"The Monkey" with Osgood Perkins, Theo James & Rohan Campbell

Transcript

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In this episode of pop Culture Weekly, it's all about

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the brand new horror film The Monkey. I talk with

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THEO James, director, writer osgood parkins end star.

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I talk with star THEO.

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James and Rowan Campbell and writer director osgood Perkins.

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Let's go.

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Welcome to pop Culture Weekly with Kyle McMahon from iHeartRadio,

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your pop culture news, views, reviews and celebrity interviews on

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all the movies, TV, music and pomp culture you crave weekly.

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Here's Kyle McMahon.

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Nett nana no, nett na na no, Hello and welcome

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the pop Culture Weekly with Kyle McMahon. I of course

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am Kyle McMahon, and I thank you as always for

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joining me once again for another episode of pop Culture Weekly.

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I'm really excited about.

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This episode because we are diving in to one of

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the most anticipated horror films of the year, if not

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my most anticipated.

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The Monkey.

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I talk with the stars Rowan Campbell and THEO James,

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as well as Osgoode Perkins, who is the writer director.

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So The Monkey, if you don't know yet, is based

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on Stephen King's chilling short story. It's a new adaptation

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and people are already talking about you know how creepy

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the trailers are, but we're gonna talk about the film.

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We're gonna talk to the stars, and it's all about

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the monkey.

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So all right.

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So if you love Stephen King's work, creepy, cursed objects

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or psychological horror, you're in for a treat this episode,

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or maybe maybe a nightmare. The Monkey was originally published

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in nineteen eighty as a short story in Gallery magazine. Eventually,

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Stephen King put it in his nineteen eighty five short

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story collection called Skeleton Crew.

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And let me tell you, if.

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You've read the short story, this is one of those

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stories that just lingers in your mind long after you

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finish it.

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It's very creepy. So what's the premise, right, It's simple.

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It follows two brothers, Hall and Bill, who discovered.

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This old wind up symbol clapping monkey in their parents' attic.

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You would think that's cute, right, but this is Stephen King,

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so you'd be wrong. Every time the monkey claps, it

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symbols somebody dies. And we're not just talking about like

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they you know, natural causes like a heart attack or something.

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It's like gruesome, often unexplained events, deaths, and then years

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later they had thought that they'd rid themselves of it,

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but guess what, Hal finds it again and the death

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startup once more. So the short story itself is classic

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Stephen King psychological terror, supernatural dread, and the Monkey taps

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into that primal fear that we all have, right that

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something as innocent as a toy can become this horrible instrument.

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Of the death.

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So now all these years later that was what eighty five,

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So forty years later, I'm bad at math. I think

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forty years later you can fact check me. But we

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have The Monkey hitting theaters. So it's directed by Osgood Perkins.

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Who I love.

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He is the mind behind Gretel and Hansel, which is

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seriously underrated. You know, if you're a horror fan or

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just want a creepy movie, Gretel and Hansel is it.

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And he also is behind I Am the Pretty Things

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That Lives in the House, which is a Netflix original horror,

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really great, and it's produced by James Wan and Jason Bloom,

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who I freaking love both of them, so you know

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you're in for some top tier scary stuff. The Monkey

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the movie is a little bit different and that instead

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of the symbols that the Monkey plays it's the drums

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because there was a copyright issue. Apparently Disney owns the

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trademark or copyright for a monkey playing symbols on film.

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So instead Osgod turned it around and the monkey plays

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on a drum, which is maybe even creepier because it's

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almost this like tribal beat. You know, it's really effective.

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The film itself, which you can see my review up

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on TikTok and Instagram, Facebook, and YouTube my video review.

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But to give you you know, my take here the monkey.

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The film is insanely outrageous in a good way. It

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is actually really darkly funny, Like I was not expecting

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it to be funny. I don't know what I thought

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going in, but it is funny. It is darkly funny,

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and at some points I'm like, am I a sicko

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for even laughing at this? But that's kind of the point, right,

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I Mean, it's all outrageous and insane and it's it's

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an awesome movie.

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I love Osgood Perkins Long Legs.

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He did Long Legs last year, which was one of

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my favorites of last year.

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It just puts you in that creepy space.

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Like it's just uncomfortable unsettling and Long Legs was just

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executed amazingly, and Nicholas Cage was a freaking freak.

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Show in that movie.

