Rooney Mara
It takes a strong woman to square off against a killer that can stop your pulse while you're sleeping. It also takes plenty of caffeine, some Red Bull and a lot of No-Doze.
Fandango spent June 26th, 2009 on the Chicago set of Platinum Dune's Nightmare on Elm Street remake during a particularly humid heat wave in the windy city. It was also the day of Michael Jackson's premature passing, a multitasking litmus test for press who were forced to bounce between Twitter updates and Freddy Krueger slicing and dicing before their eyes.
While yet another Freddy movie might not seem particularly newsworthy, this remake from Platinum Dunes producers Brad Fuller and Andrew Form is worth a second look. This time out, Oscar-nominated thespian Jackie Earle Haley (Little Children, Watchmen) portrays the dream slayer, a surprising choice for a slasher flick and further proof that this new Elm Street will be a return to the darker roots of the original Wes Craven film.
"The first Nightmare on Elm Street was scary and then as they went on they became more funny," producer Andrew Form told us from the set. "We wanted ours to feel much more real."
After the casting news, fans campaigning for the return of Robert Englund quieted down, at least a little. The next trick would be getting them to buy a new Nancy, a role played so memorably by Heather Langenkamp in the original.
"I think the worst possible thing we could have done for Nancy was to get a girl who had big boobs and blonde hair," said producer Brad Fuller. "One of the things that made the character of Nancy so great in the original films is that she feels like a real person. Rooney Mara embodied that natural, real girl thing that Nancy had in the original."
When we first arrived on set, Mara was shooting a scene with co-star Kyle Gallner, who plays Quentin. At this late point in the story, the characters have started to experience a phenomenon called micro-naps in which their sleep-deprived brains enter a dream state for seconds at a time. As the situation escalates, Nancy and Quentin have difficulty differentiating dream from reality.
"We've found the preschool that we've been looking for," explains Mara. "I was just in Freddy's old bedroom and then we go into the basement. At the end you never know what's real and what's a micro-nap. What we just shot isn't real, it's still a part of a dream. And you'll see that when we film the second half of it."
In the second half Mara is referring to, Quentin starts to scream and convulse when Nancy enters the room. He reaches behind his neck and unzips his own face to reveal Mr. Krueger beneath. After multiple takes, director Samuel Bayer hasn't yet been able to get it right. The acclaimed music video director is used to technical shots, but this one is proving to be a challenge. It requires two monitors on which images of Gallner shot earlier and the dummy head now worn by Haley must be perfectly lined up. Haley can't help but laugh after yet another take where he can't quite open the unwieldy zipper.
One of the most exciting moments of the day's visit was seeing Haley in full makeup for the first time. Although we knew the moment was coming, it was hard to prepare oneself for the final reveal. The makeup is quite different from the classic Freddy but still familiar. Instead of the symmetrical burn-like pot marks of the original makeup sported by Robert Englund, Haley's look is all-together uneven and brutal. He looks like a real burn victim, complete with skin pulled taut and ears that seem to have melted into his own head.
"It's pretty encumbering," Haley says of the makeup. "All of this stuff is just glued, every square inch of my back has appliances glued to it. It feels like crap when you're sitting around, but it's kind of oddly motivating for the character between action and cut because it's just such a weird feeling."
Since no Elm Street set visit could be complete without blood, we later viewed a flashback dream sequence where Freddy murders another character's father. Set in a children's playroom, Freddy grabs his victim from behind and runs one of his knifed blades across his throat, resulting in a outpouring of blood to the floor. Cast, crew and press alike applauded the satisfying moment.
After the visit, Fandango spoke exclusively with Rooney Mara to delve a little deeper into the new Elm Street. The actress will follow the part with a turn in David Fincher's Social Network, the backstory behind the phenomenon of Facebook. Talk about a 180…
Fandango: You mentioned you were about 12 years old when you first saw Elm Street. How does the new film compare in terms of potential for psychological scarring?
Mara: As a 12-year-old, I think everything seems scary. [When] I watch the old Nightmare now, Tina's death doesn't haunt me the way it did when I was 12. But I had never seen anything like that [then]. It was really disturbing to me. That scene still stands and still looks brutal. I haven't seen Kris' (the Tina character in the new film) death yet in this one. I actually haven't seen a lot of the gory stuff. I think definitely [any] little kids that see this will be scared.
Fandango: The Elm Street series is very psychological in comparison to a lot of the other slasher flicks.
