The Watchers follows Mina down a dark, twisted path when she becomes lost in an expansive forest in Western Ireland. While stranded, she finds shelter along with three other strangers. However, things go from bad to worse when they discover three mysterious creatures stalking them in the night, while strange occurrences begin to affect those seeking safety.

Based on A. M. Shine’s book of the same name, Ishana Shyamalan adapted The Watchers as both a screenwriter and director, bringing this creepy Irish folklore-inspired story to life on the big screen. This is Ishana Shyamalan’s feature directorial debut, and while her father, M. Night Shyamalan, is a producer on this, The Watchers is an opportunity for her to make her own mark on cinema. The Watchers takes inspiration from Irish folklore and mixes those stories with the fantastical things that terrify Shyamalan.

Screen Rant interviewed star Georgina Campbell about her role in The Watchers. She explained how she developed Ciara as a character and the claustrophobia of the coop set. Campbell also discussed Shyamalan’s collaborative directing style and why this didn’t feel like her feature directorial debut.

Ciara’s An “Absolutely Normal Person” In The Watchers

“She Doesn’t Know How To Deal With The Situation.”

Campbell shared her research process and why she worked to further develop Ciara beyond what was on the page. She also explained why it was enticing to play a character in horror who isn’t prepared to be a badass in this terrifying circumstance.

Georgina Campbell: I read the book. I got this script, and then I read the book because I was like, “If you have a book, you have so much more material.” Ciara’s actually not mentioned that much in the book; the book’s from a lot of characters’ perspective, and there’s one chapter that’s just about Ciara. So, I kind of had to develop her a little bit myself.

I’ve done a lot of things in this genre now, and it’s great when women can take control and are badasses. But what I loved about Ciara is that she has none of that. She’s an absolutely normal person, and she doesn’t know how to deal with the situation. I feel like she’s an old school, almost housewife-type person who really relies on her husband and is very traditional. She is thrown in this situation and isn’t really able to deal with it physically or mentally.

I really enjoyed playing that because I feel like, sometimes when I think if I was in that situation, I don’t know if I would be the strongest, most equipped person. And she’s really not.

Campbell also broke down the experience of filming in the coop set, including how they were acting against themselves. She also explained how Shyamalan made it feel claustrophobic, bringing the Watchers to life for the cast.

Georgina Campbell: The interior of the [coop] set was all built on a sound stage, and then the exterior of it was built in the woods. But inside it, we did a full camera test beforehand and they had this big light fixture at the top, which could move. The camera’s moving as we are moving, and the lighting’s moving as well. They had those big glass mirrors so you could see yourself the whole time when you were acting.

It was very strange and claustrophobic, and also very odd acting directly to yourself and having to get over the fact that you can see exactly what you’re doing. Ishana had people outside making Watcher noises and doing anything they could to make it feel alive and make it feel like we were really trapped in there, so it definitely felt real.

Ishana Shyamalan “Knows What She’s Doing” As A Director

While this is Shyamalan’s feature directorial debut, it isn’t her first time as a director, having helmed shorts, music videos, and episodes of The Servant. Campbell revealed how Shyamalan made the set feel calm and shared her willingness to collaborate while listening to other people’s ideas.

Georgina Campbell: [Ishana’s] incredible. I mean, this is her first featured film as a director, but obviously, she’s directed episodes of The Servant and has done some really amazing short films. She’s directed her sister’s music videos, so it definitely feels like she knows what she’s doing. She came on set, and she felt very, very competent and just made everything easy.

She gave everyone a voice. It was a very cool, calm, collected set. She never freaked out. She was very open to other people’s ideas, but she also obviously had her passion and idea about where to go with the scene. But she never flatlined you, which was really nice. She would hear you out, so she’s great to work with. I would definitely work with her again.

About The Watchers

A young artist gets stranded in an extensive, immaculate forest in western Ireland, where, after finding shelter, she becomes trapped alongside three strangers, stalked by mysterious creatures each night. This forest isn’t charted on any map.

Check out our other interviews for The Watchers:

• Dakota Fanning
• Ishana Shyamalan

Source: Screen Rant Plus