Matt Konopka sits down with star Kathryn Newton to discuss ‘The Devil Mouth’ and the difficulties of aquatic horror.
Kathryn Newton has been on a steady rise throughout her career. Following appearances in films like Paranormal Activity 4 and Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri, she smashed onto the horror scene with her role as a young woman possessed by a killer in Freaky. That has since led to Newton appearing in multiple genre films as of late, from Lisa Frankenstein to Abigail and Ready or Not 2: Here I Come, with plenty more lined up. This week, you can catch her diving into aquatic horror with the sharksploitation film, The Devil’s Mouth.
Directed by Jeff Wadlow (Imaginary), The Devil’s Mouth follows Newton as Sara, a young woman constantly under the thumb of her best friend (Lana Condor). The pair and a group of friends decide to explore The Devil’s Mouth cave system in Thailand for one last adventure. But once there, they find themselves hunted by a deadly shark. Now, they must work together to escape…but can Sara get her friends to listen to what she knows is right for the first time in their friendship?
Personally? I’m terrified of the water. You can’t get me to step further than a few feet into the ocean. All I can think about is what might be lurking below the surface. So, naturally, shark horror has a particularly nerve-wracking effect on me. As for Newton, though, the actress is, unsurprisingly, much braver than I am.
“You can panic easily if you think a little too hard about not being able to know,” says Newton after I ask if she has a fear of the water. “When you don’t know something, your fears are bigger. Like, I love horror films where you never see the monster, because it’s always scarier in your head than what anyone can ever show you.”
I couldn’t agree more! Jaws…Alien…just about every monster movie ever made…they all prove that the unknown is always scarier in our minds than what appears on screen.
Newton adds, “I didn’t panic ever on this movie, but it’s because I’m an actor, and I’m a delusional actor who thinks I can do anything. If you tell me I can do something, I’m like, for sure. I think I can, too. And our director, Jeff Wadlow, really thought I could do anything. I agreed with him. So, I didn’t have any fear, but that’s because I was on a set where I knew I was safe. But, yeah, when they say action, and I go down there, and I’m holding my breath…I hit my head multiple times, thinking I was coming up for air…there’s a lot of elements you just can’t control. So you just gotta trust yourself.”
I wasn’t there, but I believe Newton when she says she had no fear and was up for whatever Devil’s Mouth threw at her. Throughout, she’s climbing wet rocks, crawling through tight tunnels, and swimming for her life. Movie set or not, I’m not sure I could handle a single day of that, more or less weeks.
But that’s the nature of an aquatic horror film. These movies are notoriously difficult to make, and it wasn’t without its challenges for Newton…though she did have some help along the way. “I would say this one was my most physically demanding role because I was in the water twelve hours a day. I didn’t think about it that much, though. I just thought I was capable.The cast really helped me, though. Lana Condor is an incredible actress, and she was really my partner in this film. It’s really our film, and she’s so fun, and, like, the love of my life, and just brought it on, you know? She was a scary character, too. A type of horror that only a teenage girl can understand.”
Courtesy of Amazon MGM Studios
Having seen the film, I can attest just how well Newton and Condor work together. The two may have a rocky relationship on-screen, but their strong chemistry carries The Devil’s Mouth, a film that’s more about difficult friendships than it is about a hungry shark.
Interestingly enough, though, Newton wanted to play the part of Condor’s character. “I actually really wanted to play Lana’s character. I thought it was an easier connection. She’s a larger-than-life character. You know, she can entertain us in a different way. Sarah is a little more internal, and things are happening inside, and I had to show it a different way. I just thought it was going to be hard. I didn’t know if I’d be able to do it. And Jeff was like, no, you got to be Sarah.”
While I think Newton would’ve killed the part, I’ve enjoyed watching her play characters who are typically either underdogs or severely underestimated. “Maybe that’s just where I’m at,” considers Newton. “You know, life imitates art. Maybe that’s just what I’m attracting. I like movies where you start one way, and you end another way. The roles kind of find you. I’m a big advocate for saying yes. You know, a lot of people are like, ‘No’ is your superpower. I think my superpower is saying yes and then making it good.”
I couldn’t agree more. It’s a mantra that has certainly worked for Newton, whose hard work continues to pay off in a big way. Saying yes means she already has multiple roles lined up, including huge films like Avengers: Doomsday or the Christmas horror movie, White Elephant.
As for sticking with the horror genre, though? “I have a lot of fun doing these movies, and I hope to continue to do that.”
We hope so, too!
Catch Kathryn Newton in The Devil’s Mouth when the film swims onto Amazon Prime Video on July 29th.
