Posted in: Exclusive, Interview, Movies | Tagged: exclusive, interview, Lily Sullivan, Lucy Campbell, Matt Vesely, Monlith, Well Go USA Entertainment

Monolith: Lily Sullivan on How Sci-Fi Thriller Contrasted 'Evil Dead'

Lily Sullivan (Evil Dead Rise) speaks to Bleeding Cool about the her latest sci-fi thriller in Well Go USA Entertainment's Monolith.

Lily Sullivan is emerging as one of the biggest stars emerging from the Australian scene with memorable roles in Mental (2012), Prime series Picnic at Hanging Rock, Barksins (2020), and her biggest role to date as Beth in Lee Cronin's Evil Dead Rise for Warner Bros. It was after her time in the franchise, she came across the perfect release from that psychological experience in Well Go USA's Monolith. Directed by Matt Vesely and written by Lucy Campbell, the film follows a disgraced journalist (Sullivan) who is trying to salvage her career and begins investigating a strange conspiracy theory. But as the trail leads uncomfortably close to home, she is left to grapple with the lies at the heart of her own story. Sullivan spoke to Bleeding Cool about how the film conceptually differed from the Lee Cronin horror film, working with Vasely, drawing inspiration from Amy Adams, and the film's solitary nature. The following contains minor spoilers.

How 'Monolith' Became the Perfect Contrast to 'Evil Dead Rise' for Lily Sullivan

Bleeding Cool: What intrigued you about 'Monolith?'
Sullivan: What intrigued me about 'Monolith' was Lucy Campbell's script. It was made through this program called New Voices with South Australian Film Corp. They're given a structure, a budget, and 15 movie shoot days. I read the script; it was so delicious, moreish, tight, and highly conceptual-paced. It's like instead of trying to fit that film into the budget, they grew it from the budget, which is great, creative, and a big challenge. It's almost a red flag to not do it because I was the only actor, but then I loved the idea that they were going for it. They know filmmaking in a stripped-back, condensed way, which is always exciting, especially after doing 'Evil Dead.' I was like, "Okay, this is the polar opposite."

Speaking of which, I find it amusing that the other 'Evil Dead' films have the hero with the doppelganger, and you didn't have that and 'Evil Dead Rise.' You get to have one in 'Monolith.' What was shooting in that scene like at the pivotal point in the film?
That was the first moment [I thought] we would turn to another actor. Then you're like, but you'll be playing that other actor. I'm like, "Okay." Also, we shot the film in chronological order, so it's crazy. It's like 'The Descent Into Madness' actually happened. It was also like for the crew and every department, knowing what scenes we would have to start trying to pull off. We always knew that the entity, the doppelganger of whatever we want to call it, was always lurking and coming. Prep-wise, we went into the world as well, and the formation hadn't fully developed, but it's like the muscle tissue, and it was fun to play with that idea. We shot it all in one take when there were sounds after she smashed it and then walked back to the bathroom.
The reveal is a slay a plate on top of that, and then the camera all in one take, turn back, body double comes in, grabs the recorder, I run round the camera, and then I'm facing myself. It was all in one take because we can't do multiple setups when you're working with a budget like this. Let's give it a go, which is the best kind of filmmaking. It's also what drew me to it; it is just like flying by the seat of your pants. You make bold choices because you don't have the fun budget to play with. Even without the support, it was super strong in that way.

What was it like working with Matt as a first-time director?
Matt was amazing; he is my favorite kind of director and lives in the edit. If you're going to try to pull something off like this, I'm also going to be so exposed and totally at his mercy of like, "Oh my God!" He knew that, and he had such a robust and clear vision. He knew not to overshoot it. They were like, "This is what we have." There was such a level of strength and cinematography as well. He and [cinematographer] Michael Tessari were terrific. They like it. We start the film insular, and we go out more and more. We shoot that in one take. We do this and this. We only get this coverage. It was quite awesome to feel safe in that sense. There was no back and forth. There were 15 pages of dialog covering that day. It was wild, and I had to treat it like theater.

Were there any figures in your life or something in fiction that inspired your performance?
I love Amy Adams. I can think of 'The Arrival' (2016), which does not fully show everything; sitting in that space and having the confidence to sit still, I think, was a big thing with this film, like not fearing being busy and doing big things was too entertaining. It was carbonating these visuals in your head of listening and letting that ricochet, which I think she does so beautifully, always. I like her eyes; they're quite electrical the time because by the end, you're like 12 hours a day filming. You're like, "Are my eyes even working?" I'm not even sure. I've got snow vision. I'm getting lost in the space of atoms of dust.

What was the most grueling aspect of production?
Yeah. Also, not having another actor to turn around on was probably the hardest part. There would be moments when you do a scene, and you're unsure if you do great. Every actor has a moment where they think they've sort of missed. Usually, that's the part where they'll turn around the other actor, and then you do a much better performance when they're on another actor. You're like, "Damn it, I don't care!" When it was just you all day, you'd have to be filmed through a bit of the like every day. "I couldn't get that, or I did not feel good about that." They'd be like, next scene, you, you, you. It was quite hard to kind of…a beautiful challenge, but also not care what other people think. Easier said than done.

Monolith is in theaters and digital on February 16th.

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