Summary
Willa Fitzgerald makes her return to the horror genre withStrange Darling. Fitzgerald’s first claim to fame came with a leading role in MTV’sScream: The TV Series, starring in the first two seasons of the TV expansion of the iconic slasher franchise as Emma Duval, a high school student targeted by a local slasher. The years since have seen her go on to find further success with major roles inReacherseason 1 as Roscoe Conklin,Mike Flanagan’sThe Fall of the House of Usheras the younger version of Madeline, and comedy-thriller18 1/2.
Fitzgerald stars inStrange Darlingas The Lady, a young woman who meets an enigmatic man at a bar and elects to spend the night with him in a motel room. Despite their attraction to one another, the night is one full of mind games and tension as they learn more about one another’s interests, be it physical or emotional, and question whether one is a serial killer who has been active in the area. The movie is ultimately told in a non-chronological story, jumping between the night of and the morning after, in which the man is seen hunting The Lady down.
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Alongside Fitzgerald, the ensembleStrange Darlingcast includesSmile 2’s Kyle Gallneras the man, named The Demon in the credits, Barbara Hershey, Ed Begley Jr., Madisen Beaty, Bianca Santos, and Steven Michael Quezada. Hailing fromOutlaw Angelswriter/director JT Mollner, the movie has been on a real hot streak with critics since making its debut at the 2023 Fantastic Fest, having held a perfect 100% approval rating from critics on Rotten Tomatoes for some time, and also garnering early interest from Stephen King.
In anticipation of the movie’s release,Screen Rantinterviewed Willa Fitzgerald to discussStrange Darling, what drew her to the psychological thriller, building an “implicit trust” with Mollner and Gallner during filming, the physicality that came from her role, avoiding spoilers for the twisty story, and her thoughts on a potentialReacherreturn.
Strange DarlingProved To Be A Rare Script For Fitzgerald
“It’s very rare that I finish a script and have no notes.”
Screen Rant: I love the way this movie toys with audience expectations, but I’d love to hear what it was about the script and your character that really sparked your interest to be part of this.
Willa Fitzgerald: Yeah, it was just an amazing script. It’s very rare that I finish a script and have no notes, and I had no notes. I had such an emotional reaction to reading the script that I kind of just immediately knew that I had to do the job, and I was so scared at the same time that I wasn’t going to get it, because it wasn’t an offer. [Laughs] I think that the script was so specific and so clear and so detailed. What was on the page is what you see on the screen, and that’s really rare. You just don’t usually read a script that is that translatable, and I think it’s a testament to JT’s writing, and JT’s directing, and the cast he assembled that it really was what it was on the page. That was what drew me to it.
So I’d love to touch on that, the fact that you mentioned it’s so easily translatable because one thing I loved about this film is how much of a mental chess game it is between these two characters to figure out who is really who. Was all of that sort of already on the page, or did you work with JT and Kyle a lot to figure out, “What is the mentality in this sequence versus this sequence”?
Willa Fitzgerald: I think JT really trusted us. I think that there, on both sides of the equation, was just an implicit trust that we were taking these characters on, and that he had chosen the right people for the job. Every week, I would have a check-in with JT, we would have a meal together, usually every weekend, and I would kind of go through everything that we were shooting that week, and just be like, “Here’s what I’m thinking for this scene, and this scene, this scene. Does that track?”
We would just have a big rundown — because we had to shoot so fast — about what we were shooting that week, so that we knew we were on the same page. I think having that kind of relationship with your director is essential when you’re telling a story that’s so complicated. It was wonderful.
Fitzgerald & Gallner “Really Hit It Off” While Filming Which Allowed Them To “Go To Crazy Places”
I’d love to hear about working with Kyle, as well, because this is very much a two-hander between the two of you. What was it like finding that dynamic, especially — though I can’t get into spoilers — as things start to get unveiled about the two of you?
