Émilie Dequenne stars in the new action thriller Survive where a couple celebrates their son’s birthday in the middle of the ocean on their boat. A violent storm hits and it brings up hungry creatures from the depths and they have to fight for their survival.
Émilie stopped by to chat with me about working on the film.
Hi Émilie, how are you today?
I’m okay, I’m okay, despite all my health problems. I don’t know if you know what’s happening to me, but short hair is not one of my choices. So I’m fighting cancer, which is something really strange when you look at Survive and me fighting against all the crabs. But I didn’t know I was sick by the time I was shooting the movie, and I got sick almost like six or eight months later. I’m still fighting, I’m still on chemo for now, but I’m okay, I’m okay. I’m glad to present the movie and I’m very proud to talk about the movie for the USA.
Well, I wish the best of health. My mum battled cancer a few years ago and she beat it, so I’m sure you will too, so keep going.
Oh, thank you so much.
I absolutely loved this movie, I thought it was unlike anything I’d seen before. I thought it was unpredictable, where we had no idea what was happening next. There’s this huge apocalyptic event, but it’s still about this intimate story of a family. Is that what appealed to you about the script?
Yeah, sure. That’s the mum part, actually. The fact that, when you’re little, I remember my mum telling me that she would be able to do anything for her daughter. And when I became a mum myself, 22 years ago, I realized what she said and it became completely concrete. And I realized that, I don’t know, I could kill for my daughter, you know what I mean? Or I could be dead for her, like kill me instead.
I can’t explain, but when you became a mother, it’s like your strength and your power and your braveness completely changed. And you see life through another vision. And that’s what completely attracted me when I read the script, is that for me, it was really realistic, actually despite the fact that, of course, it’s dystopic and I love that. I’m a fan of the genre and the fact that family and the motherhood and the side of this mother turning to a wolf really caught my eye. Because for me, it was real. It was the truth. To mix up things that actually are not real and the truth completely, that was what got me on it completely. I was literally conquered.
How was director Frederic to work with?
Oh, it was very hard for him. We had a great time. We were in Morocco. The team was amazing. All the actors and all the technicians, Moroccan ones and French ones. It was a dream because it was very hard. And for Frederic, it was especially hard because we shot only on days and days were not very long. And, you know, when the night was, in French, we say American night. I don’t know if you know this expression, but it means that we are cheating and shooting during the day, but actually, it’s night on the screen. So, it was very hard for him; we shot on a very short time. If I’m not wrong, like 30 days or something and we shot like five days a week. For him, it was very hard. He had to visualize all the special effects that will be done after. He was quite talented. That’s the least I can say. But sometimes, he was a bit frustrated, because it was very hard for him to put all the things we have to do in a day. For me, and for me to work with him, it was good because he was very clear at the beginning. He got me all the information I had to get to build my character. And actually, when he’s happy, he tells it. So, it’s good. We had a great relationship and we still have a great relationship.
This was a very physical role for you. You’re doing lots of running and fighting and things like that. Did you have to undergo any specific training to prepare for this role?
Yeah, I did and it was not easy because actually, I came on the project very late. I wasn’t supposed to do this movie and we started to shoot at the middle of October. When I came back from Corsica, from my holiday, I had a short time on holiday, like three weeks or something. It was very, very short. This year, I did a lot of movies. And in three weeks in Corsica, I can tell you, I swear, you can gain I don’t know how many pounds, but you don’t count because that’s a holiday (laughs). You know what I mean? You don’t do nothing (laughs). You don’t really swim. We are just enjoying water and enjoying life and having drinks and a lot of bad things for health. Anyway, fortunately, it doesn’t last very long. But when I came back in Paris, I was supposed to shoot another movie that I did in Toulouse and I wasn’t supposed to be physically prepared. And the director didn’t care if I was a bit more normal, like everybody, like a human. So, when I came back at the end of August, I got the script. I read it and I said, “oh my goodness”, but it she was written like Lara Croft. I said “I think they send it to the wrong actress”. So I go, we met with Frederic. I didn’t know how I’m going to do that, but I’m very stubborn. I said “Don’t worry. I’m going to prepare”. So, I went to Toulouse doing my shooting and every night I was training. I was swimming. I was training with the camera, with someone, a coach and I was working a lot and I lost 22 pounds doing lots of cardio. I was ready when I came back and yeah, I like that. The challenge, I like that. That’s something that stimulates me.
Did you spend any time working with the kids behind the scenes to help create the family rapport?
Actually, we didn’t have much time before the shooting, but while we were shooting in Morocco, we were living all together in the same hotel. We had dinner together. When we came back, we were in the same car to go to the set. We were together, always together. And I still got them on the phone. Lisa, who plays my daughter, she’s become a very good friend to my daughter. Sometimes she comes home, she sleeps over, and we spend time together. Lucas is younger but, I became a very good friend of his mother and we became a family. Actually, it was very fast because it was not something we had to work on. It was done naturally. Even with Andreas Pietschmann who plays the father, he went naturally because the beginning was shooting on the water on the boat and it was especially hard. It was cold. We weren’t in the Caribbean. I would have loved to, but we weren’t there (laughs). It was especially difficult. There were a lot of jellyfish all over the water. We bonded a lot and it’s crazy, but I don’t want to spoil the movie, but there is a moment of where Andreas is not with us and it was terrible for us because he had to leave the set. And after he came back, because we had other things to shoot and yeah, we didn’t have to pretend the sadness. We were sad. We really were a family.
How would you like the movie to resonate with audiences?
First, simply entertainment. Fun because for me, genre movies are fun. I’m completely crazy about genre movies. There’s a French expression about this character that fell into a tub of potion as a kid. So, they wouldn’t let him have any more as he grew up. And it became a French expression of saying, “I fell into it as a kid”. I saw Nightmare on Elm Street. I was eight (laughs) and since then I became like a huge fan of genre movies. Obsessed. Next would be emotion, but that’s part of the fun. There is also a bit of environmental consciousness but I think the movie doesn’t preach at all. If you think further, you will have a sort of consciousness of what humans can do against our planet. You just have to see what’s happening now in LA and I’m so sad for them.
Yes, it’s terrifying. Well, I will let you go, all the best with the film and I wish you the very best of health and to keep going. I’m sure you’ll be fine and just keep fighting the good fight.
Thank you so much. I appreciate that.
SURVIVE IS OUT NOW IN THEATERS AND ON DIGITAL