Exclusive: Stephen Lang Talks Don’t Breathe and Returning to Salem
Don’t Breathe is the suspenseful and scary story of three young thieves (Jane Levy, Dylan Minnette, Daniel Zovatto) who must fight for their lives after breaking into the home of a blind veteran (Stephen Lang) who has a dark side.
Shot on a soundstage in Budapest and on location in Detroit, where the action is set, the flick is poised for an August 26 release. It’s director Fede Alvarez’s return to terror after his effective Evil Dead remake, and we cannot wait to see it! To tide us over, we jumped at the opportunity to talk with star Stephen Lang…
We followed up on Don’t Breathe, armed with many questions after going to Budapest to see him in action as The Blind Man… and we even got a few details on his possible return to the TV series “Salem”, in which he plays a hateful, witch-hunting preacher.
Dread Central: When we saw you last year, the movie was called Man in the Dark. Now it’s Don’t Breathe… what gives?
Stephen Lang: Yeah, it was Man in the Dark. I always liked that title, but I’ve come to like Don’t Breathe a lot too. I can’t say I know how it got changed. It’s probably the studio, it’s a mysterious apparatus over there, I don’t know how they make their decisions, but when I first heard the title, because you know you get adjusted to what it is and I loved it, I loved Man in the Dark. Then when the trailer Don’t Breathe came out, I came to think of it as a singular title you know, and I kind of liked it, it’s different.
DC: As a character who really doesn’t speak and who is very menacing, the young actors told us you were pretty intimidating. Is that something you strive to do, as a way to keep everyone in character?
SL: Well, I think to some extent that’s their own projection because you know, they’re doing their roles and the object for them is to be scared so I think they’re doing their work as well. What I would say is you want to maintain, specifically when you’re playing a blind man I think, that it’s less confusing for me to just kind of stay in character, which is not to say I’m being threatening or weird or anything like that, actually most of the time I was pretty quiet if I wasn’t working, but in terms of all the physical stuff… look, it’s by nature, just because of the circumstance of what we are doing, the physical nature of it, it’s grueling for everybody, no question, but I can say for a fact that I was always extremely careful with other actors and it was important to me that nobody got hurt or go through stuff more than one has to do. So sure, I can be intimidating, but the truth of the matter is what they are describing is them doing their own work.
DC: We know you wore contacts that practically made you blind, but there was a certain choreography you had to follow as The Blind Man stalking these intruders in your house. Tell us about that.
SL: Well, we would certainly work things out in blocking. I think the basic thing that you need to establish is trust and confidence in each other, and when you do that, then there’s liberty you can take that helps create the spontaneity. But certainly working from a blueprint of what physically is going to happen in that scene [is helpful]; however, there was a lot of improvisation that went on as well, so then you don’t know, but if you have the confidence and the trust in your actors, in your colleagues, then you can just go at it, hammer and tongs. They were a terrific and very game group, those three actors; they were really excellent to work with.
DC: Did you watch Fede’s Evil Dead remake before taking on this movie?
SL: I didn’t; I’m kind of shy of scary pictures. Well, a little bit. It’s not a genre that I’m a particular expert in; there’s a few that I love that I watch time and time again, but as a rule I don’t see them very often. However, I have sons and daughters who consider themselves connoisseurs of such things, and they assure me I didn’t need more. When I read the script and I talked to Fede, I just felt right away that this was something quite special, quite extraordinary.
DC: Fede has a really strong visual style and a command of suspense which feels like personality more than just by-the-numbers “how to scare audiences.” Would you say he’s a modern-day auteur?