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But as I mentioned earlier, he also did Gretel and

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Hansel I Am the Pretty Things that Live in the House.

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He's had a great career thus far, and this, you know,

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is right along those lines, except it's not a lot

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of his other movies are a little bit more subtle

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and maybe you know, a little slow burning. This is,

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you know, I would say, this is not slow burning

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in that kind of traditional Osgood Perkins way. It's more

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in your face out there, you know, hits your right

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in the head in.

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Some points, some people are in the head, if you

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get what I mean.

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But it is awesome. I absolutely loved it. People in

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the theaters were laughing, they were screaming at the appropriate parts.

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It's just an awesome, awesome movie. And I was it

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was my most looked forward to, my most looked forward to.

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It was the movie I was most looking forward to

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this year, the horror movie, and it I'm definitely I

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was not disappointed by any stretch of the imagination.

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It is awesome. So if you have the chance, go

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see it.

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In theaters because seeing it on that big screen with

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the incredible audio mix and the soundtrack, it's just all

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done so well that go see it in the theater,

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it's definitely worth your watch. So we're gonna kick things

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off on the interview side with Rowan Campbell, my buddy.

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I love Rowan. He is.

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Rowan's an actor who has been making waves in both

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television and film.

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He's got this screen presence that's just I love him.

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I love his work.

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He recently starred as Corey Cunningham and Halloween Ends, which

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was awesome, and I loved his role in that. It

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was very much not a red herring. I don't know

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what the word I'm looking for is very much a

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I don't know, let me.

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Know you, let me know what I mean.

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But it was very much a cool character in Halloween

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Ends and kind of did a lot for that trilogy

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of films, turned its head, turned it on its head

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a little bit that I wasn't expecting.

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So I really enjoyed that.

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I really enjoyed him in that, and Rowan has been

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just steadily building an awesome career across various genres. But

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I interviewed him originally for The Hardy Boys on Hulu.

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So I'll have that interview linked in the show notes

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if you want to go back and hear me speak

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with him on that. But he played Frank Hardy in

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Hulu's modern adaptation of that classic detective series, and he

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was very charming and intelligent and just had some cool,

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fresh energy for the series. I already talked about that

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he was in Halloween Ends, and he was. That character

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was very started a lot of discussion among horror fans

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and especially obviously Halloween fans, which I think is awesome

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for Row and that you know, he got to do that,

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and also for you Sabrina Carpenter fans. He played her

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beloved boyfriend in her music video for Taste, which is cool.

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So all right, without further ado, let's talk with the

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row in Campbell.

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How you doing, bro, I'm good, dude. How are you?

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I'm doing well? Thank you? So great to see you again.

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You too, man, you too, I'm happy, you know, I'm

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so happy to see you in The Monkey. I mean,

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first of all, the Monkey was incredible. You know I

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told you that.

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Why Why was this something that you wanted to do?

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Oh man?

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A never ending list of reasons Stephen King is one

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of my favorites. Uh. What a what a niche outlook

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on the world, what a what a poet of nightmares. Also,

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the script just blew my mind, like it was so

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perfectly funny and scary and ridiculous, and again, what an

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insane outlook in the world.

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And I just thought, I gotta, I gotta do this.

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And then I just fell in love with the character,

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like it's such a such a good opportunity to sort

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of disappear into something.

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Yeah, quite quite literally. Actually you so what that was

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that your hair? Or what was that a wig? What

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was we wait, we wigged me out?

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Uh?

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Yeah, we threw a wig.

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On me.

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And uh, I remember when I first thought it on me,

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and Oz just cracked up, like it was just so funny. Uh,

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and we were like, we gotta do this, it's so ridiculous.

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Uh and uh.

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And then there's that moment where you meet my mom

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and she's got the same haircut, and yeah, it's so ridiculous.

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That's one of the things that you know, I love

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about I mean, first of all, it's it is terrifying.

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Even the concept of the film is kind of terrifying.

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And then it is so over the top, but in

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an awesome way. You know what I'm saying, Like it's

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done so well, it's it's it's ridiculous in the best

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way possible. And what I mean that is it's it

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does it purposefully and with intention, and that kind of

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kind of balances out the kind of terrifyingness terrifyingness, uh,

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you know, the uh terrifyingness or whatever of what's happening

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in the story. And and it's such a masterful, full

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balance between I was so pleasantly surprised at how funny

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it is. You know, it's so darkly humorous and uh,

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and it just strikes such a great balance between you know,

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all of the things.

