The Big Picture

Anthony Mackie and Morena Baccarin talk to Collider exclusively about the physically and emotionally challenging scenes they shot in
Elevation
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The ski-lift scene is a terrifying standout in the film, featuring real-life fear from the stars.
Mackie and Baccarin joke about a potential MCU crossover while showcasing their chemistry for intense action.

When it comes to the dark, desolate landscapes in apocalyptic movies, it’s no secret these dystopian portraits capture our imagination in striking ways. By exploring innate layers of resilience that push characters to their limits, director George Nolfi’s quiet horror film, Elevation taps into that very fascination by thrusting audiences into a world where survival is measured by altitude. Set in the Colorado Rockies, the 90-minute feature follows Anthony Mackie and Morena Baccarin’s characters as they move from the safety of their mountaintop refuge into dangerous territory, risking everything to confront monstrous creatures that have decimated humanity. In an interview with Collider, the pair get candid about their characters’ intense journeys and behind-the-scenes moments that were more than just physically and emotionally challenging.

But before the two share any stories from the set of their survival horror movie out in theatres now, the dynamic pair partake in some much-needed levity and reveal their end-of-the-world staples. While Baccarin doesn’t give it a second thought before choosing “red wine” as the perfect complement to macaroni and cheese — an item found by the survivors in the film — Mackie’s burst of laughter leads him to share a practical, yet hearty meal he’d pick.

“I know a lot of people gonna think this country, but I’m from Louisiana… it’s a delicacy — potted meat,” he said, laughing. Explaining further, he asked his co-star, “You never had potted meat?… It’s like Louisiana pâté. That’s what we call it. And if you put a little hot sauce on it on some Club crackers… that apocalypse is gonna be popping.”

How Mackie & Baccarin Help Balance ‘Elevation’s Horror
“Once he starts to realize what’s at stake, he really opens up and purges all of those demons.”

Set in a post-apocalyptic world where humanity is forced to live above 8,000 feet to escape deadly creatures below, Mackie and Baccarin’s characters, Will and Nina, are thrust together to save his young son’s life — and possibly everyone. This high-stakes journey, though, is far more complex than a simple survival story, as the pair brings emotional depth to the film to counterbalance its intense horror. While Nina is every bit a blend of hero and antihero considering the knowledge she has about the situation, Baccarin sees it more as a grounded role where she can shed some layers, particularly with “no makeup” and dreading her hair.

“George [Nolfi] and John Glenn, the writer, imbued this character with having so much unsaid that was buried deep,” she tells Collider. “Having to play the scientist aspect with all that stuff underneath made her very complicated and easy to play — not easy, but a clear character to play. With Anthony and Maddie [Hasson] on set, we all had very clear perspectives of who we were and how we fit into the story together, and it really created a good tension between the three of us.” It’s this quiet complexity that adds a grounded realism to the film’s horror elements.

Mackie’s character Will, on the other hand, a single father, must confront his own trauma and mistrust of Nina, whom he initially despises. Yet as the journey continues, this tension evolves between the pair, allowing him to “purge all of those demons that are behind him and forgive her” for what happened. “With this character specifically, there’s so much trauma and so much history that he’s come through with Nina that once he starts to let that go and once he starts to realize what’s at stake, he really opens up,” he says, adding how Nina unravels Will’s layers. “She’s really brought him to the brink of surviving this ordeal, so, it’s more of the friendship-based reality that helps him as opposed to anything else in a script or a movie and because it’s Morena.”

‘Elevation’ Elevated Its Monstrosity With That Ski-Lift Scene
“The best thing about doing these movies with action sequences is you get to do stuff you would never usually do.”

While the relationship between Mackie and Baccarin’s characters is central to Elevation and helps set the tone for the horrors they endure, nothing will brace viewers for the terrifying ski-lift scene that is a true standout from Nolfi’s latest. For a shoot that involved a hair-raising ski lift drop, the actors admit the fear on their faces was no act. It’s also something Mackie jokingly teases was the “don’t kill Maddie [Hasson] scene,” a reference to their co-star who rounds out the dynamic trio as they hunt monsters. “All the screams were real,” he adds.

“I think he really enjoyed it, though. At one point, we did a lot of that practically, like on an actual ski lift, not too high up — our stunt doubles did a lot of the higher-up stuff — and then they took us to a stage. Then we had this one day where they put us on a ski chair lift and dropped us 20…?” Baccarin says. “Twenty feet in the air. I cried, I screamed, and [Anthony]’s like, “Can we go again?” While Mackie admits through laughs that “it was a lot of fun” and likens it to “an amusement park ride,” he says the best thing about these movies is the action sequences, which are rare to do in some projects.

Related The 10 Best Anthony Mackie Movies, Ranked Nothing but respect for our Captain America.

Reflecting on their behind-the-scenes dynamics, Mackie further teases how Baccarin “kind of clicked together” with their co-star Hasson against him. “Pretty much it was the three of us, so I was, like, isolated in the corner most of the time, and they were plotting on me on how to get rid of me,” he says. Baccarin laughs, countering, “No, not to get rid of you. Just to educate you about songs, like ‘Running Up That Hill.’” She goes on to credit Mackie with showing her how to “look like I knew what I was doing when I was holding a gun and running up a hill,” while he quips that there could be “just a movie of bloopers with the running and the shooting.”

Could Mackie & Baccarin Star Together in the MCU…?!?
“It would be a great fight scene, put it that way.”

After Deadpool & Wolverine, we’ve learned just about anything is possible in the MCU, which got us thinking: Could Mackie and Baccarin ever pair up in the Marvel Cinematic Universe? With Mackie taking on the shield in the upcoming Captain America: Brave New World next year and Baccarin, no doubt, coming back for another Deadpool movie after the blockbuster summer pulled in big bucks for Disney thanks to a team-up between Ryan Reynolds and Hugh Jackman, the universe is, no doubt, getting bigger with more potential stories to tell about our favorite heroes.

When the question gets posed to the pair and the kind of moment they’d share on-screen, they can’t help but burst into laughter. “That’s a very weird combination,” Baccarin says through a chuckle while Mackie suggests, “It would be a great fight scene, put it that way.” Turning to her co-star, Baccarin admits it would be “scrappy” as Mackie agrees and adds it would “definitely be the whole room, tow-up fight scene.”

With this kind of camaraderie that could only fuel fresh MCU crossover dynamics, the two prove they’ve got chemistry to handle intense action; whether it’s taking on supervillains in a future Marvel movie or running up even more hills as Elevation ends on a rather ambiguous note for sequel hopes, leaning into its dark, muted horror much like A Quiet Place for franchise potential.

Elevation is now in theatres.

n the post-apocalyptic Rockies, a father and two women risk their lives by facing monstrous creatures to save a young boy.Release Date November 8, 2024 Director George Nolfi Cast Anthony Mackie , Morena Baccarin , Maddie Hasson , Danny Boyd Jr. , Ian Hummel , Shauna Earp , James Anthony Perez , Dave Malkoff , Drexel Malkoff , Mike Hickman , Gregg S. Perry , Dalila Orozco Runtime 90 Minutes Main Genre Sci-Fi Writers Jacob Roman , Kenny Ryan Expand

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