Following his interviews with executive producer Ryan Turek and writer/director Bryce McGuire, Peter Gray wrapped up his talks for the forthcoming Night Swim with the film’s lead actors, Wyatt Russell and Academy Award nominee Kerry Condon.
Based on McGuire’s acclaimed short film, Night Swim stars Russell as Ray Waller, a former major league baseball player forced into early retirement by a degenerative illness, who moves into a new home with his concerned wife Eve (Condon) and their young children. Secretly hoping, against the odds, to return to pro ball, Ray persuades Eve that the new home’s shimmering backyard swimming pool will be fun for the kids and provide physical therapy for him. But a dark secret in the home’s past will unleash a malevolent force that will drag the family under, into the depths of inescapable terror.
Ahead of the film’s release in cinemas this week, Peter spoke to the two about their personal horror favourites, if their characters actions would mirror their own regarding the chilling mystery at the film’s core, and what sound advice they’ve taken with them across their careers.
Before I get to Night Swim, I wanted to talk about horror in general. You hear about actors who don’t particularly like horror films, even though they star in them, so do the two of you enjoy horror? And, if so, was there a film that acted as your gateway into the genre itself?
Kerry Condon: So I don’t like horror films that are super scary about a murderer kind-of-thing. I do like a thriller kind-of horror. Horror films encompass a lot of different things. But, I think, gateway, now that I’m thinking off the top of my head… Rosemary’s Baby. That was a great one. I would have loved to have been in that one. That would have been a cool one to have acted in. That’s terrifying. The end??
Wyatt Russell: Yeah, it’s terrifying. Great movie. Yeah, I do like horror in the same kind of way that Kerry explained. I’m similar. I don’t like slasher movies. Not my jam. I’ve watched a few and they’re not my jam. But I do like, I know it’s probably boring to say, but The Shining. It’s probably a lot of people’s entry into horror. And the great thing about The Shining is you don’t even know why you feel unsettled. And there’s a great element of filmmaking that goes into horror, that provides a wide range of possibilities. And it’s fun to do that with good people. It’s also not fun to do with bad people. That would be a nightmare.
Kerry Condon: That would be soul-destroying.
One of the things I really loved about Night Swim was that your characters were smart, especially your character Kerry, Eve. When shit hits the fan, she wants to get out of there. And in so many horror movies the characters stay longer than they should. Obviously here you’re tethered to the pool, so to speak, but if this was happening to the both of you, would you tail it as quickly as possible? Or would you want to stay and investigate?
Kerry Condon: That’s interesting that you brought that up, because I found that kind of hard to find the moment where Eve is kind of suspicious. The timing of that was tricky. If it was too late she seemed dumb, you know? But, I agree with you. Sometimes you’re like, “Come on! This person would not stick around for so long.” So I had to try and play that realistically. And I found that tricky. In real life, would I stay? Well, it depends on how much I love my husband, I suppose wouldn’t it be?
Wyatt Russell: Yeah…
Kerry Condon: No it wouldn’t!
Wyatt Russell: I’m very loveable, apparently. (I’d) stick around to the end.
Kerry Condon: I don’t know. I’d probably leave. I wouldn’t need a house with a swimming pool.
Wyatt Russell: What was good about the movie is that there’s an element of, yeah, they do love each other. She loved her husband and wants to believe a little bit somewhere that something isn’t taking him over. He’s oblivious. I’d say Ray is being possessed and doesn’t know what has slowly been taking him over as he breathes in the demonic pool fumes. In real life, if it were me, I mean, yeah, I’m with you. You just burn it, move it…I’ll move into an apartment for a little while. Live in the valley in an apartment on Roscoe and 73rd.
Kerry Condon: Nobody knows where that is in other countries!
Wyatt Russell: It sounds valley-ish.
I feel like I have heard that address somewhere. One of the things I love about horror is that they can so often have a great emotional core. Whether it’s grief or trauma, it can be such a great basis. Here, Wyatt, your character has MS. Was there much research conducted to portray that organically?
Wyatt Russell: Yeah, we talked to a friend of Bryce (McGuire, writer and director), who has been diagnosed with MS, and we took snippets away (from that). What we wanted to avoid was, you know, this isn’t a movie about MS, so it was important that it was involved and that it was in the early stages. We didn’t want to hit too hard, because that would take away from the actual story. It was just a way in, so we feathered that in there.
