Get Out and M3GAN star Allison Williams talks about her life in horror
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In the new horror movie M3GAN (out Jan. 6), Allison Williams plays a scientist who gifts her recently orphaned niece a robotic companion with a decidedly killer attitude.
"The film is about an AI doll who has been built to serve as a kind of best companion for a parent and for a kid simultaneously," Williams explains. "[M3GAN is] deployed by its creator, who I play, to help her in the task of being the unexpected guardian of her niece, with mixed results."
Universal Pictures Allison Williams in 'M3GAN'
Williams was attracted to the project by the script from Akela Cooper (Malignant).
"I loved that script that Akela wrote, I thought it was just super-compelling, I couldn't put it down," she says. "I then spoke with Gerard (Johnstone, the director of M3GAN), who had such a specific point of view on it, and such a unique tonal language, that I thought would just work really well. It was a really easy decision to do this movie. Very, very easy."
Williams was also encouraged by her previous experiences in the horror genre. One of the actress' very first film performances was in Jordan Peele's Blumhouse-produced instant classic Get Out and Williams also starred in director Richard Shepard's twisty terror tale The Perfection.
The actress talks about her life in horror below.
GET OUT (2017)
ALLISON WILLIAMS: Before I left to film it, I told my publicist that I thought it would be nominated for Oscars. She was like, this girl is delusional. Who says that? What kind of pompous weirdo goes to film a movie and is like, this film I have picked will be nominated for Oscars. Then, much to her shock, I happened to be right.
[My abiding memory is] just joy, honestly. We filmed it in this really small town in Alabama called Fairhope, just outside of Mobile. We shot Get Out really quickly. My memories are less about the shooting moments than it is about the afternoons and weekends we spent. Everyone would kind of descend on this house that I rented and we would all hang out and talk. I have such happy memories of that experience. It was so full-on, and exhausting, and overwhelming, and rewarding. It was just great. I don't have a bad word to say about it.
THE PERFECTION (2018)
AW: Again, a wonderful experience. What I remember is that, logistically speaking, that was the most challenging few months of my life. I was filming two things at the same time, seven days a week. So I was filming A Series of Unfortunate Events on Mondays and Tuesdays, and then from Wednesday to Sunday I'd film The Perfection, and then on the rare weekend I could get off, we were in awards season for Get Out, and so I would fly from Vancouver to LA. What I remember about The Perfection is all the stuff about production: learning the cello, filming that bus scene. I love Logan (actress Logan Browning) so much, I love Richard, the director, so so much. So it was another really happy experience making something about serious subject matter, but I also remember the logistics of being like, where am I? What am I doing? Which set am I driving to? Am I on a show based on young adult novels or am I in a movie where I'm going to end up covered in blood? By the way, I've been bloody at the end of every movie I've ever done. This is something I just have to live with.
M3GAN (2023)
AW: I loved the idea of going back to work with Blumhouse. I had such an amazing experience with Get Out that I was thrilled to have another chance to work with them. Then throw in James Wan (who produced the film with Jason Blum) for good measure and it was just irresistible.
The shoot was fascinating. We filmed in New Zealand, in the summer of 2021, when COVID was still everywhere. New Zealand had nearly zero cases, and to go to New Zealand you had to spend two weeks in a quarantine hotel in isolation. All of us who came from outside of New Zealand went through that. Then, once you came out of that hotel, it was just like the old world that we all remember. It was kind of amazing.
We shot it really quickly. It was super-challenging. I don't want to give away any of the magic of how she's achieved, but getting M3GAN onscreen was really difficult. It kind of brought us all together, because it required the collaboration of the full crew. Basically, I feel like every department was involved. It was certainly a unique performative experience for me, playing scenes with M3GAN. I don't know that I'll ever have that experience again.
M3GAN dances its way into cinemas Jan.6.
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