{"id":19397,"date":"2023-09-05T00:22:35","date_gmt":"2023-09-04T22:22:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.samdb.co.za\/blogs\/?p=19397"},"modified":"2023-09-05T00:33:47","modified_gmt":"2023-09-04T22:33:47","slug":"qa-peter-safran-producer-the-nun-ii","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.samdb.co.za\/blogs\/blog\/2023\/09\/05\/qa-peter-safran-producer-the-nun-ii\/","title":{"rendered":"Q&A: Peter Safran, Producer The Nun II"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Question:<\/strong> Michael Chaves directed your third movie in the series, \u201cThe Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It.\u201d \u201cThe Nun\u201d is the most successful of all of the films in The \u201cConjuring\u201d Universe. Now you\u2019ve entrusted him with \u201cThe Nun II<\/a>.\u201d What makes Michael the right choice to take on the next chapter for this iconic horror figure?<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Peter Safran:<\/strong> I thought Michael [Chaves] did an amazing job on \u201cThe Curse of La Llorona\u201d; I thought those scares were phenomenal. Then, we brought him into The \u201cConjuring\u201d 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 \u201cThe Conjuring.\u201d I knew Michael was extremely talented, and he did an incredible job on the third \u201cConjuring.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Patrick [Wilson] and Vera [Farmiga] loved working with him. He\u2019s a very thoughtful and inspired filmmaker, loves crafting original scares, but he\u2019s also deeply rooted in the characters. Frankly, we had this really good script for \u201cThe Nun II,\u201d 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 \u201cThe Nun II\u201d\u2014including the newsstand sequence\u2014came 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\u2019s 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 \u201cThe Nun II.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Question:<\/strong> Okay, so what is it with nuns? We have heard parochial school stories of them as disciplinarians, but you take it to another level\u2014what do you think audiences see in this entity that takes the form of a nun?<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Peter Safran:<\/strong> I think that it\u2019s 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\u2019s what it is that people really respond to. And let\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Question:<\/strong> 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?<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Peter Safran:<\/strong> 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, \u201cYou\u2019ve got to come back.\u201d She literally says, \u201cNo, I will not do that.\u201d But I think she realizes that because she\u2019s the only one who\u2019s faced Valak and survived, and she has vanquished the demon in battle at least once\u2014I 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\u2019s going to have to go back into battle against this epitome of ultimate evil.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Question:<\/strong> Frenchie is back, now called by his name Maurice, and he also barely survived the last time. Why is it key that he return?<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Peter Safran:<\/strong> Because Maurice [played by Jonas Bloquet] is based on a real character\u2014and we introduced him in the original \u201cConjuring\u201d with Ed and Lorraine Warren [played by Patrick Wilson and Vera Farmiga] in that old footage\u2014we 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 \u201860s\/early \u201870s, when he is investigated by Ed and Lorraine. We knew that we\u2019d get to that eventually.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\u2014it was obviously never a romantic relationship, but it\u2019s two people who really like and respect each other. In \u201cThe Nun II,\u201d it\u2019s a couple of years later, Maurice has left Romania, he\u2019s still in Europe, and bad things are starting to happen.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It was Akela Cooper\u2019s 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\u2014and she ultimately really steps up in a big way\u2014but I love how different they are, and I think the three of them together really add another dimension to the film.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Question:<\/strong> Another incredible dimension to this film is the setting in the south of France. Why was this particular spot the perfect place for \u201cThe Nun II?\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Peter Safran:<\/strong> 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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We scouted around France to look for different areas and villages, and when we found the location for St. Mary\u2019s school\u2014a former convent and also a former girl\u2019s school, which is what we wanted it to be in our film\u2014I 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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When you watch the movie, you feel the authenticity of these old streets that, frankly, haven\u2019t changed in hundreds of years and certainly haven\u2019t 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\u2014we 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\u2014 production design, wardrobe, stunts, visual effects\u2014was great. They embraced our movie in a wonderful fashion.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Question:<\/strong> Horror, as you know\u2014and you work in many genres\u2014is 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 \u201cThe Nun II?\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Peter Safran:<\/strong> It\u2019s important that every movie that we make be a worthy successor to \u201cThe Conjuring\u201d 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\u2019s 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\u2019re going to have great performances from our actors\u2014and 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\u2019s 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\u2014true stakes, great characters, unique scares\u2014and just an intensity that makes it live up to \u201cThe Conjuring\u201d name. I think that Michael Chaves brought it all together and that audiences are really going to enjoy \u201cThe Nun II.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Question: Michael Chaves directed your third movie in the series, \u201cThe Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It.\u201d \u201cThe Nun\u201d is the most successful of all of the films in The \u201cConjuring\u201d Universe. Now you\u2019ve entrusted him with \u201cThe Nun II.\u201d What makes Michael the right choice to take on the next chapter for this… Continue reading Q&A: Peter Safran, Producer The Nun II<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-19397","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-interview","entry"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.samdb.co.za\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19397","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.samdb.co.za\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.samdb.co.za\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.samdb.co.za\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.samdb.co.za\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=19397"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.samdb.co.za\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19397\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.samdb.co.za\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=19397"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.samdb.co.za\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=19397"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.samdb.co.za\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=19397"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}