And, obviously, the pool is going to be one of the main sets for this, and there was some incredibly cool shots here, like when you’re in the water, Kerry, really far down, and we just look up and see that square opening of the pool itself. How much were you encased in water throughout shooting?
Kerry Condon: Well, it was a very deep swimming pool. I like swimming, and I’m not really nervous about being in deep water, and, also, if you go down really deep towards the bottom, you can get yourself back up by just springing off the bottom, so I felt a safety with being very far down. Those were the kind of things about the movie that I liked. That sold me on the movie, was that there was this comic book aspect to it almost. And the visuals, I knew they were kind of “the sell” of the movie. Like, if it was done really well, it would be a really big sell of the bodies decomposing in the water. Reminded me of that movie Dead Calm. I think it’s an Australian movie. Do you remember that? With Nicole Kidman and Billy Zane? Yeah, and she opens (the door) and the dead bodies come out in the wash and they decompose…
When I read the script, that was a memory. That was scary to me. When I was a child, I remembered that visual of the bodies in the water, so I was looking forward to that. I thought that was what made (Night Swim) so really unique.
And speaking of knowing there’s something in the water. We see it teased throughout, but when it came time to seeing the creation itself, were you aware of just how it was going to look whilst filming?
Wyatt Russell: It’s just elements of things you’re putting together. So when you’re making the movie it’s difficult to tell. You see good shots and go “That’s creepy.” But if it’s not put together well and timed correctly, that creepiness factor can totally be changed. It’s a full trust job for filmmakers. You really have to let go and you’re doing what you’re doing. It’s out of my hands.
Kerry Condon: Yeah, when I saw the movie the visual effects hadn’t been completed. So, I was like, “Well, they better be goddamn good guys, because they certainly aren’t good now!” But, they are good, apparently. But I didn’t need that though. I had my imagination. That was enough for me. I did see the people who did the bodies and stuff, but I looked at it more from an artistic standpoint, as opposed to scary. It was more like, “Oh, wow, that must have taken ages to do the veins.” I was more intrigued than scared.
And, your characters, Ray and Eve are a solid unit. Always there for some sound advice. For both of you personally, was there a piece of advice or any words of wisdom that had been passed on to you that have stuck with you for your careers?
Kerry Condon: Oh, for our careers and not just this movie?
Wyatt Russell: Yes.
Kerry Condon: Tell me.
Wyatt Russell: You won’t like this one.
Kerry Condon: Oh no…
Wyatt Russell: Oh, you might agree with it. “The circus at home has to be more fun than the circus away.”
Kerry Condon: Oh, Wyatt, I don’t like that.
Wyatt Russell: I know, I know, I know (laughs).
Kerry Condon: (Laughs) The circus away is everything!
Wyatt Russell: But here’s the thing. That was my choice. My choice was to have a family, and I was a part of a family that is in the business, obviously, and that was my choice. So when I made that choice, in order for me to have the best life that I could and continue to be inspired to do things that are new and different, once you make the choice to have a family, I think it’s good advice.
Kerry Condon: It is good advice.
Wyatt Russell: If you don’t choose to have a family, it’s obviously different.
Kerry Condon: It is good advice, because otherwise you’re not calling your wife and you’re out with the crew…
Wyatt Russell: Being a bad husband. It leads down bad roads, and I don’t want to do that.
Kerry Condon: I bloody wish someone gave me advice. Honest to God, nobody bothered their arse to give me advice. I just had to learn everything the hard way.
I feel like women are stronger than men and learn things on their own anyway.
Kerry Condon: Oh, thank you! I just can’t remember right now off the top of my head. I suppose it’s not advice, but most of the great people that I’ve worked with tend to not think that they’re great and always want to do better. And I always notice that in really great people. Like, really great actors aren’t cocky and thinking “That’s it, you got it, that’s a great one.” They were always trying to be better. It’s about not being 100% sure of yourself. To me, it seemed like a good thing. It makes you think you could always be better. I can’t think of any advice. Isn’t that desperate? You’ll finish this interview and I’ll remember a bit of advice.
Night Swim is screening in Australian theatres from January 4th, 2024.
