The Wrath Of Becky Directors And Lulu Wilson On Inviting A New Audience Into Becky's World [Exclusive Interview]
During the height of the pandemic, very few new movies were coming out, and even fewer were actually getting the chance to shine in what few theaters were open. One movie that got its day in court, however, was "Becky," which featured a teenager (Lulu Wilson) getting bloody and taking out a group of escaped criminals led by a character played by Kevin James (yes, that Kevin James). The movie even topped the box office, mostly thanks to drive-in theaters. Now, as the industry is once again back on its feet, Wilson is back in a bloodier, crazier sequel, "The Wrath of Becky."
The film debuted earlier this year at SXSW (read our review here), and hails from writer/directors Matt Angel and Suzanne Coote, who took over for the follow-up. Two years after Becky escaped a violent attack on her family, she is trying to rebuild her life in the care of an older woman — a kindred spirit named Elena. But when a group known as the "Noble Men" break into their home, attack them, and take her beloved dog, Diego, Becky goes back to her old ways to protect her loved ones.
I had the good fortune of speaking with Wilson, Angel, and Coote during SXSW in honor of the film's premiere. We discussed how the sequel came about, why they didn't want to call it "Becky 2," how Seann William Scott made for a great, unlikely villain, what they have planned for a possible third film, and much more.
Note: This interview has been lightly edited for clarity and brevity.
'It really just spilled out of me. It was very cathartic'
How soon after the Capitol riots did you guys start writing the movie? Was it right away?
Coote: That's a good question
Wilson: It was January 6. I remember, I literally spent all of that day watching the news and then I ate chili that night. I remember what I ate for dinner.
Coote: It was over a year.
Angel: It was December 2022 that we started writing, so it was right at the end of that year.
Okay. But any joking aside, that very much had to have been a genesis point for this, right?
Coote: Oh yeah.
Wilson: Yeah.
Angel: The thing that really, for me, went into it was the attempted kidnapping of Gretchen Whitmer in Michigan, and that smaller group of insurrectionists and what they were planning. So it was like, okay, let's take this group of people that are planning an insurrection. We know there's a senator. We know there's a town hall. We only get certain seeds because it was all we needed to make our point in this alternate reality that is "The Wrath of Becky" world. So that also was an incident that we pulled a lot from.
You two did not direct the first one. How is it that this came to be in your lap?
Coote: The producers, mainly BoulderLight, came to us and said, "We had this little movie that was kind of a bit hit in 2020. We're thinking about doing a sequel. You guys want to do it?" And we're like, "Yeah. We love Becky." And they're like, "Cool. So we don't have a script and we need it in three weeks." And we were like, I just found out I was pregnant so I was like, "Have fun with that, Matt. I'm going to go put my head in the toilet bowl." So we broke [the story] together and then he went and wrote it in three and a half weeks.
Angel: It really just spilled out of me. It was very cathartic. We had ideas immediately. It felt like the storyline here of the insurrectionists was a natural progression. It's like, okay, neo-Nazis breaking out of jail with swastika tattoos. Now today, every headline is insurrectionists, Proud Boys, and Oath Keepers. Let's do that because, not that neo-Nazis aren't modern-day, there's plenty of them, but these are modern-day, right now, in the headlines, getting sent to prison.
'A few ideas for the script were really bad'
So Lulu, for you, did Quiver come to you first and were they like, "Hey, do you want to do it?" Or did they write the script first and then come to you?
Wilson: I don't know who it is specifically that came to me about this, because it was just a lot of conversation about it coming from the first one. I knew about the first "Becky" since I was 11, so like six years that I've had "Becky" [in my life]. I think it was more just like we had been talking about it after filming the first one and we didn't get to really do any PR or anything for that in the press.
Yeah, it came out of the summer of 2020, the worst time.
Coote: It wasn't going to happen.
Wilson: So I thought it might happen, but I wasn't jumping to do it immediately. I was like, "This is going to be great, but we got to get the right people. I'm not going to do this without an amazing script, amazing people, cast, crew across the board. I need a meatier role. Becky needs to be a little more fully realized, a little more multidimensional, less just this angsty 13-year-old girl." I had a few things in mind. Of course I was thinking about it. I love "Becky." We had other writers and other people, and I was talking to them a lot. I spent a lot of time talking to other writers and other directors. But I didn't know who it was going to be with. I just didn't know. I was caught up in it.
