Editorials
How the Cast of Netflix’s ‘Bird Box’ Learned to Play Characters Who Cannot Use Their Sight
The cast of Bird Box had to play characters who don’t see, but they’re not blind. In the world of Bird Box, there is an epidemic of something in the sky that makes anyone who sees it commit suicide. The survivors quickly learn to cover the windows and make any urgent trips outside blindfolded.
Sandra Bullock and Trevante Rhodes play two of the survivors. They studied with blind coaches to create a post-apocalypse where using your eyes could kill you.
“Sandy met with someone very, very early on,” Rhodes said. “We were coached on the proper means in which to maneuver blind. For me, honestly, it was kind of liberating in a sense in that it was just something I hadn’t done before. I haven’t done much but it was an opportunity to step into a space that was completely new to me and it was fun. It was liberating.”
While the characters in A Quiet Place had to learn to function silently, the stars of Bird Box had to learn to get around blind, which of course real people do every day.
“We had an extraordinary coach who’s not sighted,” Bullock said.
“He walked into my house and said, ‘Your wall is three feet. This ceiling’s about nine feet.’ Took him outside, he goes, ‘There’s a fence. There’s some kids toys right here.’ I was like how, how, how? What he gave us was the tools and the tricks that they use, the cane, the clicking. Make a sound, you can hear the sound bouncing off. Shuffle your feet, you hear what’s close. You hear an open field, you can hear that, feel it. So by the time we got on set, you navigate the scene.”
The cameramen were looking through the lens, but they also had to adjust to filming “blind” actors.
“We had an amazing steadicam operator, Roberto [De Angelis] and his job was just to get out of our way should we switch directions which happened a lot. [Director] Susanne [Bier] just let it go. I said, ‘If I fall, let it happen. If I hit something, let it happen unless I stop it.’ I only stopped it once when I drew blood.
Bier attested to Bullock’s gung-ho attitude. At one point she has to paddle two children in a canoe down a river blindfolded.
“We had a few stuntmen who were seriously terrified because Sandra was kind of unstoppable,” Bier said.
“I think they made sure it was never dangerous, but it was really daunting having Trev, having Sandra, at times having the kids. The kids had sort of semi-transparent blindfolds but Sandra did not have any transparent blindfold and she was literally falling over trees and things like that. Having said that, the most important thing of the blindfold is really communicating. I think for actors, the eyes are a tool. It’s like painters’ brushes. It’s a little bit like telling a painter, ‘Make this beautiful painting but you can’t use your brushes.’ So they were literally left with communicating without the most important tool they have which was kind of a testament to their brilliance. At all times we are emotionally engaging with them but they cannot use their eyes which is pretty amazing.”
Bird Box is in theaters and on Netflix December 21.
Editorials
‘The Vampire Lestat’ Concert Event Launches New Season With The Ultimate Expression Of Fandom
There are thousands of passionate fans decked out in gothic chic and champing at the bit like feral creatures. They’re screaming for Lestat, a legendary vampire-turned-rock star, as if the entire crowd has been glamored into submission.
The entire experience is magic, but not because some supernatural thrall has been activated. What’s going on is even more special. It’s the power of the effusive fandom that’s been authentically assembled by AMC’s sublime Immortal Universe, namely Anne Rice’s Interview with the Vampire, now, The Vampire Lestat.
The Vampire Lestat is far from the first Anne Rice adaptation, and it’s not as if there’s been a lack of erotic vampire material for audiences to sink their teeth into. On June 2nd, during a one-night-only spectacle, New York City’s prestigious Beacon Theatre shook from Sam Reid’s bravado performance and an audience full of adoring fans who had already memorized Lestat’s songs.
It’s clear that The Vampire Lestat just hits differently than its predecessors. It’s become more than just a TV series at this point, and this opulent display of ego, swagger, and pure sex is the perfect way to premiere the new season and give back to the fans who helped make Interview with the Vampire/The Vampire Lestat such a breakout success. It’s exactly the sort of hyperbolized hedonism that would make Lestat cackle.
For all intents and purposes, AMC has successfully created the illusion that this concert/premiere is just one of the many destinations on Lestat and his band’s 54-stop tour that is simultaneously playing out on this season of television. It’s such a sophisticated and thorough level of interactive fan engagement that the audience doesn’t just understand, but also manages to accentuate through its involvement.
It’s a level of seamless synergy that’s not unlike the give-and-take relationship of vampire and victim.
Before the concert started, “LeStans” were sitting in the Beacon and flipping through a fake Rolling Stone issue with Lestat emblazoned on the cover, complete with interviews with the undead frontman inside. Other fans were admiring the vinyl pressing of Lestat’s EP as they walked past a section of undead band merch. Fandom and fantasy blur together, and it all becomes this elaborate, immersive experience. Fan celebration, erotic gothic fantasy, and a lavish rock concert transform into one beautiful thing.
To this point, AMC Global Media’s Chief Content Officer and President of AMC Studios, Dan McDermott, introduced the event by reiterating to fans, “You are the heartbeat of the series.” That’s abundantly clear on nights like this as that heartbeat collectively pulses to this performance. In terms of how AMC engages with The Vampire Lestat’s fans, it’s as bold a reinvention as the season itself.
This intuitive gamble speaks to AMC’s creativity in this department and a fandom that is eager to seize such opportunities. It’s the same innovation that led to zombie walks for The Walking Dead and real-life Los Pollos Hermanos restaurant pop-ups from Breaking Bad. It’s a great way to pump up the audience for The Vampire Lestat and then maintain that enthusiasm for the whole season.
For most series, a rock ‘n’ roll concert just doesn’t make any sense as a promotional tool. The Vampire Lestat finds itself in a very unique position where it can deliver an excellent concert at an iconic theater, but also use it to showcase The Vampire Lestat’s music by Daniel Hart (who was shredding on stage alongside Reid and the rest of their band) and, more than anything, Sam Reid’s endless charisma.
The way in which Reid feeds off of the crowd’s energy, modulating his performance and giving different sections of the Beacon life, is a perfect distillation of the series’ thoughtful relationship with its audience and how it’s become such a breakout success for AMC. AMC Studios President Dan McDermott emphasized that the fans are the reason that the show is still here and why an event like this is even possible. It’s rare to see a series in which every single cog in the machine is so perfectly attuned to its fans. Reid’s fans already cheer whenever they see him, so why not translate that to a concert setting?
It’s clear in this season of television that Reid was born to be a rock star, but it’s surreal to see him effortlessly command the stage — and the audience — at every step of the concert. He recites Shakespeare monologues and bitches out Armand between songs, all while the audience screams in support. For the duration of this concert, Reid is Lestat, and he’s given thousands of fans a memory that’s as immortal as any vampire.
Now bring on the encore and get this show on the road!
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