Trap: How Saleka Shyamalan Created a Brand-New Pop Star Inspired by Rihanna

M. Night Shyamalan’s daughters are having quite a big year. First, Ishana Night Shyamalan directed her first feature film, The Watchers, and now Saleka Shyamalan is starring in Trap alongside Josh Hartnett. The new horror/thriller was directed by the senior Shyamalan and follows a man who gets stuck at a concert with his daughter while the police try to catch a serial killer. In Trap, Saleka Shyamalan plays Lady Raven, the film’s famous pop star who is putting on the concert. Saleka Shyamalan is a singer-songwriter, so it’s no surprise her dad cast her in the role. ComicBook recently had the chance to chat with the younger Shyamalan who revealed her character was inspired by Rihanna. 

“Obviously the music was a huge element and kind of the foundation for everything and then led to ‘What’s the style of costumes?’ ‘What’s the style of choreography and the stage?’ and all that kind of stuff and the music is pop music, but it has a lot of darkness to it,” Shyamalan explained. “It has a lot of edge to it and a lot of different influences which I love, which is jazz music, R&B music, Indian and Latin influences, and kind of this tinge of an international feel to it, which was really important to me”

“Definitely,” she added when asked if playing Lady Raven has influenced her own music. “I think writing for film and television is a great exercise in kind of getting out of your own head because you’re not thinking about yourself. You can’t think about yourself. You’re writing through another character. And so there’s a feeling I maybe wouldn’t write about in my own song, but I get to express it through her and it’s amazing. So I really want to take that with me.”

“I would say for the aesthetic, we were inspired by a few people. One was Rihanna and kind of … the way that her choreography and her dancers and the color blocking and her sets and all that kind of stuff, incredible performances. And then Rosalía was another one, choreography and how she kind of blends her culture with pop music and flamenco and all these kinds of things and the choreography, like insinuating that, but easy to follow along with.”

You can watch our interview with Shyamalan at the top of the page. 

What Is Trap About?

In Trap, “A father and teen daughter attend a pop concert, where they realize they’re at the center of a dark and sinister event.” Written and directed by M. Night Shyamalan, Trap stars Josh Hartnett, Ariel Donoghue, Saleka Shyamalan, Hayley Mills and Allison Pill. The film is produced by Ashwin Rajan, Marc Bienstock, and M. Night Shyamalan. The executive producer is Steven Schneider.

The director of photography is Sayombhu Mukdeeprom (Call Me by Your Name). The production designer is Debbie de Villa (The Hating Game). It is edited by Noëmi Preiswerk and the music is by Herdĭs Stefănsdŏttir (Knock at the Cabin). The music supervisor is Susan Jacobs (Old); the costume designer is Caroline Duncan (Old). The casting is by Douglas Aibel (Asteroid City).

Warner Bros. Pictures Presents A Blinding Edge Pictures Production, An M. Night Shyamalan Film: Trap. The film will be distributed worldwide by Warner Bros. Pictures, in theaters only nationwide on August 9th and internationally beginning on August 1st.