Question: You first worked with Michael Chaves on The Curse of La Llorona. Then he took on the Devil in the third Conjuring. Now, you’ve entrusted him with the second evil entity to garner her own films in your universe with The Nun II, which is following up the most successful film in the whole Conjuring universe, The Nun. So what made Michael your choice for this film?
James Wan: Well, I think Michael’s very talented, and he gets what it takes to make these kinds of movies. And also, ultimately, he’s very respectful of this world that we’ve created. He’s a big fan of the world, so he’s not coming in to try and rock the boat. He wants to come in and basically put his own stamp on it, and elevate these movies with as much love and passion as he has for them. I think Michael has done a terrific job with The Nun II. I’ve been with him since his very first movie. He has grown with each movie that he has made. I’m like a proud father for all these young filmmakers. [LAUGHS] I see them take their first baby steps and then their next steps into teenage-hood, and then into adulthood. So it’s with great pride that I pass these movies on to these talented filmmakers of the next generation. I definitely see myself now passing on the baton to the next generation.
Question: You’re the benevolent godfather of horror.
James Wan: Yes. [LAUGHS]
Question: Nuns have a bit of history when it comes to things like discipline, but you took it to a whole other level. What is it about this particular nun you’ve created that makes audiences respond so well? I believe she appeared in The Conjuring 2 first—you put these little moments in there—but when did you realize, oh, it’s its own thing?
James Wan: Well, it’s funny. Anyone that has been through Catholic school would tell me nuns are terrifying, or can be terrifying. And so I feel like that has this built-in concept behind it. What I said was, I’d love to tell this behind-the-scenes story of The Conjuring 2, in which initially the demon Valak was represented by this huge horned demon, these beautifully sculpted prosthetic effects that Fractured FX had created. And it’s so incredible-looking and so amazing. And we shot that with Joe Bishara playing the demon again—he played Bathsheba in the first Conjuring film. But it was during post-production when I was editing the movie, putting it all together, that I realized that the way I had designed this demon, it wasn’t right for a Conjuring film. It felt too larger than life. It became too fantastical. So as I’m editing the movie, I always say that at every step of filmmaking, new things appear or bubble to the surface, things that you didn’t really think about. Or you realize something else. And for me, in post-production, I realized that I needed to go back and redo the approach for Valak.
And what I had initially come up with, I thought, isn’t personal enough. I felt like I wanted to go back to the character aspect of it, and I remember speaking to Lorraine Warren when she was still alive, and she would tell me that a lot of her friends, close friends, were nuns. And so it came to me that, wow, if an evil entity was to mess with her, one of the things it would do to corrupt her faith and belief would be to take on the iconic look of something that is close and dear to her heart. And that was how the idea of a demonic nun came about.
Now, I went back to thinking more from a character and story standpoint. And I do think that because of that, the nun character as an antagonist, a villain, hits in a much stronger personal way. And then of course she resonated with the audience for Conjuring 2. People loved her. They were terrified by this demonic entity that took on the visual of a nun. And it felt like she became her own spinoff, basically.
Question: Like Annabelle, she demanded her own franchise.
James Wan: Exactly.
Question: In The Nun II, you bring back Sister Irene, played by the lovely Taissa Farmiga. And Irene barely survived Valak in the first film. So, what pulls her back from her calm nun life to this incredibly dangerous ground, and where does it take her?
James Wan: The Nun II follows Frenchie, played by Jonas Bloquet, who was amazing in the first movie. If you remember, in the first film, they left the evil behind. They thought they defeated the demon nun, Valak. But then you see a little hint that this evil may have latched itself to Frenchie. So, at the start of The Nun II, you’re basically with Frenchie, and this evil that he thought he had defeated is slowly percolating up inside of him. And he realizes this evil is really kind of overwhelming him.
And that’s why she comes back, whether she realizes or not, she comes back for her friend, basically. And that’s what I love. I love that these two characters are really close with each other, that they have such a strong friendship. It’s a platonic friendship, and she cares a lot about him, and she’s going to do everything she can to try and fight this evil again. And of course, for her, she has to take on the most challenging thing that she’s ever fought in her life, and it has challenged her faith.
Question: And once again, your audiences are going to experience that communal tension, fear, suspense and everything. Is that what you love the most when you finally release a film into theaters?
James Wan: Yeah. I mean, that’s why I’m such a big fan of horror movies playing on the big screen. It’s such a theatrical, communal experience. And I always encourage the fans to see these films on the biggest screen with a group of people in the dark… With a big group of people, because it’s such a fun experience, it’s so contagious. When someone screams, everyone else screams, and then everyone starts laughing at themselves for screaming. And it’s such a fun rollercoaster ride. I think that’s why horror movies are still playing in theaters, because it truly is a theatrical experience that can’t really be duplicated anywhere else. You can watch it at home, you can still watch the story, but the experience is so different.