SL: Well, I think that it will probably take a number of films for him to establish exactly what that signature is but I have no doubt he will do it and I say that because through my working with him I realized very, very early that this was a director who had a really comprehensive understanding of film, of the vocabulary of film, of the possibilities. And he had a very, very strong point of view when it came to narrative, how the narrative should be played out, both in a visual way and with the words, and I trusted him. It made sense to me so I think over time… I mean, look, comparisons to someone like Hitchcock are not things that one makes lightly, but right away I felt like there was something that this kind of had. It was Hitchcockian in suspense, I thought, and his vision, certainly in Don’t Breathe, is really almost Poe-like to me and really fascinating to me because… Edgar Allan Poe to me has never, from what I’ve seen, been realized particularly well on screen… And the reason I bring up Poe is because many of his stories are based on outrage, a sense of outrage, and that initial outrage that may have happened brings forth more outrage, and things just sort of escalate in this sort of dark way. To me, Don’t Breathe is kind of based on that; the outrage that is perpetrated on my character is followed by more outrage, both on his part and on others’ part, and the whole film becomes this suspenseful, sort of ratcheting up this kind of outrageousness to me.
DC: Okay… we have to do this… We love “Salem.” Please tell us something! Since it’s supernatural, do you think you’ll be coming back in Season 3?
SL: As you know, I was killed and consigned to Hell. But that didn’t stop them from bringing me back, but that was in Season 2. In Season 1, when my character, Increase Mather, got there, he just kind of started dominating and ruling; and of course it ended with his death and the dogs were eating him. And then he came back from Hell, where he’s learned a few things, but it’s not easy to come back from Hell, it can only be done occasionally, so in Season 3 my voice will appear. And then it’s kind of anybody’s guess whether I’ll make the journey back or perhaps they’ll make the journey down to see me at some point down there, but all I can say is once you’re on the show, you’re kind of part of that world, and just because you’re dead doesn’t necessarily mean you’ll never be seen again. He was a powerful and great character to play; I enjoyed playing him immensely.
DC: Since you’re not necessarily a fan of horror, what else is it you love about “Salem”?
SL: I love history, I love period stuff, I love historical drama. As it happens, I have a lot of regard for Brannon Braga and Adam Simon, who created this show. They’re extremely literate, and they took advantage of me; I had wonderful, wonderful words to say. Now, they obviously take tremendous liberties with what happened in Salem, but you know, in my estimation that’s like saying Shakespeare took liberties with the historical Scottish king, the mythic King Lear, and this fellow named Hamlet. He did that to make great stories, although let me just say that comparing “Salem” to Shakespeare I would just say yes, it’s accurate but it’s more the Titus Andronicus of Shakespeare then it is the Hamlet, but they are capable of great writing and speaking and it’s a tremendous cast. They really gathered up a wonderful cast of actors so who knows? I hope I return, I love the role, and another thing I was going to say is I love the history, as long as you know the history, as long as you’re fully versed in the history. If you choose to elaborate and change everything, that’s fine, because Increase Mather was far less involved in the Salem Witch trials than he is in the series, but if you know the history, then as a writer then there’s nothing wrong with being as creative and as deconstructive as you want, and that’s what they’ve done.
DC: I feel shows like “Salem,” even if they take liberties, will inspire fan to learn the real historical version of events.
SL: I saw Hamilton a couple of weeks ago, and in its own way it’s a version of the same thing. The history is accurate in there; on the other hand Thomas Jefferson was not a black man, but it doesn’t matter; it doesn’t make the least bit of difference because they’re getting at something, essentially kernels of truths that are absolutely dead on and fascinating and somehow epitomize the period that they’re talking about, in that case a world turned upside down, and in the case of “Salem” it’s a society based on fear and betrayal. And Hamilton is being seen and taught now in schools; it’s just miraculous, you know?
DC: Aside from tons of upcoming Avatar sequels, what else is in the works?
SL: I’ve got another picture I want to mention. It’s called Beyond Glory; it’s my film, I wrote it. It’s about the Medal of Honor, and it’s from my play which I’ve had great success with, and I just wanted to mention it. It’s not really a Dread Central fit, but it will be released in October and I’m very excited for that one, too.
Don’t Breathe (review) arrives in theaters on August 26, 2016. Fede Alvarez directed and wrote the screenplay with Rodo Sayagues. The cast includes Jane Levy, Dylan Minnette, Daniel Zovatto, and Stephen Lang.
Synopsis:
A group of teens break into a blind man’s home thinking they’ll get away with the perfect crime. They’re wrong.
Categorized:News