I was like, "Whatever." I was dealing with other things, too. It ended up coming together really well. I love Matt and Suzanne. They're the best. And a few ideas for the script were really bad. Really, I'm talking terrible.
Angel: Oh, I thought you meant our script. I was like, "Wow."
You look you just shattered him into a million pieces.
Angel: I was like, "This is news to me."
Wilson: Wow. Sensitive [laughs]. Some of the other [scripts], there was like a magical owl...
We need to talk separately and you need to tell me everything about this magical owl script.
Wilson: Well, it was at a psychiatric hospital. It's funny because it could've gone so different. Anyway.
I find it interesting that, in the first one, you have Kevin James, and then this time, you have Seann William Scott. All due respect to those guys, you're talking about "Paul Blart: Mall Cop" and Stifler from "American Pie." Both times you have a very unexpected turn for both of these guys. They're great. But what was it like for you performing with Seann this time compared to with Kevin?
Wilson: I did not get to work with Kevin James that much just because the whole first "Becky," they're kind of chasing me around, until the end at the fire pit, I'm not really interacting with them. Seann is amazing. He's just so not obviously that character, but he's just the silly goose, as I like to say. That's usually my first two words that I use to describe Seann, is a silly goose.
Coote: He's a silly goose.
Wilson: Because he so is. He's also just very sensitive and ... I don't know. He's very emotional, and in touch, and in tune. And just a sweet guy. He cried a couple of times on set just because. He's just sensitive.
Coote: He's a very sweet guy.
Wilson: Yeah. He's such a sweet guy. And also watching the shift, watching him go in and out between terrifying neo-Nazi to just himself, amazing.
'We think Seann William Scott is f***ed up'
So he is not method acting. Because I've talked to him before. He's a really nice guy.
Wilson: He's the nicest guy in the world. We just had a great time. It was just two very different actors and processes, I would say.
Coote: There were a couple things that were important to us to continue from "Becky." The producers were like, "Two things. One, needs to be bloody. Two, need to have the key." And we were like, "Great, great." For us, three was find someone similar to Kevin James and use our director Spidey-sense. We think Seann William Scott is f***ed up. And he is, in a great way.
Angel: He has the ability.
Coote: We were pleasantly surprised. Not so surprised because we could just tell, especially after our first meeting. Then the third one was we have to bring Diego [the dog] back. We won't kill him. Because I can't handle that. But those were the carryovers from the first one.
Seann was who you had in mind and you went to him. It wasn't something the producers were like, "How about him?" You guys had him in mind?
Coote: Yes. We had him in mind.
Angel: Yeah. He was one of our first choices.
Oh, that's awesome. Even for the top filmmakers in Hollywood, you don't always get your first choice. So that's pretty cool.
Coote: That's how it was working with our producers. It was just a team.
Wilson: They're just great.
Coote: Everyone tries their hardest.
Wilson: And everybody cares so much about "Becky."
It seemed like the first one did well enough. But I get the sense this movie happened because a lot of people were like, "We like this character. We like this world." It sounds like there wasn't a lot of begging to do the sequel, but it was more like, "We feel like there's an opportunity to plus what came before."
Coote: Mm-hmm. Yep. That's exactly right.
Angel: I think Quiver gets a lot of credit for that. Them feeling like there's a lot of potential here with this being a franchise and a lot we could do with "Becky."
Well, and full disclosure for me, I actually didn't see the first one and I just went into this one...
Angel: Good.
Just to let you know where I'm coming from. I knew the rough premise of the original, but then you were able to just go into this one and it doesn't feel like you're missing anything.
Angel: It was very important to us that "The Wrath of Becky" not be called "Becky 2." Because we wanted it to invite the new audience. It was very important to us that this film was able to stand on its own two feet as a film that would satisfy the fans of the first film while simultaneously satisfying a new audience, and not isolating them or making them feel like they didn't know what was happening because they didn't see the first.
Right. But then they have the opportunity to go back.
Angel: Now they have the opportunity to go, "Whoa, this is a sequel? I want to go figure out what that is." Now, there's definitely stuff in the second one for the fans of the first one.