Mara: First of all, Freddy has a voice. Jason has no voice. He's just kind of walking around killing people. Also, Freddy really has a vendetta against these specific kids. And then there's the whole backstory of trying to figure out what actually happened and just having to relive that. It really messes with your head.
Fandango: Heather Langenkamp is so synonymous with the role of Nancy. How difficult was it to step into those shoes and create a brand new Nancy?
Mara: I tried not to think about the old Nancy at all. I really couldn't because our Nancy on the page is so very different. I know people are really protective of that character and Heather Langenkamp's performance, but I just had to let go of that and focus on what was on the page.
We didn't try to recreate what was already created. That would be silly. The first Nightmare is iconic and it's a great landmark film. We tried to make something new while keeping with that for new audiences.
Fandango: Your character was first described as goth, which sort of sent the fan base into a tizzy.
Mara: Nancy is not goth and I don't even know what that means. That word actually really annoys me. We don't need to put the character in a box like that. Just because the character listens to an iPod and wears black nail polish, she's goth. That was just a misused word. Our Nancy is not the old Nancy in that she's not the girl next door that everyone's friends with, the good girl...She's quiet and sort of haunted.
Fandango: What was it like the first time you saw Haley in the full makeup?
Mara: I didn't want to see him in his makeup until I was on set ready to shoot with him. I wanted to be scared. I'd heard so much about it and they were so secretive about it. I was actually horrified. I started to cry, mostly because I just felt so bad for him. It looked so painful. He really looks like a burn victim.
Fandango: This Elm Street goes much deeper into the effects of sleep deprivation than the other movies.
Mara: The micro-naps are one of the coolest things they added for this movie. It adds another element of surprise and fear. It's not like you actually have to lay down and sleep for bad things to happen. After a certain amount of time your brain automatically takes these naps and you don't have any control over that.
We go through so many different stages in the film. At times we're falling asleep, at times we have all this adrenaline. It's a rollercoaster. I looked on YouTube for sleep deprivation and there were videos of people experimenting with staying awake for a while. You saw all the different stages.
Fandango: Did you try to sleep less while shooting?
Mara: At times I did, especially in the beginning. It depended what we were shooting. It was hard because we had two months of night shoots so we really never saw daylight. I think the cast [was] all sort of sleep deprived…They put so much makeup on us, it was hard not to look really super tired.
Fandango: Samuel Bayer is well known for his music video visuals. What was his approach to working with the cast?
Mara: Obviously visuals are his specialty. He's [a] genius [with] it and he really knows what he wants. Nothing is overlooked. If a pipe didn't have enough water on it we would stop shooting until the pipe had water on it. In terms of the performance, he gave us a lot of freedom, especially towards the end. He could read us and he knew when not to talk to us at all and when we needed him to come in and tell us what we needed to hear.
Fandango: Have Fuller and Form spoken to you yet about an Elm Street sequel?
Mara: No, they haven't talked to me at all. Why? Have they talked to you? (Laughs) I don't think they'll talk about that until it comes out. I'm signed on for one more.
Fandango: Have you given thought to where Nancy would go after the first?
Mara: Yeah, because it's kind of like, how long can you stay awake? At the end of this movie there isn't a lot more they could do before they die of sleep deprivation. It was definitely a very tough experience playing Nancy. People always say horror movies are fun to make. We did have a lot of fun, but it was definitely super hard. It was a good experience though.
Fandango: Did you sleep for a week after shooting?
Mara: I feel like I slept for two months. I'm still sleeping.
Fandango: You also just wrapped Social Network. That's quite a transition.
Mara: Going on to do Social Network is so different, it was like night and day. Aaron Sorkin (A Few Good Men, Charlie Wilson's War) wrote it, so it's very dialogue-driven. I have a nine page scene that the movie opens up with of just straight talking. Shooting a horror movie is completely different. But it was a great experience. Such a dream come true.
Fandango: What was Fincher like on set?
Mara: He is very hands on and so specific. I think we did 100 takes of that nine page scene. But none of them were wasted. It's not like he shoots 100 and hopes that it's in there. It's that at take 100 he knows that it's in there.
Fandango: Do you get asked more about Nightmare on Elm Street or Social Network?
Mara: It depends. Actually most people are like, 'Oh, you're in Friday the 13th.' (Laughs) I actually get asked about Friday the 13th more than anything.
The message boards on IMDB for Elm Street are crazy. It gets updated like every minute. I don't read it but my mom does and I'm like, 'Oh God, stop telling me about it.' People are really obsessed.
A Nightmare on Elm Street opens in theaters nationwide on April 30th, 2010. Social Network is currently slated for release on October 15, 2010.
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