Willa Fitzgerald: Well, JT and Kyle’s not here, so I can s—talk him. [Laughs] I’m just kidding, I love Kyle. I love Kyle so much. He is such a fabulous actor, and a really lovely person to get to work with on set. We just kind of really hit it off from the beginning, and had a great dynamic interpersonally off of set, and that just made our life on set easier. Because when you already have chemistry with another person, it’s just something you get for free, that you don’t have to manufacture on set. That gave us a great foundation from which to play with everything else.
So what is it then like for you, when you have that great chemistry, having to make that flip of the switch in your head of, “Okay, now we’re on opposing sides as this movie goes on”?
Willa Fitzgerald: Well, I think everything goes hand in hand, because there’s a safety that you get when you like somebody, and when you trust somebody as an actor. That sort of safety allows you to go to crazy places, and I think that’s essential for being able to tell this kind of story.
Fitzgerald Will Bite Her Tongue On Spoilers To Keep The “Fun Ride” Intact For Viewers
“We all want to keep it an unknown ride for people as long as we can.”
It really does go to some crazy places, and I’d actually love to ask about that too. This is a movie that is, I don’t want to say, structured around its big reveals, but at the same time, when you’re doing press like this, how hard is it for you to bite your tongue about some of the things that this movie does?
Willa Fitzgerald: So far, it’s actually been okay. I was kind of really nervous, honestly, at the beginning of this press day. [Laughs] I was like, “What am I gonna say?” But there is so much to say that is just about what the story is, and about who these characters are, that is just independent of what happens. I think that, obviously, there’ll be a time down the road when enough people have seen it that we can have a more comprehensive conversation. And I’m excited to talk about the movie in its entirety, but I do think that it’s such a fun ride that we all want to keep it an unknown ride for people as long as we can, which, obviously, won’t be forever.
Fitzgerald Loves Embodying Characters With Physical Scenes “That Don’t Have Dialogue”
So this movie also requires a lot of physicality from both you and Kyle, whether it’s running through forests or fights with each other, or, as we saw, the sort of more oddly intimate scenes. What was it like diving into those sequences while also still being in the mind of the character?
Willa Gitzgerald: I love action sequences. I love scenes that don’t have dialogue. I find all of those to be just really interesting opportunities to show character in different ways. So, for me, I was so excited to do all of those things in the movie. I think that, as a movie, and also the character as a character, is so embodied that it didn’t feel like a stretch to be with her in her bodily experience without dialogue. [Chuckles] It felt like it carried itself through those moments.
Fitzgerald Has “Heard Nothing” About HerReacherFuture (But Is Open To Return)
Before I let you go, I’m also a hugeReacherfan, andI missed Roscoe a lot in season 2. I’m curious what your thoughts are, especially since we’re talking about action, about possibly returning in that show’s future, if they were to ask you back?
Willa Fitzgerald: I mean, I don’t know anything about it. Very honestly, I’ve heard nothing, so you’ll have to ask Nick Santora about that. [Laughs] But I’ve watched all of season 2, and I’ll watch season 3. I love what they’re doing over there, I think it’s very fun. I [enjoyed my time with Alan] too, it was a very fun show to shoot. I love Alan.
Darling
In Strange Darling, nothing is what it seems when a twisted one-night stand spirals into a serial killer’s vicious murder spree. Written and directed by JT Mollner (Outlaws & Angels), Strange Darling stars Willa Fitzgerald (The Goldfinch, Reacher), Kyle Gallner (Smile, Dinner in America), Ed Begley Jr. (Better Call Saul, A Mighty Wind), and Barbara Hershey (Black Swan, Insidious). Distributed by Magenta Light Studios, Strange Darling is a Miramax and Spooky Pictures Production. The film is produced by Bill Block, Roy Lee, Steven Schneider, Giovanni Ribisi and Chris Ivan Cevic, with Giovanni Ribisi also serving as the Director of Photography.
Stay tuned for our otherStrange Darlinginterview with writer/director JT Mollner and producer/director of photography Giovanni Ribisi!
Strange Darling
Cast
A twisted one-night stand spirals into a deadly game of cat and mouse when a relentless predator chases an injured woman through the Oregon wilderness.
