Making of The First Omen with Nell Tiger Free + Director Arkasha Stevenson

00:00:00
Speaker 1: Hello, and welcome back to movie Mike's Movie Podcast. I am your host. Movie Mike have a very special episode for you today. We're gonna be talking about the First Omen. I will give you my thoughts on the movie, and then we're gonna have an interview with the director Akashias Stevenson and star of the movie Nel Tiger Free, talking all about the behind the scenes and making of the movie and what goes into making a horror movie. So chilling, but even if you're not into horror, I think you will find it fascinating the dynamic between a female director and a female lead. So thank you for being here, thank you for being subscribed, and now let's talk movies.

00:00:35
Speaker 2: In a world where everyone and their mother has a podcast, one man stands to infiltrate the ears of listeners like never before in a movie podcast. A man with so much movie knowledge, he's basically like a walking IMTV with glasses.

00:00:53
Speaker 3: From the Nashville Podcast.

00:00:54
Speaker 2: Network, This is movie Mike's Movie Podcast.

00:00:59
Speaker 1: If you're listening to this pisode on Wednesday, May twenty ninth, The First Omen is available now on digital. It'll be on Hulu tomorrow on May thirtieth, and then on DVD and Blu Ray on July thirtieth, And myself personally, I need to be in a very specific environment when I sit down to watch a horror movie at home. I have to wait for it to be nighttime just to give me that feeling of darkness, because it's really hard for me to be scared at this point. So far this year, a horror movie has not evoked that emotion in me, and The First Omen was the first movie to do that this year. Because that's how I had to take it in. I have to emulate that same feeling that I get while going to see a movie in theaters where it's completely pitch black. All distractions are taken away because if you even stop paying attention to a horror movie for just a second, you might miss the scary moment. So that is very important for me. But depending on how you take it in, I guess it has to do with your level of wanting to be scared. I want to go all in. I want to experience all those things that I think. The First Omen is a great movie to do that, So I would recommend turn off all the lights and turn the audio up, because not only does this movie look great. It sounds fantastic, and you may think, what do I care about sound? But for me, this movie took that next level of not only trying to scare you visually, which there are some pretty interesting visual aspects that we're going to get into the interview later.

00:02:28
Speaker 3: That I haven't really seen to this.

00:02:29
Speaker 1: Degree in a horror movie, much less one owned by Disney. And I was wondering, due to the fact that this is a Disney owned movie, that maybe they would keep away from showing some things even though it's rated R. Maybe they'd be like, Okay, we don't want to have that image in this movie. But it seems to me that there were really no restrictions. The only goal was to make the best Omen movie possible, and I think that is something that the franchise needs right now. The first one came out back in nineteen seventy six, so it lands in that category of how do you bring a breath of fresh air into a franchise that has been around forever, that already has this format associated with it and has this big legacy to live up to.

00:03:17
Speaker 3: It's a really hard thing to do.

00:03:19
Speaker 1: And what I found while watching this movie is it had a very distinct style and a very distinct voice, and I think that is all due to director Arkasia Stephenson's vision. So what this movie is about. You have a character named Margaret played by Nail Tiger Free. She moves to Rome to begin a life of service to the church, and once she gets there, she realizes something is kind of up. So it's a prequel to the original Omen, which is all focused on Damien. This is how Damien's life came to be. So all these weird things start happening. These authority figures are very, very sketchy, and she discovers this darkn sspiracy to bring about the birth of the Antichrist. So it's all about her character trying to find answers, trying to stop these people from doing these vicious things, while at the same time trying to distinguish between what is actually happening in the real world in Rome and what is happening all inside her mind or these demonic presences messing with her brain.

00:04:22
Speaker 3: And when I ended up really loving.

00:04:24
Speaker 1: About the movie and had me invested in it is the story really allowed the tension to build. With every sinister event that happens, you get a little bit more anxious as it goes along. So it's like you are right there in the perspective of Margaret, experiencing all these things right there with her, and I thought that was really well done. Nelle Tiger Free did a fantastic job of showing a character's descent into madness from moving to Rome, thinking your life is going to completely change for the better, and then realizing that there is something really awful going on here. And the more you try to get answers from people, the more they push back. There's this girl, she has a relationship who is being tormented by all of these people at the church, and it's her relationship with that kid that really shows you how good of a person she is, and what really has you invested in her as a character, and what really has you rooting for her, because at the inner core of her being, she is just a good person who got put into a really, really awful situation. So this movie hits you on an emotional level, and then you have all the scary elements that come along with that, which are more dark, demonic presences, but nothing too gruesome that's gonna make your stomach churn. It's more about creating this sinister environment and having these really shocking images that will literally be burned into your brain. And what I really love is at the forefront of this movie is a strong female character backed by a strong female So that is why I'm excited to talk to director Arkasha Stevenson and Neil tiger Free, who plays Margaret. You'll hear two people in this interview. Arkashia Stevenson, the director doesn't have an accent, so you'll hear two people in this interview, and to be able to tell them apart. Arkasha Stevenson, the director doesn't have an accent. Nell tiger Free, who plays Margaret, has an English accent, so you'll be able to tell both of them apart. And remember, the first Omen is available now on digital drops on Hulu tomorrow, and it'll be available on DVD and Blu Ray on July thirtieth. But right now, here's my interview with the director and star of the movie.

