British actress Ella Balinska and director Hugo Keijzer chatted about their new film “The Occupant.”
The synopsis is: Desperate to save her sister, Abby (Ella Balinska) takes a dangerous job in the remote Georgian wilderness.
Stranded in the mountains after her helicopter crashes, she finds hope through John (Rob Delaney), a mysterious helper radioing from nearby.
As he guides her through the harsh conditions, Abby struggles to survive, and her grip on reality falters until she is faced with an impossible choice.
Ella Balinska on ‘The Occupant’
On being a part of “The Occupant,” Balinska said, “It was a journey and a half, that’s for sure. It was definitely a feat. We kind of had an idea of what we wanted to do when we went into it, and then we were not expecting half of the stuff that we were really getting into, which was definitely a cool new experience.”
On playing her character, she said, “I would definitely say the fact that she’s not like this superhero character who is trying to save the world. She is truly just someone who is really just going through something very personal.”
“I think everyone has been through an experience that is hectic and emotional. I just love the fact that it’s almost a journey from her being this very, you know, gritty, we know she can handle herself kind of person to realizing that actually there is strength in her vulnerability,” she elaborated.
“Also, how as she slowly starts to realize the inevitable and understand that her letting go is actually the way that she is able to sort of prevail and succeed,” she added.
Working with Hugo Keijzer
On working with Hugo Keijzer, she said, “It was pretty cool because he is a director who knows what he wants, and he is also a very truthful director. He doesn’t just do something for the sake of art.”
“Hugo is really there to challenge you as an actor to really bring the emotion out and push you in a way that sometimes you might be a little bit reluctant to go down that route, but you know it’s necessary,” she said.
“Also, as a visionary and as a creative, it is so refreshing to have a director know exactly what they want the second we were somewhere on set, especially because we were in a place that we didn’t really want to be for too long during the day,” she said with a sweet laugh.
Hugo Keijzer on ‘The Occupant’
“Well, it has been a very long journey for me,” Hugo said. “Of course, we were working on the script for many years, and I got involved early in 2019. We had the opportunity to actually work together on the material as well.”
“By the time we ended up shooting this film, I’ve already been to all of these locations four times. So, Georgia became my second home,” he said.
“I love the country,” he exclaimed. “I love the people there, but I had a lot of nightmares about snow continuity, about the ice of the ice lake because all of these scenes, there are shots on the actual location that they represent.”
“So, when you see Ella crossing an ice lake, it’s an actual ice lake. And when she goes into the ice, it’s like there needs to be ice there,” he said.
“I had many, many nightmares that when we finally arrived there to shoot it, all of that would be gone. Because the transition from winter to summer is pretty hard. So that really made me also vulnerable in a sense,” Hugo noted.
“I’m very, very happy to have someone like Ella that I could really lean on and really trust that she could carry this whole film on her shoulders. The benefit of having this snow continuity is we had to start with the most difficult scenes,” he explained.
“So, we had to start with the ice lake and her falling in the ice, for example, was one of the first days. After that, this emotional weight fell off my shoulders because I felt like she is the person that will carry this whole film through to the end,” he elaborated.
“For me, personally, that was one of the best moments of the whole production. Ella actually jumped in the ice lake in the middle of Georgia,” Hugo added.
Lessons learned from this screenplay
On the lessons learned from this screenplay, Balinska reflected, “It definitely taught me about how powerful it is to be vulnerable. The only reason why I think this really worked between me and Hugo is because I was just so honest and transparent with him and how I was feeling on set.”
“I think the screenplay in terms of the order that we shot it — the emotional and physical resilience that I hadn’t an idea that I possessed — and that is quite cool, I suppose,” she added.
‘Charlie’s Angels’ and ‘Resident Evil’
On being a part of these projects, she said, “These are definitely two films that are very genre-conforming. Honestly, both of these roles very much prepared me to do something like ‘The Occupant’ because there is a stark contrast between two different characters.”
“If I hadn’t done those and gone through those experiences, I don’t think I would have been prepared at all for ‘The Occupant’ because I still would have been in a genre-conforming space,” she elaborated.
“I just think that the contrast between the projects truly prepared me for this,” she reiterated.
Stage of her life
On the title of the current chapter of her life, she said, “Doing things that make me happy, and being okay with the fact that not everything I do is going to make everybody happy.”
Success
Regarding her definition of the word success, she said, “Success for me is ending to the end of a process and having really enjoyed the journey, because then getting to the destination is 10 times more rewarding”
“If you can get to the destination and enjoy the journey, I think that’s some real success right there,” she said.
Closing thoughts on the movie
For fans and viewers, Balinska said, “From a fan of movies of this genre myself, of someone who read this script and flew through it, I definitely think that we had a nice comment earlier where it would be lovely to go into this blind, to go into this without watching the trailer, as much amazing work has been put into the trailer.”
“If you were to watch this, even without Abby in it, it’s stunningly shot. It’s such an incredible showcase of Hugo and his team’s work. The writing is so truthful and real,” she said.
“I think it’s a real celebration of originality, which is really cool,” she added.
“For me, personally, I think the emphasis is very much on trying to get to something that’s real and authentic, which is very difficult these days,” Hugo said.
“I think that’s also what I’m most proud of, regardless of what people think of the story and what they take out of it. I think I’m very proud that we were able to make something that’s real,” Hugo concluded.
