The Deliverance Q&A: Glenn Close, Andra Day and Aunjanue Ellis-Taylor on Faith, Darkness and Demons
With a film based on real-life events, Oscar nominated director Lee Daniels (Precious, The Butler) gets out of his comfort zone to bring us the supernatural thriller The Deliverance.
The film involves a home in Indiana whose inhabitants discover strange, demonic occurrences that convince them and the community that the house is a portal to Hell.
The Deliverance stars Andra Day, Glenn Close Aunjanue Ellis-Taylor and Mo'Nique.
Original-Cin’s Bonnie Laufer spoke with Day (who plays a mother whose children exhibit apparent demonic possession), Close and Ellis-Taylor.
The Deliverance is now playing in Toronto at the Bell Lightbox and begins streaming on Netflix on Friday, August 30th.
Mo’Nique, Glenn Close and Andra Day in The Deliverance
CLICK HERE to watch Bonnie’s interview with Director Lee Daniels.
Aunjanue Ellis-Taylor
ORIGINAL-CIN: I honestly don't know how you got through filming some of these scenes? Andra, how did you even begin to connect with your character Ebony?
ANDRA DAY: First, I will say two things. Prayer, and then our director Lee Daniels.
In all honesty though, it was my mom who actually had more in common with Ebony than I did. So, it did require me to dredge up some unresolved things within myself and that dynamic was a journey. I didn’t know that I was ready to face it, but apparently this was the time to face it because I could lend it to Ebony to tell this story. The other part is, Lee. I relied on him a lot. (laughs)
Having already worked with him when I played Billie Holliday (in Lee Daniels' biopic The United States vs. Billie Holiday), a lot of times people ask me, “How do you know if you got a scene?”
My answer is, “If Lee says, I got it, I got it,” and I can trust that. Then with this cast, I'm forever grateful. I would have been fine just being on set with Glenn and watching her work. But also getting the opportunity to watch Mo’Nique and Aunjanue work.
But then they also allowed me to treat them as family and love them as family, and they loved me in the same way.
It was a perfect storm. I had my mom, I had prayer, I had Lee, I had Glenn, Mo’Nique and Aunjanue. I was in good hands and felt supported.
O-C: Aunjanue, you have some pretty difficult and powerful scenes opposite Andra Day. What was it like working with her and getting your rhythm?
AUNJANUE ELLIS-TAYLOR: I loved working with her. She has a porous quality to her, meaning that things go into her easily and come out of her as well. And because of that, it doesn't feel like work. She's just honest in every way. Whatever she's doing, it's honest.
O-C: Glenn, we've seen you play some roles over the years, but getting into (religious grand-matriarch) Alberta’s skin must have been interesting for you. Her hair, her clothing, her faith, and most importantly her attitude is definitely something we have never seen you do before.
GLENN CLOSE: Let me tell you, it was a great journey for me. When Lee called and said he wanted me to play this part I was initially stunned. I had no idea, no clue how to play her.
I told him that I was humbled by this, by my ignorance, and I'm going to rely completely on him and the other cast members to inform me and to help me find who this woman is. We had enough time to prepare before we started, but she was a real challenge. I was told that black women ALL know women like Alberta, but white women don’t. (Laughs)
One of the hardest things for me to wrap my mind around was shifting my perspective on my body, because I've worked in covering up parts of the body that I don't think are pretty. But Alberta's the absolute opposite. Alberta embraces her body and feels sexy and powerful, the way she dresses and for me, it was, it was a revelation.
O.C: Aunjanue, how did you begin to relate to Apostle Bernice James?
ELLIS-TAYLOR: I had a great partnership with my director, Lee Daniels. He gave me a mandate of exactly what he expected. He said at the beginning of the shoot, “I want you to be this woman, and this is who you need to talk to.”
So, he connected me with someone, a man named the Apostle Lewis Dickens. I worked with Apostle Lewis for several months and learned every facet of what his practice is.
This is a man, what you saw me do on screen, this is what he does. He generally practices in West Africa as it is a practice that is directly connected to, particularly West African traditions, religious traditions, and this is what he does.
So, it was, in that way, a bit strange and foreign for me. But I just went head first into it. He wouldn't allow me to do any less, and Lee wouldn't allow me to do any less. I completely lost myself in the process and I had a good time doing it.
O-C: Andra, do you believe in a higher power?
ANDRA DAY: Yes I do. I'm actually Christian, so it mattered to me very much in this movie. It also mattered for me that people saw her overcoming in that way. To watch Alberta in her faith and to not give up on her daughter and not give up on herself.
She could have easily been like, “My history is too, dark so why should I care? So, for me, going into this movie and seeing what these characters went through was my prayer.
At first I wasn't sure about it, but then I realized these are things that people are really terrified of on a daily basis. There's a scripture (John 4:18) that I love that says, “Perfect love casts out all fear.”
And I think that you get to see that exemplified in this movie. I know that was one of Lee's goals as well, too. So, it was very fulfilling for me because of that.
G.C. I believe in a higher power. I don't know if it can be contained in a Church, but I certainly believe in a form of a higher power.
I think also the power of this story is about how powerful darkness is. I think we have to realize that there are dark things in the world, and you have to have strength in order to fight them. You have to have great strength to be able to break the generational cycles that your family is caught up with.
In our family in this movie, there are cycles of abuse. You're doing the best you can within that cycle, and I think it is a metaphor for how you can break that cycle.
ELLIS-TAYLOR: I don't believe in an infallible higher power. I don't believe in misogynistic higher power. I don't believe in a higher power that's rooted in patriarchy, and that is something that I have learned in my church experience.
So, I don't believe in any of that. But I do believe in love, and love is the evidence of the existence of higher power.