Scared of the deep end? Or maybe you’re just not much of a swimmer? Even if you are, a chilling new feature from Universal, Blumhouse, and James Wan will shake you to the core. It’s called Night Swim, and don’t let the name fool you — the new film features a number of daytime scares as well, along with the excellent Wyatt Russell and Kerry Condon. Russell, who recently starred in Apple TV+’s Monarch: Legacy of Monsters alongside real-life dad Kurt, plays a washed-up baseball player in Night Swim. He’s married to a loving wife played by Condon, an Oscar nominee fresh off her acclaimed turn in The Banshees of Inisherin. The pair’s new horror film comes out in January.

Based on an acclaimed short film from 2014, Night Swim centers on a sort of haunted swimming pool whose secrets are slowly unraveled as the accompanying family home becomes increasingly unsettled in more ways than one. It’d be a crime to reveal more, but we recently caught up with Russell and Condon in a paired interview to learn more about what first drew them to the project, what else they’re working on now that the Hollywood strikes are over, and their favorite movies from the past year. Read on for more or watch our video interview above.

Blum & Wan: ‘A Good Bet to Make’ on Horror

Folks who loved Condon in The Banshees of Inisherin know that she’s Irish at heart, and the dialogue-heavy masterpiece that was showered in Oscar nominations earlier this year is light years away from an exciting new project like Night Swim. “I love swimming,” she told MovieWeb, continuing:

“I wanted to show that I could do a physical role. I really liked the fact that it was kind of like an every-woman who has a simple-like narrative. Like, she was just a mother, she didn’t really have much wrong in her career. She was fine with [her husband] and putting him first. I liked that because I thought it would resonate with a lot of people, and the crew and the people attached to it. And then, it was an American roll, and I wanted to do a different accent.”

“And James Wan and Jason Blum,” added Russell when we asked both stars about what first drew them to the project. “If you’re going to make a bet on a horror film, it’s a good bet to make. And talking to Bryce McGuire, the director, about, you know, ‘How are we gonna make it scary?’ When I knew it was Kerry, I honestly knew we’re gonna be able to play it real, you know? I know that’s gonna work. She’s too good. But there were questions of like, ‘How was this going to be scary? How are we going to make this beat go beyond a good movie and into scary territory?’ And as we got into that, we had a couple of nights where it was like, ‘OK, yeah, this feels like it could be scary.’ And then they were able to put it together in a way that gave me a lot of confidence.”

And the end result certainly does work. Both stars are clearly committed to their juicy leading roles, and the finished product is a long time coming. Production was a bit of a blur for Condon who dove right into it as soon as awards season ended, literally:

I started it like one day after the Oscars. I started it like in bits, to be honest. But in a way, it was kind of a good thing because I sort of wanted to play it in an even-keeled, sort of calm way. And so, being utterly exhausted helped with that.

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For Russell, his performance was certainly heightened by real-world experience in an entirely different realm outside of Hollywood. “I played baseball growing up. My whole family played baseball. They all played pro ball. It’s what my family has done, other than acting,” he told us. “So I wanted to make sure that that was right and correct because it was a big part of the story… It was good to be able to know, for the filmmakers. I said I played baseball, but you don’t know. And then the first day, I swung [a bat], and [the director] was like, ‘Oh okay, great.'”

Fighting ‘Like a Married Couple’ — for Art’s Sake!
Universal Pictures

With a title like Night Swim, you can imagine there being a number of sequences taking place once the sun goes down. “The hours were a bit rough because there was a lot of nights,” said Condon. “The shoot was tough enough with the water, in terms of the costume department having it hard, and sound had it hard. So different departments had tough enough jobs, but all the departments were all lovely.”

Alongside Condon for most of the scenes is Russell, playing her increasingly distressed and deranged husband thanks to that aforementioned haunted swimming pool. The movie is consistently tense, but chatting with the pair in real life was a hoot, as we learned more about how they bonded on set. “I’m like, ‘Kerry’s annoyed and probably wants to kill me half the time,'” Russell joked. “We fought like a married couple,”

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“I got sick halfway through the movie and had a pretty heavy chest infection, and Kerry would come [into my trailer] and be like, ‘What the f*** is wrong with you?'” Russell added in hilarious fashion.

“I was like, ‘You spit that in the pool!'” Condon replied, which prompted Russell to assure us that he never did. After all, no one appreciated that one kid growing up who was always spitting in the pool, right?

Russell in Thunderbolts and Condon in Brad Pitt’s Formula 1 Film
Universal Pictures

Looking back on this year, and given that Night Swim took a lot of work from the two stars — plus factoring in family time when they’re not working — it wasn’t exactly a surprise that they struggled to come up with an answer when we asked if they had a favorite film from 2023 in general. Funnily enough, the movies they ultimately named actually came out in 2022: Oscar nominees Triangle of Sadness and EO. “My problem is that I have a three-year-old,” said Russell. “So there are some Disney pics, Mickey and Blippi — who is the biggest star on planet Earth, by the way. But my wife and I, it’s so hard to get out to go see a movie.”

And looking ahead, it seems there won’t be any slowing down for Condon or Russell, especially since the Hollywood strikes are finally over. Condon is starring in the upcoming film for director Joseph Kosinski (Top Gun: Maverick) about Formula 1 and starring Brad Pitt, Damson Idris, Tobias Menzies, and Javier Bardem. “I’m excited about my Formula 1 job with Joseph Kosinski, which we started a little bit of, and we’re gonna go back to that,” said Condon. “And that’s been really cool, learning all about Formula 1, fast cars, etc. So I’m looking forward to come back to that.”

For Russell, there’s the highly anticipated Thunderbolts movie from Marvel that’s garnered buzz aplenty over the past year. “I am very excited because I know all the people that are doing it, and it’s wonderful actors, and a director who I love,” he said. “We’ll be back there in a few months, and thank God I’m back to work.”

In the meantime, from Universal Pictures, Night Swim hits theaters January 5.