Chris Sullivan reveals what makes Steven Soderbergh's ‘Presence’ a supernatural game-changer
Fans tired of the deluge of smarmy rom-coms on streaming platforms and the big screen (cough: “Bridget Jones: Mad About the Boy”) will enjoy a switch of pace with Steven Soderbergh’s supernatural thriller, “Presence”.
Of course, fans of the horror genre are likely thrilled by the film's release.
Interestingly, it stars Lucy Liu, Chris Sullivan and Callina Liang in lead roles.
Oh, and do you remember Julia Fox? She enjoyed a fleeting romance with Kanye West (now known as Ye) before he secretly tied the knot with Bianca Censori in 2022. Reports of their divorce are swirling in Hollywood. But that’s a story for another day.
In a recent interview, Sullivan (“This is Us” fame) revealed what sold him on this film, which centres on The Paynes, a family of four who move into a large suburban house inhabited by a poltergeist (referred to as the “Presence”).
And the entire narrative unfolds from the Presence’s point of view.
Sullivan said: “The thing that drew me to this project is Steven Soderbergh. He called me to his office, telling me about this movie he was going to make. And I wasn't quite clear at first if he was asking me to do it or what.
“At the end of the meeting, I was like, ‘Is this an offer? Like, are we going to make this movie? And then he, ‘If you would like to see, of course, I would like to’. So I hadn't even seen the script when he asked if I wanted to make this movie.”
When asked about his initial reaction to the first-person direction of “Presence”, he noted: “It is a risky move. Even as we started shooting, Steven said to me, I don’t know if this is going to work. We hope that it will, but it’s a gamble.
“And it has turned out to be a truly, psychologically thrilling way to tell a story.”
Working with Soderbergh evokes joy and pressure for most as the Oscar-winning director and producer goes against the grain when it comes to storytelling.
This project was no different.
Therefore, Sullivan explained that getting into character as Nic differed from his usual preparation process.
He laughed as he pointed out that “it just involves being ready”; knowing your lines and moving at the film-maker’s fast pace.
Interestingly, the film was shot in 11 days, which is reportedly unheard of.
As for Sullivan’s favourite scene, he admitted: “It was shooting the living room scene that ended up upstairs, where the first kind of outburst from the Presence is involved. The whole family dynamic was there.
“And then there was all of this supernatural kind of outburst from the Presence and I want to remind people when they see this film is that all of the haunting is practical. There were no special effects. It was not done digitally later.”
The 44-year-old actor couldn’t conceal his excitement over working alongside Liu.
He admitted: “When I met with Steven, he said you and Lucy Liu will be the parents to these teenage children; it was surreal. In my career and life, I’ve grown up watching Lucy.
“She's an action hero. She's a legend. She's an icon. She's all of these things. And so, to be married to her in this family drama was surreal, it was lovely.
“She's a very generous person, friend and performer.”
He added: “Julia was incredible. I had, you know, she had come into my realm of consciousness very, very recently. And I was just like, I can't believe that she's here. She's here for this day. It was incredible.”
That Sullivan is a huge fan of Soderbergh was evident in the way he spoke about the director.
When asked about his favourite Soderbergh movie and why, the actor noted: “We could get real granular with all of Steven's film-making work, but I think the reason that ‘Ocean's 11’ is my favourite Soderbergh film is you see somebody who is this king of independent, cutting edge filmmaking, disrupting the studio process with his style, sense of humour, pace and his innovation.
“And so it's this perfect storm of this unbeatable cast, this unbeatable director who are given essentially the keys to the castle to make a studio picture. It's a perfect movie. You can watch that movie endlessly over and over and over again.”
On the film-maker proving his Midas touch with the latest film, he noted: “Steven has proven through this that you can allow the audience to experience what they want to experience by just showing them these situations without a bunch of cutting and jumping around.”
Sullivan summed up the movie in three words: “Heartbreaking, innovative and terrifying.”
∎ “Presence” is showing at cinemas nationwide.