The Conjuring Stars Reveal the Personal Impact of Bringing Ed and Lorraine Warren to Life

Paranormal enthusiasts have known about the exploits of Ed and Lorraine Warren for years, as they were arguably the most prominent experts in the field, with Patrick Wilson and Vera Farmiga‘s portrayals of the Warrens in The Conjuring films bringing even more attention to their investigations. Not only do the performers have to honor the stories being told in the film series, they also have to find a way to honor the real-life figures they’re bringing to life, giving them a new appreciation not only of the supernatural, but also of what the Warrens accomplished as partners. The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It, the pair’s latest adventure as the Warrens, hits theaters and HBO Max on June 4th.

“I love the story because, to me, it’s a story about compassion and it is a love story,” Farmiga detailed to ComicBook.com. “The film has a real philosophic … it’s a philosophic musing on the nature of love. And that means ‘agape,’ which is unconditional God love, ‘eros,’ romantic love, ‘storge,’ empathy love … by nature of what they did, ‘Philia, friend love, by virtue of the people that they grew to love and people they tried to help. I don’t know, the whole thing is super … this is one of these projects that, it’s different than other characterizations were. You actually have to consider the spiritual wellness and wellbeing of the character that you’re playing. It’s a whole other dimension of what to consider, character-wise. And I love that. It makes me look at myself, it makes me look at whatever your concept of God, like how does that negativity, how does that enter the equation of your life?”

The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It reveals a chilling story of terror, murder, and unknown evil that shocked even experienced real-life paranormal investigators Ed and Lorraine Warren. One of the most sensational cases from their files, it starts with a fight for the soul of a young boy, then takes them beyond anything they’d ever seen before, to mark the first time in U.S. history that a murder suspect would claim demonic possession as a defense.

While both Farmiga and Wilson got to meet the real-life Lorraine Warren before her passing, Ed passed away years before the first The Conjuring was being developed. Given the nature of their investigations, Wilson confirmed that, were he to ever feel the presence of Ed Warren in an otherworldly capacity, his questions for him might be rather innocuous.

“I just look at everything like right in front of me. I don’t think about, ‘Oh, if I only had the chance.’ I think I would be so nervous at this point, because I feel like I’m crafted my own version of him in my head,” Wilson detailed of a supernatural message he’d want to deliver Ed Warren. “That I wouldn’t want him to screw up. It’s like when you meet a rock star, you’re like, ‘I wanna meet you, but I kind of don’t cause you may totally blow it for me.’ No, that would be super fun. I would love to just drill him about the smallest little things that no one would ever notice. Like. ‘I always carried a knife in my pocket,’ or something like that. Which he probably did, actually, now that I really think about it. He seems like one of those guys.”

The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It hits theaters and HBO Max on June 4th.

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