“Just divorce yourself from the law and from the expectations of people,” he says.
“make a run at just make a story that is good unto itself.”
Why did you say no, and what made you change your mind?
Image via Universal Pictures
I loveThe Wolf Man, and I love all those classic monsters.
It was more that I had just done that withThe Invisible Man.
But they incepted me.
Image via Universal Pictures
As soon as they suggestedThe Wolf Man, I started thinking about what I would do.
Jason Blum is very good at this, by the way.
He’s good at the Jedi mind trick, like making you think it was your idea.
Image via Universal
So he said to me, Well, you don’t have to commit to it.
Just think about whatyouwould do.
And that was it.
Image via Universal Pictures
He got me once again.
So that was it.
After that, I went into it.
A family at a remote farmhouse is attacked by an unseen animal, but as the night stretches on, the father begins to transform into something unrecognizable.
That’s a pretty good tactic.
I would believe he’s very good at that.
WHANNELL: He is.
But then also, what is a challenge unique toWolf Manthat you experienced making this film?
At least, that’s what I discovered because people seemed to be so receptive.
People were saying like, Oh, we like this take.
It’ll be a version.
It’ll sit there, and then eventually, someone’s going to make another version, right?
She also tells us about her cats who actually have their own IMDb pages!
How about a challenge that was unique toWolf Man?
WHANNELL: Well, I invented all those challenges.
Like, when I was writing, I wasn’t thinking about being on set.
Like,I put the most amount of challenges in this movie.
So, I basically tortured myself.
Ive got no one else to blame.
There’s no screenwriter to blame.
It’s just me.
If you don’t challenge yourself like that, is there a point?
WHANNELL: Well, I do agree with this.
It’s always this push and this struggle.
What is the biggest difference between draft one of the screenplay and the finished film?
WHANNELL: The biggest difference was in the first draft, there were more people.
There was a community of people that suddenly gathered around.
At some point, Corbett and I were like, We’re just not vibing with these other people.
Why do you should probably involve these other people?
So that would be the biggest, I think.
What Does ‘Dune’ Have in Common With ‘Wolf Man’?
“It looks ridiculous until it doesn’t.”
One of my favorite challenges that you added to the mix here was the wolf vision.
That was my favorite shot of the movie.
WHANNELL: Oh, that’s great.
He actually flew to LA just to test out some infrared cameras.
They ended up using these cameras onDune.
Do you remember the black-and-white sequence?
So we were like, Oh, they stole our idea, right?
And so those were the sorts of cameras.
We looked at infrared stuff.
It takes those layers.
A similar thing happened withInvisible Manwhen you had a guy in a green bodysuit pulling Elisabeth Moss around.
But it took a while.
WHANNELL: Oh yeah, that’s interesting.
It’s always the little ones, like little things.
That’s the last thing an actor wants to be told, in my experience.
So I had a lot of difficulty that day.
I think Julia likes to get herself into a really raw place.
That’s what gives a movie like this heart.
WHANNELL: I know.
Yeah, you gotta get it right more than anything.
Wolf Manhits theaters on January 17th.
