The Boogeyman Director Breaks Down Casting Process (Exclusive)

Oct 01, 2023

The Boogeyman hit theaters this weekend, and it's currently up on Rotten Tomatoes with a 61% critics score and a 65% audience score. Despite the mixed reactions, most seem to agree that the horror film has an impressive cast that helps to elevate the story, which is based on a short tale by Stephen King. The movie stars Sophie Thatcher (Yellowjackets), Chris Messina (Air), and Vivien Lyra Blair (Obi-Wan Kenobi) as a family who is dealing with the loss of their mother and wife while also coming to terms with the mysterious creature roaming in the shadows of their home. Recently, ComicBook.com had the chance to chat with the film's director, Rob Savage, who broke down the film's casting process.

"I think we cast Chris first," Savage shared. "I think we knew that the Will part was probably the toughest part, and we had a few names. There was just a few people that we knew could do it, and Chris was top of the pile, because it's a part that could be kind of loathsome in other hands." Savage continued, "He spends the whole movie being unable to deal with his emotions, and kind of discounting what his daughters are telling him, and it felt like Chris Messina was probably the only person who could do it, because it's just impossible to hate Chris Messina."

"He brought a kind of warmth to it," Savage added. "And also, I was looking for actors of his caliber as well, because I wanted it to be... Although it's a 'monster under the bed' movie, I wanted it to be true to the experience of grief that the characters are going through. And meaty, and dramatic. One of the movies that we referenced up top was Ordinary People, which is really what got Chris excited, because it's a movie that we both love."He continued, "So Chris came first, and then I think it was Vivien who was originally... Her part, Sawyer, was originally meant to be a boy character. But we were auditioning a bunch of boys at that age, and they were all just really annoying. And so I was like, 'Okay, let's make it a girl, and let's make this a movie about sisters.' And Vivien was one of the first people we auditioned once we broadened out the search, and she's just fantastic. She's fantastic as a human being, and she's fantastic as an actor. And I knew that Sawyer was going to be the kind of lovable heart of the movie. And as soon as I met Vivien, I knew that we needed her personality to be in the movie."Savage concluded, "And then it was Sophie last, who, I wasn't really super aware of Yellowjackets ... I mean, I was aware of it. I hadn't watched any of it, but I saw a few clips of her, and I remembered her from Prospect, the Pedro Pascal daddy movie, from a few years back. And we just really clicked. She was into, similar to today, I was wearing a kind of niche horror T-shirt that she recognized, for this movie Possession ... Which is not a movie that I expected her to love, but it's one of her favorite movies, and mine too. So we spent the Zoom talking about niche horror movies, and it was clear that it had to be her."

The Boogeyman is now playing in theaters. Stay tuned for more from our interview with Rob Savage.

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