In another life,M.
Night Shyamalanthinks all of his films couldve been inone big shared universe.
Read it all below.
M. Night Shyamalan on the set of his new movie, Trap.Warner Bros.
That feels like it maybe would have been a twist.
M. Night Shyamalan: No, not really.
So, it was always meant to be that way.
Josh Hartnett as Cooper, aka the Butcher, with his daughter Riley, played by Ariel Donoghue. – Warner Bros.
Its the premise, you know?
I mean it happened so early in the movie.
The audience finds that out at like, I think, minute 11 or something like that.
Shyamalan on set ofTrap– Warner Bros.
io9: Right, right.
So there was never a version where that reveal came later?
Shyamalan:No, no.
The Butcher – Warner Bros.
It was always right off the bat.
I need you to be in his shoes, you know?
And Im titrating it a bit.
– Warner Bros
Im giving you pieces of his life as youre going.
Im not dumping it on you, but youre kind of getting the extent of his darkness.
Shyamalan:I just love that idea that youre rooting against your own will.
Shyamalan with his daughter, Saleka. – Warner Bros.
You root for him to get out, you know?
How can he get out of this?
It had a kind of a wickedness about it.
Lady Raven (Saleka Shyamalan) inTrap– Warner Bros.
io9: Without a doubt.
Shyamalan:Yeah, its a gut thing.
Like youre him for so long and hes both the antagonist and the protagonist.
But its the duality of him, I think, that causes that.
io9: Speaking of the two sides, I honestly think Joshs performance is incredible.
Like you could almost see him shaking with the battle inside him.
What is his makeup?
Why does he do this?
All of these things.
And so, basically, there were so many thoughts.
I mean, we could go on and on about what he and I spoke about.
But in his normal life, hes able to do this and then do this.
The two different sides of him.
But onthisday, he has to keep switching back and forth, back and forth, back and forth.
And thats a struggle.
That transition from one to the other and sometimes simultaneously.
And thats where that kind of the thing you mentioned, the shaking, is hard.
But when he compartmentalizes, its easy.
But on this day, he has to be both.
Its like the situation is forcing him to be one version of himself.
And thats extremely difficult.
Shyamalan:Well, he grew, I think, in these discussions.
And Josh has no filter.
His face is changing and hes becoming this person.
And then he had all the information at that point.
And the two of us had a real deep language together by that point.
And hes so open and daring and hes so colorful.
And he chooses buoyant colors.
So we started to trust each other in a way that was just lovely.
io9: Thats so cool, thats great.
It seems like youre playing hide and seek with yourself.
So, Cooper is incredibly smart.
His daughter is smart.
The other characters in the movie are extremely smart.
Then he has to one-up that person a tiny bit and its challenge after challenge.
And why that was exciting and appropriate is because thats fun for Cooper.
He normally can outsmart everyone.
So, now hes like, Whoa.
io9: But it sounds like the script wasnt exactly that for you.
I remember you put on social media that it was one of the fastest you ever wrote.
So, then it was easy to kind of find those situations.
But I think when the tone of the movie, the storytelling matches the main character.
Like it just kind of tumbles in that way.
Thats delicious and fun.
Shyamalan:Mess with the difficulty levels.
It just, everything always works out.
you’ve got the option to see that in his performance.
So, like, the universe kind of has an answer for him.
The universe is on my side.
Its on my side.
So, its almost like this is rigged in my favor.
This is just too easy.
io9: Switching gears slightly, Im a big sports fan.
I know youre a big Philly sports fan.
So I loved seeing a movie set almost entirely in the stadium.
Im curious though about picking the venue.
I noticed it had a fake name on it.
So was it difficult to find a venue that let you shoot there?
And also, what are the logistical pluses and minuses of shooting in the stadium like that?
Shyamalan:It was fantastic.
I mean, thats impossible.
io9: Yeah, they need to make money, right?
Shyamalan:And we found one.
We found a 20,000 seater in Canada that was about to be renovated.
And I was like, Dont do it.
Just wait three months.
Can you let me have it?
And it was old and beautiful, like rich colors, the hallways, the bathrooms.
So I got so lucky with that.
But that was the main one.
Or does it make it difficult anyway?
Shyamalan:No, it was great because it was such a big building.
We had all the extras there.
We had the catering there.
We watched dailies there.
We used the entire venue.
And I would go give my notes and then run back down and direct the kids in this scene.
And then I run up there and do this.
And so it was, in that way, it was contained in a great way.
We just sat there and shot.
io9: Thats so cool.
Shyamalan:Well, no, its kind of underneath.
It emerges as Im writing.
What do I think the movie is?
And like, lets think of it as a graphic novel for a second.
And you have the Butcher and his life philosophy of compartmentalization as his superpower.
And hes advocating for that.
And all the things we talked about.
The universe is on my side.
Theres always an answer.
And if you just stay calm and open, it works out.
They hold you back.
And life was so much easier when he didnt feel emotions.
And so the feelings that hes having towards his daughter are weakening him, like as a kryptonite.
Like his daughter is his kryptonite.
And so we were talking about that a lot, me and Josh.
And so thats him.
Thats a graphic novel: the Butcher and his philosophy of compartmentalization.
Then theres Lady Raven, whose superpower is a connection to all.
And thats a vulnerable place to be.
You cant hide anything.
Your pains and everything, everyone knows about it.
And so theyre naturally at odds.
So the movie talks about this battle of philosophies.
io9: You used the word superhero there briefly.
Did a crossover put in your mind at all?
That I would have just come to work and think of another character.
So its really interesting that now that Im older, I can see I just love making up characters.
But literally I was just like a desperate animal going, Make movie number two.
Just convince them to make new movie number two.
And then when I did two, Convince them to make movie number three.
I know this will be the last one.
io9: And a big staple of the superhero movie is the end credit scene.
But thats not something you usually do.
So Im curious like, why do it here?
And where do you stand on the post-credit scenes as a filmmaker?
Do you like what they can do?
Do you think it kind of gives you too much space?
Shyamalan:You know, thats an interesting structural thing.
Because its not the movie, but it colors the movie that you saw.
And you just show that.
Shyamalan:But my girls teach me different things now that theyre adults and artists.
They teach me things.
One of them was that Ishana is more open to the moment than I am.
Shyamalan:That wasnt in the script.
And I went, Wow, you know what?
Im just gonna shoot it.
And I was like, Start doing it, lets get it ready.
Ill shoot it whenever I have an hour or two and lets go do it.
And that would be an example.
Stay there and add that to the thing.
Thats not like me normally.
Trapis in theaters Friday.
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