Longlegs Star Maika Monroe Talks Nicolas Cage’s It Follows 2

Call Long legs To call star Maika Monroe a “scream queen” is an understatement at this point. Perhaps the term “scream empress” is more appropriate for an actress who already solidified her genre cred a decade ago with a double-header of cult classics, The guest And It follows. Over the next decade, she added a few genre gems to the list, including Greta (2018), The villains (2019) and Observer (2022). And, starting this Friday, Monroe returns to the big screen in Osgood “Oz” Perkins’ film Long legswhich already enjoys critical acclaim and media hype comparable to that of David Robert Mitchell It follows after its premiere at Cannes in 2014 and its release in 2015.

Monroe’s recent string of positive news is all the more significant when put into context with the fact that she nearly quit the industry before filming the Dan Berk and Robert Olsen film. The villains in 2018.

“I think I worked too hard. I was in a phase where I wanted to take every job, and I felt like that was what I had to do. I did about seven movies in a row, and they weren’t all good experiences. Some were good, some were bad,” Monroe says. The Hollywood Reporter“It’s a very strange job and it’s a very strange industry, and there can be a certain darkness around it. So I was in a state of mind where I was like, ‘This isn’t for me anymore.’ So I just needed to disconnect for a second.”

The Santa Barbara native credits Berk and Olsen with helping her rediscover her love of acting, and she’s been going full throttle ever since. She even reunited with the underrated directing duo for the well-received sci-fi horror film, which is set to release in October 2022. My halfShortly after, Monroe met with Perkins about the role of FBI Agent Lee Harker in Long legsbut she quickly learned that her recent streak of success was coming to an end.

“I left the meeting feeling really good, and then my team said, ‘Actually, Oz isn’t sure you’re right for this part.’ And I said, ‘No! I have to play this part,’” Monroe recalls. “That happens sometimes when you get a script. You feel like it’s a necessity.”

For an actress like Monroe, who has been working steadily for over a decade, the advantage is that she doesn’t have to check in as often as newcomers. She’s been in so many films in a wide variety of genres that directors and casting directors know what she’s capable of at this point. There are always exceptions, of course, and in Monroe’s case, Long legsMonroe was ready to make a tape without a second’s hesitation.

“I talked to my team about it. I was like, ‘What can I do? I’ll send in a tape. I’ll do whatever I want,’” Monroe says. “So I picked out a few scenes from the script and sent in a tape, and that’s how I got the job.”

Set in 1993, Monroe’s intuitive FBI character is tasked with pursuing the satanic serial killer…