Leigh Whannell says COVID-19 experience inspired Wolf-Man
'Wolf Man' director Leigh Whannell has shared 'Wolf Man' was inspired by the "slow-motion nightmare" of him dealing with a loved one battling Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS) during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Leigh Whannell has revealed 'Wolf Man' was inspired by his “deeply personal” experience of a loved one battling disease during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The 48-year-old filmmaker helmed the reboot of Universal Monsters franchise about an isolated mother and daughter who are forced to live out their worst nightmare after the father begins to transform into something unrecognisable, and Whannell has now shared the movie’s premise came to him after his close friend began to suffer with Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS) - a disease that affects the brain and spinal cord - during the lockdowns caused by the global health crisis.
Speaking with with website JoBlo, the filmmaker said: “I was raising three young children … it was difficult during COVID staying in the house all day and I had a close friend of mine who was suffering from ALS. This disease robbed her of everything.
“It’s a very insidious progression, it’s a slow-motion nightmare, and that’s what these degenerative illnesses look like. First someone’s walking with a cane, then they’re in a chair … she can no longer speak.
“So, we were simultaneously experiencing COVID and we were experiencing this nightmare that was happening with someone close to us, and all of that just poured out.”
Whannell added ‘Wolf Man’ saved him from spiralling into a “deep, dark depression”, and reflected on how that inspired the film’s core theme of grief and loss.
He added: “When you ask ‘Why go personal with this film’, I felt like it was the only option. If I’m being honest with you, I think the writing of this movie saved me from a deep, dark depression because I was so thrown off by everything that was happening in my personal life.
“The core of this movie is grief, that personal grief and that journey of what it’s like to go through all this disruption.”
‘Wolf Man’ - which stars Julia Garner, Christopher Abbott and Matilda Firth - follows couple Blake and Charlotte and their daughter Ginger who flee to a remote farmhouse after being attacked by an unseen animal, only for the father to transform into something far more frightening than what his family could possibly imagine.
Aside from ‘Wolf Man’, Whannell reflected on whether he could make a sequel to any of his previous horror films like ‘The Invisible Man’ and ‘Insidious: Chapter 3’, and while the director didn’t completely close the door on helming a follow-up, he emphasised his “first love” was always original movies.
He explained: “I mean, never say never, because if I was to direct a movie that did well enough and somebody said, ‘Hey sequel time’, I would give it some serious thought. I wouldn’t be dismissive.
“But in the case of [‘The Invisible Man’ and ‘Insidious’], this is it. I’ve told that story. And my first love is original films - even though the last two were based on IP - my love is bringing a character you’ve never met to [the screen].
“I’m thinking about a film right now that is an original script. That is my first love, for sure.”
