'The Deliverance' Cast Interview with Lee Daniels, Andra Day, Glenn Close and Aunjanue Ellis-Taylor

hello angel and Glenn how are you both doing today good we're do fine great how are you I'm doing great it's so great to chat with you about this film this film was a ride from start to finish and I loved it I was telling Lee how it feels like the first film is like this like drama Thriller but then when the horror kicks in the jump scares were definitely the jump scares were jump scared halfway through the film um but you two I think you play you know of course mother and daughter but two very different um styles of mothering that sometimes kind of you know come together at certain points in the film but other times are very different so I wanted to know for both of you um how is it like to portray these two mothers who kind of have a lot against them at many points of the movie but still try to be loving and nurturing and the best way they can even though that might not be the most optimal situation given their circumstances well I think I was a woman who um had always known abuse I think she was caught up in the cycles of abuse I think she was abused she has abused her daughter um she's trying to now you know change that and she wants her daughter to find what she's found and to break that cycle but you can't force somebody to do that I think also I she wouldn't have survived if she didn't have strong women around her you just have to I just take that for granted that she's in a community that has strong women and um so I I think what I love about the movie is it just it not only talks something about a family and a very real family but it talks about how you how do you stop those cycles of abuse yeah yeah yeah I think um I think there you know like she said it's a cycle of abuse and we're talking about Lee very seamlessly talks about generational trauma and how that you know obviously we have the real story it's and it is based on a true story so we have the real story of the demons and the demons that are possessing the kids and fighting those and but it's also a metaphor for this idea that the the generational traumas that we don't face or we don't deal with or we don't talk about or we don't heal they will infect our kids and they will possess our children in a way so I think ebony is she wants to be the best mother she can be and I think deep down she wants her mother's love she loves her mother uh but I think this is a story of women just kind of doing the best they can with what it is that they have you know and um and then this situation allowing this situation with the kids and with the supernatural aspect of it allowing it to transform them I think that with Alberta having found faith and having found Christ and having found the church I think for Ebony although Alberta is transformed and people around her are but around her are excited for her and and believe her I think Ebon was at the she was at the tip of the Fist you know what I mean or at the tip of the blade quite often so I don't think she feels safe enough to trust it yet at this point you know and so um but I love that because of um Alberta's faith and because of her need to be a great mom and and actually exercise a demon from her kids um she ends up coming into her own relationship with Christ which I think for me as a Believer was probably the most rewarding and amazing part about the film well hello how are you doing today yes period what's going on I'm better now since I'm chatting with you so I love this film so much I feel like um I've been telling everyone that it feels like a drama Thriller at the beginning but as you go on when the horror kicks in like those jump scares jump scaring throughout the film so I was like a little bit during the film but it was a really good movie um your character is one who you know the reverence kind of she's looming in the shadow she's kind of lurking throughout the top of the film and you know then once the film goes on you realize she's actually like the Lynch pin of this film because she has an important job an important purpose and reasoning um for being there so for you what was like playing a character who kind of like you know it's kind of like in the background but we we know we know this Char we don't know quite what she's doing but she has a purpose but for her to like be kind of like so much in the middle of you know this deliver that we speak yeah you know I I I just feel like she she wants to protect this family you know she knows what happened in that house um and she wants to you know stand in the way of it happening again you know she I I I just I feel for me it it we used to call them no you know folks call them nosy neighbors now you know but really you know it it it harks back to a time when we felt safe to protect each other in that way you know that we would see this child or that family in trouble and that we would you know come to their aid come to their help without without them having to ask you know here you have in in in in Ebony somebody who wants to be believed and nobody will believe her I mean she even says why won't you believe me um and here's a woman that says I do believe you you know I just yeah that that was powerful to me to to to witness that and be a part of that and what was it like being in a project that you know has a lot of elements of Faith specifically like faith in the black church um black Christianity but also something that you know may be a little bit taboo for a lot of people to talk about demons and things like that so it always like for you to be a part of a project that kind of like brings both of those elements together yeah you know cultur culturally you know I'm I'm I'm I'm I'm raised in the Baptist Church so we didn't do a lot of casting out demons we believe in the devil now but we didn't do a lot of casting out demons uh we didn't do a lot of speaking in tongues those those lines are blurring a lot you know people of different faiths do that you know engage in that