In the horror feature film CuckooDan Stevens (Downtown Abbey, Legion) has the difficult task of embodying the villain of the story, Herr König, the owner of a tourist complex in Germany where mystery reigns. A character freely inspired by the German poem Erlkönig (The Erlking), where the fairy king lures children into a forest to murder them. “It’s a very dark and twisted story. All the ancient and mythical elements, I found them particularly interesting,” Dan Stevens says in an interview with The duty, ahead of the film’s presentation at the Fantasia festival.
A very particular villain that the actor describes as being “mischievously funny, strange and mischievous.”
Manipulative, mischievous and indeed very strange, Dan Stevens’ character shares the screen with that of Hunter Schafer (Gretchen). She moves – apparently against her will – with her father, her stepmother and her half-sister in a small community in the German Alps. It is there that Herr König, a long-time friend of the parents and leader of the community, welcomes them. And – as is the horror film – it is also there that everything goes wrong for Gretchen.
But before it all turns into a bloodbath, it’s easy to see how different König and Gretchen are. One is at home, the other is a stranger. An “unusual discrepancy” that Dan Stevens found particularly interesting when he first read the script. “I have this weird, timeless character playing opposite this very modern girl,” he explains. For him, the story is a “delicious dance” between the two central characters. An element he found “very amusing” during production.
A director with a “unique vision”
Another aspect that convinced Dan Stevens to participate in Cuckooits director, Tilman Singer. He admits to being an admirer of the filmmaker and particularly liking “his unique vision.” “It was immediately very, very alive for me,” says the actor, referring to the moment he was able to read the script. Ultimately, it was the story, which he describes as “very original,” that won him over. “There was this kind of unusual element and dark fairy tale that I found very cool ” he says.
At 36 and 41 years old respectively, Tilman Singer and Dan Stevens are from the same generation and thus have “a lot in common, even if[ils] don’t come[nent] not from the same country.” Tilman Singer comes from Germany, while Dan Stevens is British. This complicity allowed the creation of a friendship during the filming of Cuckoo. “It’s not the case with all directors,” the actor warns, “but it’s always nice when you develop a friendship while working with someone. I feel really happy to now be able to count him among my friends.”
Dan Stevens worked with Tilman Singer to create the big screen version of Herr Krönig. One thing both men were certain of: to achieve a successful character, he had to be more than a traditional villain.
“I think it’s always important to approach the antagonist with the understanding that he doesn’t see himself as a bad guy. In fact, Krönig really sees himself as purer and better than everyone else because his work is important to him and nothing else matters,” Stevens says. “That mindset seemed pretty funny to us, and it helped differentiate him from a typical villain and ultimately give him something that feels very real with this character,” he says.
In familiar territory
One of the first lines Dan Stevens speaks in Cuckoo is a ” Good day ” particularly well done, and it is no coincidence. The actor in fact learned German at a very young age and speaks it fluently. “We had family friends who lived there, and I love Germany. It’s familiar territory for me.”
Cuckoo was filmed in Düsseldorf, Cologne and Wiesbaden, Germany. “A real pleasure” for the actor, who admits to having a soft spot for the German countryside. The shoot “also allowed him to see some more unusual parts of Germany, which was great,” says Dan Stevens.
What he remembers best is the “real” aspect of the filming. Many special effects were used, whether it was the (numerous) injuries that Gretchen suffers or the sets that react directly to the filmed action.
But what Stevens particularly enjoyed was the physicality that dancer Kalin Morrow, who plays a character best kept secret, brought to the set. “I love working with dancers, seeing the really, really unsettling effects they can create with just their bodies. It’s really magical, to see them do that without any cinematic effects.”
An element, assures Dan Stevens, that he will try to bring to the next horror films in which he plays.