Cult star Julia Fox has revealed her love of Jordan Peele’s work in a new interview.
Fox plays Elise White in the Justin Tipping-directed horror film Him, which is produced by Peele’s Monkeypaw Productions.
Speaking to Variety AU/NZ ahead of the Australian and New Zealand release of Him, Fox revealed her admiration for the Get Out and Us filmmaker.
“[…] obviously it’s Jordan Peele. So it’s gonna pique my interest” she said. “Then I read the script and it was phenomenal. And then I spoke to the director [Justin Tipping] and he was just an amazing human being and so kind, so thoughtful and so collaborative. [Elsie] was a dream role.”
Through an unlikely pairing of football and horror, “Him” tells a tale of sacrifice as a young football player, Cameron “Cam” Cade (Tariq Withers), is plunged into a dark and disorientating rabbit hole, curated by legendary quarterback Isaiah White (Marlon Wayans) as he trains and pushes the rising star to extremes.
Although Isaiah is charismatic and successful, something sinister lurks beneath the surface. It’s Fox’s character Elsie who provides comfort and reassurance to Cam as a contrast to her overpowering husband, but she too has her own mysterious motives.
Although she’s featured in horror films before (Presence), she told Variety AU/NZ that she isn’t a massive lover of the genre.
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“It [horror] has to be done super tastefully. Otherwise I’m just like looking for the mess-ups. I’m like, ‘That looks fake! This looks cheesy…’ I just can’t take this seriously. Like whatever… But I love thrillers,” she said.
Fox’s character is the wife of a legendary football star but Elsie is far from two-dimensional, a fate that’s befallen similar characters in past films.
“She [is] her own person with her own ambitions, her own goals, her own dreams, her own trauma,” Fox told the publication. “She wanted to make a name for herself independently of him. Like even in the film, Isaiah’s always home doing his weird little things, and she’s travelling, she’s posting her videos, has her charities, has her myriad of companies.”
Elsewhere in the interview, Fox revealed a great tagline for the film.
“I would say it’s like ‘Black Swan’ for guys,” she said. “I didn’t come up with that, our moderator said it and I was like, ‘Bingo. That’s exactly what it is.'”
Him is out in cinemas throughout Australia and New Zealand now.