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And I love that about it.

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Yeah, he's got he just dialed it in. He's got

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such a control on that tone in those levels.

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Yeah. Yeah.

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And so as you're doing this, you know you've done

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you know, the Halloween franchise, another one of my favorites.

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As you're doing kind of these projects that have this

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you know, storied history and fan base and you know

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Stephen King short story from Stephen King, like this is

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some some big, heavy hitting, uh stuff in the pop

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culture world. Do you are you able to separate that

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as you go to film, or is that kind of

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in the back of your mind, like, shit, this is

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I think you're.

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Always sort of shitting yourself. I think it's just like

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what are you gonna let somebody else do it? Mmm?

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I love It's like it's like why not? It means

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the world to me, this stuff. It's something that you know,

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I I grew up reading and I grew up in it.

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I love horror films and I'm such a fan. It

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was like, you know, I feel well equlipped equipped to

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go in and try and write a little love letter

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to this this this man's mind, you know. And that's

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how this movie feels to me. It's like I just like,

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as I was prepping the character, I was like, I

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just want to make Stephen King see his nightmares in

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front of him and and and that that that humor

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that he's got.

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That's so dope.

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I I think I'm the type of person i'd be like,

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oh my God, like I gotta, you know, I gotta.

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I think I would feel so much pressure where it's

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actually a really cool and refreshing, you know, point of view,

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to be like I should be able to do it

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you know what I mean, who can do it better?

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I'm going to do it and make them proud, you know.

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I love that.

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Yeah, And I mean it's not even like so much

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you can do it better. It's just like, might as

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well give it a shot. If someone's that me to

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do it, I'm gonna try so hard.

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So yeah, what do you as a fan of horror?

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You know, I'm a huge horror fan. I know you're

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a huge horror fan. As a fan of horror, what

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do you think people will get out of this once?

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You know, once it hits theaters?

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Man, this is a hard question. There's so much you

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can get out of this movie, and Oz does such

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a good job of tying up the thought. But you know,

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sort of the unexpectedness and cruelty and an unfairness of

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death personified in this toy monkey that's controlling it, you know,

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and and that urge to sort of fight it and

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find your way out of it. It's amazing message. But

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also I just want to just a good fucking.

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Time at the movies. Man.

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I just want people to go have a good time

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at the movies.

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That's what I want.

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I love that I think that they will, I know,

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I enjoyed it so much. I had to check with

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you know, publicity to make sure. I'm like, am I

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allowed to talk about this yet? Because I need to

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talk about this.

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Yeah.

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They're like, yeah, just no spoiler. So now now I'm like,

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you know, shouting from the rooftops. You got to see

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in February twenty first February twenty you know, I mean, so,

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so this monkey comes in your life?

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You know, how would you handle it? Mm?

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Similarly, I think this it's such This is a crazy sentence.

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It's such an insane.

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Plot and topic that.

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Unravels so logically, and I think that's very You can

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you can empathize with what the characters do in this situation.

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But who knows, maybe the monkey is in all of

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our lives.

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Thanks Royan. Now I'm gonna be like searching my adit

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your attic, man, my brother, Thank you so much.

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You're a joy to watch, You're a joy to talk to,

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and I can't wait for everybody to see the monkey

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or the man buddy.

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Thank you, dude, It's so good to see you. Kay

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you as well talk soon, all right? Man, enjoyed the

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day you too.

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Rowan Campbell such a great guy. I really do love him,

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love his work, and he's just an awesome person, you know,

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besides being an awesome artist.

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He's an awesome person too. So love Rowan.

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Can't wait to see what he does next, can't wait

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for you to see him in The Monkey.

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All right, we're gonna take a quick break to pay

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the bills.

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When we come back, we're gonna talk with THEO James

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and I was Good Perkins, see you back here in sixty.

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All right.

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Thank you for hanging out with me and supporting our

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sponsors that allow me to bring Pop Culture Weekly to

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you each and every week. Without them, there wouldn't be

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a me, and then I wouldn't be with you, which sucks.

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So thank you.

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So we're rolling on with all things the Monkey this episode,

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and next up, I'm talking with THEO James and Osgood Perkins.

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So I've talked a little bit about both of them before,

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but just to give you a little bit.

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More in depth.