00:06:37
Speaker 3: I just watched.

00:06:38
Speaker 1: The movie and I loved it, and I'm glad to be able to talk to you both together because i think the dynamic of actor and director is really special. I haven't done an interview like this before, so I'm really excited to dive into this movie before we get into just everything I loved about it. My wife hates horror movies, and it's really hard for me to convince her to watch a horror movie. She doesn't like anything that evokes any kind of anxiety. How would you get somebody who doesn't want to watch a horror movie to watch the first omen M?

00:07:05
Speaker 4: Bribe them? Well, you know, I think the vagina shot is a big draw. You know, that's a first I think in horror films, at least for Disney horror films, depending on well, actually, I know that might scare her off even more so. Well, the thing is, you know, I'm very proud of how pretty I think our film is, you know, and I think that that's that's a draw because we do get to shoot in Rome, and I think that you you really get a sense of the city and you get a real sense of the period. Am I selling your wife? Yet? I can't tell she loves Rome.

00:07:39
Speaker 3: I could convince her that with the imagery.

00:07:42
Speaker 4: Okay, room.

00:07:45
Speaker 3: Sells a romance story.

00:07:50
Speaker 4: Feat vagina.

00:07:51
Speaker 3: Yes, So when I try.

00:07:52
Speaker 1: To find a movie right now with a strong female lead, I always find myself going back to the horror genre. I think in the last three years, that is where I've gone to you to find a true hero story that's female led. It is just a genre that is kind of dominating right that right now, And that is what I got from the first omen And I think a lot of that comes across ouse screen probably had to do with your relationship as director and actor. So how much of that relationship and what was that first true test of like, Okay, we trust each other. We're gonna do some crazy things in this movie, but it's gonna be working.

00:08:26
Speaker 5: I mean, trust is super important, really important, especially with the like material that we were handling and you know, some sensitive stuff that we were diving into together. But to be honest, I don't know if this says more about me than anything, but I trusted Gosh pretty much straight away. I Mean we had such a like cool, beautiful, like first meeting, which was my Zoom audition, and even though we had like a screen and an ocean separating our technically at the time, like I just felt so connected to her and safe and yeah, I felt like I trusted her straight away.

00:08:58
Speaker 4: And it only thank you for saying that because I felt the same thing. It's you know, Nell, it's on set every single day. She's in almost every single scene of this movie, and so so much pressure was on you, and so much was writing on you. And what was so magical is that she approached that with absolute zero fear, which I think is really rare to find somebody who's willing to get down and dirty. It's a very physical role in extremely emotionally taxing and there was not a single obstacle that you weren't down to tackle. And it was really special because in this in this our first meeting, Nell read you were gracious enough to read for us, and she read the most intense scene, which is in Brennan's apartment. Actually I won't spoil anything, but it's a very intense scene. And she did that on the spot on zoom and I started crying and we were everybody was just kind of frozen, and we're like, Okay, this is this is our partner, you know, so we just knew right away.

00:10:01
Speaker 1: You were mentioning some of the hard things that, you know, Neil, you had to do. I really loved how your character kind of evolves throughout the movie of the sinister thing continue to happen. She kind of just grows and gets a little bit more kind of demented in a way. Was that something that you looked at when you first got the Scriptles Gay, How am I going to kind of play out this character and show that she's evolving, that she's starting to become a little bit more hesitant about what is real what is not real?

00:10:27
Speaker 5: Yeah, And well Cash describes it so well, is that it's like, you know, it's it's like the descent into Hell. And I feel like visually there was something that Cash did too in the movie where it's like, you know, we start in this picturesque, beautiful place and then we kind of end in like an inferno, we end in Hell, And I felt like that was kind of what Margaret's trajectory had to be. She had to get broken down so much and beaten so much that she kind of rose. And I felt like that's I had these markers for Margaret, you know Margaret when we meet Margaret in the middle of Margaret at the end, and just trying to piece piece that journey together. But you know, a lot of it was on the page, and it was just about kind of finding the nuance and making it feel real and you know, we didn't want it. It wasn't like a like a torture born thing like enjoy watching all these awful things happen.

