In Shudder's The Cycle, when the body of a man missing for thirty-six years is discovered at the scene of a horrific crime, it’s up to his estranged daughter to unravel his dark past.
Daredevil: Born Again star Deborah Ann Woll plays a forensic investigator drawn into a disturbing case that takes a monstrous turn. Jeffrey Donovan, best known as Michael Westen in Burn Notice, plays a cop drawn into what soon becomes a terrifying werewolf movie.
We recently spoke with Deborah and Michael about The Cycle; they discussed the challenges of bringing these grounded characters to life in such an outlandish horror movie, the film's demanding finale on the Columbia River, and the impressive creature transformation that puts Trevor Newlin in their characters' path.
Woll also addressed the news that Daredevil: Born Again will conclude with its third season, sharing her thoughts on Karen Page's future and whether the character's fight against injustice will continue beyond the Disney+ series.
You can check out the full interview with The Cycle stars in the player below. You can also SUBSCRIBE to our YouTube channel here for more exclusive interviews.
What was the biggest challenge for you both in playing these grounded characters in what starts as a fairly routine investigation, only to become a batshit-crazy werewolf story?
Deborah: [Laughs]
Jeffrey: [Laughs] That's the poster! It was all intentional, and it was the minds of Jordan and Kevin that came up with it. They first came up with the premise, but then they thought, "How do we get into it?" If we start with an unsolved murder, that opens up a kind of cold case. It sets the tone at a ground level, and then they know where they can go with it. I thought that was very clever. Then it turns into a batshit-crazy horror story, which we're thrilled we succeeded in pulling together. I'm sure it's been done before, but I can't recall anything that started as True Detective and then turned into An American Werewolf in London. I don't know if that's been done before.
Deborah: In terms of challenges, honestly, it was a joy from start to finish to make this movie. Even the first time I met Jordan and we talked about it, he was so collaborative and open. He and Kevin had this great script, and they'd made this incredible visual book, literally like a coffee-table book, of the art and all the concepts they'd come up with. Astoria was great. Jeffrey was great. Jack, Will, everyone we worked with. I had such an incredible time, and there were some amazing moments where I took behind-the-scenes pictures and thought, "I can't believe I'm doing this right now." For me, I read the script and thought, because Alien is one of my favourite movies of all time, "This is my Alien." It's that kind of slow-burn, excellent film that starts out one way and then takes a turn into a full-on practical-effects creature feature. I was completely blown away by it. It's a favourite job of mine. Top three.
Deborah, I'm being careful with spoilers here, but those scenes near and in the water towards the end of the film must have been some of the most physically demanding of your career. How do you even prepare for a day like that?
Deborah: It was always in the script, and we knew we were filming in the Columbia River in November, so it was going to be cold. They kept telling me all along the way, "We can change it. We can rework it." I was like, "No, I want to do it." I was so in love with that final sequence from the script, from the page, that I just said, "Anything we need to do, I'll wear a wetsuit under my pants. I'll suffer through it." It was a hard day. It hailed the day we filmed it. We were filming day for night in a lot of interesting ways. We had to do some poor man's boat process, as I've come to call it, for the sequence underneath the rowboat. It took a lot of very creative problem-solving to make that piece happen. I just loved it, and I was gung-ho from the beginning. It was our very last day, and I thought, "Great, we're just going to dive into the Columbia River, shoot this thing, and it's going to be our fantastic finale."
Jeffrey, as Marks, you're there watching this creature trying to get at Deborah and Meg through that cage. What do you remember about what must have been a pretty unique day on set, just observing this kind of madness unfolding?
Jeffrey: I equate it to what it must have felt like for Ted Levine and Jodie Foster in The Silence of the Lambs, when she goes into his lair and has to go down through all the tunnels. She doesn't know what's behind every corner. I was like, "God, man, we're making our Alien." I was like, "We're making our Silence of the Lambs." It's so fascinating. The whole environment they'd created, the mood, and the generosity of not only my scene partner, Deb, but also Kevin and Jordan, the DP and the director, allowing us to find the time and space to find connections, moments and the personal side of things, was wonderful. It's rare in a drama to get that kind of time, and this was a creature feature.
Deborah, you've obviously shared the screen with costumed superheroes in your career, but what was it like facing down Trevor Newlin when he's transformed into this werewolf? What a transformation that is in this film.
Deborah: He was very uncomfortable for most of his filming time, I think. I mostly remember thinking, "Don't mess this up. Make sure you get it in as few takes as possible so he can go sit down, get warm and get comfortable." You feel this immense care for the people around you, for the film and the story, and you want to make sure you get what you need without putting anyone else in distress. He was remarkable, and they were figuring out how it moved. It was fascinating to watch their process. I have some incredible photographs showing the smoke and mirrors behind the curtain a little bit. It's fun.
While I've got you, Deborah, like everyone, I was gutted to hear that Daredevil: Born Again is going to end with Season 3. Did the news come as a surprise to you? Do you have any hopes for Karen moving forward?
Deborah: It wasn't super surprising to me. I don't know about hopes moving forward. Obviously, in my mind, she's a full person with a full life, and her life will continue. She's going to continue to fight injustice, and whether they choose to include any of that is up to people far above my pay grade.
I certainly hope it happens. And Heffrey, you've obviously played law enforcement roles before, but what was it about Marks that made him someone you felt you could explore in a new way that we haven't seen from you in this heightened world?
Jeffrey: Good question. I've definitely played my share of good guys with a badge of some kind, but I thought this character was probably one of my more challenging roles because of how nuanced I thought he would show his pain, and whether it could survive the environment of a supernatural film, if that makes sense. I didn't know, to be honest with you. I had this idea that he was a quieter man than what Jordan had initially written. He was kind of the alpha. He'd walk in, Deb would say her thing, and I'd be like, "Well, yeah, and then this is going to happen, and we've got to go check this out." I had a long talk with Jordan. I said, "I don't know if he wants his son to have become the chief of police. This isn't a guy who's going around barking orders." I thought he was passing the torch and understood life now. He understood what's important, and you have to get your own. I think what worked about that, and what Jordan loved, was that it really established Will's character as the guy. That played into the turn of his demise. Again, it's just such clever filmmaking on all sides.
Deborah: I'll offer something as well. I think Markx was originally conceived as being older, and he was meant to play another father figure for Meg as the story went on. But I think casting Jeffrey, a younger actor for the role, ended up making Markx and Meg peers in a really important way for this story. They became a duo. Not quite buddy cops, but they worked together rather than having one lead the other. They each had certain strengths, and they could work together to solve this. They were both dealing with generational issues, but it wasn't necessarily that the answer was in the other person, which I think made it a much more interesting relationship.
The Cycle will be released on Shudder on October 23.