It’s there before the family even moves in. It witnesses the family’s most intimate uncomfortable moments. It navigates the family’s new house at supernatural speed. It pays unusual attention to Chloe, the teenage girl who’s neither her mother’s nor her brother’s favourite. It wants — no, it needs — something. And as time goes on, the presence pieces together how it might accomplish its goal. An unusual, unnerving, and emotional thriller from writer David Koepp and director Steven Soderbergh.
As Presence haunts Australian cinemas from February 6, Nick L’Barrow spoke with the film’s stars Lucy Liu and Chris Sullivan about the unique perspective in Koepp’s script and Soderbergh’s direction, and how their relationship with the camera evolved as actors while working on this film.

Nick: It’s such a pleasure to meet you both! Thank you for taking the time to chat. I’m incredibly curious to find out how David Koepp’s script read for both of you. This is a film where the central character doesn’t have dialogue, but it is, quite literally, such a substantial presence in the story. What was the experience of reading that unique perspective like for you both?
Lucy Liu: I think that David, who is such an exceptional writer, lets things ruminate and doesn’t feel like he has to flourish when he writes. The characters might be speaking about something quite mundane, but there is so much in the words that he writes the he trusts the audience with. He allows the audience to be intelligent and doesn’t fill in all the blanks. I think that’s a really wonderful way of creating art, and keeping you on the edge of your seat.
Chris Sullivan: I think David has a respect for his audience, you know? In this genre, there can be a little bit of patronising exposition that implies that maybe the audience isn’t going to understand what’s going on unless you really lay it out for them. And David doesn’t do that kind of thing in his movies.
Lucy Liu: Perhaps why they have categorised this movie as horror is because there are those moments of tension. And it’s definitely a crescendo that’s quite erratic, but it’s asymmetrical. You don’t know exactly where the corners or the curves are.
Chris Sullivan: I loved that reading this script was also a unique experience, because the way you view the script is also the way the script is read. It is from that perspective. There is another character on the page that is being described, that is being given emotion, and movement that translates purely to the camera. So, it was a really unique thing. I remember reading the very first page and being like, “Oh, this is how it’s going to go down.”
Lucy Liu: And also remember when we first started, Steven [Soderbergh] said, “Look, this is either going to work, or it’s not!” [laughs] But, that’s wonderful because he was willing to take a risk. He really is an artist. He’s willing to experiment. He’s going to do something that fulfills his curiosity, and it’s going to push him to another place.
Chris Sullivan: Yeah, to have your director say to you on the first day, “Oh boy, I hope this works”, is thrilling!
Nick: How did working with Steven Soderbergh, and this unique way he uses the camera in this film, affect or evolve your relationship as actors with the camera?
Lucy Liu: I think there was something refreshing about it. I find that performances are at their best when everybody is on camera, and no one is like phoning it in or forgetting their lines. Everyone was really at their creative height for each take. It didn’t matter if you were, you know, microscopic in the background, we were still there.
And there’s a presence that you feel with each other as actors. You’re there for each other, and I think there’s a delight in knowing that. In some ways, it’s very similar to a theatrical production or performances. It felt very “live” as it was happening.
Chris Sullivan: Each little scene was this bit of theatre because there was no coverage and no editing within these scenes. And technically speaking, Steven shot this on a Sony DSLR camera on a rig that he built himself to be as light as possible so he could operate for these long takes of a 14mm prime lens. And for anyone who doesn’t know what that means, that’s about as wide of a lens as you can get to essentially see 180 degrees in a room.
So, as an actor, if you think you’re not on camera, you still are! It was a different technical challenge to figure out. There’s that one scene on the balcony, where I was so far off to the side, and normally if you’re that far over, you think you’re not in focus for the scene. But Steve had to tell me to stand still because I was actually the focus of the shot, which was a new, different experience as an actor.
Nick: What makes the horror-genre such a great vehicle to explore themes like relationships, trauma, and grief, much like this film does?
Chris Sullivan: Yeah, you’re right, it’s a film about grief. About facing fear and grief. I think all these psychological horrors and thriller are tools that we use to explore them in a safe environment. That fear of loss and disconnection.
Lucy Liu: I think that the movie is atypical of horror, because it’s not a person in a mask or with a knife. It’s about that suspense and tension that’s created by David. And he creates an environment where there’s so much unexpected suspense where these relationships are the focus. There’s all these MacGuffins that are introducing you to the family and showing you that dysfunction of their daily lives. And that relatability can really allow audiences to witness it.
Thank you so much to Lucy and Chris for their time, and to Rialto Distribution, Neon, and NedCo PR for organising the interview. Presence is in Australian cinemas February 6.
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