The Big Picture

Collider’s Perri Nemiroff sits down with Halsey, Lily Collins, Elizabeth Debicki and writer-director-editor Ti West to discuss the third installment of the X trilogy,
MaXXXine
.
Mia Goth returns as Maxine Minx. With the farm bloodbath behind her, Maxine is now pursuing her dream of becoming a star in Hollywood in the 1980s.

MaXXXine
is now playing in theaters nationwide.

Mia Goth was a certified acting force in this industry well before the X trilogy, but there’s no denying that X, Pearl and now MaXXXine have put her in the spotlight in a big way. Before the release of X, she was a scene-stealer in The Survivalist, Suspiria and Emma, just to name a few titles, but technically, all of those were supporting performances. X marked her very first time snagging a lead role in a film. A mere two years later, she’s the headliner of a whole trilogy.

MaXXXine takes place after the events of X. Maxine (Goth) is the sole survivor of the farm massacre and now, in 1985, she’s living in Hollywood pursuing her dream of becoming a star. She’s made a name for herself in the adult film industry alongside friends, including Halsey’s Tabby, but Maxine has her sights set on the big screen. Her big break finally comes via director Elizabeth Bender (Elizabeth Debicki). Liz turned Molly Bennett (Lily Collins) into a “scream queen” via The Puritan, and now she wants to do the same, if not more, with Maxine in the sequel, The Puritan 2.

With MaXXXine now in theaters nationwide, I got the chance to chat with Halsey, Debicki, Collins and writer-director-editor Ti West about the making of the film. Check out our conversation in the video above to hear all about how West collaborates with Goth, what Debicki took from playing a film director, how Halsey’s own past inspired her work as Tabby, how Collins found that perfect silent scream, and more! You can also read the interview in transcript form below.

Why Ti West Knew Mia Goth Would Crush That ‘MaXXXine’ Audition Scene

PERRI NEMIROFF: Ti, you’re three films in with Mia now. Even though you’ve worked together so much and you know how talented she is, can you tell me something she did on the MaXXXine set that made even you go, “I knew you were good, but I never realized you were capable of that?”

TI WEST: I had pretty high hopes in general, but the opening audition scene, that’s a scene that was written to be specifically what it was, but that’s easier said than done because not only do you have to do the scene as it’s scripted, but it was a very particular thing. We shot it a lot. We shot it more than the monologue, but not because it was ever wrong. It worked every time, but I think Mia was really hungry to do that scene, and so we shot it from a lot of different angles. And I ended up just using one take of it because it was great. But every single time, she would get emotional at the same time, and she could go through that, and that was just a testament to her.

But to your question though, at this point, I was just like, “Well, she’ll just do that. I mean, we did it for eight minutes in [Pearl]. This is gonna be no problem.” But she’s very unpredictable, so you never quite know what you’re gonna get and that’s kind of the thing from my perspective, it’s trying to give her the space to do things and try to kind of wrangle it into the movie. I think the fearlessness and the unpredictability is what people really are drawn to in her performances. There’s a lot of truth to that.

Related The ‘MaXXXine’ Trailers Have Lied to You — Ti West Is Still Game for a Fourth Film The filmmaker may not be done with Mia Goth’s titular slasher just yet.

Can you give me a specific example of a time when that unpredictability caught you off guard, it made it in the finished cut, and now everyone can see it?

WEST: I’m thinking of one that’s not in the cut. There was one scene where she broke something that was not in the cut. That’s not why it’s not in there. It has nothing to do with that, but no one knew that that thing was gonna break, and that was a little startling for people.

For her, it’s usually something more emotional than it is specific like that. She really punched Kevin Bacon pretty good — she didn’t hit him, but she went hard. We were a little nervous. But no, it’s more just like watching her and seeing the unpredictability. Because the character is really hers. You know what I mean? I’m sort of along for the ride. And like I said, I’m trying to steer the boat a little bit, but she has such autonomy over Maxine at this point that I’m just sort of nudging it certain ways to say like, “It’d be great if we could get over here at this point.” But I’m watching what she does and adapting to that.

Elizabeth, I wanted to follow up on something we were talking about the other day. You mentioned that it was so satisfying playing someone on the other side of the lens, so it was making me wonder, is there anything about playing a director that you think will reshape how you view that job, and maybe how you collaborate with directors in the future?

ELIZABETH DEBICKI: Well, I’m very easy to work with, aren’t I, Ti?

WEST: It’s true. Yes.

DEBICKI: [Laughs] I got to play all the glamorized good bits of being a director. I have the utmost respect for directors. I adore them. If I’m lucky, they become close friends and mentors to me. I think they’re incredible human beings. And when you find a good one, it is like a magical thing as an actor because if you can work when you trust the person, then you’re very happy.

WEST: Well, credit to you also, you never left that golf cart. If you ever wondered where Elizabeth was, just look for the golf cart and she was there. She was like, “This is where I’m supposed to be. I’m ready to go!”

DEBICKI: Actually, I’ve never been so timely, ever, as I was playing Liz Bender.

