Summary

Collider’s Perri Nemiroff chats with The Monkey’s Christian Convery.

Convery plays the younger version of Theo James’ Hal and Bill, two twin brothers plagued by a deadly toy monkey in this adaptation of the Stephen King short story.

During this interview, Convery talks about working with Tatiana Maslany, playing two characters, and finding joy and humor on set.

It’s always fascinating to see young actors holding their own in horror, especially for a horror movie as bloody and unforgiving as Osgood Perkins’ (Longlegs) latest feature, The Monkey. In the movie, Christian Convery (Sweet Tooth) has the task of playing not one but two characters as the younger version of twin brothers Hal and Bill, also played by Theo James (The White Lotus).
Based on the Stephen King short story, The Monkey is a grisly adaptation about a toy monkey that mysteriously causes gruesome deaths. Working alongside James and Tatiana Maslany (Orphan Black), Convery not only holds his own, but he finds joy on set, and is so charmingly grateful for the chance to tackle scenes under Perkins’ direction.
Talking with Collider’s Perri Nemiroff, Convery shares which scene brought him the most happiness on set, despite being “a pretty brutal death,” discussed how he managed to find the nuance of Hal and Bill, and revealed which scene the “outstanding” Maslany helped him out in the most. Check out the full conversation in the video above, or you can read the transcript below.
‘The Monkey’ Offered a Unique Acting Experience for This Rising Star

Christian Convery had to master not one but two characters.

PERRI NEMIROFF: When you first took these roles, what single part of making The Monkey were you most looking forward to getting to do?
CHRISTIAN CONVERY: Personally, what really drew me into the script was the fact that I got to play two characters. That right there sets apart any role I’ve ever done, because now I’m playing two roles in one storyline, which can have a lot of complexities and differences than what I’m used to. So, I’m very grateful that I got to be a part of this journey. Collaborating with Oz and Theo James, we got to create nuance and traits that are infused into these characters to create what we see on screen today, and I’m eternally grateful that I got to be a part of this project.
I love hearing that! So you were really excited to play two characters in one film, but was there anything about making The Monkey that wound up being cooler or more creatively fulfilling for you than you ever could have imagined at the start?
CONVERY: Aside from getting to play two characters, what definitely wound up being a cooler part of the movie is absolutely the tone and style that Oz brought into this movie. It’s set in the ‘80s, first of all, which was awesome. I got to research more. I found out that a lot of people wore really baggy jeans, and I love that. So, it was a great trip into the past for me, and I think that was definitely a really cool part of making this movie, aside from being twins. So I’m very grateful. Very grateful.

Image Via Neon

Back to the playing twins element of it, because there are a lot of challenges that you’ve got to manage when you’re doing something like that. First, in terms of your performance, were there any specific things you wanted to do while you were playing Bill and any specific things you wanted to do while playing Hal to make sure the audience always knew they were two different people?
CONVERY: Aside from wardrobe and hair, which, by the way, the team killed and really made these characters come alive, it was definitely black and white, heads and tails, east and west with Hal and Bill. Hal is this shy, timid, bullied kid, and Bill is cocky, overconfident, overreaching. He’s trying to compensate. He’s always out there. So, they’re totally opposite characters. Getting into the headspace for both of those characters was definitely a great part of the acting craft for me. I’m very grateful that I got to be able to do that. With the crew, the wardrobe, the hair, the setting, mood, it definitely made these characters come alive.
So that’s you getting into their headspace. Now how about the blocking and the ultimate VFX you’re going to need to make all of that work? Is there anything about what it takes to film a scene where there are two of you that really surprised you?
CONVERY: When I was there, I had a wonderful body double, Kai, who would also learn my lines, and we would rehearse with each other. We were also collaborating, like, “Why do we move the hand? When do we pick up the object?” So there were a lot of key timings and details, like you said, within the blocking that really, really made this a difficult challenge to overcome. But eventually, we got into this flow where it was just going and going and playing two characters was second nature to us, and I’m very grateful that I had someone to react and play off of. That really helped me. Absolutely, the blocking was definitely a big challenge, but after, we were just smooth sailing the whole rest of the shoot.
What advice would you give to another actor out there who is about to play twins for the first time, and they’re nervous about it?
CONVERY: Remember this: for me, I had to play polar opposites, but for someone else, they may be very similar or different in very little ways, but what it comes down to, really, is how you can sympathize with these characters differently and find what makes them different. Unless they’re completely identical. Then, there you go. Then you have an easy job to do, and you go kill it. But definitely spend the time thinking about these characters, what can separate them, and what nuance and traits you want to differentiate them with.
‘Orphan Black’s Tatiana Maslany Understands Playing More Than One Character

“She was my rock.”

Image via NEON

I obviously have to carve out a little time to talk about working with Tatiana. I think the world of her, and I always love highlighting the value of a good scene partner. Can you give me an example of a time when she was just the scene partner you needed? Maybe you were having a tough time cracking a scene, she gave you something unexpected, and it helped you find where you needed to go?
CONVERY: Well, first of all, Tatiana is outstanding. She’s such a kind soul. She’s amazing. She is the epitome of talented. Referring back to the last question, playing twins, she is the absolute epitome of that. I mean, with Orphan Black, she got to she got to play over I think it was 12 different characters, even 17. Something like that. So, having her there was great. She was my scene partner. She was my rock, and it was great to be able to collaborate with her and get her opinion on things.
One scene that she really held me up on was a dancing scene because we just had to let go and really feel it. She was like, “Yeah, just do this! Let’s get into it.” After a while, we were just sending it. We were in the zone. We were just dancing our hearts out. I think Tatiana is so supportive. She’s definitely a positive role model for any actor out there. You’ve got to look up to her. She is one of a kind. She’s amazing.
Seeing that dance scene made me so happy because one of the most iconic TV scenes of all time is a scene from Orphan Black where it’s something like three or four of her characters all dancing together, and it’s so incredibly well done.
CONVERY: I haven’t watched it, but I definitely should. Tatiana, if you’re watching this, you’re amazing.

Image via NEON 

Related

The Stephen King Adaptation ‘The Monkey’ Scores a Bloody Good Rotten Tomatoes Score

Osgood Perkins’s much-anticipated Stephen King adaptation hits theaters on February 21.

I wanted to end on this particular question because I’m someone who watches horror movies, and even though all this twisted stuff happens in them, they just make me happy. I also find that people who make horror movies are some of the most joyful, loving people out there. Can you tell me the single day of making The Monkey that made you the happiest, even though it’s this dark, twisted, bloody material?
CONVERY: A good example is when we were filming the Babysitter Annie scene when her head just gets chopped off and rolls onto the grill. On the surface level, that doesn’t make me happy—it’s a pretty brutal death—but seeing that people can find joy and happiness and laughter and humor within the darkest of times and the darkest of events just made me happy. The way that Oz crafted this project is involving humor with horror, and I think he absolutely killed it. I think the audience can get a universal message that no matter what situation you’re in, try and find joy and happiness within it and humor.
The Monkey hits theaters on February 21.

The Monkey

Release Date

February 19, 2025

Runtime

98 Minutes

Writers

Osgood Perkins

Producers

John Rickard, Natalia Safran, Ali Jazayeri, Chris Ferguson, Fred Berger, Giuliana Bertuzzi, James Wan, Brian Kavanaugh-Jones, John Friedberg, Jason Cloth, David Gendron, Michael Clear, Jesse Savath, Peter Luo, Dave Caplan

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