Warning: Night Swim spoilers ahead!
Actor Wyatt Russell is no stranger to taking on dark roles – but being possessed by a haunted swimming pool was (pardon the pun) a whole other ballgame.
"We did talk through scenes a lot to try and transitions were hard – I'm just now remembering it. Transitions were hard because it was like, 'where do you go?' How do you transition from fun family to like, now there's something going on, and then, oh my God, then holy shit, he's possessed," Russell explains to 12DOVE. "So, we talked about that a lot. Feathering in that was good, but then having him be an ex-athlete who needs to get back to a former version of himself to try and play baseball again – the narcissistic qualities come out. And then mostly it's just playing the scenes as they come. If the scene calls for me to be possessed in a shower, you got the right guy. I can do that for you <laughs>. It’s just truncating it out and doing it, doing it piece by piece."
In Night Swim, Russell plays former baseball star Ray Waller, who, after being forced to retire due to illness, moves his family into a new house in an attempt to settle into a normal life. Ray is particularly attracted to the backyard swimming pool, convinced that it will help with physical therapy for his worsening condition.
Suddenly, supernatural events begin to occur in and around the pool – and Ray becomes possessed by its malevolent spirit. The cast also includes Kerry Condon, Amelie Hoeferie, Gavin Warren, Nancy Lenehan, and Jodi Long. Bryce McGuire wrote and directed the film, which is based on his viral horror short of the same name from 2014. It's the first to be released under Blumhouse and Atomic Monster's newly formed joint banner.
Possession aside, Russell also told 12DOVE that his background as a hockey player helped him prepare for the role: "It provided a starting-off point that was familiar to me and I could speak to from a place of reality. It was nice to be able to offer that." Baseball serves as the film's throughline, which McGuire says was due to the sport's "iconic, almost mystical kind of role in American culture" and that the "audience would find themselves almost instinctively falling into rooting for [Ray]".
Night Swim is in theaters now. For more, check out our chats with director Bryce McGuire on the film's origins and star Kerry Condon on acting in her first-ever horror film, or get your questions answered with our Night Swim ending explained.
For more cinema, check out our list of the most exciting upcoming movies in 2024 and beyond.
