Mary Elizabeth Winstead doesn’t mind ‘scream queen’ tag, could relate to The Hand That Rocks The Cradle role | Interview
Ever since she first appeared in Wolf Lake and Final Destination 3, Mary Elizabeth Winstead has been called a ‘scream queen’, a term used for any iconic horror film performer. Two decades down the line, she still manages to turn up performances that both justify the tag and prove she is a performer beyond that, too. Her new film, The Hand That Rocks The Cradle, is one example of that. Ahead of the film’s release, the actor and her co-star, Maika Monroe, spoke to Hindustan Times about their roles and experiences of the horror genre in general.
Why The Hand That Rocks The Cradle is relatable
The Hand That Rocks The Cradle is a loose remake of the 1992 film of the same title and features Mary as a suburban mother who hires a nanny (Maika) for her two kids, before realising that the woman may be hiding a dark secret. The psychological horror is built around the theme of obsession and lies. Mary says that she can weirdly relate to some aspect of it. “Thankfully, I’ve never had an experience quite like what Caitlyn (her character) experiences in this film. But I’ve had subtle minor versions of it that I could kind of relate to and bring to this. There were situations in my life where I’ve not set very good boundaries with another person and allowed them to get a bit too close to me too quickly before I really knew everything about them. So, I’ve definitely experienced that where I’ve realised this person is really part of my life somehow, and I don’t really know how that happened. It just blindsided me. And then trying to untangle yourself from that is really hard,” she says.
Maika goes from prey to the hunter
Like Mary, Maika Monroe also found her calling in the horror genre, with appearances in cult hits like Villains and Longlegs. But while she was at the receiving end of the villain’s wrath in those films, here she is the aggressor. Talking about the change, the actor says, “It was lovely. I loved every moment of it. I’m quite used to being the one running, and I had an absolute blast in this role. There were unique challenges, but it was something completely different.”
Mary admits that being a mother herself made it somewhat easier to unlock those fears and anxieties in her character as she witnesses a stranger around her kids in the film. “Rather than triggering, it just made it sort of easier to play in a way because it didn’t take a lot for me to imagine how it would feel to be in that scenario,” she says, explaining, “Had I done this film before I became a mom, hopefully I would have been able to still perform it. But something about being a mom just made it incredibly easy to access everything that this character was going through, in terms of her fears around her children and her anxieties.”
On being called ‘scream queens’
Mary and Maika have both been called ‘scream queens’ over the course of their careers, and both actors say they like the phrase. “For me, it never feels negative. It always has felt like it comes from a place of love when people are using that phrase. So, I feel like as long as it’s coming from a place of appreciation, then I welcome it. And I think it’s really lovely,” says Mary.
Maika echoes the sentiment and adds, “I feel really proud of a lot of the horror movies that I’ve been in. I think that they’re really cool and I’m lucky to be a part of them. The fandom of the horror genre is so special, and they’re so dedicated that I feel lucky to have this love.”
Directed by Michelle Garza Cervera, The Hand That Rocks The Cradle also stars Raúl Castillo and Martin Starr. The film was released on Hulu in the US and is streaming on JioHotstar in India.
