No Exit Star Describes Prep For Unraveling Hulu's New Mystery Thriller

No Exit traveled a cast and crew down to New Zealand in 2021 to film an adaptation of the 2017 novel by the same name. The film has its deviations from the source material but maintains the core premise of strangers being trapped together with a kidnapper among them. David Rysdahl checks into the film as Lars, starring with Havana Rose Liu, Danny Ramirez, Dennis Haysbert, and Dale Dickey. Throughout the film, the characters, their relationships, the environment, and their well-being devolve into chaos. Rysdahl opened up about the process of prepping for this intense story in an exclusive interview with ComicBook.com.

"I read the book right after and I was like, 'Oh, we're doing a something a little different than the book, in my opinion,'" Rysdahl recalled. "It's written from Darby's perspective, and then when you come in as an actor, you're doing the whole movie through your perspective. So, me as Lars, I really tried to, you know... I'm sitting there, finding him in myself where I felt uncomfortable, where I felt like the loner, the one who kind of wants to be around and wants be connected. You know, for me, a lot of what Lars is... The interesting part is, there's the initial perspective of who he is and then you get to hopefully, throughout the movie, see a whole different dimension of him."

Readers may have gotten a taste of what Rysdahl is teasing, as No Exit will take its viewers on a roller coaster this weekend where they will hit highs, lows, and twists with each of the characters throughout the ride. Rysdahl has his own metaphors to compare the unraveling of each character's role in the film and who they each truly are. "As we were going through the hair and the makeup, in my audition, I had all that hair," Rysdahl explained. "I was like, 'They're gonna see us in this way, but can we take the onion and unroll it through the film and see a different side of this person?' And for me, that's a big part of what the film is. It's about seeing these characters who are often judged or seen as two dimensional and like opening up to a third dimension by the end of it and that reveal in all of them. All of them have secrets, all of them have subconscious', and our different yearnings."

Prepping for No Exit came with an unexpected advantage, whether the cast wanted it or not. Upon arriving in New Zealand to film, the country's COVID protocols required new visitors to quarantine for two weeks. Rysdahl, much like his co-star Danny Ramirez, used that time get into the headspace of his Lars character who was also stuck in a place he may have been ready to escape. "I try to use everything that I'm feeling on set in the character," Rysdahl explained. "It was very easy on this one because Lars and David, even though we're very different, I would feel similar to what Lars was feeling. Anytime I felt uncomfortable, I'd just, I'd be like, 'Alrright, that's what Lars is feeling. That's what I'm feeling.' Allow myself just to be in that place."

You can see ComicBook.com's full interview with David Rysdahl in the video above or on our YouTube channel! Are you excited for No Exit? Share your thoughts in the comment section or send them my way on Instagram! No Exit starts streaming on Hulu on Friday.