“I’m so addicted to pushing people out of their comfort zone,” Shyamalan tells EW.
“Maybe I’m becoming obsessed by it.
But what about this story clicked with you?
Alex Wolff in ‘Old.'.Universal Pictures
M. NIGHT SHYAMALAN:I probably was suspicious of it at first.
Anything my daughters give me has, like, a magic dust on it.
So when they gave me this graphic novel as a present it immediately meant a lot to me.
Gael García Bernal and Vicky Krieps in ‘Old’.Universal Pictures
So I was suspicious about how much it was affecting me for that reason.
But it stayed with me.
I kept it in my bag and kept thinking about it.
Gael García Bernal and M. Night Shyamalan on the set of ‘Old’.Phobymo/Universal Pictures
So that’s what ended up happening.
The cast is very international.
I’m assuming that was a deliberate decision on your part?
M. Night Shyamalan on the set of ‘Old’.Phobymo/Universal Pictures
How can I say this?
I existed before everyone became woke.
Yet I’m an immigrant.
I was born in India.
It doesn’t have to be a political agenda it’s just naturally what the story wants.
They’re from everywhere!
Could you talk about how you aged the characters?
There’s actually a lot of stuff going on there.
Yeah, there is.
I find it much easier [when] another actor’s playing that age, like inThe GodfatherorMoonlight.
We did a combination of many things to convey aging.
I changed the cast.
You shot the film in the Dominican Republic.
What was it like making a movie somewhere other than Philadelphia?
It was the intention to make myself feel differently and do things in a different way.
We were quarantined as well we all were in this bubble in this hotel.
So that was really different.
We wereobsessed just always about the movie.
Normally, there’s a slower cadence when I shoot.
Is it true you almost ended the film in a different way?
You know, I’ve heard this a bunch and don’t know where it came from.
So that has always been the same.
So it’s always like, “Raise that music!”
“Change that!”
“Do this!”
“Can we do a different sound effect over here?”
Have you wrapped season 3 of [your Apple+ series]Servant?
We did, and now I’m editing all the episodes and starting to compose and all that stuff.
One last question aboutOld: Are you still finding sand in your shoes?
Oldhits theaters July 23.
Watch the trailer above.
