Toni Collette actually had a lovely time filming Hereditary and The Staircase
"The heavier stuff can sometimes actually be really pleasant," Collette tells The A.V. Club in a new interview
Toni Collette’s career is the proof: keeping an open mind can take you to some memorably horrifying places. In a new interview with The A.V. Club, Collette explains that some of her most frightening roles have been some of the most fun to film, as long as she follows her instincts.
“I think it’s a matter of timing,” Collette tells Murtada Elfadl. “It’s just whatever floats in front of me and if I vibe with it.”
According to Collette, trusting in vibes has led her to pursue—and enjoy—roles in some thoroughly harrowing projects. Collette describes filming Hereditary as “really pleasant” — the same film where a deranged, bereft monologue by Collette is the centerpiece at one of the most nightmarish onscreen family dinners in recent memory.
The Staircase, a based-on-a-true-story doozy following the gruesome death via head trauma of Collette’s character, had its own special magic for her as well. Collette shares that, despite the “hideous story,” filming The Staircase was “the most rejuvenating fantastic time. It was really very fun.” It appears the right attitude—and Parker Posey—really can bring mirth to any source material.
“It’s just a matter of what comes in at the time and whether or not I connect with it,” Collette says of how she selects roles. “It’s really that simple. I don’t have any game plan at all.”
Most recently, Collette has taken her talents to the decidedly lighter film The Estate, a new comedy from Death At A Funeral scribe Dean Craig. In the film, Collette and Anna Faris are sisters vying for their wealthy aunt’s—played by the indomitable Kathleen Turner—inheritance.
Collette says she was drawn to the film in part because of an affinity for her character, the “really sweet, but kind of downtrodden” Macey, who struggles with her self-esteem.
“I think a lot of people have that kind of self-loathing,” Collette says of her character. “And when you place all of those very serious feelings about oneself into a comedic arena, it creates a really fun tone to play with.”