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You know, really, when it comes to horror, there are

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few directors who capture like eerie, unsettling atmospheres quite like

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Osgood Perkins. And when you pair that with the undeniable

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screen presence of THEO James, you've got a dynamic that

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is well worth your time. Osgoode is kind of known

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for a slow burning, psychological approach to horror. It's very

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thoughtful and what he does.

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I think.

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He's also the son of psychostar Anthony Perkins, by the way,

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so he grew up surrounded by the genre and he's

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found his own unique space in modern horror.

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Today.

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He has done, as I talked about before, Gretel and Hansel.

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Which is beautiful.

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It's visually stunning, and it's like a horror inspired take

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on the Hansel and Gretel fairy tale, definitely reimagines it.

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He also did I Am the Pretty Thing that Lives

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in the House, which is a ghost story that has

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a lot to do with like dread and isolation. And

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that's what I mean when I say a lot of

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his work deals with these kind of bigger issues, whether

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subtly or unsubtly, I guess unsubtly whatever. The Black Coat's

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Daughter is this very atmospheric, very eerie, chilling horror film

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that blends psychological terror with supernatural stuff, well worth your

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time as well. And then of course Long Legs that

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came out last year, which is one of my favorites

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of last year, and oh my God, Long Legs is

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just insane and Nicholas Cage is just an insane person

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in that role. So os Oz Good is all about,

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you know, kind of these slow building, eerie, unsettling visuals

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and these stories that kind of linger, you know, after

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the movie's over, you're kind of thinking about them later.

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With The Monkey, he's taking on Stephen King's classic short story,

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and so it's a really cool. It's really cool to

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see Oz do something that you know is based on

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somebody else's work.

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And THEO James.

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THEO James is an actor who you know, really kind

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of blew up with his role as Four in the

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Divergent movie franchise series, but since then he's been kind

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of breaking out in all kinds of different genres, including

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Cameron Sullivan in The White Lotus season two, The Time

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Traveler's Wife, and The Gentleman, and he is amazing in

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this He plays a dual role and it's it's pretty insane,

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but he does a great job with it.

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So in any of it, let's.

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Jump right into my interview with Osgod Perkins and THEO James.

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Thank you both so much for joining me.

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I really appreciate it, and I'm measure First of all,

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I love the Monkey.

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I had to ask publicity earlier. I was like, am

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I allowed to talk about it? Yeah? And they were like, yeah,

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just no spoilers.

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So I've been like dying for everybody to see it

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because it's just so great.

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So congratulations to both the vo on that oz.

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Why you know, why did you end up choosing this

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project as your as your next next project?

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The project chose me, right, it was it was an assignment,

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you know, and that makes it sound like homework would

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and it was really the opposite.

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Right.

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It's just unbelievable golden ticket opportunity to work off of

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the great author, to sort of play in his sandbox

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and all that he's brought to the genre, into the world,

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and to just just to entertainment in general. Right, Stephen

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King has created so much viable, everlasting entertainment, whether it's

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horror stuff or it's shash Ank redemption, like everything in between.

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Right, Like this is the guy.

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So to be able to sort of snuggle up to

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a master is a real privilege. And then on top

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of it, you know, it comes with this image. It

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comes with this image of this toy monkey, which for

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whatever reason is uncanny to the human eye, like we

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for whatever reason, anytime you see this thing, there's something

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off putting about it.

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You kind of can't wrap your head around it.

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So, you know, as a as a writer facing the

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blank page, it's nice to kind of have these big

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leg ups Stephen King and this monkey's face.

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I love that, and THEO similarly, you know what attracted

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to you about the monkey the film.

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Well, Oz, I'm very attracted to that monkey too.

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I mean, osboy here. I was a fan of his.

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I'd seen his work, we had worked together a little

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bit developing something in the past.

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I knew how good a writer in a directory was.

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And then that, you know, coupled with a piece of iconic,

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ip iconic literature from Stephen King, and then the chance

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to play two very different characters in a horror comedy,

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and beneath it there's there's some real meat to it.

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You know that there's a real sadness and melancholy about

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fathers and sons and intergenerational trauma. As pretentious as it

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sounds to say that, but it's true. So as an actor,

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you had the fun of it on the page, but

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you also had some meat beneath it to gobble up.

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I've got to say that as you were doing the narration,

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I was thinking in the theater, and I'm like, it's

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a cross between like a nineteen forties radio announcer.

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"The Monkey" with Osgood Perkins, Theo James & Rohan Campbell

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