Stars of Sam Raimi’s Drag Me to Hell
What’s going to make Drag Me to Hell a Sam Raimi film? Co-star Dileep Rao knows. “For every given moment you don’t know whether the next thing will amaze you, scare the crap out of you or make you laugh.” That sounds about right.
The actor, fresh from working on James Cameron’s Avatar, is speaking to ShockTillYouDrop.com on the set of Hell, Raimi’s first horror picture since spending years on the Spider-Man franchise. Rao shares much of his screen time with star Alison Lohman and today, they’re entrenched in a séance sequence that will take a toll on their characters (read more about that in our set report with Raimi here).
“I play Christine Brown, a loan officer and she has to make this fateful decision at her bank,” Lohman tells us while on break with Rao between takes. “This old elderly woman [Mrs. Ganush] comes in and she wants an extension on her loan, her house is foreclosing on her and in any normal situation I would have given her the extension but I want to get this promotion from her manager. I choose not to give it to her, so she puts a curse on me. The whole rest of the movie I have to get this evil spirit and we have to exorcise it.” As Lohman explains, the scene we’re dropping in on finds Christine visiting a woman named San Dena (Adriana Barraza) “to help exorcise the demon, the Lamia. Gunush takes something that is mine and has to gift it to me. She takes a button off my coat and says some gypsy curse.”
Brown isn’t the only one in demonic deep water. A “seer” named Rham Jas, played by Rao, is also implicated when she visits him for help. Although the curse isn’t passed to him, Jas still faces danger. “There are forces at work in the movie that are much stronger than any one character is able to face,” Rao explains. “Even as experienced as my character is, the danger is that he’s going to go somewhere he’s not prepared to go. Also, the more interesting dramatic idea is that he cares about this [Christine] after a while. Christine is important to him because she’s in trouble, she’s in over her head and he has chosen to guide her and it becomes a personal matter of not just honor but feeling for him to make sure she makes it.”
The two echo each other’s sentiments when talking about their working experience with Raimi. “What I liked about the script, in Sam’s process, is that it’s not just a horror film even though it’s in that genre,” Lohman says. “It’s primarily the story of this regular normal girl who’s happy in her life and is experiencing some crazy things. I like that it’s based in just the intricacies of these characters. That alone could be really good for the film. Then, also, he brings a sense of humor to it so there are layers.”
“Sam Raimi is very detailed and methodical about everything, as you can see the storyboarding,” she continues, pointing out a wall of storyboards. Before them, a miniature graveyard mock-up – evidence of Raimi’s preparation for a scene not yet shot. “He’s very organized. What I love about him is he’s very sensitive as a person and brings that into his characters so he really knows human nature and why we do the things we do.”
Rao adds: “There’s a tremendous amount of collaboration and you can make a bit of it up, but it has to pass Sam. He’s the sniff test meter determining what’s good and what isn’t. He’s such a great collaborator, but also a great leader in the way you can trust him when it is or isn’t going to work. I have a great deal of thanks to him. It makes it richer.”
The actor worked out a bit of his character’s backstory before embarking on production; this offered him further understanding of how Raimi works. “I’ve learned how to take my time, how to use some shots to build the feeling of other shots,” Rao says. Until Avatar and Drag Me to Hell, the actor’s credits were limited to some minor television work. “Also, how to trust your director, how much you can volunteer, collaborate with the director. I love how he empowers the actors to do their job and how you feel you’re part of the solution.”
Drag Me to Hell opens in theaters on May 29th.
Source: ShockTillYouDrop.com
