Ti West Asked An Unusually Blunt Question Before Casting Any Actor In Pearl
Ti West's 2022 horror film "Pearl" is a twisted tragedy that serves as the prequel to his 1970s porno-horror throwback "X," showing us the origin story behind Mia Goth's terrifying old woman character in the latter. "Pearl" was kind of a unique challenge from the start, as West got the idea for the film while shooting "X" and decided to go into production on "Pearl" immediately after wrapping. That's already kind of tricky, but filming was complicated even further by this little thing called the global pandemic. New Zealand, where "X" and "Pearl" were filmed, had just locked down, but West was willing to make it work with the sets built for "X" and crews who were already in New Zealand for other films. The next thing was finding a cast to join Goth in their movie about a young woman searching for an escape from mundane life in Texas in 1918, and West had a pretty blunt question for anyone involved before they were cast.
In a behind-the-scenes featurette called "Coming Out of Her Shell: The Creation of Pearl," West and David Corenswet, who plays Pearl's projectionist love interest, shared the frank discussion West had with every actor before they signed on to his bloody cinematic creation.
'Why the hell do you want to be in this movie?'
West was just as frank about his question as he was asking it, revealing that he asked people, "Why the hell do you want to be in this movie?" He goes on to explain that there are "no shortage" of reasons not to be in the movie, likely referring to both the difficulties filming during the early parts of the pandemic and the fact that "Pearl" is one seriously disturbing film with intense, bloody violence. For Corenswet, however, West's honesty was just what he needed to jump in:
"And I thought, 'You know what? Even the fact that you would ask me that question is a good sign.' Because it's nice when a writer/director knows what they've written. So he's like, 'Yeah, this is weird. And brutal.' I mean, it's unsettling. Which it should be."
"Pearl" is unsettling in a lot of ways, and it isn't your typical horror movie. Goth plays Pearl as both unhinged and relatable; she's capable of heinous acts like abuse and murder, but she's suffered herself, too. Pearl is a complicated character, so it's no surprise that the movie about her is equally provocative. "Pearl" doesn't seek to startle its audience with jump scares or haunt them with bogeymen, instead forcing us to contend with the monsters that lurk within each human heart.
A different kind of pandemic film
"Pearl" wasn't just filmed during a pandemic, it also takes place during one — the deadly influenza outbreak that killed around 50 million people between 1918 and 1920. It could be pretty unpleasant filming a story about such an incredible death toll while facing the hells of the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic, so there's yet another of West's reasons not to sign on.
Thankfully for us all, the talented cast and crew of "Pearl" helped bring West's vision to life, giving audiences who enjoyed "X" a stellar backstory to its tragic villain. The trilogy will be completed with "MaXXXine," which follows Goth's character Maxine after the events of "X." Both "X" and "Pearl" were audacious in their own ways, so it will be great to see what West and Goth have in store for their final entry.