Posted in: Exclusive, Interview, Movies | Tagged: exclusive, interview, izombie, karen gillan, Katie Parker, Mali Elfman, Next Exit, Rahul Kohli, rose mciver, Tribeca Film Festival

Next Exit Director Mali Elfman on Her 10-Year Journey, 'iZombie' Ties

A lot went into Mali Elfman's directorial feature debut in Next Exit as a combination of personal experiences she was able to strewn into a supernatural horror fantasy dramedy. The story follows Rose (Katie Parker) and Teddy (Rahul Kohli), strangers who meet at opposite ends of the spectrum in their lives, embarking on a road trip together after finding out a research scientist (Karen Gillan) makes national news proving she can track people into the afterlife. A ghostly presence haunts Rose while Teddy is forced to confront their past. While promoting for the Tribeca Film Festival, Elfman, the daughter of composer Danny Elfman, spoke with Bleeding Cool about the inspirations behind the film, the cast's ties to iZombie, and more.

Bleeding Cool: What is the inspiration behind 'Next Exit'?
Mali Elfman: I started writing this about ten years ago, and every single time when I was in a difficult place, I would write. Every single time something would come up in my life that I struggled to get through, somebody would pass on, and I didn't know how to get out of it, I would come back to the script. It would give me hope again, especially at the top COVID. I looked at the world, and it is very interesting when one thing changes the ripple effect that that can cause. So that made me pick the script back up again and reengage with it in a new way. I think that coupled with the hint of wanting ghosts to exist and not wanting to have to prove that or talk about that, but just existing in a world in which they actually were and then having the conversation about what is a ghost and why are they relevant to us?

BC: When it came to the casting process and everything, can you tell me what made everyone kind of fit into the roles and what were any of the other cast reading for other parts?
Elfman: I was very lucky in a lot of this. I got my first choices for the majority of the leads in the film. So Katie is a friend of mine from long ago, and when I wrote this, I had her in mind. It's funny because I don't think Rose is very much like Katie. I knew that she could go there, and I knew that she could bring this character to life. I knew it would be asking her to stand on a ledge for this entire film shoot in a very uncomfortable way and to trust that I would get her through it. So I'm very grateful that she said 'Yes' because I think it's a big role and a hard one to tackle.

For Rahul, I was a fan of his from back from 'iZombie.' I find him so charming in that show. I was friends with ['iZombie' star] Rose McIver. I love watching her show, but I always remember seeing Rahul perform. Then I saw him in '[The Haunting of] Bly Manor,' and he shredded my heart into tiny pieces. I was like, 'It would be the dream to have him.' I always expected him to say 'No.' He was my first offer out, and I just never thought he would consider it. He was shooting 'Midnight Mass.' It was hard to get him to read, and then suddenly he was on a Zoom, and he was like, 'I'm down.' I was like, 'What?!' Now the great thing is their entire ways of working were so different and yet, were perfect for the characters: The way that Rose was and kind of her in-depth internal nature, and then Teddy, his external charisma, and what's lurking underneath. You just put these two tornadoes together, and they crash into this amazing storm.

For the rest of the cast, Rose McIver, I was so excited to have her and Katie have a sisterly dynamic in real life. So I loved being able to like play with that on set. Karen Gillan is Doctor Stevensen, the creator of our worlds, and we all bowed down to her. I've worked with her for years. She's a friend, and I was excited to work with her. It was just an amazing group of people coming together. And I didn't; I got to cast some, I got to go through casting for Tongayi [Chirisa], and that's how we got another cast member of 'iZombie' on board, which is completely unintentional. I just saw his take, I was so blown away by him, and the same thing went for him; just blown away by him. Then Diva Zappa is a friend [of mine]; she has been in everything I directed other than my 'Grandma' short, which wouldn't have been appropriate, and many of the projects I've worked on over the years.

BC: You said you worked for this for about ten years. What was that all like from personal experiences, or were there any other external inspirations that kind of help kind of put this puzzle together that became the film?

Elfman: As a person who constantly crosses over to the other side, I can tell you that scientific…No [laughs]. Everything for me is like, I would say, 'Emotionally truthful.' I don't know that it's always factually truthful. For instance, Rose, when revealing one of the things that had been haunting her and that she thought was so big, that's not truthful to me. Like in terms of what Rose did there. Now, I have another experience in my life that made me feel that way, that kept me from getting past something and held me hostage, for many years. So a lot of times, everything is like truth adjacent for me and in terms of how I build out these emotional beats. It's an emotionally honest script but not always completely relevant to my life, which is kind of how I like to write is finding different ways. Sometimes feelings can feel so much bigger. It's fun to explore those visually in real life; they might be a moment. I got to exploit them a little bit more.

For me, to get to the core of this, I remember I was dealing with the death in my family, and I remember driving away from a person who had just passed away. It did not make sense to me that they weren't there anymore. I could not accept that as a truth. They were just there, and then they weren't. I think deep down; this is also me wanting to say to myself and maybe say to others that I tried religion. I'm not a very religious person. I tried different spiritual beliefs. There are political agendas having to tie into all of this type of stuff. None of that matters. What matters is that I know that my loved ones are somewhere and that they're safe and so why not create a world in which I know that's true?

Next Exit will premiere at Tribeca on June 10.

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