Dan Stevens & Kathryn Newton discuss their new film Abigail: stunts, fake blood, and vampires. They also dive into how Cassie Lang and Legion could cross paths in the MCU.
Abigail follows a group of would-be criminals who kidnap the 12-year-old ballerina daughter of a powerful underworld figure, but things do not turn out as they expect when they realize that she is a vampire. Trapped in an isolated mansion, the captors start to dwindle, one by one. This must see movie is the most fun you will have in a theater all year, and is a must see on the biggest screen possible.
We sat down with Dan Stevens, who plays Frank, and Kathryn Newton, who plays Sammy, to talk all about this new horror flick. The two talk about how much fun it was to film, the incredible stunt choreography, and the fake blood. Since they both have also played Marvel characters, they discuss how they could potentially come together in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU).
Dan Stevens & Kathryn Newton Talk Abigail
Tessa Smith: Abigail is so much fun to watch, was it just as much fun to film?
Dan Stevens: I was surprised by how much fun we had making this. I thought we were gonna make just a normal, run of the mill, vampire ballerina, heist movie. And it turned out to be hilarious and very, very silly.
Kathryn Newton: A lot more blood than expected.
Dan Stevens: Blood cannons, and 30,000 liters of blood used in this film.
Tessa Smith: The stunts in this movie are insane. What was it like doing those?
Dan Stevens: It was incredible. We had an amazing stunt team on this. Alicia Weir is an incredible stunt woman herself. She just picked us up by the ankles and flung us around. It was a really amazing crew. Irish team of stunt doubles. And that final sequence was two weeks. The shoot two weeks. On wires. It was really an epic, epic sequence, really fun to dive into that kind of stuff. It didn’t read like that on the page.
Kathryn Newton: We didn’t know. They could be one page or like a paragraph.
Dan Stevens: A lot of the big sequences were maybe one line. It’s never the things you’d expect. Swimming through a pool of bodies can be so insignificant on the page.
Kathryn Newton: I didn’t know what that was going to be like. You don’t think much of it. And then you realize what you signed up for. You’ve committed.
Tessa Smith: Yeah, what was that like?
Kathryn Newton: Have you ever been on a team before? Like a team of any kind, you’re on the team, and they’re like, Alright, you’re cheering and you’re like, my turn, okay. And you just want to do it. You want to like, have fun with it. I knew that as a horror buff I wanted it to be everything that I’d want to see. And I just wanted to enjoy it because I don’t think I’ll ever do it again. It was really hard to move. It was so sluggish.
Tessa Smith: Your characters are my favorite in the film, but they aren’t the nicest people. How do you tap into a role like that?
Kathryn Newton: I think we’re all kind of bad.
Dan Stevens: I mean, Frank was having a bad day. So if I was having a bad day, I could just make Frank have a worst day and I would feel better.
Kathryn Newton: But that’s so hard. Because when you’re playing the character, you don’t realize that she’s bad, but you know what she’s about to say, and you know how funny it sounds out loud once you hear it, and you’re like, well, I could go a little further with that. And it just helps the story along, I think, the more you deep dive into the rudeness. That’s fun.
Tessa Smith: One thing I love about Abigail is how they dive into lots of different vampire lore. Do either of you have a favorite vampire book, film, or series?
Kathryn Newton: I love Twilight. I like Dracula too.
Dan Stevens: Girl Walks home alone at night. I love Nosferatu. What We Do In The Shadows. I could keep going.
Kathryn Newton: I’m gonna stick with Twilight.
Tessa Smith: I have to talk about Legion because it is my favorite Marvel thing. Would you ever come back?
Dan Stevens: I would. I love that character. I loved doing that show. And it was such a creative team behind it. I loved it. So if they want to bring it back, I’m here.
Kathryn Newton: How can you team up with Cassie Lang? Call Kevin.
Dan Stevens: Sure. Shrink Legion down to little tiny size.
Kathryn Newton: Go hit some golf balls. Get a ballerina vampire in there. Spice it up.
Tessa Smith: Legion absorbs people, so you could go hang out in Legion’s head for a little while.
Dan Stevens: There ya go.
Kathryn Newton: That’d be cool.
Dan Stevens: It’s a fun place. Come play.
Kathryn Newton: Okay.
Abigail dances into theaters on April 19th.
NEXT: Abigail Review: The Most Fun You’ll Have All Year
About Abigail
Children can be such monsters.
After a group of would-be criminals kidnap the 12-year-old ballerina daughter of a powerful underworld figure, all they have to do to collect a $50 million ransom is watch the girl overnight. In an isolated mansion, the captors start to dwindle, one by one, and they discover, to their mounting horror, that they’re locked inside with no normal little girl.
From Radio Silence—the directing team of Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett behind the terrifying modern horror hits Ready or Not, 2022’s Scream and last year’s Scream VI—comes a brash, blood-thirsty new vision of the vampire flick, written by Stephen Shields (The Hole in the Ground, Zombie Bashers) and Guy Busick (Scream franchise, Ready or Not).
Abigail dances into theaters on April 19th.
Tessa Smith is a Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer-approved Film and TV Critic. She is also a Freelance Writer. Tessa has been in the Entertainment writing business for ten years and is a member of several Critics Associations including the Critics Choice Association and the Greater Western New York Film Critics Association.