The Watchers is now playing in theaters, and the new film stars Dakota Fanning (Once Upon a Time in Hollywood), Georgina Campbell (Barbarian), Oliver Finnegan (Outlander), and Olwen Fouere (The Northman). However, there is another star in the film: a yellow parrot Fanning’s character names Darwin. ComciBook recently had the chance to chat with Fanning and Campbell who spoke about their experiences working alongside the animal.
“It’s funny because it’s the second time I’ve actually worked with a parrot,” Fanning explained. “There was a parrot in Man on Fire that bit me in a scene that didn’t end up in the movie. Maybe because the parrot bit me, but, so this is my second time working with a parrot. This parrot was much easier going, did its thing, a lot of people loved this parrot, were so excited when it was on set. … I did have to hold it one time and it did also bite me. Not badly, it kind of was trying to climb, using my fingers to climb on, but with its beak. So there was one time where I was like – Eddie was the animal wrangler on set- I was like, ‘Eddie, Eddie, it’s biting me! Take it!’”
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“I didn’t really touch the bird. It was her bird,” Campbell explained. “She was dealing with the bird, but the bird was wandering around, hanging out with us. It was a very sweet bird and it couldn’t fly, which was kind of like, ‘Oh, bless her.’ But yeah, she was a good bird.”
What Is The Watchers About?
The Watchers follows an artist (Fanning) named Mina “who gets stranded in an expansive, untouched forest in western Ireland.” Mina eventually finds shelter, but she “unknowingly becomes trapped alongside three strangers who are watched and stalked by mysterious creatures each night.”
Joining writer/director Ishana Night Shyamalan behind the camera are director of photography Eli Arenson (Lamb, Hospitality), production designer Ferdia Murphy (Lola, Finding You), editor Job ter Burg (Benedetta, Elle), and costume design by Frank Gallacher (Sebastian, Aftersun). The music is by Abel Korzeniowski (Till, The Nun). The film is produced by M. Night Shyamalan, Ashwin Rajan, and Nimitt Mankad. The executive producers are Jo Homewood and Stephen Dembitzer.
“Well, it was very much just imagining what the four or five of these people were like, and what they would be like together. Then, as the continual lesson that I learned during the filmmaking process, there’s just a certain alchemy that happens,” the filmmaker revealed during a Q&A in which ComicBook.com was in attendance. “If you’re lucky enough to catch it, you do. With this path, there were all these movements that just led to this group being together. They have such an electric energy when they’re all together. It’s really, really cool. It’s so fun. It felt like theater!”
The Watchers is now playing in theaters.