um but but what I just think is is is interesting and what I was interesting for me and important for me is that I come from that tradition a tradition of strong faith right and uh I just I wanted to honor that I I just felt like I wanted to make my grandmother proud you know or make my grandmother not be ashamed not be mad at me you know so I came to work every day with you know with that intention yeah it's so funny cuz was telling Lee how um I told my mom I was doing these interviews today and she was oh Le Daniel has a new film and I was like yeah and I showed her the sh she was oh yeah my Sor is and she's also a Delta um so she so she was like she was like um I'mma check it out she was like and I was like yeah I I think you'll like I mean I think you'll like it so it's interesting to see how people um who you know are used to lead Daniel used to seeing you in the project sir Ang or Mo'Nique will see this but then have um this element that they may not be particularly used to too something to see the reception for that yeah yeah yeah I think you know he said from jump he's like I want to make a film about faith you know I wanted it was really really important to him you know to do that and I mean he walked the walk in a in a way you know I can't speak for him completely but you know he had the man who was my Consulting a consultant Apostle Lewis he had him say prayers before they shot anything during the day you know um so I mean I which I you know which I think set the tone set the stage you know for what was possible to happen that on while we were shooting I'm so excited to chat with you about this film um and it's one that we've covered for a while because I know it's been just dating for a while and it's been a project you've wanted to bring to the screen for a long time um and from it being like the idea to the real story to finally move into Netflix um for you why was this a story that you just really want to make sure got brought to the screen and in the specific way that um it's presented here as well mhm when it was first brought to me uh I did it was right after Precious and I didn't want to do it because I well I did want to do it but my mother was like no you can't do it because of of demons and she really believes that uh she really believes that they'll jump on you and so she's like you can't do it but as years progressed I realized that it was time we're in dark times and I was really not about just a a jump scare but about finding your higher power and so I really and I personally needed to find my higher power and it was for me it was Jesus some people it can be Allah or Buddha whoever your higher power is but it was about finding your higher power CU tomorrow isn't promised yeah and speaking of that I wanted to know like was it kind of what was your experience in trying to tow the line between the the elements of black faith and the black church which are in this movie but also like you know things such as exorcisms and things like that that you know a lot of people like you said it's kind of taboo within like the black Christian or black religious community is kind of like you know it's something that a lot of people recognize but for some people they're like you know we're not going to we're not going to touch this so for you how is it kind of bringing the story that kind of had elements of both um I'm I come from a Episcopalian world so this is a new world for me but the world is real and and I I know of uh people I've seen a Deliverance so I I know of people that have been delivered and I've seen demons myself and it's uh it's terrifying it's spooky and uh but I thought it was important I think that you know it's real you know and I think that Christians fake Christians that don't think that um we should be seeing a film that's a faith-based thriller with curse words and all of that and all of that are unaware that Jesus walked with and with drunks and and the dereli of the world and they're caught up in the in the church as opposed to the spirit yeah and if that makes any sense at all yeah cuz I know I had a aunt that saw the movies oh I can't oh this is I mean you know they got cursing and all sorts of and I go all right well you know no well honestly honestly though um I was I was um telling my mom I was like you know I'm interviewing Lee Dan about his new movie he was like oh what what what Lee Dan have like here's the trailer and she was like um I'mma check it out she was like I'mma check it out not yet no no when it comes she she's going to check it's on her radar but it's interesting to see um how people will respond to something that you know may not necessarily be something that would draw they would be dra on to initially you know I uh have never done anything for the masses you know I do it for myself and I but I find myself surprised that the masses like it you know I just sort of I don't I don't jump to that tune you know of everybody else uh and I have to do what my spirit tells me to do and uh I only I also did it because I really wanted to stretch myself as a filmmaker cuz I'm known for dramas so I really wanted to do something that was different for me and um uh and this was different and scary you know I'm not going to do it again it was scary not only because it was a scary film you know but it was also scary for me to understand the pacing of of a of a thriller cuz it's more like you know as opposed to the drama you know which is a different sort of energy so that was a that was a learning experience for me by the end of the movie the the jump scares were definitely the jump scares were jump scaring the end because it starts off like you know it's more it has like the like the first half of Rems like you know it is a thriller but it's also a drama but then once the horror kicks in halfway did you yeah I did I did I did but thank you so much for chatting with me and I can't wait for more people to see this I need to talk about it with more people but um I hope you enjoy the rest of your day