Question: Michael Chaves directed your third movie in the series, “The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It.” “The Nun” is the most successful of all of the films in The “Conjuring” Universe. Now you’ve entrusted him with “The Nun II.” What makes Michael the right choice to take on the next chapter for this iconic horror figure?
Peter Safran: I thought Michael [Chaves] did an amazing job on “The Curse of La Llorona”; I thought those scares were phenomenal. Then, we brought him into The “Conjuring” Universe, and he stepped in to fill very, very big shoes as the first director after James Wan vacated the role in the mothership movies of “The Conjuring.” I knew Michael was extremely talented, and he did an incredible job on the third “Conjuring.”
Patrick [Wilson] and Vera [Farmiga] loved working with him. He’s a very thoughtful and inspired filmmaker, loves crafting original scares, but he’s also deeply rooted in the characters. Frankly, we had this really good script for “The Nun II,” and he was our first and only choice. We were hoping he would want to continue with us in the family, and he brought so much to the table. A lot of the signature scares in “The Nun II”—including the newsstand sequence—came right out of his mind. He added a tremendous amount to what was already a very good screenplay. We love his temperament. We love his filmmaking style. He’s great with the crew. He is really the consummate filmmaker in the supernatural thriller space, and I think he delivered on everything that he promised with “The Nun II.”
Question: Okay, so what is it with nuns? We have heard parochial school stories of them as disciplinarians, but you take it to another level—what do you think audiences see in this entity that takes the form of a nun?
Peter Safran: I think that it’s the idea of the ultimate evil possessing the vessel for the ultimate good. I think nuns are supposed to be unabashedly good in the service of goodness, and the most evil thing is mocking that goodness by taking her form. I think that’s what it is that people really respond to. And let’s be honest, a lot of people are very scared of nuns in general, but I think from a supernatural thriller perspective, the idea of that evil embedded in what should be the epitome of good is just so sacrilegious and compelling.
Question: The lovely Taissa Farmiga returns as Sister Irene, who barely survived Valak in the first film. So, looking at the story, what pulls her back into this dangerous territory this time?
Peter Safran: I think Sister Irene is very reluctant to come back into this realm because of how close she had come to death in her first encounter with Valak. You see that in her initial scene with the Cardinal. He says, “You’ve got to come back.” She literally says, “No, I will not do that.” But I think she realizes that because she’s the only one who’s faced Valak and survived, and she has vanquished the demon in battle at least once—I think she realizes that for the sake of good, she must do it. She was a novitiate in the first movie, but she is a nun now, and it is her duty to fight on the side of good. I think she realizes that her duty overcomes the natural fear that pervades her as a result of knowing she’s going to have to go back into battle against this epitome of ultimate evil.
Question: Frenchie is back, now called by his name Maurice, and he also barely survived the last time. Why is it key that he return?
Peter Safran: Because Maurice [played by Jonas Bloquet] is based on a real character—and we introduced him in the original “Conjuring” with Ed and Lorraine Warren [played by Patrick Wilson and Vera Farmiga] in that old footage—we loved the idea of the Maurice story and knew that we wanted to continue it well before it ever gets to the time in the late ‘60s/early ‘70s, when he is investigated by Ed and Lorraine. We knew that we’d get to that eventually.
But what happens in the interim? Here he was in Romania, he survived the demon, and now what happens? We loved the idea of following him. Also, audiences found the relationship between Sister Irene [played by Taissa Farmiga] and Maurice really compelling—it was obviously never a romantic relationship, but it’s two people who really like and respect each other. In “The Nun II,” it’s a couple of years later, Maurice has left Romania, he’s still in Europe, and bad things are starting to happen.
It was Akela Cooper’s idea of bringing in Sister Debra [played by Storm Reid] as a third member of the triumvirate, and I think it was a really great idea. Sister Debra comes at it from such a different perspective than either Irene or Maurice. I think that that is obviously shown throughout the course of the investigation—and she ultimately really steps up in a big way—but I love how different they are, and I think the three of them together really add another dimension to the film.
Question: Another incredible dimension to this film is the setting in the south of France. Why was this particular spot the perfect place for “The Nun II?”
Peter Safran: France is obviously a heavily Catholic country. They have amazing churches and cathedrals. They have incredible history and buildings dating back many centuries. There is a beautiful decrepitude that exists in certain of these places in the south, where buildings may not have been maintained; their original beauty has lost a lot of its luster, but you can see somewhere in there the grandeur that existed.
We scouted around France to look for different areas and villages, and when we found the location for St. Mary’s school—a former convent and also a former girl’s school, which is what we wanted it to be in our film—I think that really defined for us where we should be. It was such a central location. We shot many, many days there. Additionally, you have the wonderful stages not that far away in Martigues. We suddenly had the beginnings of what the locations for the film should be, and we shot at a lot of different real practical locations around Aix-en-Provence and in Tarascon.
When you watch the movie, you feel the authenticity of these old streets that, frankly, haven’t changed in hundreds of years and certainly haven’t changed since 1956, when the film is set. It really was an incredible opportunity to bring that authenticity and that scariness, along with all of the wonderful beauty, onto the screen. It was also important for us that it feel different from the first movie, which was shot in Romania—we really wanted there to be a difference in vibe and tone, along with the different colors of the light and of the buildings. So, it really made sense for us. Plus, France has an incredible filmmaking community and history. To be able to go over there and utilize French artisans— production design, wardrobe, stunts, visual effects—was great. They embraced our movie in a wonderful fashion.
Question: Horror, as you know—and you work in many genres—is one of the best genres out there for that communal moviegoing experience in a dark cinema. What can fans expect when they go to see “The Nun II?”
Peter Safran: It’s important that every movie that we make be a worthy successor to “The Conjuring” name, so we wanted to make sure that we had a really original story that did not feel derivative. We love the idea of switching it up, and it’s more of an investigation this time. Then the stories coincide in the third act for the big, exciting finale. We wanted to make sure that the scare sequences felt fresh and not derivative of the earlier films. We always know that we’re going to have great performances from our actors—and this case is no exception. Taissa [Farmiga] is always perfect, and Storm [Reid] is wonderful. Jonas [Bloquet] is great, and Anna Popplewell [who plays school teacher Kate] is as well. Katelyn Rose Downey [who plays Kate’s daughter, Sophie] is just extraordinary, and all the other girls are wonderful. For us, it was just about making sure that we delivered on every front—true stakes, great characters, unique scares—and just an intensity that makes it live up to “The Conjuring” name. I think that Michael Chaves brought it all together and that audiences are really going to enjoy “The Nun II.