00:11:20
Speaker 4: It was like, you know, she had to.

00:11:22
Speaker 5: Go go through all of this to come out the other side.

00:11:26
Speaker 4: And what was really actually I just thought about this and what was really interesting is because a lot of the horror comes from if you took this supernatural element out of this film, it's still I think a very terrifying horror film because you're dealing with, you know, repressed trauma and repressed intuition. And as these things start to resurface in Margaret, she doesn't know what's supernatural, what is a past trauma that is now she's now remembering and experiencing in real life again. And what was so interesting about the way you performed is Nel never said, Okay, what is this? Is this real? Is this not real? Is this a memory? And I loved that about you because that was what the character was experiencing, this real ambiguity as to what her reality was.

00:12:10
Speaker 1: I think it's also sometimes in just the Omen franchise, it's not always the deep dark, sinister monster villain. It's also the authoritative figures in the movie, and I think that was also a big part of this, of Margaret rebelling against the authority there.

00:12:26
Speaker 5: Yeah, totally. I mean, Margaret had been told not to trust what she saw for her whole life. You know, it's like she's been gas lit by the people who are supposed to take care of her. And that's just a terrifying concept in itself. I think that's so pertinent and so true what Carsha says that even if you do take the supernatural element out of it and that part of the horror away from it, it's still very much would be a horror film because it's you know, an abused woman and a woman who is going through traumas that women have to go through all the time, and it's you know, that's why that was also why it felt like such a pertinent story to me, because it's like, you know, even if this wasn't a part of the Omen franchise and Damien wasn't the result at the end of it, and it was something else, it would still be on the page and off it hopefully it would still feel like, like true, a true horror film. So yeah, I just saw what you said.

00:13:16
Speaker 4: No, I love it. I mean it's true. Yeah, it's it. Margaret's a character who was bred to breed. Yeah, you know, and that's that's not a foreign Yeah. I came up with that just I know, thank you, But that's not foreign for Yeah, that's not a foreign experience for women. And so I think, yeah, you could have the same effect even without the demonic elements.

00:13:44
Speaker 1: I think to fully like buy into doing a horror movie, you probably have to become really invested in the source material and also believe it yourself. You're living in it, you're seeing it every day. You're having to experience that. Do you ever lean into it a little bit too much to where it starts affecting your mental state? Because I'll watch a horror movie, I'll go to sleep and I'll have a nightmare. But you are working, you both are working in this every single day. Does it ever just start to affect your personal life?

00:14:09
Speaker 4: No, not at all.

00:14:10
Speaker 5: We are absolutely just completely normal, good, right fully functioning.

00:14:15
Speaker 4: You know, we live we live underground in caves.

00:14:18
Speaker 3: Yeah.

00:14:20
Speaker 5: Yeah, I mean you have to you have to learn to separate from it because if you take too much of it in I mean, nobody was living in the world more than Cash. I mean, it was your every waking moment for so much longer than anybody else was involved in it, because you know, you were there at its inception and they're right until the bitter end. And I came in for a couple of months and did my part and left, and you know, Cash is still there in that world. But yeah, for me, it's just luckily I have things that can very definitively separate me from Margaret, like you know, my even something as small as having a different accent to the character, it can separate you from them straight away. And yeah, I mean I think when I was younger, I used to hold my characters much closer in my real life. But that's actually, I think a hindrance because you have to be able to kind of be a chameleon and shed your skin and then go back in and do it again. But yeah, I try not to let too much of it in otherwise I think I'd be alone.

00:15:17
Speaker 1: A big debate online right now is the discussion of v effects versus practical effects in this movie. What's the Percentagejohn? What was things that you actually made for the movie that you could actually interact with and things that happened in post production.

00:15:32
Speaker 4: Yeah, the only thing that isn't a practical effect is the jackal at the end, at the very end, So I'd say it's ninety percent practical, ten percent CG. I think, you know, something that was really important to us is that, to the best of our ability to use a practical approach, just because I think when you're trying to embody the spirit of nineteen seventies filmmaking, you know that that people are looking for something very tactile and textured, and I think also when it comes to horror, it's bringing that reality into set for something for you to see. The seal I think has a huge effect on everybody. So we you know, we really wanted to as much as possible rely on our makeup, effects and SFX team.

00:16:16
Speaker 1: Another thing I think kind of doesn't get talked about enough in horror movies is the sound. Which I found it to be really haunting in this movie, and a lot of the jump scares that happened as a result of the sound, the quick whispers, the quick just out of nowhere in your face moments. What was the idea behind some of the sound design.

