Elijah Wood: For me, the biggest challenge with Strawn was [learning the magic tricks]. There are a couple of moments in the film where specific magic tricks give you a sense of his real ability. For me, the most important thing was to be believable. That came down to card dexterity, to show that I’m comfortable with a deck of cards, so I can make that character a believable illusionist or magician.
There was a magician I saw in Los Angeles over a month, Mike Pisciotta [of LA’s Magic Castle], just sitting down and doing card fans, messing around with the deck, and picking up a card in such a way that it was comfortable in my hands. The thing about Strawn, to your point about the delusions of grandeur, is that he presents as more successful than he is. And when you start to get under his surface, he’s actually kind of a failure. But I wanted that element of him to be real: he was good at one stage. But the rest was just the fun of a character with a sort of inflated self that is a protective element. He’s trying to present himself to his daughter as this capable, successful person. And the cracks start to show, and he can’t hold onto it anymore. The two of them are then thrust into scenarios beyond even his daughters’ [ability].
There’s an eagerness to impress that’s a parallel with both characters, too. But speaking of the daughter, talk to me about how you discovered Nell Fisher in the role.
Ant Timpson: We did a nationwide search in New Zealand, and looked at a few hundred kids around that age — anywhere from nine to 14 — and there were a lot of auditions. It’s one of those characters that could have gone off the rails of precociousness, so we wanted to find someone with that X factor and had an instant connection. Nell just leapt out. We did chemistry reads with Elijah, and it really popped up when you both hung out together. Hopefully, this doesn’t sound offensive, but she looked like she could have been Elijah’s love child [laughs].
I did a bit of due diligence on her; she’d worked on a low-budget film in New Zealand called “Northspur” when she was only eight, and she was really good. You could see something was happening there. Then she got “Evil Dead Rise,” so we talked to Lee [Cronin], the director; I wanted to know how fun she was on set and if he had any pointers. He just said, “Look, hire her immediately. She’s incredible.” Honestly, she exceeded all expectations; she was incredibly well-rehearsed and prepped. She knew the entire script so well that she was giving me notes throughout. Not that Elijah ever drops a line, but when other people did, she knew theirs. That’s skill. She’s going to be in “Stranger Things,” too, so we know she will be huge.