Based on the acclaimed 2014 short film by Rod Blackhurst and Bryce McGuire, Night Swim stars Wyatt Russell (The Falcon and the Winter Soldier) as Ray Waller, a former major league baseball player forced into early retirement by a degenerative illness, who moves into a new home with his concerned wife Eve (Oscar® nominee Kerry Condon, The Banshees of Inisherin), and their two children. Secretly hoping, against the odds, to return to pro ball, Ray persuades Eve that the new home’s shimmering backyard swimming pool will be fun for the kids and provide physical therapy for him. But a dark secret in the home’s past will unleash a malevolent force that will drag the family under, into the depths of inescapable terror.
Leading up to the release of Night Swim, Nick L’Barrow had the chance to chat with one of the stars of the film, Wyatt Russell about understanding his characters battle with Multiple Sclerosis, and the fun of playing different levels of ‘possessed Ray’.
Nick: Wyatt, it’s an absolute pleasure to meet you, man! How are you doing today?
Wyatt Russell: Doing good! How are you going?
Nick: I’m very well, thank you. I’m a big fan of you and your work, and I’m a big fan of horror too. So, I’m really looking forward to talking with you today and I appreciate you taking the time. I want to talk about your character of Ray, and how a lot of the audience’s compassion for him lies in the fact that he is battle with MS [Multiple Sclerosis]. I’m interesting in finding out what your process what in not just finding out more about the disease itself, but what one aspect of the experience was that you really wanted to get right for the character?
Wyatt Russell: The MS was something that Bryce and I had talked about at length. He has some contacts who has MS, and different stages were completely different from one another. So, it was important to us that we didn’t overdo it. Putting him [Ray] at some sort of later stage of MS, where he was gonna be having so much trouble that it took away from the rest of the movie that it overshadowed the scenes, it was more important that it was new-ish. That the family were still trying to figure it out. There was still some sort of denial there, and maybe he’ll get better or maybe he won’t. That was important that we just feathered it in there.
And the other thing that I wanted to get right was the transitions from “nice guy Ray”, who’s just trying to figure out what life is going to be like with MS, and no more baseball. You know, that got ripped away from him. He’s gutted. Then when that happens, how does that affect the family, and the family dynamic changes with Ray’s transition. I have to make sure those transitions are done with some tact, and done well.
Nick: And what I find interesting is that you have another end of the spectrum then with Ray as he transitions into ‘possessed Ray’. What were you looking to get right in the possessed performance that really show that this is a different person than we knew earlier in the film?
Wyatt Russell: It was really just getting levels of possession, then letting them choose what level they need. So, we’d always do a version that was way over the top. Always do a version that was underplayed, and then a version that was like, sort of somewhere in the middle, just so that they could have it. Because you don’t make the movie when you’re making the movie. You’re just outing stuff in the can, putting it on tape and then making it again in the editing room. So, it was about just really getting levels of possession and going, “how far are you gonna go?” You know, take it to 10, take it to a 5, take it to a 7. It was a lot of doing that.
Nick: Is there more fun to be had when you do get to take it to a 10? Do you get to lose the inhibitions a bit more? Is that something that is fun for you?
Wyatt Russell: It’s fun, but to be honest, it’s getting a little tiring. You know, fuck, I’ve died on screen with a shovel to the back of head during sex! I’ve lost my mind in a room where I’m losing my memory in front of everyone. I’ve have now been killed by a Nazi zombie. I have become a possessed pool demon. I mean, it’s getting to the point where I’m like, “maybe you should start thinking about doing movies where you talk a little more”. But they’re fun.
Nick: I’m glad to hear it’s fun at least! One of the most interesting aspects in the making of this film is Bryce’s journey over the last 10 years now of adapting his short film into this movie, and the evolution of it. I’m curious to know, is there an actor or a story you’ve been apart of that you would be interested in seeing how that evolved over the course of 10 years?
Wyatt Russell: Dud from Lodge 49. That’s what that story is built for. You can see Dud at 35, you can see him at 45, or 55, or 75. The point of that story is the indomitable spirit of Dud. And Lodge 49 is something where… I sort of never let go of it. It always feels like he’s in the back of my head and somebody will want to do something with it one day.
It’s created a fan base now where it’s actually found an audience that was not there when it was on AMC. You know, nobody watched it. But it was a good show, and then it went on Huly and people actually started watching it. So, you know, that’s a character that I’ll hold forever. I don’t like to hold on to characters, but Dud’s a special one for a lot of reasons. I’ll sort of never let go of that.
Nick: I’m going to wrap up on a bit of a hypothetical question for you, and it’s to do with the idea of the possessed pool! If this pool was real, what would it show Wyatt Russell to draw you in?
Wyatt Russell: God! My family. My son and my wife. If it showed me that they could have a better life, or that I could be a better father somehow, or be more of what I thought I should be, I’d do anything to go into that pool, no matter what. It’s probably the only thing that could get me in. But knowing what happens with that pool, that’s a bad idea! A horrible idea.
Nick: Let’s just hope there’s no pools like that out there then!
Wyatt Russell: [laughs] Let’s hope!
Nick: Like I said earlier, I’m such a fan of your work. Everybody Wants Some was one of my favourite films the year it came out!
Wyatt Russell: All right!
Nick: I’m excited to see what you do next, and hopefully we get a chance to chat again soon! I hope you and your family have a safe holidays.
Wyatt Russell: You too. Take care and thanks a lot.
Thank you so much to Wyatt for his time, and to Universal Pictures for organising the interview. Night Swim is in Australian cinemas on January 4.
