If you’re a horror fan, you’ve probably got your own list of favorites and most terrifying films. I love this movie. Hereditaryit is close to the top. Honestly, it’s probably up there pretty high, or at least present, for you as well (despite it’s low CinemaScore). Ari Aster’s emotional horror flickThe stars do a lot of good things. Star Alex Wolff opened up about his involvement in the wild desk scene. It sounds almost as brutal and hardcore as what it appears on screen.
Alex Wolff was barely 19-years old at the time. HereditaryHe was able to perform in the midst of this controversy. HereditaryIt’s even more impressive. What’s even more, though, is that the young star had some serious commitment to a pretty scary, potentially harmful scene in the film.
Interview with WrapAlex Wolff claims that he told Ari Aster that he would completely sacrifice his face for art and smash his nose into a desk several times to create that intense scene. Aster, as any rational person would, declined the offer. Here’s how Wolff explains it:
Ari heard me say that as the scene was approaching. ‘I will do it on a real desk, just tell me.’He added, ‘I love you and thank you but that is definitely not allowed, definitely an illegal thing to do so we’re not going to do that…’ break my own face.
Alex Wolff says Ari Aster said that they would provide a fake desk for Alex to smash his face against. Apparently Wolff expected it to be pretty soft and not cause too much pain, but he wasn’t as far off in his first suggestion of slamming into a real desk after all, because it wasn’t the softest thing to bash into. According to Wolff, this is what he said:
He agreed. ‘We’re going to get a soft cushion desk,’ and I was, like, ‘OK, cool, we’ll do that, that sounds better,’ and then I get there, and I don’t know what I expected, but I expected maybe a foam desk or something and, really, it was not that.
HereditaryToni Collette has given me the most accurate portrayal of grief that I have ever seen. However, the film also featured some stunning scenes from young actors. Alex Wolff said that he had to overcome pain and pressure in order for the desk sequence. He said in the interview that he had difficulty nailing the hard scene on the first or the second shot due to only having two foam desks (but still quite hard). In his own words, here it is:
It had a foam surface, but it was very hard at the bottom. There were only two of them so I had to be precise. I had to get the blood out of my nose perfectly and then jump back and do it again. I remember after, I was just panting, my voice is gone, blood is dripping down everywhere, and blood is gushing down my knee — real blood gushing down my knee because I slammed it against a chair. I couldn’t move my arm, my complete ankle was swollen — it looked like a balloon.
Honestly, that’s some sacrifice right there. This is why actors have stunt doubles (If they insist on performing their own stunts,), although I don’t know how great a double would have looked on camera in this particular scene. Alex Wolff’s face, although in some pretty wild expressions, is on full display through most of it, minus the creepy shot of his extended arm in the most awkward position ever. I don’t even know if it would be fair to put a double through an experience like that, because someone is going to end up a little hurt either way.
The scene totally works, though, and just like the expressions on the other actors’ faces as they watch Alex Wolff’s character, I would be pretty horrified to be in that room and witness what goes down in the desk scene. Wolff’s commitment pretty much makes the scene. He has been in many sweet films since then, so it seems like the pain was worth it.
You can see Alex Wolf in M. Night Shyamalan’s most recent film OldTogether with Nicolas Cage Pig. He’s got a few New releases filmsComing out, as well Susie Searches as his most upcoming title, and hopefully he won’t be slamming his face into any more desks in the future. One experience with this particular method of acting seems enough.
Director Ari Aster is releasing a longer film.That HereditaryAnd Midsommar fans will pretty much have to check out, but it won’t be among the The next horror film of 2022Because Disappointment Blvd.This isn’t a horror movie, it’s a film that celebrates the human spirit. “nightmare comedy”. Knowing the director, I would be willing to bet that it’s got some seriously amazing scenes in it, though, too.