SPOILER WARNING!
This interview contains massive spoilers from Spiral, so proceed with caution if you haven't seen the film!
As Spiral finally arrives on 4K Ultra HD and Blu-ray today, we recently caught up with actress Marisol Nichols (24; Riverdale; Teen Wolf) and spoke at length about her experience on the Darren Lynn Bousman-directed film, and the strange honor it is to actually die in a Saw movie. She elaborates on that key sequence and gives her input on how her character Captain Angie Garza ultimately met her maker.
Plus, she talks all about working with both Chris Rock and Samuel L. Jackson, and shares some details on why her character Nadia Yassir didn't return to 24 after season six.
Check out the full SPOILER-filled interview below!
ROHAN: This isn’t really just a horror film, it’s more a psychological thriller, even giving off a sort of Se7en vibe. Did you find that an interesting avenue to explore?
MARISOL: Yeah, 100%, I love thrillers, I love mysteries and it read like Se7en, when I read the script, I was like ‘God, this reminds me of Se7en.’ It wasn't just a typical slasher film, it had those elements, but It was more of a mystery and finding out who did it, and it was a call out to amazing thrillers like Seven and Silence of the Lambs, things like that.
ROHAN: This isn’t the first time you’ve played the head of a division. Having previously played Nadia Yassir on 24, did that performance back then sort of help inform how you played Angie differently?
MARISOL: *laughs* Oh yeah totally, I mean Angie’s a homicide detective she's in a crappy city, with a very tough sort of burden on the cops, like a totally different world than the crisp-clean CTU where it’s all investigative. Angie’s more get your hands dirty, more grit, spit for sure, for sure.
ROHAN: You're the boss, but you don't necessarily have an adversarial relationship with Chris Rock's character... there's some mutual respect there. What was it like playing that different version of a familiar trope?
MARISOL: I mean I'm kind of his adversary because I'm screaming bloody murder at him the first time you see me on screen and being his boss oh, there's that, but I hope that since we had been Partners before that our relationship before kind of shines through that even though she's mad at him oh, she still cares about him and you can hopefully see that in the performance between Chris and I.
ROHAN: You get to work with these two legends, Sam Jackson and Chris Rock. What was that experience like?
MARISOL: Chris was amazing, are you kidding, Chris was phenomenal! He was really great, I had so much fun. I've been a fan of his sense forever since I think Saturday Night Live, I remember being like, ‘Who’s that guy?’ when he came on. He’s phenomenal.
And, then, Sam Jackson, I mean, come on, it’s just like holy crap, I get to work with Sam Jackson! I was so happy that we had a scene and I got to work with him. I was so happy because originally there wasn't anything in the script and then, they added that in there and I was thrilled about that. It made me so happy, so happy.
ROHAN: Did you have any say in how your character died or what the trap was? Or was it more just coming onto set and seeing what they cooked up for you that day?
MARISOL: I wish, I mean I had say in how I did the performance, I didn’t want her to be all victim-y and all (fake screams), I didn’t want that, I wanted her fighting. Like I was so happy they let me keep screaming, “[frick] you,” because she’s mad, I was so glad they kept that in there because she is the Chief and she’s taken down in her own house while all her guys are upstairs. That’s infuriating! So, I wanted that as part of the performance and they let me keep that in there, that at least made me happy. I was kinda bummed they killed me, I was hoping I would live, but I was like ‘okay, whatever, it’s kind of an honor to die in a Saw film.
ROHAN: Can you tell me more about how long that scene took to realize? What kind of prosthetics or makeup did you have to wear?
MARISOL: Yeah, I had to do a full head cast. It was kind of freaky because you have all this stuff over your face, your eyes, your clothes. My mouth was open so I could breathe but they basically had to recreate my face and then melt it all off. Pretty freaky, I couldn’t see anything and when we watched it in the theater, I didn’t tell my boyfriend what would happen, so he’s sitting next to me watching me die with my face melted off and it's really realistic and he’s like, ‘What the hell!”
ROHAN: I have to imagine it's a weird experience just watching yourself die on-screen. How did you feel seeing it in theaters?
MARISOL: I was happy, like I said, I really like horror/thriller films and psychological thrillers, so I was like, “Yes!” I kinda liked it, I thought it was cool.
ROHAN: When you were going downstairs by yourself, I was thinking, oh you can't do that...
MARISOL: I know! I was like, really? I was able to add some things in there, like look, could we have a reason for her to go down there? Originally, it was an anonymous tip and I’m like, come on, there’s a cop killer out there, why would she go down by herself on an anonymous tip that comes in on her phone, so then they had it be from Zeke or from Sam’s character, so it looked like a trusted source. So, at least it was that, they were going to have it like I didn’t bring my gun, and I was like come on, she’s bringing her gun! I was actually able, in hindsight, to tweak certain things, but yeah.
ROHAN: The film makes it sort of hard not to sympathize with Schenk after we learn his motivation. I mean, he's a clearly insane serial killer, but we can understand where he's coming from. These cops didn't do their job and a kid lost his father because of it.
How did you react to that, especially after what happened last summer in the wake of George Floyd's murder, because I feel like it's given the film some extra meaning.
MARISOL: It was really interesting because I remember when the George Floyd news was coming out, I mean that changed everyone’s world, that was just brutal, a brutal video to watch, and yeah, with this film, you’re right, I get it. If I watched a dirty cop kill my parents, I’d seek revenge on them as well. You just do. I’m friends with a lot of cops, trust me, I’m friends with a lot of great, amazing human beings that risk their lives every day to keep people safe or rescue someone in trouble. They also tell me about their fellow officers and some of them are dirty and that's sort of the way it is and it sucks. it sucks when you give someone that sort of power over another human being, which they’re entrusted to as a law enforcement officer, unfortunately some are going to abuse that. Not all of them, not by a mile, but there are bad cops out there, so I do understand it.
ROHAN: You’re played a variety of roles, generally in dramas, but when you got started, you used to guest star on shows like Boy Meets World and Friends. Is comedy a genre you’d ever want to explore further as an actress?
MARISOL: Yeah, for sure, I mean I just finished a film, for Lionsgate, my second film for Lionsgate is this movie called The Valet and it’s a total romantic comedy and it's really fun and I was like, ‘Great, let’s do it!” It was really fun, so I was excited about that, to do a comedy. I live in drama, don’t get me wrong, It's my comfort spot, but it was also really really fun to do something different and something light.
ROHAN: I'm a huge 24 fan, so I just had to ask, do you remember if there were ever any plans for you to return to 24 after season six? She's in all of Day 6 and I know CTU sort of disbands after that, but then we don't ever see her again.
MARISOL: Oh yeah, I was so bummed. I would have loved to return oh, we didn't know where it was going to take place and that it was going to change to a different city or whatever. At the time though, I was pregnant and Mary Lynn was pregnant, so it was kind of like, “Are we going to have two pregnant people on the series?” That’s just not going to work if they did consider bringing me back for the next season, but it was kind of cool, I didn’t die, so there was always that chance that I could still be around. I mean I loved being apart of that, it was incredible, really special.
ROHAN: Ah, well, I think Jack Bauer's stuck in a Russian prison somewhere right now, so if they ever do a Season 10, hopefully, they give you a call to bring him home.
MARISOL: *Laughs* Yeah, I'd love to go back!
Spiral is now available on 4K Ultra HD, Blu-ray, and Digital HD!