This interview was accomplished prior to the start of the SAG strike.
ComingSoon’s Jonathan Sim spoke with Fear the Night star Maggie Q (Mission: Impossible III, Live Free or Die Hard, Divergent) about her role as Tess and career in action movies.
“Eight women gather for a bachelorette party at a remote farmhouse in the California hills,” reads the synopsis. “They’re soon interrupted by the arrival of masked intruders who surround the place and begin shooting arrows at the home and the guests. Now it’s up to Tess, a military veteran, to lead the women in a final stand as they fight back to save themselves and survive the night.”
Fear the Night will be released In Theaters, On Digital and On Demand on July 21st, 2023.
Jonathan Sim: Tell me about your character of Tess and how you approached translating her from the script to the screen.
Maggie Q: It was definitely a process translating her from the script to the screen because [director Neil LaBute] and I worked a lot on her character development and her arc. So it was really fun. You know, we found a lot of things that weren’t in the original script through our discussions and making her arc sort of more complete because she is in answer to your other question, a very troubled person. She’s a former veteran. She’s a former addict. She’s someone who has really struggled through a lot, so she does not play well with others. And she does have a bit of a massive chip on her shoulder. And she’s a tougher one to get along with, but in an emergency, she’s the one you want.
You talked a little bit about working with Neil LaBute. So walk me through a little bit more of what it was like to work with him and what his style of filmmaking entails.
Well, he’s incredibly collaborative, which I think comes from his theater background of many years. You know, in theater, things are always constantly changing, evolving, they’re very fluid, and actors have a lot to say about everything they’re doing. And so I think directors in that sense really kind of need to be more flexible. But with me, we got along really well and we were able to execute in agreement with almost everything. And even the things we disagreed on, we respectfully disagreed on, and we would go in different directions with, but for the most part, I think he got that whatever it was I was bringing up was to make it a better film. And so that’s what I was always fighting for. And so I think that’s why that birthed a mutual respect with us.
One of my favorite things about this movie is how it’s like this female-oriented action driller, which isn’t as common as I feel like it should be.
No, it’s not. You’re so right.
What was it like to collaborate with these primarily female co-stars to sort of bring this terrifying situation to life?
Yeah, it was interesting. Like, honestly, you’re saying that you don’t see it a lot, and I’ve never done it, so it was so new to me. I’ve never had sisters, I’ve never had sisters in a movie or anything I’ve ever done. So I had the sibling dynamic. I had their friends that she hated but needed to protect at the same time, because her sense of duty as a servicewoman, there’s no separation between her and what she should do in a situation. So it was fun. It was like all of those actresses, all of those women, they were all incredibly different. I thought they all were pitch-perfect in what they were supposed to bring for the partygoers. And I loved the dynamic between her and her younger sister who she loved very much. And conversely, I loved the dynamic between her and her older sister, her half-sister, who she did not get along with at all. So I really did like all the different dynamics that went on. It was, it was really fun, actually.
Now you’ve had this long career behind you with action movies that I grew up with and love, like Mission Impossible III, Live Free or Die Hard, and The Protége. So what is it about the action genre that pulls you towards it and makes you want to take on these projects?
I dunno, there’s something that I just love about tough women. I just do, you know, and I think because I know a lot of women do it now. I mean, when I started, there definitely weren’t that many. But I think that it’s not whether you can do it, it’s whether you can be believable doing it. And so I think that you know, contrary to popular belief, I actually think it’s very hard for women to be believable. So I think that for me, it’s always that challenge. I’m always trying to up the logic or the ante on how do I make this happen, and how is it believable? Because that really matters to me. You watch some films and it doesn’t matter, you know what I mean? And I know they are movies, so you have to take it with a grain, obviously, but on every level that I can, I fight for believability.
Yeah, that’s a great answer to that question. Because you’ve had this incredible career behind you, and I think you were one of the most influential people as far as women in the action genre. And I really thank you and commend you for everything that you’ve done for that.
Jonathan, that’s so nice. Thank you.
Looking back at your career of movies and TV, is there any one particular project that you’ve done that you would say that you’re the most proud of?
I think I would probably say proud for sure, but definitely, I don’t know how I survived, was Nikita. It was the hardest project of my career, just years running and for how long we were doing it. But what I’m proud of is the fact that I had not done TV before that. So it was my first foray into TV and for me, I was adamant about bringing movie-level action and movie-level entertainment to the small screen, and that took a lot of fighting. I had to really, really fight to get that. And yet through it all, I think we did it. And I think we did some incredible action in that show that had not been seen on TV before.
Now is there anything, whether that’s a genre that you haven’t done yet, or a director that you haven’t worked with that you would like to do in the future?
Oh, God, there’s so many. There’s so many wonderful directors out there I really love. I got to realize one of my dreams working with Martin Campbell on The Protége. But in that sense, you know, I love the Bourne movies. I really think that there’s kind of room for that type of character in a female. I’m not saying that we need a female Bond, but I am saying that I love the way Paul Greengrass really like, put the Bournes into—I mean, he put Matt Damon on the map in a very, very different way because it really was kind of thrilling the way everything was handheld and everything felt like you were part of it. And it was very heightened. Everything was very heightened, and I think it would be really fun to do something like that next. So, you know, kind of directors in that realm would be fun.
I agree. Paul Greengrass’s Bourne movies are really incredible. I love The Bourne Ultimatum.
Oh cool, me too. Yeah, I love that.
My final question is, bringing this back to Fear the Night, what are the qualities about this movie that sets it apart from other movies that you’ve done before?
I will say that, uh, you know, it is an indie, so we were restricted with the resources, obviously, that we had. So I think what makes it different, which is cool, is that sometimes when you have those restrictions, there’s a lot of creativity that’s born out of it. You know, they say creativity is born of restraint and dies of freedom. And so we definitely had a lot of restraints going into this to get the movie made. But in that vein, I feel very grateful because I know that Neil and I, we worked together to make everything work whether we had the resource to do it or not. So for the little indie that it is, I think that we pulled off what we could in the best way that we could. And I’m happy about that.
