The seventh installment of Hulu’s Into the Dark horror anthology series, I’m Just Fucking With You, takes on April Fool’s Day and follows a deranged serial killer (played by Hayes MacArthur) who torments his victims while playing extreme practical jokes. Siblings (played by Keir O’Donnell and Jessica McNamee) who are in the wrong place at the wrong time try to survive the night when they become his next targets.
The film had its world premiere at the 2019 South by Southwest Film Festival (SXSW) on March 10th. During the festival, we caught up with director Adam Mason and lead actors Jessica McNamee and Hayes MacArthur to talk about the film.
I’m Just Fucking With You will be available exclusively on Hulu on April 1st. Check out our review here!
Horror Geek Life: What influenced you as a director for your new feature film, I’m Just Fucking With You?
Adam Mason: I am a horror director, but, for me, the big influence on this was Jackass. I saw the movie as a comedy, not a horror film. Where, basically, Chester is the protagonist but playing funny games and, ultimately, the joke is on the audience as much as it is on Larry (Keir O’Donnell). For me, that was a big step away from traditional horror. Hopefully people see it as a very twisted comedy as opposed to a horror movie.
HGL: There is definitely quite a bit of dark comedy from start to finish. Falling in line with Hulu’s Into the Dark series, I’m Just Fucking With You is holiday themed. Did you get to pick which holiday you wanted to work on?
AM: No, I got hired onto the script and it was always going to be the April Fool’s episode. I did some rewrites and turned it into this social media parody movie.
HGL: It seemed like the cast genuinely had a good time on set. What was your experience like while shooting?
Jessica McNamee: It’s funny because we actually amped up a lot of stuff. We spent more time laughing, really. For me, that was some of the most satisfying work I’ve done and I found it really fun. We got so much freedom and it was so fucked up.
Hayes MacArthur: I thought it was funny seeing you go between laughing between scenes and then having to be scared. I think keeping it lighter allowed us to make it scarier because we could play with that.
JM: It was a dream to get to work on this project, and I didn’t expect it to have as many dark moments. It was a really nice surprise that Adam just let us go with it, and it was really fun. But we also realized that what we were doing was so messed up. It was like, “Yeah, we should do this really screwed up thing.”
HM: It was very liberating to work with a film titled I’m Just Fucking With You. (laughs)
HGL: Seriously, how great is that title?!
HM: Exactly.
JM: Especially when you tell your mom and grandma what the name of your next project is.
HM: Last night, I was talking to people and said I have a film premiering tomorrow and they asked what the name of it is and I say, “I’m Just Fucking With You,” and they think I meant I was joking.
AM: It was a great experience because this was the first studio movie I’ve done, but Blumhouse and Hulu just really let me do my thing. And, with these guys, it was just massively collaborative. At the end of the day, we just did whatever came into our head and tried a bunch of stuff and added to the movie this much more schizophrenic direction.
JM: Initially, they were a bit gun shy, though, and once they saw the scene we were working on, they went, “Okay, go ahead.” It was kind of cool to watch, and know we’re on the right track.
HM: We had an incredible amount of material to shoot in a short time.
JM: And not a big budget.
HM: With just with three actors, it was almost like a play. And the blocking and how a scene would take place; it was one room and one location, and we had to figure out how it would change in the scene. It’s like a fever dream.
JM: It was all night shoots, too. Which, obviously, we’re all wacky when we’re up all night and sleeping during the day. But, it was really cool being contained in that one space. Because it did, it felt like a play. We just moved between rooms, inside, outside, and by the pool, which I thought the pool was really cool. I loved that experience.
HM: It is amazing how many different places it felt like. It didn’t feel like one place.
JM: But, it was definitely fun for all of us and exceeded expectations in terms of what we were walking into character-wise.
AM: It’s also a movie that’s got something to say about the current climate and the internet.
HGL: Jessica and Hayes, once you read the script, what drew you to the film?
JM: For me, it was the amount of laughs I had during the reading of the script. I had an idea about what it would be like in terms of the breakdown and when I got the script, I was really pleasantly surprised to see how funny is was. How the dialogue would flip from being so so dark to belly laughing. I loved that.
HM: I loved the fact that it was about a serial killer and his weapon was practical jokes. I hadn’t seen that be done. He could be funny and then also dark at the same time.
HGL: I think it makes a film even more enjoyable when you know that the cast and crew are having fun on set. And, it sounds like you have some good stories and experiences.
AM: I’ll tell you something funny. When we were casting, Hayes came into the casting room and he was dressed exactly as Chester, wearing the gold chain that was in the movie. And he was completely in character the entire audition. I’m a tall guy, I’m 6’3″ or something, but when I shook his hand, he crushed my hand and looked me right in the eyes wearing those glasses. He sat down and did the most amazing audition. When he left, I said to Marshall, the executive producer, “I don’t know if he was acting. And if he wasn’t, I don’t want to work with him.” I wasn’t even joking. So, he talked to people who knew Hayes to make sure he’s okay.
HM: We had coffee before filming so he could see if I’m crazy or not. (laughs)
HGL: That’s the first time I’ve heard of a director having to ensure his lead wasn’t deranged.
JM:I didn’t know about any of that until now! (laughs)
HGL: Well, this has been a really fun interview, and I look forward to the premiere!
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