You go to an 11 in it and I love it. Two questions about that. Do you find that there is a shared trait among the horror filmmaking greats, but then also, can you tell me something about Matt and Tyler that makes them stand out?

STEVENS: I do think there is something in common in that, for the most part, the horror masters that I’ve worked with are all very, very lovely, sweet guys who make really fucked up shit on screen. There’s sort of that inverse proportion of, like, the more fucked up their movies are, the sweeter they are behind the camera. And Matt and Tyler are no exception. They are so sweet, so funny, and very, very keen. I really like the sort of horror-comedy thing that they do, and it was really fun to kind of be encouraged to lean into that and to come up with improv lines and one-liners here and there that pepper the movie that really kind of make it fun and funny and really stand out.

Kathryn Newton Designed Her Iconic ‘Abigail’ Character, Tattoos and All

Kathryn, I have to ask about the hair, makeup and costume design for Sammy. Everybody looks great in the movie, but you, in particular, come across like you have an iconic look that I think is going to catch on. What kind of collaboration did you have with those departments to find the pitch-perfect style for her to have?

NEWTON: When I did my podcast with you we talked about how I love the vanity of a character, and it started on Big Little Lies, which is strange, but it’s all because whatever you’re wearing really informs who she is. When I showed up on set no one knew who Sammy was. It was really last-minute. I think I was, like, the last one. There were big pants, skinny jeans, and nothing that said anything about this girl, and I thought, “Well, here we go. I’m going to try something.” I went full Harajuku and tattoos, and all of it. I remember on the screen test, hair and makeup was like, “I don’t know, maybe this is too much,” and I was like, “Okay.” Then the directors were like, “What happened to the “fuck mom” tattoos? You said you wanted to put “fuck mom.”” I’m like, “I thought you didn’t want it. I thought it was too much.” They’re like, “No, we want to do whatever you want.”

Then, from then on, that encouragement from them, whether they liked it or not — I don’t know the truth, right? They never said no. My point is that my confidence was so over the moon in that they wanted to share in it, that it just made me want to do a great job. And then they did that for everybody. So if I was feeling like that, I’m sure everyone else felt like that. Except for Dan with his glasses. Nobody wanted the glasses, but he fought for the glasses.

STEVENS: I wanted the glasses.

NEWTON: No, we love the glasses. But that’s what I’m saying. It just made me better. I don’t know. I wanted to impress everybody, maybe. Like my cast. I wanted them to laugh at me and make them laugh and give them something to work with. And I think this character is ridiculous, you know? You kind of hate her sometimes and you kind of love her. So that’s why when she transforms, it’s all the more satisfying. You have an opinion on her.

[Editor’s note: The following contains spoilers for Abigail.]

They’ve all done bad things. Sammy, however, has these moments where I can see her heart. Do you think she has a moral compass, and if so, what is the primary thing that guides it?

NEWTON: I think we all have a moral compass. I just didn’t judge her. If she wants to be this way, that’s who she is. I think that there’s a certain turning point where I don’t know why she is the way she is. She’s a bit of a mystery, but I know by the end there she just wants to survive. Together, as we all did in this movie, I think we were trying to survive. And we also shot in order, so as we all got to know each other, we got to know each other in the movie as well, and it informed a lot of who she was. I think whoever she was before she arrived to that haunted house is not who she’s going to be by the end. It doesn’t matter who she was before we show up. So, I was just happy I had a cool outfit.

What Would Have Happened If Frank Survived?

Dan, let’s say Frank had gotten away with his agenda at the end. What do you think he would have done with his vampire abilities after that?

STEVENS: Oh, god. He would have been awful, I think.

NEWTON: Bad, bad, bad.

STEVENS: I guess in each vampire movie, when people are turned, there’s something in common that happens to them, and in our movie I feel like it gets very heightened. Their worst qualities are kind of exaggerated, and Frank just becomes more of an asshole, which is pretty…

NEWTON: Hard to do.

STEVENS: It’s hard, but he gets there somehow.

NEWTON: But it’s so fun to see.

STEVENS: Oh, he’d be monstrous.

There’s no moral compass.

STEVENS: No. If he had a moral compass, he’s lost it in the mud a long time ago, or it got a magnet near it and it just went crazy. He doesn’t know which way is moral anymore.

If Sammy was given that same deal where she could have been turned into a vampire that wasn’t a puppet, she would have full control, do you think she would have said yes in the moment?

NEWTON: Yeah. I would have, too. I think she would have said yes. I like to think she’d say yes. Go full vamp.

I jumped away from the look of the character, but I was dying to know the answer to this because it’s specifically stated in the movie that she can’t share this personal information. Can you tell me what any of the other tattoos mean? “Fuck mom” is pretty obvious.

NEWTON: We have a dragon on there. We have a swallow, which means she’s been to jail. Why? Can’t tell you.

What does the dragon mean?

NEWTON: That she’s a badass. I mean, she thinks she’s a badass, which is most important.

STEVENS: Game of Thrones fan.

NEWTON: There’s anime eyes on the back, there’s a little bow right here. Oh, most importantly, there’s one I drew that’s a heart with a poodle on the back of my arm.

STEVENS: That’s pretty key.

NEWTON: I also have all of them.

STEVENS: They’re all very different styles. The thing that struck me was that Sammy’s clearly gone to very different tattoo artists each time. There’s not one artist who’s done all of these. They are very different.

NEWTON: “Bby grl” is really good on my fingers.

Do you not have a poodle tattoo yet?

NEWTON: I don’t have any tats. No tats, no piercings.

You need a poodle.

NEWTON: I know. I need a poodle.

Dan Stevens Teases His Character in the Upcoming ‘Among Us’ Series

I’m going to wrap with one unrelated question for you, Dan, because I’ve got my eye on the Among Us series. I hear that announcement and then I’m sitting there thinking to myself, “What do those characters even sound like?” Will Blue have your real voice or is it something a little different?

STEVENS: Yes, it’s kind of my voice. It’s gonna be a very, very fun show. It’s very funny, very silly, and, yeah, I’m looking forward to it.

Looking for even more Abigail talk? Catch Perri’s hour-long Collider Ladies Night conversation with Melissa Barrera below:

Abigail is in theaters nationwide now. Click below for showtimes.

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