How Nicolas Cage scared Maika Monroe by ‘going method’ during Longlegs filming

Monroe recalled the intense build-up to their scene, “The whole lead-up to that was crazy."

This article contains Longlegs spoilers.

Nicolas Cage and Maika Monroe starred in ‘Longlegs,’ a film centred on a serial killer, yet their roles kept them apart until a crucial interrogation scene near the end. Director Oz Perkins took a bold approach to heighten the tension: he kept the actors separated throughout filming, ensuring their on-screen encounter would be raw and spontaneous.

Also read: Longlegs review: Death comes calling in this nightmarish yet dragged modern Silence of the Lambs

Monroe recalled the intense build-up to their scene, “The whole lead-up to that was crazy. They had been filming with Cage for five days at that point, and it was his last day, probably three weeks into filming. The director chose to not have me see anything, not meet him, not see what his face looked like. He created this character, this thing, so I was so nervous.”

“The PAs bring me up to this door that enters into the room where he is. The cameras start rolling on me and the director calls ‘action.’ I opened the door and what you see is all very real, and it was incredible. He’s unrecognisable, and so I didn’t feel like I was in a room with Nic Cage. I was in a room with Longlegs. After we finished that scene, he was done. He’s in this method world, but he was able to let go of it. We’re sitting across from each other and he leans over, in his full look and everything, and says, ‘Oh, I’m such a big fan of you,’” she added.

Also read: Longlegs box office collection day 1: Nicolas Cage starrer earns $22.6M, marks biggest R-rated horror movie opening since The Nun 2

Nicolas Cage too talked about the intensity of their scene together, “It was important to us, me and the director, that Maika and I not spend a lot of time together socially. He wanted the scene to be a surprise for both of us, which I thought was sage direction. I came into it a fan, and I told her as much because I had been following her work and she was very nice. We only had maybe two or three lines to one another that weren’t dialogue, just conversing briefly.”