The Big Picture LaKeith Stanfield and Rosario Dawson revisit the first horror movies they saw as kids. Stanfield discusses a scene in Haunted Mansion where one of Danny DeVito’s performance choices had him in stitches. Dawson recalls the time she and Tiffany Haddish acted out ALL of the Haunted Mansion characters for Jamie Lee Curtis.

LaKeith Stanfield and Rosario Dawson get to swing big in all the best ways in Justin Simien’s new Haunted Mansion movie. Not only is the film a heartfelt and delightful romp for anyone who adores the iconic Disney ride, but it’s also an ideal choice for young moviegoers looking to experience their very first scary movie.

The story sees Dawson’s Gabbie move into a new home with her young son, Travis (Chase Dillon) — an enormous secluded mansion that happens to be haunted by a significant amount of ghosts. In an effort to cleanse the place of all these unwanted residents, Gabbie turns to a priest (Owen Wilson), a psychic (Tiffany Haddish), a college history professor (Danny DeVito), and Stanfield’s paranormal investigator turned New Orleans tour guide for help.

With the movie making its way into theaters nationwide on July 28th, I got the chance to sit down with Stanfield and Dawson to talk Haunted Mansion, favorite horror films, and real-life ghost encounters. Hear all about Dawson’s love of The Omen and Arachnophobia, a certain something DeVito did on set that had Standfield in stitches and loads more in the video interview at the top of this article or in transcript form below.

Image via Disney

PERRI NEMIROFF: I’m obsessed with horror movies and love the idea that this one is going to be the first for many young moviegoers out there, so I want to know, what was your first? Not necessarily the movie that terrified you, but rather the first one that had you in awe of the thrill that you could experience in the safety of a theater?

LAKEITH STANFIELD: I think The Lion King for me. Yeah, that was amazing. Just this grandiose experience with music and all of these larger-than-life characters. Just Africa as the backdrop, it felt like being seen young, you know? I think the main actor, the child actor, [Jason Weaver], being Black, I could hear Blackness in his voice and it made me feel connected to it and made me feel like I was being seen on a large stage, and perhaps my family was too. So that was really special, and there was just a lot of love in it and I felt like I related to so many of the themes in the movie. So yeah, that was a special one.

ROSARIO DAWSON: Your first horror movie.

STANFIELD: First horror movie?

Still a beautiful answer! [Laughs]

STANFIELD: Oh, was that the question? [Laughs]

There were some scary scenes in The Lion King. I mean, I was traumatized!

DAWSON: [Laughs] It is! I thought you were gonna go there. It was traumatizing. For me, I was like, if you’re gonna go there, I was like, Bambi, you know? I was like, oh my god!

Bambi’s a good example, too!

STANFIELD: It’s all about perspective, after all. [Laughs] First horror? I didn’t start watching those until a little bit later, but I think maybe Exorcist was the first one I saw. I didn’t see it in the theater, but that one was one that stuck with me for a long time.

DAWSON: I love that because at The Exorcist I was like, “I could walk like that!” [Laughs] I grew up in the Lower East Side of Manhattan. I’m from Coney Island, too, so it was like the tattooed person and bearded lady, and then I get to the Lower East Side and it’s like tattoo-faced people with tons of piercings everywhere. Just people being unusual and not the normal kind of personalities you always see on screen except for when I would watch these sort of horror, kind of showy, more campy kinds of stories. So I always really loved them. There was something so fascinating to me about them. Those themes that were more intense, especially as a young person, feeling like I was not being babied, you know? And even though you’re not supposed to talk about death or any of these different kinds of things, that’s the kind of stuff – so in Poltergeist and The Exorcist. I think the first movie I went with my friends, we had roommates when we were living in San Francisco, I was 11 years old and we went to go see Arachnophobia. That movie!

That’s a great example.

DAWSON: Whoo! And I’ll never forget watching The Omen and feeling like I finally understood my brother. He clearly was the antichrist, and being really upset that he didn’t have 666 on the back of his head because I had thought it explained so much. And Legend! I remember watching Legend as a kid and seeing Tim Curry barrel-chested and hooved and horned and all this stuff, and then it was like sparkly Tom Cruise. I love me a unicorn, but kill the unicorn because Legend is where it’s at! The sparkly dude? No! I remember being like, “I’m not like other girls!”

This is a great list you just rattled off there. I love it! And I love the idea that this could be a horror starter for a lot of kids out there.

DAWSON: I love that, too.

I get very excited about that idea.

DAWSON: It’s a proper one.

Image via Disney

I also love talking about the value of a good scene partner and you’re both surrounded by them in this movie so can you each give me an example of a time on the Haunted Mansion set when a scene partner gave you just what you needed and it helped you reach something in your own performance that you wouldn’t have been able to without them?

STANFIELD: Danny in the scene where we’re trying to describe The Hat-Box Ghost to a sketch artist. Danny [DeVito] is just sitting next to me and, you know, generally, I’m performing this way [gestures in front of him] because I’m talking to the person who’s right in front of me. I might glance at him every now and again, but the general area of my performance is this way and Danny is sitting here [gestures to his side], and at one point, I look over at him [laughs], and his lip is just curled all the way back over his teeth. It was the funniest thing I’d ever seen, and I’m trying so hard not to laugh. It was the hardest thing I had ever had to do. And as soon as they said cut, I just start rolling. I’m on the floor like, this dude is hilarious! What is happening on the side of me that I’m missing because I’m going this way? So when we would go to subsequent shots I would make sure I look over there more often so I wouldn’t be as surprised by the ridiculous things that he’s doing, but that are just so amazing. He’s such a pro so I felt really grateful to be in that scene with him.

That’s a great example of a scene that plays really well in the trailer and doesn’t get ruined by the trailer. It still is just as funny in the full feature. I love it!

DAWSON: For sure. I was just constantly blown away. I have to say probably one of my favorite scenes to do was Tiffany [Haddish] and I showing up for Jamie [Lee Curtis] doing her coverage. So we had done all of us and this ball, and the camera’s on us so it’s okay and the script supervisor is reading the lines. But then when we turned it around, I’m there with Jamie Lee Curtis, who I absolutely adore so much. She’s there with little dots on her face and she’s just repeating this monologue of stuff that she’s got to say brilliantly every time with different textures and voices and experimenting and seeing where we were gonna land with Madame Leota. And it’s me and Tiffany trying to act out all of us. So we’re doing the scene and then I’m jumping down to Danny and trying to give her an eyeline for Danny being like, “$3? That’s highway robbery!” And then coming back up for our eyelines and doing whatever. And it was just one of the funnest times, me and Tiffany just being absolutely delighted clearly working with this icon that we are so obsessed with, and just having so much fun and being amazed that we were being paid to do that. [Laughs] I was like, “I would pay you for this experience!”

I’ll end with this one because I love the idea of a ghost wink and I really believe that they happen. Have either of you experienced a ghost wink, and if so what was it?

STANFIELD: Yeah. These signs, these omens in your life that you come across. I’m really interested in numerology and dates and astrology and how the planets line up. I’ll find on certain dates certain things happen that initiate things in my life that are really profound in one way or another and they seem to be linked to these people that I’ve known in my past who are no longer here. I sometimes try to speak to them just to see if that’s the case. I’m always getting an answer in one way or another. It’s interesting to think about. I’ve definitely seen some ghost winks before. [Winks at camera.]

Looking for even more Haunted Mansion talk? Catch my conversation with Jamie Lee Curtis and Tiffany Haddish below: