Exclusive Interview with THE STRANGER Writer/Director Veena Sud & Star Dane Dehaan
The recently launched Quibi network has done an exceptional job giving viewers a unique experience, with shows like the Sam Raimi-produced 50 States of Fright and now the 10-part series, The Stranger. Following the “10 minutes or less” format, Quibi has implemented into their programming, The Stranger follows a rideshare worker, as she picks up a fare that is hellbent on destroying her life.
Written and directed by Veena Sud (The Killing) and starring Maika Monroe (The Guest, It Follows) & Dane DeHaan (A Cure for Wellness, Chronicle), the series is a cat and mouse game of survival, set in the dark and grimy sections of Los Angeles that you don’t typically get access to in shows and films. With each episode, the story focusing on a single night from hell and the murderous game being played by DeHaan’s character expands and reveals itself to be quite the ride. We were lucky enough to chat with writer/director Sud and star DeHaan, regarding the series and how creating storytelling in the parameters of Quibi felt. Read on!
Synopsis:
An unassuming young rideshare driver is thrown into her worst nightmare when a mysterious Hollywood Hills passenger enters her car.
Dread Central: The idea of taking Maika (Monroe)’s character, someone who moves to LA to be a writer and through one horrific night, putting into situations found within the parts of Los Angeles not typically experienced in films is an interesting one. The glitz and glamour are traded for the realities of things like homelessness and racism and so on. Was it important to show the sides not often addressed?
Veena Sud: Yeah. The whole desire behind the “LA” of The Stranger was to show the LA we don’t traditionally see on the big screen. Like you said, it’s the LA that speaks to police brutality, to homelessness, to racism, but also speaks to the loneliness and non-glitz of the city as well. I wanted to show an LA that many of us who live here, don’t even know. It’s an ever-changing kind of city, the night-time, LA Noir. I’ve lived here a while now and I feel like I’ve barely begun to scratch the surface of this mega-metropolis. The Stranger was my love letter to LA.
DC: It’s the best city around. Dane, your character of Carl E. is very incel-like in his approach to Maika’s character, he seems hellbent on destroying her, right from the get-go. How was it playing a character so in tuned with being so deviously MEAN?
Dane DeHaan: I think one of the fun parts of just being an actor in general is that you sometimes get permission to misbehave. We had a very trusting, loving and kind set, so with that trust, it allows you to really bring this thing to life.
DC: Trust must be huge for characters like that.
DD: Yeah, it’s important. I think the incel aspect of Carl is certainly not something to be glorified, but it is a very interesting aspect of society. I think within that, it can be fun to misbehave for a living, playing a character like that.
Watch the 10-part series of The Stranger at Quibi and sign up for a free 90-day trial of the network
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