The first question I wanted to ask you is about this film's creepy smiles. There are obviously so many eerie smiles in the film — you must have had a creepy smile casting call. What was the audition process like, and did that play a part?
It was really important that we nailed those smiles, because they were always going to be human performances. We didn't want to use any special effects or anything on the smiles themselves, but to keep them in that uncanny real-performance-based version. The audition process was very much about who could nail what the scene required but also do the smile at the same time. I'm so excited about where we landed with the cast.
I love the visible lack of CGI — I thought that actually made it much more menacing.
I agree.
Were there any smiles built into the film's production or its cinematography? Any on-screen Easter eggs?
Maybe. Did you catch some?
I caught some!
We wanted to pepper them in where we could. Sometimes they're there to catch your eye at first glance. There's other ones that on a second or third viewing, people might pick up on that they didn't catch the first time.
