'Bodies Bodies Bodies' Movie Cast Interview

Cinema Blend

Amandla Stenberg, Lee Pace, Maria Bakalova, Rachel Sennott, Myha'la Herrold and Chase Sui Wonders talk A24’s “Bodies Bodies Bodies.” They discuss the film’s smart dialogue, uniquely “psycho” characters, it’s jaw-dropping ending (spoiler-free) and more.

Transcript

00:00 Hopeful throughout the story that the ending would culminate in something like that.

00:06 And then really deeply gratified because I think that the ending so encompasses the satirical

00:12 nature of the whole story.

00:14 I'm smart!

00:15 I'm strong!

00:16 I'm ready for what comes along!

00:18 I've got good friends!

00:20 We'll stick together through the silence!

00:23 No!

00:24 Who wants to play bodies, bodies, bodies?

00:26 Yes!

00:28 Oh my god!

00:31 Are party movies and specifically night time movies just exhausting to film?

00:35 Yes, definitely.

00:39 I wouldn't say the party element was the thing that was exhausting.

00:41 That was kind of a break for us.

00:43 But definitely hurricane films.

00:47 So that means that you're soaking wet all the time.

00:51 Covered in mud and blood all the time.

00:53 And yeah, most of our shoots were night shoots.

00:56 So we became like strange little feral creatures that only were awake at night.

01:03 You know what?

01:04 You get into a rhythm where you come alive at night.

01:09 I think we did a lot of overnights and then all of a sudden it sort of becomes like the

01:14 movie is the world because you sleep in the day and you're staying in a weird little hotel

01:20 in a small town.

01:22 So I think it almost switches and then it kind of fuels you.

01:27 And doing the party scenes and the scenes in the rain, it's sort of like electrifying

01:31 where it takes so much energy that you create more energy.

01:36 Gotcha.

01:37 That makes sense.

01:38 Quick follow up.

01:39 What is Alice's podcast about?

01:40 It's about hanging out with your smartest and funniest friend, which is apparently me.

01:46 I can imagine her just like talking to different people and not really having, she doesn't

01:53 really have an arc.

01:55 She's working on that and she's figuring it out.

01:58 But right now it's just her personality shining through.

02:00 I can imagine her having no guests at all.

02:04 Just her.

02:05 Just her.

02:06 60 minutes.

02:07 60 minutes.

02:08 Sometimes 90 minutes.

02:09 Hey guys.

02:10 So this morning my stomach was feeling a little weird.

02:15 Let me delve into that.

02:16 First of all, a podcast takes a lot of work.

02:17 Okay?

02:18 You have to organize the guests.

02:19 You have to do a Google calendar and you build a following.

02:20 It takes a long time and I've been working on it for a while.

02:31 Myala, because of that, were there any bits of direction that you received to almost behave

02:35 in a certain way to throw the audience off of the mysteries trail?

02:39 No.

02:40 Actually, I was never advised to make myself seem more suspicious.

02:47 I just am.

02:50 Our friend is dead.

02:52 So if you could just like not escalate the situation.

02:54 I'm not escalating.

02:55 You're holding the knife and you're moving your hands while you talk.

02:57 No, I think, you know, all of the twists and turns, the audience, like it could be this

03:01 person, it could be that person.

03:02 All just has to do with like each character's like deep need to get what they want and the

03:09 perception from everyone else is what makes it twisted.

03:12 Like their drug fueled lack of sleep paranoia is the lens through which we see everyone's

03:19 need to survive or save the person they, you know what I mean?

03:22 So no, I just, I just look like that, I guess.

03:26 Lee, I'm curious if there were any bits of direction that you received throughout the

03:30 course of the film to behave specific ways to maybe throw the audience off of the main

03:36 mysteries trail.

03:37 Well, Helena is, what I love so much about working with her is her specificity that she

03:45 brought to all of the characters.

03:47 And I would watch her give notes to everyone that very much focused all the characters

03:51 to be very different from one another.

03:54 Because it's all a diversion of, you know, because that's kind of what the movie is about

03:59 is the chaos of this kind of group of psychos.

04:04 So absolutely, I think Greg is, you know, he's not an unserious person, but he's not

04:11 being serious at this party, which is what he thinks it is.

04:14 You know, he's having a good time with a bunch of kids.

04:18 And he doesn't really see danger is around, you know, I don't think he thinks that there

04:24 is danger, but he does kind of think at times, this is not necessarily fun for me.

04:31 I love that he thinks he's in a game throughout elements of it as well, too.

04:34 That's Emma.

04:35 That's Jordan.

04:36 And...

04:37 What's up?

04:38 I'm Greg.

04:39 What's up, player?

04:40 I'm Sophie.

04:41 Oh, whoa.

04:42 You're Sophie.

04:43 Maria, one of the things I love so much about the dialogue is that it's very, very modern

04:52 without being over the top, almost like a spoof.

04:55 You're always gaslighting me.

04:57 You f***ing trigger me.

04:58 You are so toxic.

04:59 Relax.

05:00 Relax.

05:01 You're silencing me.

05:02 I love that you're so focused on social media and technology.

05:04 And I'm just wondering if that was something that appealed to you in the script of how

05:07 it presented these characters and how they speak to each other.

05:10 Absolutely.

05:11 Yeah, absolutely.

05:12 That had appealed to me.

05:14 I have to say that my character is not one of the most outspoken people in this world

05:20 that they live in, but she's out there to see and witness everything that's happening.

05:23 And me as myself, I speak way too much more like all the other characters instead of Bea.

05:31 But I see and I pretty much, we've been talking about that recently, today, for a long time,

05:38 that we are a little bit underrated as Gen Zs and the meaning that we put behind our

05:44 words.

05:45 And I think the film actually shows that there is a little bit more than actually people

05:50 see and talk about.

05:52 So I think the dialogue is incredible.

05:55 It's written very well, and I think everybody delivered it in a very great way as well.

06:04 So yeah.

06:05 You don't have to be nervous.

06:06 I'm not nervous.

06:07 Wow, so impressive.

06:08 You're impressive.

06:09 They're going to be obsessed with you.

06:10 And then Chase, without giving any specifics away, I just need to know your reaction when

06:21 you read the end of the script, because a murder mystery like this hangs on sticking

06:26 the landing.

06:27 Yeah, I think it was so unexpected upon reading it.

06:30 I think it's so interactive throughout the whole, you swear that you know who it is and

06:38 that it's going to go one direction.

06:40 And I think that's the most fun part of a horror movie.

06:42 And usually you're able to predict the end, but I've yet to hear of anyone who has seen

06:48 it or been a part of it who's been like, yep, knew that from the start.

06:51 So I think it's so cool how it was very clear upon reading the ending, like this bends genres.

06:57 It's not in, you can't typify like one box for this movie.

07:03 Completely shocked.

07:04 Also hopeful throughout the story that the ending would culminate in something like that.

07:12 And then really deeply gratified because I think that the ending so encompasses the satirical

07:17 nature of the whole story.

07:20 Oh my God, it sticks to landing so well.

07:22 Congratulations, ladies.

07:23 I appreciate it.

07:24 Have a good day.

07:25 Thank you so much.

07:26 Is that the lights?

07:27 David?

07:28 Our friend is dead.

07:29 David?

07:30 Our friend is dead.

07:36 is dead.

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