Spell is a new horror movie from writer Kurt Wimmer (Total Recall) and director Mark Tonderai (Locke & Key). The cast includes Omari Hardwick (Power), Loretta Devine (Black-ish), and John Beasley (The Sum of All Fears), and arrives on Premium Video-On-Demand and Digital in time for Halloween on October 30th from Paramount Home Entertainment.
You can read our review by clicking here.
While flying to his father’s funeral in rural Appalachia, an intense storm causes Marquis (Hardwick) to lose control of the plane carrying him and his family. He wakes up wounded and trapped in Ms. Eloise’s (Devine) attic, who claims she can nurse him back to health with the Boogity, a Hoodoo figure she has made from his blood and skin. Unable to call for help, Marquis desperately tries to outwit and break free from her dark magic and save his family from a sinister ritual before the rise of the blood moon.
We were fortunate enough to catch up with Mark Tonderai last week to talk about the filmmaker's work on Spell. As well as addressing what it was like to step behind the camera to tell this terrifying original story, he also shares his interest in potentially working on both James Bond and superhero movies, and the work he did on popular TV shows like Gotham and Doctor Who.
After making an impact with movies like Hush and House at the End of the Street, Tonderai has worked on everything from Black Lightning to Castle Rock. With Spell, he's clearly going to make a huge impact, and we obviously want to extend our thanks to Mark for taking the time to chat with us!
I spoke to Omari Hardwick and he talked about being a method actor and bringing that to Spell, but what is it like for you, as a director, working with an actor in that head space?
It's not a big deal to me if I'm being honest with you. I really respect everybody's process. As a director, my job is pretty simple; it's to make everybody their best self and you do that primarily by having a floor where people can feel free to express themselves and throw ideas into the mix. A floor where people are smiling and you're not shouting at people; a floor where it doesn't feel like a pressure cooker. That's my responsibility. I think you step back and let people do their jobs. I don't micromanage, and I always say, 'What do you think?' I encourage people to trust their own instincts. I've worked with actors all across the park at all sorts of levels, and you get used to the way they work and don't enforce your way of working on them because that's disastrous. You just respond. I worked with a kid of Gotham who was playing our version of The Joker. He was always in character and creepy as hell. We all knew that and would always stay away from him. When it was time to go, we'd call him over, and he'd just go. For me, it's all part of the job.
Loretta Devine is so sinister as Eloise... during those early casting stages, what made her the right choice for this project?
She is brilliant. We call her Miss Loretta because we have so much respect for her, and she's been doing this a long, long time. As far as I'm concerned, I'm hoping some sort of push happens which gets here nominated for this role because it is transcendent. She becomes a very different character, and the way she articulates her words in the film, the rhythm she finds which is entirely her own and, as you just said, she's sinister. However, at the same time, you understand where she's coming from. You understand her choices even though you might not agree with them. I think that's brilliant. I've always really liked her. She always plays that aren't this that are very warm, cuddly, and matriarchal. I saw her in a show on Netflix, Family Ties, and there was a scene where she tells off her granddaughter. It was only two-and-a-half minutes, if that, but I got my iPhone and filmed that. I sent it to the execs at Paramount and said, 'Look at this. She can be really, really, really mean when she wants to. That's what we're going for. That's what we're tapping into.' It's not mean without a sense of humanity; anyone can do that. It was a Tony Soprano meanness that I was after.
The studio went for it and Miss Loretta was up for another part that I can't say what it was, but she chose us, and I'm so thankful that she did. The film really works as a two-hander. It's more of a play than a film, and to do that, you need two performers who are literally going toe to toe the entire time. You've watched the film. You can see the ebbs and flows when one is lying and the other knows that. You can see the game that happens between the two of them where they're almost doing a waltz and trying to avoid each other's feet. It's a really brilliant combo.
The film features a primarily Black cast, but doesn't head down any cliched or stereotypical routes; do you feel that it's easier today to get a movie like this made than it might have been five years ago?
Oh God, without a doubt. Don't get me started on colourism in this business. There's so many of us that are literally ten years behind where we should be. Just look at the three of us doing this film. It's been incredibly hard for any of us to get traction apart from in Black work. Omari in Power and Loretta in a lot of Black shows she's done. We're all incredibly capable and good, but it's all about opportunity. If you don't have people in the system, I call them pipeliners, who are saying, 'Listen, this guy is really great, we should give him a shot,' you're screwed. That's what we've been fighting for for a long time. We all the ability and I can list a ream of people in the same boat: writers who have never become showrunners. I'm not sitting here pointing fingers saying, 'You guys are racist.' I am saying that they're biased. It's not a form of overt racism. If you have an experienced white showrunner, he knows two hundred directors who are white that can give him what he wants. Why is he going to hire me, a kid with a Mohawk and tattoos, to come in? That's their way of thinking and is contrary to how I think which is you hire the best person for the job.
