Haunted Mansion Star Owen Wilson Is Sad He Didn’t Get To Work With Jamie Lee Curtis (Exclusive)

Haunted Mansion is hitting theaters next week, and the Disney movie features a star-studded cast of actors. Owen Wilson is taking on the role of Father Kent, and he recently talked to ComicBook.com about being a part of the Disney legacy. Wilson shares the screen with some big stars in Haunted Mansion, but he didn’t get the chance to work with Jamie Lee Curtis. Curtis plays Madame Leota, a fan-favorite from the Haunted Mansion ride, but considering she’s a floating head in a crystal ball, she wouldn’t have filmed all of her scenes with the rest of the cast. In fact, Wilson recently told us that he was disappointed that he didn’t get to spend more time with the Halloween legend. 

“Well, I didn’t get to work with Jamie Lee Curtis, and I was a little bit sort of, ‘Oh, gosh. That’s too bad.’ But that was only sort of made more clear, because we were doing some press the other day, and she has great energy, and she’s a very formidable person. I’m a bit more slow, from Texas, and she’s, you know… But I really enjoy her energy … It’s a great cast. I think that’s kind of been one of the pleasures, hopefully, for people in seeing this movie is sort of seeing the different famous faces that pop up.”

While Wilson did not get the chance to work with Curtis much while making Haunted Mansion, he was excited to share the screen with Danny DeVito, who plays a historian named Bruce Davis in the film. 

“I couldn’t ask to be slapped by anyone better and more impressive and great than Danny DeVito,” Wilson joked. “And that is kind of somebody that I was really excited to work with. And my friend, Woody Harrelson. They’re friends and Woody had just said how great Danny is. And so it was fun to finally get to know him.” 

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

Does Owen Wilson Believe in Ghosts?

Haunted Mansion takes place in New Orleans, so the cast spent a lot of time in the city, which many believe to be haunted. During our interview with Wilson, we asked about his time in New Orleans and whether or not he believes in ghosts.

“Well you know, I’d been to New Orleans I think twice, always for just kind of a day at a time, where I never really understood why people kind of love it so much,” Wilson explained. “And this time, being there for a while, I was like, ‘Okay, this is a great city.’ There’s always the food and the music, but just walking around and the sense of history. And it does feel like you’re kind of walking in ancient footprints and you can see why that sort of lends itself to kind of a place where ghosts would like to gather. ” 

“I do,” Wilson replied when asked if he believes in ghosts. “I do. I’ve kind of been changing my answer, because earlier on it was, ‘I’d like to. I’ve never experienced it.’ But I think that there is more going on than meets the eye.” He added, “And I like the idea that there’s something supernatural. Just that word, ‘supernatural.’” 

Haunted Mansion lands in theaters on July 28th.

Editors note: This interview was conducted prior to the SAG actors’ strike.