In case you’ve been living under a particularly heavy rock, the movie that everyone is talking about right now is Longlegs. A Silence of the Lambs style crime thriller, it stars Maika Monroe as Lee Harker, an FBI agent trying to track down a particularly enigmatic serial killer known as Longlegs, played by an utterly unrecognisable Nicolas Cage.

Monroe is no horror newbie, she is a bonafide scream queen thanks to her roles in Adam Wingard’s The Guest, Chloe Okuno’s Watcher, and her star-making performance in David Robert Mitchell’s It Follows.
We caught up with Maika after Longlegs’ insane opening weekend to discuss the film’s mainstream success, her scream queen success and the much-hyped sequel to It Follows — They Follow.

Warning: the following interview contains spoilers for Longlegs.

Barry Pierce: Hey, how are you?
Maika Monroe: I’m good. It’s been pretty crazy recently but it’s all quite exciting. 

BP: I can imagine you’ve been busy.
MM: Yes, but y’know, when it’s a project you’re proud of it makes it easier.

BP: You must be delighted, Longlegs feels like one of the biggest horror films for quite some time.
MM: When you’re making a film you never know. You can like the script, you can like the people, it can feel special, but there are so many pieces that have to align. I just feel very lucky.

BP: You are one of our preeminent scream queens, what is it like to hold such a regal title?
MM: I grew up watching horror, I love horror movies. Of course, it was never my plan when I was entering the industry to only do horror. But when I look back at my career and the films I’ve done, the ones that I’m most proud of are those in the horror genre. People still love and talk about a film I made ten years ago – they connect to them.

“I grew up watching horror, I love horror movies.”

BP: Horror films do tend to have that longevity to them, in a way that you don’t see in any other genre. Films tend to come and go but horror films stick around. Like It Follows, people still talk about that film regularly and, like you said, it came out ten years ago now. 
MM: I wonder why that is? It’s very interesting.

BP: Maybe it’s something to do with horror being about shock, it’s all about conveying menace, so that sticks in the mind. Do you have any horror films that you hold close to your heart?
MM: I mean, this is an obvious one but I’ll never forget seeing The Shining for the first time. It’s a magical film, I think it’s perfect. I’ve always been a massive fan of Jack Nicholson – I think he’s one of the most incredible actors ever. And that film just rocked me, it’s forever stuck with me. 

BP: I want to talk about Longlegs. When did it first come into your life?
MM: It would have been the end of 2022, right after Thanksgiving. My team sent the script and I read it and you know, it was one of those scripts that just sticks with you. I think it’s the same for people when they see the movie. I love The Silence of the Lambs so I was like, OK cool, it’s a crime thriller movie. And then, forty pages in, all of a sudden it takes a sudden left turn. When I finished it I had to read it again to understand everything and pick up all the little hints throughout the script. I met with Oz [Perkins, Longlegs’ writer and director] and the meeting went well but I talked to my team after and they were like, “He just doesn’t think you’re right for the role.” I was like, “Noo!” I wanted this role so bad. I ended up sending in a tape because I wanted to prove to him that I could do it. And, well, here we are.

BP: Wow, you really fought for this role.
MM: Yeah, for sure. And I think there’s something really nice about that because, at this point in my career, I’m offered a lot but I don’t really audition as much. So it was nice to audition again and really fight for it and get the part. 

BP: Do you remember what it was specifically about the role that you were like, this has to be me?
MM: I knew that it was going to be a challenge. I knew the role was quite different from who I am and how I go through life. Again, The Silence of the Lambs is a very important film in my life and there were a lot of similarities to that, so there was excitement with that. 

“…forty pages in, all of a sudden it takes a sudden left turn.”

BP: And it’s an interesting role for you because it’s a horror film but it’s not necessarily in a scream queen role.
MM: Yeah, it’s funny when I’ve been doing press with Oz and people are like, “You are a scream queen,” and Oz is like, “You never scream. You definitely don’t scream in this movie. There’s a moment where you yell, but you don’t scream.” And I was thinking, in Watcher I don’t think I scream either. So, I think we have to think of a new name for it. 

BP: Maybe you metaphorically scream. You don’t really run down hallways with a slasher behind you that much. As a part of the marketing for Longlegs they haven’t revealed what Longlegs actually looks like and when your character sees him for the first time in the film, that’s actually the moment when you saw him for the first time in real life. Do you remember what you were expecting him to look like?
MM: I mean, there was a description of him in the script, but that’s just words so your brain has the freedom to imagine anything… Also, Nicolas Cage is such an enigma and every role he does is so utterly different, you can’t pin him down. If it were another actor, you could have an idea of what he’d look like, but with Nic anything is possible. 

BP: The film is out now and many, many people have seen it so I guess we can finally discuss the character design for Longlegs. What the hell was the thinking behind that!? Did Oz give you any reference points for its design?
MM: Well, Oz wanted to keep it a secret from me the entire time through filming, but in the script the description was like, “A person with really bad plastic surgery, this sort of white make-up, like someone in their youth who wanted to be a rockstar.” Reading the script, the reason I loved it was because it felt so original. Like, I don’t think I’ve ever seen this before. 

BP: It’s so great to have a new movie monster, you know? I love horror but I just don’t have a reference point for what Longlegs actually looks like. It’s a fully original creation. He’s just so freaky. 
MM: It’s been cool hearing everyone’s reactions to it. 

“I’ll never forget seeing The Shining for the first time…”

BP: It would be remiss of me, considering that we are a fashion magazine, to not discuss the insane viral fashion moment that was the Courrèges dress you wore for the film’s premiere. 
MM: You know, we did a lot of fittings and nothing felt right. Then Chloe and Chenelle [Delgadillo, Maika’s stylists] were like, “OK, I think we got it.” And they sent me a runway photo of the dress and I was like, “Oh my god.” We did a fitting and all of us knew it was bold but we had to do it. I love Courrèges so much, everything they’re doing is so cool and avant-garde and so, that’s how it came to be. 

BP: Red carpet fashion can often be so boring so it was genuinely so refreshing to see that. You’ve definitely guaranteed yourself a spot at the show in Paris in September.
MM: I certainly hope so!

BP: I want to finish up with They Follow. What can you tell me? Because we’ve been waiting ten years for this.
MM: To be totally honest, when I was told that David [Robert Mitchell] was thinking of doing a sequel I was like, oh no. Because the first movie was so good! It ended so well. And it has such a massive fan base. But I was like, OK, let’s read the script and see. And the script is so fucking good. To this day David is one of my favourite directors I’ve ever worked with. He is insanely picky, he only does scripts that he writes, that he loves, he isn’t the type of director who gets pressured by studios, producers or anyone. He wants to make this film because he just had such a fucking good idea and I’m so excited.

Longlegs is out in cinemas now.