Director Jordan Peele On Entering The Horror-Thriller Genre With ‘Get Out’Posted by Wilson Morales
February 22, 2017
Coming out this week (Feb. 24) from Universal Pictures, Blumhouse Productions and QC Entertainment is the upcoming horror thriller, Get Out, written and directed by Jordan Peele.
The film, which centers on a young African-American man who visits his Caucasian girlfriend’s family estate, stars Daniel Kaluuya, Allison Williams, Catherine Keener, Bradley Whitford, Caleb Landry Jones, Milton “Lil Rel” Howery, Betty Gabriel, Marcus Henderson and Keith Stanfield.
Now that Chris (Daniel Kaluuya) and his girlfriend, Rose (Allison Williams), have reached the meet-the-parents milestone of dating, she invites him for a weekend getaway upstate with Missy (Catherine Keener) and Dean (Bradley Whitford).
At first, Chris reads the family’s overly accommodating behavior as nervous attempts to deal with their daughter’s interracial relationship, but as the weekend progresses, a series of increasingly disturbing discoveries lead him to a truth that he could have never imagined.
Best known for his Emmy-Award winning work on Comedy Central’s Key and Peele and the film Keanu, Peele is now branching out on his own as a writer-director and wants to tackle real social issues through comedy and horror and create discussions. Blackfilm.com recently spoke with Peele about crafting this film and choosing his leads.
Where did the idea to create this film come from?
Jordan Peele: The thought process was representing a black protagonist, a black point of view in a genre I feel that African Americans have been very loyal to. It was about representation.
What are the pitfalls you wanted to avoid when it comes to Blacks in horror films?
Jordan Peele: The big pitfall is why every other horror, real life horror in this world is dealt with in the horror genre, and many times with a classic. To me, it felt like a real missing part of the conversation and it felt like if anyone was up to the task of exploring racism in a horror thriller, it would be me. Once I knew I was doing that, I knew I was in uncharted territory. I just needed to make sure that the movie was fun.
How did you balance out the racial aspect of the film and humor?
Jordan Peele: What you call humor, I call the release of tension and moments that ground the film a little bit more and make it feel a little bit more real. I recognize that with this subject matter is a topic that people get tired of talking about. It often feels hard to have a constructive conversation about race. It’s so loaded and so deep and so much violence and suffering has come from racism. I knew that this movie needed to be watchable. It needed to be fun. It needs to be something that we can go to the theater and scream and laugh and cheer together. Otherwise, it would be a huge bummer.
Daniel Kaluuya and Allison Williams did a great job. How did you choose them as your leads?
Jordan Peele: With Daniel, I had seen him in a show called Black Mirror. He’s in episode 2. It’s an amazing show like The Twilight Zone and he’s amazing in it. He was also in Sicario, where he’s great in that. Daniel has this quality where he believes he has a good heart and he believes he has a good mind. He’s a good surrogate for the audience in that way. From her work in Girls and Peter Pan, Allison has this cosmopolitan intellectual soul who also has heart and is funny. The love story element was huge. If we don’t understand their love, then we don’t understand Chris or any of his motivation.
Lil Rel Howery was so funny with his portrayal as a TSA officer and Chris’ friend. Did you research the TCA to make sure if any of lines was true, especially with the security aspect of the job.
Jordan Peele: There was no real research there. I definitely wanted to make it easier to get to the security checkpoint line in the airport for myself. The TSA is part of the central theme of this story. The TSA is an important frontline against terrorism and often are marginalized faction. People are often annoyed by the TSA because they make us stand over here and they pat us down and everything. Whether or not their tactics are right or not, I think they are underrepresented for their heroism.
What did you learn in the process of completing your first studio film as a director?
Jordan Peele: As a director, I learned so much. I don’t know where to begin. Directing is about taking the problems that arise and figuring out how to turn those into advantages or letting the problems that come up affect the film in a positive way. As opposed to letting it stop momentum. You have to be able to have your eyes on the prize of what the vision but you have to be able to evolve at the drop of a hat.
After this, where do you think you fit best? Actor, writer or director?
Jordan Peele: As a writer-director.
Will you continue in this genre?
Jordan Peele: I love this genre. I call it the social thriller. I have more stories in this tone that I want to tell. They’re not really related to ‘Get Out’ except for the fact that they explore what I call inherent human monsters, the societal demon. They’re all are going to be messed up and meant to say something but they’re all meant to be real fun.
What’s next?
Jordan Peele: I’m producing the Tracy Morgan show for TBS. We’re still putting together and that’s going to be extremely fun. There are a couple of TV shows I’m producing down the pipeline. I have a production company called Monkeypaw Productions where I can produce my own work. I just want to help untapped voices in the genre of horror, comedy, sci-fi and fantasy. I want to help other artists like myself who didn’t think they would be allowed to share their voice. I want to give them help.
What’s a good reason to see Get Out?
Jordan Peele: If you like going to a horror movie where you will definitely cheer and laugh and be scared with an audience, then this is the perfect horror film.
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