WEST: It’s true.

DEBICKI: I was pacing a lot, wasn’t I?

WEST: Yeah, I know the struggle.

DEBICKI: Like, “Where is everybody?” [Laughs] All of a sudden, I was like, “I’m sorry, is Mia coming?”

We’re getting a little method with this role. I see what’s happening.

DEBICKI: I really loved playing her. I loved that you wrote this wonderfully unapologetically honest person. She’s a great part.

How Halsey Used Her Own Past to Play Tabby in ‘MaXXXine’
Image via A24

Halsey, you’re getting a big question that won’t have a simple answer, but I have to ask it because I think it’s something you do really well in the movie. What is the key to taking a character who gets minimal screen time and making sure that she comes across like she is a whole person with history so that we care about what happens to her?

HALSEY: Oh, that is a really good question. I think I just tried to have a lot of sympathy for Tabby. Ti and I talked about this a lot, she’s full of optimism and hope, but she’s also not really sure what to do with herself to make those dreams happen. She falls victim to this thing, and it’s representative of, I think, another type of real violence — you know what I mean? — for a lot of women in her position. I just tried to have a lot of sympathy for her. And I remembered what it was like being in New Jersey and not having much money and not knowing what I was gonna do with my life, and having that little, [sighs], that she has of, “I just wish something good would happen to me, you know?” So I just tried to give her a sense of real optimism that I hoped was palpable.

[Editor’s note: The following contains spoilers for MaXXXine.]HALSEY: And I also just tried to make her really scared when she was dying.

LILY COLLINS: You did a great job.

HALSEY: So that you were like, “Oh, she’s scared. She’s really scared to die.”

That is not an easy scene to do. That is something else.

HALSEY: Ti also did me an absolute service in that he keeps reminding you of Tabby through the film and shows you so many moments of her to remind you that she’s a person and you should feel sad. That’s all in his edit and his vision, and so I’m super grateful for that. Thanks, man.

WEST: [Laughs] No problem.

How Lily Collins Found That Unforgettable Silent Scream
Image via A24

Lily, I obviously have to ask about one very specific moment that I have a feeling is gonna go on to be one of the most iconic moments of the movie. It’s the silent scream when Molly recreates the Puritan scream for Maxine. I want to know everything about shooting that. Was it scripted exactly that way? How do you figure out the timing and how big to go with a beat like that?

COLLINS: You send 10 selfies to Ti of different versions of faces, and you go, “Which one do you like the best?” He picked up a picture of one of mine that I sent and we made a digital head of it, which then, as you know, rolls. We knew that there was gonna be this payoff at the end for the character, so Ti wanted to have that be instilled earlier in the film so that it does have that payoff. I think this is a young actress who is so excited to be in Liz Bender’s film, she comes from England, a small community there, into this big Hollywood world, and I think everything to her is so exciting and so big, and she’s also a realist. I think the idea of having that silent scream be what people remember her for — ultimately, it’s the only real thing people will remember her for — I don’t know, I wanted to have fun with it, and I think that the bigger, the more fun it was.

I’ll wrap with this for the three of you because, obviously, now I need you in more horror movies.If you had the opportunity to join the long-running iconic horror franchise of your choice, what would you pick and why?

COLLINS: Another MaXXXine.

I know the trailer says the final chapter of the X trilogy, but I’m with Lily on that.

WEST: I don’t make the trailers.

COLLINS: [Laughs] That’s true! I’d love to do stuff with them again. It was fun. We hardly got to interact. I worked with Elizabeth, but I didn’t get to work with Halsey, so we’re finally hanging out for the first time.

HALSEY: Yeah, we’re really sad.

COLLINS: [Laughs] I know! I would have loved more of you.

Image via A24

Related The Stars Are Out in New ‘Maxxxine’ Behind-the-Scenes Images Maxine Minx’s Hollywood reign is about to begin.

HALSEY: I will say, Lily, I have a really impressed-upon-me memory of, after having met you at the table read, I was just like, “Oh, she’s so nice, and she’s just so wonderful.” There’s just this light about you. And then seeing your head on a table outside of the trailer, just the way that that affected me, it felt awful. I was like, “This is the severed head of a lovely person I just met.”

COLLINS: Thank you! That’s the sweetest thing that you’ve said to me! [Laughs]

HALSEY: I was like, “I don’t want to see this! She’s lovely.”

COLLINS: But I’m okay! I’m fine.

HALSEY: I know, but it freaked me out.

The most brutal horror movies are always made by the kindest, most lovely people. All of you included.

Looking for even more MaXXXine talk? Be sure to check out Elizabeth Debicki’s Collider Ladies Night interview below:

MaXXXine In 1980s Hollywood, adult film star and aspiring actress Maxine Minx finally secures her big break. As she navigates her path to stardom, a mysterious killer begins targeting Hollywood starlets, leaving a trail of blood that threatens to expose her sinister past.Release Date July 5, 2024 Director Ti West Runtime 103 Minutes

MaXXXine is now playing in theaters nationwide. Click below for showtimes.

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