It's been a real struggle and I'm not going to bullsh*t about it. I'm refusing to lie about it and not own it. It's the truth. The truth is, it's been really difficult. Ever since the racial uprising that happened in America, we've been allowed to have a voice and say what we think without the repercussions of being told we have a chip on our shoulder or not being good enough. I've had people call me apologising for me losing jobs because I never had a chance as one people told me. That was five years ago. It's been really good, but I have to be undeniable in these jobs because I represent a whole swathe of people who haven't had the opportunity. I am hoping it's changing. Part of me doesn't think it will and that it's great they're getting more of us to direct, but how many of us are doing pilots or showrunning? How many voices are coming through that originate from Black culture that aren't the obvious choices? I think we'll get more opportunities further down the pecking order. In terms of big jobs, I don't want to be the monkey, I want to be the organ grinder.
It feels like Spell is a movie that could spawn sequels, or perhaps even prequels, but is expanding this world something that would interest you as a filmmaker or are you keen to take on other projects you can lend your voice to?
The truth is, if you're English, you want to do Doctor Who. I did. The Rosa Parks episode got nominated for a BAFTA, and it did exactly what I wanted it to do. It's being shown in schools and that, for me, is the ultimate accolade. You also want to do Bond. You want to do something as big as that just because it's something I was brought up on as a kid. It's always been part of my family life. You want to do a Marvel film because it's a very different discipline. When you do a project like that, it's not really a Mark Tonderai film, it's a Marvel film. So, how do you get your DNA into a film like that? Yes, I want to do those bigger films that are studio film, but between those, I want to do my own smaller projects. They're more personal and I have a lot more control. It's a question of doing both: one for them, one for me. One of the directors I admire hugely in a massive way, and I'd do anything to meet him, is Steven Soderbergh. He does what I'm trying to which is he'll do an Ocean's Eleven and then The Knick. I admire him very much because, like him, I operate the camera. I don't light like he does, but his career path and the way he's become this incredible storyteller is what I would love to do. I'd give my left arm to have even the fraction of a career he's had.
You're no stranger to the DC Universe after working on shows like Gotham and Black Lightning, but are superhero movies something on your radar and are there any characters, in particular, that stand out to you?
I'd love to do Blade. Blade, for me, is right up my street in terms of my sensibilities. I also think Stephen Norrington did a brilliant job with the first incarnation of it, and I'd argue that it was the first, other than Tim Burton's Batman, superhero film that really revolutionised movies to where we are now. So, Blade, I would absolutely love to do. There's another project I'm working on at the moment which I can't discuss that's really exciting and I hope I get it. The truth is, you want to be able to communicate with people. That's why I do this. I want to talk about problems I have in my life you might also have, and if we can both talk about it and look at a film that addresses those problems through story, then we can begin to grow and discover things.
The only way you can have that is by having reach. At the moment, tentpole films are where it's at and if you want to be able to hold a hand out to people and discuss these themes, big budget films are the way to to it. The last Avengers movie was so dense in emotion that that's why it worked. It wasn't just about Thanos and those sorts of things, it was about grief and loss, and can you bring people back? It was really powerful because of that, not the special effects. It's the same with films like Up and Wall-E; they're beautiful films, but they're all about emotion. So, yeah, absolutely. I want to talk to people from here to Timbuktu and the way to do that is through the studio system and big movies.
There are some brutal moments in the movie, but what sort of work goes into creating those as a filmmaker?
It sounds stupid, but when I do gags now and people ask me about them, I say, 'Well, I've done that three times before!' Ironically, I've done the nail gag before in my first film. It's completely coincidental, so I know how to do it, and when you get a script and you see a gag like that, you go back in your memory and say, 'How did I do this before and what worked and what didn't?' It's about angle, prosthetics, the cuts, and once you know that, you're in a good place. For me, preparation is key for everything, and we prepared like hell. We knew exactly what we were doing with that sequence, and it came off really well.
Finally, how does it feel to know you've got this movie coming out that, given the unique circumstances we find ourselves in this year, gets Halloween all to itself to scare the living daylights out of people?
There are a lot of people out there struggling with this virus through loss of work to having to stay at home looking after kids to loss of internet. I'm always aware of problems like that, so once I take that into account, I go, 'Jesus Christ, the fact I'm working now is amazing. The fact I have a film coming out now is really amazing.' A lot of people are having their opportunities taken away from them, so I feel a real sense of gratitude. I've been working with the Paramount team, and the faith they've shown in this work is also quite humbling. They're doing as much as they can to get the film on a really big platform and to get people to see it. There is a part of me that people can go and see this, but there's a part of me that's sad too because I designed this film, even with the lenses, to be shown on the big screen.
It's all about the widescreen format, and it's designed to be seen with people and that's what I love about film. It's not like TV where you can press pause, do what you want, and come back, it's a communal experience. It's a church to people and you feel each other's energy. I'm a bit bummed that's not going to happen because people won't see it the way it was designed to be seen, but at the same time, I am really happy we've got a release and people have the opportunity to see it. That wasn't on the cards a couple of months ago. No one knew what was going to happen. I'm very thankful. I've had a film come out at #1 and do really well, so I know what that feels like, so you've just got to say, 'I've done my best, so let's hope the world really likes it and people respond to it.'