'If we're given the opportunity, we know exactly where we're going'
We don't need to get into spoiler territory here or anything, but you guys laid so much ground for a third movie. Is that just for fun? Or do you guys already have a plan of where you would go, given that opportunity?
Coote: Yes. B. Option B.
Angel: If we're given the opportunity, we know exactly where we're going.
I understand you don't want to say too much, but has there been any conversation about that in an official capacity yet?
Angel: There's not official. There's been talk about it.
Wilson: Yeah. It's not like "We're going to go do this, and this is what it's going to be like right now." I am so down literally for whenever, whatever.
Coote: She's down, we're down.
Wilson: It doesn't matter what it is, I'll do it if it's "Becky."
Angel: Yeah. I think a big part of it, too is, let's see how people feel about this.
Lulu Wilson: I think the focus right now is just ["The Wrath of Becky"].
Right. Obviously, I don't want to get too ahead of it, but yeah.
Wilson: But of course, it is blatantly setting up something else.
You are in "The Fall in the House of Usher," if I'm not mistaken.
Wilson: Yeah. That's so funny. Yeah, the second person who mentioned that. It's just so weird because I feel like there's nothing about it out in the world yet, and I am waiting.
So can you talk at all about your experience working on it?
Wilson: Honestly, I can talk about my experience. I didn't read all the scripts. I'm only in the first half of the first episode. It's nice because I get to kind of start something out, but yeah, it's a bunch of Edgar Allan Poe stories. From what I know, I honestly — it was a very short thing. I got to set and I goofed around and did my thing, and then left.
Angel: Were you a silly goose?
Wilson: Oh my god. Well, I was a silly goose, but I was a distressed goose because I had to be covered in water.
Angel: Oh, that's right. That was for that.
Wilson: [There was a] rain machine. And that was also 16-hour days in wet pajamas.
The stuff when you're like, "I want to be an actor." And you never really consider...
Wilson: I mean, I love it. But you're going to be wet and covered in blood and dirt.
Angel: And cold.
Wilson: And really cold. Temperature on set, that is something I will say about acting, is never correct. You're either too hot or you're too cold, and you can't do anything about it [...] No, it's Edgar Allan Poe. And that's, I guess, all you need to know. Other really good actors. It was really fun. I got to be in dirt and water. There was a scene though with an axe, and they chose the other person to use the axe, and I was a little pissed about that. So I do have to say, I will put Mike [Flanagan] on blast for not letting me chop down the ... yeah.
Well, I suppose if we do get to "Becky 3," there's ample opportunity for an axe.
Wilson: Yeah, we should do an axe.
Coote: Duly noted.
So, okay. Just to finish off, if you do get to "Becky 3," what weapon do you want to see Becky use?
Wilson: A sword.
Angel: I want a sword fight.
Hell yeah.
Wilson: Yeah. Because I fence and I know how to...
Coote: She's a competitive fencer.
Holy s***.
Angel: We were talking in our dream world, if there were a "Becky 3," I was like, "You fence. You've fenced for five years. There's got to be a sword fight."
Wilson: Yeah. Some sort of, I don't know. I'd love a Becky/pirate crossover.
Angel: Well, think about it. I mean...
Wilson: Becky's on a boat.
Angel: Yeah. Becky's on a boat.
Wilson: Becky's on a boat and she's with pirates and swords and swashbuckling Becky.
You could do Somalian pirates or something.
Wilson: Honestly, that would be sick. Or just modern day, like it's Jack Sparrow, but he's on TikTok.
Angel: There's a lot of opportunity in our minds.
Wilson: There's so many places to go.
So you had your Kevin James, your Seann William Scott, have you put any consideration to that third funny guy who might be in the third one?
Angel: Not yet.
Coote: Just because I don't want to get my heart broken.
Angel: I actually lied. I do have someone. I don't know what they would say, though. I don't know. I'd love...
Wilson: Don't say it out loud if you want him.
Angel: I'd love to see Neil Patrick Harris.
Wilson: Oh my god.
Angel: A truly dark villain in an action/comedy.
Coote: But that reaction is exactly the director's Spidey-sense about someone.
Angel: I think he could kill it.
Coote: Because you're like, "Wait a minute. Of course."
Wilson: Yeah. That's how I feel about Kevin James and Sean.
"The Wrath of Becky" hits theaters on May 26, 2023.