‘The Night House’: Rebecca Hall Recalls Filming ‘Embarrassing’ Ghost Scene
You’ve heard of the Oscars, but have you heard of the Isaacs? The Isaac Awards, in honor of the great Oscar Isaac, are Showbiz Cheat Sheet’s unique spin on the Academy Awards. However, the Isaac Awards are different from the Oscars in that they celebrate the best movies of 2021 that deserve recognition but will not receive that recognition through Oscar nods. The 2022 Isaac Awards feature five categories: Best Performance, Best Scene-Stealer, Best Crowd-Pleasing Moment, Best Action Sequence, and Fan-Favorite Movie. Voting will be open via this form from March 7-20. Winners will be announced on March 24.
Rebecca Hall is quickly proving herself as one of this generation’s greatest actors. She delivers a sincerity that audiences connect with, regardless of genre. However, The Night House required Hall to perform most of the horror movie’s scenes without another actor to bounce off of. She opened up about the difficulties of filming the “embarrassing” ghost scene.
Rebecca Hall is alone with an entity in ‘The Night House’
The Night House follows Beth (Hall) soon after the death of her husband. She’s alone in the lakeside home that he built for them to live in. However, Beth’s dreams turn into a frightening reality, as she discovers that she isn’t alone. She tries to keep her head on right but becomes increasingly concerned as she digs through her husband’s belongings.
Hall is alone through the majority of The Night House‘s runtime. As a result, the film’s success relies on her selling this journey. The story continues to unravel to a conclusion that puts her face-to-face with the entity, but it isn’t truly shown in the physical form as it continues to haunt Beth.
Rebecca Hall opens up about filming the ’embarrassing’ ghost scene
Bloody Disgusting interviewed Hall about her performance in The Night House. She explained the difficulty and awkwardness that initially came with delivering scenes where she embraces somebody who isn’t physically there.
“When it came to doing that scene, it wasn’t like there was someone choreographing it,” Hall said. “As we got into it further, there were stunts and all these sorts of very practical, detailed work. But the initial idea of me having this interaction or romantic encounter with an invisible presence was essentially me improvising it, which was fairly embarrassing.”
However, Hall didn’t allow those initial feelings to take over. She accepted that the scene would look ridiculous on the set, but it ultimately transformed into a totally different experience for the actor.
“I wasn’t embarrassed because I realized pretty quickly that I was going to look silly, and I just accepted that and knew that everyone would laugh at me and just got on with it,” Hall said. “After a while, it became strangely liberating. It felt like doing some kind of intuitive dance or something, which was nothing like anything I’ve ever done before as an actor. And it was nice to use your physicality in that respect.”
‘The Night House’ perpetuates the trend of elevated horror
The horror genre continues to expand in fascinating directions. Hall’s performance in The Night House continues along with a trend of tremendous portrayals that perfectly captures both horror and drama. As a result, audiences have an emotional investment in the terror that the characters are facing. Other movies to achieve this incredible feat are Hereditary and The Witch.
Resurrection is Hall’s next movie, which continues the actor’s exploration in the horror genre. It follows a woman who has everything under control until a man from her past shows up and turns her whole world upside down. Hall continues to show diversity in her astonishing performances.
Vote for the 2022 Isaac Awards here now through Sunday, March 20. Winners will be announced on March 24.
