Posted in: Exclusive, Horror, Hulu, Interview, Movies, Searchlight | Tagged: exclusive, hold your breath, hulu, interview, Karrie Crouse, searchlight pictures, William Joines

Hold Your Breath Directors on Inspiration, Sarah Paulson, VFX & More

Directors Karrie Crouse and William Joines spoke to Bleeding Cool about their latest Searchlight Pictures thriller, Hold Your Breath.

Directors Karrie Crouse and William Joines are well-synced creatively as a duo working on several projects, including the music video Into the Depths (2011), the shorts Be Still (2011), The Push (2016), and Com Truise: Propagation (2017). Their latest is the historical, psychological thriller Hold Your Breath (which Crouse also penned the script), set in 1930s Oklahoma amid the region's horrific dust storms; a woman (Sarah Paulson) is convinced that a sinister presence is threatening her family. Crouse and Joines spoke with Bleeding Cool about their inspiration for the film, Paulson's on-screen presence, special effects, and their creative dynamic.

Hold Your Breath Directors Tapped an Early 20th Century American Tragedy for Their Thriller

Bleeding Cool: What's the inspiration behind 'Hold Your Breath?'

Crouse: Will and I watched the Ken Burns documentary 'The Dust Bowl.' There was something in seeing the historical images of this ravaged landscape and these monstrous, intimidating dust clouds and then seeing ways the dust could worm its way into the smallest cracks. We thought, "We've seen dramas set in this time, but it seems like a setting that feels right for a psychological horror."

Can you break down Sarah's performance, meaning, and how it carries on to her cast mates?

Joines: Sarah's horror bona fide aside, we were so excited to cast Sarah and work with her because of her unbelievable talent and acting chops. We were further surprised at how much nuance and detail she brought to the role of Margaret from every stage from the beginning when she was in control. She loves these girls, and she has at least a tenuous grasp on keeping the dust at bay throughout all of that tearing tension inside the middle part of the film when she's trying to keep a hold of things through to the end, where things become chaotic. She is such a talented performer who brought so much nuance, detail, craft, and dedication to that role that it bled over and inspired everybody.

Crouse: She's great at playing that inner struggle where it's not only someone anxious and losing control, it's someone also desperately fighting their anxiety and trying to keep this stoic facade.

What did you find was the most difficult type of scene to film? How did you decide how things like dust storms would appear? Practical, CG, or a mix of both?

Joines: On one hand, there's the practicality of shooting out on location in New Mexico where there's lightning, rain, actual dust storms, and fighting stuff like that. Then there were some challenges because we wanted to create, as much as possible, real dust storms for ourselves, which involved huge fans and tons of film dirt being blown at our actors. That's another place where Sarah helped because she was such a trooper we thought she would say, "Okay, no more. I'm done," but she wanted more dust blown at her. She said, "Let's make it look right. Let's make it feel right. And she was just such a trooper.

Crouse: There are practical difficulties, but it's all worth it. When you have that thick dust and wind, you can't communicate. It's hard to signal when to start and stop. All those challenges were tough but worth it, giving the actor something physical to interact with.

How do you describe your creative partnership, and why do you complement each other well?

Crouse: We met in film school because we had a mutual admiration for one another's films. Getting to know one another, the kinds of movies we like, and the things that inspire us are similar, and the nice thing is, if you have someone you're collaborating with, I feel like you have a built-in need to sharpen your ideas to explain them.

Joines: There's always a fun back-and-forth, and we're always very honest with each other, trying to let the best version of the idea come to the forefront. Ultimately, what we want is the best idea and the best film above any personal ideas, any one of us.

Hold Your Breath, which also stars Amiah Miller, Annaleigh Ashford, and Alona Jane, is available on Hulu.

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