00:16:33
Speaker 4: Yeah, well, you know what I was really excited about both our score and the sound design, because I think that there wasn't really a defined line between the two in this project, because a lot of our sound design, if you listen very closely, is Nell breathing, or Nell screaming, or Nell praying, And so a lot of that whispering is Nell and some of the other women in the film, you know, muttering prayers almost manically, and a lot of you know, in a lot of the very intense set pieces like the birth clinic scene, a lot of that sound design is is just female breath. And then a lot of the score was female breath layered with a lot of female vocals, even female you know screams. So just this constant paranoia and reminder that there's there's humans involved in all of this violence was really important to us, if that makes sense.

00:17:32
Speaker 1: Yeah, you talked about the human part there. The other part that I found kind of enjoyable that I haven't really seen in a horror movie is there's what I feel is kind of a win for Margaret's character of just having a little small moment of levity whenever she goes out for that night, even though she's reluctant to go. It's like oh, here are all these crazy things happening, but then she goes gets to go out and have fun and dance. What was the idea behind that scene?

00:17:55
Speaker 4: Margaret is I would say a very sheltered character, but she's not stupid, you know, and that it was really important for us to create a really three dimensional, dynamic character who felt very grounded. And so if this conspiracy, she was going to fall into this conspiracy, she had to be seduced into it, and I think in a really relatable way. And so having Nell's character at the disco was not only I think one of my favorite scenes just because you're so endearing and delightful, but you actually start to root for her and Paolo and their romance, which I think you need to do that to not undermine the credibility of Margaret. But yeah, how did you feel?

00:18:41
Speaker 5: No, I mean that's exactly it like that. It was. It was it was when you see it went watching shooting it. Certainly it was a beautiful thing to shoot, and there was so much levity there in those moments with me and Andrea, who's fantastic, and it makes it all that more heartbreaking when you find out, you know the truth behind his character and the true behind the intent of the disco. You know, that is probably the scene with the most levity, but then it also leads to the most grueling elements of the film. And she it's kind of it's sober, so sweet because she's given this moment of freedom and experience and youth, and it's all it's all there to manipulate her, and it's all there to suck her in and yeah, seduce her into this, into this world. So she's just being manipulated or left right center.

00:19:25
Speaker 4: And if you're not in love with Margaret at that point when she dances onto the dance floor, you definitely are just how I dance melksher at the club.

00:19:38
Speaker 1: Like, yeah, we mentioned this about being a Disney well, a Disney owned film. If you could go back now and star in the horror remake of a Disney classic, what would you want to be in Disney classic? They're going to do a R rated horror aducation. What would you want to start in?

00:19:57
Speaker 5: I know this, I would want to do like the Hands Christian and version of The Little Mermaid where me become knives, like the ground becomes knives and she becomes foam on the water and it's like, it's very dark. The original fairy tale is very very dark. So if they made that version, I would.

00:20:15
Speaker 4: Love to tell it.

00:20:16
Speaker 3: And then how would you direct that version?

00:20:18
Speaker 4: Oh my gosh, well, you know it's so lovely? Is I grew up on that version? Yeah, and I actually have a mermaid tattoo because of that. That's so crazy that you bring that up.

00:20:27
Speaker 5: I had the original storybook and it was so I feel like it could be easily a horror God, why has nobody made this?

00:20:34
Speaker 3: I think we just found the next film.

00:20:36
Speaker 4: It's your idea about.

00:20:40
Speaker 1: You give me a small part in it and we're all good.

00:20:44
Speaker 3: Well, I appreciate the time.

00:20:46
Speaker 1: I hope everybody goes and watches the movie because I really enjoyed it. It has made me want to go back and revisit all the omen movies and me I feel like it's the biggest breadth of fresh air in the franchise. And just congratulations on the movie.

00:21:00
Speaker 4: Oh you.

00:21:03
Speaker 3: Appreciate it. Thank you guys.

00:21:04
Speaker 4: You bye bye.

00:21:06
Speaker 1: And that is going to do it for this special episode of the podcast.

00:21:09
Speaker 3: I hope you enjoyed that interview.

00:21:11
Speaker 1: If you did, be sure to go comment on my Instagram and TikTok or on Facebook with the screaming face emoji, you know, the one that looks like mcaulay Colchin in Home Alone with his hands on his face, screaming comment with that emoji. That is the secret emoji this week, because every time we have an interview, have that secret emoji to let me know you enjoyed it and.

00:21:30
Speaker 3: Made it to the end of the episode.

00:21:32
Speaker 1: And make sure you're subscribed because new episodes every single Monday. Will be back next week with Kelsey and I's best and worst of the month of May. Till next time, go out and watch good movies and I will talk to you later.