By Shannon McGrew
In GET AWAY, the Smith family takes a much-needed vacation to the remote Swedish island of Svalta which takes a dark turn when they arrive during preparations for a mysterious local festival that celebrates a dark history.
Unsettled by the unfriendly locals and strange rituals, they try to make the best of their trip, stubbornly enjoying the island's isolation and natural beauty. However, as the festival looms closer, the family realizes something far more sinister is unfolding - especially when they discover that a serial killer is on the loose.
For the release of GET AWAY, Creepy Kingdom's Shannon McGrew spoke with writer/actor Nick Frost and actor Aisling Bea. During their chat, they discussed everything from the fine line between horror and comedy to the hilariously awkward quirks of their on-screen marriage.
INTERVIEW CONTAINS SPOILERS
Thank you both so much for speaking with me today! To start, Nick, what inspired this story?
Nick Frost: My family had a tiny house on an island off the coast of Sweden, and we'd spent a lot of time there over the years - whole summers, Easter, and Christmas - and I loved it. But even in those 20 years, I never felt closer to becoming a part of the community. They had a barrier up. I loved the thought of what it would take to get them to lower their barrier enough to let me in, and then I strike! [Laughs]. The first idea I came up with was the end, and then it was like, okay, now I need to hide it as best I can, and the ogre-like Swedish Midsommar style became easy to hide amongst those monsters.
Aisling, what drew you to this story?
Aisling Bea: It wasn't even the story. It was jumping at the chance to work with Nick, to be honest. As you can imagine, as a horror fan, I'm not a horror fan but I'm a Nick Frost fan. Getting the opportunity to work with Nick was like if you get a chance to be in the Marvel Universe or something like that. You're like, I get to be in the Nick Frost universe, which is a whole genre of its own. [With the script] I always saw the comedy first because when reading the script, you read the horror, but because I don't watch lots of horror, I don't see it. When filming, we'd be covered in jam holding plastic knives, which was funny. I was a bit of a dozy person who didn't realize until I watched it that, oh yeah, this is a horror movie [Laugh].
When filming, how do you both manage to maintain that fine line between not too much humor or horror?
Aisling Bea: I think Nick and I have that in us as people. We don't find them to be two separate things. I think that's something we have in common. We are seemingly happy people but with quite a dark sense of humor.
Nick Frost: I always call it putting the fun back into funeral. You play it completely straight. You don't play it for laughs. You play it. These are regular people, and they're fragile, and they're shit, and they're funny, and they have quite the secret, so you just play it as normal human beings.
Aisling Bea: Nick works a lot with Olivia Colman, and she's one of my favorite actresses. I've always loved that Olivia, no matter what she was doing, even when it was "Broadchurch," the character had a sense of humor that funny people go through terrible things, and it doesn't stop them from being funny. That's definitely the M.O. for my life and career. I suppose the answer to your question is that I don't think it was that difficult, truthfully.
When looking back, were there any scenes that were your favorite or challenging to execute?
Nick Frost: It was not nice to be shot in the face with a blood gun [Laughs]. It's unnatural for a human to stand there and try not to blink or put your hands up to protect yourself. Then, find out that it won't work and instead move the camera closer and use hands to throw it. That's the joy about a mid-level, low-budget horror comedy. You get the chance to say, let's try it like this. This might be better and funnier and might not hurt as much.
Aisling Bea: The physical sides of those things were the challenging ones where we're getting squirted with stuff, doing repeat movements, or standing for a long time. But then the joyful bits I loved. Every single group scene we did, whether on the boat at the end or when we were on the ferry landing, anywhere that you'll see four of us on camera, was nearly always my favorite thing to do because we felt like a little family. I'd look at and react to what Nick or Sebastian ("Sam") and Maisie (Jessie) were doing and play around with that. There were times when we had no lines and were just sort of being the family, and they're gorgeous [moments], which is a testament to Nick with the script setting the stakes that we had a lot to react off, which was good fun.
One of the more hilariously cringeworthy moments in the film is the constant reference to you and Nick as "mummy" and "daddy." It's even more awkward since the character's kids are older teenagers. Was deciding to use those terms intentional?
Aisling Bea: I think that was me and Nick. It started as a little bit of a thing, and then we made it into a whole thing. We both find it so cringeworthy and asshole-tightening when people say that who've had kids. So, we decided to make that part of one of those couples who do that.
Nick Frost: What I really love about the characters is that once you know who they are, they're still deeply in love. They really love each other. They've been together a long time, and they flirt, and they're cheeky, and he wants to make her laugh, and she's really tactile. Mummy and Daddy played into that, and it worked, even though we knew what they were.
Aisling Bea: They're a really regular couple going through something ridiculous. I think the comedy comes from keeping them grounded in their relationship and marriage so you believe that the whole way through and you have fun watching how they navigate that.
Nick Frost: I imagine they chat now and again, too, like couples who bring in a third and cuckold the husband [Laughs].
Do you want viewers to walk away with a particular feeling or thought after the movie?
Nick Frost: Man Bites Dog and The Vanishing are two films that, when watching, I find that I like the killer. He's kind of nice. He's human, and he's an oaf, and he's charming, and he's an idiot. Then you think, oh, hang on, they're murderers. If people can watch this film and at the end come out and really like the Smith family, then I feel like I've done something right.
Aisling Bea: I had a bit of a run [where I was] playing women who cry and are funny and also cry. Whereas with this woman, it's fun. I think a lot of Nick's work leaves you with a real kind of bounce in your step when you leave. You leave it a little bit lighter because you've had fun.
GET AWAY is now in theaters.